Chapter 8: Rehabilitation (3)

The reason Peña was interested in this news was simple.

For him, who was driven by money, the one who played tricks on the 3rd and 4th squads was truly curious.

It was surely someone from the demon world, but it definitely wasn’t Lerazie.

Mitaya had emphasized how Lerazie was nothing more than a beginner magician to persuade Peña.

No matter how much of a genius one was, it would be impossible to control two squads.

This meant that there was someone else nearby helping Lerazie.

Mitaya must have come to the same conclusion.

Peña felt that a rather interesting stake had been raised on the negotiation table.

“Don’t you think it’s time we renegotiate?”

“…What do you mean?”

“They say the 3rd and 4th squads were wiped out, didn’t they?”

Mitaya glared at the security officer who reported this to him, grinding his teeth.

He should have reported security matters directly to me, the chief of security, not to anyone else. Such a fool.

The officer flinched at the sharp gaze.

“They lost contact. Wiped out.”

“Ha, was there anything else that could cause a loss of contact from the demon world? Am I unaware of something else?”

“So what are you suggesting?”

Peña leaned forward with a serious expression.

“Right now, the one next to that Lerazie girl. Hand them over to me. Keep it a secret that such a person exists.”

Mitaya immediately understood what Peña wanted.

The strong person next to Lerazie. In other words, he wanted to possess ‘something expensive.’

It could be sold as a war slave for money, or there were many other ways to use them.

Also, covering up the fact that such a person existed would help avoid interference with business.

“…You’re really arrogant.”

Mitaya finally couldn’t hold back and criticized him, but Peña took it as a compliment.

Peña, in a good mood, trembled his mustache and took a deep breath.

“How do you plan to catch the one who toyed with half of my security detachment?”

“I have a knight. The best personnel, who receive more money than I do from the guild. Mitaya, you’re as strong as him. Perhaps even stronger.”

The officers, expecting Mitaya to lash out, were surprised when she calmly nodded instead.

A knight, an imperial knight, a knight who defends the empire.

When they reflected on those words, it made sense.

Mitaya knew how strong her knight was.

This crazy woman was someone who could persuade others with sheer force.

“Do you call anyone from your order a knight?”

“If that guy brings in money, I’d call him an emperor.”

“You dare mock the emperor in front of the chief of security?”

“We’ve already shared one secret, haven’t we?”

Peña wasn’t swayed at all by Mitaya’s threat and answered leisurely.

In response, Mitaya slammed her hand on the negotiation table.

“I accept the deal.”

A young tree, already decided to become a massive giant.

It seemed like it was blooming in spring, covered in flowers.

If I were to describe Lerazie’s appearance as the Demon King’s, this is how it would be.

Seeing the Demon King’s face while he was cooking, I couldn’t deny that expression seemed fitting.

I remember the first time I properly met the Demon King.

After a long journey, when I opened my eyes, I felt how much lighter my body was than I expected.

When I realized that only the Demon King could heal me, I felt both grateful and embarrassed.

Grateful for being healed, and embarrassed because, while I lost consciousness, my body had become the Demon King’s.

I’m glad my gratitude reached him, and I’m really thankful for his promise to fulfill my request.

As promised, I will follow the Demon King faithfully and learn magic.

After exchanging promises with the Demon King, a night passed.

I thought I would leave as soon as possible, but the Demon King said today was the day.

It was the next day, much earlier than I expected.

“If my power had fully recovered, we would have left yesterday. It’s a bit of a shame.”

Saying this, the Demon King placed his hand on my wound.

Soon, the wound healed instantly without leaving a scar.

Despite having such abilities, the Demon King, in his own way, seemed a little disappointed.

Perhaps this was the kind of boyishness that made him appear so human.

Could it be because of the effect of his body?

Thinking this made me feel slightly embarrassed.

Because I had to take off my clothes due to the wounds on my body.

To a boy around my age…

Ugh, I won’t think about it.

The Demon King said that if he had a little more magic power, we could have healed everything yesterday and left right away.

“It’s better to get used to it. You’ll be seeing it often.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s leave right away. You’ll be fine, right?”

“No problem.”

“Get dressed.”

I put on the clothes the Demon King had prepared for me.

I had heard that these clothes were made from pieces of cloth originally in the facility.

The soft clothes didn’t suit traveling, so I used them as bandages.

The tough clothes the servants were supposed to wear were what they gave me.

To be honest, they were close to rags,

but they were still much better than the clothes I had been wearing in the detention camp.

One was made by a human, the other by a demon.

Now, I was going to rescue my friends.

“What… what is this?”

Lerazie expressed shock as she looked at the corpse monster guarding the entrance.

“It’s a dog made from the guards.”

Despite the Demon King’s earlier concerns, Lerazie showed more curiosity than disgust.

“…A dog? This thing? …Wait, did the guards die?”

“Yeah.”

“Eek…”

Lerazie, who had been quietly growing her respect for the Demon King, stared intently at the corpse monster.

It seemed she was curious about how it was connected and moved.

It looked like a truly demonic creature.

Meanwhile, the Demon King activated a detection spell and surveyed the surroundings.

Unlike yesterday, there was nothing suspicious on the mountain.

Most importantly, there were no guards.

The Demon King had killed the guards, and it had been a day.

Fifty people had died, yet there was no response. That didn’t make sense.

Perhaps a countermeasure had already been decided.

And that countermeasure probably wasn’t sending Lerazie here.

From a colonial management standpoint, it was unthinkable to send someone like Lerazie.

This meant they either couldn’t leave or were sure they would return.

The Demon King pondered.

What do they know that I don’t?

“I see.”

