We live at the foot of Dragon Peak.
A moment of rest.
After recovering from my weakness and leaving the building where I was staying, I was surrounded by the Dragon Race people, who thanked me profusely.
Is it just me, or are the women flocking to me and patting my head?
I want to shout that I’m not a pet!
But, it does feel good to be patted.
And I had worried about friction with the Demon Race, but it seems the situation isn’t as dire as I’d heard from the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lords had voluntarily stayed in the building where I was sleeping, but the Dragon Race people outside asked me to mediate because they wanted to express their gratitude.
Um, could it be?
Did the Demon Lord run away because he found being thanked troublesome?
Setting that aside for now.
We discuss what to do next.
How to treat the Dragon Race people, that is.
There were a few options.
One was to have them remain in the Necropolis. Then, we would head to Dragon Peak and convince the people in the North that we had rescued the captives.
However, a problem arose: what would happen if warriors were left behind and attacked by the surrounding Demon Race?
Should we split our forces and have someone provide escort?
Or ask the Demon Lord for cooperation and have guards assigned?
Neither is good.
We don’t have the luxury of dividing our forces. Moreover, if a large-scale attack by hundreds of thousands of Demon Race forces were to occur, we might not be able to defend against it.
And I’m reluctant to ask the Demon Lord for further cooperation.
This is not the territory of the Giant Demon Lord. Deploying troops into enemy territory could lead to various problems.
So, the second option.
Relocate the Dragon Race people to a safe place and shelter them.
The first place that came to mind was the Forbidden Territory that Mistral had recently received.
However, this was quickly rejected by the Demon Lord’s firm refusal.
The Demon Lord said, didn’t he?
Only those whom we trust wholeheartedly as companions and family should be allowed into the Forbidden Territory.
Even temporarily, allowing the Dragon Race people into that place was not permitted. Furthermore, he even forbade us from revealing the existence of the place itself.
The Forbidden Territory is a truly important and secret place for the Demon Lord.
And there’s another thing I’d forgotten.
If we were to shelter them in the Forbidden Territory, how would we get the Dragon Race people there?
Even if Nimia and the others worked hard, it would be impossible to transport all of them, dozens of people.
Wait.
Are there more? Perhaps over a hundred…
That makes sense. They were kidnapped from various villages in the North, so there would be many of them…
When we rescued them, they were so weakened that I couldn’t grasp their numbers.
Therefore, the second plan was also rejected.
|The third plan that was subsequently proposed was also not adopted.
It was the plan to shelter them in the Giant Demon Lord’s country or in the Demon Capital of Kusharilla’s occupied country.
This is the same as the second option. The biggest problem, and the part that could not be solved, was how to safely evacuate so many people.
It seems difficult for Nimia and the others to make multiple trips and transport everyone.
The Demon Race has their pride. They wouldn’t stand idly by if the Dragon Race repeatedly flew through the sky they inhabited as if it were their own.
At worst, it could lead to more unnecessary conflict, with the thought that the Dragon Race are from Dragon Peak.
So, what should we do?
As I was pondering, I looked to the east and had an idea!
If that’s the case, everyone should just move to Dragon Peak.
The Necropolis is said to be near Dragon Peak. Although I can’t see the ridge of Dragon Peak in the far east, if it’s close, wouldn’t it be quicker to return to Dragon Peak together?
That way, it would be easier to persuade the people of the North with witnesses to having rescued them.
The Demon Lord also said he would provide escort until we returned to Dragon Peak.
There’s only one problem.
Food.
But the Demon Lord said he could handle that with summoning magic.
I thought summoning magic was amazing, but it seems to require quite a bit of preparation.
The Demon Lord left Ruilala and his subordinate Black Winged Demon Race members behind and disappeared from the Necropolis once for preparations.
Of course, it was instantaneous with spatial transfer magic.
With future actions decided, a moment of respite arrived while the Demon Lord made his preparations.
Although I was recovering from weakness, everyone else seemed busy taking care of the freed people and burying the fallen warriors.
I feel bad for sleeping so much and leaving everyone else to do the work.
So, is there something I can do to repay them?
When I consulted Mistral, he made a suggestion.
It wasn’t a reward, though.
It seems the cursed warriors were buried in the Necropolis. Since their remains couldn’t be taken back to Dragon Peak.
For the burial, to prevent their bodies from being misused by necromancers like Goldoba, they were cremated and Ruiseine performed a purification ritual.
However, the Dragon Race people are not followers of human religions.
I’m sorry to Ruiseine, but they want to hold a funeral anew.
And they want me to offer my Dragon Sword Dance at that funeral.
It’s not just my own strength. The Dragon Race people strongly requested that I send off the warriors with my Dragon Sword Dance, which purified all the undead in the Necropolis.
The Dragon Sword Dance is also a secret kenjutsu of the Dragon Race, so I gladly accepted it as a memento for the warriors.
It was a night with a beautiful starry sky.
Mistral imbued the graveyard with holy dragon energy, Ruiseine offered prayers to the dead, and I danced the Dragon Sword Dance to send off the souls of the departed.
