Chapter 19 – The Second Request
After meeting the brave and his former comrades in the dungeon, the two-day holiday passed quickly.
Yesterday, due to the aftereffects of excessive drinking, I was locked in my room all day.
The villagers were drinking so much that it was a party, but when I woke up, it was lunchtime.
So, Camilla’s sex education, which would have started yesterday, was also delayed.
Fortunately for her, it was Camilla who drank so much that she became a rice cake in the village, so she didn’t say anything about it.
Today is the day I took a day off and recovered my condition.
As I was about to eat breakfast at the cafeteria, I was called by Maou-sama.
“Welcome.”
Of course, I was relaxed, thinking that we would be meeting 1:1 as usual, but as soon as I went inside, I straightened my back at the scenery I saw.
It was because a person I had never seen before in the office was sitting on the sofa.
“Grrr…”
Despite sitting down, a Beast Man with an overwhelming appearance that is much larger than a normal person standing.
It’s so big that the teacup you’re holding in your hand looks like a toy.
Demon King, who was sitting across from him, got up from his seat and briefly introduced him.
“Say hello. Kaldrash. This is one of the Four Heavenly Kings in our army, the Beast Heart King, Walter Leonhart.”
As soon as I heard the name, I couldn’t help but be amazed.
The Demon King’s right hand, Walter.
It is because among humans, it is a demon that is more famous with that name.
The undisputed second-in-command of the demon king’s army, who commands all the beastmen of the western great forest.
When I awkwardly approached and held out my hand, Walter put the teacup in his hand down briefly on the table and accepted my handshake.
“Nice to meet you. Archmage Kaldrash. Feel free to call me Walter.”
“Ah, yes. Walter.”
When I called his name comfortably as he requested, Walter snorted and nodded his head in satisfaction.
“The two of you are still talking about you. Come and sit down.”
Following Maou-sama’s instructions, I sat down on the remaining seat on the sofa.
Then Seneca, the butler, naturally placed a luxurious teacup in front of me.
Red liquid drips from the pointed spout of the teapot he is holding.
While I glanced at that beautiful scene for a moment, the Demon Lord explained why Balter was here.
“Yesterday, I sent a message asking for two wyverns to be sent to the Great Forest, as they are needed for your dispatch to the eastern front, and Walter showed up with a wyvern himself.”
Walter, who was listening to the story from the side, nodded and agreed.
“I heard that there is a protagonist with a name that other guys have heard so much that they have scabs in their ears, so I came here out of curiosity.”
“The other guys?”
Then, the Demon King smiled bitterly and explained instead.
“I’m talking about the Four Heavenly Kings, Mephisto and Dorothea.”
“Ah…”
During the year I was with the hero, there were two out of four four kings that I had personally fought.
One of them was Mephisto, who pushed the hero one-sidedly, and the other was Dorothea, who bumped into each other with a sense of rivalry.
Since both of them have experiences of being developed as magic warfare by me, they must have complained.
Lifting the cup again, Walter shrugged his shoulders and said jokingly.
“I’ve known them for quite some time, but you’re the first one to say that you’re so angry and annoying. What kind of magic did you do to make them react that way?”
When I heard that, I shrugged his shoulders.
“I didn’t do anything in particular. They just didn’t get along well with me.”
“Keuhehe… I like that kind of confidence. It makes me want to fight once.”
Little bit- little bit-
Maybe it’s because it’s a cat’s tongue, so it’s hard to drink hot things, but to be honest, seeing the ferocious-looking Walter licking black tea with his tongue was a bit like that.
When I pretended not to see it and turned my gaze to the Demon King, the Demon King naturally changed the subject as if he understood my feelings.
“Anyway, the reason I called you was because of what I said the other day.
“Yes. I have already finished all preparations to go.”
“Then I don’t need to talk too much. This is my second official request. As of this time, dispatch to the eastern front and help Dorothea, the Four Heavenly Kings, to safely retreat the Demon King’s army to our territory.”
“I’ll take your order.”
When I got up from the sofa, got down on one knee, and took the bow of the god of war, Maou-sama nodded with a satisfied expression.
“The wyvern you’re going to ride will be tied to the stable in the castle. It’s probably going to be a long flight, so if there’s anything you need to do on land, it’s better to do it in advance.”
“Thanks for the advice. Then I’ll leave.”
Saying that, I bowed down to the two of them, and when I was about to leave the office first, the demon king suddenly grabbed me with words and stopped me.
