## Chapter 1368 – Friends

Listening to the Young Lady talk is hilarious.

I mean, I also like throwing in curse words, but the way the Isvant Young Lady does it is something else. Anyway, the Young Lady kept ranting about something, sounding so cheerful.

“Those damn demon bastards! I’m so fucking pissed!!! Isvant, which defended against any monster that came at us!!! Turned to ashes in an instant! It’s a scam! A scam, I tell you!! Fucking bullshit!!! God damn it!!!”

—Thump! Thump! Thump!

She was getting more and more heated as she talked, starting to vent her frustration. The windows around us had long been shattered.

“What’s even more shocking is…! That something like that could attack! And we can only rely on the hero! The knights and mages who used to strut around are all useless in front of that monstrous airship…!”
“It’s a sad reality.”
“Exactly! A sad reality!!!”

—Shivers…!

The Young Lady kept gulping down cold tea. Come to think of it, mine is hot, but she only gets cold ones. They must have figured out that she can’t drink hot beverages because of her personality.

“Ah, by the way, Young Lady. How is Lord Isvant doing?”
“No! I can’t even say he’s doing well as a polite lie! How could he be doing well when his city is in ruins! He just looks depressed!”
“Oh, no…!”

Well, yeah… I guess that’s inevitable.
This is unfortunate.

“Well, still! What’s done is done! Losing the city is painful, but it can be rebuilt! It’s not like we’re the only ones who got screwed over! I heard about half of the kingdom’s major cities were wiped out!!”
“Heok…! The Young Lady’s strong will! I hear you loud and clear!”

Nevertheless, the Young Lady was recovering from her wounds. With her strong will, befitting her hearty personality, reconstruction would be a piece of cake. Just a cakewalk.

***

After saying goodbye to the Young Lady, I went to the Brass Celestial Knights Order. Sure enough, everyone who was missing last time was gathered. I went in and greeted them naturally. There were many familiar faces.

“Oh! You’ve come!!!”

—Sasa sat!

It was then.

I heard a strange sound, so I looked up at the ceiling and saw Captain Bakarel crawling on the walls and ceiling on all fours like a cockroach. I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at the unbelievable sight…!

—Paaat!

Captain Bakarel, who had stopped abruptly on the ceiling, turned around and landed as if he were falling.

“Captain Bakarel! Long time no see!!!”

This old man is still the same.

“Ah, long time no see!!! And you’ve finally come!”

Whatever the reason, Captain Bakarel greeted me warmly. It was such a hearty greeting that I briefly forgot the despairing speculation that he had started enjoying quadrupedal locomotion due to stress related to the demons.

We went to a good place to talk, and I explained what had happened so far.

“Ooh…! I knew it! I felt it deeply ever since we subjugated Andromalius together back in the day! You have that kind of power!”
“Hehehe, Captain Bakarel, you too.”
“Not really. We struggled even against the demon landing forces.”
“Still, isn’t it a fact that you defeated the demons?”
“That’s true, but…”

He didn’t seem purely happy about the fact that he had killed the demons. Well, yeah. Isvant was destroyed, so he must be heartbroken. It’s only natural. I comforted him about that and continued the conversation.

“Ah, by the way. How are the movements of the cultists and demons these days?”
“It’s almost completely cut off. In fact, in terms of the scale of damage, demons and cultists are no match for the demons. I thought they were threatening enemies, but now that I think about it, they were just a little annoying.”

The appearance of the demons completely changed the priests’ ideology. The impact was that great. It was a massacre targeting the entire country. If a paladin says they were ‘a little annoying,’ then that’s it.

In fact, this massive bombing by the demons must have horrified even the cultists who worship evil gods.

And that’s.

The same must be true for the Lich.

Come to think of it, what is he doing now? Has he finally realized that he’s just a scrubby skeleton and decided to live quietly? Honestly, he’s done a lot so far, but even so, he’s not even as good as a single demon airship.

What he’s been doing is just small-scale terrorism. And even if he uses the power of ancient heroes and evil gods to create weapons, it’s not as good as a demon fleet.

He became a Kong line in an instant.

What such a guy can do is… either give up or.
Accumulate even greater power.

In my opinion, it’s the latter. Even though I destroyed the demons, I’m still keeping an eye on the Lich.

“Anyway, today!!! Let’s have a feast for the newly born demigod!!!”
“Ooooh!!!!!”

Well, let’s enjoy ourselves here today too.

* * *

It was the next day that I came to see Mariel again.

—Knock knock knock.

“Hey. I know you’re in there, so come out.”

I knocked on the door and called for Mariel.

The building was in a more remote location than I thought. Did these guys lose all the money they made from running the Martial Artist Guild? I never dreamed they’d be living in a place like this… If they lost all their assets, I’d feel a little sorry for them.

—Creak.

“…”

Soon the door opened, and Mariel, looking very wary, poked her head out.

“…You’ve come, Heavenly Demon.”
“Yeah. I came. I came to hear your answer.”

I tried to go inside.

“Have you come?”
“What?”

I saw that Lizette, that orphan, was also inside. She hadn’t changed much. Except that her tone had become polite.

“Come in?”
“Well, I guess.”

They must be living together.

I went straight inside.
It was certainly cramped.

“…!”

Mariel was wary, and Lizette was just sitting there. She looked a little tired, which made her already fierce face look even fiercer.

—Swish.

I immediately pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Well, then, I’ll bring out the tea.”

Mariel, who had been hesitating, went to the kitchen, and I faced Lizette.

“Long time no see, thug?”
“Who’s a thug?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know… Well, I had the impression that you were someone great. I heard you’re called a hero these days?”

