Hello everyone! Tilea is back with more misunderstandings and a new translator! Ayumi here, not-native extraordinaire, from Kyoto, and i hereby announce an increase in the release rate – Stay tuned!

Tell me in the comments if anything feels or sounds weird.

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Let’s run a background check on Edim!

Place: The Underground Empire. Date: unknown. I shall now carry out a personal background check on Edim.

Well, the grim look Ojou had on her face the other day, when Edim’s secret got out, finally got me real worried you see.

But after getting a good night of sleep, hmm, something felt really wrong you know. Acting like a human only to defeat one’s enemies? Give me a break ~ What kind of joke is that, gosh!

Well, I trust her you know.

But as the oneechan, I have to keep my little sister safe from any kind of harm. So, I think I’ll just run a little check on her. Just to be sure, as insurance.

Of course, I’ll do it alone. At first, I thought about asking Doyras before realizing that no one would want to dig up some dirt on his friend, right.

And all in all, it looks like Ojou won’t tell anyone about me and Edim.

It seems that we actually breached more than ten decree-laws the other day and that if that were to be known to the big guys in the capital we would have become first grade criminals.

And all our relatives as well, so that’s no joke. We really can’t let that get out can we.

It appears that Ojou is keeping silent less for Edim than for me, but she is an independent young lady, so she could very well act on her own if left alone.

“Miss Tilea, please do not try to do anything funny, and behave as you always do if you may” she admonished me modishly the other day.

Still, we can’t have that! I’ll by prove her innocence myself before Ojou can even plan anything.

0700: Edim arrives at the Underground Empire.

Pushing open the shop’s door, Edim gets inside. Exchanging looks, she greets me with a fresh smile full of life. How could someone even think that there’s a catch to that?

It hurts me so much to monitor her – but I succeed in safely returning her greeting.

0730: Edim holds a vampire rally

Gathering all her household, she started some kind of assembly. Well it is useful to exchange information periodically to avoid being found out by the government, nothing suspicious going on here.

Hmm, if I really had to say, the fact that they keep beating Jayjay up concerns me a little bit. But his personality is good to the extent that it is a (bad) joke in itself. I can understand why Edim can’t help but want to hit him.

0830: Edim’s workout begins

Edim gets in the gravity room D – The twenty times gravity room was it (lol)? She ran through a training routine, performing a few push up and abdominal exercises without a word.

The whole thing is a complete joke – I’d like to retort, but I don’t even know where to begin. In the end, I still feel dubious.

However, to Edim that wishes to live like a human, it must look totally normal. These days, training is the new trend among the Evil God Army. She probably just doesn’t want to be the odd one out.

Now that I think of it, Edim has got her very own iron dumbbell. It was Timu that made them for her if I recall correctly?

A vampire’s dedicated dumbbells. Shouldn’t it be around 200 kilos? Well that looks dangerous so let’s never touch it.

0900: Edim’s workout ends

Putting aside the dumbbells, she gets her breath back. You worked well Edim. I got tired just by watching you. Let’s release some tension with deep breaths. Ahhh~

Oh-oh that won’t do.

I almost let myself get too relaxed. That was a close one. Well I actually already got caught just a while ago when I was monitoring her training.

I succeeded in cooking something up on the spur of the moment but that was a close call really. I’ve got to put myself together. Let’s resume Edim’s monitoring.

What!? Hey, she’s not out yet! It looks like even after finishing her training routine, instead of leaving the room she is now getting fired up for another round?

What motivation… It looks like she is going all out.

A vampire’s special moves – I always wanted to see that. I’m getting all excited; let’s see how it goes.

A moment later, blood splurged out Edim’s blade, scattering in all directions.

Wh-What the hell is that mooooove! Self-Destruct?!  Screw that what am I doing. Now’s not the time to be enraptured- Edim is going to die from exsanguination!

Putting on hold Operation Monitoring, I ran up to her.

“Edim, a-are you okay? Ahh, ahh, wh-what should I do? There’s bl-blood everywhere, let’s call an – no let’s cast heali――”

“Tilea Sama, please calm down. There is nothing to worry about.”, she replied coolly.

Asserting this, Edim quickly gets back on her feet. It looks like my fears proved groundless, and that the Unidentified Flying Blood just now was not an accident but Edim’s ultimate attack.

She tried using it during the Fiend Liquidation episode but had difficulties controlling its power and failed, she says. That’s why she was practicing it to not repeat the same blunder once again.

Ha-ha, what a fierce ultimate attack. Edim said “It is still imperfect” but can’t she easily annihilate an entire troop of the kingdom’s regular army with that, I wonder.

That being said, I cautioned Edim not to throw that at people without thinking twice about it and sternly reminded her to never use that in front of Timu.

Well she assured me that she ‘Will never do such rude a thing’ so I guess it should be fine.

1000: Edim attends to the Evil God Army’s war council.

Today’s topic for discussion is war. They are talking about something like sending troops to the Manafint Federation- They really like that kind of things don’t they.

Everyone is busting about but the one who holds the meeting’s initiative is Dryas. Harmonizing everyone’s ideas, he keeps talking about things like military logistic and troop disposition. That’s some authentic, high level content.

As I’m really focused on my mission of monitoring Edim right now, what they are saying don’t reach my ears. Well,t even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have understood a bit of it anyways. Too high level. I mean I feel like we could write a new military classic just by copying down what Dryas is saying.

In contrast to Dryas’ great speech, Or does nothing but complain about everything. Like usual. He will probably get reprimanded by Timu in a bit, and the meeting will end.

And like I thought, he just got scolded by Timu, and the meeting ended, leaving Or once again with teary eyes. Let’s talk to him later, the poor thing.

I mean if I don’t take care of his little heart he’ll be pushed into depression in no time.

Anyways, let’s consider how Edim behaved during today’s meeting.

As quiet as a lamb, she did not express herself even once, just answering to questions when asked.

Hmm, how should I interpret this…

Is she putting on an air of lamby innocence? Or is she just excluded because she doesn’t fit in yet?

If it’s the latter I can help her. But what if it is the former?…

“… Sama!”

Oh? Is someone calling for me?

“Onee sama!”

“Wh-What?”

Crap. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize Timu was talking to me.

“The war council is over, but is there anything you wish to say?”

“I told you before the meeting started right? That you should proceed as if I wasn’t there.”

“Y-Yes.”

Ah, wait a second. That’s a good opportunity. I suppose I should ask everyone now after a fashion. I want to know how Edim acts during meetings when I’m not there. I mean Mühen is here too, Edim won’t do anything weird, probably.

Well, it’s just, just in case you know, she won’t do anything weird right?

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, whatever it may be”, Timu answered respectfully.

“Well, It’s just out of curiosity so no need to think too much about it but…”

“What is it?”

“Is Edim always like that during meetings?”

“Eeeeek! D-Did I do so-something wrong!? …”

What? Hey, she is really shaken right now isn’t she. Don’t tell me, is she hiding something? Ah, calming her down comes first guess.

“No, really, don’t think too much about it okay? Just, you looked really meek you know? I just wondered why.”

“I-I am terribly sorry! I only thought that it would be unbecoming of me to….”

“What are you saying, I’m not blaming you. It’s not that important, since you’re participating in the meeting, might as well, you know, it’s not interesting if you don’t say anything no?”

Edim shrank in fear all the more.

Aah, what does that mean? Is it because her secret got out? No no way, its doesn’t feel like that. I mean I just asked her a question.

“Edim, your lack of motivation is being blamed by your Lord!”

“I-I am deeply sorry”

And now everyone starts censuring her, calling her names and abusing her…

What are you doing you guys… Taking a bullish attitude towards a vampire… I mean even if you gang up on her she could win easily you know. And here you are treating her like, oh a little girl~. Well that being said I didn’t take her seriously either up until now.

“How do you dare embarrass your lord like that, you useless kin!” bellowed Timu, making her do a dogeza while stepping violently on her face.

Waaah-! Timu, what are you doing! What do we do if she snaps!

Timu has always been looking down on her, but if you really think about it, isn’t that like playing with a time bomb! What if Edim was seething inwardly the whole time?

What if she was doing her best and enduring everything in order to live peacefully with humans?

Or what if she bearing the unbearable not to compromise her mission as a spy?

I suddenly got really worried about that attitude of Timu that I had been tolerating the whole time.

“Timu, stop right now!” I shouted, running up to her before she committed an act from which there is no going back.

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Hello everyone! Tilea is back with more misunderstandings and a new translator! Ayumi here, not-native extraordinaire, from Kyoto, and i hereby announce an increase in the release rate – Stay tuned!

Tell me in the comments if anything feels or sounds weird.

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Side Story: The Diary of Ortissio’s Struggles

Ortissio wakes up early, when the morning sun ascends, around the time when the roosters start crowing. At five, he is out of bed.

The first thing he does after washing his morning face is training.

Going to the gravity room C, he performs his daily muscle-strengthening exercises.

The gravity there is thirty times stronger, making this room the third most arduous of the Underground Empire.

If it was his call, he would have gone to the one with the strongest to do some hard training. That, if he had not been chased away from it by his liege Camilla along with a “A hundred times gravity is impossible for the likes of you.”

‘It cannot be help, let’s challenge it once again when stronger’, he thought before entering the gravity room C. As he felt an enormous strain being put on his body, he started his exercise routine, performing push-ups, abs and squats, sweat pouring of his body as twere a flood.

Wrapping up his muscle exercises, he proceeded to magic training, devoting himself to expanding his mana capacity by single-mindedly repeating cycles of depletion and contraction.

Manipulating mana while being subject to such a strong gravity is no easy task. Still, as a commandant of the prestigious Evil God Army, he never lets out a moan.

It was only an hour later that he put an end to his training, leaving behind him a puddle of sweat.

Although short, this routine was ever so intense; with each passing day, he felt acutely his skills improving. This kind of results would have been unimaginable back in the Demon King Army’s days. That too was thanks to the revolutionary training program developed by his lords Camilla and Tilea Sama.

“Division commander Ortissio, here is a towel.”

“Aye”, he answered, accepting the piece of cloth from his subordinate and wiping the sweat off his body. If only he had more time, he would have gone straight to take a bath, but his hectic schedule would not allow it.

His clothes back on, he tasked his subordinate with cleaning the gravity room before leaving the place. Work hard, eat hard.

And so at six thirty comes breakfast.

The food prepared by his subordinates was waiting for his arrival at the dining hall – today’s menu is… Milk, fish, cheese and shrimps.

To wit, a Kalshium Menu made of all sorts of colourful ingredients.

‘For the petty body improvement of the likes of me, how generous Tilea sama is to prepare such a meal!’ he thought, full of gratitude. ‘Ah, how blessed I am – Not to the other members, but a special meal made only for me! Let’s dig in right away.’

First is some milk, a blessing to his sore throat after training, that he drank in one gulp from the barrel. That done, he dug in the hundred or so small fishes and five kilos of cheese, his chewing reverberating through the dining hall.

The sight of him sending a pint of the carbonated drink “Kohla” down his throat completed this baroque picture.

An essential drink, they say, for any self-respecting martial artist: after some milk, a “Kohla”. As one would expect, his stomach was about to burst. But with that, he shall become stronger! And thus, drank it all in one go.

At eight o’clock begins the prisoners’ interrogation.

All individuals captured by the Evil God Army end up shackled in the depths of the underground empire. Insolent fools that dared go against the Evil God Army! For that sin, they are thrown out in the room the farthest from Tilea Sama’s quarters.

As he approached the cells, he could hear the sound of a whip being lashed. It seemed that the fools that had yet to surrender to the Evil God Army were in the middle of being interrogated by his subordinates.

“Division commander Ortissio!,” saluted his most trusted subordinate, Gil, realizing his arrival.

“Did he finally spit It out?”

“No, he seems to be quite the obstinate one you see…”

The name of the one the troop commander Gil was interrogating was Chaka, a former officer under the Demon King Army’s general Kira.

Their general defeated by Camilla, Kira’s subordinates were massacred by the troops under the command of Nielsen, only leaving a few big names such as Chaka who ended up captured and subjected to torture.

Seeing him not breaking even after a year of incessant ill-treat, Ortissio had started to want him by all means in his second division.

“Hey Chaka. It’s been a year already, stop being so stubborn will you!”

“ Haah, haah… – Pu!” he spat, his eyes full of hate. ‘Hoo, is that how it is. Well that is exactly the kind of spirit I judged befitting of my second division after all,’ thought Ortissio before calling out to the man in front of him.

“Listen Chaka. Now is the age of the Evil God Army. The Demon King Army is history you know, how foolish is it to stay loyal to these relics.”

“Guh, nghn… Only death awaits traitors! Sooner or later, the Demon King will bestow revenge for Kira Sama!”

“Hm-pf, there is nothing to fear of from the likes of the Demon King, as long as Tilea Sama is gracing us with her presence.”

“Ha! What can a mere wench――”

“What impudeeeence…!”

“Kuh-!”

Upon hearing his liege being badmouthed, Ortissio went and took a swing at him without even thinking of it. ‘Damn. If i had killed him accidentally all the troubles up until now would have come to naught,’ bemoaned Ortissio.

‘For these few months, I tried every possible means to take him over. Yet, far from swinging to their side, that guy became stiff all the more. What should I do now?’

‘If he doesn’t surrender and holds onto his grudge, that guy is nothing more than an enemy and thus should be disposed of right?’ Ortissio wavered as he received a report from one of his spies that just came in. Lending him an ear, he could not help but let out a contented smile.

“Ah what a shame, Chika!”

“Uggh, uggh…. What did…?”

“He, it seems that we’ve found Kira’s only child”

“Wha-?!”

As Kira’s troops failed in subjugating Camilla Sama, Ortissio knew that the few survivors could never return to the Demon King Army. He thus dispatched some of his subordinates as spies to investigate their whereabouts, though he did not expect much from his second division (which was not the intelligence unit after all).

‘What unexpected luck! I finally found it, your Achilles’ heel!’ he thought before railing:

“Chika, at this rate, if you still refuse to bend, we will have no choice but to eradicate every single survivor you know?”

“Kuh- “

“Chika, at this rate, we just need to eliminate Kira’s successor, and his will shall fade out from history, like a shadow, you know? Only leaving to posterity the name of a reckless fool.”

“You, you bastard!”

“That’s my final warning. Surrender! And swear loyalty to our lord Tilea. You just have to work for the Evil God Army, and his descendant lives.”

“…”

“Is that so. Well that’s extermination for the survivors then. May Kira’s revenge be never exacted, and vani —”

“W-Wait! Al, alright, I’ll submit.”

“For real?”

“Aye. However, you must promise me. That you shan’t take the life of the young lord.”

“Sure.”

‘Ha! Did you see that? My efforts of the past few months were worth it, definitely! With that the forces of the second division will be greatly strengthened. And for getting an enemy to come over to our side, I will win the favour of our lord Tilea, great!’

And so, at ten o’clock comes the inspection of the food reserves.

Ortissio betook himself to food storage of the Underground Empire. There are hoardedthe various ingredients that the second division gathered during their expeditions. To keep them fresh and from rotting their group was mobilizing every possible means.

In particular, the apparatus designed by Tilea, the Flidje, was nothing short of amazing. By releasing water magic, it would freeze and thus preserve the ingredients.

“Is everything going well?” he asked his subordinate in charge of the place.

“Yes! Nothing to report.”

“Great. Do not let them rot! Our lord Tilea demands fresh ingredients.”

“You may leave it to us. As we are using the slaves at full capacity to maintain the Flidje temperature between two and ten degrees.”

‘Our Lord Tilea is infatuated with fresh ingredients, just after riches. Above all, her expression of happiness when we acquire rare ingredients is a blessing in itself. It is meaningless if they end up rotting,’ thought Ortissio, relieved by his subordinates’ report.

“Slaves are disposables, treat them as such and keep the system in perfect working order all day long.”

“By your will.”

‘The slaves’ water magic is weak. But if one makes up the number, keeping indefinitely frozen foods constantly stored at 0°F or below becomes possible. That these worthless scums could prove themselves useful was quite the surprise.’

At eleven thirty starts the war council of the Evil God Army.

As he was heading to the regular meeting, his steps resounded through the corridor.

