Chapter 3 – Experienced Newcomer
After the great mage Kaldrash disappeared across the hallway following Seneca, the demon king, left alone in the audience room, was deeply troubled.
‘What the hell is he thinking about?’
At first, it was a word I said haphazardly with the thought that it would be worthwhile to lose.
It was to buy time until his subordinates, who noticed the invasion of the hero, rushed to the audience room, and from the beginning, he did not even think that the upright companion of the hero would come over to his proposal.
In the meantime, he suddenly accepted the offer.
It was unexpected indeed.
‘Fucking’ Kaldrash.
He is one of the great mages who can use the Hexa Spell, and there are only 17 people in this vast land mass.
Because of his unique wide-area killing magic and merciless hands, he was a notorious wizard called a fool by allies and a butcher by demons, despite originally having a different name.
When facing enemies, he was such a picky being, but when he became on the same side, there was nothing special about him.
‘… Should I like this or not?’
The great mage, who deals with hexa spells classified as tactical level magic, could literally be described as a walking legion.
If handled well, there could be no better hand than this one, but judging from his actions so far, Kaldrash is like an uncontrollable time bomb.
Even more so, there must have been someone who had a personal grudge against him in the demon king’s army, but if he defended him because he was a subordinate, his political position could be reduced.
‘I’ll have to hide the fact that he defected to the Demon King Army right now.’
Perhaps, if the existence of Kaldrash is known to the outside world, there will be a lot of noise.
Whether it was beneficial or detrimental, it was clear that it would be a very undesirable form.
The Demon King, who had been agonizing for a long time, took out a copy of the Gears Scroll that he had kept in his pocket immediately after receiving it from Kaldrash.
「One, I, Kaldrash, when the demon king conquers the world, he will receive half of the land.」
“One, I, Kaldrash, will never betray the Demon King until the above clause is fulfilled.”
“One, Demon King Nero will always keep his promise to me, Kaldrash.”
“One, Demon King Nero has the right to ask for help from me, Kaldrash at any time.”
「However, if the above is not observed, the party at fault loses the right to life and death to the other party.」
A total of five oaths made just a few hours ago.
But can you put a leash on that ferocious beast with just this?
I was worried about that, but there was no other sharp way.
For now, you just have to trust his words.
Fortunately, among the misfortunes, the hero, who was the biggest nuisance, was removed from sight, so he was able to focus on his internal affairs for the time being.
A big picture was naturally drawn in the devil’s head.
Now, for the remainder of the year, they take care of the land ravaged by the long war, level the frontlines to some extent, and raise their troops again the following spring.
Truly perfect.
‘When the situation calms down, let’s send a solo mission.’
It wouldn’t be bad to send Kaldrash to the eastern front, the battlefield of the greatest battle between the kingdom’s army and the demons, and let it rampage freely.
“Kkkk…”
Imagining the sight of the Kingdom army suffering from Kaldrash like themselves, the demon king, who was in a good mood, sat on his throne and laughed wickedly.
I’m going to put this in my bedroom safe.
***
The morning of the first day after betraying my comrades was truly refreshing.
As usual, I got up early, made the futon on the bed, and then came down to the floor and sat cross-legged.
It is to meditate to start the routine of the day.
“Sue…”
When the virtual magical power path inside the body starts to rotate, mana is sucked in around it and naturally begins to circulate throughout the body.
This is the equivalent of one week in martial arts.
While the waste products accumulated in my body were being discharged to the outside, I thought about the old days for a while.
For most of the year with the hero, he slept on the street.
In fact, I never really complained about him.
I have a tendency to fall asleep quickly whenever I have a place to lay my head, and not only me, but everyone in the party will feel the same about being homeless.
But what I really couldn’t stand was when I stayed in a village during the trip.
When a warrior’s party visits a village, the most important thing for those in power there is, of course, the warrior.
Since the center of the party was the hero, this was unavoidable, but I hated being neglected just because I was a member of the party.
Smart-
I interrupted my meditation at the sound of a sudden knock.
