The Children And The Demon King

Meanwhile, at the rocky area inside the subspace.

Under the eerie purple sky, the children were resting while maintaining their formation.

Only the Demon King in an aloha shirt was nearby, sitting arrogantly on a rock.

Seema, the ranger girl with a bow slung over her shoulder, timidly approached the Demon King while holding a cup.

“Um, please have some tea…”

“Hmph, you should be grateful for the honor of serving tea to the great me!”

The Demon King accepted the tea and drank it with an endlessly arrogant attitude.

The children around him were frightened, but at the same time, utterly exasperated.

Incidentally, Edgar was not there.

He had gone to search other places to see if anyone else had been caught up in the subspace.

At that moment, there was a rustling sound.

Joy filled the children’s faces.

“He’s back—ah!”

However, what came out of the bushes was not the long-awaited Edgar.

It was a shadow beast. Several of them, at that.

They approached while growling like wolves.

The children looked at the Demon King in panic.

“Mao-san, they’re here! Enemies!”

However, the Demon King remained seated on the rock and showed no sign of moving. He only sipped his tea.

“So what? Deal with them yourselves.”

“What!?”

“No way!”

“Aren’t you going to fight with us!?”

“Why must I fight? I am enough on my own. At least brush away the sparks falling on yourselves by yourselves.”

“N-no way!”

The Demon King snorted in exasperation and spoke in a mocking tone.

“The weak must show spirit in their own way. Otherwise, they cannot tell others that they are worth protecting.”

“Huh?”

“That’s…”

“That’s unfair.”

The children voiced their complaints one after another.

However, only the boy Mok quickly stood up, his glasses glinting.

“I understand. What Mao-san said is correct. In the first place, we aren’t here to be protected. We should originally be standing on the side that protects others. We’re adventurers—everyone, we’re going with the trapezoid formation!”

“Y-yes!”

“I know!”

“Ready to go!”

The children stood up with their weapons in hand and faced the beasts with perfectly coordinated movements.

Watching them, the Demon King snorted.

“For the weakest one to say the most self-important thing. You understand comedy rather well, don’t you? Hahaha.”

He should have been mocked, but Mok nocked an arrow to his bow and spoke without even looking back.

“Fighting power should not be the only standard of strength. The weak have their own way of fighting strongly with what they can do.”

The Demon King abruptly stopped his mocking laugh and gave a fearless smile. Somehow, he looked amused.

“Oh… This one can talk.”

“Even the weak have pride.”

“Oh-ho. Very well. Show me this pride of the weak—this is payment in advance.”

“Huh?”

“—Hellblaze Enchantment.”

While drinking tea, the Demon King snapped his fingers.

The next moment, black flames wrapped around the children’s weapons.

Everyone’s eyes widened, but Mok was the first to give instructions.

“Yuma! Test it with a cut!”

“Sure thing! —There!”

Yuma, the most nimble of them, ran across the ground as if flying with a knife in one hand. His unruly hair bounced as it grew disheveled.

Then, as he slipped past the shadow beast’s leg, he struck it once.

The severed leg flew through the air.

The beast staggered and balanced itself as if protecting its severed leg.

Mok shouted, his glasses glinting.

“It’s not regenerating! This works! Reverse trapezoid formation, and crush them all at once!”

“Got it!”

“Leave it to me!”

“Here we go!”

Not only Yuma the swordsman and Keely the warrior, but Seema the ranger also drew her longsword and went to the front line.

The three of them cut down the oncoming shadow beasts one after another.

Furthermore, from the rear guard, Mok fired arrows and limited the enemies’ paths.

The children constantly pushed the battle forward in their favor.

The Demon King stroked his chin and watched the battle happily.

“Oh. They first check the change in the situation, then immediately reflect it in their strategy. I suppose I should call them fairly strong.”

“Thank you very much! —Please enchant the remaining arrows too!”

“Heh. I would normally tell you not to get carried away, but very well. I shall grant it.”

The Demon King flashed his jagged teeth in a grin and snapped his fingers once more.

Black flames wrapped around the quiver on Mok’s back.

With sweat shining on his forehead, Mok nocked and fired arrows one after another.

After a while, they defeated all the shadow beasts.

When the beasts died, they shattered into dust and vanished.

The children wiped away their sweat and returned to the rocky area.

Chaana the healer immediately ran over and cast Heal on the injured.

Mok said,

“You only need to heal them enough that it doesn’t hinder their movement. Let’s conserve Chaana’s magic as much as possible.”

“Yes!”

They decided to leave the scratches alone.

The children returned to the rocky area and sat down, resting as they caught their breath.

They did not lower their guard toward their surroundings.

The Demon King, seated on the rocks, drank his tea elegantly and laughed happily.

“Heh. You are working hard despite your weakness. I have reassessed you, brats.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Thank you.”

“…Was that praise?”

“However, you moved well using formations. Did you think of them yourselves?”

“No, they are Captain Edgar’s teachings.”

“I see. Contrary to that unreliable-looking attitude of his, he is quite a sharp one.”

Chaana nodded happily, shaking her hair.

“Yes! Captain is amazing!”

“However, there must be limits with only children. Are you dissatisfied with your current circumstances?”

At the Demon King’s words, the children looked at one another with happy smiles.

Among them, Chaana had the brightest smile.

“I like being an adventurer like this. Captain Edgar is here, and everyone is here. I’m very happy.”

“Another person’s happiness over your own, huh…”

“Huh?”

“No, it is nothing. Well, I suppose that way of life exists too.”

As if ending the conversation, the Demon King noisily sipped his tea.

Then there was another rustling sound from the bushes.

When everyone turned around, a thin, lanky man appeared while scratching his messy head.

The children smiled and shouted one after another.

“Edgar-san!”

“Captain!”

“Captain Edgar!”

“Welcome back, Captain.”

“I’m glad you all seem safe.”

When Edgar came to the rocky area, Mok stood up and approached him.

“Thank you for your hard work, Edgar-san. How was it?”

“There were farmers and another party pretty far away, so I had them evacuate to places that looked easy to defend. About three places in total.”

“I’m glad there were survivors.”

All the children let out relieved sighs.

Edgar had gone and saved the other survivors.

However, only the Demon King frowned in displeasure.

“But there seems to be no method of escape.”

“No, we’re completely trapped. I asked the mages and priests in the other parties too, but it seems they’re at a loss.”

“So voluntary escape is impossible. I do not like that.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“How about your contact with Alec?”

Edgar took out his sub-device and looked at the screen.

“LaLine hasn’t been marked as read, and calls won’t connect. The place where there are usually three signal bars now says ‘No Service.’”

“Hmph, that is not what you said.”

“It seems there are places where it connects more easily and places where it doesn’t… After I rest a little, I’ll go look for a place where I can pick up a call.”

“I shall wait without expecting much.”

The Demon King frowned in displeasure and crossed his long legs the other way.

At that moment, a groan came from behind the rocky area. It was the voice of former Prince Yoanes.

The black eyes hidden beneath Edgar’s bangs gleamed like a wild beast’s.

“Looks like he woke up. I’ll go have a little talk with him.”

“Shall I go too?”

“Mao-san, you’re too strong, so you’d overdo it. I’m enough by myself… Though if you’re just watching for fun, that’s okay.”

“Heh, it seems you have come to understand me quite well. Very well, I shall inspect your skill.”

“Understood—children, you don’t need to come.”

“““Okay.”””

The children answered obediently.

Only Yuma the swordsman had a gleam in his eyes.

Edgar headed toward the back of the rocky area with the Demon King.

Whether they understood what he was about to do or not, none of the children tried to stop him.