Relying on the map we received from Nagi and some precautions that were given to us when we parted, we decided to head for one of the living quarters under the Demon King's Castle.

　Wary of our surroundings, we proceeded through the stone castle.

　It seems that most of the Demon King's army soldiers are engaged with the Golden Fang Knights on the city walls, as I had initially guessed, and the security on the road was less than expected.

''Since we're fighting an opponent who is trying to cross the city walls, there's no way we're going to devote a few people to patrolling the inside of the castle. ......

　It's bad for the Golden Fang Knights, who would be fighting a fierce battle, but it's good for us.

　Leaving the empty, unused warehouse, we passed through the corridor, being careful not to make any noise, and arrived at the grand staircase leading to the basement.

　At the bottom of it was a vast basement.

''I've been thinking about it for a while now, but it's kind of weird to have a basement inside an underground space, isn't it?

　Garnett muttered in dismay as he looked around the basement.

　The ceiling was quite high, and the earth and rock face, including the walls, were bare.

　Magical lighting dotted regularly on the earthen ceiling, and although not as much as the sky outside the castle - the sky of the 'Demon King's Castle Realm', it illuminates the basement with an amount of light that is hard to believe is the bottom of the earth.

　And on the hard-trodden surface of the earth, a large number of unadorned dwellings are lined up.

　The size of the dwellings was about one inhabitant per house, and there were at least a hundred of them.

　The shape could be described as a cube of white earthen walls, with windows and doorways that were simply square holes and no doors.

　Ornamentation, amusement, culture. Such things are cleanly eliminated.

　It was designed specifically for off-duty soldiers to take a rest.

It's true that this is not a town, but a living space in the citadel. No wonder there are no 'civilians' in the demon king's army and almost all of them are 'soldiers'.

　As they passed through the back of the building to their destination, Garnett let out his impressions of the scene around them.

　Hearing that, Sakura uttered a casual question.

''Even though he's the Demon King, since he calls himself a king, he should have a citizenry, right? Where on earth are the people of Demon King Gandalf?''
'What?　That's because the ...... dwarves say that they emerged from a deeper level of hierarchy than ...... 'Demon King's Castle Realm', so I guess it's a lower level than ...... 'Demon King's Castle Realm', maybe.

　Garnett's solution seemed to be unsure of himself.

　No one would be able to reply with certainty about this.

　At least as far as I know, the Demon King's Army and Demon King Gandalf's baggage-ground is shrouded in mystery.

　What kind of place did they originally live in, what were they thinking about when they were preparing their army--

　The fact that it appeared from a place even deeper than the 'Demon King's Castle Realm' was also just hearsay from the dwarves, and even if this was correct, we don't know what kind of environmental hierarchy it was in.

　The specific purpose for which the army was being built up is also unknown.
　Of course, since the royal palace led by His Majesty Alfred decided to 'cause harm to the earth' after repeated investigation and examination, it can be said that there is no doubt about that point.

　However, we don't seem to know why they planned to do this.

　Is it purely territorial ambition, or is there another reason for this?
　The lack of clarity of intent is nothing short of eerie.

'...... Looks like it's about time for us to go to our destination.

　With a whispered exchange of voices, they carefully walked through the tasteless and cozy interstices of the structure, finally reaching the vicinity of the place designated for Nagi.

　The small sound of water that had been heard since they descended the grand staircase could now be clearly heard as the sound of a waterway.

　A little further on, I saw an open space with no structures and the canal I was looking for flowing past it.

'At least five guards ...... Sakura, Garnett, can we go?'
I'm on it. Garnett, I'll strike first from the upstream side. Immediately after that, you'll attack from downstream in one go.
Oh. It's only a matter of time before we get this far.

　Sakura and Garnett drew their weapons in the shade of the structure closest to the waterway, exchanged a brief word or two of consultation, and then quickly moved on to clearing the guards.

　The first to move was Sakura.

　Activating 【Shrinkage】, she thinned out on the soldier at the farthest distance and slashed down without even giving him a chance to react.

　Furthermore, the soldiers turned their blades on Sakura when she was about to slash at the other one, but at the same time, Garnett thinned out from the other side and set up a pincer attack.

　A true lightning bolt. From then on, it was so one-sided that it could no longer be called a fight, and in a matter of ten seconds, the five soldiers were completely eliminated.

''Quicksilver, you two,''

　I took the signal from the two of them, and I ran towards the waterway as well.

　However, neither Sakura and Garnett had lost their vigilant attitude.

''It's strange ...... the security seems to be much thinner than Kirigakure said it was. I thought there were at least twice as many of them as this one.
''That guy didn't enter until after the siege began, and we're talking about more than a dozen people at that point, right? Don't tell me he was dragged out to defend the city walls after all this time?　No, no matter how much you want to know: ......

　The two of them were not so inexperienced in combat that they could optimistically think that they were lucky to have so few guards.

　Rather than luck, they felt a strong sense of discomfort, and they couldn't help but think about the danger of an unforeseen situation.

''White wolf's, we're going to escape anyway. It's too late for anything to happen.
Yeah, let's go.

　Anyway, in order to escape from the Demon King's Castle, I tried to run into the passage by the underground waterway.

　A large amount of water popped up at the back of the tunnel just as I was about to run into the tunnel - a tunnel-like hole made up of only water channels and narrow passages.

'Nah......!

　I stop just a few steps from the tunnel entrance.

　Garnett quickly stands in front of me, and Sakura is at the back of the line, increasing her vigilance to the rear.

　Crunch, crunch - at the end of the tunnel, I hear someone coming up from the channel into the passage.

　Then the sound of flattened footsteps approaches, and a large figure appears in the light coming from the entrance.

'Hmph!　Looks like there's some kind of ruckus going on while I'm cooling my wounds from being burned by those knights!

　He is a brawny dark elf, comparable in strength to Norzuri.
　He wears no armor or weapons, and his upper body is naked, with diagonal burns and deep lacerations across his well-trained body.

　It was as if the wound had just been slashed by a burning sword.

'Intruders, no, if they came through this passage, would I be the first to notice them? So you guys are trying to escape, right? That makes sense!

　The mighty dark elf echoes through the tunnels with an ear-achingly loud voice as casually as if he were making small talk.

　Garnet, standing in front of me, raises his voice as loud as it can be.

'Run!　The escape route has failed!　This guy ...... is unbelievable!
'Hahaha!　I can't let him go!

　Garnet activates the magic crests of Mithril's sword and deploys the defensive wall.

　Immediately afterwards, the dark elf warrior waved one arm forcefully, and a gust of wind arose that gave the illusion that a wall of air had rushed in, blowing the three of us away lightly, even though it was through the barrier.

''Goooooooooo ......!''

　Sakura and Garnett landed carelessly.
　But I'm the only one who gets knocked to the ground unceremoniously.

　I look up and wipe the dirt off my face.
　The dark elf warrior leisurely emerged from the tunnel into the square by the canal and stood unarmed, arms crossed.

Now!　Probably the only person who would try to escape this castle!　The man who was taken by the third subject!　You're Luke of the White Wolf Forest!

　A bold smile appears on his face, which has the unique skin color of a dark elf.

''Then I shall not miss!　Four demon generals in the Army of the Four Devils, in the name of the stormy Austri!