Chapter 106
“Wait, wouldn't I die? What if I don't land properly? I'd slam into the ground!”
“You'll be fine. I know because I was fine when I did it before.”
“That's because you're Kagami-san... Wait, what? Huh? Wha—? Isn't this sexual harass—?! Not againnnnn...?!”
With no time to keep chatting, Kagami saw that the soldiers were already close. He grabbed Tina's backpack and leaped from the spiral staircase into its center, immediately hurling her straight up.
Tina shot upward at tremendous speed, reaching a point just shy of the top of the spiral staircase. With an expression more frantic than ever before, she desperately caught hold of the railing, then set her feet back on the stairs, panting heavily.
“W-what are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?!”
Half in tears and furious, she leaned over the spiral staircase railing and shouted down at him.
“Wow, you're surprisingly full of energy. All right, next...”
“Huh? I-I, um...”
Kagami immediately turned his gaze toward Alice, ready to make his next move. But Takako felt that would be too cruel, so she hoisted Alice up and said, “Alice-chan, hold on tight.” Then she swiftly ran straight up the staircase, reaching Tina in an instant.
The rest of Kagami's group followed, running up the same way before the soldiers could catch them in a pincer attack.
“Hey! Why did Takako-san carry only Alice-chan? You could've carried me, too!”
“Tina-chan has her backpack and other things that make it hard for her to move... Well, at least you're safe.”
“I'm not safe! I almost died!”
For the moment, the group had overcome the danger and secured a safe area. They caught their breath, then immediately started bickering noisily.
“What a chaotic bunch... But it seems their antics paid off.”
At the Demon King's exasperated remark, everyone immediately grew serious and turned their eyes toward one point. There stood a door leading to the final passageway before the throne room.
They quickly opened the door and entered the vast passageway. Seeing the throne room just ahead, they held their breath.
“...Leave this to me and go on ahead.”
Takako said this as she closed the door behind them.
“I will stay with you. You'll have a hard time alone... Your opponents are the royal guards, after all.”
David spoke up and stood beside Takako. Together, they held the door shut with all their strength, making sure it wouldn't open.
“If we don't hold this door, the castle's soldiers will keep pouring in, right? If you want to have a proper talk with the king... we can't let them through. Right?”
“...All right. Both of you, stay safe.”
Kagami started running down the passageway. But David immediately called out to stop him. “Wait, Kagami-dono!”
“...If Militariel-sama is there, please be very careful.”
“Who's that?”
“He's one of the powerful nobles in the Kingdom of Hexaldoria. He joined forces with Parna-sama and took Kururu-sama and Rex-sama away.”
At that, Kagami looked puzzled.
“What should I watch out for if he's there?”
“Militariel-sama... has a Skill. I don't know the details, but when you oppose him, your basic stats—everything except your mana reserves—drop drastically. I don't know how effective it will be against you, Kagami-sama, but...”
At the mention of that Skill, Kagami's expression briefly twisted. But he quickly recovered and said, “It's fine, it's fine,” with a confident smile.
“If that's true, then I might be in trouble, since I can't use magic or anything. But I've got plenty of reliable allies. And the Demon King is with us, too. I'm sure we can talk things out, so don't worry.”
Then Kagami gave his companions a thumbs-up. They nodded back with confident expressions, as if to say, “Leave it to us.”
“Perhaps I needn't have worried. Please stay safe...! Save Kururu-sama and Rex-sama!”
After David's final words of encouragement, Kagami ran down the passageway again. From behind him, he heard Takako say, “Our first time working together...” with a hint of delight in her voice, but he ignored it and headed for the throne room.
Kagami and the others put their hands to the door, decorated far more lavishly than any they'd seen before, and burst into the throne room.
“So this is the throne room... It's huge.”
“There aren't any walls! If you fell, you'd die. And it must be freezing in winter.”
Kagami and Tina stepped into the throne room and immediately looked around, murmuring to themselves.
The throne room was about as large as the passageway just before it. But its interior was clearly decorated far more lavishly. A brilliant red carpet ran down the center, leading to a massive throne at the far end, unmistakably where the king sat.
There were no walls along the sides of the throne room, only pillars supporting it. From there, one could gaze out over the entire royal capital.
And on the throne sat the king, unnaturally calm, as if to say their arrival had gone exactly as expected.
His most striking feature was a kind-looking gaze that seemed to wrap anyone who looked at him in a sense of security. His dignified features looked so trustworthy that one might believe anything he said without stopping to question his true intentions.
At his side, as if protecting him, stood Militariel, a slender man with a thick beard and slicked-back hair; Parna, radiating a bewitching allure and looking exactly as she had when they met before; and Rex, who silently stared at them with vacant eyes.
“You're awfully late. With power like yours... you could've gotten here much sooner, couldn't you? Don't tell me you're late because you came without killing anyone. You traitor to humanity, joining forces with demons...!”
“You make it sound like you were waiting for us.”
“You're half right. The king... seems interested in you. Though if you hadn't made it this far, I suppose he would've lost interest.”
The king showed no sign of attacking them, as if he intended to talk. Still wary, Kagami and the others moved to a position where it would be easier to speak with him.
“Oh? You're not hiding your demon horns anymore, Alice-chan?”
“We don't intend to hide and live in fear anymore. That's what we came to tell you.”
Alice spoke with a determined gaze. Parna clicked her tongue softly and looked at her with open disgust.
“This is the first time demons and humans have come to the throne room together.”
The king spoke up nonchalantly, as though it were nothing worth mentioning, and looked down at them from his throne.
“...What happened to the soldiers in my castle? Did you... kill them all?”
“We didn't kill anyone. We either knocked them out or ran past them to get here. My companions are holding the soldiers back in the passageway just before this one.”
At Kagami's answer, the king murmured, “...Oh,” with an impressed expression.
“Rex? Hey, Rex!”
Kagami found it strange that Rex showed no reaction at all, continuing to stare at him without changing his expression even as he approached, and called out to him.
“Could it be brainwashing, like David mentioned? No, rather...”
“Rest assured... It's not brainwashing.”
Before Menou could finish her speculation, the king stood up and spoke.
“I only hypnotized him lightly to keep him docile. I can use my power on only one person at a time, so I first make sure one person is fully brainwashed, then move on to this one. The Hero Job is rare, and I need him to defeat the Demon King.”
Hearing that, Kagami, Alice, and Tina grew uneasy, realizing that someone who should have been there was missing.
“Where is Kururu?”