CH 73

When my health returned after a long last, it was decided that I would take some of the soldiers that would join up with the third division and return to Rune Height.

It was strange, but even though it wasn’t my homeland, I felt a sense of nostalgia when I saw the castle gates.

I suppose that I’ve grown quite fond of this place.

Aria greeted us in front of the gates, wearing a formal dress. Representatives of every squad, including the Rune Height guards were present.

They were made up of various races but all wore the black sign of mourning.

Aria had a black corsage on her chest, and she bowed before of me as representative.

“Welcome back, Vaito.”

“I’m grateful for the welcome.”

Aria was an ally of the Demon Lord army, so she had heard the sad news of Demon Lord Friden Richet.

But she did not say anything unnecessary, only the following with a calm expression:

“My heart is relieved to see you returned safely.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry I worried you.”

Not only did I give cause for her to worry, but it was likely that she would suffer hardships in the future because of me.

But the demise of the Demon Lord was still a secret to the others. I could not say anything here.

The guards here were not aware of any details, but it seemed that they at least knew that ‘someone very important had passed away.’

I returned their salutes and passed through the castle gates.

Aria walked beside me, and looking at my face from the side, said this:

“You’ve grown a little more handsome again.”

“I’m just tired.”

I need to get well soon, I need to be strong for the sake of the late king and the new Demon Lord.

It had been a long time since I entered the office, but it looked completely unchanged since the time that I left it.

Apparently, the maid of the mansion had been cleaning it. I poured some green tea and sighed in relief.

Mereen seemed to be busy with receiving the newly arrived soldiers, and I thought that I would leave the small details up to her.

She was the division commander after all.

And well, I had my own job to do.

I found myself once again gazing at the southern part of a map of Miraldia.

Currently, Bernhainen to the northwest and Tuban to the northeast were in a state of stability. The centaur and vampire squads and also the skeleton soldiers were protecting them.

And it was not very likely that the enemy would attack from the north for a while, so it would be best if we could increase our allies in the south in the meantime.

Then Aria began to explain it to me.

“The south of Miraldia is generally split into two trade routes.”

She pointed at the southern edge of Miraldia with her finger, the city Beruza.

“The first is the southwest route. It starts from the port city of Beruza and goes through Rune Height and Bernhainen.”

Her finger traced the route indicated on the map.

“This is the same path that our ancestors traveled. Our ancestors made their headquarters at Beruza and traveled up north, where they built the kingdom of Bernhainen.”

I see. Now that I think of it, Alam had said that the southern people came here by sea.

“The other route is through the southeast. It starts from the southeastern port city of Lotso and goes north towards Shaldir and continues to Tuban and other cities. This route continued to go north and…”

Aria’s voice lowered.

“Because of that, there were clashes with migrants who came down from the north, this would later turn into the spark that ignited this war that’s engulfed Miraldia.”

Ahh, so that is why Shaldir dislikes the north.

Aria smiled bitterly and continued.

“Vaito, it must be difficult for you to understand how humans continue to quarrel like this for generations.”

I do understand. I was a human in my past life.

Aria pointed at the port city of Beruza to the southwest and said:

“Beruza has another name, it is ‘Pirate City’. They seem to have very little awareness of being part of the Miraldia alliance, but they are the largest city to the south.”

“Oh, just how large?”

The larger the population, the more soldiers, and resources we could collect.

Aria laughed gently at this.

“The civilian population is about two thousand.”

“That’s not very much… Hmm, civilians?”

Perhaps it meant the number of non-civilians was high.

Aria returned with an even more brilliant smile.

“Yes, there are only two thousand if we just count civilians.”

“And the rest?”

“There should be at least ten thousand.”

That many?

“Other than civilians, but what are they?”

“Civilians.”

“I don’t follow you.”

Aria smiled and apologized to me.

“I’m sorry for confusing you. In other words, they are illegal immigrants.”

