Chapter 94: The Sage Sees off the Demon Lord’s Armys Departure

Four days later, the Demon Lord’s Army was ready to depart.

Their destination was the Slave Autonomous Region.

Grom and Henry had discussed and formed a concrete plan of attack this time.

I had lightly read the report, but there had been nothing eye-catching.

By the way, I intended to wait at the capital.

This was because I felt a disturbing premonition regarding the previous Demon Lord’s territory.

I wanted to allow myself some leeway to move at a moment's notice.

As for the Slave Autonomous Region, there wouldn’t be any problems leaving it to those two.

The Demon Lord’s Army would start by invading an adjacent territory of the Autonomous Region for the time being.

Our goal was to seize a tenth of their territory this time.

Grom and Henry, who had planned for the invasion, would take the lead.

The Autonomous Region didn’t actually have the structure of a nation.

The leader of each region controlled independently on a territorial basis.

To put it simply, it was closer to a state under which many small nations gathered together.

Due to its nature, we couldn’t use the usual tactic of just attacking their capital city.

Therefore, it would be for the better if their tyranny could be suppressed after this attack.

We had to make the people within the Autonomous Region realize that they were also included within the net.

The Demon Lord was to be recognized as the enemy of every human.

It would be enough if this was achieved.

However, the Autonomous Region possessed a global role.

Specifically, they were responsible for maintaining a permanent supply of human resources in each nation.

The Autonomous Region made their profit by selling slaves to other nations.

So far, I'd committed genocide and stolen the territories of various places.

Because of the damage I inflicted upon them, many nations have had a hard time staying on their feet.

The Autonomous Region helped with that matter.

They would provide an almost inexhaustible supply of slaves as long as they got paid.

They had the proper foundations to achieve such a feat.

There were certainly ethical issues regarding the Autonomous Region.

If they were to be judged as either good or evil, they would definitely be grouped as evil.

It wasn’t a place I wanted to affirm.

Rather, I wanted to take the initiative to crush it.

However, the Autonomous Region was also essential for the future.

It wasn’t something a Demon Lord ought to completely destroy or rule.

Ideally speaking, I would gladly destroy the Slave Autonomous Region so that there wouldn’t be any more slaves in the world.

However, such a situation was impossible in reality.

The world would collapse if we only chased after ideals.

I also understood that.

Therefore, I decided to tolerate all evil, except for those that I couldn’t overlook.

It was a rule that had been in practice ever since I became the Immortal Demon Lord.

I had to keep choosing the closest choice to the best possible one.

If I were to be driven by excessive hypocrisy and hatred, I would one day meet my ruin.

“Well then, Demon Lord-sama. We’ll be going.”

Grom stood before me and saluted.

His stance was like that of a perfect model's from every angle.

His orbital flame also appealed to his motivation.

I returned his enthusiasm with a nod.

“Be careful out there. Always be cautious.”

“I know. I’ll just occupy it quickly. Just wait as you drink your tea.”

Henry hit my back and laughed.

His face was faintly red.

His demon subordinates had slightly awkward expressions.

…Did he just stay at the bar till it was time?

If it was Henry, it was possible.

He was always relaxed.

Perhaps it was a harmful effect of getting too used to battles?

It made me want to doubt his military career.

However, there was no need to remind him about this.

I was aware of Henry’s personality and abilities.

He was more familiar with battle than anyone else.

He was a man who held the belief that battles made his days blissful.

Even if Henry was drunk, he wouldn’t let his guard down.

Even if someone fired an arrow at his blind spot, he could easily evade it while humming.

Then, he would snipe back at the shooter using his own bow and arrows.

Henry was that kind of a man.

“Archer. Consume just a tolerable level of alcohol. Drinking too much is poisonous for your body.”

“Of course. It was just before the war after all, so I only drank a little.”

Henry returned Grom’s rebuke with a red face.

Grom also didn’t pursue the topic further.

Because he knew it was useless to do so.

Those two have also had a long relationship.

They have been working together for over a year now.

They were aware of each other’s temperaments.

Both of them have supported the Demon Lord’s Army from an early period, and have achieved many great results, mainly regarding the military.

According to spies, it seemed their names were also well known in other nations.

Henry was particularly famous from the beginning, but now, he was also known as the best archer in the Demon Lord’s Army.

It went to the point where his sniping capabilities were studied to form countermeasures in some nations.

It seemed they wanted to prevent the current situation where their commanders would just get shot down one after another on the battlefield.

I hadn't heard of any successful examples regarding that, though.

Henry’s skill was outstanding.

His skills made the elves, who were known for their archery, throw looks at him.

He would show off his powerful archery skills this time as well.

After that, I gave a speech in front of my subordinates.

It was to raise their morale.

Once they were feeling enthusiastic, I transferred the Demon Lord’s Army away.

Their transfer destination was the northernmost part of the Demon Lord’s Territory — right in front of the Slave Autonomous Region.

They would suddenly invade from there.

A city or two would collapse by tomorrow.

When I was about to return to the castle, I felt a tug on my sleeve.

As I looked down, Yuura was standing there.

“Presenting a question to master — why am I on standby? According to my self-analysis, my combat ability is more than enough.”

She complained in her flat tone.

This time, Yuura was ordered to fallback.

It seemed she wasn’t convinced by it.

Just as she had claimed, there wasn’t a problem regarding her combat ability.

If she made use of the custom-made golem from the laboratory, her power could rival that of thousands of men.

Even within the Demon Lord’s Army, only a few could compete against Yuura.

However, that alone wasn’t enough.

A battle against the world wasn’t just about being strong in physical combat.

They were required to adapt well with situations under the premise of various possibilities.

In that respect, Yuura was still not good at adjusting and was inflexible.

It was something she needed to learn for the future.

I briefly summarized that and told Yuura about it.

Yuura went silent for a while.

Eventually, she nodded.

“Understanding the given issues — from now on, I’ll work hard to improve that.”

“Ah, I’m looking forward to it.”

I told Yuura.

She should be able to overcome that soon.

The executives of the Demon Lord’s Army have all been watching over Yuura.

She has grown steadily under their watch.

I was looking forward to seeing what would happen in the future.

I transferred back to the castle, along with the silently enthusiastic Yuura.