Report
Please switch to other image servers if images don't load. If still doesn't work, report error to us to fix it.
Server 1 Server 2 Server 3

Chapter 48 Part 1: That unfortunate time when the demon lord's army came to visit

TL: kizen
ED: Filip

It's been 30 days since Gebiss was sent to the front lines. It's also about time for snow to start to fall.

Right now, I am repairing the ramparts with 10 other people.

That's because of a letter from Cravatte-sama that arrived together with the Transportation Corps who came to replenish our supplies. He told me to form a team to conduct repairs on the ramparts. He also said that I should take charge of that task because I already have experience doing this kind of work. Along with the letter, the Transportation Corps also brought with them the necessary stone bricks for the repairs.

Was this requested by that guy who I thought was just the embodiment of excess fat in order to mitigate the damage of that embarra.s.sing incident? That wasn't necessary you know?

Well, that's what I thought at first but he seems like a pretty decent guy. I understood that because he brought up the topic of building a relay station in order to make sure that our supplies arrive safely while we were eating.

Moreover, I heard that he'll even shoulder more than half of the construction cost. That's probably why he's being depended upon by Cravatte-sama. It seems like he even made sure that the materials arrived safely.

Anyway, once I heard that, I felt like I should do this for everyone's sake. Since I accepted being a foreman, I made a request for around 10 soldiers and it was immediately granted. With that settled, we're now casually repairing the said ramparts.

Even though I now have a better impression of him, I still don't even know the name of that lump of meat, to be honest.

『I wonder if we'll be able to finish this within three days…』

While I was thinking about that, I heard the soldier standing watch shout.

「It's the demon lord armyーーー! They're heading over hereー」

Demon Lord? So they really exist…… This will be the first time I see one.

「Okay, today's work will be over soon so stop looking around and start moving your handsー」

As I was saying that, the demon lord army reached the front of the gates so the lump of meat went out to meet them.

If I had to estimate, their army probably only has 200 members. Well, if every one of them is strong then a 200 man army should be all that they'll need.

「The humans have been getting full of themselves lately so we thought of coming to the front lines before the winter actually comes. Because of that, we will be borrowing the area in front of your gates for a while」
「Sure, go ahead. If it would be alright with it, please let us share a bit of our food with you」
「No need! We have prepared our own provisions so you should just give those should be given to your soldiers!」
「I see. At the very least, I hope you don't mind if we share our firewood with you so that we can keep everybody warm」
「You have my grat.i.tude」

That lump of meat sure is a nice guy. He's not high-handed at all. The demon lord too.

I got a glimpse of the demon lord from where we were working and if I had to summarize how he looks in one word, it would be 『Big』. He's probably around 2 meters tall, muscular with grey skin and swept-back white hair. He looks like someone you'd find in a game as an enemy. Or rather, why are they even wearing such thin, short-sleeved clothes when it's going to be winter soon?

Looking at him kinda reminds me of Granade. She immediately left town after we finished our schooling though so I don't know what she's up to now.

While I was thinking about that, I finished cleaning up the tools we used to repair the ramparts and was about to enter the gates when somebody called my name.

「Oi, is that you Caam!? It's been a while」

Do I have someone I know in the demon lord's army? Moreover, it's a woman.

「Hm? Who is…… Wait, Granade, is that you! Why are you here?」

The one who called me was a one-eyed muscular cyclops woman who was also wearing the same thin s.h.i.+rt as the other members of the demon lord's army.

「That's my line, why are you at this base in the front lines?」
「Well, a lot happened」
「What's this, someone you know?」

The demon lord interjected.

「Yeah, he's a friend from my village. He's a smart guy who can use magic but he's not smug about it. He's the reason why our village was able to expand so quickly you know?」
「Hou」

After hearing that, he started appraising me.

「What a skinny young man! HAHAHAHAHA! You should eat more meat!」

He said that while hitting my back which almost blew me off my feet. It hurt so much I was about to throw up.

After our introductions, Granade invited me to have dinner with them outside the gates.

「Granade, why are you with the demon lord army?」
「Ah, you know how it was peaceful in the village right? I left the village because I wanted an opportunity to go wild. However, there weren't even any satisfying subjugation requests in the nearby towns so while I was struggling with that, I got picked up by a wandering demon lord. He was pleased with me so right now, I'm acting as his personal guard and his lover1! I've even accompanied him in bed at night you know!」

She said that with a smile but hearing that all of a sudden caused me to spit out the soup I was drinking.

