Chapter 106
For me, Lemegeton was truly an awkward group to deal with.
First of all, it was true that they generally maintained a hostile stance.
After all, they were a group that served Demons, and I was full of ill will towards Demons. There was no way I could see them in a good light. Of course, I was raising a somewhat foolish Demon named 'Barbatos' deep in the Forest, but... let's set that aside for now.
Anyway, because of that antipathy, I haven't accepted any of their recruitment offers until now.
But if you ask if I should just *destroy* them all whenever I meet them, that is also ambiguous.
First, I do plan to catch a person named Harold later. Because of him, I missed Dantalion, and I personally didn't think highly of him either.
But come to think of it, nothing particularly bad had happened with the others, except him. In fact, I had even received some favors from these two.
Nikki, for example, told me how to remove the Berserk state, and Sephiroth gave me an emergency contact method to ask for help. In fact, having that kind of backing allowed me to clash with the Knight Order without hesitation.
So, even though they were an enemy group, it wasn't easy to be indiscriminately hostile towards them. This was especially true for these two. Thanks to that, the subtle standoff continued for quite a while. Nikki was the first to speak.
“No, why did you attack us out of nowhere in the first place? I saw a familiar face and approached, happy to see you... and then I was completely startled.”
It seemed she was quite upset about being attacked so suddenly.
I stammered and made a suitable excuse.
“...So, if someone suddenly started tailing me, should I just ignore it?”
I absolutely couldn't say, *'I'm so awesome that I thought another sexual assailant had appeared.'*
That would have been too pathetic, even to myself... Maybe it's because so many strange things have been happening lately, but my brain felt a bit fried. I really needed to rein myself in.
Fortunately, it seemed my words had hit a nerve with her too.
Nikki frowned for a moment, then changed the subject and asked.
“So, why are you here?”
I answered.
“A Demon just appeared here, so I came to catch it.”
It wasn't something I needed to hide. With that answer, it was easy to guess why they had come to This Place. Why else would those who serve Demons come to This Place?
“So, you're here to protect Andras or whatever that Demon's name is, right? That's your job, after all.”
If so, then perhaps they were my enemies this time. As I thought about it, a troubled expression appeared on my face. But this guess also seemed to be wrong.
“No, this time it's the opposite.”
This time, the one who answered was Sephiroth, who was standing next to me. She continued speaking as she dispelled the Ice Barrier she had created.
“What a coincidence. We also came here to deal with the Demon, Andras, who appeared this time.”
I couldn't help but be flustered by her next words.
“What do you say? How about we cooperate this time?”
*
After hearing the proposal, I first invited them to the Inn where we were staying. Chaerin and Haneul would probably be a bit flustered... but it seemed the conversation would be quite long.
A look of bewilderment spread across my Companions' faces, perhaps because I, who had said I was just going out for a stroll alone, suddenly brought back two women. Haneul cautiously asked.
“Uh... who are these people?”
“Tsk... it's a bit complicated to explain.”
“...You had Companions.”
An awkward silence hung between them for a moment, especially since Nikki and Chaerin had met once before. They couldn't help but be flustered.
In that situation, the one who stepped forward first was our etiquette master, Sephiroth.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Sephiroth, the 5th Branch Leader of Lemegeton.”
“Le-Lemegeton...!”
“...A Branch Leader?”
A look of shock briefly appeared on my Companions' faces. Especially Chaerin, who, even if she knew they were from Lemegeton, hadn't expected one to be a Branch Leader. A wary expression settled on both their faces.
“Since this is fate, would you perhaps consider joining Lemegeton? If you're close with Lord Yor, you might have some grievances with the Empire. If you ever need to, you're welcome to join us. We at Lemegeton are always looking for new recruits.”
Regardless, our saleswoman Sephiroth simply continued her recruitment pitch naturally. Making a recruitment pitch in this situation... was a bit absurd, but my Companions' wariness eased somewhat thanks to it.
After that, we finished our introductions and sat together at a table. They seemed uncomfortable facing individuals from an opposing Faction, but they appeared willing to at least have a conversation.
To break the awkwardness, I continued the conversation we had started earlier.
“So... you're going to directly Exterminate the Demon this time? What's gotten into you?” “Well... this Demon is too violent. So, we've determined it can't be Controlled.” “Yes, and this time, it's not even a Faction we want anyway.”
Hearing that, I nodded. It seemed the Demon named Andras that appeared this time had quite a bad temperament. So much so that even Lemegeton wasn't pleased with it.
“From this, it”s clear they didn't summon it.'
Honestly, this was surprising, but what really caught my ear was something else. It was the word 'Faction.' As I'd heard from Barbatos, it seemed they also knew there were multiple kings in the Demon Realm.
