Chapter 10
There's a saying that explosions are art.
In that fleeting instant when an explosive goes off.
The dramatic flashes born in that moment combine with visual splendor, making it seem like a fireworks display.
From that perspective, Yubel could be called a master of the art world.
“Uh… Yubel? What on earth is this?”
Se-on, who'd witnessed a master's birth up close, pulled himself together and spoke.
How would I know?
“Ghk… Has the seal been broken?!”
“Huh?”
Yubel tried to bluff their way through with a chuunibyou act!
It was far more embarrassing than expected, but bearable.
“……”
Se-on felt sorry for Yubel.
Had Yubel not had many chances to talk to people until now?
“Hero.”
“Yeah?”
“You're not going to abandon me, right?”
……Why would I?
Se-on couldn't understand what Yubel meant.
Why on earth would he abandon Yubel in this situation?
Yubel always seemed to be watching his every move.
Could Yubel have a trauma about being abandoned?
As I thought, Yubel was……
Meanwhile, Yubel was thinking:
I'd just joined the Hero's party and needed to get settled in, and now I'd made such a huge mistake.
My image as an intelligent, capable mage is ruined!
Yubel's plan was to become useful to the Hero and establish a place in the party, then keep him from earning skill points through other heroines.
This was the moment that plan went badly awry.
“……”
The Hero's expression seemed to ask how Yubel could do such a thing.
There must've been a reason he'd knocked the mercenaries out one by one, but I'd wiped them all out……
Wouldn't he want to ditch someone who wasn't even a heroine and had been making mistakes from the start?
I may look like a woman, but I'm a manly man through and through……
It's not like I can act like a woman.
“It's okay……. I won't ever abandon you.”
The Hero murmured, his expression somehow sad.
“R-Really?”
He's not going to abandon me?
Maybe the Hero needed firepower like that.
I wasn't stupid enough to take him at his word, but I guess I wasn't getting kicked out for now.
“You promised, okay? You can't abandon me! Let's seal it with a handprint, too!”
“Yeah. I won't ever abandon you, so don't worry.”
‘Absolutely’ means you'll do something without fail, in modern-day parlance.
The Hero might not know, but I'm from the modern world too.
I won't be fooled.
Chirp! Chirp!
“Let's seal it with a handprint, okay?”
“O-Okay.”
Press.
The two hooked their pinkies together and sealed their promise amid the ruins of the building.
The moonlight shining down on them and the chirping of insects created a mysterious atmosphere.
Huh? Where have I felt this before……
“Hmm, this feels kind of nostalgic.”
“Hm?”
“It's nothing. Anyway, what should we do about this place?”
A crater had formed where the Black Wolves' hideout once stood.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the surrounding plants were contaminated and rapidly losing their vitality.
Squish. Squish.
Wait, why is it getting contaminated?
-Hey!!! Freeze right there!
Turning toward the booming voice, they saw the elven army approaching from the distance.
They'd probably heard the explosion and come to investigate its cause.
“What on earth happened here? Guh, this is demonic energy!?”
Demonic energy? What the hell is that?
Did I spread it?
“Oh? Hello.”
Se-on greeted them awkwardly.
The elven soldier seemed to recognize the Hero, too.
“Hero!! What on earth happened here? It sounded like there was a huge explosion……”
“Ah, well, you see——”
“The Black Wolves!! The Black Wolves blew themselves up while fighting us!”
Yubel cut in to answer for Se-on.
Yubel's frantic manner was just like a child making excuses to keep their mistake from being discovered.
“The Black Wolves, you say?”
“Yubel, just now you……”
“That's right!! Those bastards suddenly went, ‘Hehehe, we're going to contaminate this place!’ and started spraying something around!”
Se-on stared at Yubel in disbelief, but Yubel kept up the impassioned speech.
No, it's obviously because I'm the Demon King that this happened.
If they find out I'm the Demon King, they could kill me here.
“Hmm, I think we should report this to the Elder immediately. To think the Black Wolves could wield demonic energy.”
The elven soldier seemed to have reached a decision.
Luckily, the soldier seemed to have set those suspicions aside.
All right!
Now all we had to do was get out of here.
“That's truly shocking. But, um, what happens to us now……?”
“For now, you must come with us to see the Elder as well. The testimony of those who witnessed it firsthand is important, so I ask that you come with us, even if it's inconvenient.”
Urk, I wanted to slip away without drawing attention.
Well, we had to see him at least once anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.
And so, Yubel and Se-on ended up in the Elder's chamber where Hadrien was, in the middle of the night.
“Hmm, what brings you here at this late hour?”
Hadrien looked extremely tired.
We'd probably barged in right when he was about to go to bed.
Yubel and Se-on told him everything that had happened that day, leaving nothing out except for the little lie that the Black Wolves had blown themselves up.
How they'd come by information on the Black Wolves' location.
How they'd invaded the hideout at night.
And how they'd fought and won.
Hadrien roused himself and listened to their story.
As he heard about all their grueling struggles, his sleepy eyes gradually widened.
“Hmm……. Is that true? No, I felt the demonic energy too, so it really……”
It's hard to believe.
Still, it's the truth.
Except for the lie about the Black Wolves using demonic energy.
