Chapter 1901 – [Hero & Demon King & Great Demon King]

After traveling for some time, we finally arrived at a place that could be called a city. People around me say it seems to be called Herod Castle.

It’s nice to have a place of its own, surrounded by walls and with an atmosphere of civilization. However, apart from that, the security was quite strict, but it did not seem to be directed at humans.

While waiting to enter in front of the castle gate, I looked around and saw that merchants were stocking up on a lot of weapons and weapons. It looked like they were going to war, but the opponent didn’t seem to be human.

Eventually it was our turn and the guard looked at us. There was nothing special about the luggage and there was nothing to see except for the kids with their faces covered, so the guard looked at me closely.

“Hmm, are you a mercenary?”

“I’m a former mercenary. But what’s going on? The atmosphere is quite sinister…”

“It’s a very large monster. It’s coming for this castle, so it’s like a war in full swing. It’ll take a few days for support to come from the Holy Light Temple, but thanks to that, there’s this commotion.”

“You’re having a hard time. This isn’t a big deal. Why don’t you go and buy some beer?”

“Why all this… Hmm, are the companions daughters?”

“Yes, I have been living in the countryside and this time I am on my way to visit relatives in the capital.”

“I see. Actually, it’s a shame that there isn’t even one person who can fight, but you can’t force someone with a child. Let’s go in.”

“Thank you.”

Apply a few tablespoons of oil and go in. Leona looked at me with quite strange eyes, as it was an act of blatant bribery.

But what can I do? If you live in the world without being correct and flexible, it becomes more of a problem. In particular, if the Archdemon was not flexible, the number of civilizations that would have been found not guilty by now would only be a handful, so it was necessary in many ways.

“Leona, you usually hang out with other sexual partners, so this doesn’t happen, but we are acting like normal people right now. If you want to handle things more comfortably and quickly, this kind of behavior is necessary.”

“I said bribery and such were bad things…”

“Will the Holy Light Temple also do all that? On the outside, they will say things like donations and other things, but they will only pretend that it is not a bribe, but they will take it all.”

“Is that so?”

“Human greed is endless, and we repeat the same mistakes. I don’t know because you haven’t seen many people yet, but if you look closely, there are quite a lot of dirty things.”

After entering the city inside the walls, we were able to see the city for the first time. Leona may have seen it, but at least it was Agape’s first time with me.

Well, the inside appearance wasn’t much different from other dimensions. The style is just a little different, but in the end, the place where people live is the same. But there was no sewage or anything like sewage on the streets.

“It looks like things are going to be expensive because we’re in the middle of a fight. I’ll just take what I need and leave.”

“Well… There are probably lords and knights in a place like this, but if we fight, there will be a lot of casualties. What can we do about the huge monsters that are attacking us?”

“Is it the hero’s foolishness? Well, if it’s his nature, it can’t be helped.”

Although he was timid to begin with, he became a hero because he had an altruistic personality that helped others. A selfish and greedy guy doesn’t deserve to be a hero.

I understand that you are worried because if a large monster attacks, many people will die. However, since we were now in a position where we had to secretly go to the shrine, it was difficult to do anything because my nose was in danger.

“If you want to do something, ask Agape. If we can resolve this matter quietly, Agape will be the key.”

“Oh, me?”

“Is it him?”

“We have to move secretly now. Actually, I have the power to not care how close the pursuer is, but if they come at me, I will kill them all. But you and Leo don’t want that either, right?”

“… Yes.”

“Then we have to deal with it secretly without revealing our power. But if the opponent is a monster, Agape can easily solve it, but if she doesn’t want to do it herself, there’s nothing she can do, right?”

“I guess so…”

Leona glanced at Agape. Although she looks simple, Agape is a smart child, so she immediately understands what’s going on and laughs darkly and shouts at the hero.

“I am the boss!!!! Kneel!!!”

“Ugh…”

As a hero, I don’t want to kneel before the Demon King or say anything regretful. But if she lets it go, people will die.

As she watched what Leona would choose, she came up with another option than bowing down. It was a deal, not a request.

“Okay, then how about this? If you take care of this matter, I’ll make you a cake later.”

“… Cake?”

“Yes, a very large whole cake. It has chocolate in it.”

“Uhm…”

If it is a transaction rather than a favor, it is done on an equal footing, so Leona also has some respect. However, the question is whether Agape will accept it or not, but it seems that she will accept it.

