CH 72

Gomoviroa, the new Demon Lord, ordered the complete withdrawal of soldiers from the Northern battlefront as soon as she ascended the throne. She had a plan to deploy all of their fighting force to the South and to strengthen diplomacy and defenses in the meantime.

This was something that had already been decided in a previous meeting, and now it was immediately executed.

Glenstadt Castle, which housed the body of the late king, would be used as a training facility for new officers and soldiers.

The place had been used for this purpose previously, so it was fully equipped.

The magical races that have gathered from far and wide would learn how to stand and march, handle weapons and all the general knowledge required of a new soldier. It was a type of production base for new units.

I stayed at Glenstadt Castle until I recovered my strength, and it was decided that I should re-educate the soldiers of the Demon Lord army as an instructor.

Mainly, the second division.

The plan was to dissolve the second division and integrate them with the third division.

They too would eventually come to the south of Miraldia. As they had not done anything in the South yet, relations with the humans would still be possible.

But their current brutish way of carrying themselves would not do.

My job was now to teach them how to interact with humans.

The first thing that needed to be done was to remove their animalistic view that ‘the strong are superior.’

“You have all experienced a hellish battlefield in the northern regions of Miraldia.”

One of the halls in Glenstadt Castle was used as our classroom. I looked at the lines of giants and ogres. It was quite the spectacle to see them all sitting with their desks in front of them.

The second division had been dealt such a destructive blow, but the ones that had survived were not the strongest of their race.

If anything, most of them appeared quite weak.

They were either the cowardly or the wise.

“You are not the elite of the second division. Indeed, those who died in battle are the true elite. And you understand that more than anyone.”

They all dropped their heads at his words. They were that weak. Part of it was from the shock of experiencing defeat after defeat, but most of them were weak of will to begin with.

And so I offered them encouragement.

“But you did not fear to run. You understood the horrors humans are capable, and so you ran. And you survived. From here on, you must learn even more about these humans.”

The giants had expressions of hesitation, they looked at each other’s faces.

“What does he mean?”

“I don’t know. Instructor Vaito’s talks are hard to understand.”

“But the humans were frightening. They were stronger than I thought.”

“Aye, they were terrifying…”

It was as if they both understood, but did not at the same time, questionable…

“Humans are frightening due to their stubbornness. Even if their leader falls, they quickly appoint a new leader and continue to fight. They are not like us.”

Because the leaders of humans are not chosen by their physical strength.

And so they can generously send out their strongest warriors into the frontlines.

“And one more thing. Humans try to protect their weaker members.”

It did seem that they would also fight amongst their own, but even so, the militia and guards would fight to the death in order to protect defenseless citizens.

Giants and ogres generally do not live in packs, and so they lack this kind of social structure.

‘It’s too bad that those who are not warriors and cannot fight, will die.’ was their mentality.

With the exception of the demon tribes who lived in primitive packs, this explanation was not something that they could understand.

“Pro-, protect the weak?”

“But why? What good comes from protecting weaklings?”

“Normally you protect the strong. The strong defeat enemies. Everyone is safe.”

Hmmm, exactly how you would expect magical beings to think.

I think I will try a different strategy.

“Let me ask you, did all of you like the previous Demon Lord?”

In an instant the room filled with loud cheering. It hardly needed asking.

“Well then, do you like the current Demon Lord as well?”

This was also met with loud cheering.

“If so, I ask you then, do you like the Demons Lords because they are strong?”

As soon as he said it, the survivors of the second division all looked at one another.

“I don’t…know?”

“The late king was strong. But kind. That’s why I liked him.”

“The current Demon Lord is also kind. She is kind because she is a saint.”

Good, good, and now let me follow up with this:

“You understand then? That strength is not everything. Magical beings obey the strong. But whether you grow fond of them, well, that is another matter, is it not?”

Several that were there, began to nod at his words.

It was likely that they had never been blessed with superior officers.

There were many magical beings who would abuse their power.

Though, for the most part, they all ended up dying at the Northern battlefront.

Because their underlings would not come to save them.

“So if the Demon Lord was weak, all of you would not protect her?”

And with that, all of them stood up at once.

“We would!”

“The Saint saved all of our lives! It is our turn to save the Saint!”

