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Chapter 32 The Demon Lord Refuses You are reading a translation of Jun from scarletmadness.org. Please read this chapter on the original site or on patreon(translatorjun) if you wish to show support to me. You may not read the actual translation if you don"t.
"What is… this air"
Upon reaching the village, I first noticed the village"s bizarre air.
Discomfort caused by the air being too heavy, like one threw out a sickly sweet smell of sugar into the air.
"What"s wrong Adel? You"re making a strange face, you know?"
"Dian, you don"t notice this?"
"You ask if I don"t notice… but I don"t think there"s anything strange in particular"
I see, Dian can"t feel it.
Seeing the state of the villagers a little, it doesn"t look like there are any people who has noticed this air, though they"re frantically running around.
"Isvel, how about you?"
"It"s a little strange… is what I at least think. Unfortunately, my perception ability is lower than yours"
"No, it"s plenty enough"
This sweet smell is probably a black magic that interferes with a person"s consciousness and lures them to a specific location.
There are monsters whose bodies are too large to move, so they would secrete a scent and such like this and lure their prey.
In other words, somebody, with an objective, distributed the air with black magic into this village.
Considering the fact that I wouldn"t have known if I didn"t go down to the village, the scent didn"t seem to have gone to high places.
"Any people who disappeared among the village adults?"
"I, I don"t think there are any as of now, but…"
"Then it"s a type of black magic that"s only effective on children I guess. If we follow its magic power, then we should arrive at its source"
"So you mean the kids would be there!?"
"We can do nothing but expect that at most though…"
Aiming only at the children, they have quite the bad personality.
There"s the chance of them being a person, but also a monster. Either way it"s quite a dangerous situation.
If we don"t go rescue the children quickly, we won"t be able to undo this.
"I will follow the source of the black magic with Isvel. Dian, please block the village entrance and make it so the children can"t go anywhere anymore"
" alright, but… Will you be alright with just the two of you?"
"No problem. We"ll be back soon"
I called out to Isvel with one word and began running with all my strength.
I have an unusually bad feeling about this.
If I don"t deal with this ahead of time, something will end――it"s that sort of feeling.
"Oh! Adel, it"s become clear to me too"
"Yeah, we"re pretty close"
As we entered the forest, the easy to understand smell became stronger.
The main offender is beyond here.
" … Adel"
"Hm? What"s wrong?"
The expression of Isvel, who was running beside me, became cloudy before I knew it.
Hesitating about whether to speak out something or not, that kind of expression.
" … Do you happen to know something?"
"Ugh…"
After being surprised for a little, Isvel nodded once.
And then she opened her mouth as if she seemingly hated talking about it from the bottom of her heart.
"The feeling of this magic power… I happen to know it a little"
"――A demon?"
"Yes. There is a man among my subordinates who specializes in this sort of black magic"
While we were talking, we were on the way nearing the location where the smell is thickest.
The other side of the thicket in front of us should likely be the source.
"That man"s name is――"
We jumped over the thicket and landed on the ground on the other side.
Simultaneously to that, a shout with a voice of a man I"m not familiar with surprise and delight mixed in, rocked my eardrums.
"Goodness, what do we have here!? I say, if it isn"t milady demon lord! To be able to meet you in a place like this.. .Today is a very good day isn"t it!"
" … Commander of the first Demon lord"s elite guard unit――――Phantom Lord"
The man waved his gaudy mantle in splendor and, together with a woman waiting beside him, met us halfway.
Phantom Lord… I"m sure I have fought him once when I entered the demon lord castle.
Although I don"t remember his face that time due to him wearing a mask, I remember this magic power.
"Good Gracious, it was well worth crossing the sea and coming all the way to a remote land like this. The demon lord castle is currently humming with activities, you see. I"d like you to return as quick as possible, but…"
"Ugh! That I cannot do! I am already fed up with things like demon lords… If you like, you could just select a new demon lord don"t you think!"
"That is not possible. As long as you are the holder of the Heart of the Demon lord, we cannot just simply hand it over. You have a responsibility you know. To lead the demons, that is the responsibility that you have. My lady demon lord Isvel."
Spoke Phantom with a faint smile on his face.
Isvel"s expression became grim each time she heard his words and now she was glaring so much like she was thinking of killing Phantom with her gaze.
"Come, let us return. You still have plenty of work left after all!"
"Return――As if I can!"
Isvel swung her arm sideways.
Upon doing so, a wall of ice appeared to separate her and Phantom.
"If you"re trying to destroy this lifestyle of mine, then I won"t forgive even you!"
"Huumm… It cannot be helped then"
Phantom, while shrugging, snapped his fingers once.
In doing so, the woman beside him, who had prepared a two-handed sword before I was aware of, stepped forward.
"Eleira…!"
"Milady Demon lord, I beg your forgiveness. Vice commander of the first demon lord elite guard unit, Eleira Fluute. Allow me to wield these swords in order to bring you back"
The woman who called herself Eleira swung the two-handed sword she prepared under her arms sideways.
I held Isvel in my arms at once and jumped back.
A beat later, a line of cut entered the ice wall, breaking it.
When I looked, several strands of hair fluttered about in the air.
If she had kept standing stock still, then even Isvel would have gotten a severe wound.
"Th thank you, Adel"
"Get yourself together. Even I won"t be able to manage it if you stay shaken against Phantom"
Suddenly out of the blue, I could hear clapping sounds.
It was Phantom.
From a place away from Eleira, who was surprised to the lack of effect, Phantom raised a voice of admiration.
"Ooh, I was just thinking if you were a mere villager, but rather agile aren"t you. To think you would avoid Eleira"s attack… You, who are you~?"
"I don"t need to tell you that"
Whenever I fought demons, I had always covered my face with a helmet.
That"s why the demons, including Phantom, don"t know my face other than Isvel.
They shouldn"t be able to realize it either if I don"t release my magic power poorly.
It"s just that it doesn"t seem like I can finish this without releasing it though――
"Eleira, fall back, will you. It seems it will be a little heavy a burden for you if you were to go against both the lady demon lord and this man, you see"
" …Yes, Commander"
Eleira put the two-handed sword in its scabbard and stepped back.
Isvel and I stood ready and at the same time, the scenery around Phantom began to distort.
It was Phantom"s battle readiness.
"This is my first time having a bout with milady Demon lord, isn"t it? Now, commander of the first unit , Phantom Lord――Allow me the privilege to bestir myself"
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