“Instructor, here is a list of production sites discovered among the information we’ve gathered. It seems quite a bit of military strength has been amassed, so please eliminate as much as you can this time to make your future work easier.”
“Gahahahaha! You’ve learned to talk back, haven’t you!! Alright! Leave it to me. My fists are merciless these days, you know?”
“That’s reassuring. And also, from my side…”
“Huh?”
Today is the third day after my promise with the instructor.
It’s the day I’ll quickly procure supplies and investigate drug production sites, make preparations, and send the instructor off.
“In case anything happens, I’ve requested that you be able to evacuate to the Lunaria’s area. This is a map showing the rendezvous point. If you are to bring refugees along, please consider this area. Also, by transmitting a signal from this magic item, I’ve arranged for supplies to be transported by air.”
“Hah, you can see through everything, can’t you?”
“I just know your temperament and predicted you’d try something reckless and impossible.”
With that, I handed over the bag containing the map and magic item. Preparation complete.
“Tch, you’ve gotten pretty cheeky lately.”
“I’ve been trained.”
“You could come over to my side a little more, you know?”
“Instructor Fushio told me the same thing before.”
“I see. If that’s the case, when you get back, let’s have a spar after a long time.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Lingering conversations would hinder the future plan. After lightly bumping fists, the instructor got into the carriage.
“Let’s go, you scoundrels!!”
“Oooooooooohhhhhhh!!!!”
Even though they were supposed to be stealthy and mobile individuals, they ended up looking like a gang of end-of-the-world bikers.
“Well, they are capable people, so I guess it’ll be alright.”
Scratching my head, I was sure my face showed utter disbelief.
“Alright, Ann, let’s hear the report.”
“Haa, I’m proud of my ability to disappear even in the underworld, so why am I so easily found?”
Turning back with that expression, I spoke to the shadows, and Ann appeared, arms crossed with a tired look.
“Experience. It’s not that you’re bad, so don’t worry.”
“When I’m being found, there’s no way I can feel reassured. You know how much they nag me to train from above?”
“If you want, shall I arrange a trainer for leveling up? A person who can enhance you tremendously if you had two or three lives.”
“I’ll pass. I don’t think my specialty would work against someone who trains like that.”
Then, she slowly walked towards me. She deliberately threw off her center of balance, perhaps to hide the concealed weapons.
At a glance, I could see them on her ankles, inside her scarf, and also in her sleeves and on her back.
“Don’t confirm the hiding spots with your gaze like that. It’s infuriating that you get them all right.”
“And a needle launcher, I presume.”
“I’ll shoot!”
“It’ll be a wasted shot as I’ll dodge it.”
“Haa, I’ve reconfirmed that the ones picking a fight with an organization where no one seems to be able to hit someone this close are idiots. Here.”
She was given an even more exasperated look as I clearly saw the hidden weapons with my gaze, but I find it quite fun and can’t stop. She’ll try harder to hide them next time.
She looked listless, with dark circles under her eyes. It couldn’t be helped, considering I rushed her with work.
“You asked me to corroborate the hero’s legend, but I couldn’t get deep into the church, so this is all the information I could gather. The Demon Lord’s Army could probably get this kind of document, couldn’t they?”
“No, I wanted to get rid of that assumption, so this is greatly appreciated.”
That day, I had a bad premonition and mobilized the intelligence division to its full extent with my authority to deny that possibility.
I expressed my gratitude, accepted the investigation results, and compared them with the Demon Lord’s Army documents I had already read, letting out a large sigh.
“Judging by your reaction, your bad premonition was correct? Is it alright? Giving sensitive information like this to an outsider like me?”
“Either way, you’ll be involved, so I wanted you to know.”
“I suddenly remembered something I need to do. Yes, it’s something that will take about half a year, so I’ll have someone else handle it.”
“Regrettable, you can’t escape the Demon Lord’s Army.”
Then, I firmly grabbed Ann’s shoulder as she cleanly turned to leave.
“Stop it! I have a life I want to preserve too! If it’s related to what I investigated at your word, it’s definitely troublesome! Plus, it’s the kind of story where no matter how many lives you have, it won’t be enough!”
“I’ll tell you something good.”
While holding her down without hurting her as she struggled, I plastered on a smile. I’m sure I was smiling more radiantly than usual.
So, Ann, don’t make that despairing face like you’ve encountered a monster.
“Humans don’t die that easily, you know? You might go through incredibly painful experiences, but you won’t die.”
“It’s definitely not a good thing!! I know that!! And that kind of technique is my specialty!!”
“Then you understand why I wouldn’t let such a convenient talent go, don’t you?”
Even with a monstrous body, the heart can still be wounded, you know?
My heart, hardened during my corporate slave days, is a glass heart tougher than bulletproof glass.
“Aaaah, I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll communicate directly to your brain.”
“This guy, telepathic communication!?”
Regardless, things won’t progress if we don’t talk.
“Nooo!? I’m going to be violated!?”
“Hahaha! Relax. Everyone here knows my personality and that I’m devoted to my wife. Even if they understand they’ll be worked to death, they don’t think I’ll become a criminal.”