“Division commander, we compiled the reports for today’s meeting,” his aide walking by his side said.

“Good work. Today’s council was about the results of the expeditions towards Chilge and the seasonal budget report, right.”

“As you say. I think we achieved everything that could be as of now”

“Still, we did not attain the predetermined objectives did we?”

“To our deepest regret that is indeed the case but –“

“Damn Chief of Staff! Always giving us damn unreasonable workloads!” roared Ortissio, as the smug face of an ikemen elf went through his mind.

“Would the commandants bestow mercy upon us, I hope…”

“Don’t. We’re speaking about him. He’ll probably relentlessly throw snide accusations at me as usual…”

“I shall sympathize with you from the bottom of my heart my lord.” his subordinate commiserated with him, full of pity, knowing too well the storm of cries and oaths that awaited his superior in that room. Ortissio always felt so melancholic at this hour of the day, and his steps towards the council room naturally became heavier.

Still, time does not wait for anyone- biting the bullet, he entered the council room, only to be welcomed by needle-like cold looks from Camilla Sama and General Commander Nielsen.

“You’re late, Ortissio”, ostentatiously disparaged that damn Chief of Staff.

“I beg for your forgiveness,” he offered an excuse. You bastard, whose fault do you think it is. I would not be If your unreasonable instructions did not force us to take some time to compile today’s reports, he wanted to say among with lots of other vindications, which he kept to himself.

Getting over the humiliation, he reported how the looting expedition ended in not meeting its preposterously high objectives.

“Ahem. The expedition towards Chilge attained most of its predetermined goals. Powerful noble houses were destroyed, only leaving some post-war clean-up to do. However, as anyone could understand at a glance, the plunder quota was, as one may expect… Still my second division―!”

“Enough!” interrupted Camilla.

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

“Ortissio, I shall now mete out punishment to you, who failed to act according to our directions,” Camilla hissed without an ounce of compassion.

“E, err, but! I beg your pardon but, on this matter, would not the point at issue be the unreasonable directives given by the Chief of Staff?!”

“Ortissio, stop looking for excuses. The directives were decided ahead of time- how is it reasonable to complain about it at this point?”

“I cannot agree with you more. Not only he barely procured enough funds, but he also keeps gathering furnishing of poor quality unbefitting of our Lord’s above. To the extent that I being to question his loyalty,” Dryas rubbed it in.

Following Camilla’s comment, the other commanders then started to thunderingly rain invectives to Ortissio. That damn Chief of Staff in particular, as if holding a grudge since the Fiend Liquidation Mission, was relentlessly taking the council in a bad direction.

‘God dammit, where does all this flak come from! Cannot they understand! Everyone has in mind the days of the Demon Metropolis Benz and won’t stop comparing today to back then! But the items that you come across nowadays are way behind in both quality and quantity – What are you saying I should have done!’ Ortissio, on the verge of screaming, kept his grievance to himself with great difficulty

“Ortissio, under normal circumstances such an incompetent person would have already been executed by now… However as unfortunate as that may be is we lack personnel at the moment. I shall remit your sins, but you shall as punishment gather an additional ten percent of funds.”

“Y, Yes my lord.”

‘And now the fund objective is raised by another ten percent… Even though it was already such a heavy workload… Even loan sharks and profiteers would be more humane you know!’

“And also, Ortissio, your second division’s quarters shall be moved further north, to block C”

“W-What? May, may I ask why…?” he gulped, realizing that it would mean getting even farther from the headquarters, namely Tilea Sama’s bedroom – and that alone would betray a low standing in his lord’s trust.

“You and your troops were originally too close from Tilea Sama, and there is no way I could allow untrustworthy fools to stay by our lord’s side you see.”

“B-, But, w-, why… There is none that think more highly of Tilea Sama that me!”

“He, none you say. That is to say more than me too?! How impudent of youuu!” she bellowed.

‘Hey I did it again. With each comment I dare make, it seems that I dig myself into a deeper hole. And that’s only because Camilla Sama, general commander Nelsen and the other commanders lend an ear to that damn Chief of Staff’s opinions. Isn’t someone, anyone, on my side?’

His eyes briefly met with Edim’s.

‘Ohh, now that I think of it, we are comrades who worked up together during the Fiend Liquidation Mission. She is only a half breed, but beggars cannot be choosers right?’ he realized, before sending her eye signals, asking for protective fire. Howbeit, she averted her head with a click.

‘Da-damn you, you mere half breed…’

A while later, as the council was coming to an end its final phase and Ortissio his final breath, an even more shocking statement took him aback.

“Finally, I shall announce personnel changes. Chaka get in.”

“Yes, my lord. My name is Chaka, former commander serving under Kira of the Demon King Army. As of today, I shall join the Evil God Army’s fourth division.”

“Wha-!??”, Ortissio raised his voice before realizing it.

‘Wh-why? This guy is an outstanding talent that I was trying to get over since ages! And it is none other than my second division that found his weakness, Kira’s descendant’s whereabouts, after gathering intel for weeks! I cannot accept this. That’s the only thing that I shall not along with!’

“Sir Chief of Staff. My second division had its eyes on that person since a long time ago. With all due respect, waltzing away with him seems a bit…”

“Ortissio, since when are you our human resources manager? Putting the right person in the right falls within the Staff Officer’s competence.”

“S, Still…”

“Back out. The only thing you have to do is to devote yourself to me.”

“K-kuh, un-understood”

‘You bastaaards! Damn it, damn it all! Too many tears in my eye, fuck, what’s even happening anymore, I can’t see clear no more.’

Leaving the council, Ortissio suddenly started running around aimlessly. He did expect that he would have to go through some logic-defying council, but today’s meeting was horrible. His heart felt like it was falling apart.

“Oh, Or! What are you doing here running? It’s time did you forget?”

“Ti-Tilea Sama!”

‘That’s right. So many things happened that I blacked out for a moment. Yes, today, my lord made time for a conversation with my unworthy self, today was Cown-Selling Day! ‘

And like today’s suffering never existed to begin with, Ortissio obediently followed his lord Tilea Sama in high spirits. On their way that damn Chief of Staff called out to them, but stopped in his tracks, fallbergasted, upon hearing that hey had a Cown-Selling Session.

‘Ha! Serves you right! ‘

He who always had a smug look on his face could only see them off with a jealous expression.

1h00 p.m. : “Cown-Selling”

Simply speaking, “Cown-Selling” is a system where one’s Lord lends an ear to his subordinates’ worries and offers them solutions and advice.

‘How generous can she be, creating this system only for my unworthy self,’ was thinking Ortissio when Tilea called out to him.

“Or, you don’t have to be so nervous. Please sit, relax and let’s talk,” said Tilea while getting some tea ready.

“At your will! It is my humble pleasure.”

“Well, today we’ll begin with a short questionnaire. Answer without holding anything back alright?”

“Yes, my lord”

“First are a few questions. Answer with “Applies fully”, “Applies to a point”, “I can’t really say” or “Does not apply” okay?”

“Understood.”

Seeing how Tilea Sama then took out a pen sheet of paper and sheet, ‘hmm is this some kind of exam? I shall then take myself to the task with all my might,’ thought Ortissio.

“Question 1: Do you wake up suddenly at night?”

“Applies fully!”

“… O, okay… “

‘That is the first question of Tilea Sama’s questionnaire, the answer obviously is affirmative. One does not even have to think about it. It would be arrant nonsense for a self-respecting warrior to sleep like a top. What if bandits attack in the middle of the night? One should be prepared for war at all times. ‘

“Question 2: Do you meditate on your death? Or do you think often about dying? “

“Applies fully!”

“… O, okay… “

‘That is a question from my lord! There shall be none to answer by the negative! My life is Tilea Sama’s, and my heart desire is to die for her ambitions of world domination!’

Then followed a few other questions about death, sleep, concentration and depression, to which Ortissio believed he answered perfectly.

‘As befitting of Tilea Sama’s right hand and loyal aide, hmm!’

“I got it Or, let’s meet three times a week for counseling from now on, okay?…”

“As your wish, my lord! It is my humble pleasure! I feel like I am about to ascend to the heavens!” he exclaimed with joy.

‘Good gracious, i will get to spend more time with my lord? As I thought, Tilea Sama must have felt my unswerving loyalty overflowing and was moved by it.’

‘However, what in the heavens did my lord mean by Emdiai when she mumbled “He is in good spirits today uh, what if it is MDI…”? ‘

‘Well, the frequency of the Cown-Selling Sessions will increase too, it is probably a compliment. ‘

“And well, Or you… probably have a lot of stress and things to say right?”

“H-how could I possibly be dissatisfied with anything! … ”

“Or, you don’t have to act all tough you know~. I won’t tell anyone about it, you can trust me so… tell me what’s wrong!”

‘My lord really has an all seeing eye! Ah, how could I possibly go against this benevolent gaze,’ Ortissio marveled for a moment. He knew all too well that It was a conduct unbecoming of a proper subordinate. Still, he could not repress it any longer. Without even thinking about it, he let out what happened during the council and the pent-up resentment he contained during the day.

“Y-yes you see, it’s all be-because Dryas …”

“Y-yes, Dryas always… Boo hoo, sniff, you, you know!”

“Al-always here stealing the, the credit for my feats, and there that, that youngster too, and that is not all!… Ev-everyone, everyone is…”

“There there. I’ll tell them to stop, so don’t brood over it, okay?”

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TL Note: One comment one prayer for poor Ortissio 

MDI: Manic-depressive illness

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If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
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Chapter 32 – Edim’s Secret Was Leaked (Finale)

“Now answer us!” Ojou demanded.

Her expression was unusually harsh.

Loser(Bizef) looked tense as well as they waited for Edim’s answer.

Oh no. Because of my thoughtless remark I had thrown Edim into a crisis.

“H-Hey, aren’t you two being a bit rude to Edim?”

“Stay back, Tilea-chan. She’s dangerous.”

“W-What are you saying, B-Bizef-san? How could Edim be dangerous? Edim is the hope of the Magic Academy,” I tried. “That’s why she’s so strong. She’s just your regular nice girl.”

“Tilea-chan, her magical power is ridiculous. There’s no way she’s just some girl.”

“I concur. Tilea-san, please stop with the obvious lies. Even if she was the most powerful student in her school, it is inconceivable for her to have that much mana.”

“W-What a-are you two t-talking about?” I said nonchalantly, but their gazes remained canny.

Oh no, oh no. It didn’t look like blowing this over was going to work.

Then what could I do? Come clean with them?

But there was the whole thing about Ortissio assaulting Remilia-san, and the thing about turning all of the city guard into vampires too.

Worse yet, Ojou was part of the Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons. Even if I could convince Loser(Bizef), there was no way the truth would go over well with Ojou.

While I was trying to come up with a solution, Edim drew closer to me.

“Tilea-sama, am I correct in assuming that you are attempting to conceal the truth?” she whispered.

“Y-Yeah.” I nodded.

“In my humble opinion, trying to deceive them at this juncture is pointless. I suggest we kill them, or alternatively turn them,” came her insane suggestion.

Hmm, but from her point of view they were discriminating against her. Even though she hadn’t done anything they had already concluded that she was evil.

I couldn’t blame her for being angry.

Ever since the vampire incident, Edim had spent every day being pursued by murderous guards.

With things as hopeless as they were, no wonder she wanted to lash out.

But that didn’t make it okay to think “Well I’m a demon anyway, aren’t I!” and do something extreme.

She was a human after all.

“Edim, I understand how you feel. But that doesn’t excuse giving up on yourself and lashing out.”

“Eh!? I, I haven’t really given up on myself or anything like…” she tried to whisper, but I wasn’t having any of it.

“You don’t have to keep up that strong front,” I told her. “Just leave everything to me.”

“I-I understand. Then I will accede to your wishes,” she said.

“Mhm mhm. I can’t come clean about that incident with Or but I can at least mix some of the truth in. Just go along with my story, Edim.”

“I understand.”

With that settled, I turned back to the awaiting duo.

We were past the point where I could just play dumb. That was why I would tell them some of the truth.

Oh wow, was I nervous though. What I did here would decide Edim’s future. No matter what, I had to make this work.

“I understand, Ojou. Bisef-san. To be honest, Edim really isn’t a human. She’s a demon, a vampire.”

“Wha-!?” “Wha-!?”

But after the initial shock they looked ready to attack.

Damn it! I rushed forward to defend her.

“W-Wait! Wait, wait! Let me finish!”

“Move away from there, Tilea-san. I do not know why you are protecting that demon but do you understand the situation? Endangering the nation like this will end in your entire family’s execution, you know?”

Uu-! My whole family’s execution!?

I couldn’t get my Timu involved in this. But then Edim was a dear friend of mine.

I couldn’t just abandon her.

In that case I could only hope that I could get through to their feelings.

“Ojou, Bizef-san, aren’t we friends? You won’t just arrest me without hearing me out, right? Are you really so cruel that you’d get my family involved in this?”

“Tilea-chan, whatever happens I’m on your side. Pratoline, let’s just listen to what she has to say first,” Loser(Bizef) said.

“You’re too naive, Bizef-san. Compromising with those that associate with demons will be your death.”

“Ojou…”

Was she really going to arrest me without even listening…?

We might have butted heads when it came to cuisine but that was because we both took cooking seriously. Even if we argued, I had thought that we had become friends…

I mustered all of my sadness and looked at her.

“Kuh, well, fine then,” she relented. “I will at least hear you out.”

“Ojou!” I cried.

“I-It isn’t as though I sympathise with you. I simply had a few words to speak about that new menu item you put out the other day. If you were imprisoned then I could hardly do so,” she babbled, flushed.

Whatever she said, Ojou cared about me too.

Geez, what a damned tsundere!

She should have just been honest from the start.

Anyway, they were at least willing to listen for now. All I had to do now was win them over.

For the next few minutes I gestured animatedly as I told them the tale of what Edim had been through.

How she was turned into a vampire against her will.
How she was a vampire now, but had the heart of a human.
How she was the victim here, and how hard she had been working to protect both me and other civilians.

Through all of that, Ojou and Loser(Bizef) silently listened.

“…So you see? She really had no choice. You understand, right?”

“Oh yes. At the very least I understand why you are trying to protect that girl.”

“Then…!”

“However, do you think that would be the end of it?” Ojou me.

“Mu! Why not?” I asked.

“First of all, let us put aside the fact that you gave us false information about what happened during the attack on the capital, lied to Remilia-sama and everyone else in the Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons, causing confusion and misdirection.”

“Hggh-…! T-That was… I had a reason so I couldn’t help it and…”

“No need for the excuses,” she interrupted. “Your reasons were about what I expected. After all, this is you we are discussing. I’ll bet this all happened because you found that girl cute, she caught your eye, and then you got yourself into this without understanding the seriousness of it.”

“W-Well…”

Damn you, Ojou! Why did you have to hit where it hurt…?

And I felt really bad about deceiving everyone in the Loyalist Committee, you know? But everyone there was so hard-headed so there was no way they’d have accepted Edim.

Ojou turned away from me.

“Your name was Edim, was it? I understand your circumstances now. However, are you truly an ally of mankind?”

“She has a point,” Loser(Bizef) said to me. “I feel bad for the girl, but it’s quite likely that she’s a pawn of demonkind.”

“H-Hey, didn’t I just explain? Edim’s not dangerous. She got back her heart as a human.”

“Tilea-san, deceiving you is easier than taking candy from a baby,” Ojou remarked.

“But that innocence is what’s good about her,” Loser(Bizef) added unhelpfully.

These two were looking down on me, weren’t they?

I wasn’t that dumb! Back when I was a kid they used to call me a genius you know!

…It hadn’t been for long though.

Anyways, Loser, what you said didn’t make me feel any better, okay?

“You two are being too paranoid,” I argued. “Edim is a kind person. The only reason she’s here right now was because she came to fight the Fiend on my behalf.”

Couldn’t I convince them somehow…?

At this rate Edim was going to be hurt again, and lose even more trust in humans.

Oh I know! What if I got Edim to explain herself as well?

“Edim, you’re a kind-hearted human, right?”

“Y-Yes. It is as Tilea-sa- …n says. I am an ally of mankind. That’s why I have come here to kill the Fiend, enemy of the people.”

