An inspection of the enemy's situation.

　I left that to Jiron, the orc's chief of staff, and I left the city of Ivalice with Sati in tow.

　Jiron said, "Doesn't that look conspicuous with your appearance?
　He suggested modestly, but I cut him off, not to worry.

'As you would expect, if you get close enough to the city, it will magically change.

　Jiron still insisted that such a mission, a task that should be left to his subordinates, but I still wanted to see it for myself.

　-- that was a construction, and one of the purposes was to take Sati out of the city, who had never been to the city in a fragile manner.

　The other was to be able to take off these cramped robes and masks for the first time in a long time.
　After all, wearing the same robe and mask for days at a time makes me feel depressed.

　Not only physically, but mentally as well.

　It wasn't a bad option to take off the mask once in a while and stretch your wings for a day.

　Once me and Sati were sure that Jiron was out of sight, we went deeper into the forest, where we used our magic to dig a large hole.

　We buried the "Robe of the Immortal King and Mask of the Skull" and the "Staff of the Circular Snake (Ouroboros)" there.

　I used my magic to search the surrounding area and made sure that there were no humans or demons nearby.

　You don't want your identity to be revealed, but you don't want someone else to take this equipment from you.
　This equipment is not only a memento left by my grandfather, but also my lifeline.

　After burying the equipment with the 《Earth Creation》 magic, we left the forest.


　Our group was headed to the capital of the Rosalia Kingdom, the royal capital, Lisas.

　The Rosalia Kingdom, which is located almost in the center of the continent, is known as one of the most powerful on the continent, but right now half of its land is occupied by the Demon King's army, which has been invaded by the Demon King's army.

　Since it was the capital of such a country, it wasn't as hot as it was in its heyday, but even so, there were many people on the streets.

　No, maybe it's because it's wartime and there are more people than usual.

　Mercenaries from other countries, knights with the coats of arms of other countries, and all sorts of figures could be seen.

''After all, was it true that the League of Lords was established?

The League of Kings?

　Sati asks modestly.

'An ancient pact made in times of war, abolishing the interests of nations.
Satie doesn't know the hard way.
The point is, if the Demon King's army comes under attack, we should stop fighting and form an alliance.
I see. So you're saying that we should work together against the Demon King's Army.

That's right. Three times in the past, this pact was invoked. Each time, the Demon King's army was repulsed and driven back to Dvorberg at the eastern end.

...Will it be the same this time?

Why do you worry about it? Aren't you human?　If the Demon King's army retreats, you'll be free to go.

　I pretended to be joking, but Sati shook her head sadly.

'A slave child is a slave for life. If Master Ike abandons me, I will be like those children over there.

　If you look, you'll see a carriage with iron bars running down the main street.
　The goods piled inside would be people, not things.

''........If we are to be the same slaves, Ike-sama's side of the family.
..........

　I was silent for a long time, and then I chose my words.

"...don't worry. I won't make the same mistake. It is said that the current demon king is said to have the strongest power and wisdom of all the demon kings of all time. This time, I will defeat the humans.

　He said it to get the girl out of her worries, but he was surprised when he said it himself.

　Huh?　Come to think of it, what am I trying to accomplish?
　And--.

　To begin with, I was a human being.
　In my previous life, but I was also a complete person in this other world.

　In my heart, I should be on the side of the humans, but in reality, I was working as a brigade leader for the Demon King's army.

　Why is that?
　I ask myself.
　Is it for my grandfather?

　My grandfather, the Immortal King Ronberg, was the one who raised me despite the fact that I was a human and even taught me how to fight.

　I naturally wanted to repay that debt.
　I can't say that I owe the demon race a debt of gratitude, but at least I owe it to them.
　That's what I thought.

　In order to repay that debt, I have fought until today, but what is the next step?

　My mind and body are human.
　On the other hand, I was raised by demons.
　If possible, I don't want them to fight each other.

　However, the reality is that not only humans are always fighting each other, but also demons are always fighting each other.
　It's impossible to get along with them now, even if we were to say that they should get along.

　Then the only way to do that is to annihilate one of them, which is a common way of thinking among demons and humans.

　There was no such thing as coexistence.
　But now it was different.
　The current Lord of Demons, Lord Dylockten, is a human who has memories of his previous life.
　And there's me.