“Damn you!! You bastard, a demon! Inhuman!”
“I’m not a demon, but it’s true I’m more than half not human.”
“Is this guy the strongest!?”
In the end, I forcibly dragged her to a certain room.
“…Be gentle.”
“Jiro-san? While I understand one can lose their composure, this is a bit much.”
“He’s resorted to any means necessary. He found a way to precisely provoke Suella.”
The moment we found Suella, who was preparing documents, Ann, who was sitting on the sofa and unbuttoning her shirt, received a smile from Suella.
“Do you hate it that much?”
“I do. Why do I have to get involved with a hero for any reason? I had my heart pierced in the previous incident?”
“It’s amazing you survived.”
“I’m good at dying, you know. I just honed my skills to regenerate from it.”
I waved my hand dismissively, as if to say that’s not true, to calm Suella’s emotions. I heard a tutting sound. Honestly, when it comes to romantic matters, I’m not at an age to be giddy like high school students, and I know the dire consequences of infidelity.
It’s not a relationship where seduction would work either.
“You might need that skill. Here, this is the document I compiled. If you read it and still don’t change your mind, you can go home.”
“…I’ll just read it.”
“That’s fine.”
At any rate, I succeeded in making her read the document. As Ann, with a puzzled expression, began to read the documents, Suella offered her tea. Ann, her brow furrowing deeper, didn’t touch the tea until the steam had disappeared.
“I have a headache.”
“I understand.”
She had reread it multiple times, and it took a considerable amount of time. Her first words after falling silent were to clutch her head and complain of a headache.
“It’s ridiculous.”
“I understand that too.”
“They’re idiots, aren’t they?”
“They really are.”
I could only agree with the words that came out one after another.
“I thought they were idiots, but they’re doing something so incredibly foolish that it’s almost refreshing.”
“In terms of building military strength, it’s not wrong, but if you consider what comes after, it’s foolishly shortsighted.”
Those were Ann’s words after investigating Isal, or rather, the teachings of the Sun God Church, from the Demon Lord’s Army’s perspective. I felt the same way.
“Haa, it really is troublesome.”
“But you can’t just overlook it, can you?”
“You definitely have a bad personality for showing me this knowing that.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t possess the pride of being a good person.”
“Tch, good for you. People who make faces like that tend to live long.”
“That’s very pleasing.”
The fact that she didn’t leave even after hearing about the troublesome matter meant she understood that this incident needed to be dealt with immediately, and that it was an affair she and her group could be involved in.
I responded to her sigh of resignation with a smile, and she retorted that people like me live long, to which I frankly accepted.
“Now, our forces will rampage around soon, drawing attention to your side. During that time, I want to locate the enemy’s stronghold.”
“That’s why you’ve been losing, isn’t it?”
“Ah, the Demon Lord’s Army has attacked this continent many times in the past, but they’ve never once gotten close to the Sun God’s throat. The end of this war will be decided by the fall of one of the gods. Frankly, the reason they disregard human lives is related to that. To gods, humans are things that increase on their own. They treat them as an energy source called faith, but they don’t consider them important enough to recover naturally.”
“What’s important is only yourself, right? The leaders of the religion seem to believe they are safe, but in reality, they could be beheaded at any moment.”
What I want to ask them to do is investigate the gods’ locations. I don’t expect it to be found easily.
After all, the Demon Lord’s Army has been searching for thousands of years without success.
However, this time, they’ve moved a bit too conspicuously.
“This is the mass production of heroes for self-preservation. They seem to have become afraid of entrusting the fate of the world to a single hero. They’ve decided to overwhelm with numbers, even if the quality deteriorates somewhat.”
“It’s pointless if information leaks from there.”
Ann’s headache was due to the lax information management.
The Demon Lord’s Army’s past information was their combat records against heroes.
Naturally, no enemy has fought as continuously against heroes as the Demon Lord’s Army.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Demon Lord’s Army is the organization that most seeks and investigates information about heroes.
While some heroes have joined the Demon Lord’s Army in the past, the information they provided was, to put it mildly, biased. However, their combat achievements did not lie.
By compiling their trails, I tried to pinpoint the enemy’s stronghold. But their stronghold couldn’t be easily identified.
However, the recent movement of mass-producing heroes has created a loophole in the enemy’s movements and information.
Several suspicious spots have surfaced.
Traps are, of course, included.
Conversely, they had to set traps because the enemy made such noticeable blunders.
If you think about the strongest defense, it’s simple.
It’s not knowing their location.
I believe not knowing their whereabouts is the ultimate defense.
It’s easier to search if you have a focus rather than searching blindly.
“That only means they are cornered. It won’t be easy for us to pick up that information either.”
“Provide support.”
“Of course. That’s why I’m having my strongest forces rampage. Attention will naturally be drawn there.”
Well, I’ve got their tail.
Word of the day: Eliminate the causes of stress.
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Currently, I am also serializing another work: “Pandora Pandemic Panic.” The Pandora’s Box has been opened again, but I’m fighting back with various things in secret bases and such!! Please check that out too!!
