Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

“We should be able to see it soon.”

During the next day’s lunchtime, Yuriga finally took them to a demon city, the first one that Seran and the others ever saw.

“How do I say this…it’s pretty much normal.”

“Yeah. It’s just…normal.”

These were Lieze’s and Urza’s comments. They had anticipated something more…sinister. But after meeting a few demons up to this point, they realized that most demons were just like humans. The buildings were made of stone, and the road ran along solid ground. There weren’t many streets, but each of them was filled with stalls and stores. The town looked a bit different from what you saw in the human territory, but nothing too out of the ordinary that you could put a clear distinction to it.

“We do have some humans living here, albeit not many, so you’ll fit in right away.”

“It really looks like a normal town…but not many people out and about.”

Despite them walking down what could be presumed to be the center of town, you barely saw anybody passing them.

“I can feel a human presence inside the houses. Like they’re hiding themselves.”

Irumera used her sensitive dragon senses as she looked around.

“Normally, you’d see more people. But with how things stand right now…” Yuriga mumbled in a quiet voice. “This town was under the direct surveillance of Luiza-sama, so a lot of people she trusted or worked for her had been living here.”

As Luiza aimed for peace between demons and humans, their culture began mixing in with the demons. Or so Seran remembered. He did see some books or other goods he saw before back in the human territory. Plus, the sadness reigning over the town was far too obvious.

“I see now…So, what’s this town called?”

“What is it called…?” Yuriga looked at Seran in confusion.

It seemed like naming towns and places was not a tradition here in the demon territory.

“I guess demons are a lot more open about humans being present in their cities, contrary to how it would work in humanfolk,” Urza commented.

“Considering they didn’t choose a name for this place, I feel like they just don’t bother much with the small details…But anyways, where are we going next?” Seran checked out the town with a grave expression, and Yuriga seemed pretty much tired of it at this point.

“Fine…Over here.”

Yuriga entered a relatively large building in the center of town. Inside were  around ten demons waiting for them. Demons all differed in terms of looks, so it was hard to find a common denominator, but generally speaking, they lived longer than humans. As a result of that, it was difficult to guess how old they really were, but they seemed younger more than anything. Of course, they were all on edge, not trying to hide their hostility. They must all be Luiza’s servants.

“So you’re finally back…How could you just run off like that?!”

“Creet, did you figure out where they’re keeping Luiza-sama?”

One of them couldn’t hide his frustration, but Yuriga ignored that.

“Well…We were too late. They apparently entered the castle, together with Luiza-sama…” Albeit hesitant for a moment, the demon called Creet confessed with a pained voice.

Referring to castle must be the Demon Lord Castle located in the capital of the demon territory. And if the black-winged demon went in there, he must have been accepted as the Demon Lord.

“Of course, not everybody supported them entering the castle, but surprisingly, they had a lot of followers. As you would expect, the pro-war faction was immediately on-board. I cannot believe they would follow a Demon Lord who relies on such cowardice!” Creet grit his teeth as he crushed.

“I had hoped they’d calmed down a bit more after Thunder-Breath was killed…” Yuriga clicked her tongue.

One of the leaders of the pro-war faction, Thunder-Breath, who deeply hated humanfolk and wished to kill them all, died about a year ago. For other reasons, the pro-war faction had remained quiet, but with the appearance of the black-winged demon, they grew more active again.

“…So we have to storm the castle and save Luiza-sama.”

Yuriga said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, but another demon had a few complaints about that.

“What are you talking about?! You came back late and now you make decisions?!”

“You’re trying to kill yourself, and have us get killed in the process, just because you care for the Demon Lord?! That’s ridiculous!”

Showered by complaints, Yuriga went silent. Of course, considering the situation, they were probably just venting their frustration out on her, but Lieze and the others knew that these sparks could fly their way any second, so they readied themselves.

“You should know better than anyone that we cannot save Luiza-sama by ourselves!”

When Yuriga brought up a valid argument, the criticism directed at her immediately lost its punch. They probably were more than aware of it and simply didn’t want to admit it.

“E-Even if we can’t bring her back, we should be able to inflict some level of damage…!”

“So what? You’re just trying to satisfy yourselves. Where is the meaning in that?” Yuriga once again silenced Creet.

“Don’t you…have any pride as a demon?!”

“My pride matters little to nothing when Luiza-sama is in danger! And I’ll gladly take all the blame for anything that happens, but only after we’ve freed her!” Yuriga’s unwavering determination left Creet and the others unable to retort. “If it means that I can save Luiza-sama, I’m ready to do whatever it takes.”

Overwhelmed by her determination, Creet and the demons remained quiet.

“Fine…Then I have nothing else to say. However, there is one thing I’d like to confirm,” Creet said while looking at Seran’s group.

In a way, it was a natural doubt to have. How much could those humans she brought with her really help?

“I sadly couldn’t gather everyone I knew, but I will vouch for their strength. Especially those two, my body still remembers their ability,” Yuriga glanced at Lieze and Urza.

“So they must be the ones who beat you when you were undercover in the human territory and lost…”

Being stared at, both Lieze and Urza started feeling uncomfortable.

“Hey now, stop staring holes into them. This is why you won’t ever get popular with the girls,” said Seran, breaking between the two.

Of course, he was not one to talk, so the girls gave him dubious looks.

“Your name was Creet, right?”

“…What do you want, human?”

As demons treasured their own names, he clearly wasn’t a big fan of having his name called by a human, but he knew that this wasn’t the moment to argue.

“You sure love to talk. Is this the loser’s howling as we call it?”

“Hah, well said, you bastard…I guess you’ve got guts fooling around in a situation like this.”

“It’s not just guts. If you wanna know how strong we are, there’s an easy way to test—ouch, ouch, ouch.” Seran put one hand on the hilt of his sword, but Lieze pulled on his ear.

“Why are you picking fights now, you moron?!”

“Th-They were the ones starting it. I just figured my method would be faster.”

It would only take a brief bout for them to realize how strong the other party was. Granted, it was a bit violent, but the quicker, the better. But even more dangerous was the risk of starting a fight with their comrades to save Luiza.

“What if you hurt them?! Think about it some more, okay?”

Granted, Lieze was probably trying to be nice, but the way she phrased her words only made Creet take it the wrong way. And as expected, he felt like he had been ranked lower than a human, met with frustration and humiliation.

“Maybe you should think for a second.”

“Ack…” Lieze realized her mistake quickly, but before she could try to fix the situation, a voice unbefitting the location spoke up.

“Stop that. You might not like it, but she’s right.”

Surprisingly, Seran and the others knew that voice.