Lizette asked with a sullen face. She really hasn’t changed. If I were Lizette, I would have prostrated myself right away.

“I’m being revered as a demigod beyond a hero, you thug.”
“…Who’s calling who a thug when we used to rob the slums together?”
“That’s because, you punk.”

It was a proud thing.

“Of course it was something I had to do. And extorting money from the slum gangsters is a good thing. I still think so.”

Taking money from those criminal organization bitches who live in the slums was a good thing even now. Now that I’ve grown so much, I’m a little embarrassed to do it again, but I’d like to do it again if I had the chance.

“Is it beneficial to take the money that those gangsters extorted from the poor?”
“Hehehe, why? Don’t you think it’s beneficial? Did someone who thinks so say that?”

I don’t care about that process at all. The important thing is that I took the gangsters’ property.

“Well, don’t get too angry? I just wanted to know what the hero was thinking.”
“I’m not really angry. Anyway. First of all, I’m sure you’ve heard that my Liztina is very worried about you.”
“…”
“So I came to hear your answer from last time.”

At that, Mariel put down her teacup.

“Heavenly Demon. That is.”
“Hmm?”
“We’ve decided to postpone it for now.”
“What?”

Postpone it for now? It would be a good deal since your jobs are all screwed up? Honestly, there’s a lot of work to be done even if you come right now.

It would be good to have you guys manage the demons inside these days.

Anyway, Lizette is quite skilled, so she’d be good at controlling the demons. Honestly, we’re a little short-handed right now.

“Why postpone it?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that we’re refusing. We know very well what the Guild Master thinks of us. We’re very grateful for her kindness.”

Mariel continued calmly.

“But right now, the Martial Artist Guild members are scattered. We’re living with Lizette right now, but there are many people who are missing. If we leave in this situation, they’ll lose the Martial Artist Guild organization.”
“…Oh.”
“So if we’re going to go, we want to find them as much as possible and go together. That’s why we’re postponing the decision, Heavenly Demon.”
“This bastard…”

It’s a little touching.

These guys have a pretty good sense of camaraderie. The problem is that they use it to lynch people. Ah, damn it. Thinking about it again, I’m getting pissed off. The Martial Artist Guild, those assholes. They have such a good sense of camaraderie that when their friends are getting into trouble, they all rush over and beat them up.

“Hoo.”

Of course, Demigod Heavenly Demon Kim Kat doesn’t care about such pasts. Whatever the reason, if they’re my beloved Liztina’s subordinates, I can forgive their past mistakes.

“The Martial Artist Guild members. You’re scattered, so you can’t go right now.”
“That’s right.”

There are quite a few of them.

Accepting all those guys is… Well, if Liz Nuna says one word, I can provide them with jobs. They’re shitty guys, but since they’re my Nuna’s subordinates, I can do that much.

“Okay. I’ll accept that you’re postponing the decision. But not all of them. No matter how much it is, I’m not going to take care of all those people just because they’re Liz Nuna’s subordinates.”
“…”
“But I can look into jobs for you. So gather them up and come or don’t. I’ll write down the address, so come when the time comes.”
“…Ch, Heavenly Demon?”

Mariel’s eyes began to turn red, as if she was moved by my generous treatment.

“Keuk…Kuh-heuk…!”

There are plenty of jobs. There’s a large-scale civil engineering project planned right now, and the more labor, the better. And even if the Martial Artist guys can’t fight, they’re in good shape. A group of physically fit construction workers is always welcome.

“Thank you, Heavenly Demon!!! I’ve been misunderstanding you all this time!!! You were truly a hero!!! A righteous and good hero!!!”

Forced to receive a bow while prostrating, damn it.

Mariel wept and expressed her gratitude.

“Of course, Liz Nuna will probably use Mariel and Lizette as subordinates, but the other guys are just looking for other jobs. How about it? Lizette?”
“…If you do that, I’ll be grateful.”
“You punk.”

Rarely, Lizette lowered her head and avoided my gaze.

“…How is Unni doing?”
“She’s doing great. Come to think of it, you were the kid that Liztina took in, right?”
“…That’s right. Well.”
“Keep yourself alive. Come here when the time comes.”

Liztina will be heartbroken if these guys die.
I can’t see that.

“I’m going to build a country in the central region of the kingdom.”
“A country?”
“Yeah.”

I threw down a business card-like thing that I had brought and got up from my seat. Mariel was still kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

—Shivers.

Her shoulders were shaking violently.

“Kuh-heuk…! Kuh-heu-euk…! Guild Master…!”
“Mariel, you bastard…”

Liz Nuna would be quite touched if she saw this scene.
If it’s something that would touch her, I can’t help but see it in a good light.

“Then I’m leaving.”
“Goodbye, Heavenly Demon!!!”
“Goodbye.”

That’s how I left their house.

“Lehu.”

When you think about it, those guys are lucky too. To get this kind of opportunity with such a shitty relationship. But when you think about it, Copson is the best. That guy is confirmed for a key position… And Elise, well. I’m going to do whatever she asks me to do.

Should I hire Lina too since we have a connection?

There are various things to do.

And Meria said she was going to open a clothing store, so if she saves up money and opens a store in my country, I should give her some tax breaks.

It’s great to do business without paying taxes.

Of course, there will be store restrictions. Meria might become rich with the clothing business. I don’t give tax breaks to big companies.

The Isvant Young Lady is also quite pitiful, so let’s include her if she does something like a business. If you’ve bought the trust of this Heavenly Demon Kim Kat. Of course, benefits are given. That’s Kim Kat.