Chapter 213: A Parting Gift

「Hah!」

「Gah…!」

Haru grabbed the thrusting spear and threw the merman boss over her shoulder with one arm. The sound of the whole body being slammed into the surface of the sea may have been the loudest sound of the day. I don’t remember where I’ve heard it, but I heard that being slammed to the water surface at a tremendous speed has the same impact as falling on concrete. I guess his pain is like that now. Apparently, this is the end.

「It was a good match. It was a good entertainment for my meal.」

「Haruna was having a hard time more than I thought. The Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons are enemies we can’t underestimate. And there are three more….」

「Well, it’s actually only two who can move.」

「…… Deris-san, do you know something?」

「Not at all.」

Ohh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen such a blatant expression from Chinatsu. It sure is nostalgic.

「It’s a joke. Well, I know the scale of the enemy to some extent.」

「Haa…. Looking at that attitude, you don’t seem to have the intention to tell us, huh.」

「I’m glad that Chinatsu is so quick on the uptake.」

「I’m not happy about that.」

Chinatsu turned her face away. No matter how cute our disciples are, it is strictly forbidden to spoil them. I want them to do their best on their own until they defeat the 『Domination Craver』 Hund-kun. I’m only in a position to set up the minimum necessary arrangements and watch from afar. But that gesture, I think it’s starting to resemble Nell’s a little bit. I guess disciples take after their masters, huh.

「Well, Haru has defeated the enemy’s boss, so you should go back, Chinatsu. The enemy’s army has been defeated, but in a sense, the real thing starts from here. It’s going to take a lot of work to get information out of that overserious boss.」

「Jeez, you look like you are enjoying it…. Deris-san, just because it’s a lunch box made by your beloved wife, it doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to eat it all. You have to talk things out as a family. If you got ill because of it, it’s Nell-shishō who will be sad. Well then!」

「Ah, yes. Good luck~」

Chinatsu jumped out of the bushes on the cape where I’m hiding and left quickly. On the way, she doesn’t forget to detoxify the sea and carefully inspects every corner. Noticing Chinatsu, Haru approached her while dragging the unconscious merman boss.

「…… She sure is reliable, huh.」

Then, my task now is how should I convey the impression of this lunch box. …. Damn, it’s a difficult task.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The center of the world, the continent of Judah. The outside of the old castle is surrounded by storms, and the rain is constantly hitting the walls. Also, as if to imitate the wildness outside, a dark cloudy atmosphere is dominating inside the castle.

「――Hah. After all that talk, the result is horrible, isn’t it? …… The Four Heavenly something, was it? To think that the executive you’ve raised by yourself is defeated by that human girl.」

「………」

The one who said such things was the 『Degenerate Demon』 Lilyvia who’s wearing the bewitching Demon King clothes. Of course, it was directed toward the 『Domination Craver』 Hund who’s sitting next to her. It’s not that Lilyvia is the one who did the work, but she was poking at him.

In front of him, there’s a magic item that projected an image, showing the scene of a girl fighting against Gustus, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons. It seemed that her subordinate, Black, had gone out of his way to project this image. There’s no sound, but the image is clear. Hund analyzes that the girl is not an ordinary person since she could defeat the level 6 Gustus who was close to level up. He thinks that she’s probably one of the heroes.

The defeat of his right-hand man, the Four Heavenly Kings, will be a huge blow to his army. But that doesn’t make him angry. It’s his responsibility as the Demon King who calculated that the enemies are probably level 4 or 5. Also, what Lilyvia pointed out is reasonable. He reflected that there are many points to review, such as the strategies and military regulation methods.

…… However, there’s only one thing that he can’t just accept.

(Why are the Great Eight Demons here again!? Moreover, everyone is present…!)

Just the other day, he was summoned for the ‘let’s stop fighting each other, if not, we’ll kill you!’ meeting, and he was summoned again today. Hund was busy organizing his troops for the upcoming invasion of the Jiba continent, but he came here in a hurry, thinking that there was a major incident that would shake the Great Eight Demons. He came, but what was actually happening was a viewing party that reflected the battle between his subordinate and the hero. And as Hund pointed out, all of the Great Eight Demons are present. ‘Do they have nothing better to do?’ Hund is at his wits’ end.

However, he bears it. He thinks of it as a trial for himself who has just become the Great Eight Demons and suppresses the negative emotions that he wants to spit out. This behavior is probably what makes him different from the low-class demon kings.

「Now, now, Lily-chan. Let’s leave it at that~」

「Mama, shut up. This is my problem.」

「Waaaa, my daughter is in a rebellious phase~」

「Maria, she’s been rebellious since a long time ago. She’s a lot like you when you were little.」

「That’s not true! I was much cuter!」

「Now, now, don’t fight. Now that we have this special ‘Will the two of them sign the documents? Let’s watch Hund-kun’s invasion!’ meeting. As a strict judge, I’d prefer that you don’t provoke each other until you’ve signed the official documents of the declaration of war.」

The top three of the Great Eight Demons are present. The 『Skyscraper』 Agalia, who seems to be the cause of this meeting, seems to be enjoying it even though he said that.

「As long as I don’t overthrow the Hero Alliance and take control of the continent of Jiba, the 『Degenerate Demon』 won’t sign the document, was it?」

「That’s the agreement. You’re not going to tell me now that you can’t fulfill it, are you?」

「Hmph, I’ve no such intention. Still, it’s true that the hero is stronger than I expected. If so, the proper way is to attack them with greater force, right?」

Hund gets up from his seat.

「I don’t know what you are talking about. I only know the improper way.」

「What, are you leaving already, Newcomer-kun? You’re impatient as always~」

「Still, it seems that you’ve decided what you are going to do next. Okay, I allow it. But, make sure you win next time, okay? If you lose, it means that you are not qualified.」

「…I’ll keep it deep in my heart.」

「You have a difficult personality, huh…. Wait, take this.」

Alezel of 『Awe』 threw a small bottle of green liquid at Hund.

「What’s this?」

「A secret medicine that condenses the extract of the world tree. I heard from an acquaintance of mine that the greatest despair that can happen in this world is when the Demon King who’s about to be defeated recovers completely. I’ll give you a special service for free as a parting gift.」

「… I’m grateful!」

Hund opens the door. With the gazes of those who stand at the top directed at his back, Hund went into the battle.