Chapter 11. Demon
The destination, the Julin Special District, was indeed a rural town, just as Yulian had said.
Unlike the crowded streets of the Imperial Capital, this place was so sparsely populated that it was hard to find any residents.
As if they had been observing from afar, a local official welcomed Aileen and her party when we arrived in town.
"You must be the ones from the Imperial Capital. Welcome. Please follow me."
The official led us to the outskirts of Julin.
There stood a small tower where the resonance stone was stored.
Aileen instructed the accompanying soldiers to unload the new resonance stone and the tools needed for the repair process from the carriage.
"The box containing the resonance stone over there, the mana pipe here... Oh, I'll handle that one."
After moving the items, Aileen entered the tower to inspect the resonance stone that needed repair.
"As expected, there are some cracks. It looks like it needs replacing rather than repair."
"What should we do then? If the barrier disappears, the demons will attack..."
Seeing the official's complexion worsen, Aileen gave a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry and trust me. The job won't take long."
"Oh..."
With the official's permission, the preparation for the work proceeded smoothly.
Repairing and replacing the resonance stone required advanced 'Leo' rank magical knowledge. But as long as you had the knowledge, it wasn't a difficult task.
Once all preparations were complete, Aileen had some leisure time.
'Yulian.'
Aileen searched for Yulian.
He was hovering near the tower, guarding us, as it was his mission to escort.
However, the reason she was searching for Yulian wasn't because of anything else.
Back when we arrived here.
There had been a slight commotion in the ranks.
It seemed there had been a heated exchange between the Azure Lion Knights and Yulian.
Aileen, who was quick to notice, roughly guessed what had happened.
'They probably clashed over who would take the lead.'
It was a matter of pride.
Not so surprising to Aileen.
This kind of thing would always happen when she traveled with knights of noble birth.
And considering this time's companion was Yulian.
Given his background and with him around, unless the emperor himself was involved, it would have been odd if nothing happened due to his haughty demeanor.
― So, would you like to prove it, that I'm wrong?
Yulian ended up provoking the knight who wanted to take control.
At that point, the knight must have realized.
Among the Blind Eyes, even Yulian wasn't an ordinary person.
Status and all be damned, if he believed he was right, he would never back down.
A monster in human guise who let nothing get to him.
― ... I apologize, Sir Yulian.
Ultimately, the Azure Lion Knight backed down.
In hindsight, it was inevitable.
An ordinary knight would have to risk his life to oppose the 'Smiling Executioner'.
'His arrogance is unchanged as ever.'
Watching this unfold, Aileen thought to herself.
That man never changes, she mused.
Why did his personal doctor ever diagnose such a person with amnesia? Aileen couldn't begin to understand it.
― Did I give you permission to speak, half-blood of the Donatien family?
"... Ugh."
"Is something the matter, lady Aileen?"
Recalling a past event, Aileen let out a sigh.
A soldier, in the middle of moving supplies, asked after her well-being.
"Oh, no... It's nothing."
During the induction test for the Blind Eyes, it was something Yulian had said to her.
Of all times, why now?
A half-blood of House Donatien.
A nickname Aileen detested hearing above all.
What a joke it was.
The man who uttered those words was also a branch family member himself.
'Annoying fellow.'
And so she resolved.
'I definitely need to get an apology.'
She made her way towards Yulian, though as each step brought her closer, irrelevant thoughts began to cloud her mind.
The person she had to face was Yulian.
Would that arrogant man even consider apologizing?
What if he pressed with force instead... She wouldn't have any means to resist.
After all, he was the monster who returned alive alone from that hell.
'... No, still, I must speak.'
Her resolve firmed.
To shrink back now would mean allowing future instances to pass without resolution.
And something that irked her the most...
'You're from a branch family too!'
Despite being in the same situation, he acted as if he wasn't...!
Fueled by indignation, she approached.
It wasn't even that hard of a task.
All she needed to do was call out to Yulian and demand he apologize for his outrageous remarks back at the Academy.
She swallowed dryly and opened her mouth.
"Sir Yulian."
And at that exact moment.
"Demons! Demons have appeared!"
The urgent cry of a soldier rang out.
***
Upon hearing the shout, I turned my head to see beasts covered in purple slime growling in our direction.
Demons.
Entities born when the residual malice of the Demon King Barbatos clings to living beings, forming an adversary of humanity.
'Ugh...'
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
I wasn't unfamiliar with demons, but seeing them in person was a sight that instinctively made one grimace.
Their muscles swelled to the point of being unrecognizable and their unfocused eyes were filled with nothing but blind killing intent.
The slime dripping from their bodies was so repulsive it reminded me of a primitive species from an RTS game.
"Hornless and Uni-horned ones!"
