The Heavenly Demon Is Just Stuck In My Head

Chapter 334 : Do You Understand?

The grand audience chamber.

I was being scolded by the princess's eternal guardian knight, Sir Monde.

"You crazy bastard. Are you crazy enough to want to die?"

"Hmm. I came down slowly on purpose so you wouldn't be surprised. It was my own way of being considerate."

"Considerate, my ass. Who comes down from the sky above the royal palace? That's a serious violation of the national security law! Not to mention, it's an insult to the royal family. Do you know that? You'd have nothing to say even if you were caught and your limbs were cut off."

But I was rather confident, so I answered brazenly.

"Because it's the fastest way."

"You crazy bastard. I'm telling you, you almost died. Do you think you can take on dozens of the best royal knights, no matter how strong you are?"

"But it was fast, right?"

"Hah..."

Sir Monde let out a breath of disbelief.

"You thoughtless bastard. There's a good means of communication called a crystal ball. You should have told me in advance before invading the royal palace. Even nobles are severely punished for entering and leaving the 1st district without prior permission. Do you know that?"

"I don't know anything like that."

"That's something to be proud of, you bastard."

I ignored Monde's scolding and looked at Princess Lilia, who was sitting on the throne.

[Isn't she the queen now?]

'Well, that's true.'

She was the queen now, but I was used to calling her princess, so I'll just call her princess.

I was the one who stubbornly called the Black Prince 'Black Prince' even after he took the throne.

The Heavenly Demon nodded his head and marveled.

[What a useless stubbornness.]

Even though Princess Lilia was sitting on the grand throne, I didn't feel any sense of dignity.

In my eyes, she was just the uselessly bright princess I had seen every day in Tundra.

The kind-hearted, cheerful, and tomboyish princess who would wake up at dawn every day, come to the wall, and give her sincere encouragement to us who were going on a difficult mission to a rough place, without missing a single day.

"I came because I have something to say, Lilia."

At once, Monde's fiery scolding flew at me.

"Ahem! How dare you speak so disrespectfully in front of—"

Thump!

The enraged Princess Lilia slammed her armrest.

"Sir Monde, be quiet! I can't hear the hero."

"Um..."

"If you keep this up, I might have to send you out too!"

"..."

Currently, the audience chamber was in a state where everyone except the three of us had been sent out by the princess's strict order.

Lilia, who had scolded the meddling Sir Monde, smiled brightly and looked at me.

"You came because you have something to say to me, hero?"

I nodded my head.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

I immediately got to the point.

"Soon, the Dark Heaven Society guys will summon the god they believe in. It means a disaster is about to fall. The location is near the Misty Cliff in the east. I've judged that our Sherwood Mercenary Corps alone is not enough, so I've come to ask for your cooperation. Our crisis is the kingdom's crisis. Let's work together. If we can't stop it, the Maia Kingdom will also be destroyed..."

I stopped talking and blinked my eyes.

Because Lilia was pouting.

I tilted my head and asked.

"Why is our princess pouting?"

"It's not princess, it's queen—"

Glare—

"..."

Princess Lilia, who had lightly dismissed Sir Monde's interruption with just a look, said with a pout.

"Hmph... I'm disappointed..."

"About what?"

"We haven't seen each other in a long time, and you're talking about work right away... It seems the hero didn't miss me much... I missed the hero a lot..."

Seeing her small head droop in disappointment, I couldn't help but laugh.

"How could that be? I'm holding back from talking about what's happened since I last saw our princess."

"...Really?"

Princess Lilia slowly raised her head.

"Of course. So many things have happened since we stopped the worst monster wave in Tundra. I even caught the debauched knight who was Sir Monde's colleague, and I invaded the Holy Hilka Empire and kidnapped the Saint of Pure White, and in the process, I even beat up the empire's hero."

"Ooh!"

"And that's not all. After beating up the Dark Heaven Society guys, I went to the Kingdom of Sorrow, which is called the kingdom of the demon race, and met the demon king, and I even reached the lowest level of the demon realm and saved the prince of the demon race who had been swallowed by the abyss! Do you know about the moving reunion of Lilia and the demon king and his son?"