　If the Demon King's army continues to conquer the world, we might be able to coexist with humans.

　I have a feeling that this is the case.

　You are silent for a moment.　

''............''

　My daughter beside me, Sati.
　I picked her up by accident and on a whim, but since I picked her up, she reminds me once again that I am a human being.

''Utterly, I picked up a difficult girl.

　As I began to spend time with this girl, I had to think about things I didn't have to think about before.

'..........................

　Perhaps it was because she was silent for a while, but Satie looked at me with a strange look on her face.

'Master, is there something wrong?'

　It was like a look of deep-seated concern in her eyes.
　I escaped his gaze and ordered Sati.

'We're here to inspect the enemy's situation. Let's get the hell out of here.

　When he said that, he headed to the market.


　　†.


Wow, Master, what is this?

　Satie asks, pointing to a tropical fruit.

'It's a fruit called an orange.

　I think so.
　At least it's not a honeydew.

'What's that big one then?'
What is that... a log?

　No way.
　I'll ask the merchant.

It's a cheese from the Kingdom of Fars. As it ages, it turns brown like a log.

Okay. Would you mind if I sampled it?

　The merchant.
"Hey.
　And I bow down.

　I get a scrap of cheese scraped from a large tree.
　I take a sip of it.　

"Mmm...
"Uh....

　Apparently me and Sati had similar expressions on our faces at the same time.

　The merchant seemed to have expected it too.
Well, it's still pretty darn good once you get used to it.
　I laughed.

　Fermented foods, both in the modern world and in other worlds, can be tough if you haven't been familiar with the area for a long time.

　Natto doesn't suit foreigners, and the Japanese don't like blue cheese.

　It seems to be common in the other world as well, when you start to think the local fermented food is tasty.

　However, as a person who has memories of his past life, I bought it when I was given the opportunity to try it, and I thought, "Well, maybe I'll give it to Jiron.
　And he gave the merchant a silver coin.

'Every time.'

　The merchant smiles with a commercial smile.

　Incidentally, the reason I gave him more than the market price was to get information from this merchant.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

I'm not going to be able to get my hands on anything.

　The merchant looked at me for a moment, but as expected, he didn't think I belonged to the Demon King's Army.
　I started talking to him as if he was just a peer, or maybe he liked me, or something like that.

''No, sir, as I'm sure you know, you know that the League of Lords has been activated, right?''

I don't have specific information, but that's what I've heard.

''To be precise, I heard that they are currently in the stage of making a pact and finalizing terms in the imperial capital, but before that, there seems to be talk of taking a shot at the Demon King's army, led by the knights of Rosalia...''

I see. Is that why the merchants are so energetic?
What do you mean by that?

　Sati asks.

'In other words, before the League of Lords is formed, I want to deal a painful blow to the Demon King's army and declare that the Kingdom of Rosalia is here. That way, we'll have the upper hand in the Council of the Lords, and we'll have more of a say in the post-war period.

I see that the nobleman thinks and acts in many ways.
It's all about math and self-preservation.

　No, I think it's a gamble.

''With half of the regular army destroyed and half of the country occupied, it would be a poor plan to launch a counter-offensive. If they are defeated, they may continue to occupy the royal capital, and even if not, Rosalia's position within the League of Kings will probably be the worst.

I see, you're absolutely right.

　The merchant said in a carefree tone.

You're not very tense, are you? You know, this last bit of defiance you've been talking about may not work out for you.

'Well, that's the time. If we fail, the League of Lords should be established before Reezus is occupied. Then this will be the basis for the Alliance of the Lords. That would make it worth doing business with.

What if the Demon King's army takes over first?

''That's fine. I hear that the current Demon King is ruthless but not brutal. Besides, even demons eat pork, and you can't help but want to put cheese on your bread. Frankly speaking, we don't care much about the exile or war.

　I see, the Demon King's reputation has reached the people in the end.

　The reason why the resistance and rebellion of the humans are kept to a minimum is because of his rule policy.

　After confirming that once again, I bought the minimum amount of supplies I needed and returned to Ivalice.　

　The knights of Rosalia are planning to launch a final counter-offensive.
　Ivalice was definitely going to be one of those front lines.
　There was no better way to prepare for the battle now.