They’ve taken Lerazie’s friends as prisoners.

Lerazie would certainly return to rescue them.

According to the information, the head of the guards had gone to “requisition” more soldiers.

Once additional forces were gathered, they would probably use the prisoners to set a trap.

While this posed a future threat, it paradoxically meant there was time now.

The safety of those children was guaranteed by the head of the guards.

So, we needed to make sure they knew we were here to prove those children were useful.

Otherwise, they’d be killed.

“Let’s find the nearby demons first.”

“…Huh? Ah! Yes! Yes!”

Lerazie, who had been distracted, quickly responded.

“The detention center collapsed, so some time has passed. By now, the survivors must be grouped together. Let’s

start by getting information from them.”

“Okay! Understood!”

“Get on the dog’s back.”

“Huh? Ah, that’s a bit…”

“Get on.”

“Okay, okay…”

Lerazie still didn’t have the courage to defy the Demon King’s orders.

While using real-time detection magic, the two of them and the dog moved.

They left the mountain and entered the forest, moving parallel to the detention camp.

Any sane demon would want to stay far away from the camp.

As expected, the Demon King’s detection magic soon picked up some figures.

From the looks of them, they were definitely not guards.

They were the subordinates of the slave trader. It seemed they had succeeded in requisitioning soldiers.

“Lerazie-”

“Demon King! Demon King! Look at this!”

Lerazie, sitting on the monster’s back, picked something up and handed it to the Demon King.

“I caught a bug!”

It was a stag beetle.

Nothing special about it.

Why on earth did she catch this?

The Demon King stared silently at the beetle before sighing and tapping Lerazie on the forehead with the edge of his hand.

“Ugh.”

Lerazie, realizing she had done something wrong, cringed, but the Demon King looked down at his hand in confusion.

“Did I really just do that?”

He seemed puzzled by his own actions.

“There are slave traders around.”

“Gasp, should we avoid them?”

“Ah… Are we fighting them?”

“No, you’re going to fight them. Get off the dog.”

“Huh?”

“Get down.”

Lerazie, still confused, carefully got off the dog’s back.

“I’m going to fight? How?”

I only know how to make stones light.

“Dog, bow your head. It’s just me and Lerazie here.”

The dog, following the command, lowered its head and sat down as much as it could, despite being much larger than

Lerazie.

“From now on, listen carefully to what I say.”

“Ah! Yes!”

“Magic is a trade with nature. Your mana is the currency of magic.”

The magic lesson, initiated by the Demon King, coincidentally began as the slave traders arrived.

“Hey! You two! What are you doing there?!”

“Eek.”

The merchants who discovered the two suddenly shouted, and while Leira Zie was frightened, the Demon King continued explaining without any sign of agitation.

“Even simple magic that creates fire in the air can be understood as the process of giving magic power to nature and buying fire from it.”

Seeing the Demon King so calm, Leira Zie also became calm.

On the other hand, it was the slave merchants who became furious at their demeanor.

“What’s this? Are you ignoring us?”

“No?” The demons of the demon world.

“Hah…!”

The merchants loaded bolts into their crossbows and aimed them at Leira Zie and the Demon King.

Seeing this, Leira Zie flinched, trembling, but the Demon King grabbed her shoulder.

“Point your finger at anyone.”

Following the Demon King’s instructions, Leira Zie aimed her fingertip at the merchants.

“Focus. What you want is fire. How big do you want it? How much magic power should you give to get what you want?”

The merchants’ crossbows fired, and the arrows flew toward Leira Zie and the Demon King.

Leira Zie squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn’t feel any pain.

When she slowly opened her eyes, the scene before her was completely different from what she had expected.

The arrows had stopped midair, floating.

Even though the Demon King had blocked them, he seemed indifferent to both the arrows and the slave merchants.

“Focus.”

Once Leira Zie confirmed her safety, she followed the Demon King’s command and focused.

She imagined fire, then considered how much magic power nature might require when she fired the flames.

She had never used magic in this way before, so she had no idea how much magic power she should consume. Therefore, she gave a small amount of magic power, as if offering a coin, based on her intuition.

A massive fireball began to form at Leira Zie’s fingertip.

“…Fire.”

At the Demon King’s command, the fire shot toward the slave merchants.

It was several dozen meters long, with a range of a few meters in a straight line.

All the trees and bushes were caught in the flames, instantly turning to ash.

“…Huh???”

The unexpected firepower shocked even Leira Zie.

“I only gave a coin’s worth of magic power… Why… why did it become like this?”

“…Did I make a mistake?”

“No.”

The Demon King, with an expression showing no surprise, turned his head toward the remaining two slave merchants.

“Take care of those two as well.”

The slave merchants, terrified, hesitated and stepped back.

When Leira Zie aimed her fingertip at them, the two dropped their weapons and fled, but they could escape to no fate other than death.

After dealing with the slave merchants, Leira Zie blankly repeated opening and closing her hand.

The sensation of the fire she had just launched still felt unfamiliar.

“I fired fire. And it was an incredibly strong fire.”

Filled with joy, Leira Zie said to the Demon King:

“Demon King, did you see my magnificent flames?”

Now that I think about it, her temperament is quite unique.

Then again, is there any child in the demon world who’s not like that?

I should think of it as her suppressed nature coming out now that she feels more at ease.

The Demon King silently summoned the dog.

“We need to depart immediately. We must find the survivors so we can find your friends.”

“Ah! Yes!”

Now accustomed, Leira Zie climbed back onto the dog’s back.

“Let’s go! I’ll assist you, Demon King.”

“I permit it.”

Perhaps it was the success with magic that had boosted her energy.

Leira Zie now appeared full of vitality.