“See!?”

“What horrid acting,” Ojou deadpanned.

“Yeah. It sounded like that line was fed to her,” Loser(Bizef) agreed.

“Wha-!? Who are you saying fed her the line then!?”

“That girl’s master. I believe it should be the vampire that turned her.”

“Yeah. Her master could have ordered her to infiltrate humanity as a spy.”

“Huhu!” I laughed triumphantly. “Too bad. Edim’s master is dead already. Arc… What was his name again…? Edim, what was it again?”

“It was Arcune, Tilea-sa- …n.”

“Right, right. So that Arcune guy died during the vampire attack, so he can’t give orders anymore.”

“Even if that is true, Edim-san, are you saying that you have allied with mankind in spite of your master’s murder?”

“Like I said, Edim got her heart back and――”

“You be quiet for a moment! Well? What say you?”

“…I do not consider Arcune as my master. I wanted to kill him.”

“See!?”

“She may have a new master, however,” argued Ojou. “OR perhaps she is simply lying. Or could it be that this Arcune fellow was simply an unrelated third-rate who got himself killed by a bunch of humans. After all, from what I can see Edim-san’s strength, her master must have been powerful indeed.”

“You know, we’re not going to get anywhere if keep suspecting everything.”

Ojou ignored me and continued her interrogation.

“Is there truly no master demon behind you right now?”

“…There is not.”

“Can you swear it?”

“I can.”

“Then as proof of your allegiance to mankind, I shall have you kneel at the royal crest and kiss it.”

Ojou produced a piece of cloth from her pocket and dropped it to the ground. She must have gotten it from the royal family.

On its surface was a huge, sparkling crest.

Edim looked visibly upset.

“Uuuu…”

“My! Can you not do so?” Ojou jeered.

“Kuh! I-I can,” Edim responded.

She knelt down to kiss the crest, looking like the picture of suffering.

Oh, no wonder! Edim had been chased around and almost killed by the Public Safety Force. No wonder she didn’t trust the crown.

“Edim, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Y-Yes,” she replied happily.

She must have really hated it. Of course she did. They tried to kill her for no reason. It was too cruel to demand her loyalty after that.

“Tilea-san, please stop interfering. This is important.”

“The city guards have been chasing Edim all this time, so of course she doesn’t trust the royal family.”

“She seems more suspicious by the moment.”

Damn you, Ojou! You’re so damned stubborn!

Just how long do you have to insist on this?

Maybe I ought to focus on Loser(Bizef) instead.

“To begin with, don’t you think it’s too cruel to make a girl do things against her will, Bizef-san?”

“Ah, y-yeah. Mhm.”

“Bizef-san, what nonsense are you saying!” scolded Ojou.

He laughed sheepishly.

“Bizef-san understand. Isn’t that great, Edim?”

“This is all thanks to you, Tilea-sa- …n. Thank you very much.”

“Mmn mmn. Now we just have to get Ojou to understand what a great girl you are.”

“U-Umm, while I would love to do that, Tilea-sa- …n, if I do not report the mission’s success before dawn…”

Oh right.

Dryas-kun was going to kill himself.

And I was worried about everyone else too.

Yeah. We needed to hurry up and let him know she was okay.

“You’re right. Then quickly go tell them.”

With the Fiend’s head in hand, Edim rushed off like the wind.

“Ah, wait there! We are still not done!”

“It’s fine already, so just let her go. Edim has friends that are still waiting for her,” I said as I stopped Ojou from running after her.

Ojou didn’t seem keen on pushing me aside either because she just watched Edim go.

Then she turned to me and sighed.

“Tilea-san, this only turned out this way because it was us two. Had it been anyone else, you would be on the way to prison right now.”

“Geez, how many times do I have to say it? Edim didn’t become a demon because she wanted to. So why are you suspecting her so much?”

It seemed like another argument. Neither of us were willing to back down.

“Now, now, girls. Let’s all calm down.”

“Bizef-san, as a former adventurer surely you understand how dangerous this is? Simply taking her at her word because she used to be a human is outrageous.”

“Y-You have a point.”

The Loser(Bizef) lost against Ojou’s threatening expression. As if I would let this slide!

“Bizef-san, are you truly on my side? You wouldn’t do something so cruel to a girl, right? Would you really execute her for just being a demon? If you did, I’d hate you for the rest of my life.”

“Uuh!? O-Of course, not. I, Bizef, am not such a small-minded man.”

“W-Whose side are you on!?” Ojou demanded. “No matter how you look at it Tilea-san’s position is dangerous.”

“T-That…”

“Bizef-san!” “Bizef-san!”

“Ahaha… C-Come to think of it, I just remembered something urgent I have on. Let’s continue this another time. S-See ya!”

And with that, Loser(Bizef) ran off.

That damned loser ran away again…

Well, whatever.

At any rate, if I had no choice but to rely on him then I was done for anyway. I had to convince Ojou somehow.

“Ojou, I’m begging you, please just believe Edim.”

“Tilea-san, do you have a reason why you can be so certain she is safe?”

“Because she saved me this time, and because more than anything, Edim is Timu’s friend.”

“Timu, as in your sister, correct? Can you believe everything your sister says without a doubt?”

“Of course I can. If I can’t trust my sister, then who can I trust!?”

“Nobody is saying that your sister is deceiving you. But for example, your sister could have been deceived as well.”

“T-That couldn’t be… Edim is a good girl. You can tell just by looking. Edim really treasures Timu and me.”

“Can you truly, truly be certain? If you are wrong, then you may be putting your sister in danger.”

“Uuuu, E-Edim wouldn’t do such a…”

“Can you guarantee that?” she pressed. “You’re the older sister here. If you ignore reality because you feel sorry for her, then what will you do if your sister pays the price for it!?”

Uu, damned Ojou. That one really hurt just now, you know?

I-It might be true that I’m an optimist. From looking at Jayjay it was clear how strong the bond between a demon and their master was.

And Edim’s master Arcune was…

Of course. Why was I so sure that she didn’t resent me for killing him? Could it be that she was staying by my side to wait for an opening…?

Maybe the reason she didn’t immediately take her revenge was because she needed to know how an ordinary human like me could defeat Arcune. Anyone could do it as long as they had the knowledge and kukanomis at hand.

Oh no!

All this time I had been warning Edim not to eat kukanomi. I never said that it was a vampire’s weakness, but maybe she’d realised.

Maybe once she knew the truth it was only a matter of time until she bore her fangs.

Was Edim secretly targeting Timu and me!?

Hieeee! I-I had to talk to our strategist at once.

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TL Note: It was a spiritual victory for Ojou.

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Chapter 31 – Edim’s Secret Was Leaked (Opening)

Dryas-kun’s advice had reassured me somewhat but…

In the end I couldn’t leave it alone.

How could I sleep soundly knowing that Edim was risking her life out there?

I left my bed.

I couldn’t sleep while I was still worried for her safety. Who knew that it was so difficult just to have faith and wait for somebody.

I had to find something to do.

Perhaps I could pray for her safety. I wasn’t exactly the religious type though.

While I paced my room I suddenly heard some kind of racket.

I decided to leave my room to check it out.

No sooner had I investigated did I find the members of the Evil God Army running about, and shouting rather dangerous things as well.

“Raze it to the ground!”

“Fire together as a volley!”

Not to say that they weren’t usually causing a commotion anyway, but what I was hearing was a step above normal.

What the hell were these guys planning to do in the middle of the night?

If I wanted answers then I needed to find the person in charge… so it was Dryas-kun that I headed towards.

“Dryas-kun, what on earth――hau!?”

I had entered the Strategic HQ only to find…

O-O-Oh my god!

Garbed in a white robe, Dryas-kun was kneeling on the floor, apparently about to commit seppuku. Grasped in his left hand was a dagger that he was pointing at his stomach. He looked just about ready to gut himself like a fish.

Why was this happening?

I gasped as I realised something.

Dryas-kun was surely as anxious as I was. How couldn’t he be, with Edim having been sent off to assassinate the Fiend of all people?

What I was seeing was Dryas-kun preparing to take responsibility if Edim didn’t come back alive. Because he would have been the one to have sent a friend to her death.

What was I going to do with him…?

I walked deeper into the room and patted him on the shoulder.

His eyes went wide.

“W-Why if it isn’t Tilea-sama!”

“Just what do you think――Actually, forget that. I know what you’re thinking, after all.”

“I am afraid that I have shown you something unsightly,” he admitted, shame-faced.

“You’ve shown me your resolve, is all. You’re planning to die if Edim doesn’t come home alive, aren’t you?”

“Yes, milady. As the strategist, I must take responsibility for my words,” he explained.

“…I can’t stop you can I?”

“Please forgive my impudence… I have no wish to live with shame after failing so.”

I took in his forlorn countenance for a while. He truly was a caring friend.

There was no reason he had to take his life for this.

The one who requested the Fiend’s death was me. If anything, the responsibility weighed much more heavily on my side of the scales.

If Edim died then it was I who deserved to die.

Right. All of the responsibility lay with me.

I had to di――――A-Actually I can’t do this.

Dying was scary, sure, but dying and leaving Timu behind was much, much scarier.

I was so selfish. Edim was out there risking her life, but I was too afraid to risk mine…

Damn it.

In that case, the only thing left I could do was head there myself.

Perhaps I would just get in the way, but there was a chance that I could help in some way as well.

“Dryas-kun, don’t do anything hasty,” I told him.

“H-However…” he tried to object, but I spoke over him.

“Don’t argue. You told me yourself, right? With Edim there, this mission would be a guaranteed success. Just believe.”

With those parting words, I rushed out of the room.

My goal was the Fiend’s estate…

Perhaps Edim and the Fiend had both knocked each other out. Or perhaps Edim had been defeated and was lying helpless right now. I could at least carry her and run.

I can’t believe I only thought of this now. If there was something I could do, I ought to be doing it.

Determined, I picked up the pace.

Ah, wait, wait. Almost forgot…

In the worst case scenario, neither Edim or I would come back. What if Dryas-kun decided to follow us into death and killed himself?

As if I could let that happen!

I looked for someone in the Underground Empire for someone I could hail. Unfortunately everybody was running about rather busily.

Come to think of it, I never did find out what the racket was about.

Hmmmm, wasn’t there anybody I could ask…?

Oh! Pervert(Nielsen) spotted!

He was jogging down the hallway looking rather rushed himself.

“Niel, could I have a moment?” I called to him.

Pervert(Nielsen) changed course and headed to me.

“Terrible news, Tilea-sama! Dryas has exercised his authority as Chief of General Staff to order a Bazooka Call(Magic Bullet Salvo Fire).”

“A Bazooka Call?”

I gave him a look of confusion.

“You must not be aware of the tactic. It has been discussed at the War Councils.”

“Yeah. It’s my first time hearing of this,” I admitted. “What on earth is a Bazooka Call?”

“It is, milady, the codename for a tactic where every member of the army fires a simultaneous volley of magic bullets. If executed, we estimate that it has the power to raze the Capital to the ground.”

Hmm, more chuuni talk.

Did these guys really think they could raze a city to the ground whenever they wanted?

Besides, if somebody overheard them they could really be thrown into prison.

But still, I could understand why everybody was so excited now.

“In other words, this Bazooka Call is the reason for all this fuss?”

“As you say.”

“And the one who ordered it was Dryas-kun?”

“It is as you say. I do not understand why he has decided to take such drastic action. I am intending to find out.”

I understood the situation now.

His explanation was brimming with chuuni, but translated without the exaggeration it was basically something like this: the “Bazooka Call” was a codename for avenging Edim. If Edim died, everybody in the Evil God Army was going to charge into Fiend’s manor together.

I could understand, of course. If it ever came to that, I would want revenge too.

But this was the wrong move. It wasn’t right to get everybody else mixed up in this.

Wait, no!

Was I really understanding their feelings?

If their friend died, then of course they would want to take action to feel better. And if Edim failed to kill the Fiend, I was going to be raped. That was what everybody was trying to stop.

Even if it meant fighting a titan who a vampire failed to match. To think that they would resort to such a reckless move…

When all was said and done, you could see that the Evil God Army truly loved Timu, me, and of course Edim as well.

“What will you do, Tilea-sama?” he asked. “At this rate, the Capital will truly be turned into a field of ash. This will surely be a set-back in the plans of the Evil God Army.”

“We’re stopping it, Niel. I won’t let them do something so stupid.”

“By your will. I will have them immediately order them to cease and desist.”

“Ah, also, I’ll leave out the details but basically Dryas-kun might commit suicide when dawn arrives.”

“W-What did you say!? Is this related to the Bazooka Call(Magic Bullet Salvo Fire)…?”

“Yeah, most probably. Niel, I have two orders for you.”

“Milady.”

“First of all, call off the Bazooka Call. I forbid them from doing something so stupid.”

“I understand.”

“The second thing is to keep an eye on Dryas. In the worst case scenario, stop him if he tries to take his own life.”

“Yes, milady. I will not allow Dryas to die.”

“I’m counting on you,” I said before heading for the Fiend’s manor again, leaving the details to Pervert(Nielsen).

The darkness of the deep night was a big help.

I was a complete amateur at this kind of stuff and would have just gotten in the way in battle, or in spying.

I wasn’t even sure how far away from the actual manor I was supposed to stop. Getting too close would end in being spotted, but too far and I’d have no way of knowing what was happening.

While I paced about and considered what to do, I noticed another person.

“W-Who is it!?” I blurted unconsciously.

O-Oh no! If this was one of the Fiend’s men then I was going to be caught for the stupidest thing ever.

“Is that you, Tilea-chan?” came a familiar voice.

“Eh!? Is that you, Bizef-san?”

“It’s me. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“A-Ah, umm, I uh…”

Who would have thought that I’d meet Loser(Bizef) here.

And what was he doing here in the middle of the night? If this loser ended up getting mugged then he’d only have himself to blame.

“Haah. Just when I wondered who it might be…” came another voice.

“Ugeh, you’re here too, Ojou?” I groaned. “I should be asking what you guys are doing here.”

To think that she’d be here too…

Standing in front of me was a certain ojousama, with her trademark golden curls.

Rozetta Pratoline, the filthy rich daughter of Rozetta Stole, a powerful aristocrat. The self-styled Gourmet Hunter, an adventurer in search of new foods, she was someone even I had to take my hat off to.

Since our first meeting we’d had the occasional squabble about cuisine. I suppose you could call us rivals.

“Tilea-san, I simply cannot approve of you being here,” she said. “This place is dangerous, so please go home.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that,” I replied. “I have something I need to do here.”

“Tilea-chan, what’s this about?” Loser(Bizef) asked me. “There’s someone really dangerous around here, you know? It’s not safe.”

“The Fiend, right? I know.”

“Then why are you here!?” he demanded. “The rumours are true. That guy is dangerous. He’ll attack any woman who catches his eye.”

“I know. You see…”

“D-Don’t tell me he summoned you here? I know it’s scary, but you can’t just do as he says. I’ll protect you,” Loser(Bizef) said seriously, giving my shoulder a gentle shake.

Mmn, I appreciated his feelings but if he tried to fight the Fiend wasn’t he just going to faint again…?

“It is as Bizef-san says. The Fiend will no longer be a problem. We shall do something about him, so in the meanwhile please try and hide in the countryside.”

“Are you two going to fight him?” I asked.

It was Loser(Bizef) that answered.

“We really shouldn’t be telling you this, but as a fellow member of the Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons, I think we can explain. As we speak, the Loyalist Committee has been split into two forces. One of them is tasked with rescuing Remilia-sama. The other is to destroy the fiend.”

“Eh!? Something like that was going on? I had no idea.”

“You are only an intelligence operative, Tilea-san. As a non-combatant on top of that, we chose to keep it a secret from you.”

“We didn’t want to get you involved, Tilea-chan. But if the Fiend has summoned you here, then you’re already involved. I’d prefer you knew what was going on. Our group is to assassinate the Fiend, and gather what information we can from his estate.”

So that’s how it was. I thought it was the end when Remilia-san was imprisoned, but… it seemed like I wasn’t giving the Loyalist Committee enough credit.