"Ooooh!"

Princess Lilia's eyes sparkled like the morning star.

"You want to hear it, right?"

"Yes! I really want to hear it!"

"My mouth is itching to tell you. Your ears are itching to hear it, right?"

Lilia fiddled with her ear and answered.

"I think so!"

"Then let's get the work talk out of the way and then chat. How about that?"

"Okay!"

She beckoned to me, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs as if I were having an audience with the king.

"Ah, hero. Don't just stand there, come here and talk. Your legs must be tired."

"No, Your Majesty the Queen. This is where the throne is."

"Sir Monde."

"Yes?"

"Stop nagging and go get a chair for the hero to sit on."

"..."

And then, she placed the chair that Sir Monde had brought next to her and patted the seat.

"Come and sit!"

I could hear the Heavenly Demon's laughter.

[You're one of a kind, but the princess is no ordinary person either.]

She was a princess who was unconventional in many ways.

To think that she would sit down with a lowly commoner without any hesitation.

I chuckled and then went up to the king's dais and sat down next to her.

Of course, Sir Monde was glaring at me, but he seemed to want to avoid being kicked out, so he kept his mouth shut.

I sat down next to the princess and immediately continued the work talk.

"We need to evacuate the people."

"Which people are you talking about?"

"The people living on the eastern outskirts, near the Misty Cliff."

"Hmm. Because the god that the Dark Heaven Society believes in is descending?"

I nodded my head.

"Yes. The Evil God will descend. Lasol Grace, you know her, right?"

"I do. She's the Hero of Light of the Holy Empire."

"While talking to her, I succeeded in narrowing down the base of the Dark Heaven Society guys to near the Misty Cliff. Lasol is well-versed in the scriptures of light."

"Ooh. Are you close? You speak of her very familiarly."

"We're close. There's a saying that you get closer while fighting. Ah, I'll tell you more about this later."

Lilia nodded her head readily.

"Okay! So we've roughly figured out the location, what about the time?"

"That's not certain. I only heard that it would happen before winter comes this year. In a word, it means that the guys might summon their god tomorrow."

"Gasp! Then what do we do?"

"But, they won't be able to summon him that quickly. Because me and the Sherwood guys have been beating up the Dark Heaven Society guys. Recently, I've also grasped the situation of their internal strife. They've lost a lot of branches, and there are a lot of things that have gone wrong with their plan, so it'll take some time."

Lilia let out a sigh of relief.

"That's a relief."

"Right. We have to make the most of this time. We're currently searching for their base."

"You mean you haven't found it yet?"

"That's right."

"Conservatively speaking, you mean we have to evacuate the people living near the Misty Cliff because the Evil God might descend soon?"

"That's exactly it. You're right."

She was a smart princess, indeed.

To think that she could understand two things when I had only said one.

"And when we find their base, we have to surround it. So that the damage doesn't get bigger."

"Hmm."

"Like the monster wave that came down from the frozen north, there's a high possibility that magical beasts will pour out like a pack of dogs with the descent of the Evil God. Because the magical beasts originated from the Evil God in the first place."

"Mmm..."

Princess Lilia tapped the armrest with her fingertips.

"To think that the Evil God will descend... it's unbelievable news."

"I know it's hard to believe. I know, but..."

Princess Lilia smiled brightly and interrupted me.

"I believe you. Because it's the hero's word."

"Really?"

"Of course. And, I also had a feeling that something dangerous was coming from the east."

Come to think of it, Princess Lilia was not only smart, but she also had a good intuition.

I didn't know if it was magic or a kind of divine power, but it was a very miraculous ability.

"However, it won't be easy to persuade other people. We'll have to move a lot of troops, and that reason alone isn't very persuasive...?"

That was true.

Who would believe that an Evil God would suddenly descend from the east?

Unless it was a famous prophet, it would be hard to believe it at face value, and it would be even more difficult to move a country's army based on that absurd warning.

