CH 104

Bilateral Alliance

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

“Nephew-chan, I-came-to-play”

The earth shook and the sky split.

Even before her voice reached me, I felt a tremendous amount of pressure, and as I was relaxing in the garden, I pulled out my sword and caught it.

The black sword clashed with Kaori’s slender arm, sending a shock wave that shook the earth and cracked the sky.

We lock weapons as it is.

Kaori was surprised to see the black sword.

“Nephew-chan, what is that?”

“Eh? Ah…… this”

Even though she raised a question, she did not draw back her arm at all.

I reply, competing with a force that could obliterate me and the entire mansion if I let my guard down even a little.

“A little while ago. Err, from my ancestor’s spirit? That’s where I got it from”

“Is it from that person? I see.”

“You know her?”

“Father recognized her as the 『Strongest woman in mankind』.”

“What an amazing first generation!”

Was that what they were saying about her?

The sword-to-claw locking pushed Kaori back once, and then, like a ball with a rubber band attached, after her momentum had been fully extended, Kaori came flying back with even more speed.

Gakin, gakin, then, as we collide with each other over and over again, I let out a sigh.

“However, “the strongest woman in mankind” is quite an exaggeration. Isn’t that normally Kaori’s mother? And she’s the demon king.”

“The Demon King is not human.”

“So that’s what it is! That’s amazing!!”

I quipped more and more loudly, understanding the meaning of the strongest of mankind and how serious it was.

If it had been Kaori’s mother, or the strongest including the previous Demon King, I would have said, “Yes, yes, that’s right,” but if we are talking about the Demon King not being mankind, in which the strongest of mankind excluding her, the weight of the story would be all the more significant.

Really, I guess it’s true that she is the strongest “woman” of “humanity”.

I’ve heard many sagas of the first generation in the past, but I thought this one was the most amazing.

“More importantly, you seem to know a lot about this sword.”

“Yeah, it looks just like onee-sama. Of course, it’s different, onee-sama can only be used by father.”

“Wait, wait, wait, I don’t understand what you’re talking about”

With an urge to hold my temples, I cross blades with Kaori’s slender arm.

I cut off the bullets of black flames that she shot at me.

“What do you mean that it looks just like your onee-sama?”

“Onee-sama is a magic sword.”

“What kind of sister is that!?”

No, well…… isn’t that strange.

Older Sister: Magic Sword

Younger Sister: Demon King

……Hmm, well, I …… guess it is.

“You sisters are ridiculous”

“The children of nephew-chan’s ancestor are their brothers, too. We share the same blood.”

“Uwaaah……it’s kind of hard to comment.”

After a round of battles that lightly scorched a 20-meter radius, Kaori put her weapon back in satisfaction.

“Thank you. After all, it feels good to fight with my nephew.”

“I’ve already given up on that, but from now on, when you do something, please tell me first.”

“I said it, you know. I said I wanted to play with nephew-chan”

“At least don’t go faster than the speed of sound on your first shot!?”

Indeed, Kaori said that.

However, it was meaningless because she attacked at a super speed that overtook her own voice.

“Is it troubling you, nephew-chan?”

“It’s troubling me”

“It’s not good to trouble nephew-chan.”

“Ah, so”

“But I refuse.”

“Stop using phrases that give me hope!?”

I quipped in a grand manner.

I decided to give up, thinking that this quip would be pointless.

The garden, which had been scorched in the battle just now, was quickly restored by the servants Kaori had summoned.

The servants of the Demon King, those whose numbers are assigned up to the 1000s.

About five so far? I have only met with a few of them, but they are all experts in their fields.

The ruins of the battle, which should have been barren for the next ten years, were repaired in an instant.

“Even so, it reminds me of onee-sama with that magic sword, or that girl who trained me when I was a child――”

“Darling!!!”

“Uoh!”

From behind, I was hugged by my waist with a small tackle.

Unlike Kaori, she was fragile and hard to perceive, so I fell forward with her embrace.

As it is, I push Kaori to the ground.

“Nephew-chan, you’re bold……”

“No, no, you can see that it’s different, right?”

“I…… don’t mind……”

“Don’t close your eyes and don’t purse your lips!”

I stand up while quipping.

I stood up, with Erika clinging to my waist.

“You don’t want it? Nephew-chan is shy”

“No, no, no…… or rather, what’s wrong, Erica?”

I thought it would be better to ignore Kaori’s that for the time being, so I pointed my question at Erica.