With things as they were, maybe there wasn’t a point to me being here. It would be better for the amateurs to get out of the way, and leave things to the professionals.

Loser(Bizef) was a point of worry, but Ojou was renowned for her exploits as the Gourmet Hunter.

I hoped she could help Edim.

“I see. I understand now. The truth is that the Fiend has had his eye on me.”

“I thought so! Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“Thank you very much. But the problem is that my friends are already trying to resolve the issue,” I explained.

“That is dangerous, so please ask them to stop,” Ojou objected.

“Well… the thing is that we ran out of time, so my friends are actually inside the estate right now,” I said awkwardly.

“Eh!? What recklessness!”

“Ah, well, you see, that’s why I was worried and came here to see and…”

Ojou exhaled worriedly.

“Aahh~ Why are you are such a… Just how foolish can you be! There is not anything a normal person like you could do here.”

“Mmn, I know. That’s why I was hoping the two of you could help my friend, but…”

“Honestly…” she sighed. “I suppose our plans have gone to waste then. Come, describe your friend to me.”

“Ahh~ Well, she’s a student at the Magic Academy…”

“Excuse me? You sent a student to battle the Fiend!? That is most certainly sending her to her death.”

“N-No, I mean she’s a student but she’s not just a student. She’s really strong.”

“No matter how strong she is, she is still a student. How could she possible compare to the Fiend?”

“N-No, I mean, she’s really…”

Unable to continue listening, Loser(Bizef) spoke up.

“I think we get it, Tilea-chan. If your friend is really as strong as you say then she’ll have a way to protect herself. I doubt she’d fight anybody too powerful head-on. We’ll meet up with her and help her.”

They were words you’d expect to hear from a reliable man.

As for Ojou, her tongue was harsh but I could tell that she was worried for my friend. She even started planning a way to rescue her.

Geez, what a tsundere!

“I’ll enter from the right then.”

“Then I shall disguise myself as one of the women he has summoned and enter from the centre.”

Mmn, mmn. As long as adventurers got serious there was nothing to fear.

Loser(Bizef) was one thing, but Ojou would make this work.

While the two of them were planning away…

“Hm!? Somebody approaches.”

Ojou seemed to have sensed somebody.

The two of them stopped talking and warned me that somebody was coming from behind.

When I turned around I noticed a figure running our way.

“C-Could it be one of the Fiend’s lackeys?” I asked.

“Hurry up and hide over here, Tilea-chan!”

I did as he told me and hid inside a nearby thicket of bushes.

Uu, we were so far out and there was still a patrol. You could see just how paranoid the Fiend was.

After spending a few minutes inside the bushes… it seemed like my eyes were starting to adjust to the dark.

I could properly see the scout now.

“Who――wait, Edim!?”

“Why if it isn’t Tilea-sama.”

What the hell was this timing!?

Just as I was wondering about her safety she just appeared in front of us?

I ran up to her and hugged her softly.

“I’m so glad you’re safe. I’ve caused you trouble, Edim.”

“Tilea-sama, just hearing those words makes me… makes me…”

Oh, and now Edim was crying.

It must have been terrible. From her tone it sounded like she had been been struggling in solitude.

Don’t tell me… Had Or not been doing his job properly?

Hang on! Come to think of it, where was Or? Was he acting separately to her?

“Is this girl the friend you spoke of?” asked Ojou.

She and Loser(Bizef) had left our hiding spot when it became clear that this wasn’t one of the Fiend’s men.

“Yes, it is. Because I was in danger, she infiltrated the Fiend’s estate for me.”

“Then I’m just glad she’s safe. But it would have been better for her to have stayed away,” Loser(Bizef) chided. “I honestly wasn’t sure if she was still alive.”

“Tilea-sama, who might these two be?”

“They’re――Hang on, Edim, I just noticed but, what’s that in your hand?”

“Milady. Please confirm the kill.”

With that, Edim unwrapped the cloth bundle and showed me what was inside.

Hyoooeeeeh!

T-This was…!

I beheld the terrifying sight of the Fiend’s severed head…

Its expression was contorted in agony, and even now its eyes glared in hatred. A fitting end for the fiend.

Both Ojou and Loser(Bizef) seemed taken again.

“T-That is certainly him. “I would never forget that fiend’s face.”

“I-I can’t believe it. The legendary Fiend was taken down by a student…”

I was a little antsy too. I know it was weird for me to say, but Edim really was amazing.

“D-Did you truly defeat the fiend!?” Ojou demanded.

“I’m finding it hard to believe too. It’s too sudden. It couldn’t be that somebody else defeated him and she came along and lopped off his head, right?”

“What are you two saying!? My friend would never do something so sneaky. Bizef-san, is this how you should treat somebody who risked their life to take him down!?”

“But she’s got so little mana. I’d even suspect her of not being enrolled in the Magic Academy.”

“Quite. It is as Bizef-san says. While I have no wish to malign any friend of yours, Tilea-san, I can only suspect that she is lying due to ambition.”

Kuuuu! Those are fighting words.

Stop looking down on my friend! Edim risked her life to protect me, you know!

Edim deserved praise here. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“They’re calling you a coward, Edim. Honestly, just how wrong can they get?”

Edim gave me a blank look.

“I see. I usually keep my mana suppressed, after all.”

“Right? You should let it all out. This is a matter of honour, you know? Show them what’s what.”

“I-I really don’t understand what is happening here…” Edim said hesitantly.

“Don’t worry about it. Just show these stubborn idiots how powerful you are.”

“Will that be all right?”

“Of course it will!”

“I-, I understand. Well then, I will release my mana as instructed… Haaaaaah!”

Ooh. I wasn’t sure what was happening exactly, but it seemed like Edim’s battle strength was rising.

Huh. Was the ground shaking a little? I guess her mana aura was having an effect on our surroundings.

If I was remembering right, the last time I asked she said her mana level was over 10,000. From the looks of things, was she around 15,000 now?

“Well? Do you still want to call Edim a liar?”

“W-, What mana…” Ojou said, shocked.

So a vampire’s power really was well above the norm. With this they wouldn’t doubt Edim’s strength any more.

“Do you two understand now? There’s no way that Edim stole somebody else’s glory.”

“…”

“Hm!? What’s wrong?”

Oi, say something! Like “I was wrong” or “Edim-san is so dreamy!” or “Maybe I’ll have Edim-chan train me”. Aren’t there heaps of things you could be saying right now!?

“I-It seems that we’re in danger.”

“Yeah. At that level of power, only somebody of Remilia-sama’s class could stop her.”

What were these two talking about? There wasn’t any danger to stop, right? The Friend was dead, so the peace had some back. Couldn’t they be a bit more positive?

“Why are you two being so gloomy all of a sudden! Come on, let’s go home,” I said. “Oh, I know. Come by my shop first. I’ll treat you as thanks for worrying about me.”

Ojou sighed.

“I wonder if we should consider that airheadedness of yours a virtue.”

“What are you talking about?” Loser(Bizef) interjected. “That’s what’s good about Tilea-chan!”

Mu!? Could it be that they were making fun of me?

I’ll get annoyed, you know.

“You two are being awfully rude. Anyway, the battle is over so let’s go home!”

“Please wait. This is not over yet,” Ojou stopped me.

“Yeah. There’s still something we need to know.”

“Honestly you two, just――”

“You said your name was Edim, correct? Are you truly a human?” Ojou demanded.

Eh!? D-Did we go too far?

Just when the panic about the vampire crisis had been dying down, too…

Aah, I’m so stupid!

Abababababa, w-what was I going to do?

Because of the Fiend stuff I had totally forgotten. Edim was still on the wanted list!

---

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It’s been six hundred years, since the last chapter release…

---

Side Story – Bizef Forkranz’s Past

I had been dead inside.

Up until I had met an angel…

It was she who had given me the strength to live again.

Back then, I was called the hope of the Royal Capital’s Adventurers Guild.

Once, I had been the leader of a gang of troublemakers back in my hometown.

I was 15 and fearless, living in a rural town with less than a thousand people.

There was little in the way of fun there, so the brats around my age all dreamed of making a name for themselves in the faraway Capital.

I wasn’t any exception, and I had a lot more confidence in myself than your regular kid.

Nothing was an impossibility.

Even if there was something I couldn’t do now, I would definitely be able to in the future!

It was a baseless confidence that never left me.

Not to say that I was weak.

In fact, I was definitely strong enough to become an adventurer.

After I joined the Guild it seemed to be success after success for me and I quickly climbed the ranks.

I was only twenty when I reached C-Rank.

Now that I thought about it, that was my peak as the adventurer called Bizef.

As was natural, this earned me some jealousy. People tried holding me back.

Worse yet, I was the insolent type, so my relationship with my peers only got worse as the years went on.

On magic beast exterminations they left me out. On bandit supression missions they fed me false info. In the end, I was even ambushed by some fellow adventurers. How was I supposed to raise my rank when everyone was against me like this?

I fell into a slump, hard.

The promising adventurer who was the youngest C-Rank soon found his peers catching up.

And before long he was just another adventurer.

Even though the rate that he had been rising was the 10th fastest in Guild history.

It was unadulterated humiliation for me.

But all that had really happened was that I’d become ordinary.

If only I’d had the broadmindedness to accept that I had been less of a big deal than I’d thought.

Unfortunately I was too proud to do that.

Instead I vowed to myself that I would make a comeback.

To gain merit I went on dangerous missions, one after another. As long as it would get me ahead of my foes, I pulled outrageous stunts and made them work.

Because of my behaviour, my already small circle of friends pulled away from me.

Back then I hadn’t noticed though because I was always looking upwards.

Instead, I started to see enemies all around me. Eventually people started calling me Bizef the Mad Dog.

I think it was around that time that I began my weapon collection. It might have been a consequence of those feelings of betrayal, but I used the power of money to gather powerful armaments.

People would betray you, but a weapon never would. Since I couldn’t rely on people, I would have my weapons protect me instead, or so I reasoned…

But living a life where you relied only on your weapons and nobody else? The world wasn’t so soft that it would allow it.

One day I fell into a trap set by hostile adventurers and suffered a serious wound while on a mission to kill a man-eating white chalk tiger.

I came out of it badly injured. They said that even potions and healing magic couldn’t guarantee a full recovery.

The adventurer’s livelihood depends on his body. I had no choice but to quit.

I cursed my life.

There was nothing left. Only a mountain of debts.

What was I supposed to do, I wondered.

Only halfway through my twenties and already forced to retire. The days that followed were a blur to me. I had hit rock bottom.

It took a few months before anything changed.

It occurred to me that I was going to starve to death. I at least needed the money to eat.

So I picked myself up enough to look for a job.

I was a deadbeat, sure, but a former C-Rank adventurer was nothing to sneeze at.

The jobs came one after another. A bodyguard for a merchant caravan. A fencing instructor. But although I went from one job to the next, none of them rose my spirits.

And little wonder, because for all the praise they heaped on me for my experience, in their hearts they looked down on me for falling.

Eventually I was fed up with it all and accepted a job as a guard in the rural outskirts instead. Not that there was actually much work to do in the peaceful countryside.

Still, boring as it was, a job was a job. I didn’t care as long as I was getting paid. And the quicker I got out of the rotten Capital, the better, in my opinion.

So I arrived there. Beruga Town.

A peaceful place in the countryside, far away from the Royal Capital.

Surrounded by thick forests and farms.

If you wanted to put it kindly, it was peaceful, but to a city-dweller it was the boonies.

It hit me just how far I had fallen.

Yes, I had wanted to get away from the Capital, but this was the middle of nowhere.

If I had to say something, I suppose the food was good, but that was about it.

I was going to work long enough to make some money, and then I was going to go somewhere else.

At least that had been the plan.

One day a pair of children came into the guard station.

I think they might have been around ten. One had blonde hair, while the other’s was silver, and together they looked around in curiosity.

This was why I couldn’t stand the countryside.

The guard station was a serious place, not somewhere you could wander into for fun.

“You two, you’re not supposed to be in here without a reason!”

“W-We’re sorry!” the blonde one immediately apologised.

It wasn’t like I enjoyed on picking on children. All the more if they were cute and good-natured, so the next time I spoke it was a little softer.

“If you understand then you should go home.”

“Ah, please wait. My name is Tilea. This is my sister, Timu. Might you be Bizef-san?”

“Well, yes…?”

“Ummm~ Is it true that you were an adventurer?” asked the little blonde, eyes glimmering in excitement.

Ah, this again…?

I know that children couldn’t help it, but having this brought up just to sate their curiosity was a pain.

“…It was a long time ago, kid. Anyhow, this isn’t a place you can enter without permission. Go home, go home,” I said, a little irritated.

It was always hard to stay calm when my past was brought up. I knew it was cruel to take it out on children, but I couldn’t help it.

The stern expression I was making would be enough to scare her away.

I wondered if I’d be chased out of town for this. Perhaps the nickname ‘Mad Dog Bizef’ would spread to this tiny town as well.

That was fine, I thought resignedly. It wasn’t like I’d be here for long.

“Sooooo coool! This is my first time meeting an adventurer, you know! Could I have your autograph!?”

I was left totally bewildered.

It was the complete opposite of all the scorn I had faced all this time.

I began to wonder how long it had been since somebody had looked at me with respect in their eyes…

She wasn’t just flattering me either.

I could tell. This little girl was earnestly praising me.

She wasn’t like all the others who were polite on the outside but were sneering on the inside.

I had spent so long with those sorts that I had… forgotten… this feeling.

The time I hunted my first magic beast.

The time I protected my comrades from a wolf pack.

The time I crushed a bandit gang and rescued a kidnapped girl.

I had been praised for those.

There had even been parents crying tears of gratitude.

It was thanks to this feeling that I had continued to forge onwards despite my weakness.

In the end I was so overjoyed with the blonde girl’s reaction that I spent hours regaling her with tales of my adventures.

The basics of magic, my life in the Capital, fights with bandits or with a man-eating shark… It wasn’t the kind of content that girls would usually find interest in.

Despite that, this girl just listened, rapt.

……

………

……………

“Mmn, mmn, and then?”

“Honestly I thought I was a goner. But my sword made it just in the nick of time and I managed to break out of the circle of wolves.”

“Fuee, that’s incredible… Could it be that that sword on your hip is the same one?”

“It is, actually. I take good care of it even now.”

“U-Ummm, would it be okay if I touched it?”

“Sure, but just be careful. It’s dangerous, Tilea-chan.”

Any other day I’d have thought it madness to hand my sword over to a stranger. But the way she praised me so earnestly was cute enough that I just agreed.

Tilea-chan held the sword up and tried to take a stance, but she couldn’t quite get it high enough.

I saw her arms tremble as she took quick breaths. A bit heavy for a kid.

Not a surprise considering it was a greatsword that even adult men would find trouble with, to say nothing of a young girl like her.

But it brought a smile to my face to see her do her darndest to swing it.

“Haah, haah, haah. It’s no good. I-I just can’t hold it up.”

“Hahaha, that’s no surprise. This is what you’d call a greatsword. You wouldn’t be able to without training.”

“Haah, haah, it seems not. Then Bizef-san, could I see you swing it instead?”

“Why not.”

She handed it back, so I cut audibly through the air a few times.

“Whoa, that’s amazing. That sound too. So this is an expert.”

“I’m actually quite out of practice. My swings used to be a fair bit sharper.”

I suddenly realised that I’d gone from trying to kick her out to performing for her.

But her eyes just had that effect on me.

“Oneechan, it’s getting late.”

“Ah, you’re right. Look at the time.”

“Right? I’m hungry~”

“Ehehe. Sorry, Timu. I just got caught up in Bizef-san’s stories.”

Unlike Tilea, her silver-haired sister Timu didn’t seem to have much interest in the stories of an adventurer. That was the more normal reaction for a girl.

Tilea-chan was a special case in that regard.

“We’ll be leaving now, Bizef-san. Would it be all right if I came and listened to your stories again?”

“Of course. You’ll always be welcome here. I had a lot of fun too, meeting a girl as interesting and adorable as you.”

She beamed a little abashedly in response. What a pure kid.

Before she left though, her expression turned serious.

“Bizef-san?”

“What is it?”

“Have you given up on adventurer?”

“Yeah. It’s a shame but… I can’t anymore.”