「Oi oi, why did you do that!? Well, at least you're alright」

She came over to slap my back while saying that.
Did she think I was choking or did she do that because I spat out? I'm not sure. Or rather, please don't make me imagine a muscular couple doing it in bed. I guess that just shows that love works in mysterious ways. They're probably doing double biceps by the bed and complementing each other's body like, 『How ripped! Naisu Katto!』. They might be even smearing each other in vaseline……2

「Iyaー, Maou-sama sure is peerless(in bed)」

I don't need to know that! I really don't want to hear that at all……

「Oi oi, don't talk about that. It's embarra.s.sing」

What's with this playful flirting? I'm sure he has said something like 「Give birth to my child」 and other absurd stuff like that before.

「What is that look for……? Even I was defeated by Granade's fierce attack. She a.s.saulted me in the middle of the night you know!?」
「Haa…」 I can't even interject…
「You see, I wasn't interested in either strong nor weak men but when I first saw Maou-sama, I thought to myself 『I want to bear that person's children』」

I didn't expect that those words would be coming from this ikimen with b.o.o.bs.
Hearing that, the demon lord became shy. No way, this demon lord is cute?

「Now then, Caam. Let's hear your story」

I told them about how I was training while I worked in Aegirine town, the matter with Latte, the subjugation quest, and why I'm here right now.

「Hou. You're pretty capable, aren't you?」
「This guy's good with magic and he's versatile as well. That's why he's able to do anything」
「I can't do everything okay?」

I immediately denied that.

「I'll go easy on you so have a match with me」
「Nononono, I'm not a match for someone as great as Maou-sama」

I don't want to die after all.

「I didn't become a demon lord just because I wanted to you know? My strength was noticed so I was given the t.i.tle of demon lord. I'm not that amazing so you don't have to be that formal」
「But I heard that when you were going wild in the battlefield, you grabbed a dead human by its feet and used it to blow away a guy holding a s.h.i.+eld. You also pierced through the stomach of a guy wearing armor with just a punch and smashed the head of someone with a helmet like it was a watermelon. You even crushed a soldier wearing a full plate armor, right?」
「What's that? Scary」
「Huh? You didn't do that?」
「Of course not! All I do is just charge through the front lines to mess up the enemy's formation during a war! It would be up to my subordinates to mow down the enemy after that! I believe that the one on top should always be ahead of everyone else leading the charge! Or rather, the guy who spread that in Caam and Granade's village is the one who's scary」
「I see. How gallant of you」
「Of course!」

After saying that, he struck a pump up pose with his muscles.
That doesn't mean I'm going to compliment your muscles though………

「Am I right in guessing that you fight with your fist?」
「Naturally! Compared to a sword that would immediately break and an iron pole that would frequently get bent, a fist is always reliable!」

Stop purposely doing poses, please.

「So I was rightー」
「It seems like there are materials called mithril and oricalc.u.m in this world but if I receive a weapon made out of those, I would still be brandis.h.i.+ng those like a stick!」***
「Thought soー」

It really does seem like he favors doing things by force.

「Now, let's do it! I'll go easy on you so fight me!」

So he didn't forget……
For some reason, his subordinates were goading me to accept. Even Keith and the other soldiers who were free were looking at us from the top of the ramparts. This demon lord's voice is really loud…

「Oi! It seems like Caam-san and Maou-sama are going to have a match!」
「What did you say!?」
「Let's go! Now's not the time to be eating!」

Hearing that there will be a match, almost all of the soldiers of the fort climbed the ramparts and rushed out the gates.

Was there such a lack of amus.e.m.e.nt here that this incident turned into such a huge deal? What's with this? Can't I just run away? Why is there a voice inside my head that's telling me 『Can't escape』 like it's some kind of game!?

「Caam! Here are your weapons!」

After saying that, Keith tossed me my shovel, crowbar, and machete.
Keith-kun, we're going to have a looong talk later okay?

「Well now, I might as well watch too」

That high-pitched voice came together with the appearance of the lump of meat.
How come he managed to find the time to walk over here at a time like this even though he would usually just hole up in his room……

「Haa…… Please don't kill me, okay?」
「Got it! I'll get hunted by that Suzuran woman you talked about earlier if I do after all」
「What about the rules?」

While saying that, I placed the machete and crowbar in their usual positions then set up the shovel in my hands.