I gently peel her off and face her from a distance.

“Listen, darling, I sent a personal letter to King Aegina saying that I wanted to rent Darling’s territory, but he refused.”

“That’s obvious, isn’t it…… or rather, did you really sound out an appropriate amount?”

“Of course! Since Erika, will do anything for Darling.”

“You shouldn’t say that you will do anything, since some bad guys who will get at your teeth would appear——”

“I offered them three gold mines in exchange, but he snickered at me!”

“You were really ready to do anything!”

Raising my voice, I quip with all my might.

Three gold mines, you said……

The Canoe family’s territory’s main source of money, is the single silver mine that used to produce Torikara steel and now mainly produces silver ore.

Three gold mines in exchange for that is a proposal that might make one question their sanity.

However, as expected, I know that His Majesty didn’t laugh with his nose in that sense.

I’m his master of swordsmanship, and the leader of the Royal Chivalrous Thieves.

Maybe that snorting meant “it’s too cheap”……

“Uh, Erica is frustrated. I thought it might not work, but it’s frustrating to see it go this bad.”

“I know it’s frustrating, so why don’t we just stop talking about it?”

“Erica, I won’t stop, I’ll do anything to be with my darling.”

“Like I said, why don’t you stop it……”

Unlike before, this time I react to it.

If Erica has offered three gold mines from the first hand in negotiations, it is very likely that she will really offer more than that.

If I don’t stop her here, the story will get even more complicated.

“What are you talking about, nephew-chan?”

Kaori interrupted the conversation between me and Erica.

“Demon King? Why are you here?”

Erica seemed to have noticed Kaori for the first time and questioned her in a slightly sullen mood.

“I came to play with nephew-chan. What about you?”

“I came to see darling. Darling, comfort Erica.”

Erica then hugged me and rubbed her face against my chest, acting quite spoiled.

“That’s unfair, let me do it too.”

“Get away from him for a moment, Demon King. Darling belongs to Erica.”

The two of them lightly quarreled with me in between.

I appeased them rather aptly.

This is because I have come to know Kaori quite well.

Kaori is following the word of her mother, the former demon king.

No matter what happens, she won’t lay a hand on people whose strength isn’t on the same level as hers.

Erica is a bright girl with the qualities of a wise queen, but physically, she is a frail, ordinary girl.

So, Kaori and Erica’s bickering will never deteriorate into anything more than a verbal fight.

I was so sure of it that I just appeased them at the very least and let them do things as they please.

“Isn’t it about time you gave up? Kaori won’t shut up if you try to rent this place.”

“Shut up?”

“Rent?”

I roughly explained to Kaori that Erica was trying to rent this place from Aegina in order to see me.

Kaori shouldn’t think anything of this level.

Even now, even though this is Aegina’s territory, she usually comes flying in and battling around normally.

So I thought it would be okay to talk to her about this.

“Heh, I don’t really understand how humans think.”

As expected, Kaori’s reaction was weak.

“……”

“Erica?”

Erica’s reaction, on the other hand, was different from what I expected.

She looks at Kaori, then at me, then at the servants who are rapidly repairing the garden around us.

“Could it be that Darling and the Demon King fought again?”

“Ah. Same as always”

It was the same kind of attack as the day she met Erica, so she accepted it normally.

“I see……ah”

Erica seems to have come up with something.

The inspiration is so great that I can even hear the sound effect of pikon.

I…… don’t know why, but I had a really bad feeling.

“Hey, Demon King, can I talk to you about something a little.”

“What is it, niece number two?”

“Why don’t you and Erica join forces in assaulting darling’s territory?”

“Yeeeeeees!?”

The story was so unexpected that my voice turned inside out grandly.

“Assaulting nephew-chan?”

“Yes, let’s attack this place, and ——that’s right, Calamba and Comotria will jointly manage it.”

“……In short?”

“You can fight Darling seriously. Erica will remove all obstacles around you.”

“I’m in.”

“Don’t say I’m in!?”

“Then let’s talk about it in more detail, shall we? Would you like to go somewhere unpopular?”

“Got it”

Kaori took Erica with her and flew off somewhere that exceeded the speed of sound.

They were gone in an instant, before I had time to stop them.

“……Why?”

Reaching out and grabbing the sky, I was stunned in the garden where the servants are repairing it.

A few days later, for the first time in hundreds of years, the news that Comotoria and another country had formed an alliance, along with the fact that their target was I, Hermes Canoe, sent shockwaves around the world.