Black Iron Magician

Chapter 402 Common Sense Perspective

After the most annoying woman in the world left, only the top brass of Adelheit and Hund-kun, who has formed an alliance with the country, remained in the room. It seems that they are going to talk about the future measures as a country and various other things. So, I asked Therese to take the girls with her and show them around the castle. Now, I guess I will leave too.

「Deris-dono, please wait. I have a lot of questions to ask you, so please sit down. And your maid, too.」

When I was about to leave the room, I was stopped by Noct. The civil servants were trying to return to the room, but they were driven away under the pretext of extending the break time.

「Hey, the ones who should be in the room are they, right? We are outsiders, you know? It’s bad for us to participate in the meeting, right?」

「Lily is sleepy~」

「What are you saying now? Uwaah, these people are acting as if they have nothing to do with this…」

「Deris-dono, please return to your seat.」

「You two, we won’t get anywhere at this rate, so just sit down now.」

The King’s authority and Nell’s violent gaze forced me and the useless maid to sit down. Those two are effective for me, who is just an ordinary person.

「I will get to the point. I would like to know about your relationship with the previous girl, Maria Irygal. The way she was talking, it was as if you two were acquaintances.」

「I knew that you would ask something like that…. Well, rather than acquaintances, it’s more like she’s one-sidedly stalking me. You see, we’ve been using Nell’s vacation to take our disciples on an expedition to another country. Well, we had them do something a little unreasonable, such as challenging the trial on the Dragon God’s Island.」

「D-Dragon God’s trial…. That’s not 『a little』, you know?」

「Please judge it by Nell’s standard. So, it seems that the girls’ growth caught Maria’s attention for some reason, and she persistently invited us to come to play. Then, I went back to my hometown while thinking that I would deal with her later, but then I found that she had forcibly taken up residence in the house next door, and she even brought her troublesome daughters along with her.」

「…… And on top of that, the neighbor is completely taken hostage?」

「Yeah, that’s right. Noct, you’re getting good with metaphor.」

When I answered so, Noct took a big sigh. Well, I didn’t lie. It was roughly like that, and I’m also troubled by it.

「I see. Then, I will ask about your maid. Lilyvia, was it? She also seemed to have a connection with Maria. Could it be――」

「Ah, yes~. I’m the seventh rank of the Great Eight Demons, Lilyvia Irygal~. I’m Hund’s senior, and I’m having a hard time with a poor junior~」

「「「………」」」

The King and Noct held their heads in response to Lily’s very unmotivated reply, which was uttered while she was lying her cheek on the table. Hund-kun also has an indescribable expression.

「King Dias, I will supplement that later. Now, we should discuss about how we will play along with Maria and release Crocus, right? Don’t worry, these two will fully cooperate.」

「…… You’re right. I was being rude. I’m sorry for saying this even though you helped me with the abdication, but now I understand my father and Joseph’s hardship.」

「Don’t worry. As long as we don’t get harassed, we are just harmless and good citizens. I even properly pay my tax, you know?」

「That’s right! We are harmless and good!」

Lily, the persuasiveness collapses when you talk, so please shut up for a while.

After that, we started the meeting on how to manage this situation in earnest. Even though Maria started it unilaterally, I and Nell have some responsibility. If diplomatic relations with Crocus are stopped, there will be a gradual shortage of supplies. Above all, we want to enjoy a stable life in the future, so we decided to lend a hand. If we could make King Dias indebted to us and make the country support us, it would be a great help to Haru and the others. So, this development is rather a good thing.

「How about forming a hero alliance like when we fought against Hund-dono? If it’s Vice Leader Chinatsu and Haruna-san, who once participated as the heroes of Adelheit, it would be easy to arrange for their participation. If a new Demon King has appeared, I’m sure other countries will be eager to participate.」

A constructive opinion came from Noct. But unfortunately, it is no longer a matter of that scale now.

「I think it’s better not to do that. I’m sorry to say this in front of Hund-kun, but the enemy this time is on a whole different level.」

「What do you mean?」

「I mean it literally. Excluding Han and Snowtail, who couldn’t join due to various reasons, the ones that joined the alliance last time were Tazarnia, Galdevalan, and Crocus, which is in a crisis now…. The title 『Hero』 sounds good, but most of them were level 5, and level 6 at best. Even Haru and the others were about at that level back then.」

「……? Why we shouldn’t do it? Level 5 is a master who has mastered some path like King Dias. Level 6 is someone as powerful as Mage Prime Minister Weerel when she was a student. If it’s an adventurer, they can be said the best class, someone who has the qualities to be a hero. In fact, the heroes were able to compete with the forces led by Hund-dono, the same Great Eight Demons――」

「――Noct-dono. You’re wrong. Certainly, all of our army executives, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons, were level 6. Even if the heroes were level 5, they could win if they formed a party and fought together. Even I was level 7 at that time. Thinking about it now, I feel ashamed that I talked big.」

「No, no! A level 7 Demon King is someone who could destroy a country, you know!? Let alone the country’s heroes, even the Adventurer Guild would give up, you know!?」

「Well, it’s a little embarrassing when you put it that way….」

Yeah, that information is not wrong. An ordinary Demon King is level 6, so Noct was right. That’s why it’s regrettable.

「Excuse me~, Lily is in the seventh rank and level 9, you know~? Hund is like an apprentice of the Great Eight Demons. I’m serious.」

「!?」

「And then, the daughters that Maria mentioned earlier―― I don’t know how many they actually are, so let’s refer to the information in Mani’s letter and assume that there are about five of them. You should think that all of them are about as strong as this useless maid.」

「!!!??」

「Of course, the ones leading them, Maria, is far stronger than them―― really, she’s one of the strongest in the world. Frankly, she can’t be defeated even if Nell launched a surprise attack.」

「!!!???」

Noct was bewildered and became like an overheated Haru. Well, it’s inevitable since he suddenly heard level 9 and above.

「Hey, I won’t lose, you know?」

「…… Even so, you can’t think of a way to win, right? This time, we’re going to have a serious fight against her. Nell, I’m not going to be irresponsible and let you fight without a chance to win. Your life is on the line after all.」

「I-Is that so? W-Well, if you say so, then it can’t be helped.」

……? She pulled back easily, huh.

「…… *Stares*」

And Lily’s gaze is painful.