Chapter 248

248. Ah, so that’s how it is? (5)

It had been three months since I had met my first companion, the Earth hero.

At first, the stubborn hero and his comrades didn’t listen well, but as their numbers grew, they began to follow orders more obediently.

Such is the power of a group.

Even though they could claim a mental victory over those of lesser status, everyone gathered here was a hero and his party.

A motley crew!

In such a place, there weren’t many who could claim to be superior.

“The world is currently under threat. The threat of destruction at the hands of evil spirits!”

And one of those few was my disciple.

“Even now, many people are falling prey to the forces of evil spirits. Their hope is in us. If we don’t defeat the evil spirits, all beings on this continent... no, all species are in danger!”

“Oooooh!”

Cheers and applause echoed around the room.

Even though I was stating the obvious, I received applause and cheers.

This must be what they mean when they say that once you’re famous, people will applaud you even if you take a dump.

“Now is the time to fight. If we don’t fight, who will? We will fight the evil spirits in the name of the heroes!”

As the hero spoke, the other heroes raised their holy swords and shouted in excitement.

I wanted to say that the Empire would have handled this even without you, but I held my tongue.

“Seeing us unite, humanity has also begun to unite. Several kingdoms have already gathered their forces to send reinforcements. Not only that, but the elves, dwarves, giants, and even other races that previously had no interest in the world are offering their support. They all trust us and are waiting for us to defeat the evil spirits. Now is the time to fight. In the name of the heroes, it’s time to defeat the evil spirits!”

As the hero raised his hand, another round of cheers erupted.

It was the perfect time to throw a windfall into the midst of the heroes!

Even without a windfall, their unity was incredible.

“It’s over.”

“Well done.”

I nodded slightly to the approaching hero, and he returned the gesture.

It wasn’t just empty words; he did better than I expected.

Or should I say, he was even more popular than I expected?

The heroes practically treated him like an idol.

“So... are we going to fight?”

“We have to.”

“Me too?”

“If you’re a hero, you should fight against the evil spirits.”

I looked disdainfully at the hero, who looked at me with an uneasy expression.

This was serious.

If you’re a fool, act like one... No, if you’re a hero, then fight the evil spirits like one.

“Understood.”

With a deep sigh, the tired looking hero nodded.

His back looked pitiful as he walked away.

So,

“Have someone follow him.”

There was a good chance that he would run away, so we needed someone to follow him.

“Understood.”

Now it was time for my aide, Shuttle, to give orders. Of course, Shuttle wouldn’t leave my side. The moment he left, the heroes would grab him and run.

“It is simply because Shuttle’s words carry more credibility than mine when he speaks to others. People trust a handsome cleric more than a middle-aged man of uncertain status.

I watched with satisfaction as Shuttle secretly asked people to protect the hero and anticipated the battle between the heroes and the demon king.

And the result!

“What did you say?”

I tilted my head, wondering if I had misheard, but Shuttle’s trembling voice confirmed that I hadn’t.

“The demon king has fled.” nOVe)Lb(1n

“Fled? The demon king?”

“Yes.”

“Where to?”

“It seems that except for some forces left behind to buy time, the entire army is following the same path as the advance route. Some speculate that they may return to the Mared Kingdom.”

“Speculate?”

“Yes.”

“How are the heroes?”

“They seem quite confused, but it looks like they’ve decided to go after them.”

“That is to be expected.”

Throughout history, demon kings have fought to the death, knowing that it means their doom. No matter how unusual this demon king is said to be, I never expected them to flee.

Not even I, who know the Demon King’s true form, could have predicted this!

-... Huh?

-Huh!

I was expecting the usual “I learned it from my owner, so of course I’ll run away!”, but it was strangely quiet.

-Still sulking?

-I don’t know!

After our discussion last time about not believing in legends, he sulked and mumbled, but I had no intention of giving in to that legend.

What he knows as a legend is limited to what I know. My knowledge is all that matters.

I’ve kept it with me since it was forged by a blacksmith, so my knowledge is the sum of what the blacksmith knows. Everything he doesn’t know is what the blacksmith doesn’t know.

Normally I wouldn’t mind, but in this busy situation there’s no time to play with him.

“The chances of a trap are high. We need to confirm it and continue the pursuit, right?”

“They are using a vanguard to check for traps during the pursuit. The heroes are handling the situation well in the midst of the troops, so we can trust them.”

“If it’s them, we can trust them.”

He was a hero in charge of the command in the middle, as if he was my apprentice, because I was worried about who wouldn’t be my apprentice.

They placed comrades in the dangerous vanguard for traps or sneak attacks, and also in the dangerous rear for surprise attacks!

As long as they’re careful about bombing from above, there shouldn’t be any danger to the heroes.

By the way, what does the Demon King want?

Is it to retreat and increase the number of troops?

That would be difficult. All the beings in the area are fleeing to a place created by the forces of evil.

In order to gather new forces, they would have to go to a new place. Of course, that would probably involve battles, and in the worst case, they could be ambushed by the heroes.