Even after my injuries healed, I couldn’t move the way I wanted. Simple jobs were one thing, but difficult jobs like I used to take were beyond me now.

When I explained it to her, Tilea-chan’s expression turned mournful.

It was uncomfortable to see.

“Ah, it’s nothing for you to worry about, Tilea-chan. It’s something that happened a long time――”

“Thank you very much!”

“Eh!? W-What’s wrong?”

“You’ve been protecting us all this time. You even got badly hurt because of it. So, thank you very much!”

Tilea-chan bowed deeply to me, her sister following suit.

“I-It’s not something you need to thank me for. It was my job, and it’s not like I saved everybody.”

“That’s not true. My family runs a restaurant. My dad said that the reason we have our ingredients is because the adventurers are working hard to hunt them. That they were stopping bandits and hunting dangerous magic beasts to protect everyone else. It’s because of hard-working adventurers like you that we can live the way we do, so――”

Before I knew it I had wrapped her in my arms.

It was what I had been searching for ever since my retirement…

It was what I had wanted, all this time…

Not retirement money, not job prospects, but the words she had just told me.

*

*

For the next few years, Tilea-chan would occasionally visit to listen to more of my stories.

Not once did she get bored of them, listening to every story with glittering eyes.

Her passion for adventurers was undeniable.

For a while I had even considered teaching her the basics if she had the talent and drive.

In the end though, I decided it was better for it to remain a passion.

The life of an adventurer was filled with hopes and dreams, yes. But ambition also bred toxicity.

I didn’t want her to experience that.

Besides, the girl herself was already resolved to pursue her dream of being a chef, and she had the talent for it too. It seemed like a day didn’t go by without her skill improving.

Even your average professional from the Capital was no match for her these days. In my opinion it was better that she follow her dreams of being a cook instead of getting tangled up in dangerous professions like adventuring.

Tilea-chan.

She was a fantastic cook, a beauty that lit up the room, the one I owed for saving my spirit, and the person that I loved.

It was a gradual thing over these last 6 years, but my feelings seemed to grow by the day.

Plenty of other men here had their eyes on her too, but I crushed every one of them.

Tilea-chan was too precious for these hicks.

She had no idea of course, but it was actually a fairly common occurance.

I was sitting in the guard station with George and the others, thinking things through.

Was now the right time?

I ought to confess to her soon…

“Bizef-san, did Tilea-chan make that?”

“Yeah, I got it off her as thanks the other day.”

This dish was called ‘nikujaga’.

It looked and tasted incredible. Everyone else in the room was staring enviously.

You aren’t getting any.

“It looks amazing. Even though she’s such a great cook and a beauty too, how come nobody is going after her?” said one of my colleagues.

“She’s a beautiful, filial girl. You’d expect her to have had a boyfriend or two by now, right?” agreed another.

“I’ve lived in a few towns now, but there’s never been a girl as cute as Tilea,” yet another praised.

Hmph, obviously!

As if the girl I loved could be anything less.

It’d be a problem if they lumped her in with the rest.

“Great at cooking, a personality like the sun, and a stunner too. On top of that, she’s a great person. I bet all the youngsters are after her.”

“Idiot, big bro Bizef’s already sent them off to the afterlife,” laughed George.

“Oi, oi, that’s slander,” I said.

How would he take responsibility if some weird rumours ruined her impressions of me.

“What do you mean slander? The other day didn’t you threaten that kid who tried to make a pass at her?”

“T-That was… The guy was just being too frivolous about it so I taught him a lesson,” I countered.

“I see now,” somebody nodded. “So that’s why Tilea-chan doesn’t have a boyfriend. So Bizef-san was the culprit.”

“Kuh, that’s not it. I’m just genuinely worried about Tilea-chan and…”

“Haha, it’s fine. That girl definitely likes you too,” he replied.

“S-Seriously?”

“Of course!” added another. “Don’t you see the way her eyes sparkle when she listens to your stories!”

“T-That is true…”

“Bizef-san, you’d better invite us to the wedding ceremony,” another joked.

“Y-Yeah.”

Tilea-chan liked me?

I mean I had an inkling, but it seemed so much more certain after hearing others say it.

Even after the others left to do their jobs, I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot.

In the end I had to slap myself when I heard somebody enter.

Somebody who seemed to be shouting, actually.

I strained my ears, and seemed to hear Tilea-chan.

After promptly heading to the entrance, it turns out my suspicions were correct.

“Bizef-san! Bizef-san! Bizef-saaan!”

Tilea-chan was frightened!

What had happened, exactly?

Still, nothing was impossible for the man named Bizef. Bandits, magic beasts, armed with my skill and courage I’d crush anything that got in the way.

After all, this was my chance to show her my appeal as a man!

With some difficulty I managed to suppress my grin before heading towards her.

“Why if it isn’t Tilea-chan. You don’t look too good. What’s wrong?”

“S-, Something outrageous has happened. I-, it’s a disaster. It’s a disaster!”

“Disaster?”

“Y-, Yes. S-, Somebody’s using a dragon to attack――”

---

See Chapter 17 – “Illusion magic, how fearsome!” for Tilea’s side of this incident, and the downfall of Bizef-san (‘s already slim chances with Tilea).

---

We have a new manga project.

From back alley brawls to bashful bonds, two former-delinquents face their next fight: long-term relationships.

During her high school years, Takebe was the top dog at her school. But with her old friends now living as happy riajuu, Takebe was faced with an impending sense of crisis.

Takebe thus resolved herself to quit delinquency, but the result of that was a fated meeting with her old rival, Soramori. Losing a fist-fight against Soramori, for some reason or other Takebe was now dating her.

What kind of relationship did the two of them have back in high school? And would Takebe ever manage to graduate from delinquency…!?

Chapter 1-1
Chapter 1-2
Chapter 2-1
Chapter 2-2
Chapter 3-1
Chapter 3-2
MangaDex

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
Thank you for your consideration, guys!

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Join the Evil God Army on discord!

https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1

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If you want more regular Tilea updates, please join my Discord server and remind me every Friday that people are actually waiting on it.

---

It’s been six hundred years, since the last chapter release…

---

Chapter 30 – Edim and the end of the Fiend

As I listened to the pale Ortidiot outline the situation, my face took on a similar hue.

Apparently Dryas-sama had told Tilea-sama that the mission would be a guaranteed success.

It wasn’t strange, if you considered our capabilities.

Neither I nor he could have guessed the extent to which Ortidiot would sabotage me.

At any rate, the point was that Dryas-sama would lose all credibility as our strategist if I failed to complete my mission.

It didn’t need to be said what kind of end Ortidiot and I would meet as a result…

Ortidiot was one thing, but I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I activated my telepathy.

『Dalf, urgent transmission to all units. All other objectives are put on hold. Locating the Fiend takes precedence.』

『Yes, milady. I will relay your orders to all officers.』

『See that you do. All forces are to prioritise the search!』

『By your will.』

Done with my instructions, I ended the transmission.

Ortidiot failed in negotiations, so we couldn’t count on Bernande-sama’s intelligence network.

And since Ortidiot himself was useless, I could only rely on my own power.

I was pinning my hopes on the vampire network spread across the Capital, and Jayjay’s knowledge of the underground waterways.

All that was left was…

“Edim! Edim!” Ortidiot suddenly interrupted.

“…Yes, sir?”

Please give me a break. I didn’t expect him to be helpful, but couldn’t he at least stay out of my way?

“Edim, what are you lazing about for!?” he roared. “Didn’t you hear what I said about the Chief of Staff? At this rate we won’t see the morning sun! Hurry up and work!”

He sounded suitably anxious thanks to the pressure.

Stop freaking out, already. You’ll make me panic too.

“Please calm down, Ortissio-sama. My kin are presently searching the Capital. We will sniff out the Fiend before long. I am certainly not idling about, so rest assured.”

“And how long is ‘before long’!? It had better be before the sunrise. If it isn’t done by then, don’t think you’ll get off easy!”

“Yessir. I intended to find him before the dawn, and am doing my utmost to make that a reality.”

“Really? You’ve already let us all down once before. Show me the proof that you’ll definitely find him. Well? Come on! Show me!”

“E-Even if you ask me for ‘proof’…”

Where the hell was I supposed to find something like that?

Just how stupid was this guy?

“What are you dilly-dallying about for? I knew you couldn’t be relied on. Since it’s come to this, I should just level the area and smoke him out.”

Mana gathered around his right hand as he formed a number of magic bullets.

Concentrated magic bullets that spanned as much as 50 centimetres in diameter.

He really meant to level the area.

Ortidiot raised his arm high and made to swing it down.

Ahh, goddamnit! Why did he always…!?

This was just going to make things harder again!

“Please stop! There is a high chance that the Fiend is using the waterways,” I exclaimed. “If you carpet bomb the place then we’ll never find him! Besides which, using a method like that would only draw attention and make the search even harder!”

“And what makes you so sure about that!” he demanded. “Do you think that we have time to scour each of those little tunnels? How are you planning on taking responsibility if we fail!?”

T-There was no reasoning with this guy…

He was being ridiculous.

If I went with his ideas then our chances of success would just get lower and lower.

What was I to do?

How could I persuade him?

As I was lamenting his spinelessness, somebody called out to him.

“So here you were, Ortissio.”

It turned out to be Mühen-sama and Muram-sama.

For what reason had the commanders of the 1st and 3rd divisions appeared here together?

Ortidiot seemed to be feeling suspect as well, dispelling his magic bullets.

“What are you two here for? I’m busy right now. I’m about to undertake an incredibly serious mission,” he said, questioningly.

“We’re here on a mission as well.” They each took a spot on each side of Ortidiot as though surveilling him.

“Oi, what’s the meaning of this? I just told you that I’ve got a serious mission. I don’t have time for you guys.”

“Ortissio, we have been instructed to detain you until daybreak. Come quietly.”

“Haah? Why…? I see. So it’s that damned Chief of Staff again! Are you two fine with following that guy? Don’t you feel any anger at being ordered around by that newborn upstart!?”

“Ortissio, Dryas-dono is the Chief of General Staff. Our superior. Besides which, the one who decided on this was Tilea-sama. Are you rebelling against her decision?”

“N-No, I’m not. That’s not what I…”

The moment her name was brought up, Ortidiot lost all sense of composure.

He must have been terrified of being accused of treachery.

After all, it would make him a repeat offender.

They would execute him without mercy.

“At any rate, it falls on us to remain with you until dawn. Do not attempt to escape,” warned Mühen-sama.

“D-, Damn that bastard! I was given a mission of great importance…”

“This one wonders why you cannot fulfil your duties with us here.”

“It’s vexing and stifling. Stop causing me trouble,” Ortidiot demanded.

“Listen here. We were given a mission to detain you. You are the one causing us trouble,” argued Mühen-sama.

“Y-You dare!? Do either of you understand just how serious this situation is!?” Ortidiot raged.

Well, there went my shackles.

I would leave him to them while I withdrew from here.

The first order of business was getting a grasp of the situation.

So far, nobody had approached any of the city gates.

I was certain that the Fiend was still in the city.

If we scoured the city we would eventually find him.

The real challenge was our battle against the time.

Periodically I would communicate with Dalf, Cass, Jin, and Jayjay, in order to narrow down our search.

In the periods in-between, my vampires were searching left and right for our target.

It finally happened a few dozen minutes since the search began.

An incoming transmission from Dalf.

『Dalf? Have you found him?』

『No, but there is something I wish for you to hear, milady.』

『Well?』

『Every member of the Evil God Army below the division commander level has taken formation outside the city. Even members far away are converging on the Royal Capital.』

『W-What did you say!? Are those supposed to be reinforcements? But Ortissio-sama said that the mission would be conducted with only our current forces…』

『They appear to be taking separate movement from the units assigned to prevent the Fiend from escaping. If anything, it appears that they are blocking the entire city.』

The entire city? Every member…?

!?

Don’t tell me!

『Dalf, are they taking formation at each of the city entrances?』

『Exactly so. It appears that they do not intend to let a single ant escape.』

I-, I knew it.

This was a Bazooka Call[Magic Bullet Salvo Fire]…

Only the Viceroy, General Commander, and the Chief of General Staff had the right to order one.

Besides Tilea-sama, nobody could stop this once the order was given.

It was volley fire from every member of the army below the division commander level.

Tens of thousands of magic bullets from the monsters in our army.

It would turn the Royal Capital into a wasteland where nothing would grow again.

W-What a terrifying person D-Dryas-sama was…

It seemed that if our mission failed, he intended to kill not just the Fiend but all of us as well.

Haha, this was insane.

Whether or not the Royal Capital would be annihilated was resting solely on the results of this mission.

I suppose this just showed how angry Dryas-sama was.

Usually he was the very picture of calmness, always picking the most efficient ways of doing things. For him to choose a course of action like this… I could only say it was because of his strong devotion towards Tilea-sama.

I had no time to waste.

If I didn’t quickly find the Fiend, I would have no future.

■　◇　■　◇

Haah, haah, haah…

Fuck, why must an aristocrat such as I sneak through the sewers like this!?

In the dim, dirty, underground passage, Gordon was running as fast as his legs would take him.

To begin with, what the fuck was that vampire girl!?

Breaking into my estate out of the blue, slaughtering skilled subordinates by the dozen! And apparently even Nyger, my most reliable servant, was killed by that girl. The fact that he hadn’t teleported and caught up to me is proof of this.

The demon race… Half a year ago they attacked this city. I had heard that the country’s forces somehow drove them off, but…

Damned Public Security Force. If you were going to kill them off, then you should have finished the job!

As he ran, he began cursing up a storm.

Everything was fun and games just a few days ago…

The reigning monarch, King Arcudas III, had originally exiled Gordon from the country.

Although Gordon was an influential noble, there was no ignoring the punishment for his numerous misdeeds.

In the end, Gordon had been driven to spend the rest of his days under house arrest in some rural backwater.

There, Gordon had spent day after day in resentment and gloom.

The women were poor.

The food was poor.

The longer he spent there, the closer he came to exploding.

Gordon was unresigned to spending the rest of his life in a hole like that.

He slew some of his retainers for fun, and turned women into toys, but none of it improved his mood.

So there he stayed, stewing in anger and depression until half a year ago when something changed.

The result of the demonic raid on the capital was the annihilation of the Public Safety Force, and a plummet in the dignity and authority of the royal family.

From that moment on, Gordon began sending spies out to gather information.

Before long, he received a report that the King, once stern and driven in his governance, had now become an empty shell.

Sensing his chance, Gordon returned to the Royal Capital of his own accord, yet no rebuke came from the King.

Truly, the attack from the demons had taken a toll on him.

Gordon himself had heard about how the Public Safety Force, created under the personal oversight of the King himself, had been massacred almost to a man.

Of course, all Gordon felt was mocking satisfaction, having once been on the receiving end of the power of the royal family.

Gordon began suppressing his old political enemies, and threw the King’s loyal protégé, Remilia, into gaol.

With everything in place, Gordon had gathered up numerous beauties and was just about to vent his years of frustrations into their bodies when this happened!

Gordon had been forced to escape with only the clothes on his back, so his assets were all back at the estate.

Worse, the expensive mercenaries he hired had all been killed.

Accursed demons! You could have at least done some good and attacked the royal family instead!

Nyger was not with him, but it was for these kind of crises that he had needed Nyger.

Instead, Nyger’s subordinates, his household guard, were guarding junctions of the waterways.

Right now they were all he had left besides what he was wearing.

Remember this. I’ll definitely be back to make you pay for this! he thought darkly, swearing to himself that he would return to the Royal Capital to return this suffering in multitudes.

Despite his dark determination, however, he was beginning to wonder how long he had to run for.

He had made countless turns already, simply trusting to follow the directions his subordinates had given.

But was everything okay?

“Oi, when the hell do we reach the gates? Find me a shortcut or something, I’m tired!”

“My sincere apologies. We have sent out scouts to each of the four city gates in order to find a safe route. Please bear with it a little longer.”

“Fuck, and just how long is a ‘little longer’? It smells in here. I want to be free of this place right this minute.”

The nature of the tunnels being what they were, the stench around them was pervasive.

