In the data of the snake demon tribe Meena, the demon tribe and the point where they would appear were described.
　It's a city called Johnbull, located in the northwest of the Alvan Kingdom.
　Because it is located on the border, it trades with other countries, mainly the Suonger Kingdom, which is Dia's homeland, and although it is inferior to the port of Murteu, it is prosperous in its own way.

The demon tribe's scheduled appearance is extremely close, three days later, and the location is only about eighty kilometers from Touahade.
　The crisis in Jomble will spread to Touahade as well.
　According to a survey of the population of Jomble, even if we offered all the people in the city, unless we could obtain a large number of good quality souls, it would be a little short of the Demon Race's objective of bearing the [Fruit of Life].
　If it wasn't enough, the demon tribe would target the nearby Touahade.
　If it is in this vicinity, Touahade is the one with the largest population and is the furthest away from the royal capital, making it very easy for the enemy to target it.

''So it's John Bull that's being targeted. I've been there myself. It's a nice city.
It's a nice city and one that Touahade would not want to lose.

It's also an important commercial partner for Touahade.
　Even though Touahade is self-sufficient in food, not everything they need for life can be supplemented in the territory.
　That's too inefficient.

The only people who can do such a mimicry would be the dukes of Romalung, who have by far the largest and richest territory and resources.
　Jomble is only a city that is thriving with commerce, so what is lacking is usually bought there, and conversely, what is made in Touahade is sold there.
　There are a few towns that could take the place of Jomble, but they are far away.
　The cost of transportation is so high that the price of what used to be available at a lower price jumps up, and the fiefdoms that used to sell things to Jomble are now eating into their profits from the cost of transportation.
　Their livelihoods were devastated.

''Did you find out about this time, too, through your usual network of information?

As the carriage rocks, Dia asks me a question.

'Yeah, the usual,'

I dared to keep Meena's identity under wraps, so I explained that it was from my own information network that I was managing independently.
　It's because finding out would put them in danger.
　There are two more companions.
　One of them is Tart, who is reading the data I created about the demon race that will appear this time.
　Based on Meena's information, he added information he'd gleaned from Aram Karla, analyzed it, and even wrote countermeasures.
　Then I call out to the other one.

'Well, you have a free schedule.'
It's not a vacancy, it's a vacancy.

A beautiful, immensely beautiful girl with blonde hair that looked like melted gold intact smiled at me.
　She had promised to let me accompany her in the battle against the demon race, so I called out to her.

I don't know how you ever thought you'd believe me.

The Duke of Romalung also has his own information network.
　And he certainly doesn't have any information on the new demon tribe.
　At any rate, the information came from a member of the demon tribe's inner circle.

I'm very curious. Because I can't believe that I have information that wasn't available to me even in Romalung.
You don't ask where I'm from?
It's the usual network, isn't it?
Yes.

The smirk remains on her face.
　She doesn't ask because she knows it's useless to ask.
　But that doesn't mean she's given up, it's just a sign that she's willing to find out for herself.
　As the carriage was swinging, smoke began to come out of the tart's head.

''Ugh, this demon race is too strong. It's foul!''

Tart looks abominably at the material he has read over and over again.
　In Tart's case, even such a gesture is cute, and it's hilarious.

I'm sure you're right. The next demon race is the Beast King Riogel. I'm sure that the characteristics are very similar to a lion, as the name suggests.
You look very strong, Lion.
Oh, the muscles of the cat family are flexible and springy, and they have tremendous instantaneous force. They have reflexes and show tremendous concentration like a predator. ........although that last trait is rather easy to do.

If it's Beast King Riogel 'alone', I get the impression that it's easy to assassinate him.

''Even though you have an incredible concentration?''
The concentration required to hunt a prey is a very narrow focus. That's what I do when I'm a sniper, but I erase all information from the world except for the target and myself. That's how 'deep' concentration is, and that's why it doesn't miss.
'Oh, I see. So you're going to have more blind spots, and you're going to be slower to react to attacks from those blind spots.
'Yeah, you're right. That's why I needed an assistant. So that I could only watch my prey. With Tart there, I can focus on killing.