“Ah, Kaldrasch. Before we go, I have one more favor to ask of you.”
“Yes?”
“Could you please send my regards to Dorothea? It’s been a while since we haven’t seen each other, so if you have time, please return to the Devil’s Castle.”
“If it’s like that, well, it’s not particularly difficult.”
After telling Maou-sama to hold on to his worries, I left the real office this time.
***
When I went straight to the stable in the castle with Camilla, who had been waiting outside, I saw two wyverns that Balter, the Four Heavenly Kings, had brought, tied side by side to a tree near the entrance.
Originally, wild wyverns were impossible to tame, so they had to be raised by hand from an early age to use them as mounts. For that reason, wyverns were treated as strategic items in most countries.
As I approached, the wyvern made a pterosaur noise, “Keeeee!”
That’s a huge decibel indeed.
I felt like blood was coming out of my eardrum, so I covered my ears with both hands without even realizing it.
“Oh! Wizard! Earplugs are a must if you want to ride a Wyvern! Their throats are so loud that when they cry, you can tell they’re approaching from 100 meters away!”
I quickly put on my earplugs, looking at the soldier who didn’t speak sooner with a look of resentment.
“Keeeeeg
Oh, it’s better now
It’s still noisy, but it’s barely tolerable at this level.
While I was fiddling with the earplugs with a satisfied expression, the demon soldier handed over the earplugs to Camilla and kindly explained how to handle the wyvern.
Roughly summarizing his words, riding a wyvern is similar to riding a horse, so there is not much difference in how to control it.
Anyway, it was quite useful information, so we thanked the demon soldier and grabbed the reins of the wyvern tied to the tree.
The guys who were so wary at first became calm as if they were like that when they put the horse meat the soldier gave them into their mouths.
Being kind to the person who feeds it is also the same for any animal.
“It’s okay.”
I jumped on the wyvern’s back and kicked his side.
Then, the Wyvern gave a loud bang while emitting an unpleasant cry, saying, “Keeeeek!”
In just a few seconds, a large body that seemed unable to fly in the sky rises with powerful flapping of its wings.
After exchanging glances with Camilla next to me, I turned the wyvern’s head to the east.
***
As I said before, the eastern front is the biggest battlefield between humans and demons.
The two armies were fighting one after another along the snowy ridge of the Vulcan Mountains, and a lot of blood was shed in the human-horse war five years ago.
Just as Dorothea, the Four Heavenly Kings, was in charge of all troops in this area, the warrior of the warrior party, Rachel’s father, the Marshal of Hamburg, was in charge of the defense of the Vulcan Mountains on the kingdom side.
The Hamburg family, which had been rooted in the barren Vulkan Mountains for generations, was actually playing a role that was no different from a breakwater protecting humanity.
“Huuk…Are you finally here?”
The cold air that fills my lungs with every breath makes me feel that I have returned to the Vulcan Mountains.
I looked down at the ground while riding the wyvern.
Arriving after a long flight of about 5 hours, the Demon King’s camp on the eastern front had a rather rugged appearance when viewed from above.
This was also due to the capricious weather of the Vulkan Mountains.
In an extreme environment where the temperature is always below freezing to the point where the word four seasons is colorless, the preferred item is something light, durable and long-lasting.
And most of those things were outwardly unbeautiful.
As the Wyvern, with the mark of the Demon King’s Army on its wings, carefully landed in the clearing, soldiers who had been wary of the surrounding area rushed over.
Among them, the most notable was the centaur, a demon tribe that looked like a mixture of half human and half horse.
The centaur, wearing thick fur instead of heavy armor, asked me with a puzzled expression.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you, what business did you come to this faraway place?”
I jumped off the wyvern’s saddle, left the reins to another soldier, and stepped forward confidently.
Then he put his hand on his chest and said.
“I am Patrasche, a rich man belonging to the Demon King. I came to meet Dorothea, the commander-in-chief of this place, by order of the Demon King, Nero.”
Then the centaur tilted his head with a strange expression.
It was probably a reaction that came from the name Patrasche, which he had never heard of before.
But she said it with a look of agreement.
“If that’s the case, it’s just fine. I’m the lieutenant serving Dorothea-sama, so I’ll guide you the way myself.”
I feel like things are going well.
Her opponent said that she would do her favor first, but she didn’t have to refuse, so we decided to follow her calmly.