"Then try using the name of the Dark Heaven Society."

"The Dark Heaven Society?"

"Yes. They're notorious, aren't they? Announce that the worst monster wave that came down from the north was the work of the Dark Heaven Society. And say that this time, they're preparing something worse than the monster wave, and make them a public enemy."

"Hmm... certainly, the notoriety of the Dark Heaven Society is high. Because they've caused all sorts of trouble. Besides, I've even found a lackey of the Dark Heaven Society who had infiltrated the 1st district."

"Ah, really? I didn't know that."

This was news to me.

To think that they had broken through three walls and infiltrated the impregnable 1st district, which was only accessible to the royal family.

They were good at what they did.

"How did you catch them?"

"I had a bad feeling, so I caught them, and it turned out to be the Dark Heaven Society."

"..."

The princess's 'intuition'.

It was amazing in many ways.

"Ah, and. Recently, oracles have been pouring in from various cults that a disaster will occur in the east. We can use that too."

Well, well.

It seemed the gods were helping me in their own way.

"And, Duke Seligman will also help."

Duke Seligman?

I remembered seeing him briefly in Tundra.

Wasn't he the guy who had given Duke Elsbears a secret note about putting Princess Lilia on the throne?

The real power behind the Maia Kingdom, called the Iron Chancellor.

"Ah, that strict guy? Why him?"

"He seems to like Ashuban a lot."

"Huh. Why me."

"Did he say he had a manly taste? I don't know for sure either."

"..."

Duke Selisman.

A peculiar taste for liking people who cursed at him brazenly at their first meeting. Memo.

Princess Lilia nodded her head and concluded the meeting.

"Hmm... besides that, if we blame the Dark Heaven Society for this and that, it should work out somehow. It's a good thing it's in the east. Most of the powerful families are in the east. I'll threaten— no, talk to the ministers well."

"...Yes."

She was a reliable princess in many ways.

"Ah, I'll also send a message to the Grand Duke Elsbears of Tundra."

"To the duke too?"

"Yes. He said he owed Sherwood a big debt and often talked about the hero. Since it's summer, he should be able to provide some support if it's the hero's business. Of course, it would be difficult for the duke to come in person."

Although they had stopped the worst magical beast wave.

They had suffered great damage.

So I wasn't considering that side, but well, there was no need to refuse help.

This was satisfactory enough.

I had persuaded the princess and had been promised support.

And even the unexpected gain of sending a hint to Duke Elsbears.

This meant that I had achieved all the reasons for coming to the capital.

I smiled with satisfaction and got up from my seat.

"Good."

"Are you done with what you had to say?"

"Yes. Then shall we go and chat now?"

"Okay!"

"Where do you want to hear from?"

"From the debauched knight! How did you catch him?"

"Ah, that's..."

I left the audience chamber, chatting with the princess.

Sir Monde followed quietly behind, sighing.

* * *

The Knight of Frost from the Blake Kingdom, and the Golden Flash, Ashley, and the Swift Sword, Routie, had come.

Dofang was dispatched to the Holy Hilka Empire and the Kingdom of Sorrow.

Dofang would secretly infiltrate and deliver my letter instead of stealing something precious.

And the Hero of Light, Lasol, and the Demon King, Aktir, who had received my letter, would respond to the request for help.

I had asked for help from the sweet and savage Princess Lilia, who had taken control of the Maia Kingdom with her cuteness, and had also sent a hint to Duke Elsbears.

The request for help was done.

It was a battle between the good deeds I had accumulated so far and the evil deeds that the Dark Heaven Society guys had accumulated.

Only the gods would know who would win.

No, actually, I knew too.

I would win.

The one standing at the end would be me.

Because it had always been that way.

I, Ashuban Sherwood.

The second Heavenly Demon, personally acknowledged by the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon was originally a terribly arrogant and self-righteous being.

I would not give up anything.

Victory, and the peace that would follow.

It was all mine.

Do you understand?

(End of Chapter)