However, she didn’t just fall for the cake. She just chose it because she knew it was much better this way and that she could compromise, and I could tell that Agape was thoughtful.

“Okay, I’ll make you a cake later? But you know I owe you one, right?”

“… Yes, well. I will also do you a favor later.”

With the two people compromising, there was something to do. In the end, in order to stop a super-sized monster, wouldn’t Agape have to meet and talk to him?

So we decided to find a place to stay and move. I found a suitable inn and found a room, but due to the situation here, there were a lot of mercenaries, so finding an empty inn was also a task. We managed to find an empty room, but since there was only one room, we had no choice but to sleep together.

Still, I don’t know when we’re camping, but since I said to the outside world that she’s my daughter, I can sleep in the same room… But I’ll have to sleep on the floor. The bed was narrow to begin with.

When the mercenaries at the inn saw me bringing the child, they looked at me as if they were making an estimate. Since I have seen something, I can show off as a mercenary, so I adjusted the sword on my side so as not to look down on him.

“Where are you from, brother?”

“From the south. In the first place, I didn’t come here for work. I was on my way to the capital to meet relatives.”

“Oh, I see you have a child with you. Is it your daughter?”

“That’s right. So I’m leaving here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I came here to pick up some supplies, but I ended up getting ripped off, and the situation isn’t so good…”

“Well, wouldn’t this be an opportunity for us to make money? If it’s okay, I was thinking of asking you to join our mercenary group temporarily, but if you have a child, it can’t be helped.”

“It may be dangerous, but this payoff seems quite rewarding, right?”

“Lord Herod must have opened his wallet and the pay was quite good. Thanks to this, mercenaries flocked to give even such a large monster a try.”

“Hmm, I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

The reason the territory is full of merchants and mercenaries is because the lord spent money on them. If you make a mistake, the entire castle will collapse, so it’s understandable… But there’s something wrong with it.

Eventually, we decided to leave our bags and go to meet the giant monster. Lee Dong decides to fly out of the castle at night when there are no eyes to see.

“Ah, Leona goes on my back.”

“Huh? I can fly too… Ah, it’s a holy law, so I guess I’ll stand out.”

“You’d be noticeable during the day, but wouldn’t it be terrible if you did it at night? If you don’t want to get caught, you have to do that.”

“But riding on Worst’s back?”

“Or do you want to stick to Agape and go?”

“No!!!! I like Worst!!!!”

Then we have dinner at the inn and wait for the night to fall. For reference, the dinner at the inn was a stew similar to feijoada made with meat, beans, and various other things, and although it wasn’t bad, it was okay. Fortunately, the bread was not hard because it was baked or bought separately, so it was okay.

Anyway, that night, we went out through the inn window and flew out of the castle. Agape made wings to fly, and the sound was relatively quiet because she could fly by applying telekinesis.

“I want to piggyback too.”

“Huh? Why suddenly?”

“Just give the hero a piggyback ride!!!!!”

As I was riding him, Leona’s hand around my neck became stronger. She hugs him tightly and shows off something similar to skinship.

“Heh.”

“Ah!!!!! See you later!!!!!”

You can’t see it because it’s behind her, but it looks like Leona was laughing at Agape or being flattered. No, it’s not a kid… Oh, it’s a kid.

When you see them bickering, they definitely look like sisters. As a warrior and a demon king, I think it is much better to have a petty fight like this rather than fighting to the death.

Eventually, we were able to encounter a large monster that seemed to be the cause of this incident in a mountain far from the castle. Despite its size, it wasn’t that difficult to find, because there were a lot of monsters gathered around it.

If you’re a good guy like me, you can probably control a regular monster, even if it’s not Agape. They probably were trying to gather troops and wipe out the castle, but if they hadn’t come today, it looks like they would have attacked the castle by tomorrow.

“I see he’s gone.”

“Looking at it, it looks like a dragon monster.”

A drake-like polyp that cannot fly. During Agape’s whole body transformation mode, something like a giant quadrupedal lizard with scales covering its skin sticks out its tongue.

Although it is large, it looks quite strong, as if any attack would bounce off its scales. Feels like a tank covered in rice cake armor? I don’t know if I can fire something like breath or not, but I think I can knock down a castle wall if I rush at it.