As it was the second funeral, the Dragon Race people quietly watched my dance.
And what was surprising were the Black Winged Demon Race.
Although it was a funeral for the Dragon Race warriors, they strongly wished to participate as fellow warriors.
The Black Winged Demon Race, with the permission of the Dragon Race people, attended the funeral and behaved with respectful and gentlemanly conduct.
This surprised not only me but everyone else.
Incidentally, Ruilala is still standing upright in the building as punishment.
I’m surprised by Ruilala properly receiving her punishment, but I’m also amazed by the Giant Demon Lord who has completely brought Ruilala under his command.
And to think that the Dragon Sword Dance would be useful in this way, it’s quite profound.
I can’t thank Old Man Sleigsta enough for teaching me the Dragon Sword Dance.
The solemn funeral ceremony came to an end, and we held a modest banquet with the Black Winged Demon Race and the Dragon Race people.
The food was a mix of what we brought and what the Black Winged Demon Race had for themselves.
The Demon Lord is expected to return in a few days, so there should be no impact on food supplies until then.
We talked with everyone until late at night and then went to sleep.
This time, I was able to sleep with everyone else in the common lodging area, instead of in the building where I had stayed during my recovery.
Yes. I’ll let Ruilala stand alone and be lonely.
The next morning.
I woke up feeling the familiar weight around my stomach.
“Priscilla-chan, Nimia, good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Nyan.”
It was Priscilla-chan and Nimia on my stomach.
Priscilla-chan was staring at me with sparkling eyes, as if expecting something.
“Yes. Shall we go for a walk?”
“Yay!”
“Let’s go for a walk, nyan!”
Priscilla-chan and Nimia jumped up and down on my stomach.
Ugh! It’s heavy!
After changing clothes and fixing my messy bed hair, I left the house where we stayed.
The women were busy preparing breakfast from the morning.
In Mistral’s village, they always live communally. So, they are used to cooking large quantities for everyone. Mistral and the others took the lead in preparing meals for everyone.
“Good morning.”
When I greeted them, everyone replied with smiles.
“I’m going for a walk with Priscilla-chan and the others.”
“I just remembered something urgent.”
“My stomach suddenly hurts, so I’m leaving.”
“Hey!”
Mistral scolded the Twin Princesses, who tried to follow us with strange excuses. I smiled as I walked out holding Priscilla-chan’s hand for our morning walk.
Nimia was relaxing on my head again after a long time.
Speaking of which, it feels like a long time since I’ve paid attention to Priscilla-chan like this.
I haven’t had the余裕 because of the intense schedule.
Priscilla-chan also seemed to be enjoying her walk with me after a long time, her steps light.
“Um, um, you see.”
Priscilla-chan told me various stories with great effort.
How I was weakened in the Forbidden Territory. How she explored the Forbidden Territory a little with Laira and the Twin Princesses.
Apparently, there is a hot spring in the Thousand Lakes. She happily recounted how she swam there with Nimia.
Nimia also chimed in with additions to Priscilla-chan’s stories, wagging her long tail happily.
She also said she played with the animals in the Forbidden Territory forest right away. And there seemed to be many spirits there.
Once everything settles down, I want to explore the Forbidden Territory with Priscilla-chan too.
Adventure in uncharted lands is a man’s dream!
And even in this Necropolis, Priscilla-chan apparently went to various places with Ruiseine and the others.
Priscilla-chan is of the Mimicho Race and originally lives in the depths of the Dragon Forest, living in harmony with nature and spirits. So, large cities like this are quite rare for her.
The Kingdom of Yorttenitos was also large and vibrant, but she couldn’t explore the city to her heart’s content there.
With all the undead residents gone, this city, which has in a sense become peaceful, seems to be perfect for Priscilla-chan’s city sightseeing.
“Over there, there’s a big park. With lots of chairs. And a fountain. And lots of trees.”
“The view from that tall building is beautiful, nyan.”
“In that big house, there was nothing to eat, you know.”
“The undead don’t need food, nyan.”
“Over there, we played hide-and-seek and tag.”
“A Dragon Race child screamed, nyan.”
Priscilla-chan’s and Nimia’s fun stories expanded my imagination.
Tag… Even Mistral’s village warriors screamed, so it’s no wonder children would.
Also, I’m surprised by the city’s design, which seems to be for the living, even though it was once inhabited only by the undead.
What’s more, the fact that it’s better laid out and has a more beautiful cityscape than even the capital city of the Armēdo Kingdom is frustrating.
The ruler of this city was that necromancer Goldoba, wasn’t he?
I wonder why Goldoba created such a city of the dead?
And when I think about how he summoned all the city’s inhabitants and made them live there, I realize that Goldoba is indeed a formidable Demon General with terrifying magic.
Priscilla-chan, Nimia, and I enjoyed our walk, talking a lot.
When Priscilla-chan’s stomach growled, we used a little trick.
We had walked without a destination, unaware of our location.
So, Nimia grew larger, and we returned by sky.
Seen from the sky, the Necropolis, devoid of its undead inhabitants, was beautiful, illuminated by the morning sun.