A soldier shouted once more.
Hornless, uni-horned.
It was a scale used to classify demons.
Each demon had varying battle strength. Typically, this was classified by the number of horns on their head or body.
Hornless meant they had no horns.
Uni-horned meant they had one horn.
Bi-horned meant they had two horns, and so on.
Naturally, the more horns a demon had, the stronger it was.
"Why, why are there demons now...?"
Several soldiers mumbled to themselves in dismay, perhaps frightened by the grotesque form of the demons.
Their appearance was certainly unfair.
"It just means that we narrowly avoided a disaster by not delaying the resonance stone's repair. Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Fortunately, there was someone who could bring order to this chaos.
The Azure Lion Knight, Fern, shouted authoritatively, snapping everyone to attention.
"These are just Hornless and Uni-horned demons! Soldiers, protect the mage!"
"Y-Yes!"
"Understood!"
The trained soldiers regained their composure and moved into formation.
Weapons drawn, they aimed toward the direction the demons were coming from.
"It will take about ten minutes to replace the resonance stone."
Aileen approached Fern to inform him of the time needed for the resonance stone's repair.
Fern nodded upon hearing that.
'We just need to hold our ground until the repair is finished.'
In my estimation, defending our position was the best course of action right now.
Once the repair was completed, the barrier would be restored and the Uni-horned demons would be crushed by its power.
As I was contemplating this, Fern approached me.
"We'll lead the soldiers to eliminate the surrounding demons," he said confidently.
He wasn't going to wait for the resonance stone repair and wanted to go out and deal with them?
That was unnecessarily laborious... I didn't understand it at first, but soon caught on.
He intended to refute my previous dismissal by showing his capability.
It was simply an extension of our earlier competition.
I shrugged, silently conveying he could do as he pleased.
There was no reason to stop them if they were willing to take on the area.
I could watch and gain some combat experience against demons myself.
"Soldiers, listen up!"
He raised his voice to address the soldiers.
"We will eliminate all demons in this area!"
Some soldiers appeared reluctant at Fern's declaration.
From their expressions, it was clear they didn't see the need to engage, given that waiting for the resonance stone's repair sufficed.
Despite that, Fern countered their hesitation with raised words.
"If demons linger nearby, the citizens of the Julin Special District will not sleep peacefully. So we, who are here, should clear the area!"
It was a reason that sounded noble.
Though it must be grueling for the soldiers wielding weapons to fight.
"Follow me! We'll handle the Uni-horned demons, and you take care of the rest!"
With a sword drawn, a pale blue glow began to envelop the blade.
'Aura', a skill for advanced swordsmen who had mastered the usage of mana.
Fancy that, even an eccentric knight can wield aura.
"For the eternal glory of the Empire and the safety of His Majesty!"
Fern, another Azure Lion knight, and the soldiers followed him.
Of course, the demons were no match for them.
In game terms, hornless demons were equivalent to common mobs.
Even Uni-horned demons weren't significant enough to be named monsters.
Thus, the battle was overwhelmingly one-sided.
Demon blood splattered everywhere and slime-covered flesh was scattered in the air.
Particularly the knights' swords, imbued with aura, sliced through the demons like butter.
Watching this massacre, I nodded.
'Perhaps I should do some firsthand learning as well.'
It was time to test the swordsmanship I had practiced against wooden dummies back at the estate.
I felt quite an eagerness at the thought of using 'Yulian's' powerful sword techniques in real combat.
'... Wait a moment.'
My excitement was short-lived as I sensed an oddity.
The resonance stone-made barrier was deadly effective against demons.
Even if its efficiency had dwindled, low-tier demons wouldn't linger near it.
That was a common understanding among most people.
But, having intimately understood the settings of 〈Let's Kill the Demon King Now〉, I knew there were exceptions to this.
Whenever a demon had a leader commanding them.
'The intelligence of Hornless and Uni-horned demons is practically non-existent. If they can defy instinct and use minimal strategy....'
That meant there was at least a Bi-horned demon involved.
Whoosh ─
Thud!
Just as I had pieced it together, something slammed into the tree right beside me.
It didn't take long to realize it was the Azure Lion Knight named Heinrich.
Despite having lost consciousness, paragon of knighthood that he was, he still clutched his sword, though its aura was gradually fading.
"S-Sir Heinrich!"
Fern called out urgently.
I turned my gaze to where the knight had come from.
"It's a Bi-horned demon!"
"Eek!"
A demon that had been grotesquely swollen by its demonization stood on two feet.
Its two horns protruded from its head. An anthro-demon.
'A humanoid demon.'
I recognized that the situation had taken a severe turn for the worse.
Clacky's Corner:
Hmm, the action came earlier than expected.