Worse yet, the running had led to no small amount of splashing, so his trousers were stained with sewage and muck. It was truly an unbearable state of affairs.

“Gordon-sama, I’ve just received reports of a suspicious group of some kind. Please endure this until we can confirm your safety.”

“Kuh! I need a woman to fuck or I’ll go crazy. You lot, go bring me some,” Gordon demanded.

“That is too risky, Sir,” the guard protested. “What would we do if news of your location leaked?”

“Worry not. When I’m done with them I’ll kill them. I just want to have a little fun while I’m waiting. If that’s all, then go bring me some!”

“S-Sir…”

“My mood is very poor right now. I trust that I needn’t explain what will happen if I hear any more backtalk?”

“U-Understood. I’ll have some brought for you this instant.”

Sensing his mood, Gordon’s subordinates immediately made themselves busy.

Gordon sat down with a thud, irritated.

As filthy as the ground was, Gordon was exhausted.

Before long he placed his head in his hands and lay down.

I could have been in bed, indulging in beauties right now.

This is all that vampire girl’s fault. What a waste. So many beauties I hadn’t gotten around to yet. Probably all dead by that vampire’s hand by now. I should have just had them the moment they arrived at my estate. It feels like my prey got snatched away now.

And tomorrow morning I was supposed to have had that village girl, Tilea. I was looking forward to that little gem too. Easily one of the top three women I’d have ever abducted.

If I’m not to have her, then it would be better for her to die to that vampire.

As he gnashed his teeth in vexation, he heard the sound of footsteps.

Probably his men coming back.

Gordon rose to a seated position, and looked towards the sound.

As expected it was his men.

More importantly, there was also a girl.

“We’ve returned, Gordon-sama.”

“Too slow,” he chided.

“Our utmost apologies. It was difficult to stay in hiding, and it took a while to find somebody you’d be happy with,” the man apologised.

“Look at our situation. Even I have some sense,” Gordon scoffed. “I can endure settling for somebody a bit more base, for now at least.”

“…”

“Why have you fallen silent for? Bring her forward!” he demanded, and his men complied.

As he cursed his slow and dimwitted subordinates, Gordon noted that being a hair’s breadth away from death all this time had made him even lustier.

Perhaps the threat of death had provoked some biological imperative to have offspring.

At this point, Gordon would have happily devoured a bumpkin girl. Even if she begged or screamed, he was determined to have her.

A cruel smile crossed his face as he reached out to disrobe her, but then he stopped.

Mn!? Come to think of it, this is strange. This girl should have been forcefully taken, so why isn’t she screaming or crying?

This time, he gave the girl a closer look.

The gloom in the tunnels obscured the details, but from what he could tell, her face was pretty enough.

Gordon thanked his good luck.

She was so pretty in fact, that had circumstances permitted he’d have taken her with him alive.

“You can consider it a great honour for a low-born girl like you to be――”

“I’ve finally found you.”

“Hiie!”

T-That voice… He knew that voice.

And those clothes… as well as that face…

Why hadn’t he realised earlier?

I-It’s the vampire giiiirl!

“Y-Y-You lot, i-i-it’s a demon,” he stammered fearfully. “She’s a vampire! Drive her back!”

Nobody seemed to notice.

“What are you doing!? Hurry up and――”

“Edim-sama, please excuse us.”

“It’s fine. Return to Dalf for orders.”

“Yes, milady.”

W-What just happened…?

Just a second ago these men had meekly obeyed him.

What was this complete change of face?

Gordon watched as they obeyed the vampire girl, leaving him behind.

“W-, Why…?”

“No great mystery. Those men are my kin.”

“K-, Kin!? No…”

This was the special ability that vampires had, Gordon had heard. After being sired, the new vampire would submit to their sire.

According to the rumours, even the most loyal person was no exception.

“You really ought to get a grip on that lust of yours. I suppose it worked in my favour this time, but even I don’t know what to say to that,” she said, a little dumbfounded. “You’re literally running for dear life, and yet that mind of yours can still think about abducting women…”

“Shut uuuuup!” he bellowed.

Trying to bury his fear with anger, Gordon drew his sword and struck at the vampire.

But as it came down upon her, she simply grasped the descending blade before crushing it with the same hand.

“Wha-!?”

“What pathetic technique.”

Appearing to be more horrifying than ever, the vampire girl took a step towards him.

There was a pressure emanating from her that he hadn’t felt earlier that night.

Nyger had been right.

During their first confrontation, she had been weakened.

S-, So this was the true power of the demon race…

“Hiie, s-stay away!”

“You petty types never know when to give up and die.”

I-I’m going to be killed…

Drenched in cold sweat, Gordon’s teeth chattered uncontrollably.

This vampire girl had defeated Nyger.

Nyger, who some regarded as humanity’s strongest.

There was not a chance in hell that Gordon could beat her.

Trying to resist would still end in his brutal death.

Having come to that conclusion, Gordon immediately threw his head onto the floor.

“P-Please have mercy. I will become your servant, my lady. You can have my money, anything you want, just please spare my life.”

How could he accept dying here?

Even if he had to lick her feet, he’d survive this.

Even being turned into one of her kin or whatever would be fine.

So long as he could keep existing, nothing was off the tables.

“When people begged you just like this, did you spare them even once?”

“M-My sincere apologies. I’ve turned over a new leaf. From today onwards, I’ll dedicate my life to helping society.”

“…That sounds awfully suspicious.”

I see…

Despite being a demon, apparently this girl was just another deluded hypocrite.

In that case, this makes things easy.

To appeal to that ‘better nature’ of hers, all he needed to do was lie.

“I-It’s true. I can sense your great anger at my misdeeds, my lady. The truth is that it was my subordinate, Nyger. I couldn’t go against his threats and was forced into this. I know that some of the blame rests upon me, for being unable to go against my servant. But that――”

“Enough, enough already. Your stupid excuses are starting to remind me of a retarded superior of mine, so just stop it already.”

“I-, I’m not just telling excuses. It’s true.”

“I just told you to stop. I only mentioned your victims as practice in pretending to have a human heart. Apparently you bought it.”

“Huh?”

What on earth was she saying? A human heart?

Gordon couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“Basically, the farce ends now.”

“D-Does that mean that you will spare me?”

“Look, whether you repent or not is nothing to do with me. All that matters is that my lady wants your head. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a saint or a devil.”

“T-That can’t be. Please, please find it in your heart to have mercy. If you aren’t angry at me, then please give a chance to explain myself to your lady. Please, please――”

“Not angry!? Gordon, do you know how much trust I’ve lost because of you? Tilea-sama, Dryas-sama, even my most beloved Camilla-sama, just how much face do you think I’ve lost in front of them!?” she demanded, eyes wide and crazed, promising murder.

Her face, which he had found pretty not moments ago, was warped into the visage of a devil.

Gordon realised now that no words could change her mind.

I’m… going to die…

The bloodlust emanating from her was a certain portent of his doom.

“Hiie, s-save me!”

Gordon broke into a run, but…

“Gyaaah!”

Something sharp had sent his right leg flying, leaving nothing but a stump below the base.

“It hurts, it hurrts, ugoaah! F-Forgive me, forgive me! Save me, somebody save me!”

Her fury would consume him like a fire.

Gordon’s remaining leg trembled as terror permeated his being.

The vampire girl smiled as she licked the blood from her hand.

She watched Gordon for a while, before suddenly grabbing his head.

“Geez, you’ve really caused me a lot of trouble!”

“Hiigyaaaaaaah!”

The expression on her face was the most frightening one yet.

---

Also, Arousing Imouto Scans is coming back out of hibernation.

---

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Chapter 29 – The Chief of Staff’s Anxieties (Second Half)

“T-Tilea-sama. Had you not turned in for the day…?”

“Mm mm. I’m just not really in the mood to sleep right now.”

Tilea-sama was feeling despondent!?

Kuh!

It had to be related to that top secret mission.

My lady was suffering and yet I was helpless at a time like this.

How could anybody call me the strategist of our Evil God Army!?

“Tilea-sama, if there is any way in which I may assist then you need only say the word. I may be lacking, but please allow me to ease your burdens.”

“Haa. It’s really nothing.”

W-Why…?

She was clearly keeping something from me.

I was a failure of a strategist who lacked his master’s trust.

“Is my lowly self not worthy of being relied upon?”

“Wha-, Dryas-kun!?”

“I beg your forgiveness for my rudeness, but I must ask,” I said as I drew near her, “Am I of no use to you, Tilea-sama?”

I had to know.

I knew that I was overstepping my bounds, but I could not help myself.

Had my master, the subject of my adoration, turned her back on me…?

It felt as though my heart was being crushed by the unease.

I existed for her sake alone.

If she no longer had a use for me, then there was nothing left I could do.

Any lack of trust was simply a reflection of my own failings.

I would immediately end myself.

“I’m sorry, Dryas-kun. You’re right; I am worried about something. But I can’t talk about it. If I told you, it’d only be troubling you.”

“Wha-!? Tilea-sama, how could you ever say such a thing? It would be one thing if you were keeping quiet because you found me lacking, but if the reason is concern for me then please stop this.”

“But even if you say that…”

What a disaster… To think that she was being considerate of me…

Camilla-sama had brought me into this world as a perfect and faultless strategist.

If I ever made even one mistake, I would lose my raison d’être.

If it ever happened, I would surely end myself.

Of course…!

So that was why Tilea-sama was reluctant to give me orders.

In order to stop me from dying if I ever lost my reason to live…

Tilea-sama was always kind to her subordinates. Of course, this was exactly the kind of thing she would do.

But if that was true, then it was proof that she lacked faith in my abilities.

Kuh-!

I still wasn’t working hard enough.

I needed more power. I needed to do things even better so that I could put her at ease.

“Tilea-sama. For your sake, I dedicate my entirety to the Evil God Army. You need not be considerate. Please just be unreserved with me,” I pleaded.

“…You’re right,” she eventually said. “I already knew that you cared about your relationships with everyone in the Evil God Army. I was being too distant.”

“You are blameless, Tilea-sama. The fault lies with me for being unreliable and inexperienced.”

“No. With something this important, the first thing I should have done was consult somebody as smart as you, Dryas-kun. I made the wrong call. And that could have still cost me…”

“I am ashamed and humbled by your words, Tilea-sama! Please allow the unworthy Dryas to resolve your troubles,” I said faithfully.

With that, Tilea-sama began to tell me about the mission.

“The Fiend Liquidation Mission.”

I knew what was going on now.

The mission was not difficult in and of itself.

It was actually rather simple, all things considered.

But the point of trouble was Tilea-sama’s concern over Edim’s life.

What boundless compassion…

Even a half-demon like Edim was a subordinate worthy of concern in her eyes…

“I understand now, Tilea-sama,” I said. “The Fiend may certainly have the qualifications to call himself ‘Strongest’ amongst the humans. However, a human is still a human, Milady. Not match for a demon. Even Edim could run roughshod over somebody of his level.”

“Really? I know that Edim’s a vampire, but she used to be a human, you know. What if she doesn’t have enough experience? What if he has a vicious trap waiting for her…?”

“Demons are not so frail, Tilea-sama. Even half-demons like Edim are no exception. The little tricks of those humans amount to very little in the face of true power. Besides, having damned Ortissio as her support should be more than enough to account for any inexperience on her part.”

“Yeah. But I know this is mean of me after asking for it, but do you think Or will be able to support her properly? He’s a little air-headed.”

“Your worries are most justified. After all, that bastard is imprudent, foolish, and foolhardy at the best of times.”

“So you thought so too.”

“Despite all that, he is still one of the executives of our Evil God Army. He is more than capable of settling this matter.”

“Oh okay.”

“All will be as you wish. Did you have any other concerns, Milady?”

Tilea-sama began to ask for advice on all the other problems she was having.

I analysed our present forces, as well as the climate, and gave her thorough answers for each.

“Mmn, mmn. As expected of you, Dryas-kun. I really feel like everything’s going to be okay now.”

“Please rest assured that I, Dryas, will continue striving to ease your burdens.”

Tilea-sama nodded, looking a lot more cheerful than before.

Her burdens had definitely been lightened.

It was proof that she had faith in me.

I felt my eyes become moist with unbidden tears.

Perhaps I had finally lived up to the name of her Zifang…

Tilea-sama turned to me with her regular pose, now that she had settled back into her own pace.

“Well then, Dryas, my Zifang. Shall I consider the Fiend Liquidation Mission as a guaranteed success, then?”

“Most certainly. I can guarantee that by the time the sun rises in the east, the Fiend will be no more.”

She nodded in satisfaction at my words, before returning to her personal quarters.

Huhu, my words had calmed her down.

I, Dryas, had become a factor in setting her heart at ease.

I had almost gone mad from jealousy because of Ortidiot, but things had worked out in a surprisingly fortunate fashion.

This Fiend Liquidation Mission would serve as an excellent opportunity for me to demonstrate my prowess.

A few hours later, I heard the sound of steps descending into the Underground Empire.

Ortissio…

It was a little early, but I supposed that things were settled then.

I decided to give him a few word of thanks.

He was annoying, but this time he merited them.

I stepped out of the General Staff HQ to find Ortissio heading my way.

“Ortissio, well d――”

“U-, Ummm~ Chief of General Staff, the truth is…”

What!?

This was not the haughty look of triumph that I had expected…

Instead, he looked rather pathetic.

And that tone of forboding horror in his voice…

D-, Don’t tell me, this idiot…

“Ortissio, what happened? Report the results of the Fiend Liquidation Mission at once!”

“Oh? You’re aware of the parameters of the mission, Chief?”

“I am. Tilea-sama informed me earlier. Tilea-sama was worried sick about you lot, which is more than you could ever deserve. That’s why I told her that everything would be all right. Now stop wasting time and report! The Fiend is dead, correct!?”

“A-About that…”

“Ortissio, you had better not tell me that you let him escape.”

“T-That would be unthinkable. As if I could fail to deal with the likes of a human. The one who let him go was Edim――”

“You… traaaash!”

Before I knew it, I had picked him up by the collar and smashed him to the ground.

While he writhed in pain, I stomped on his face.

“Ortissio… You were supposed to support her! Accounting for accidents was your job! Are you telling me that you left such an important task all to that half-demon!?”

“B-But, the one who assigned the roles was Tilea-sama――”

“You…! Of all things, you dare to blame Tilea-sama for your mistakes!?”

Infuriated by his insolence, I pressed down harder on his face.

“Guuuaah! T-That’s not what I meant. Haah, haah, that’s――”

“You listen very carefully, Ortissio. If this mission ends in failure, I will be forced into suicide!”

“Eh!? W-Why?”

“Because if you lot fail, then that means I will have lied to my master.”

“Plenty of strategist make mista――Guaah!”

I cut off his thoughtless words by crushing him even more fiercely.

“Ortissio. Unlike you, who happily commits blunder after blunder, I must be the perfect strategist in all respects. This was what Camilla-sama created me for. Even a single mistake would be unforgivable.”

“Hiiie! I-I understand. I will bring you the Fiend’s head without fail.”

“Can I be sure of that? I won’t allow you to tell me that he’s escaped the Capital or the like,” I said in a low voice.

“T-That is not a concern,” he stammered. “Edim’s kin have been guarding the gates since the beginning, and she has already confirmed with them that nobody has left. This is proof that the Fiend is still within the city walls.”

I hummed.

“In other words, Edim was the one who successfully stopped him from escaping. What were you doing then?”

“T-That can’t be… I was the one who set a large scale encirclement. It was thanks to me that we even have a vague idea of where he is. Why is Edim the one who――”

“Enough talk. I have no time for your excuses. You will take the Fiend’s head before daybreak. Else you will be charged with grand treason and punished accordingly!”

“A-As you will. But, Bernandes could――”

“Oh? You even want our intelligence units to assist you? I reported to Tilea-sama that two people would be enough. If you are trying to turn me into a liar, then――”

“N-No no no, absolutely unthinkable. I can do it. Edim and I will take his head.”

“Then do so!” I bellowed, “And the next time I hear from you had better be news of his death. Do not report to me until you have his head!”

“S-Sir, yessir!”

Looking unsightly, Ortissio fled to the surface.

…What a disaster.

I was clearly still lacking as a strategist.

