The next day, we went to Garden of the G.o.ds and destroyed the [Nest] there.
For a Nest that had sp.a.w.ned a Legion greater than 5,000, there were only a handful of Shadow Demons in the immediate vicinity.
According to Leid, there is apparently no clear law of correlation between the length of time of a [Nest]"s existence and the number of Shadow Demons that it sp.a.w.ns.
There have been Nests left alone for a long time that barely sp.a.w.ned any Shadow Demons, and there have been Nests that sp.a.w.ned a huge quant.i.ty in a very short period of time before going completely inactive. This time is an example of the latter.
After destroying the Nest, we searched the emptied Garden of the G.o.ds, but was not able to find any information about the Shadow Demon King nor any other Demonists.
Sadly, what we did find was tragically mangled Shulz corpses enough to make a small mountain with.
♥♦♣♠
"…… Hey, was that disgusting [Nest] thing really my mother?"
We are now back in Castle of Fort.i.tude.
And Princess Dianu of the Shulz tribe is talking to me.
As we are moving around in Shulz territory, she is coming along as the representative of the tribe.
In one of the scenes that I had glimpsed from the Mystic"s mind, Dianu"s mother, Sheiru, was being swallowed up by darkness. I"ve already explained before that based on the situation, the only interpretation that I could come up with was that Sheiru had become the [Nest].
In actual fact, when we had been facing off against the Nest in Garden of the G.o.ds, I had tried to cast [Dispel Magic] on it in hopes of returning her to human form, but it proved ineffective.
Without any other recourse, I ended up destroying it with [Meteor]. But I suppose for Dianu, the whole story is quite incomprehensible through and through.
"I have no proof, but am pretty sure that was the case. I"m sorry I wasn"t able to save her."
"……"
Even if that was Sheiru, Garden of the G.o.ds was absolutely void of any human life. Though only for a short while, the place had been completely occupied by Shadow Demons.
We tried our best to identify each Shulz corpse and gave all of them a proper burial, but Sheiru"s body was never found. Dianu herself also understands what that means.
"If you say so…… then that"s probably true…… but just……"
Her face, which usually looks like she"s pouting about something, is now in a grimace.
Despite being the Martial Chief, despite having fought as a commander, she is a girl of middle school age.
In the depths of her red eyes, I see despair and loss swirling around.
"……She was someone who was endlessly spouting resentment and grudges, after all. But to throw her lot with the Demonists, to think she fell that low……"
…… Though I do feel regrettable, there isn"t much more that I can do, being a recent acquaintance who is pretty much a stranger.
"I am sorry. Truly…… very sorry." (Gio)
"I-, it"s not like you did anything wrong……" (Dianu)
Dianu suddenly spins around, turning her back towards me.
I hear only a single sniffle from her.
"…… From here on, I"ll have to go speak with Dad…… the Tribe Chief. Probably everyone will be wanting to return to Garden of the G.o.ds, I think."
I understand why they would.
The Shulz tribe had already been chased out of Filsand once.
With Garden of the G.o.ds as their base, they"ve spent the past twenty years desperately rebuilding their livelihood. Not many of them would think to move once again at this moment in time.
"It"s just that among the younger generation, there are quite a few who want to follow you. Can you at least look after those guys?"
"Aah, without a doubt."
"Then I"m rea.s.sured. Of course, I, too, will follow you."
"…… Is that so."
From the flow of events up to now, I had felt like she was eventually going to come over to this side, and it seems that is truly how things have turned out.
Though my feelings on the matter are complicated, this is a good thing for Jiiteias Castle, as its scale is currently undergoing expansion.
"The heck, what"s with that depressed sounding voice!" (Dianu)
Dianu abruptly turns back to face me.
There is now a smile on that face that had looked like it was almost going to tear up just moments ago.
"I don"t really understand it all, but you"re trying to wipe out the Shadow Demons, or doing some huge thing like that, right? Let me help you!" (Dianu)
"Aah, that"s right." (Gio)
Though not at the level of the outlier that is Leid, Dianu is also a sufficiently powerful warrior by Sedia"s standards. On top of which, her skills and experience in regards to leading other warriors is something that we currently are in need of.
"From now on, I will be your sword. I"ll bring thirty…… no, I"ll bring 50 of the Shulz warriors to follow you, you just wait and see!" (Dianu)
"Umu……" (Gio)
Part of the original reason that I had also wanted her was the fact that she has a strong motive to fight against the Shadow Demon. But the operative word here is "original."
Because right now, I feel no anger nor any burning desire for revenge from her.
Rather, she is solely devoting herself to me, almost to an unnatural degree.
To put it in a bad way, rather than motivation or fighting spirit, this is merely dependance on me.
"…… That sounds quite rea.s.suring. I"ll make the necessary arrangements. However, you have to first make sure the Shulz are comfortably resettled." (Gio)
"I know that already!" (Dianu)
A young girl around fourteen or fifteen years old just had her hometown destroyed by Shadow Demons, with her own mother possibly being the cause of it all. It would be an impossible request for her to remain sober.
And neither do I know how to treat PTSD or other similar wounds of the heart.
Though it chagrins me to admit it, but now I have no other choice but to simply wait for her to settle her own heart.
"Alright then, you wait for me!" (Dianu)
Dianu waves at me with a somewhat hollow smile on her face, then dashes off towards the Shulz tribe.
♥♦♣♠
Even while I was busy fighting the Legion and destroying the Nest, Irudo had been in talks with the Shulz Tribe Chief and Filsand"s chief va.s.sals.
With that as the foundation, all of the remaining Shulz survivors were gathered, and a conclusion was reached.
Firstly, from among the roughly 1,200 Shulz currently gathered in Filsand, around 1,000 will follow the Tribe Chief back to Garden of the G.o.ds. Naturally, the Filsand army will not attack them. To the contrary, it will even take on the task of keep the peace in the surrounding area.
The other 200 will be coming to Jiiteias Castle, led by Dianu and their ex-ex-Tribe Chief, Kolbel-shi. Fifty of those 200 are warriors, and the rest are their families.
I am planning to a.s.sign them to clear out and build a new village in the forest west of Jiiteias Castle. Of course, some of the warriors will be hired as soldiers at the castle.
♥♦♣♠
In the end, what I ended up doing was splitting a tribe into two.
In many cases, this kind of thing eventually turns into a seed of trouble further down the road, but……
"All I have to do is make sure that it doesn"t turn into that, right?"
Not having a 100% guarantee is now the new norm for me.
So all I can do is just what I"ve done all along – crush those flags and do things my way.