The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

158 The troubled Perseus

A warm welcome awaited Vandalieu and his party after he was acknowledged as emperor by the Kijin. The only ones who had held doubts about Vandalieu were Oniwaka and the Six Horn Battle-Demons excluding Gankaku; the other Kijin had apparently been friendly towards Vandalieu from the beginning.

The ancestor of the Kijin race, who was born between Vida, the goddess of life and love and Zantark, the war-god of fire and destruction, was the twin of the ancestor of the Majin race.

And so, the ancestor of the Kijin race was the older brother or sister of the ancestors of the Vampires and Ghouls, who were born afterwards. Thus, the Kijin race respected the Majin as older brothers and sisters, while Vampires and Ghouls were like close younger brothers and sisters. That was one of the reasons Godwin had gathered so much respect in the Kijin nation.

Vandalieu, a half-Vampire and king of Ghouls, was like a sibling to the Kijin race.

The first day was simply a welcoming feast. After that, with King Tenma left aside as he had drunken himself unconscious, businesslike discussions took place with his queen Yura and his concubines.

It seemed that in the Kijin nation, where there were many muscle-heads and berserkers, women often served in civil-official-type roles.

"I would really like to have that person and Oniwaka learn a lesson from His Majesty the Emperor. Oniwaka in particular is still called by a childhood name... I wonder when Oniwaka will become an adult," Yura said, letting out a troubled sigh.

Apparently in the Kijin nation, people were called by childhood names rather than their real names until they became adults. Oniwaka was apparently a childhood name, and his real name was something else.

In order to become acknowledged as an adult, a Kijin needed to exterminate a single monster from one of the B-class Dungeons around the nation on their own.

Even the weakest monsters that appeared on the shallower floors of B-class Dungeons were Rank 6. Kijin had a base Rank of 4, so this was quite a difficult task for them.

"Does this... not mean that there are some Kijin who cannot become adults?" asked Princess Levia.

Even if they were a race that was suited for battle, there would be weaker individuals. It was impossible for every single member of the race to be strong.

"Well, from time to time," said one of King Tenma's concubines. "In such cases, they often migrate to other nations. If they stayed in this nation while being weak and a monster rampage were to occur, there would be no guarantee that they would survive."

"And in other nations... other than in the Noble Orc kingdom, Drakonid nation and Majin nation, they would still be useful as fighters, and they would be welcomed as brothers," said another concubine.

In the event that something were to happen, those that couldn't protect themselves would expose others around them to danger. That was why such individuals left the nation.

"That's quite strict. But I suppose it can't be helped? The monsters outside the Dungeons around here seem strong, too," said Orbia, who was floating around to the side, nodding to herself.

"I understand that, but... in other words, even you ladies?" asked Kimberley, staring at Yura and the concubines.

If their words were true, that would mean that even the women possessed the strength to defeat a Rank 6 monster on their own, so this reaction wasn't unreasonable.

And the Kijin nation's total population was about ten thousand. There were still non-combatants such as pregnant women and young children, but other than them, all of the Kijin were capable of fighting.