“We will go forth the when Demon Lord is weakened!”

“I will fight without fearing for my own life!”

“Where is the enemy!”

Some of them were now standing on top of their desk and raising their voices. This tendency to become over-excited had to be curbed.

“That’s enough, be silent. Or I’ll bite.”

The room instantly fell into silence as I said those words.

Those who were standing on top of their desks studied my facial expression as they quietly returned to their seats.

“We’ll die if Vaito bites us…”

“He kills Heroes…”

“Hey, wouldn’t it be better to apologize to him now?”

No, it was a joke. I hadn’t meant for them to shrivel back so much.

I should continue with what I was saying.

“So you would all want to protect the Demon Lord, even if she was weak? Right?”

They all nodded in agreement, and so I continued.

“You want to protect those who are important, regardless of strength. That is how humans feel. And so if you torment or kill those that are weak, they will all band together to get their revenge. That Hero was no different.”

As the room fell silent, the sounds of the giants and ogres whispering to each other could be heard.

“Humans are scary…”

“Damn, they are like wasps.”

“We would be in grave danger if we laid a hand on them.”

“Aye, we must be careful…”

Had they started to understand?

Well, let’s take this slowly.

Aside from the re-education of the officers and soldiers, there were reorganizational changes occurring within the Demon Lord’s army.

One of these was the arrangement of ‘aides’.

Until now, everyone had been purposely made aides so as to blur any notions of rank. The commanding officers and deputy division commanders were all aides.

But from now on, only those who aided the Demon Lord and division commander’s duties would be called ‘aides’.

Master, no, the new Demon Lord decided to have no aides other than me, so anyone referring to the ‘Demon Lord’s aide,’ would be referring to me.

Come to think of it, Bartz had once told me such a thing:

“Vaito, it seems that the soldiers are calling you the ‘Demon Lord’s substitute.”

“Ah, I can’t say that I am happy about such an exaggeration.”

“I think that it is quite appropriate.”

Really?

After the destruction of the second division, the composition of the divisions changed as well. Half of the first division and the entirety of the second division were scheduled to be integrated into the third division to the South.

They would also be renamed as the ‘Southern Assault Division’. It was part of the new Demon Lord’s initiative to bring the southern region of Miraldia under her rule.

Mereen, who was now, as a result, commander the majority of the Demon Lord’s army had said:

“You were fooled by teacher again!?”

What do you mean, again? Mereen.

On the other hand, Fernel, who had come to see me, wore a much more easy-going expression. Is was an expression one had after being freed from the pressures of being an aide.

“Now I am the division commander of the Southern Assault Division. Now I only have to worry about governing Tuban, I think that will make things easier.”

Unfortunately, things will not go so well for you.

“I will have you concurrently act as Mereen’s aide as well.”

“Huh?”

Fernel abruptly got up.

“Why? What would I even be aiding Mereen with?”

“Mereen needs an aide to help with military affairs. You will help with advice on military strategy.”

You are one of Gomoviroa’s best students when it comes to martial matters.

Don’t think you can escape this.

This would be tough for young Fernel, but since the dragonkin officers from the first division were scheduled to be stationed there as deputy division commanders, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

“This is your doing, isn’t it Vaito? I’ll hate you for this…”

“It’s not me. Make your complaints to Mereen.”

Fernel held her head as her tail started to spin around.

“Uhhh, I don’t want such a difficult job…”

“It’s not bad, being an aide. I enjoy it.”

“Well, I know that you do!”

In the end, it was the Blue Scale Knights Order, Red Scale Knights Order and the royal guards who had been assigned to the late king, that were not integrated into the Southern Assault Division.

They were newly dubbed the ‘ Royal Division’ and were in charge of protecting the Demon Lord and other important persons.

The division commander was Bartz of the Blue Knights. The deputy division commander was Shure, of the Red Knights.

They were a bit small in numbers to be called a division, but Master’s skeleton soldiers were there as well.

I, along with the werewolf squad, were directly assigned to the Demon Lord, we were to be the eyes, mouth, and hands of Demon Lord Gomoviroa.

I was also given the authority to command the Royal Division. On behalf of the Demon Lord.

If I think of it that way, maybe I am ‘the Demon Lord’s substitute’…