LS – Chapter 142: The thing to be wary of next

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At the time when I was guiding Comrade around the city of Kuama, we found Gestaf Heriodora who is most likely an ally of Raheight. 

The trigger to noticing this was that I felt a strange mana. 

It was after concentrating that I noticed that it was a type of detection magic, but if it weren’t for the fact that I am constantly on guard, I wouldn’t have been able to detect it. That’s how outstandingly stealthy it was. 

It is also fortunate that my senses in those fronts have gotten sharper after becoming a demon. 

And then, when I told Comrade that we were hit by detection magic, Comrade saw the person that most likely used the detection magic and Gestaf.

Comrade said he would be going back at the same time as his bodyguard was about to take on a fighting stance. 

After that, we returned to the base, regrouped with everyone, and shared our information.

“But was that okay? I think it would have been possible for me to capture the two.” (Ekdoik)

“You saw the face of the bodyguard, right? That was the face of someone resolved to remain there and fight. It would have turned into a free-for-all without doubt. We have been left with choosing the means by King Zenotta, but if we were to begin a fighting in the main street, casualties would happen, and their impression of us would worsen in a variety of ways.” 

“That’s true, but…they must have used detection magic because they know about my relationship with Raheight. If they have gotten wary of us with that premise, wouldn’t it hamper our actions in the future?” (Ekdoik)

“It will, but… Purple, please station devils in the surroundings of the capital of Kuama for surveillance. We can manage somehow as long as they don’t escape.” 

“I don’t mind that, but if we were to set devils inside too, they could discover our location, you know?” (Purple)

“It hasn’t been long since the matter of Blue. If devils were to be found, bad rumors could spread fast. I would like to leave the stationing of devils inside as a last measure.” 

The countless devils that are the subordinates of the Purple Demon Lord can be freely deployed with just her willing it. 

Their individual strength is on the level where even a normal adventurer could win against them, but their numbers can only be described as a threat. 

But it seems like Comrade doesn’t plan on relying that much on her power. 

“I could guess the personality of Gestaf to a certain degree from the transformed appearance of Dyuvuleori, but seeing Gestaf in person was big. He is a mafioso. A troublesome type to deal with.” 

“Mafioso?” (Ekdoik)

“The type that work their wiles to obtain wealth.” 

“Like bandits?” (Ekdoik)

“Their base is more established than that. I would like to see the faces of Chenias and Robito too if possible.” 

Being able to understand their habits from looking at their faces is quite the scary technique.

Just how much did he have to observe people in order to learn this, moreover, to this degree of effectiveness?

“Leaving aside whether they are sly or not, Gestaf and the bodyguard are most likely not that big of a deal when it comes to battle. If we are just careful of the detection magic of the bodyguard, most of the people here would be able to deal with them without issues if we were to be careful.” (Ekdoik)

“…Ekdoik, I will give you a warning. As of present, the bodyguard at that time is my biggest worry.” 

“But…” (Ekdoik)

The face of Comrade is more serious than before. 

He is not joking here. Comrade is seriously being wary of that man. 

I had trouble in what to say and Ilias raised her hand to join in. 

“It is rare to see you this blatantly wary of someone. Can I ask for the reason?” (Ilias)

“The reason why Ekdoik noticed them was because he used detection magic towards us. Detection magic is the ability to detect the mana of someone, right?” 

“Yeah, you can locate someone by detecting the amount of mana in the surroundings.” (Ilias)

“In that case, the very first thing he should have detected should have been the mana of Ekdoik. There might have been a reason why he used the detection magic despite being right in front of us aside from the size of our mana -as if trying to read more information out of us. I don’t know how much that is, but there’s the possibility he knows Ekdoik is a demon.” 

“That’s…certainly problematic.” (Ilias)

My amount of mana is not the only thing that changed after becoming a demon. The quality of it has changed greatly, too.

Even the traditional mana detection can tell the difference in the quality of mana. 

If it is ascertained that I am a demon, the wariness of the other party would shoot up. 

“Ekdoik, you are probably thinking their wariness would increase if they discovered you are a demon, but that’s not it.” 

“…It feels as if my heart is being read. But is that not it?” (Ekdoik)

“Yeah. The moment I made eye-contact with the bodyguard, he raised his guard while looking at me. Do you understand the meaning of this?” 

“That’s…” (Ekdoik)

The amount of mana Comrade has is pretty low. 

