Chapter 3.5: The Threat Of The Demon Lords Chief Advisor (5)
Vol. 1 - Chapter 3.5: The Threat Of The Demon Lord\'s Chief Advisor (5)
After Serphiano left the execution site, Takashi asked Nephira for some time and returned to the waiting area for the slaves.
"Lord Hero!!"
Suddenly, Excella jumped into Takashi\'s arms with tears streaming down her face.
"Woah!! Excella!?"
"Thank you... Thank you so much!"
She buried her head into his chest while crying. Takashi stood there, puzzled, then her retainer, Orneo, smiled and bowed his head.
"It is thanks to Lord Hero that this old man has survived. I offer my gratitude."
"St--Stop it, please. I did nothing..."
Takashi gently pushed Excella back. Excella looked at Takashi with concern.
"Lord Hero...?"
"I am totally useless. I just saw one person killed in front of me. And in such a brutal way..."
The man\'s screams as he had his limbs cut off and then finally killed, were still ringing in Takashi\'s ears.
"If my turn had come first, he might have survived."
"Lord Hero. That\'s..."
"No, if I hadn\'t come here in the first place, this country wouldn\'t be in ruins! There was this yakuza guy called Sasaki! Ah, HAHAHA! He was a real jerk! But if that middle-aged man had come, I\'m sure tens of thousands of people would have been saved! The people in the castle wouldn\'t have died!"
Excella gently embraced Takashi.
Reversing the previous situation, she placed Takashi\'s head against her chest. Her soft and gentle touch soothed Takashi\'s grief a little.
"The power of the Hero is a miracle that surpasses the might of millions of soldiers. A beacon of hope that will change this world."
While embraced by Excella, Takashi recalled the ideal life he wished for while in Japan.
The life that Takashi wanted was------ a heartwarming life in another world. He could live it playing with all the magical creatures in the warm sunlight, fishing and cooking... However, now that he had arrived in this cruel otherworld, it seemed like a fleeting dream in a faraway blur.
(Nevertheless... If anyone is relying on my help. If there is someone who would call me a hero even though I\'m like this...)
Takashi stared into Exela\'s eyes and declared, "I, will try my best. So that in this world, humans can live with demons on an equal footing. And maybe one day, we\'ll be able to live a heartwarming life."
"Yes...!"
After wiping away her own tears with her finger, Excella smiled at Takashi.
After Takashi left Excella and the rest, he returned to the execution site, where he found Nephira leaning against a rock wall in the passageway.
"...Are you done talking?"
"Ye--Yeah"
Perhaps she might have heard his conversation with Excella. B--But, he didn\'t say anything about conquering the demons, so he\'s sure it\'s okay, right?
"Humans on equal footing with demons, huh? It is nothing more than a pipe dream. Your ideal will never come true."
That one sentence convinced Takashi that he had been overheard, and his body shuddered.
Nephira wasn\'t angry, but she was leaning against the wall with her face down. She slowly said, "However... it may be possible to get a little closer to that dream."
"Eh?"
"If you become promoted from a slave to a familiar, it\'s possible to have human slaves. If you advance further as a familiar, you can also gain a territory as a reward. Do you understand what I am saying?"
(Slaves and Territory...? Th--That\'s it! If I do it, I will be able to save those around me from the control of demons!)
He would have a place of his own where he could live with his comrades like Excella and Orneo. It would be a peaceful territory where demons do not eat or harm humans. Takashi\'s heart beat wildly as he imagined such happy prospects.
"Do--Does that mean I have to become Nephira\'s familiar?
"Uh-huh. But as a condition for it--------Suzuki. You will enlist in the Thunder-Lance Charge."
"I-In the Thunder-Lance Charge!? No, but, but I\'m a human though?! Yet I\'m JOINING!?"
"The demon lord\'s army also features undead soldiers and skeleton soldiers. Originally, they were human too."
"Indeed... Uhm? But aren\'t they, you know, dead? Right?"
"Wh--Whether they are dead or alive is irrelevant! If there is no opposition, it would not be too difficult to recruit you into the Thunder-Lance Charge. After all that happened, Serphiano said she would like to support you from now on."
"Yeah, that\'s right..."
"The former third princess and her retainer, the old man, will be sent to live in a slave cell for a while. If you become a high-ranking soldier in the Thunder-Lance Charge in that time frame..."
"I can claim Excella and the rest!!"
Hearing this proposal gave him hope. Having a home in his own territory, Excella and the rest could live there... That\'s it! It\'s a small step, but world peace can begin there!
Becoming a soldier of the Thunder-Lance Charge may mean becoming an enemy of mankind. But Takashi looked Nephila in the eye and said earnestly.
"Nephira! Please let me join the Thunder-Lance Charge!"