*Birth of a Demon Lord Arc
079. Dino and Dagruel
We left the forest on our way to the Demon Lords' Walpurgis Banquet guided by Ramiris.
We were flying on Veldora's back, so even though the trip should have taken a while, it probably won't.
Seeing the marshes below us testified to our current speed.
That is, getting to the marshes would have normally taken us 2~3 days but now it took a mere hour.
Veldora personally found assuming a giant form troublesome, but as we had Shion, Beretta, and Grucius who couldn't fly, I asked him to put up with it.
On that note,
「Ramiris, were you planning on walking all the way to the banquet room (?)?」
I asked.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't imagine her making it on time.
In response,
「Hmm? Oh, walking there was hardly a problem.
If I did, I'd always have someone pick me up on the way there!」
She gave an answer that I couldn't exactly wrap my head around.
She... is always late so everyone has already gotten used to coming to pick her up.
Chances are, that someone has a spatial travel type ability.
If that's the case, then where are we headed right now?
Overcome with a feeling of dread, I dared to ask,
「Eh? There's no way I would know!」
"What the hell! We're flying by your request and to your directions!" I stopped myself from saying.
That's just the way she is.
Well, there's no need to keep on flying then. So we decided to land and proceed while enjoying our surrounding.
Thus we're calmly proceeding down the road.
The moment you leave the Jura Forest you are already in Demon Lords' lands.
Not that there's any grand difference in scenery, however.
Compared to human cities and villages the magic energy density is higher, but not at levels at which humans couldn't survive.
But, of course, the boulder on the side of the road wouldn't one day transform into Demon Steel Ore.
Are there also few monsters naturally appearing here?
I decided to ask,
「Ah, even if we call it Demon Lord's dominion, unless we are talking about their residence or perhaps their province, normal people can also live here.
As long as they pay the demon lord the appropriate tax, their safety is guaranteed」
Veldora explained.
"Oh, so that's how it is. As expected of the all knowing master!" Ramiris added.
Why don't you know! I wanted to retort, but gave up.
「But, there are also demon lords with unknown demesne.
Among the ones I have fought, there's the Giant, the Vampire, and the Demon.
Of them, I only fought the Giant Dagrule and the Vampire Ruminas.
And although it was only a single battle with Dagrule, it was fun..
As for Ruminas, I turned the Vampire Country into ash, so when she came at me for real, I decided to withdraw!
She just doesn't understand jokes. Where her domain is, I do not know.
The other one was the king of demons.
I had fought with his entourage of demons, but never with the king himself.
His castle is located on the continent of ice, and it's damn cold. No humans live there.
Going there would be boring, so I hadn't gone. Moreover...」
At that point, Veldora's words became rather unclear, and
「Anyways, there's no need to go to the middle of nowhere! Kuahahaha!」
He laughed trying to hide something.
But, well, seems like this geezer has already angered a few demon lords.
If my country was turned into ash, even I'd get mad.
Moreover, the Giant demon lord who once fought Veldora also seems dangerous.
As for the ice continent, unless I'm going to have some business there, I see no reason to go. So no need to think about that.
However, demon lords seem actually pretty powerful. Comparing them by using the brat Ramiris as a base was certainly a mistake.
I probably should have based them on Milim instead.
Even after evolving, whether I can win against Milim or not is uncertain.
No matter how many times we battled, since she never went all out, I don't have enough data.
If compared to when we fought, I could win; but, as I do not know just how much she was holding back, I shouldn't be getting haughty.
And, I can't believe Milim would support a subjugation order for me.
Though it's clear that we are dancing to someone's tune here, I can't help but think that Milim is being manipulated–whether she was awake or asleep...
I can, however, imagine that she has some reason for all of this.
Not that thinking about it now will lead anywhere.
Let's decide this after we meet.
And so, while listening to Veldora's tales, we continued leisurely down the road.
If Ramiris is correct, we'll be shown the way by one of the demon lords soon.