Even if they were to use detection magic, the chances of not reacting are higher. 

And even if they were to detect the feeble mana of Comrade…

“They felt some sort of danger on you that surpassed my peculiarities…?” (Ekdoik)

“That’s right. This is nothing to brag about, but I have such low mana it doesn’t even get caught in detection magic. Even if you were to detect me with quite the outstanding skills, it is on a degree where you would go ‘and what of it?’. Moreover, there was a pretty big irregular factor of a demon being by my side. Despite all those factors, he showed more wariness towards me instead of Ekdoik.” 

If he is measuring just pure battle power, I would without doubt be far superior.  

But that man compared me and Comrade, yet he managed to feel more of a threat from Comrade. 

In other words, he managed to feel the strength of Comrade that we know full well from experience. 

“Is the strength of Comrade something that can be felt with detection magic?” (Ekdoik)

“I don’t think it is. If I had to put it in words, it would be the same method as me. He must have been able to tell by instinct just what kind of person I am from my face, my way of carrying myself, and my atmosphere. It means that he is far better at detecting danger than anyone here who has underestimated me once.” 

Everyone here aside from Ilias and Wolfe averted their gazes. 

I also saw Comrade as just riff-raff that’s full of openings the first time I saw him. 

I only understood how dangerous he was after I fell in his trap once with my own body. 

Yet, he managed to see through that in his first look, and managed to judge that he was more dangerous than me -a demon… I see. I understand why Comrade judged him as dangerous. 

“I understand it pretty well now. I shall show the utmost care against that guy.” (Ekdoik)

“The fact that he resolved himself to fight despite feeling with his skin the strength of Ekdoik means that he has a decent degree of strength. Just think of him as a me who can fight.” 

I would have no choice but to be wary of that.

If battle power were to be added to the discerning eye of Comrade that can see through the cards of the enemy, he would be able to overturn the difference in power. 

I could tell that I am the one who has higher strength, but let’s face him while thinking he is above me. 

“Mister Friend, how do you plan on moving from here on?” (Mix)

“I have an idea of their objective, but…it is questionable whether I will be able to get evidence.” 

“You can’t fake your name if you are the guild’s advisor, right? Wouldn’t it be easy if I used my Enticement then?” (Purple)

“Unfortunately, it is not something that can be solved so easily. Even if we were to capture one of them and Entice them and publicize that information, how do we explain the method? Even if we were to order them to confess to the public, it wouldn’t be strange for them to make the excuse that they were mind controlled. They are guild advisors. Considering how high their position is, the public would believe them more than us.” 

“It is true that no one would believe a confession extracted from the power of a Demon Lord, huh? But what if we were to Entice all 3 so that they don’t cause trouble?” (Purple)

“That could solve it if those 3 are the only masterminds. But if the allies of Raheight are not only them, they can just cut off those 3 and act with other pawns. If that happens, it will turn into chasing a lizard’s tail.” 

Raheight was already getting involved with the nobles within Kuama and was trying to mess up the chain of command. 

There have been signs of him using mind manipulation magic on them, and we succeeded in making it a failed attempt, but there have been signs of some acting on their own volition. 

There’s no assurance anywhere that this will wrap up with just securing those 3 advisors. 

“Meaning that we need to know the whole picture even if we are to rely on my power in the end?” (Purple)

“Yeah, but your power is peerless as a last measure. We can definitely mess up their footing if we were to use it when they move. Just you being an ally brings that much peace of mind. I am grateful for that.” 

“Oh my, you don’t need to console me just because I don’t have a chance to do something here, you know?” (Purple)

“In that sense, the one I have to actually console is Gold though.” 

“Fufu, right?” (Purple)

“I apologize for getting in the way while you are all chummy here, but can you tell me your guess about the objective of the guild advisors, Mister Friend?!” (Mix)

I heard the words of Mix and was brought back.

Comrade said that he had an idea of their objective despite having almost no information about their objective.

Also, he hasn’t explained anything about this. 

The others were also looking at Comrade as if to say they noticed just now, too.

“Their objective? The reason why Raheight made contact with the guild advisors was pretty simple when you think about the timing he was going to make things happen though…” 

“Mister Friend, I honestly would like you to fix your habit of not explaining enough-desu zo!” (Mix)

Everyone nodded in unison. Let’s nod here too.

Comrade scratched his head without really looking apologetic. 

