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“What? The Demon Lord is in Dwarf Village right now?”

“Yes, he arrived today on an airship flight from the Rogard Empire. He seems to have gone straight to the King’s residence.”

The Dwarfs and the Beastmen had been friends for many years.

First, the villages that they considered as their capital were very close in terms of location. With a single horse-drawn wagon, it would be possible to leave in the morning and arrive in the evening.

A beastman with the characteristics of a beast with sturdy legs might even reach the village in a few hours, depending on the person.

In other words, if they were to raise an army against each other, they would not even take a day to reach each other’s villages.

However, since the formation of two villages, they had never thought of antagonizing each other.

If their origins were traced back, there remained a tradition that the Gods they believed in were on good terms with each other, but… the truth was uncertain.

However, one thing was certain: they had been in contact with each other since the distant past.

Therefore, they knew each other’s history so well that they felt as if they were close relatives. One may fight with their relatives, but they never attempt to kill them.

Because of this relationship, there were always liaison officers stationed in each other’s villages, and an information network was built so that information could be passed on as soon as something happened.

It was also conveyed to the beastmen’s village that the hero of a recent war was staying in the neighboring village, with which they were on good terms with.

“Hmm, is this some kind of official business related to the empire?”

“No, it seems he is visiting for personal reasons. He said he plans to visit here as well. One of his wives, a daughter of the Warwolf tribe, is here with him, so I think he may visit her hometown as well.”

Demon Lord – or rather, Demon Emperor Yuki.

He was the current emperor of the Rogard Empire and was the man with the most presence in the international community at the moment.

Although he rarely appeared in public, he was as influential as the Demon King.

He was an important factor in politics, and everyone should have been aware of his presence in the future relations with other countries.

However… his influence was only a side effect in evaluating him. The most important thing to describe Yuki was power.

It was pure power, not politics, that made Yuki the emperor.

He possessed the same, or even much more, power than the armies of any other country all by himself.

If the several demons under his command that he had brought with him at the time of the great battle were included, his strength would be virtually unfathomable.

It would be of a dimension that could not even be accurately measured.

Even if one prepared an army of 10,000, it would be easily destroyed by an overwhelming force alone.

If people thought of eliminating him because he was dangerous, they would have to prepare the equivalent of all the troops they could muster at the time of the Great War to see if they could win the battle.

It would be a hopeless war of attrition, in which the challengers would try to exhaust him by non-stop attacks. The fact that, even in this situation, it was uncertain whether they could win showed Yuki’s tremendous power.

Therefore, countries would try to build a friendly relationship with Yuki instead.

A decade ago, people would have laughed at the idea of establishing friendly relations with such a ferocious and dangerous opponent as the Demon Lord, but…times changed.

“Well, then we must proceed with the preparations for hospitality. Hey, leave a message at Warwolf’s. Tell them their daughter and son-in-law are here to visit.”

“We will…”

That’s when it happened.

A light thud…

The furnishings in the office shook, and then, after a few dozen seconds, it subsided.

“Hmm, earth tremor, huh? Well, it’s been a while since we last had tremors… Just check on it as you go back. If there’s nothing special, there’s no need to report it.”

“Aye. Excuse me, I must be going.”

Nothing happened for a while after that, and the Beast King carried on with his government affairs as usual, when he began to think that it was time for some muscle training.

“Beast King.”

A subordinate, whom he had parted ways with just a few hours before, bursts into his office with a slightly grim expression on his face.

The Beast King, judging from his subordinate’s appearance that this was no ordinary matter, immediately stopped what he was doing.

“What happened?”

“There are strange movements among the demons in the forest. The defense force is currently dealing with them, but there are so many of them they may invade the village at this rate.”

The Beast King’s eyebrows twitched at the report.

“…Was it caused by the tremor?”

“Yes, judging from the situation, that is the most likely cause.”

The Beast King’s eyebrows twitched further, and he shut his mouth for a few moments.

They had experienced many earthquakes before because their village was located near a [Volcanic] area called the Dwarf Village.

Therefore, they had a general idea of the level of earthquakes that could affect the ecosystem, and from their experience, the tremors that had just occurred should not have that much of an impact.

