Chapter 242: Dinner of the Masterminds

That night, I was making my last encampment in a deep forest in the territory of Crocus. I departed after seeing Haru and the others until the end and decided that the rest will be fine. I have to camp in a place like this tonight since I left late, but I think I will arrive at Adelheit tomorrow. While encouraging myself that this will be the last, I fill my stomach with the food from Touko.

「Let’s eat.」

The war involving the countries of the Jiba continent has come to an end. For now, only the agreement between Crocus and Hund has been signed, but negotiations with other countries will proceed in the near future. It was a good experience for Hal and the others, and they finished their work as heroes.

Without being found, I left the place at the right time and managed to maintain my dignity as Lilyvia’s close aide, Black. I didn’t get caught by Haru, who has sharp intuition, and Chinatsu, who’s very careful. Yeah, happy ending.

「Wow, it looks delicious. Can I join?」

「… Why are you here?」

I purposely didn’t turn on the lights, but a man sat right across from where I had spread out my food. His androgynous face keeps smiling, and the glittering golden hair stands out even in this darkness. He’s the first rank of the Great Eight Demons, the 『Skyscraper』 Agalia Utopia.

「Why, you ask? You’ve expected it to some extent, right? And it seems that you noticed halfway that I was disguised as the hero of Galdevalan.」

「…… Well, yeah.」

The hero of Galdevalan, Rindou, was it? He was a disguise of this Agalia. I noticed when Rindou declared his Unique Skill 『Brave Chain』. At first glance, it may seem like a hero-ish Skill. This is just my personal opinion and there are no clear rules. However, in all my years in this world, I’ve never seen or heard anyone having the exact same Unique Skill as someone else.

『Brave Chain』 was a Unique Skill possessed by Akira, who was a hero candidate of Adelheit. The name and ability of the Unique Skill that Rindou explained were exactly the same as Akira’s. Akira maybe has gone from this world at that time, as he was dealt with by Touko. If Rindou acquired that power just recently, then it can be said that they didn’t exist at the same time. However, it was clear that he didn’t acquire that recently from the way he talked, and he could activate it without any problem during the battle.

「Akira’s corpse that Lily gave to Vakala, you touched it somewhere, right?」

「Yep. The body has already been handed over to Old Vakala, but I was able to borrow him for a bit before that. He was quite handsome, huh~」

「Is that so? I heard that he looked pretty bad when they handed him over.」

The ability of 『Brave Chain』 was activated without any problem. Then, it makes sense for me to doubt Agalia, who can borrow the Skill of those he touched. I don’t even know what kind of ability it actually is, but I do remember that this guy has been using his ability in that way since a long time ago.

「So, is Rindou a real person? His friends were taking with him like that after all.」

「Ahaha, he actually exists. He’s Popura’s childhood friend and Asebi’s war buddy. He’s a bright and nice guy. Well, he’s sleeping right now. I’m sure he’ll wake up tomorrow and meet up with Popura and Asebi as if nothing had happened.」

「Haa, I see. So, their brainwashing will be removed.」

「Brainwashing, what a cruel way to put it. I was just tempering with their memories a bit. And when fighting against Hund-kun’s subordinate, I didn’t exert more power than Rindou-kun’s power, so it wasn’t a deviant act.」

If Lily can tamper with memories, it isn’t impossible for Agalia to do the same, huh. Still――

「No, it was…. You, did you go out of your way to do that because you wanted to watch the battle from nearby?」

「Ehe ♪」

「It’s not cute. Rather, it’s creepy.」

It was a disaster for the Four Heavenly something who was made to fight against Agalia. Agalia was going easy on him, but he could win in the first place. In that sense, Hund is also unfortunate.

「Well, I have no complaints, though. Ah, now that you are here, let’s ask your impressions when you watched it from nearby.」

「*Gulps*… Eh?」

「Don’t just eat it without permission. I’m asking about your impressions.」

It’s troubling that everybody in the Great Eight Demons always doing whatever they like. I want them to learn from Hund a little.

「Hmm, as the one who recommended him, I think he’s good. He’s a new character for the Great Eight Demons, and I think he’ll play an active role as a straight man!」

「………」

「Ah, I’m sorry! I will answer properly, so don’t take away the food!」

Then, you should learn from Hund.

「His ability, 『Infinite Variety』, was it? That’s a pretty interesting ability. He was able to exert his power that much even though he was on land, which is a weakness for his race, and it seems that there’s still room for growth. If it’s underwater, it seems that he can put up a good match against Lilyvia. Also, he’s about to reach level 8, I guess?」

「Then, does it mean that the great Agalia acknowledged Hund?」

「I think it’s fine. Well, were you worried about that?」

「Well, a little. After all, only that seat that had been vacant after we defeated them. Nell also refused to take it.」

「After all, you guys are Lilyvia’s subordinates even though it’s just a formality~. Oh my, Deris sure is loved by her.」

「That has nothing to do with this.」

「Hah, good grief…」

Oi.

「Nevertheless, it’s solved now! The Great Eight Demons are finally completed. Now the world is safe!」

「That’s not something the Great Demon King would say.」

「Eh? Should we change direction to the world domination?」

「Stop. Necessary evil will become absolute evil.」

For some reason, I know what kind of group the current Great Eight Demons is. It is something that’s completely unrecognized by the public, and also something that the kings around the world don’t know. Well, they don’t need to know. At least, I think they are necessary existence. I’m sure Nell and that miser Alezel think the same.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

「By the way! Deris and Nell are going to get married soon, right!? We are all going to come to celebrate, so make so you prepare delicious food! It’s a promise, okay!?」

「…… Are all of you guys going to come?」

「That’s a stupid question.」

On second thought, maybe their existence is not necessary.