Chapter 72
When Yuurai said she would take control of the village, Chief Wizaria had no choice but to nod.
Without the power to resist, one can only submit. Yuurai witnessed that harsh truth firsthand.
"......Understood. From now on, this village will fall under the Demon King's rule."
"......I'm sorry. This is the only way I know how."
"......No. I'm sure this was for the best. The Demon King is our benefactor who saved Lipia and the others. Personally, I felt guilty at the thought of rejecting her......"
Wizaria gave a gentle smile.
"Being a village chief really is tough, huh?"
"Yes, it truly is."
"From now on, this village is under my rule. Chief, I want you to work for me. I may ask for your wisdom from time to time, so please cooperate when that happens."
"Understood, Demon King."
Wizaria bowed her head respectfully.
(It's a twisted relationship, but I'm thankful to have her support. She's far more experienced and reliable than I am. In return, I'll make sure to protect this village.)
"......Chief, please raise your head. And I look forward to working with you. That said, even though I'm placing the village under my control, I'm not going to impose taxes or anything like that. I only have a few requests... First, please allow us to come and go from the village. And if possible, could you sell us some meat and vegetables? All we have in Grimoire are preserved foods, and it's been a bit of a problem."
"Understood. I'll permit your comings and goings and prepare food as well."
"I have no intention of exploiting you one-sidedly, so please ask for fair compensation."
"Yes. I understand."
After that, they talked a bit more and shared their vision of what the rule would look like.
Just in case, they also made sure no one would mistakenly hurt others in Yuurai's name.
Then, the chief gathered the village executives at her house and informed them that they would fall under the Demon King's rule. Not a single person advocated for all-out resistance, and the rule was accepted smoothly. Apparently, they had already discussed the possibility beforehand.
The matter of the rule was quickly communicated throughout the village, and the Eyeless Tribe's village, Ritan, came under Yuurai's control.
"In the end, I've ended up expanding my territory again... A carefree and peaceful life feels so far away..."
Yuurai murmured with a sigh in front of the chief's house.
At that moment.
The sky suddenly brightened.
A disturbing light streaked across the cloudy sky, and Yuurai grimaced.
"......What was that...?"
A bad feeling. It felt like something terrible was happening.
* * *
Gilka liked the peaceful days she spent in Grimoire.
She hadn't become a bandit because she wanted to. She had no other way to survive, so she had no choice.
Eventually, she stopped feeling resistance to hurting people or stealing from them, but it wasn't like she liked that version of herself.
"......I hope this peace continues, but I doubt it will. Ah, Deena, got a minute?"
Wandering around the Lord's Castle, Gilka found Deena, who she had been looking for. She was in the first-floor kitchen, making baked sweets with Ragvela and Jeevy. Deena was especially close with those two. She seemed to interact with them most comfortably.
Just being called by Gilka made Deena flinch and tremble, responding nervously.
"U-Um... Gilka-san. What is it?"
"Don't be so tense. As long as you don't try to harm Yuurai-sama, I won't hurt you either."
"I-I know... I know, but... For a low-rank adventurer like me to talk with Gilka-san of the Black Phantom Wolves... It just feels like we're in completely different leagues..."
"I'm just Gilka here. Anyway, I wanted to ask—Deena, you're good at smithing and crafting, right?"
"Well, yeah... I'm not even average among the Dwarves, but compared to Humans, I might be pretty good..."
"If you're better than Humans, that's good enough. Deena, could you take a few of my subordinates as your apprentices?"
"Huh? A-Apprentices?"
"Yeah, apprentices. They're all no-good former bandits, but they're trying to start over from scratch here. I can't keep treating them like janitors forever, and I want to let them do what they want. A few of them said they want to try smithing."
Recently, Gilka had her subordinates not only doing cleaning work but also training in combat. It was in preparation for them to eventually serve as soldiers in Grimoire. She had Yuurai's permission for that too.
Gilka also wanted them to do work suited to their individual skills. Knowing that Deena was good at smithing and crafting, she hoped Deena could teach them a few things.
"......Me, take apprentices...? I'm not that skilled... I became an adventurer because I couldn't do things like that..."
"Don't stress about it. Just teach them the basics—enough for total beginners. You can handle that, right? You even took good care of my weapon."
"......That's only because your maintenance was sloppy..."
"Haha. You're not holding back, huh?"
"S-Sorry! I, um..."
"It's fine, it's fine. Just teach them a little. You're not leaving this town anytime soon, right? We're living together now, so help out a bit."
"......Yeah. You're right. Okay."
"Thanks. Can we start today? Maybe after you finish those sweets?"
"......Yeah. That's fine."
"Thanks a bunch."
The conversation was settled. Gilka was about to leave the kitchen when Deena stopped her.
"Hey, Gilka-san."
"Hm?"
"......What is the Demon King to you? Aren't you scared of her?"
"Hmm, honestly, I was pretty scared at first. She uses incredibly brutal and vicious magic. But Yuurai-sama is a kind Monster who fundamentally wants peace. Of course, she gets angry when something unpleasant happens, but she doesn't try to hurt people on her own. She has a proper heart that cares about those close to her."
"......Yeah, I can kind of see that."
"And like she says herself, I really think Yuurai-sama is just a strong child. Even with all that power, she's not especially mature. When it comes to anything besides fighting, she still needs help. At this point, she feels more like a little sister I want to protect than someone to fear. Even though I'm supposed to be her subordinate, calling her a little sister is kind of weird, huh?"
"......I see. The Demon King has both terrifying and gentle sides..."
"Isn't that true for everyone? If someone tried to take what's precious to me, I'd get angry. I might even kill them, depending on the situation. Yuurai-sama is doing the same thing. She's just a person—well, a Monster—with more power than others."
"Yeah... I think I understand."
"If you keep being around her, you'll see she's not someone you need to be scared of."
"Yeah. I'll try to get to know her better, little by little."
Seeing that Deena seemed satisfied, Gilka left the kitchen.
"Well, see you later."
"Yeah."
Ceres entered the kitchen just as Gilka was leaving, but Gilka didn't think much of it.
Gilka left the Lord's Castle.
Although she entered the castle when needed, Gilka had always lived outside it since arriving.
Part of it was that she didn't feel comfortable in such a dazzling place, but more importantly, Claire hated bandits.
Gilka and Claire had grown quite close, and Claire no longer disliked Gilka. However, Claire still hadn't accepted Gilka's subordinates.
Gilka understood why Claire hated bandits. Bandits really were scum. Even if they'd reformed a lot, they weren't proper people yet, and the crimes they'd committed couldn't be atoned for in just a few months.
Considering Claire's feelings, Gilka didn't let her subordinates enter the castle. And since she wouldn't let them live there, she didn't think it was right to live there herself.
"Well, there are a lot of women in the castle, so that's another reason I can't let the guys in."
All of her subordinates were adult men, and there were hardly any women in Grimoire. There wasn't even a brothel, so frustrations built up. If she let those men into a castle full of women, who knows what might happen.
"Guess I'll have to ask them to hold out a bit longer... Hm?"
While walking through the Castle Town.
Suddenly, she sensed an enormous magical power from above.
Gilka looked up and saw five winged suits of armor.
Then, a blinding light rained down on the ground, and Gilka lost consciousness.