Volume 8 - CH 8

“Haa…”

After the meeting with the representatives.

Wanting to think by myself, I headed for a small hill on the outskirts of the village, leaning my back against a stone pillar standing there and sighing.

“Well… good job, Seika.”

Rurumu was standing by my side.

I had apparently been seen coming here, and she appeared as if she had followed me.

I can’t think anymore, but I have something I want to ask, so this is just right.

“Um, so… how was it?”

I answered Rurumu who was timidly asking me.

“We just messed around. Nothing has been decided yet.”

“Yes… it’s the same as 16 years ago.”

“Come to think of it, you weren’t participating this time.

“At that time, the divine demons were still in a superior position because they were the race that gave birth to the demon king.”

Rurumu said weakly.

“Many seats were prepared. Other elders were also present. After all that happened because of me… I can’t allow that anymore.”

From my point of view, it’s difficult to say the least.

I continue.

“If you participated last time, there’s something I want to ask you…”

“What is it?”

“Why do the devils want to invade human society so much? 　I understand that the other races, whether they are moderate or aggressive, have their own circumstances… but only devils I didn’t understand. Or rather, who is that representative?”

“Oh, Sir Edentrada…”

Rurumu said after hesitating a bit.

“… It seems that he is seeking the upheaval of the world.”

“Eh, upheaval?”

“The birth of the Demon King and the Hero. The victory of the demons in the Great War that has been going on for the first time in about 500 years… Sir Edentrada seems to want to be an eyewitness to such history, and if he’s lucky, he’s trying to make a name for himself. Rather than a demon race, it’s a personal wish of the lord.”

“Huh, what is that…”

I can’t help but be amazed.

“Why are you in the position of representative? Are the devils okay…?”

“Even so, he seems to have a high political position. He is from the same [Golden] tribe as the king, and moreover, he is from a powerful clan, and has the rank of great savage. He seems to be in military control. That’s why no one seems to be able to raise an objection.”

“”No one? …… “What about the king?”

“The current devil king is still very young. It seems that the real political power is completely held by the nobles.”

“Oh……”

I inadvertently let out a faint voice.

It sounded like something I’d heard in my previous life.

“However, Sir Edentrada also seems to be thinking about the devils in his own way. It seems that he has been moving the army all the time to find the demon king and the hero. In the end, it seems that they didn’t actually tie it up…”

“… Oh, come to think of it…”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

I shook my head at Rurumu, who seemed puzzled.

I just remembered.

‘El Edentrada.’ Come to think of it, Satori, who read the minds of the captured spies during the Imperial Capital Martial Arts Tournament, blurted out that name.

I never thought that two years would pass and i would meet him in person.

And then a question came to my mind.

“Huh? Or rather…”

“What? What is it?”

“No, you must have been in the empire for about fifteen years, weren’t you? 　In spite of that, I thought you were very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the devils. Did you ask Razurum-dono?”

“No, Risolera-sama told me.”

“Risolera… is that little girl?”

“It seems like she’s been thinking about me for a long time… she talked to me the day she arrived in this village. At that time, she told me a lot about what happened after I left the demon territory.”

Rurumu spoke with a faint smile.

On the other hand, I had my doubts.

“I wonder who that girl named Risolera is.”

Even after the demon’s right to speak weakened, her seat was prepared like that. And even Edentrada, who often poked at Remzenel, seemed to have a crush on Risolera.

She looks about twelve or thirteen years old, but since she’s been alive for sixteen years, she’s not as young as she looks.

She’s a long-lived race, so it wasn’t strange, but there was something wrong about her.

“Hey, Seika… you don’t want war, do you?”

At Rurumu’s earnest voice, I set aside my doubts and looked at her face.

The shrine maiden said with a brooding expression.

“If you are a demon lord, but also a human, and you have the blood of an imperial aristocrat…you should be able to negotiate peace with the empire as the representative of the demons.……”

“Sorry”

I interrupt Rurumu’s words.

“If all the races want it, it will be a story. I don’t care if it’s just casually guiding them, but… I intend to make the invading faction bend their will and force them to obey.”

“Eh, but..”

“Your plans should have been based on the assumption that the Demon King’s army had unified their intentions. When I heard your story, I also thought that it would happen on its own. ……Currently, the invasion faction and the moderate faction are completely divided. The only races that are likely to meekly obey the orders of the Demon King are divine demons.”

If you think about it, it was only natural.

The Demon King does not have the power to control the spirit of the demons.

If that were the case, the forest elves and the  dwarves wouldn’t have separated in the last war, and I wouldn’t have been attacked by Galeos or the demon party at school.

The reason why they were able to form the Demon King’s Army until now was simply because their interests were aligned with the birth of the Demon King.

And that’s not the case this time.

“Without unity of will, there is no way peace negotiations can be held. If a race appears to break away and invade during negotiations, a civil war will begin instead of making peace. The first stage of your plans As such, first of all, it is necessary for all races to unite as moderates.”

“… that’s right”

Rurumu said quietly.

“If races like forest elves and dwarves reappeared, the demons would be even more scattered.

Rurumu said with a complex expression that seemed to be a mixture of various emotions.

I think it’s very… difficult.