The moment you hunt your prey is when you have the most opportunity.
　It's an inevitable structural problem.
　A herbivore, which is supposed to run away at all times, has a wide field of vision and is always on alert.
　But the hunter is different.
　They narrow their field of vision and concentrate deeply for short periods of time in order to surpass the concentration of their ever-vigilant opponents and kill them, even if only for a moment. The quality of concentration is nothing compared to that of herbivores.
　In return, the concentration is unsustainable, and there are no gaps in sight at all out of sight.

'But that's the hard part, Lug thinks, isn't it?
'If it were alone, that would be a weakness, but the guy has a harem. That's another thing that makes him a lion.

Lions are herded by multiple females, mainly males.
　The Beast King Riogel is not the type of demon that can create demons, but he always has cronies.

''Um, what's a harem?''
'I'll give you an answer. Hmmm. Rogue and I, and also Maha, though I've never met her. Our relationship is called a harem.
Wait a minute, sir, could I please be included?

Dia gives Nevan a cold look.

''The duke wouldn't want that, would he? If you get attached to a rogue, me and the tart are going to kick you out.''
Not at all. ─ Not at all. The child you give birth to Master Lugue is expected to be worthy of being included in the blood of the Romarnung. If you can't get the Lugue-sama, I'll arrange for a suitable seed for your blood, okay?
Wow, that's why the Romalungs are
Hmmm, that's a compliment.

As usual, Nevan's head is blown up.
　He has feelings of exclusivity and love, but it's more than that, he's a roamalong.

'I don't remember creating a harem. A harem is a group of females that is made up of several females who are submissive to a single male. The females are devoted to the male and are both swords and shields for him. They don't stay together, the male is the dominant one.
You see, you're with us.
'Um, I'll do my best to serve Master Roug, and I'll be a sword and a shield!
I stand corrected. Unfortunately, I don't qualify as a harem. Because if I had to weigh myself and Master Roug, I would choose myself.

...I'm starting to get a headache.

'Let's get back on track. In other words, the opponent is a pack. And unlike the orcs that attacked the school, it's not just one strong demon tribe with countless miscellaneous fish attached to it. The females are not much different from the males in terms of strength, but they have their own will, are smart and act accurately. They're a team. There's a different dimension between having numbers and being a team.

They work together organically, increasing their strengths and eliminating their weaknesses.
　A well-developed team raises the power of the individual many times over.

'Well, I'm starting to get really nervous, so I'm going to ask you, aren't those b*tc*es demons?　Unlike the demon race, you can kill them normally.
'Oh, they're demons. But it seems that if a male touches it, it has the same properties as the demon race. As long as the brave man kills them in person, or as long as it's not within the field of the [Demon Killer], if a male touches them, they will revive even if they die.

Dia and Tart shushed him.
　They understood how difficult the enemy is.
　Just having a crony of the same rank as the demon tribe is troublesome, but if the demon tribe touches them, they will fully recover.

''Um, how do you plan to defeat it?''
'After all, no matter what, we can't do anything about it if we don't isolate the males from the females. So we will.
Is there a specific way to do it?
"Yeah, you know the cannons I always use for [bombardment].
You're that vicious guy.
With a little tweaking, I turned it into a catapult a launching pad. I'll use it to blast the male for several kilometers or more. Demons can be killed and regenerate, but moving them farther away is an effective move. Then, we reduce the females that we can kill as much as possible, and incinerate even the pieces of meat that are left so that the males can come back. We'll just have to repeat the process.

It's a daunting measure, but it should be an effective move.
　And there's also a hand for when that catapult doesn't work.

''Um, can't a [railgun] snipe?''
''I'm sure you can guess, but even if you guess without using [Demon Slayer], there's no point in just regenerating it. On the other hand, with all the cronies around, it's almost impossible for Tart and Dia to hit the Demon Race with [Demon Slayer] alone, and it's too dangerous.

When I use [Railgun], I'm going to be stuck there.
　I don't count Nevan as a fighting force in melee combat.