Glance.
When I took another look at his face, he was smiling for the first time since we'd met Hadrien.
“Hahaha!! I can't believe you actually caught them! Ah, I don't mean to belittle you. I'm simply surprised. If I've offended you, I bow my head in apology.”
Hadrien bowed his head.
“No, it's fine! I mean, there's a hole in your territory……. Are you sure it hasn't caused any major problems?”
You hear that there's a hole in your territory, not to mention it's been contaminated, and just let it go?
Is he actually incredibly magnanimous?
“Compared to the achievement of capturing the Black Wolves, this much is something I can bear. In truth, even our elven army would have struggled to deal with them.”
“What?”
“I forgot to tell you about Darren, the leader of the Black Wolves. His men are nothing special, but he himself used to be the captain of the royal guard in the human kingdom of ‘Tyrannis.’ He was nowhere near a knight commander, but he was highly skilled.”
The Hero had been summoned in the human kingdom of ‘Tyrannis.’
He was the captain of the royal guard there?
I almost fucking died……
Why are you only telling us now?
Yubel slouched.
“The captain of the royal guard normally wielded a longsword as his main weapon, but it seems he chose daggers to conceal his identity. Even so, he must have been no easy opponent. That's why I was so surprised.”
“I-I'm honored.”
At Hadrien's kind explanation, Se-on blushed.
Yubel was dumbfounded by the sight.
I was the one who killed him, you know?
Why is he the one blushing? Seriously.
Yubel slouched even further.
“I'll inform the people of this and promise you the highest honors. You should be more than capable of defeating even the Demon King. I can vouch for that as a former member of the previous Hero's party.”
Huh? Hadrien was in the previous Hero's party?
How old is this elf, anyway?
No wonder he had that old widower vibe.
Yubel thought as they pinched their nose.
If Hadrien had heard that, he would've cried.
“Then, will Riella be released, too?”
“With grounds this strong, it should be possible. I'll do my best.”
Hadrien nodded at Se-on's question.
Yubel felt an immense sense of relief.
It's finally over!
Three weeks? A month?
Anyway, that took a freaking long time.
Ah, come to think of it.
Suddenly, Yubel remembered the promise they'd made with Hadrien.
“Oh, right. What are you going to do about letting her call you Dad?”
“……”
“Hello?”
“That…… may be difficult.”
Shuffle, shuffle.
Hadrien left the Elder's chamber after saying only that.
What? Did he really just say he'd think about it?
A little while later, the Hero's party headed to the underground prison where Riella was.
***
Hendrick, deputy captain of the Black Wolves.
He'd managed to save his own skin by fleeing before the demonic-looking girl could gather her mana.
Having witnessed the captain's death, he was now fleeing madly through the forest.
Tap-tap!
“Huff, huff! The captain's dead……! Who the hell were those guys?!”
Having even thrown away his weapon to flee faster, he was like a quick-footed mouse.
As he kept running, the figure of a man dressed in black began to appear in the distance.
He was the man known as ‘Masked Cat.’
“Huff! H-Hello, sir!”
“Heehee! Where are you hurrying off to?”
Giggle, giggle.
With a laugh like a clown's, he had somehow come right up to Hendrick.
“The Black Wolves'…… No, Darren was taken down!”
“Darren? He was defeated? Heh heh, did you kill him?”
“N-No! It wasn't me——”
“Never mind that. So, how did the bomb installation I asked you to handle go?”
Masked Cat smoothly cut Hendrick off.
Hendrick wanted to cry.
Of all people, he had to run into this man right now!
He knew he had to report to his superior, but if he could help it, he wanted to report through a subordinate.
“Ah, that was all wrapped up successfully today.”
“Of course it was. That's the only thing you're good for.”
Tremble, tremble.
Hendrick was holding back his anger at that infuriating tone of voice.
“Well, I'll be going now.”
“Wait.”
Freeze.
Hendrick's footsteps stopped.
Had he made some kind of mistake? No, right?
“So why did Darren die?”
You said you didn't care!! You son of a——!
Hendrick cursed Masked Cat in his thoughts.
“He was taken down by a black-haired, black-eyed man and a beastkin-like woman with horns and a tail.”
“Black eyes……?”
After hearing Hendrick's words, Masked Cat tilted his head and fell into thought.
“Wouldn't that be the Hero?”
“What?”
Come to think of it, no one else in this world had such a distinctive appearance besides the Hero.
Hendrick finally realized that the man was the Hero.
“I-I think you're right. I'll go deal with him right away!”
Hendrick was on edge.
Did Masked Cat have a grudge against the Hero?
Why was he reacting like that?
So Hendrick tried to get out of the situation with the excuse, ‘I'll take care of the Hero.’
Then Masked Cat's sharp hand seized Hendrick by the throat!
Crunch!
“G-Ghk, s-sor, ngh, I'm sor——”
“No. There's no need. The Black Wolves end here.”
“Y-You b-bas——!”
“We still need the Hero's party, unlike the likes of you.”
Fuuuuuck……
As Masked Cat tightened his grip, Hendrick went limp like a wooden puppet.
Thud.
“……All of this is for ‘Stanasilla.’”
Masked Cat disappeared without a trace.