Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle Chapter 60

60 – A New Kind of Hero

With the Centaur maid Kei's guidance, we proceeded to the center of town.

She matched her walking speed with ours in order to not create a large gap between us.

「I must say I am surprised. To think that Sir Lemegeton's true form was that of a Human.」

Kei says, seemingly not surprised at all.

「Are Humans…not welcome…?」

「To me, you are very much welcome. It's just…personally, I cannot thank the Demon King Castle's Dungeon Master enough for allowing the gentlemen who drove back the Flame Hero to work with us temporarily.」

Kei turned to look at me for a fleeting moment and then quickly face forward.

「Finding out that the Reaper Knight is a sweet young lady was also a shock.」

「The previous one was a man and older.」

「At your age, you boast the same martial prowess as your predecessor. From the defense video, you seem to possess excellent spearmanship.」

「Hungry.」

「Hm? …Understood. I shall make arrangements once I am done introducing you to my master.」

「Starving.」

「As expected of the Demon King Castle, full of unique personalities.」

The troubled Kei abandons her conversation with Furcus.

「Is the little miss over there Lemegeton's secretary?」

「…! Y-yes! I'm the secretary!」

Perhaps she asked beforehand, she didn't ask me for the details of how Cashew ended up working at the Demon King Castle.

「Already hard at work, even though your Job is yet to be ascertained.」

At that moment, I saw her lips loosen gently.

Kei seems like a person that is difficult to approach but as soon as I saw that, I thought that she must be a nice person.

It might be naive to think that someone is a good person simply because they show kindness to children. But that's what I think.

「If you want to see the sights of the town, I believe you would have a far better view atop my back. What say you, Miss Cashew?」

「Huh?」

Kei noticed Cashew trying to look at everything in the town.

「Of course, if you find the idea of riding a Centaur to be deplorable then I won't force you.」

「N-no it's not that. Uh, uhm…is it really OK?」

Cashew looked at Kei and then me.

I smiled and gave her a nod, soon after, Kei nodded as well.

「Uhm, yes please…!」

「Gladly.」

Just as Kei stops, I carry Cashew up.

Even though she struggled without stirrups or a saddle, Cashew managed to straddle on Kei's back.

「Hold on to my clothes so that you won't fall. I also don't mind if you cling to my waist.」

Cashew gingerly grabs on to Kei's maid uniform.

「So how do you like the view from horseback, Miss Cashew?」

Asked Kei, Cashew finally had the time to look around.

「Wo~w, I'm so high…!」

「Indeed. Doesn't the world seem different from up there?」

「Y, yeah! It's like…like…it's amazing!」

「Your happiness is of the utmost importance. Now then, I'm going to start moving.」

Possibly worrying about Cashew's comfort, she walks without swaying her, allowing her to enjoy the scenery on horseback.

「L-Lem. What's that?」

I look at what she's pointing at. Looks like a crowd of people.

Kei is the one who answered.

「That is the Hero Show. That man…it is an exhibition sponsored by the one that plans to buy-out my workplace.」

To be done with Avatars like some sort of play.

She said that man, I guess she's talking about Her Highness's father.

Everyone's attention was centered on the stage, hastily built in the plaza.

I was surprised at the person atop the stage.

「Oh, I know her. She's a Hero, from the uh…I think it was the ninety-ninth ranked party.」

A bandit-looking man is holding a villager-looking girl hostage, and the Hero had her sword towards them.

「Ex-girlfriend?」

I shake my head at Furcus' question.

「No way. I remember everyone within the top one hundred. I don't know her personally.」

After making a sad face, Cashew took out a notebook from her pocket as if to write something down. I clearly and firmly denied Furcus' question so that Cashew would hear me.

Seems she plans to loyally perform her mission assigned to her by Milla.

Realizing it was a misunderstanding, she closes her notebook with a sigh of relief.

I'm glad I was able to prevent a misunderstanding from depressing Cashew or angering Milla which would have ensured that nobody would be happy.

…I have to be careful.

Kei stared at the stage annoyed but realized that Cashew was interested in it, so she changed course.

「It looks like they're almost done, why don't we take a look.」

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Saying that, we moved closer to the plaza.

