Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

… … …

「You have such good children, don’t you………」

Diehart’s praising the children.

「Now, I don’t mind if everyone returns and continues with their job. It’s busy, after all」

Diehart is walking toward the fort.

「I’ll guide you inside the fort, your excellency」

「No, it’s okay. I think I’ll be back after inspecting a bit…」

After saying so, Diehart went into the fort alone.

=== === ===

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

After a brief inspection of the fort, I ride on Glorious.

「It seems I’m an annoyance, huh….」

I unintentionally mutter so.

「That’s not true. It’s thanks to Diehart-sama that those guys have survived！！」

Nut’s voice of resentment resounds from inside my armor’s pocket.

The members of fort of demon race were obviously troubled against me. Nut became angry due to that.

According to Nut, I was summoned in order to save them. Practically, I saved them and took out the hero.

Even though I was summoned without my consent, I’m not the type of person who feels happy for doing something cruel.

Unexpectedly, I think that I’m enjoying this world in my own manner like Reiji.

I heard many things that maligned him on my way to Holy Republic Lenaria. Things like he was quite a selfish person or that he was always doing things with brute force.

But, I think that I won’t live in a such manner.

Well, it’s mainly because I care about the people’s impression about me. I won’t be able to feel calm even if a stranger’s hostile toward me.

That was why I continued to show appropriate manners toward the demon race.

But, it seems I was being an annoyance since they’re not welcoming me.

To be honest, I think the only ones who would warmly welcome me in this world are just Nut and Modes. Naturally, I would have been angry if the ringleader who summoned me was a cruel individual.

Though there might be someone else who also welcomed me, I just couldn’t consider them, since I don’t know them.

But, it’s not so bad when they’re only being hostile toward me. However, there were people gazing at me with killing intent.

It feels like I can’t be honest with them.

「It’s okay, thank you for your worry, Nut」

I convey my gratitude to him since he got angry for my sake.

「Rather than that, where are we going now?」

I pat the neck of Glorious.

There’s nothing better than doing something else when something unpleasant happens. Currently riding on a dragon, I point my sword toward the vast expanse in front.

The one who gave this name was me. Though the meaning of that name is exactly opposite to my fame, it was still a good name.

It seems subduing a dragon is a hard thing, but it was unexpectedly easy for me.

We are flying on top of the Akeron mountain range.

Previously, I had flew on top of this mountain range on a wyvern when I travelled from that fort to the nearby human city. Flying like this with my own dragon feels even more satisfying than riding on someone else’s wyvern.

Though the Nargol’s sky isn’t that pretty due to the existence of magical power-filled clouds covering it, that itself made me feel happy.

But, I’ll try to fly toward a slightly different place right now.

After crossing the Akeron mountain range, I’m flying toward the nearby plot of land where the humans are residing.

According to Nut, the Akeron mountain range below us is the boundary separating human world and Nargol.

But, it seems that the expanse of the Akeron mountain range starting and ending points are still a mystery.

That was the source of dispute with the holy knights of Elios.

That Akeron mountain range is the greatest home for the goblins of this world, and there are a variety of goblin kingdom in this mountain range.

That’s why I can see many goblins as I fly on top of the Akeron mountain range.

Though it seems that the majority of these goblin kingdoms follow Modes, it seems the one on human side is not so, and there’s even the possibility of them showing hostility toward them.

It seems they won’t go as far as attacking a dragon, but let’s raise the altitude a bit higher just to make sure.

It was when I was thinking so.

I saw an impossible thing halfway up the mountain.

「Nut！！Those are humans, right？ 」

There were figures of human beings in the middle of Akeron mountain range.

And then, those human-like figure were being assaulted by the goblins.

「Glorious！！」

I unintentionally lower Glorious toward that place.

The goblins scatter at once while screaming loudly when they see the figure of a dragon.

I’m looking at the human crowd. There were around twenty of them. There are no adult males amongst them, they are comprised mostly of women and children.

The humans show dread on their faces because of the dragon’s howl.

「What’s your name！！？」

I ask as such to the humans while continuing to maintain my position on Glorious.

But, the humans aren’t replying as they are still terrified due to the dragon that appeared out of nowhere.

It’s starting to get on my nerves.

What’s with these people, don’t they know that they’ll be attacked once they enter the territory of the goblins?

Maybe it was unnecessary for me to save them, it’s just like the event at the fort a while ago.

But, seeing that I already saved their life, I should hear their situation.

After going down from Glorious back, I take off my helmet.

They’re starting to raise a ruckus.

「Hu-… Man？」

「The dark knight is… Human？ 」

The faces of the humans who saw my face were softened a bit.

「My name is dark knight Diehart！ ！ Is there someone amongst you who can tell me about your situation！！」

The humans become noisy once they hear Diehart’s name.

A while later, a woman comes out.

She’s young, maybe around the first-half of her twenties. Upon a closer look, her dress is the best amongst these people.

「Uhm… M-My… My name is Regena, the princess of Algore kingdom. These people are my blood relatives….」

The woman is replying so with a stuttering voice.

「….Princess？ Why would a princess be in this kind of place？ 」

I couldn’t comprehend the situation. A princess, or should I say royalty should be living in the castle, right?

What are they doing in this kind of place？

When I asked Nut, it seems he also doesn’t know about the situation in Algore kingdom. Nut’s knowledge is only about human kingdoms that are considered powerhouses, which means that Algore isn’t a power house.

