Chapter 532: Alhazard

After safely retrieving the items from the lake of blood, I returned to Vakala’s demon castle with Agalia, who was as chatty as ever.

「Now that I’ve finished doing things in Carmine, I think it’s time for me to head back to Adelheit.」

「Oh, are you going to inspect the movements of your opponents?」

「I’m just going home. I normally would do that, but this time, the opponents are the girls. I’m not going to find out what they’re up to until the day of the battle.」

「Eh~, that doesn’t sound like you, Deris.」

I’m the one who raised Haru until now, you know? I know about her abilities from a to z, but she doesn’t know much about my abilities. To make up for this disadvantage, Haru is probably trying to develop new strategies with the two skill slots she gained from leveling up. The same goes for Goddes Chinatsu and Touko. Of course, I won’t give any advice regarding the skill selection this time. Everything will be unknown to me.

「Even I’m not someone who can’t read the mood, so I won’t try to investigate it. I’m looking forward to seeing what Haru will choose based on her experience so far.」

「Hmm? If it’s Haruna, I think she will tell you to do some research beforehand.」

「I’m aware of that. It’s just my stubbornness as a master. Haru has her own pride, and I also have my own pride.」

「…… Even though you are going to use doping drugs?」

「This is this, and that is that.」

‘That’s quite selfish pride,’ Agalia has an expression that seems to say so, but my policy won’t change. I mean, I will have a hard time if I don’t do it. The combination of the three girls is not something to be underestimated.

「Oh? Agalia-sama, Deris-sama, welcome back. Have you achieved your purpose?」

Someone suddenly called out to us. When I turned toward the voice, there was Alhazard, the white-robed right-hand man of Vakala, the first rank of the Sixty Six Demon Generals. She is smaller than Haru as always. Still――

「――I feel something indescribable when I actually meet the person after hearing your story. Isn’t her personality too different? Also, her appearance and age are different from what I heard.」

「Ah, you think so too, Deris? I don’t know the details, but she was really created from that thing. It was the best material, but the contents were troublesome. Old man Vakala was having a hard time when adjusting her to make her into the faithful character she is today. Well, because of that, her body became young and her power was greatly reduced.」

「I see. I’m not sure whether she’s loyal to Vakala, though. 」

「Haha, she seems to be demanding improvements in the working environment every day~. There is even a rumor that she has created a labor union in Carmine on her own initiative, and she is the chairman of it. As someone who knows her past, I have very complicated feelings about it….」

「A labor union in the Demon King’s army? I wish Alezel would learn from her.」

「……? What are you guys talking about?」

「「No, just talking to ourselves.」」

My and Agalia’s voices overlapped perfectly, which is very unusual. I see, so there’s a reason why her personality and appearance are like that. I thought it was just Vakala’s preference.

「Ah, that’s right. Alhazard, I’m thinking of leaving Carmine soon. I want to say hello to Vakala before that, but where is he now?」

「Vakala-sama went to Elderado early in the morning. He said that as the victorious nation, he was going to carry out a humane restoration of the weakened Elderado.

「I see. Then, give him my regards when he comes back.」

「Understood.」

「Also, if there is an opportunity in the future, I would like to ask you to have a spar with my disciples.」

「Hmm? I thought your disciples are going to return to their world.」

「I don’t know what will happen yet. Think of it as an appointment, just in case.」

「I see, the date is unclear for an appointment, but I will accept it. By the way, Agalia-sama, are you going with Deris-sama?」

「Hmm, that’s right. I want to tell the other Great Eight Demons about the next trial, so maybe I should go with him halfway through. Maria is on the Jiba continent, right?」

Ah, that’s right. Even if I go back to Jiba, that disaster girl is still there. It’s a little, no, it’s pretty depressing.

「If it’s Maria, she should be touring all over the continent of Jiba, holding concerts or something like that. She’s probably doing it showily, so I’m sure you can find her easily.」

「Yeah, she’s always putting on a big show. You know what? One of Maria’s dreams is to be on stage with dozens of her children. Right now, she has seven Irygal sisters, right? She wants to have 40 more children, and if she joins them, the number will be just right. If I’m not wrong, the group name she’s thinking is Irygal4――」

「――I’m not interested in the name. Also, I won’t let her complete that group of vampires. I mean, the world will end…」

Isn’t it a force comparable to Vakala’s Sixty Six Demon Generals? All of them will have difficult personalities, so it will even more troublesome. As a representative of humanity, I really want to avoid that.

「So, what are you going to do?」

「Yeah, let’s go to Jiba together. Al-chan, Al-chan, is there any undead that can use teleportation magic? I want you to fly us to Adelheit on the Jiba continent.」

「That’s possible, but when Agalia-sama calls me like that, I feel really irritated for some reason. It’s strange.」

「Eeh!?」

「Don’t worry. Anyone will get angry if Agalia is being overfamiliar with them. Don’t think about it too much.」

「Hey, Deris!?」

「I see. I’m convinced.」

「You’re convinced!?」

It seems that even with the power of Vakala, the faint feeling left in Alhazard couldn’t be completely erased. Well, everyone thinks so about Agalia and it is in line with common sense, so I guess there is no problem. I sympathize with you, Al-chan.

「…… I feel like I’m starting to feel angry with Deris-sama as well.」

「!?」

「Wow, I didn’t know that Deris was on my side! We are now friends forever~」

「………」

「Wait, hey, there’s no need to be so shocked. Just how much did you hate it? Hey~, Deris? Can you hear me~?」

「It seems that he lost consciousness from too much shock.」

「That bad!?」

I returned to Adelheit to quickly heal my broken heart. By the way, I asked to be teleported to a different location from Agalia.