Still, I pretended not to know and asked them. I thought I might be able to get some information.
“Faction, you say... It sounds like there are multiple factions in the Demon Realm. Does Andras serve another king, perhaps?”
“Hehe, well. If you join our group, we could tell you.”
Sephiroth replied with a faint smile. It seemed she wouldn't give away information easily. Still, judging by her attitude, it didn't seem to be some huge secret.
Next, I asked something else.
“What did it look like? What about its abilities and Combat Ability?” “Wait, shouldn't you tell us if you're going to cooperate with us or not before we tell you that?”
In response to Nikki's retort, I just spoke frankly.
“Honestly... I'm not sure if I can fully cooperate with you. The Knight Order will be here soon, and if I'm with you, things could go badly for me. If it's just subtly helping out, that might be different...”
Honestly, I was in an awkward position, unable to fully commit to either side. I couldn't fully trust either Lemegeton or the Knight Order; it was the same for both.
Somehow, both sides seemed to want to recruit me, but our relationship wasn't good enough that we could turn into enemies again at any moment
Because of that, I was naturally reluctant to hastily cooperate with one side. When I said this, Nikki nodded with a displeased expression. And then she asked me.
“The Knight Order, huh... Come to think of it, I heard the Extermination order was canceled. What exactly did you do? Is the Empire not going to try and catch you anymore?” “Hehe, is that all?”
I smiled meaningfully and showed her my imperial commission. It was an imperial commission with an incredible backing, authenticated by the Emperor of an entire country.
It was a kind of boast. Honestly, I wanted to recount my *awesome* achievements as if they were a tale to be told over drinks. I briefly explained the background of how I received this imperial commission.
I told them I had gone head-to-head with the Knight Order, had subdued them, and had managed to blend into civilization through a bit of intimidation and persuasion.
Honestly, I had said it without much thought. It was just a simple deception to elicit some appropriate admiration. But the problem was that Nikki's expression had become incredibly complex.
“That's truly... amazing. ...Congratulations.”
What was it? Her mouth was clearly saying congratulations, but her facial expression looked like she was forcibly holding back a frown. In a way, she even seemed sad.
Come to think of it, she was also a Manifestor. So, my deception might have felt even more significant to her.
*'...Hmm.'*
Thanks to that, even I, who was doing the deceiving, couldn't help but flinch for a moment. I had merely hoped for admiration or annoyance, not such a deep reaction.
Fortunately, the atmosphere didn't become awkward. Sephiroth was quick to break the silence before it could.
“We can help secretly... I suppose that much is fine. Honestly, we weren't purely aiming to catch the Demon. The Knight Order and Other Countries would step up anyway, so why should we?”
“Then why did you come?”
“We want the items Andras will drop.”
I couldn't help but be surprised for a moment. I hadn't expected them to reveal their true intentions so directly.
Demons drop items when they die. And they're quite high-performance items. According to Chaerin, an Otherworlder, if they were released on the market, they'd probably fetch an immense fortune due to their rarity.
Sephiroth continued.
“So, let's just fairly count the contributions made. The person who contributes more in Combat gets the item.”
“That's surprising. I never expected to hear the word “fair play” from Lemegeton.”
“I don't like cowardly things.”
Under those conditions, I was satisfied too. Well, there was still the variable of the Knight Order, though.
After that, I casually listened to information about the Demon.
“Andras is a female demon with long, golden hair. At first glance, she looks no different from a human, but you won't have trouble distinguishing her. She has owl wings on her back and a flaming sword.”
And she's said to be extremely violent. She tries to kill everyone, adults and children alike, and engages in indiscriminate destruction. It's a good thing she descended in a sparsely populated plain; if she had appeared near a city, there would have been a massacre.
“And as a special note... she kept shouting the name Flauros.”
“...Flauros? What's that?”
“I don't know. Probably another Demon.”
Nikki replied indifferently to my question. It seemed my earlier deception had annoyed her somewhat. I briefly thought to myself.
“What a narrow-minded person...”
Anyway, we continued to have several conversations after that. Chaerin and Haneul remained silent, finding the situation awkward, but I had many questions.
Unfortunately, that conversation didn't last very long.
Muttering was heard. Feeling curious for a moment, because a commotion was heard from outside, we went outside to see what was happening.
“Ah... we're saved! Finally!”
“Rest assured! We will defeat the Demon!”
“Thank you! Please protect our Territory...!”
We saw Citizens gathered in one place, relieved, and a woman giving a splendid speech in their Center. It was the 2nd Knight Commander, Odelia Fafnilla.
'They're fast...'
In other words, the Knight Order had also arrived here.