「….We were exiled, and we came to this land」

Regena timidly said so, but she kept explaining their situation.

It seems Algore is a certain kingdom that’s located close to Nargol.

It seems that the king is chosen from amongst the few clans who live in Algore kingdom.

Regena’s clan monopolized the king throne for these few decades. As a result, the other clans who couldn’t take that incited a rebellion. Thus, Regena’s clan was defeated and banished from the kingdom.

「Banishment, huh….」

It’s more like an execution rather than banishment.

The people who incited the rebellion feared that Regena’s clan will come for revenge after restoring their power in another city. That’s why they drove away Regena and the rest toward Nargol. Naturally, they will become goblin food. I feel that it’s quite a cruel exile.

Regena is telling me that while crying. It seems at first there were hundred of them, but the number dwindled after the attacks of the goblin. The adults became victims first for the sake of protecting the women and the children. She also mentioned that her older brother and her father were amongst them. That’s why there’s none but women and children amongst them.

「Please. Please save us….」

Regena is pleading to me. According to Regena’s story, Algore is on bad terms with the neighbourhood kingdom, so no kingdom will welcome Regena, a royalty of that kingdom. That’s why Regena has nowhere to go. They are refugees.

I heave a sigh while looking at the sky.

I don’t think that I’ll save them if the story ended just like that. Even if I guide them to leave the habitat of the goblins, they won’t be able to enter the kingdom as refugees. They might become victims of other demons as long as they stay outside the rampart.

Though they might be able to survive if I brought them to one of the powerhouse kingdoms, but myself aside, I can’t take everyone amongst Regena’s group.

「Please… I’ll do anything for you….！」

Regena is pleading to me. Maybe they’ve suffered thoroughly while travelling to this place. Her voice is already hoarse.

The other people are also bowing toward me.

I thought that things have become even more troublesome.

What should I do….? It’s easier if I just run and abandon them to their fates.

The goblins might come for them as long as I leave them in this place.

There won’t be any future issues as long as I do so.

Suddenly, I’m wondering what Reiji will do if he is in my position.

I look at Regena. She’s quite a beauty herself.

Reiji will definitely save her. And then, he would push the job of taking care of them to someone else in an unknown place. No one could go against him as long as he uses the privilege of the hero, and then, he would only take the sweetest part of it. In the worst case, if something ever happened later, he held no responsibility for it.

Seeing Regena, it made me a bit worried. When I was thinking that Reiji wouldn’t fret over such things, I decided.

=== ==== ===

◆ Dark Knight Kuroki.

「KAKKA！What does that mean！！」

Runfeld is raising an objection inside the fort.

「I’m bringing over my slaves since you seem to be lacking the members for taking care of the daily chores of the fort, Lord Runfeld」

I’m saying that as I point to Regena’s group.

In the end, I moved back to the fort with magic and then taking someone along till the defense location of Regena’s.

Naturally, it’s for the sake of making them work in this fort.

I have faint expectations that they won’t dare to act too rude if I said that Regena’s my property, in other words they are my slaves.

「Children won’t do for such things, right！！」

It seems that they can’t take them.

「Oya, last time I heard that this fort is experiencing a shortage of personel that they went as far as borrowing the hands of the children, right？ 」

I return his words while implicitly pointing toward Runfeld’s children.

There’s discontentment echoing from the members of the fort of the demon race.

The demon race look down on inferior creatures like human race. It was natural for them to feel so since those humans had come to work in this fort.

But, I ignore those voice.

「No need to say your gratitude, Lord Runfeld. Please make full use of my slaves, be it dish-washing or cleaning. But, I want you to at least give them meals and a place to sleep」

I say so while acting dumb.

It made me look like that I am truly worried about the fort, but, in fact, I’m just dumping the job of looking after them upon Runfeld.

I can hear the demon race members secretly muttering, “Stop doing such things” behind my back.

It seems they think that I can’t hear them, but I could hear them since I’ve become a superman in this world.

I think there won’t be any problems later.

I then glance at Regena. I give a simple explanation since they felt anxious.

Maybe there was the possibility that they’ll be killed by the demon race in an unknown place. But, I don’t know what I can do for them anymore than this.

I can’t look after them till the end. I just feel that this is better than becoming goblin feeder.

「KAKKA！ ！」

Runfeld is still trying to raise an objection.

「Lord Runfeld, my apologies, but I have to go back to demon lord castle. If you have something to talk about, please tell me on another day. I’ll leave my slaves to you UNTIL THAT TIME, LORD RUNFELD！！」

I put more emphasis at the end of my words so that he won’t make any further objections.

It seems that Runfeld couldn’t reply anything in seeing my attitude.

「I’ll return to demon king castle, then」

After saying so, I mount on Glorious while completely ignoring the discontented Runfeld.

Glorious is raising a howl as it soars into the sky.

The people in the fort raise a dreadful voice.

With Glorious soaring into the sky, the fort instantly turned into a small dot.

In the skies, I’m wondering as I ride on Glorious.

In the end, I’m just acting like Reiji, doing whatever I want without taking any responsibility for my action, receiving even further hostility from the demon race.

I don’t know what will become of Regena and the other members later.

But I definitely will regret it if I did not save their life. Reiji, who does this kind of act, definitely won’t be troubled at all.

That’s why I shouldn’t think about it either.

Rather than that, I should just think about the goddess to be created starting from tomorrow. That is more enjoyable.

I’m riding on Glorious and yet, my heart is as dark as the skies of Nargol.