CH 111

Chapter 111 – Convoy And The Commander

“””Ahyahyahyahyaaah!!”””

I drove the Honda XR with the dirt-covered little boys in the front and back. The washing area is 300 meters from the castle, and I don’t think a middle-aged man like me can walk that far every time.

In the city, I walk a lot because public transportation is the center of the city life, but in the countryside, I take a car or a motorcycle even to go to the neighborhood convenience store. I’m becoming a person who can’t stand walking these days. I’d like to move with teleportation, but there might be a battle later.

“Alright, line up right there!”

“Wow, are we playing in the water?”

“Can I go swimming in there?”

“No, of course not. We’re about to go out, you know. That’s what Mom said!”

“No, that’s right, but… If you know you are going to go out, why would you play lying down on the ground?”

“Yeah, I knew that, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

Yeah, right. There are times like that when you are in elementary school when the demon gets the better of you. I understand. Before going out, you get excited, so it is especially prone to accidents.

I scooped up water from a large horizontal wooden tub with a wooden bucket and washed the little werewolves’ heads, pouring it over their heads. I tried to hand-wash the (probably) one-layer clothes they were wearing, but they left a faint brownish dirt stain.

Their mother must be furious with them later.

I pull a large towel out of my storage and ruffle the wet puppies. I thought they had brown fur, but they were silver-white with a bluish tinge. How dirty were they?

“Now, let’s go back!”

“””Oh!”””

When I returned with the little boys still wrapped in towels and four asses cackling on the bike, I found Lionora-san waving at me with a troubled look on her face. Behind her, Myrril-san was shaking her head in dismay.

“What’s wrong?”

“You were drawing water from the horse’s drinking trough.”

“Eh?”

“There was a well right next door. Why did you take the trouble to use the horse drinking trough?”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but I was shouting at you the whole time.”

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Don’t worry; they didn’t drink it. The water was quite clean.”

When I handed the clothes that looked like wet rags to the mother, she was very grateful. I handed her the towel and asked her to use it as it was.

“Lionora-san, do we need to wait for Marquis Yerkel’s return?”

“No, the formalities and arrangements have already been made, so it’s up to Your Majesty the Demon King to do as he pleases. If you don’t mind, I would like to accompany you to Casemaian.”

“Of course, you are welcome to do so. It would be best if you met with Ricola. Then, Yoshua, prepare to go home.”

A car. I’m happy to let it out, but it’s not a good place to do it.

“Your Majesty, what’s the matter?”

“It’s a rather large car we’ll be using on the way home.”

“Can’t you just take it out here?”

“I can get it out, but it won’t do. It will probably break the drawbridge.”

“Eh? That much?”

I think even a normal 6-wheel truck type Ural weighs 15 tons. A trailer type would probably weigh more than 20 tons.

The drawbridge was reinforced with metal, but a wooden drawbridge could easily be snapped off.

Lionora-san got a little lost and showed us the way to the opposite side of the lake from where we came in.

I was told that this was the shortest route out of the castle, used to send the cavalry out of the castle.

However, (of course) there are narrow passages and horse fences that are designed to prevent enemy troops from entering the castle, so I heard that the soldiers have to avoid them in order to pass through.

“Come on, guys, let’s go! When we get to the big road, everyone will get a ride!”

If anyone can’t walk, I want to be told, but I was wondering who to ask, and Lionora-san brought a representative of the refugees with her.

He is an elf, Lumier-san, who is supposed to be an elder who organizes the subhuman community. Even though he says he is 140 years old, he looks like a young man.

Whatever the case may be, he, too, is a mass-produced good-looking man whose appearance leaves no impression on me.

“The one who can’t walk, you say? Telsa-baasan and Igor-jiisan can’t walk much because of their weak legs. And two pregnant women and six infants.”

“I understand. After we cross the drawbridge, I will bring out a smaller car, and the women, the old man, and the children will ride in it.”

We go outside the castle, get the castle guards’ approval, and take the bear face bus out of my storage.

“”””Ooohhh…””””

The sudden appearance of the bear-faced bus caused a stir not only among the refugees but also among the guards.

No, you guys saw it when we came, right?

“Come on, get in, get in!”

Pregnant women, old people, women, infants, and little boys who might go away if we took our eyes off them were pushed into the bus.

“The rest of you, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to walk outside the city walls. Let us take care of your belongings.”

Most of the rest of the group were grown men. They were physically strong, so there were no complaints.