So they can’t really increase their troops, and they might end up going back to where they came from.

“What were the characteristics of the destroyed Mared Kingdom?”

“It didn’t have any special characteristics. The place was characterized by its inconspicuousness. Due to the nature of the northern continent, the weather was cold and winter came early, but these were conditions shared by all nearby kingdoms.”

“Are they waiting for winter?”

“Um... That’s a possibility.”

The northern winter wasn’t just cold; it brought heavy snowfall and bone-chilling cold, conditions so harsh that even movement could lead to casualties. They might want to use that to lure the heroes out.

Unlike the wild monsters, the heroes and their companions were human. Even if they disrupted their supply lines, there should be no danger to the heroes as long as they were careful about ambushing them.

“Support will be more difficult. We should quickly request help from the northern kingdoms...”

“Understood. We’ll send a request for support through the heroes of the Martial Temple, including the prince of the northern kingdom.”

“Good...”

In order to address the only option that Shuttle and I could think of, we moved quickly and performed various administrative tasks. We informed the prince of the northern kingdom, who was actively serving as an inspector at the Martial Temple, and the northern kingdoms quickly responded by preparing supplies. The northern kingdoms had developed magic-based supplies to withstand the harsh winter conditions, so they would undoubtedly be helpful to the heroes.

And it seemed that our efforts were bearing fruit!

A few days later, we received word that the Demon King had successfully fled to the northern continent.

“We finally found them, my lord.”

They appeared before us.

Huh?

#3 Your situation: A Certain hero’s Situation

“Rest!”

“It’s time to rest!”

“Contact the vanguard for their return!”

At my command, the others quickly began to move.

Most of them were former underdog heroes, so they quickly formed ranks and set up a makeshift barracks.

Of course, not everyone was familiar with these procedures.

After the appearance of the Evil Apostle, a significant number of heroes died, and an equal number were resurrected. About half of them became heroes after the appearance of the Evil Apostle!

Except for a few heroes, they could be said to be baggage, but their comrades around them were quite useful, so there was no choice but to take them along.

The instructor had said that in order to fight against the forces of evil, both quality and quantity were important.

“The vanguard has returned, and preparations for the siege are 80% complete.”

Although they were comrades of other heroes, this was the voice of a mage who had traveled with me thanks to her excellent communication magic.

“It’s time to prepare a meal. Didn’t the vanguard say anything special?”

“They only mentioned that they had removed a simple trap.”

“I see.”

I nodded and took a map of the continent out of my bag.

Our current location was just above the border between the central and northern continents. In other words, we were at the entrance to the northern continent.

“What do you think the enemy wants?”

“Could it be that they want to incapacitate us with the northern cold?”

“As the Demon King, it doesn’t seem like prolonging time would be to their advantage...”

“Perhaps they intend to divert their forces to attack elsewhere?”

“That would be difficult. All the gods are watching the Demon King and his forces. The moment the Demon King moves, a message will be sent to the apostles.”

The members of my staff, who had each taken out their own maps, began to express their opinions about the Demon King’s retreat and what it might mean. They discussed various ideas, such as preparing for the harsh northern winter, increasing their own forces, and so on. However, they couldn’t come to a conclusion.

“No, it’s more like this!”

“This is unreasonable!”

I deliberately laughed heartily to calm down the employees who had been arguing since the Demon King had fled, and gradually, they calmed down. After a while, a fragrant meat stew and...

“An attack!”

A soldier burst in, shouting urgently.

Damn it! Isn’t it a rule not to interrupt meals?

Didn’t the instructor say, “I’m not disturbing a dog”?

As expected, it was the apostle of evil who resembled the instructor who spoke like this.

“Damn it! How many did they send this time?”

It would probably be a small attack, as usual. But don’t underestimate small-scale attacks; they could easily level a city.

As enemies, they weren’t very well coordinated, and they unleashed violent monsters that were difficult to control. However, with the power of the forces of evil, these already strong monsters became even stronger when they returned.

“It’s a force of 50,000! And the Demon King is leading them himself!”

“What did you say?”

Why?

That was the first thought that popped into their minds.

There was no reason for them to start a battle here right now.

The Demon King had been constantly retreating, discarding parts of their forces to gain time, yet they chose such unfavorable terrain.

There had been better terrain several times before, yet they kept running away.

“They’ve finally reached their limit!”

“50,000... Considering the reinforcements, that’s a number worth fighting for.”

However, I seemed to be the only one who thought this way. The reactions of others were more like, “Finally, they’re here.

In fact, they acted in a way that was not like the Demon King’s behavior before, rushing into battle knowing that they would die.

I was probably the only one who thought like that, because I knew that the enemy was a disciple of the Teacher and had various pieces of information.

So I understood.

“Defeat the forces of evil!”

“The author is a disciple of the Teacher!”

The man in the midst of the evil forces looked at us and said,

“Who are you?”

That he wasn’t a true apostle of evil!