The Simple Job of Only Perishing to the Hero

It had been several days since the Alva attack on the capital of the Canal Kingdom, Elarc, and the situation had calmed down a bit.

The city had been destroyed here and there, and there were several deaths… or rather, people who were no longer with them.

They had finished burying the dead, but they had yet to get around to repairing the buildings.

The faces of those who were clearing up the rubble were stricken with grief. They had no hope for the future.

It was only to be expected.

The civil war was nowhere close to ending, and even if it came to an end, there was still the threat of the Alva to consider.

What hope could they possibly hold?

Many had already given up expecting any justice to take place.

All they could do was continue to pray for all of this to be over and to return to their normal everyday lives.

But they all had no idea who had arrived at Fibris Castle.

No, perhaps it was better if they did not know.

Even among the Swords of Light Chivalric Order who Reina had already explained the situation to were acting restless when they saw the collection of Transfer Light gathering in the reception hall.

「What… is this…?」

「Is this Transfer Magic? But it seems different from the Alva’s…」

As the Swords of Light Chivalric Order whispered amongst themselves, they put their hands to their swords just in case.

It was then that three silhouettes appeared in the center of the light they were all focused on.

One of them appeared… to be a red maid.

The reason why it simply 「appeared」 to be one to him was because it was far from what normally would be considered a maid.

It would be more accurate to say she was wearing armor that resembled a maid outfit. Judging from the spear she was carrying, it could be said that she was a knight. But at the same time, she didn’t quite seem to be a Maid Knight.

Standing next to that incredibly unique knight was a blonde man who gave off a very refreshing air about him.

He was wearing dark blue armor with a very simple design. The sword he had at his waist was quite simple as well.

But the transparent stone embedded into it demonstrated that it must have been some kind of Magic Sword.

And then the third person.

He wore clothes that clearly showed he was of the highest social position of the three. He had black hair with red eyes.

He had what was most definitely a magic sword at his waist, and in his hands was a golden staff embedded with a red magic stone.

A girl in strange armor with no visible expression on her face and a smiling Magic Swordsman.

And the Demon King wearing a cold expression on his face, Vermudol.

They knew they were guests to the castle.

Even so, the Swords of Light Chivalric Order had difficulty keeping their hands off the swords at their waists.

Their only knowledge of the Demon King was from the legends, so they could not help but unconsciously feel fear. Because of that fear, they could not keep their hands of their swords which were the only method they had to combat it.

The Demon King Vermudol made a suspicious face towards them, to which the knights hurried to keep their hands off their swords, but… it proved to be futile. They could feel their sweat dripping down in the face of Vermudol’s stare.

It was then that the red armored woman in front put her hands to her helmet.

After the sound of clinking metal was made as she fiddled to take it off, she let out a silly 「Pwah!」 voice, and her semi-long red hair flowed out of the armor, revealing the face of a cute young girl.

The girl put held her helmet at her waist and made a knight salute.

「Um… Oh, right. It’s nice to meet you! We’re here to represent the Zadark Kingdom! I am the maid Krim, this blonde fellow is Sancreed, and the black-haired man is the Demon King Vermudol! It’s a pleasure to be working with you all!」

The tension in the air instantly unraveled with Krim’s unbelievably cheerful introduction, and the Swords of Light Chivalric Order immediately took their hands off their swords and returned the salute.

「Y-Yes! We will guide you all to the audience chamber, so please wait a moment.」

「All right. I believe there are two Maid Knights who’ve arrived here as well, correct?」

「Huh? Oh, yes! They are already in the audience chamber…」

Upon responding, something could be seen dashing through the Swords of Light at an incredible pace and stopped right in front of Vermudol.

「Welcome, Demon King-sama. Nino did her best.」

「Yeah, I’ve read the reports. You did well.」

「Yeah.」

The figure that had dashed forward was Nino. As Vermudol looked at the Swords of Light Chivalric Order as he patted her head, they quickly saluted once more.

「W-We will now guide you to the audience chamber!」

「Yeah, thanks.」

Vermudol thought to himself how choosing to bring Krim along instead of Rokuna was the right decision, considering that the tension in the air from the Swords of Light Chivalric Order had been completely dispelled.

Rokuna would be the type to start rolling around in laughter, but that might have caused intimidation more than anything else.

It was because of that that Vermudol settled on Krim, since she had the ability to lower people’s guard through her albeit forceful way of cheering up the mood.

It wasn’t something Vermudol had planned for, but Nino’s actions had helped as well.

He was lacking in personnel to create natural-feeling atmospheres like this, so he was really grateful for their help.

「……」

Vermudol looked around at his surroundings as the Swords of Light Chivalric Order led them down the hallways.

Broken furniture. Damaged pillars. It was clear that there were numerous remains of a battle.

The outside appearance of the castle had been maintained, however, according to what he had heard.

「What is the matter?」

「Oh, no, pay no mind to me. It’s just that it’s the first time I’ve been here.」

Vermudol casually brushed off the matter, to which the Swordsman of Light shook his head with sadness.

「…Under normal circumstances, I would have liked us to show you a more beautiful castle befitting one of the Four Great Nations.」

「There’s no helping it. You are in the midst of a civil war, after all.」

「Yes, I suppose so…」

His expression seemed to say that he was more concerned over the Alva rather than the civil war.

Well, when you’re up against phantom enemies like the Alva, it’s only natural to feel that way.

Turning his gaze away from the Swordsman of Light who was in the front leading them, Krim, who was at the tail end of the group, pulled at Vermudol’s sleeve.

「…Demon King-sama. This place is in serious need of cleaning. I really want to clean it up.」

「Control yourself. We can talk about that later.」

「Later? When will that be?」

「…It’ll be until I say so.」

After Vermudol made sure Krim knew not to just start cleaning out of nowhere, she nodded with an unsatisfied face… and began glancing here and there across the room.

This could be a sign that the servants of the castle did not have the time to attend to the appearance of the inside of the castle due to the civil war and the Alva attacks.

Normally, the servants of this castle were known to be extremely skilled when it comes to matters such as this. The fact that their fear and unease had overwritten their pride as professionals were all the more proof of how dire the situation was.

At the same time, Vermudol realized how valuable his suggestions for the future of the country would be.

「Uuu…」

「Control yourself.」

Vermudol silenced Krim’s grumbling with a smack to the head.

It was then that Nino, who had been wrapped around one of Vermudol’s arms, glanced up at him and groaned with an 「Uuu…」 as well.

「Nino’s controlling herself, too. There’s nothing going on right now, but the real deal’s going to happen from here on out.」

「…Yeah.」

Vermudol expressed a question mark to the unsatisfied-looking Nino, and turned his gaze back to the front.

「W-We’re here. Right this way.」

Standing in front of the room that faced out towards what was most likely the castle’s garden, the Swordsman of Light knocked on the door.

「Come in. We’ve finished our preparations.」

After responding with 「Understood」 to the voice that came from behind the door, the swordsman nodded to Vermudol and opened the door.

In the room was a large desk and an appropriate number of chairs. Already sitting in the seats were Ichika, a Maid Knight in blue, and a young girl wearing a robe that covered her eyes.

「Welcome to the Canal Kingdom, current representative Demon King. I am Reina… something of a friend to Princess Celis right here.」