“Then we’re leaving, so hold on to something.”

I take the driver’s seat, and Lionora-san takes the front seat.

“Wow!”

“It’s so high!”

“It’s too tight. Move it a little more.”

“I can’t. I can’t. I’m sitting on half an ass already.”

“What are you doing, you guys?”

I noticed by the exasperated voice of Myrril that the little werewolf boys were packed into the gun turret on the roof before I knew it. The big car started to move, and they were so excited that they howled in excitement.

“The little guys are all idiots when they’re little, aren’t they?”

“That’s what you say. They didn’t have guns on them, after all. So that’s okay.”

At the first gate, a soldier was waiting for us and opened the horse-proof fence. Lionora-san bowed her head, and the little werewolf boys waved their hands.

“Be careful out there. Have a good trip.”

“Thank you, Nii-chan. I’m going to be a big guy in Casemaian!”

“””You will!”””

The soldiers at all four of the gates were surprisingly friendly. Some were even in tears as they said goodbye.

“The guard, Carsbert-san, was in love with Kifa-neechan, so he didn’t want her to go.”

“Hey, Mikel! Don’t say those things out loud!”

In the backseat, a beautiful elf woman is angry at the werewolf boy with a bright red face. It was kind of funny. Seeing me grinning unintentionally, Lionora-san smiled bitterly.

“Your Majesty the Demon King, you seem surprised.”

“Well, yes. I was worried that there might have been at least a little bit of discrimination and persecution.”

“The people of Marquis Yerkel’s territory did not discriminate and were kind to beastman, elves, and dwarves alike. Perhaps it is because the blood of elves is mixed in the marquis’s family.”

“Eh?”

“Marquis Yerkel herself proclaims herself to be a quarter elf.”

I see… looking at the marquis, I wondered if there are humans who are friendly to subhumans, but I guess that kind of groundwork had to be laid at the beginning.

Well, as far as the people of Marquis Yerkel’s territory are concerned, if mutual understanding begins with mixed blood, that’s a wonderful thing.

We went outside the city gates, thanked the guards who saw us off, and then made our way to the big trucks there.

“Yes, please get on this box then. We will take a break on the way, but if you feel sick, just tap on the wall in front and let us know.”

The second car, an extraordinarily long trailer-type truck, was occupied by a woman, a child, and an elderly man. The interior walls of the container are lined with a wooden floorboard. This was probably to protect the merchandise, but it also served as protection in case they were shot with arrows.

The floor was carpeted with the fur of a magical beast, and several large cushions made of fur and straw were placed on the floor.

It was a thoughtful gesture given by the refugees from Tarantallen, one of the tribal union cities, where they had suffered hardship during their transportation, and they hoped to use the cushions one day when there was a need to transport refugees. I never thought it would be put to use so soon, though.

“Adult males, please ride in the front car. We will load you with weapons, and you are free to use them in case of an emergency.”

Since the first truck-type vehicle would normally be ahead of the others, we asked the men who were capable of handling the situation to ride in it.

Each vehicle will have an escort equipped with guns, so there is no need to worry, but we will load the back of the first vehicle with spears, swords, bows, and arrows taken from the kingdom’s invasion force.

I don’t think there is a force waiting for us in the kingdom that can stop the huge and strong military trucks, but just in case.

In each vehicle, we distributed several large flashlights, a 12-pack of 1.5-liter mineral water, food, some snacks, and anti-sickness candies.

Now, we were ready to go.

It’s too bad we didn’t get to meet the quarter-elf marquis, but we’re also saying goodbye to Marquis Yerkel before.

As I was talking with Mirryl about this before our departure, Lionora-san came up to me and whispered in my ear.

“By the way, Your Majesty the Demon King. I don’t think you would do such a thing, but just in case. You should not ask the marquis about her age.”

“I-I won’t do that, will I?”

“She’s 41 years old.”

“Wait a minute! You’re just saying that, Myrril-san! I don’t know anything about that!　I never asked that!”

“What? I didn’t know who she was, so I had her checked out with appraisal when we first met. I am innocent of any crime.”

I didn’t expect her to be older than me with such a young appearance. I thought she looked very calm…

Whatever, I have a feeling that I’m going to get dragged into the mess when I find out about this.

Let’s get the hell out of here.

“Alright, let’s go…”

“Yoshua-dono!”

“Aaahhh!”

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. When I turned around, I saw Marquis Yerkel, her cheeks tense up, get off her horse and come running up to me.