“I run by the dogma of not stating something with confidence until I am certain of it. It would be embarrassing if I were to state something and be wrong.” 

“I would like you to put yourself in our shoes as the ones who have to move as your limbs without being able to see anything-desu zo!” (Mix)

“My bad, my bad. Their objective, huh. A coup d’etat.” 

“Kuudeta?” (Mix)

“The soldiers of the nations would have their hands full dealing with the Scarlet Demon Lord’s invasion, right? At that time, they will use their respective forces to attack the capitals that are short in hands. I think that was their aim.” 

Everyone was speechless. 

It isn’t rare for crazy things to come out from the mouth of Comrade, but it would obviously take your words away if it goes this far.

“T-They planned on stealing away Kuama in such a dire situation?!” (Mix)

“Not only Kuama. Considering the sites, Gahne and Mejis would also be within their targets. As for Taizu, a development with adventurers is difficult, so I can’t say for sure on that one. The guild advisors were originally influential people who ruled countries before. It is because that pride of theirs remained strongly in them that guilds were born. Raheight must have stirred up those points.” 

“No, no, it is not the time to be fighting from the inside when a Demon Lord is attacking-desu zo! The guild advisors should be able to understand at least that mu—” (Mix)

“How about if the spy on the side of the Scarlet Demon Lord -Raheight- were to say: ‘It is true that the army of the Scarlet Demon Lord is powerful, but it should be possible to hold them back with the cooperation of all the forces of the nations’?” 

The tone of Comrade just now looked like Raheight for an instant. 

I see. It wouldn’t be strange for him to say that and deceive the other parties. 

The hatred of the humans towards the Demon Lords is still the same as always, but their threat has begun to be numbed with the long passing of time. 

You would have to feel that threat with your own skin in order to actually understand just how grave it would be. 

“Even if so, I don’t think they would trust Raheight…” (Mix)

“They began acting around the time we arrived at Gahne, right? He probably convinced them at first like this: ‘The Scarlet Demon Lord and Blue Demon Lord will try to invade, but they will end up fighting each other for their territory. The nations will be able to hold them down if they put their strength together’.” 

“That’s…certainly possible…” (Mix)

“He must have been using the Purple Demon Lord lately to convince them, too.” 

“Oh my, me?” (Purple)

“With Purple and Gold having announced their neutrality, it will serve to keep the Scarlet and Blue Demon Lord in check. The threat of the Demon Lords’ invasion lowered even more, and their greed to bring down the countries surged even further. The reality is that they managed to block the invasion of Blue with the intrusion of the 3rd Faction after all. Also, this information isn’t coming just from the mouth of Raheight, but from several areas through the Yugura Church. It is information that only few can learn, but it should be possible for the guild advisors to obtain this information in some way.” 

It is a hard to believe story, but the credibility of it increased more and more. 

It also explains the reason why Raheight didn’t move the adventurers immediately once the Blue Demon Lord invaded. 

The Kuama army was defending the walls, but it didn’t turn into a melee. 

If the capital had been attacked at that time, they would have left the protection of the walls to the armies of the nobles in the area and would have headed to protect the capital.

On the other hand, if the walls were destroyed, the battle against the Blue Demon Lord’s army would begin in full, and if the command of the nobles were to be shaken on top of that, Kuama at this point would have already been…

“Do you have…a countermeasure?” (Mix)

“I have not thought of one as of present. They will be acting when the Scarlet Demon Lord begins his invasion and a melee begins all over the place. They will be staying put until then.” 

“But if we were to act once things happen…” (Mix)

“9 times out of 10, things would have ended by the time the main force returns. There’s the choice of leaving a few, but the representatives of the countries know the threat of the Demon Lords, so there’s a limit to that.” 

Comrade stands up while yawning. 

Even though it should be a situation where there should be no leeway here, he is looking pretty carefree. 

“Are you heading off somewhere?” (Mix)

“It is not like they will be moving immediately. In the first place, I am not certain of it yet. I will get some good sleep for now, so my brain can turn without any issues.” 

“Can this situation be overturned…even if we were to be certain of it?” (Mix)

“In the end, this is a situation caused by human hands. You can manage somehow if you don’t care about the means. I would like to choose the safe path if possible though.” 

Comrade said this and left the room.

The expression he showed at the end felt like there was a bit of the Comrade of that time mixed in it. 

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