"Move, Izayoi. I'm going to the Adventurer's Guild right now."
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you."
"Why not!?"
Yuka yells at Izayoi, who stands as if blocking the entrance of the room. The volume of her voice is enough to be a nuisance to other guests, but fortunately, no one is complaining amidst the current commotion.
Irritated by the unyielding Izayoi and being ignored by Lilith, Yuka grabs at Izayoi's collar.
"Why are you getting in the way, Izayoi!? At this rate, Telmus will be attacked by monsters!"
"I know that without you telling me."
"Then why are you sticking to being a guard! If we get serious, we can..."
"Do you think it's possible?"
At his question, Yuka is at a loss for words. Izayoi presses on.
"The monsters of the Boundary Forest alone easily number in the thousands. Plus, they likely have gathered monsters from the Demon Continent. We don't know the exact number, but it’s certain to be in the tens of thousands. Do you really think you can do something about such an army, no matter how strong you are?"
"But, if you get serious..."
"If I did that, my identity as a demon would be exposed immediately. And at worst, even as the Demon King."
"Uh… that is…"
Yuka, unable to find a retort, drops her hands powerlessly.
Indeed, if Izayoi fights with all his might without regard to the casualties, defending Telmus wouldn’t be impossible. But that would reveal their true identities, which would be counterproductive.
Yuka understands this. Their primary goal is to destroy the holy sword, and they are hiding their identities for that purpose, which she knows very well. Still,
"Please, Izayoi. Move aside."
"No. If our identities are exposed here, everything will be in vain."
"I know. That’s why... I'll be the only one fighting. You should stick to guarding. That should be fine, right?"
"...Why go so far for a relationship of just one month?"
Izayoi, visibly unable to comprehend, receives a shake of the head from Yuka. She looks up at him with determined eyes.
"There are lives that might be saved if I reach out. So I will reach out. Even if they are just acquaintances of a month for you, they are already important to me."
At Yuka’s words, filled with compassion, Izayoi closes his eyes as if enduring a headache.
—Ah, yes. Yuka is such a person.
She meddles in others’ affairs and is stubborn, not budging once she makes up her mind. She steps forward, kicking aside all reasoning, driven purely by her selfish belief to avoid regret.
Whatever reason she fears regret is unknown, but if Yuka feels she will regret abandoning Telmus, she won’t budge. Even if,
"What about disrespecting Lilith’s goodwill? She thought of you, obtained a promise by force."
Even if someone is considering her feelings,
"All the more reason. Just like Lilith cares for me, I care for her."
Yuka declares as if it were only natural.
Even if it disrespects someone’s goodwill, she intends to save them. She forcefully seeks a happy ending where everyone can laugh together in the end.
It seems too unrealistic, underestimating reality. Reality is not so sweet; it is more cruel and hopeless.
Yet, why does it feel like it can happen when Yuka says it? Why do I want to believe in this failed hero?
With these unclear emotions, Izayoi looks up at the ceiling.
I remember having such exchanges even in the Demon King’s castle, and a smile escapes Izayoi.
"Talking won’t change your mind, huh…"
Even in the castle’s basement, Yuka boldly stepped into Izayoi’s heart. When hesitating to leave the castle, she threw the right words at him.
Izayoi vaguely senses he will never win against this hero verbally. It’s not a pleasant thought, but it can’t be helped.
After all, it is Izayoi who has fallen. It may not exactly be a weakness of falling in love, but in this case, Izayoi should be the one to give in, conventionally speaking.
Concluding so, Izayoi opens his eyes. In front of him is Yuka, eagerly awaiting his response.
"So, will you let me through?"
Yuka asks with a hint of tension. Probably, even if Izayoi says no here, she plans to push through forcefully, even knowing she has no chance.
Izayoi, after a slight pause, responds to Yuka’s question.
"—I refuse."
Immediately after, Yuka’s fist hits Izayoi’s face.
▼
Telmus is a frontier located right next to the Boundary Forest, and is also the front line of the human-demon conflict. Hence, the Telmus Lord’s private army numbers over nine hundred, an extraordinary amount for a single noble. Their training is also advanced, as they regularly train in the Boundary Forest, making them stronger than average mercenaries.
Additionally, Telmus has robust defensive walls and several ballistae prepared for anti-air. They have enough defense to handle several lower dragons, and maybe one higher dragon. But, the number this time is just too overwhelming.
The number of dragons and other following monsters is simply too many, filling the sky above the Boundary Forest like a dark curtain. To annihilate them, the ballistae are lacking in rapid-fire capability, leaving them short-handed. In this case, what can be done? The only options would be to counter with bows and magic. But even this had its problems. There simply weren't enough magicians.
While most private soldiers could handle bows, the firepower would be insufficient. It might work against lesser foes, but not against monsters with hard shells or skins.
There was a significant lack of anti-air power. Having heard the reports from the returning officers, Lord of Telmus—Edgar Belsize—had deep furrows between his brows.
"Even combining the soldiers and adventurer magicians, we have less than fifty..."
Magic was significantly influenced by talent. Even if one could understand the formulas, without sufficient magical power, they couldn't perform significant magic. Conversely, even with immense magical power, it would be useless if one couldn't construct the formulas. Including aptitude for different magical lines, very few could fully utilize magic.
Unfortunately, those few powerful magicians were absent now, due to some incomprehensible request from the royal family.
"Well, even if we had a dozen more magicians, it wouldn’t make much difference..."
With a sigh mixed with resignation, the frontier lord left his office.
In less than an hour, Telmus would be engulfed in the flames of war. Avoiding this fate was impossible. Therefore, at least until the evacuation of the residents was complete, time had to be bought.
That was the duty of the one who ruled this land.
Therefore, he would go to the battlefield. It was unacceptable for the soldiers to fight while he watched safely from afar, especially evacuating with the residents.
He might be disqualified as a noble, but it was right as a warrior.
That was fine. For him, from a martial family, continuing to fight until the last moment of Telmus was his desire.
Leaving the mansion, quiet with no servants around, he was met by a group of men who seemed to be waiting for him. All were officers serving the frontier lord.
Each one was brimming with fighting spirit, their dedication apparent. The frontier lord surveyed them all and said,
"Well, will you all follow me to hell?"
With a calm yet powerful tone, loud voices unanimously responded. With an expected reaction, the frontier lord let out a wry smile but quickly refocused.
"――Let's move."
With a solemn tone, they began to march.
The signs of war were already drawing near.