“Illegal immigrants huh…”

It may be a prejudice, but I hoped that they were not a troublesome lot.

“Can the city sustain so many illegal immigrants being there?”

“Yes, it is no matter. While they are illegal immigrants, they have been living there for generations now.”

Hmmm… This was only making me more and more uncertain.

There was still a lot that I didn’t understand, but we could not ignore such a large population. The distance was quite far, but it was to the south of Rune Height.

“Well then, we should negotiate immediately. Aria, will you handle the negotiations?”

“With pleasure.”

She was still laughing.

She must have been very pleased to startle me.

“For now, I would like you to tell me a little more. About these illegal immigrants…”

As soon as I said this, Nibert of the Werewolf squad, in other words, Gurney the younger came running into the office.

“Vaito, someone suspicious has arrived at the south gate! What is it!?”

“What is it? How should I know when you haven’t explained anything yet.”

I answered and Gurney quickly started to explain.

“It’s, it’s a skeleton.”

“Maybe it’s a skeleton soldier.”

To this Gurney frantically shook his head to the side.

“No, no. It talks. My older brother is talking with it now, it’s talking at an incredible speed…”

“What are they talking about?”

“No-, nothing important.”

Ah, I see.

It’s him.

I sighed and waved my hand.

“I know who it is… I will go immediately.”

Gurney the younger was looking at my face strangely, but he suddenly returned to himself and nodded.

“Ah, yes. Well, I’ll go and help my brother now. Please come quickly!”

I stood up slowly and walked sluggishly.

I did not want to meet him…

As I made my way to the southern gate with heavy footsteps, I saw that the werewolf squad had gathered there.

And I could very clearly hear a familiar voice talking.

“Is one bite the same before and after you transform? Oh, so it would be more profitable to turn into a werewolf when your friends offer you a bite of their snacks.”

“Ah, ah… I guess that is true, now that you mention it?”

Amidst the confusion, Gurney the older said in a somewhat flustered voice.

A flippant man’s voice immediately talked over him.

“That’s quite the honest reaction! That makes me a happy older brother! Oh, wait, are you the older one? Then I’m the younger brother.”

“Eh? Why is that?”

“What, would you prefer a younger sister? That’s too bad, in spite of my appearance, I am a man. See, the suppleness of my skin is different, isn’t it?”

“Your skin…”

“Oh, I forgot that I shed one layer. What do you think of this pale skin!”

“Oh, uh… it is pale.”

Why were they taking this seriously?

I pushed through the crowd of werewolves and quickly made my way to the flippant voice.

There. It was him after all.

The extravagant feathered hat, the expensive suit. His stance was brimming with confidence.

And that white skull underneath the hat.

“Hey, Parker.”

As soon as I called him, he swirled around like a tight spring.

“Ah, Vaito! My beloved younger brother!”

“Who’s your younger brother!”

The crowd stirred.

“That skeleton is the commander’s older brother.”

“I don’t see the resemblance…”

“And why is he a skeleton.”

You guys, stop talking nonsense.

“As if you could be my brother. This is Parker of the ‘Labyrinth’. He was my senior fellow disciple, a former human and necromancer. He is also supposed to be a general of the Demon Lord Army.”

I was suddenly very tired.

Parker merrily laughed as the jaw of his skull loudly opened and closed.

“Yes! I am Parker! Parkerparkepaker!”

“Stop it, that’s annoying.”

And then Parker suddenly became morose and fell to the ground. He began to draw circles in the dirt with his fingers.

“Isn’t that just a little cold for an older brother that you haven’t seen in ages…?”

“As I said, we were just fellow disciples, we are not related!”

He was terribly annoying.

And besides, where had he been all this time and what had he been doing?

■General positions of cities south of Miraldia■

＜Wasteland of Discord＞

＜South Quite Sea＞

※Mining villages and small settlements exist around each of the cities. Nomadic tribes also live while traveling between them.