When I checked the time, about 30 minutes had passed since I started meditating.
“Guest, may I go inside?”
“Yes, come in.”
After permission was granted, the door was carefully opened and a white-haired maid entered.
“I brought you water to wash your face.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Her race was a succubus.
At first glance, she was a beautiful human woman, but her bat wings on her back and a tail poking out from under her hips let her know that she wasn’t human.
The maid set a bowl of warm water and a towel on the table beside the bed.
It was last night that she was introduced to her.
Seneca, the chamberlain, said that she would take care of all her chores while I was staying at the castle.
It’s like a kind of exclusive maid.
I simply washed my face with the water from the basin brought by the maid, then wiped her damp face with a towel.
“What is the schedule for today?”
“There were no specific instructions. I think you can freely roam around the castle until the demon king calls you.”
“It’s good.”
I nodded my head in satisfaction and decided to change my clothes before going outside.
As I took out the new clothes from the closet, the maid standing by the door crept up to her and said,
“I will help you recover.”
I was willing to ask for her help.
After changing the clothes that were wet with sweat all night into new clothes, I put on a robe that was no different from a wizard’s suit.
In general, a wizard’s robe contains a considerable amount of information.
The color of the robe, the decorations, and at least the number of buttons were enough to give a rough idea of which school he came from.
‘The head… Are you still okay?’
Originally, wizards, male and female, generally had long hair.
This is because hair, an extension of the body, serves as an excellent medium for storing mana.
I once wore long, straight hair like a rocker, but at some point, I stuck to my long hair because it was too difficult to manage long hair on the arduous journey of being homeless.
“Hmm. Not bad.”
I evaluated myself like that while looking at myself in the mirror held by the maid.
This is the first time wearing demon clothes.
However, it was not much different from the one made by humans, probably because there are demons that look similar to humans.
After the final check, I asked the maid while holding the staff next to the bed.
She said, “She said earlier that you can roam freely in the castle, but is it impossible to go out?”
“It’s a pity, but the demon king forbade it, saying that if an ordinary human, Kaldrash, wandered the streets without permission, the people would be frightened.”
“If that’s the reason, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
In fact, right now there are many places to visit, so going out was not so urgent.
Anyway, this is the Demon Castle.
A completely unexplored territory for humans.
As an explorer seeking the unknown, I couldn’t help but be curious.
“Is there any special place worth visiting in the castle?”
Then she politely put her hands together, and the maid who had been standing hesitated for a moment before she approached the window and opened her mouth.
“The present Demon King Castle is an old castle built about 800 years ago, and it is a natural fortress designed and built by Tiberius, the second king of the devil. There is a rich river flowing in front of the sheer precipice behind, and the outstanding scenery, which is hard to believe that it was built with ancient technology, has a reputation for being beautiful even among the high-ranking demons.”
I followed her in her steps.
Leaning through the stone arch-shaped window, I could see the vast structure of the Demon King’s Castle at a glance.
The country of demons, which is generally described in human literature, is a cursed land infested with withered trees, cracked skin, and ferocious beasts.
However, the market in the far-flung town below the castle was full of vitality that never lags behind even compared to the country of humans.
It’s just that people come in all kinds of shapes.
“The places I personally recommend are the aerial garden in the backyard of the castle, the training ground where the soldiers of the Demon King’s army are trained, and the great library where all knowledge from the East and the West is gathered. It must be a place that the magician, Kaldrash-nim, can never pass by.”
I listened to her and shrugged her shoulders.
Certainly any normal mage would roll her eyes as soon as she heard the word library, as she said.
However, I was an outlier who even acknowledged the tower owner of the Emerald Tower, the headquarters of magic.
“The Great Library is good, but first we go to the restaurant. After going to the restaurant and having a hearty meal, I will take a walk in the Floating Garden to digest my food. After that, it wouldn’t be bad to stop by the gym to warm up.”
After hearing my words, the maid asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Aren’t you going to the Great Library?”
“Yes, what.”
I averted her gaze and smiled shyly.
“Actually, I don’t like reading books very much.”