First, we landed among those monsters. When they saw the humans who suddenly appeared, they expressed hostility, but their attitude quickly changed with a word from Agape.

“Hello!!!!”

“Grunt.”

Hehe.”

The sight of demons that could tear five or six people to pieces, meekly acting like cats or dogs, seemed to explain why Agape was the demon lord. Perhaps, if Agape tells them to die, those monsters will not pretend to die, but will really die.

On the one hand, that may be the power given to Agape by the god Amya. Absolute obedience to monsters. For Agape, I think the strongest power is that power.

-Oh, king…

“Huh? You know how to speak?”

-It’s just a small trick learned over a long life. Human language may be abominable, but it is useful.

It seemed like he had lived for quite a long time, as he spoke through Mana in a sound-like manner. Normally, humans just need to record the sound of their vocal cords, but since they are monsters and cannot speak, very delicate control would be needed to convey words using mana, and that is not something that can be achieved by practicing for a day or two.

Drake, who was friendly towards Agape, soon turned his attention to us. Although she didn’t realize that Leona was her hero, she hates humans and shows her hostility generously as she tries to storm the castle.

-But, my king. Why are you walking with humans?

“Worst is my mate.”

“He’s suddenly making strange noises… That’s not it, he’s the guardian. I was asked to do so directly by the God of Amya.”

“Huh?! This is my first time hearing that?!?!”

“Anyway, this is evidence.”

I took out her necklace that I had previously given to Amya God, saying that she would take good care of Agape. Eden will give it to me later, so I haven’t been able to use it, so I don’t know what power it contains, but at least the monsters were able to feel the power of the dark night god contained in it.

Drake also nodded his head as if he understood. I thought that a person worthy of being entrusted with Agape would be worthy of being given something like this by God.

-I see. God must have something in mind too. Please take good care of our king.

“I’m already taking good care of him. Instead, he’s just being so reckless that I’m having a hard time.”

“What’s wrong with me!!!!!”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

After talking to each other and clearing up a few questions, we asked him in earnest why he wanted to attack the castle.

Leona said before that very large monsters rarely leave their territory. However, if they gather different monsters like this and plan to attack them with an army, there must be some reason.

“But why are you trying to attack the humans’ castle?”

-Abominable people!!!! They stole my treasure!!!!

“Treasure?”

-My child!!! My baby!!!! My first egg in 300 years!!!! The humans stole it from the nest!!!!

“Hai go…”

So, it’s a territory, and it’s worth rushing out and attacking the city. No, by the way, was she a female? It is said that it is difficult to tell male and female reptiles just by looking at their appearance.

Anyway, Drake’s actions were somewhat understandable. Children are also precious to parents, but if an infertile couple were to say that someone kidnapped the child they had worked so hard for over 10 years, they would call them a kidnapper and want to rip them all apart.

“The fucker messed up again.”

“Uh huh, Agape, you’re using bad language again. Didn’t I tell you not to use such words?”

“But isn’t kidnapping someone else’s child something that can be called a bitch?”

“That’s true, but in a more refined way, there are such things as human horse species and human trash.”

Now that she knew the reason, Leona cautiously asked Drake about mediation. The first priority is to return the object that was stolen or kidnapped.

“Um… If that’s the case, you won’t attack me if I get the stolen egg back?”

-Even if I return it, the theft itself won’t go away, but seeing the king’s face, I will try to endure it for a bit. My stolen eggs and the head of the person responsible for this incident. With those two things in mind, I will make sure not to attack the castle.

“Up to the neck of the person in charge?”

-Isn’t there a case where humans also die and are held responsible? It is a matter of saving the lives of all the people in the city with just one life. Moreover, since my eggs could be stolen again, I should kill the person who committed it and leave no room for it to happen again.

“…”

At least one person would have to die, but it seemed like the warrior could accept that level of compromise. He agreed and stepped down.

“Is the guy who stole the egg over there in Herod’s Castle?”

-Yes, the traces of those who stole it continued all the way to the castle, and I had my compatriots with good noses track it down and check it out. My egg is still in that castle.

“Then it’s obvious.”

An egg the size of a very large monster would be quite expensive. Some may try to tame it from a young age, while others may use it as a magic ingredient. It probably has tremendous value.

Also, Lord Herod, who has become a big spender in this situation? Isn’t it obvious?

I think this matter will only end when I sacrifice the lord as wealth.