Had I considered Ortidiot’s character, it would have been clear to me that this situation was within the realm of possibility.

I was still much too inexperienced…

For now, I had lit a fire under Ortissio’s buttocks.

If he still failed to produce results, then I would execute him at once.

I would charge him with the highest of high treasons, and then kill him myself!

I had to start considering the worst case scenario for myself as well…

Tilea-sama had once told me about a belly-cutting ceremony performed by warriors.

In the land of ‘Jyapan’, warriors who had disgraced themselves would perform this ritual as a way of taking responsibility.

I decided that I should do it too.

I changed into the white clothing that was standard for the ceremony.

If Ortissio had not brought back the head of the Fiend by sunrise, I would slit my own belly to atone.

Death did not scare me.

However, I had brought shame to the words ‘my Zifang’.

She would undoubtedly feel dejected at this failure.

That was my only regret.

I held the ritual dagger in my hand, and placed it at my belly.

The only lingering desire I had left was…

Of course!

If Ortissio failed in his mission, then I had to finish the job in his stead.

The Fiend would die by my hands.

As would the useless subordinate who was thwarted by a mere human.

I called for Bernandes again.

“I have arrived, Dryas-sama.”

“Bernandes. I have an urgent mission for you.”

“Sir.”

“First, upon my death, you are to carry out the orders on this missive.”

“Eh!? Sir, what do you mean by――”

“No need to worry,” I cut him off. “If I am no longer in this world tomorrow, you simply need to carry out these orders.”

“B-By your will.”

That paper contained orders for the General Staff HQ, the appointment of my successor, as well as the execution orders for Ortissio.

“I also order you to prepare the Bazooka Call(Magic Bullet Artillery) for activation.”

“Wha-!? A-Are you serious, Dryas-sama? You truly intend to level the Royal Capital!?”

“Of course. I order you as the Chief of General Staff of the Evil God Army. You will fire it at dawn, should you not hear from me again.”

“A-, As you command.”

“I won’t let a single ant escape.”

---

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Thank you for your consideration, guys!

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Chapter 28 – The Chief of Staff’s Anxieties (First Half)

In a room in the Evil God Army’s Underground Empire.

Dozens of demons hurried about, performing their duties as intelligence workers.

Reports were coming in from all fronts; intelligence from the Manafint Confederation, observation of prisoners, securing supply lines, among many others.

Counterintelligence, strategising, planning, communications, information of all sorts flowed through the room.

Exceptional memory. Flexibility of thought. The ability to objectively analyse data, and make the correct decisions.

The demons gathered here were the best minds that the Evil God Army had to offer, for this room was the General Staff Headquarters.

And at the head of this think tank, sitting at a luxurious desk and planning their next move, was the Head of General Staff, Dryas Bo Malferand.

Kneeling by his side was Bernandes, the Commander of the Fourth Division…

“Bernandes. Report.”

“Sir. Our forces are already deployed on the borders of the Manafint Confederation. The border guard is weak enough that we may strike at any time,” reported Bernandes.

“I see. And what of Visca Fortress that defends the entrance into the Confederation?” asked Dryas.

“The same. Perhaps they have been lax because they haven’t considered an attack, but neither the numbers nor the morale of the troops there are particularly high,” he replied.

Dryas scoffed.

“Hmph. Foolish humans. They are rather easygoing considering that losing Visca could cripple their economy.”

“Shall I give the signal to begin the invasion?” asked Bernandes.

“I have no complaints about the timing,” Dryas agreed. “However, Tilea-sama has still not given us the order. Contact the heads of the foreign legions. They are to be on standby.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Also, I wonder about the Demon King Army. What do we know about their activities?”

“Sir, the Demon King Army appears to be building strength in Zauz region down south. Beyond that, they do not seem to be doing anything.”

“They have not begun invading human territories?” questioned Dryas.

“No, sir. They are staying low-key,” Bernandes confirmed. “Personally, I feel uneasy about this.”

Bernandes’ suspicion was reasonable.

Were it not for the Evil God Army, the Demon King Army could be said to be the most powerful force in the world.

To be frank, the human forces were scarcely a factor, let alone a third force.

They were prey.

In practical terms, the Demon King Army were the only obstacle to the Evil God Army ruling the world.

And they were silent.

Annexing human territory would give them more influence. Dryas could not imagine that they lacked the means to do so…

“And the Third Division were given the orders to check their forces?”

“Yes, sir. Muram and his Third Division are there, as well as Demonic Dragons Gargan and Gyangu are projecting force nearby.”

With that much power they would not be defeated in anything short of all-out war. It would be enough to buy time even if the Six Demon Generals attacked.

Still, there was no harm in being extra careful.

Dryas decided to send them some of the Fourth Division’s soldiers.

“Very well. Double the forces assigned to gathering intelligence on them and immediately report if anything suspicious happens at all,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir. I will make the arrangements to send more men there,” said Bernandes, before taking his leave.

‘A expected of the man Camilla-sama left in charge of our intelligence forces,’ thought Dryas.

Whether it was Bernandes’ skills in gathering intel or his ability to lead his men, he met Dryas’ standards in every area.

At the moment the Evil God Army was still lacking in information on the rival Demon King Army. It was something they would have to address.

But Dryas couldn’t see anything that they could do, except to take action each time Bernandes brought in a little more information.

And in all honesty, he had a lot on his plate.

Vigilance against the Demon King Army.

The invasion of the neighbouring countries.

The management and organisation of the Evil God Army.

From conception to execution, it was Dryas in charge. It was impossible for a normal person to do alone.

Even your average genius would collapse from the strain.

But Dryas had the resilient body of a demon, and it would not be wrong to describe him as an exceptional genius.

He managed, although it was stressful and exhausting.

But today Dryas was smiling.

And the reason for that…?

‘Only two days left,’ Dryas thought.

The surge of happiness had him holding the ticket a little tighter.

It was improper of course. He was on duty at the moment, and he believed in the separation of one’s personal life and job.

Unfortunately he couldn’t help his grin.

It was finally his turn.

What Dryas had in his hands was none other than a ticket for one of Tilea-sama’s ‘laive ivvents’.

Obtaining one of these through cheating was harshly prohibited, and one had no choice but to participate in the lottery, fair and square.

The event itself was held in a room that fit only thirty people.

Needless to say, the tickets were rare, and difficult to acquire.

It made him all the more ecstatic that his ticket happened to be for front-row seats; a super premium ticket, if you would.

Already he could imagine it. His next day off, sitting in the front seats.

Being able to appreciate Tilea-sama’s magnificent techniques from up close.

He could hardly imagine a greater joy.

Dryas had perused forbidden books, and studied demonic armaments before, but none of that excitement could compare with the palpitations in his heart right now.

‘Aah, Tilea-sama. Why do you hold my heart captive so!’

While Dryas sat there with an enraptured expression on his face, Bernandes suddenly burst into the room in a panic.

“Dryas-sama, it’s a disaster! The soldiers stationed at the national borders are making their way back to the Royal Capital!”

“Wha-!? What is the meaning of this?”

“Sir, it appears that they received an order to return from the General Staff HQ.”

“M-Madness! There was no such order!”

Somebody had clearly gone against military regulations.

Dryas turned the information over in his head.

Besides Tilea-sama, the only person who had the right to arbitrarily reassign their soldiers was Camilla-sama.

Only these two personages were allowed to do so without the approval of the War Council.

And Camilla-sama would not have given out such a foolish order.

In that case, who was responsible for this blatant disregard of the law…?

The foot soldiers would not have given out an order to return.

It was an officer that did this.

Whatever their reason, taking action without permission like this would affect the discipline of the entire army.

They were going to face immediate judgement, no matter how long their service, or how high their position.

“Bernandes, you are to immediately determine the one responsible for this order.”

“T-That…”

“What’s the matter? Mm!? Could it be that you’ve already identified the culprit?”

“T-, The evidence suggests that the one responsible is Division Commander Ortissio.”

“…I see. Leave the rest to me.”

“A-As you command.”

*

*

*

Ortissio had violated the law.

The fool…

He had always been an eyesore.

Despite having dared pointed his sword at Tilea-sama, here he was, living away, carefree.

Nobody who had any sense of pride or loyalty could do such a shameful thing.

Anybody else would have committed suicide.

But then again, I suppose it was pointless to expect any dignity out of the sort scum who would rebel.

It was only because Tilea-sama herself had forgiven him that I was enduring his existence.

And even if he was a disloyal traitor, he had still once served as an officer in the household guard.

I had thought to make as much use out of him as possible before discarding of him, and when better than now?

There was no place for such scum in Tilea-sama’s Evil God Army.

It was time to clean out the filth.

I put the General Staff Headquarters behind me, as I marched through the hallways to exact punishment, only to notice messengers running left and right.

Standing right there was Ortissio, giving some sort of instructions to other messengers.

His violations of our laws were already clear as day.

Seeing his flagrant mobilisation of our soldiers was infuriating.

I had decided to punish him right there.

“There you are, Ortissio! Who told you to call your soldiers back to the Capital!?”

“Chief of General Staff. I have a reason for moving my soldiers.”

“And what reason would that be? Depending on what you say, it may even be grounds for execu――”

“I ordered my soldiers to return here for a top secret mission from Tilea-sama.”

Eh!?

W-What did he just say?

A top secret mission?

From Tilea-sama?

And it was even kept a secret from the Chief of General Staff…?

Could that have been a lie?

No, even he wasn’t foolish enough to lie about something like that.

“I… I see. A top secret mission from Tilea-sama… Given to you, Ortissio…?”

“Hmph. I’m not surprised that you don’t know. The orders came from Tilea-sama herself,” he sneered.

“U-, Umu. In that case fulfil your duties as best you can,” I said. “Worry not and use the soldiers as you need. I will take care of the rest.”

“Of course. After all, these orders came directly from Tilea-sama. Directly from Tilea-sama. It’s important so I said it twice.”

Kuh-, look at him being so smug.

I won’t forgive you, Ortissio!

I’ll pit everything I have against you and――no, wait. Don’t let your anger control you, Dryas.

If I killed Ortissio right now, I would be getting in the way of Tilea-sama’s orders.

Whatever happened, I had to think of Tilea-sama first.

B-, But, w-, why was it kept a secret from…?

No, no.

Nothing good lay down that line of thinking.

I was ashamed of myself.

I had gotten too full of myself because Tilea-sama had called me her Zifang.

That was why I hadn’t been included.

I vowed that to regain her trust I would work even harder from now on!

Still, I wondered what this mission was about…

Tilea-sama rarely gave direct orders like this.

It must have been a matter of grave important.

I wanted to help.

I wanted to make everything run more smoothly for her.

That was my purpose as the strategist.

It was never a role that should have been left to the likes of Ortissio.

I made up my mind…

Kuh, it was embarrassing, but I could only lower my head to Ortissio and help in that way.

“O-, Ortissio, is there anything at all I can do to help? I would not begrudge you the assistance,” I offered.

“Chief, do you really understand what ‘top secret’ means? It means that the details are classified to anybody who Tilea-sama has not entrusted it to. I can’t even tell you about it.”

“Guh, nghn….”

“At any rate, I’m very busy with this, so please excuse me. I must prepare for the top secret mission. Goodness, if only we had you. I’m sure the planning would be over in an instant… Too bad that Tilea-sama hasn’t trusted you with it… Kuahahahahah!”

Ortissio continued to guffaw loudly as he left the Underground Empire.

I was almost beside myself with rage at his triumphant grin.

For Tilea-sama, for Tilea-sama…

I tried to calm myself down with that mantra but…

“Uaaoghhh! Ortissio, I’ll never forgive youuuuu!” I roared.

I couldn’t argue back because what he said was right.

After enduring all the humiliation, I couldn’t help but explode.

Still roaring, I destroyed the furnishings all around me.

I knew that it was unbecoming of a strategist, but I simply couldn’t stop myself.

“Haah, haah, how dare he look down on――”

“Hmm? What are you screaming about?”

“Eh!?”

When I turned around, the one standing there was none other than my beloved and respected master, Tilea-sama.

 

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
Thank you for your consideration, guys!

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Life has been mildly hectic.

Also if you want more regular Tilea updates, please join my Discord server and remind me every Friday that people are actually waiting on it.

---

Chapter 27 – Edim and the Fugitive Search Team

Uu…

I was feeling faint and light-headed.

I rubbed my forehead as I tried to remember what happened.

What was I doing again…?

I used my ultimate technique, right?

And then…

…!

I shot to my feet and surveyed my surroundings.

Sam Gordon.

I let Sam Gordon escape me.

I had used Bloody Mary[Demonic Bloodsucker] and slew the small fry in droves, but Gordon’s corpse was nowhere to be found.

Oh no.

I let the ringleader go.

The mission was a failure.

And a mission that Tilea-sama had personally assigned to me.

The importance of the mission went without saying.

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

“Ohhh no!”

“What are you ‘oh no’-ing about?”

“Eh!?”

I turned in the direction of the beautiful voice.

What I found was a beautiful girl with silver hair and crimson eyes.

Camilla-sama.

Seeing the subject of my respect and adoration caused my heart to leap into my throat.

“C-C-C-Camilla-sama! W-, Why are you in such a place?”

“Calm down, you fool! You seemed to be doing something interesting so I used tracking magic and found myself here.”

“Tracking magic…”

“Quite so. You have some nerve, keeping something this amusing to yourself.”

“I-I cannot apologise enough.”

“No matter. I’ll join in for a bit of fun as well.”

“Eh!? Y-, You’re going to join us, Camilla-sama?”

“Naturally. Are you planning on excluding me from something as interest as this!?”

Of course, nothing would make me happier than working together with Camilla-sama.

But Tilea-sama had ordered me to keep this a secret from her.

It was unacceptable to speak of the mission with her.

Which was tragic, because I couldn’t even explain just how much help she would be right now…

“Camilla-sama, please be advised that the identity of the Fiend was in fact Nyger. Although Gordon is the ringleader he is essentially a worthless weakling. It would be a waste of your energy, Camilla-sama.”

“Fumu. Cleaning up that waste would certainly not be amusing.”

“You knew?”

“Are you half-asleep? Of course I knew! I watched everything through your mana!”

My body was wracked with shock.

The moment that I let Gordon escape…

No, worse yet, all of the other failures tonight…

She saw them all.

The shame of it overwhelmed me.

“T-, Then you knew everything?”

“From about midway, yes. I watched you wheeze into the building, struggle with the riff-raff, to say nothing of Nyger, and then blow yourself up to top things off. I even saw how you were lax in finishing an enemy off, and then almost got yourself killed by Nyger. Oh yes, I saw it all.”

“Eh!? Nyger…?”

“Like I said, naive. Nyger survived your attack. You were stupendously foolish. Were it not for my arrival you’d have been destroyed.”

“I-I had not even a clue… M-My sincere apologies.”

“Hmph. Do a little more training!”

S-So something like that had happened too…

I was fooled by Nyger.

I hadn’t even imagined that he played dead to finish me off.

Shame after shame I heaped upon Camilla-sama tonight.

It was too late for regrets, but I should have been more careful.

Not only was Camilla-sama forced to clean up after my stupidity, but she even troubled herself with healing me afterwards.

She had done leaps and bounds more than any master should have done.

And in exchange, she had a good-for-nothing like me as a servant…

It would all be over if I failed her again now.

“U-, Um, Camilla-sama. If you’re okay with it, I was thinking of continuing my search for the target.”

“Umu. I’ll leave the final scrap of garbage to you. There had better not be any more failures. Understand?”

“O-, Of course, Camilla-sama. Gordon will be a corpse by morning. S-So――”

I couldn’t disappoint her any further.

I would kill the Fiend at any cost and regain my honour.

I took a few steps towards her to tell her this when,

“Stay back!”

“C-, Camilla-sama…?”

“You stink, Edim. As a present from Oneesama, you should be taking much better care of yourself!”

“A-, ah, n-, y-, it, it’s not――”

“Edim, killing Gordon is well and good, but do something about that stench!”

“Y-, Yes…”

With her nose pinched between her fingers, she activated a teleportation spell and left.

I fell to the ground.

Haha.

I just wanted to die already.

There was no point in living after showing my beloved lady something so disgraceful.