''It's true, the range of the [Demon Slayer] is really short, and it has a long chant.
Yes, and the opponent is immortal. Even with the demon race, the hurdle is raised because you have to stop them from moving instead of killing them. And yet, there's no way to do that with the number of them. But I think it's just as difficult to blow them up as it is to blow them up.
We can do something about that if we get creative. Trust me.

There is a clear vision, not a strength, but a clear vision.
　I can feel his eyes on me.

Nevan has been looking at me silently since a while ago.

"Is there something you want to tell me?
I just wondered why you didn't use it when there are easier ways to do it.

After all, would Nevan realize that?
　There are much easier and safer ways to do things if you allow certain things to happen.

Let me ask you something for your information.
I'm sure there's a wide range of super-powered magic that blew up an army of orcs at the school. You can use it. All but the males must be touched by a male to regenerate, right?　There won't even be a piece of meat left from that, and even if there was, it would be blown far away. The males may be resurrected, but the females won't be able to be resurrected with a single shot.

She's talking about [Divine Spear] and [Simultaneous Bombardment].
　With that combined technique, I slaughtered an army of Orcs and put the credit to the heroes, but the heroes have been exposed and it has become public knowledge that such a massive destruction is possible.
　Tart and Dea looked at Nevan with admiring eyes, wondering if he had the means to do it.

''I thought about that too. But the demon race is a godsend. The only place we can find them is pretty close to Jomble. The outer walls of Johnbull are much more fragile than the academy city or the royal capital. I'm going to be able to get the best out of it. Over a thousand lives would be sacrificed.

That's the bottleneck.
　In the battle against the Orc Demon Race, the army was quite far from the camp and had a robust defensive wall.
　In the battle against the helmeted bugs demon race, the residents had all been killed in the first place.
　But this place was different.
　It was near a large city, and the city couldn't even withstand the aftermath of the 【God Spear】.

''It's fine. This is a battle to save the world. We have to continue to protect the world from now on, and I don't think the people of Jomble are worth the risk that the Holy Knight-sama would take.''
'That's a matter of opinion. If it's this level of risk and more than a thousand lives, I'll choose the latter. Don't get me wrong, I'm prepared to sacrifice a thousand lives if I'm pushed so hard that I have to. But this time, I don't deserve it. I'm inventing it on the basis that we can do it.

I'm not going to deny what Nevan says.
　Nor am I going to say that human life is more precious than anything else.
　I also understand that if I die, the world will be destroyed.
　And on that basis, I've decided that I can take this level of risk.

It's fine if you understand. What do you two think?
'I'm with Lugue on this one, aren't I? I wouldn't say anything a rogue can't do.
Yes!　I believe in Master Lugue, too.
Oh, what a wonderful trust.

Nevan smiled a slightly different kind of smile now.
　Then, with a huff, he clapped his hands.

''Oh, how foolish of me to ask. Master Lugue has already 'tolerated the necessary sacrifices'. There was no way you would say something so sweet. Hmph, I'm even more in love with you again. I'll think of something I can support. I'm sure my light magic will increase the success rate. Or rather, I've been relying on it from the beginning, right?
You're well aware of that. I'm factoring that in and calculating the risk.
I've never seen the same thing before in my life. After all, we are meant to be together.

The carriage runs.
　Towards the place of the decisive battle.

They saw that I wasn't going to mention it until the end.
　What you are hiding from Tart and Dia.
　If they really wanted to reduce the casualties, they had to evacuate the inhabitants of John Bull.
　But in order to evacuate the residents, they would have to tell the state their source of information.
　More than that, they feared that the demon tribe would change their target because the residents were gone.
　If the target was changed to a completely unexpected place, the damage would be multiplied many times over.

Even though I've obtained the hearts of people, I'm still an assassin, I still count my life in numbers.
　That's why I allowed the deaths of people to be caught up in the battle in John Bull, just in case I couldn't change my target.
　But because I chose to do so, I'll show you that my pride will prevent more deaths than I allowed.
　It's the only thing I can do now that I've allowed it to happen.