「There are no rules in war you know!? Well, as long as we don't killー」

While he was talking I closed my eyes then casted 【Flashbang】 in front of me. Because of that, Maou-sama screamed while covering his eyes with his left hand and coping around with his right but I just ignored that and went behind him, then gave him a kick in the b.u.t.t to make him fall down. After that, I took a distance then waited for him to stand up.

A surprise attack with flashbang was effective as expectedー. It's okay to a.s.sume that the fight has started after he said that there are no rules in war, right? I even waited until he said that not to kill.

Everyone was screaming that what I did was unfair. There are no rules in this fight you know?

「Silence! There were no rules so by the time I said not to kill, the match had already begun so there was nothing unfair about that. Nuu…… I was taking you lightly because you're a magician but I'll have to change that way of thinking.」

His eyesight still hasn't recovered as he said that.

「Uhmー, during the time when you were blinded and fell down, I thought I could have seriously injured or killed you but could those muscles even be penetrated by an edged tool?」
「That's true, it was possible that I would have died. With this, I will properly acknowledge my defeat! However, it was just a possibility. I would have just stopped and edged tool with my bones and if I strain enough I could stop an arrow before it hits me」

Are all demon lords this monstrous……? While I was thinking about that, everyone around started celebrating.

「Hey Caam! Drink!」

As he said that, a subordinate of his came over with sake in hand and gave it to me. Are they expecting me to drink it straight from the bottle?

「Ah, okay. I gratefully accept」

After saying that, I drank the remaining sake in the bottle in one go which caused even more cheers from everyone. This atmosphere is starting to feel like a sports meet, isn't it?

「Isn't Caam amazing! He even defeated a demon lord」

Granade wrapped her hand around my neck while saying that. Her breast was. .h.i.tting my cheek but since it was mostly muscle, it felt like my cheeks were hitting pecs rather than b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It doesn't make me happy at all. Even Suzuran's is softer!

「Ahー, I should also offer you sake from our village in return. Please wait for a moment」

I went back inside the fort to get the Beryl Sake that is still haven't used yet. After coming back, I poured it into a cup until it was half full then gave it to him.

「I just poured it beforehand because it might overflow from the sake cup」

I was reluctant to give him more. I don't know if this much would cause him to get drunk after all.

「It's fine! Nuhahaha! Look, if it's just this much then I can finish it in one breath!」

With that said, he downed the contents of the cup and shook it until it was empty.

「Mu, this is quite strong…」

After saying that, he fainted.

「It's poisonー!」

Everyone was panicking and his subordinates started letting off killing intent but one of them said.

「I'm strong against poison so I'll drink it to make sure」

Because of that, I let that representative drink a bit of the sake.

「Uwaa…… This is strong…… If you drink a cup of this in one go, even Maou-sama would faint」

Hearing that explanation cleared their suspicions.
Once that commotion was over, I went back inside the fort to met up with Keith.

「Iyaー, now that you've bested Maou-sama, I wonder if you would also become a demon lord in the future? Demon Lord Caam…… it has a nice ring to it」
「Nonono, that's impossible. I don't like fighting after all」

I was feeling tired so after giving him that reply, I decided to lie down on the bed that was provided for me. Before I lied down, I stared at the half-empty bottle of Beryl Sake and sighed.

『It's going to be winter soon… I wonder if it would be alright for me to go home』

While thinking about that I decided to have a drink before I go to sleep. To make it taste like fruit wine, I took a piece of dried fruit and held it in my mouth before drinking the sake.

「That sake has a pretty intense scent so don't drink it if you're next to me」 was what Keith said but I just ignored him.

「Arghー My head hurts… What happened to Caam?」

The bonfire was still alight and Granade was sleeping next to me. Everyone else was also asleep due to drunkenness. Well, that's fine as long as they don't catch a cold.

「Geez, what the h.e.l.l was that sake? It knocked my lights out…… What an interesting guy. Not only did he beat me, I also lost to his sake. Beryl Village huh…… I don't think that area's a part of my territory. I guess I should send Granade to negotiate. I should also buy me some of that sake later. I wonder who I should send…」

After uttering that, I drank some water then went back to sleep.





CHAPTER DISCUSSION