To be honest it felt like I was already dying from shame and embarrassment.

Kuh!

All of it was Ortidiot’s fault.

Oh how I had suffered because of that incompetent bastard!

The anger was starting to get to me.

Which was bad.

I didn’t have time to be angry right now.

There was a mountain of things to do.

Not least of which was finding out where Gordon had run off to.

First I had to contact my kin to find out what was going on.

Then I had some reports whatnot to make to that idiot…

And as it turned out, Gordon was still missing.

If he had managed to get past those huge numbers, he must have had a secret escape route.

I had to find out what that was.

Hm, if there was somebody familiar with the history, geography, and particulars of the Capital, perhaps they would have an idea.

For example, a history teacher at the prestigious Magic Academy, who had published several acclaimed theses on the very topic.

I looked over at the deadbeat on the ground.

Haaah~

It was mortifying, but there was nobody more fitting for the job than Jayjay.

“Jayjay.”

“…Uu, ugo… gah…”

“Stop groaning, and get up!”

“Ugoh… gih…”

He wasn’t getting up.

The idiot was on the brink of death.

The wound he sustained from Nyger’s attack was too much for his healing to catch up with, and left alone he would die.

Tsk.

But as reluctant as I was to do this, right now I needed him.

I resolved myself to give him some of my blood.

Cutting my left hand, I stuffed a bloody finger into his mouth.

In no time at all, Jayjay’s injuries disappeared before my eyes.

His vampiric healing strength was working proper again.

“Uoooooooohhh! W-What an exquisite taste. I, Jayjay, have returned to the world of the living. Edim-sama! For your sake I would――”

“Enough poetry. I have a job for you.”

“Yes, milady. Anything.”

“I need you to take command of the pursuit for Gordon.”

“The Fiend managed to escape?”

“Kuh! Yes. Nyger died, but Gordon escaped by teleportation. All thanks to a certain waste of space!”

“Huhu, please be at ease. I, Jayjay, was powered up when I was reborn anew; I will not fail in such a manner again.”

“I’ve had just about enough of your overconfidence. Enough talk; can you do it or not?”

“Of course I can. I already have an idea of where he ran to.”

“What? Well, where is he?”

“Ah, please wait. I must explain in order.”

Kuh-, we were already short on time.

This idiot still couldn’t get a clue.

“Hurry up and explain then, Jayjay!”

“Understood. From your anxiety I presume that you failed to find him within the encirclement?”

“Correct. We’ve been monitoring everywhere within a few kilometres radius of this mansion, both my kin and the Second Division. It doesn’t matter how stealthy he is, if he was here then we’d know and I haven’t had a single person report his location. I hate to think it but he may have already left the city.”

“Edim-sama, did I not teach you in class? The teleportation spell can only take you a few kilometres at most. This is irrespective of how much mana you might have.”

“I know. But if he were to repeatedly use the spell, then…”

“That would be folly itself. We would have noticed the amassing of mana for one thing, and you still cannot discount the chance of death from the magic itself.”

“Then where is he!?”

“Most likely he is in the subterranean waterways.”

“Underground waterways!? We have those in this city!?”

“Edim-sama, this is what happens when you don’t listen in class. Long ago, during the reign of Arcudas the 1st, the sewerage project was――”

“Shut up. This isn’t the time for a lecture. You will send our forces into those waterways and alert Dalf’s team to the situation.”

“Your will be done.”

With that, he left the mansion to carry out my orders.

I see.

Water tunnels beneath the city.

I was starting to recall the lesson.

In the distant past there was a drainage system that criss-crossed all throughout the city. These days they were clogged up and more or less useless, but Gordon had probably escaped through some still working ones.

But then I had to wonder if we could catch him then.

Could even Jayjay pinpoint which of those tunnels he was in before sunrise?

If it wasn’t for the time limit I supposed he could, but the mission parameters were what they were.

I could fail to meet them at this rate.

Right now Bernandes-sama was leading the 4th Division in gathering intelligence in the Capital.

Perhaps it would be better to explain to the intelligence branch and enlist their help.

“Ediiiiim! I’ve been looking for you! How was it? It had better have gone perfectly!”

And here came another idiot I didn’t want to deal with.

So it had been an hour since I entered then.

To be honest I had no time to deal with him.

Unfortunately he was still, technically, my superior.

I had no choice but to report Gordon’s escape.

It was depressing.

And I could tell this dumbass was going to lose it.

If I wasn’t careful with my wording he might even kill me.

“My deepest apologies. I did not succeed, and Gordon escaped. However, a pursuit team is already――”

“W-, Whaaat!? Youuu! I’ll never forgive you! I’ll tear your head from your neck!”

In a rage, Ortidiot began to strangle me.

Kuh-, what power…

He might have been lacking in intelligence, but he lacked nothing in raw strength.

I couldn’t get him off.

O-, Oh shit.

Don’t tell me I was going to be killed by this idiot?

No!

How could I accept dying in such a stupid way!

I mustered the last of my strength to get his hands off.

“Gaaaaaah! Haaaah! Haah, haah…”

“Edim. This is unforgivable. How are you going to take responsibility if Tilea-sama loses faith in me! I’ll kill you!”

“Haah, haah, p-please wait. This is hardly the time for that. Are you fine with just letting him go!?”

“Huh? Are you trying to pin your own failures on me!?”

“Ortissio-sama, I can accept the punishment for letting him go later. However, if we fail to catch him now, the consequences for both of us will be even dearer.”

“W-W-What do you mean ‘consequences’? You’re the one who messed up!”

What a guy.

From my point of view, he was the cause for all of this!

And although I was so desperate to spit that at him, as I mentioned, this was hardly the time for fighting.

There was no choice except for me to be the adult here and move things along.

“Ortissio-sama, please think calmly about this. This is not the time for allotting blame,” I reasoned. “No matter whose fault it was, the two of us are done for if the mission ends in failure!”

“Kuh! Because of you――”

“Please stop right there, Ortissio-sama. I’ll listen to your complaints as much as you want afterwards. But for now, we must get to work. There isn’t long until dawn,” I stressed.

“Ngnghn, fine,” he finally relented, “I’d take anybody’s help right now. I’ll put off taking your life for now.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Well? What are you doing now, Edim? Where’s Gordon?”

“According to the intelligence I’ve received, Gordon appears to be escaping from the underground waterways.”

“Underground waterways!? Are you certain?”

“Yes. Considering the level of surveillance we have above-ground, it is very strange that we’ve yet to detect him.”

“Indeed. Then we send a team into the sewerage systems at once!”

“I have of course done so. However, I’m told that usable tunnels aren’t that common. I’ve enlisted the help of somebody familiar with the history of the place, but whether or not we’ll find the right tunnel before dawn is…”

“Hah? Then what are we supposed to do!? Don’t you have any brains? Think up some kind of solution!”

Don’t I have…

Then don’t you have any brains!?

Ah, no, no.

Hold it in, Edim.

You don’t have time to squabble with him.

A solution, huh…

Before Ortidiot interrupted my train of thought I was thinking of asking the 4th Division for help.

The 4th was the division directly commanded by Dryas-sama.

Although it was a top secret mission, I didn’t think it would be too much of a problem to reveal it to our strategist and chief of staff.

“Shouldn’t we ask for Dryas-sama’s help?”

“Haah? Wh-, Why do we have to ask him for help? Piss off! To begin with, don’t you have any idea what ‘top secret’ means!?”

“I do. However, this is an emergency. At this rate, the mission itself might end in failure. Besides, Dryas-sama is our Chief of Staff. Ordinarily he would be privy to this information anyway. If I had to choose between this and failing, I think asking for his help would be much preferred.”

“N-No. No! I won’t accept it! Why do we have to share the merits with him!?” he clamoured.

I knew this idiot would make a fuss.

The reality was that the underground waterways were too much for just my unit and the 2nd Division.

We really wouldn’t make it without the information from the 4th.

I just had to find a way to convince this dimwit.

“Please, Ortissio-sama. We have no choice but to rely the Evil God Army’s prided intelligence branch if we want to get anywhere with the waterways.”

“Don’t want to. No way am I lowering my head to that―― Oh, I know. Why don’t we just ask Bernandes directly!”

“Ortissio-sama, it isn’t good to go over one’s superior like that. Either way, Bernandes-sama would ask Dryas-sama for permission.”

“B-But…”

“Besides, it would not be good to leak details of the top secret mission to anyone but the Chief of Staff. Tilea-sama mentioned that even Camilla-sama was not to know of it. However, Dryas-sama seemed to know a little.”

“Nhnmng…”

“Ortissio-sama, I still think the worst outcome would be failing to complete the mission that Tilea-sama gave us.”

“I-, I get it. But could you go ask the Chief of Staff?”

J-, Just how much trouble did he have to make until he was satisfied?

I didn’t want to give such a shameful report either.

“Ortissio-sama, I still need to give orders to my kin. Besides, it should be the superior officer that reports to the top in these instances, no?”

“Ugugu, f-fine. I’ll do it, fine!”

“Please do.”

Ortidiot left for the underground empire, radiating displeasure.

I thought back to all of those taunts he threw at Dryas-sama.

Who knew what was going to happen to him now.

Truly reaping what you sow.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
Thank you for your consideration, guys!

---

Join the Evil God Army on discord!

https://discord.gg/0uufyDAsTZXQaMz1

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Sorry I couldn’t get out a Christmas release thing this year.

Life has been mildly hectic.

Also if you want more regular Tilea updates, please join my Discord server and remind me every Friday that people are actually waiting on it.

---

Chapter 26 – Nyger Falls

Mountain upon mountains of corpses…

It was the very picture of Hell.

The mercenaries had all been cut to pieces by that vampire’s sudden blade of blood.

When she roared I had the guards close in to let Gordon-sama escape.

But her attack was even more powerful than expected, and had cut through them like they were nothing at all.

My own blood-soaked body was wounded all over, and I was having trouble moving now.

Another hit would kill me.

That I was sure of.

Instead, I dulled my sense of pain and played dead.

After a while, the vampire girl began stumbling across the room, examining corpses here and there.

She was looking for Gordon-sama.

He had already left using an emergency teleportation circle.

It was a close thing.

If I had been any slower to react then he would have been slaughtered without a doubt.

When she realised he was missing, she shrieked in frustration and collapsed, unconscious.

Vampire girl.

Your power and magic were superb, but you can’t deny that you lacked experience.

Mistaking me for dead was naive.

Humans don’t die so easily.

You should have finished the job.

I’m about to attack you because you didn’t.

I dragged my pulverised right leg behind me as I approached her.

A lovely face, and the build of a young girl.

It was hard to imagine that she was the demon that had engendered this massacre.

I was going to end her here.

It wouldn’t do if she came back later.

With a surge of mana I produced a few magical bullets, raising my hand at her.

I survived thanks to your inexperience.

Of course, had you been less exhausted the result might still have been different.

But you only have yourself to blame for challenging us in that condition.

I almost felt apologetic as I attacked.

“Stop.”

In reflex, I turned around to face the new voice.

Standing there was a girl, smiling faintly as she crossed her arms.

Her hair was silver, and her eyes were scarlet in colour.

An ally of the vampire girl?

She had probably made use of the previous mana wave to teleport here.

I hadn’t noticed her at all.

Even taking my injuries into account, for her to have snuck up so closely to me was…

She had teleported here without allowing any mana to leak from her body.

It was a very high level skill.

There was no doubt.

This girl was a demon.

Things were not looking good.

I was in no shape or form capable of battle…

But I suppose that didn’t matter.

In skill, in bearing, in presence, this girl was different to the vampire in every way.

The two of them couldn’t be compared.

She was overwhelming.

Finally, it all clicked.

True, the vampire girl had been strong, yes, but something had felt strange.

For all the magical power that she wielded, she was wet behind the ears which was strange for a true demon.

Not this girl.

The silver-haired girl in front of me was a true demon.

An avatar of slaughter and destruction.

“…You are powerful.”

“Ku ku, you’re not bad for a human. Frail, true, but you broke my toy over there,” she said, before walking over to the vampire girl.

Her gait was relaxed, and full of openings, inviting an attack.

But her majesty and power suppressed me.

Moving carelessly would cost me.

“Broken after just this…? If you hadn’t been bestowed by Oneesama I’d have discarded you long ago.”

She held a hand out over the vampire.

In a matter of seconds, the wounds faded into nothing under the light of a shining crystal of magic.

H-Healing magic!?

A demon could who use healing magic!?

It was supposed to be the branch of magic that they struggled the most with.

And with such skill.

Even after overcoming her own difficulties with the element, the girl with silver hair had done a better job than a team of a hundred average priests.

Before long, the vampire girl was healed entirely.

The silver-haired girl turned back to me and smiled fearlessly.

“What’s the matter? You could have attacked me.”

“Heh. I have a rule about useless endeavours. It would have made no difference whether I surprised you with an attacked or fought you head on. If that’s the case then I wish to die in a fair fight.”

“Ahahaha! I like you. Somehow you remind me of Nielsen, my right-hand-man.”

“Such praise is unmerited.”

“Not at all. You are skilled, and of noble spirit. It would be a shame to waste even a human like you. How about joining me?”

“I am humbled by the offer, but I must decline. I only have one master, and that is Gordon-sama.”

“Hmm? I don’t understand. I’ve been watching the whole time, and I find it hard to believe that you’d follow a man like that. What keeps you so loyal?”

“The Sam family took me in. Even if they hadn’t, I am loyal to my lord. That is what it means to be a soldier.”

“Ku ku, a soldier to the core. I want you even more now. Nyger, was it? You should have more than paid back your debt to that family. Don’t you think it’s about time to wash your hands of them?”

“I cannot abandon Gordon-sama.”

“Abandoning scum like that would hardly stain your honour.”

“…Once, I had decided to leave. His conduct had become too much for me. But when I tried to, he screamed that he would kill himself if I did. Gordon-sama is the only heir to the Sam family. The line must not die out!”

“Heh, in my experience the ones that clamour about suicide the loudest are the most desperate in clinging to live.”

“Huhu, perhaps that is so. But my conviction will not change.”

I raised my fists and covered them in fighting spirit to signify that the talking was over.

She laughter in good humour.

And then she raised her palm at me.

Nuohh!?

T-This… Healing magic…?

It washed over me.

The open wounds closed in an instant.

What power.

I was close to peak form.

“Pity for an enemy? You demons are surprisingly kind.”

“I did not heal you out of benevolence. You will still die here. I simply wanted to see you at your best. This is nothing more than satisfying my curiosity,” she declared dismissively.

Interesting.

I was already a dead man.

Gordon-sama had escaped.

I had done my duty as a soldier.

In that case I would live my final moments as the warrior instead!

“Uoohhh!”

All the mana in my body was concentrated in my fist.

I had no need for defence!

With intention of living, I forced my life force into it as well.

This one attack would be fuelled by everything I had.

“Ultimate technique, Ghost Rider![Ghost Wave Magic Fist]!”

The life would literally ride on this one attack.

All of my life force and vitality to be expended in this one punch.

There was no need for boasts or words at this point.

When my attack was ready, I charged.

I wouldn’t be capable of a second punch.

This would be the most powerful attack of my life.

But…

My fist was stopped by her magic barrier.

W-, What a massive wall of mana…

Its density seemed endless.

I didn’t think anything in this world could break through it.

My fist was pulverised against the wall, and the force spread back into my body.

Muscles snapped, bones turned to dust, my body turned to tatters.

“That was splendid, Nyger. Your attack had spirit, technique, and power. It makes it all the more regretful. Truly. You were born to the wrong species…”

After those words of praise, she fired magic bullets at me.

Clumps of darkness magic, even denser than the wall.

I would truly be dust.

Heh, how splendid.

And such beauty.

The zenith of darkness magic was before my eyes, and I could not help but be mesmerised.

Slaughter and destruction condensed, slamming into me…

What incredible fortune.

To think that at the very end, I had the honour of crossing fists with what was surely the most powerful being in the world.

And beyond that, that I was allowed to die by their hand.

As a warrior I had no regrets.

Gordon-sama, I apologise for being unable to guard you to the end.

I will be waiting ahead in Hell.

I am in your service even there, so please forgive me…

 

 

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