Moreover, several hours had already passed since then.

The forest may be somewhat disturbed, but it should have been to such an extent that it could be dealt with only by the defensive troops stationed in the village.

Nevertheless, the fact that they were about to overflow meant that there were too many of them and would also mean that there was something more than the usual going on.

“…Okay, double the troops. Bring in the guys who are out on rotation. I’ll go out and lead them, just in case. Send a message to the village to be on the lookout.”

“Ha!”

The Beast King’s instructions were precise and quick, showing his competence.

But this time, however, the anomaly was beyond his expectations.

***

As the Dwarf King and I were talking, a Dwarf jumped in with a bang.

“Head!”

“What? What happened?”

The Dwarf King gave him a hard look as if he was accusing him of rudeness, probably because he entered the room without knocking on the door, but his subordinate continued speaking without being intimidated by it.

“Sorry to interrupt you, but there is an urgent call for help from the beastmen’s village! An army of monsters has appeared! Please give us instructions!”

At his words, the Dwarf King’s expression changed and he replied angrily.

“You idiot, say that on the first word! Now take all the bored idiots and have them assemble at the outer gate! Meanwhile, let’s go over the details of the situation! Hurry up, the beastmen’s village asking for help is a big deal!”

“Yes!”

After the Dwarf King’s subordinate left the place in a great hurry, the Dwarf King talked to me with an apologetic look on his face, “As you can see, we have to move. Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll help. I’m not so spoiled as to say, [Well, I’m going sightseeing] when something serious is happening.”

“…I’m sure it’s not what you’d ask a guest of honor to do, but I’m sorry, thanks for the help. If the beastmen are asking for help, it must be a pretty big situation. They can easily get rid of a mere army of monsters, after all.”

“So, it’s quite an emergency. Did you see any signs that something like this was about to happen?”

“Yes, I can think of a few. Maybe we… I think we might be the cause…”

“Eh?”

The Dwarf King replied with a difficult look on his face, “When we were at the [Shrine of the End], the magic of the volcano burst out all at once and flowed into you. The magic power was so dense that it caused the earth to shake, and that’s why we remained in that space until it settled down. Monsters, which are more sensitive to magic than humans, would have been scared and fled from everywhere. I also thought that the situation from before might have caused it when I heard about the army of monsters…”

I see… the magical power that overflowed into the [Shrine of the End] at that time was indeed tremendous.

The monsters around this volcano sensed it and ran away en masse, and the wave hit the beastmen’s village.

I heard that the beastmen village was close to here.

I thought about it, and realized, “Well, that means it’s my fault.”

…Well, that’s not good.

Of course, I did not actively do anything, it was like an accident so to speak, but if you ask me what was the direct cause, it was definitely me.

I was the point of origin, and everything happened because of me.

We were about to continue our sightseeing, but if I heard news that even one person died because of the accident, I would feel very sorry and… even depressed.

This was not good, really not good.

“Dwarf King, what is the direction of the beastmen’s village?

“What? Ah, the outer gate – no, the biggest gate in this village – then follow the road leading west, that will reach the beastmen’s village.”

“Okay! I’ll meet you over there!”

I couldn’t stop sweating and left the place in a panic to find my family.

“Oh, there they are, you guys!”

“What have you done this time? I’m certain that’s the face you make when you’ve done something wrong.”

“Ah, right, I’ve seen that look a few times before. So, you want to go deal with a problem now? Okay, we’ll be waiting for you, Enne, take care of our husband.”

“…Nn, leave it to me. Master, I’ll join you.”

“…Oh, oh! I’ll also be following later!”

I responded to my wives, who saw the look on my face and knew everything in a second, and I carried Enne, who had returned to a big sword, on my shoulder, and I jumped up at once, my wings appearing on my back.

I almost lost my balance for a moment, and I hurriedly controlled my posture and stayed in the air.

Come to think of it, I have three pairs of wings now.

Perhaps because of this, my acceleration was incomparably faster than before.

The sensation was as if I had one more booster.

I’d like to test its performance to the fullest, but…well, that could wait.

I had to hurry up, it would be unfortunate if the beastmen’s village was devastated by this…!