That Hero girl, I'm pretty sure she's ranked ninety-fifth…or was it ninety-sixth? She enrolled in the Adventurer Training Institution as soon as her Job was identified and was the fastest ever to graduate. In two or three years' time, she has managed to rise up into the top one hundred ranked parties.

She was composed of silver and white.

Her silver hair was about shoulder length. Her eyes, which matched her hair, gave her face an indifferent and intense expression.

Clad in an outfit reminiscent of a white knight, she stands ready with a smallsword whose snow-white blade reflects the sunlight.

The Silver Hero Nicola.

Her beauty paired with her well-mannered nature has garnered her a tremendous amount of mainly young female supporters.

She is called the Silver Prince among her fans.

「Unhand that maiden, vile villain!」

Nicola's voice echoed all over the plaza.

「D-don't come any closer! Not if you care what happens to the girl!」

The bandit-looking fellow pretended to drag the woman as he retreated, the woman screams.

It was a performance.

「Fine. I won't approach you, alright?」

Nicola sheathed her sword and raised both her hands in a sign of nonresistance.

Just as the man breathed a sigh of relief-

「Not like I need to.」

Something gushed out from the floor.

It was a silvery liquid. Moving as if it had a will of its own, it attacked just the man.

「Whwhat the…?!」

Soon, the man's whole body was enveloped. The man and his sword were encased in silver.

The woman was released and she ran out, right into Nicola's open arms.

Nicola gently catches her and the Hero delivers the finishing blow unto the villain.

「I deliver justice upon the wicked who preys upon the innocent.」

The newly formed silver liquid takes the form of a sword. The sword is wielded by a similarly silver arm.

The sword was swung many times, stabbing the bandit who is now a silver statue.

The crowd cheered.

When the sword was pulled out, Magical Energy particles poured out of the hole like when one is defeated in a Dungeon, pouring down the statue.

Trapped and then defeated, silver illuminated by Magical Energy particles.

The scene was like a mountain glowing silver-white with snow.

Thus, the Silver Hero.

「Be they Human or Demi-Human. So long as evildoers exist, so too shall those who would deliver justice.」

The cheers grew louder and louder.

I see.

Certainly, the villain in this show wasn't a Demi-Human but a Human bandit.

Demonstrating that it isn't Monsters who are the bad guys but anyone who does bad things.

There were many Demi-Humans among the audience.

Even Cashew is excitedly applauding. During the show, she was anxious and worried but as soon as she understood that it was all a show, she enjoyed it.

For now, a Human Hero is still the symbol of justice, but before long, I think Demi-Humans in roles like Hero and so on will start to appear. If that happens, I think it's going to be difficult to convince the Adventurer Association.

That kind of future is a welcome one.

The Heroes that always win, that I once admired, are now fascinating people in a new way.

There's a difference between following a script and not, and I personally prefer a real fight, but I suppose the medium is different. It's not something to complain about.

There is definitely something that excites people.

「If there wasn't a looming plan to abolish Dungeon Clears, I could honestly enjoy this.」

Seemingly hearing my mutterings, Kei nods.

「It seems he plans on buying the Dungeon and carrying out new games in it.」

「I think that there are ways to carry that out without buying the Dungeon. Like renting a place inside it, or preferably asking to reform a private use space or something.」

It depends on the size of the Dungeon, but it's a space originally made with Magical Energy. Even if you don't destroy the Dungeon, you can at least create a space that is independent of it.

There's a way to coexist.

「It is as you say, Sir Lemegeton. However, it appears that abolishing Dungeons is one of that man's objectives.」

「If that's the case, we can't just hand it to him on a silver platter」

「By all means, lend us the intellect of the Demon King Castle's Chief of Staff.」

「…I'll give it my all.」

Freely forming and manipulating silvery liquid, Nicola entertains the audience until the end.

We look away from her and continue our journey.

「By the way, where has Miss Furcus gone, Sir Lemegeton?」

「…Eh? Where did…oh, found her. She's buying skewers.」

I find Furcus paying the owner of a food cart.

「…She has quite a healthy appetite, doesn't she?」

「Ah…ahaha. I'll go and get her.」

「Understood. I shall talk with Miss Cashew.」

I quickly rush to where Furcus is.

Chapter end