episode_0171

After Athena gave me the white flag, things went surprisingly smoothly.

“You can get up now..”

As soon as I finished speaking, Athena lifted her knees from the ground and stood up.

She looked at me with sharp eyes, her arms crossed, as if she didn’t like my behavior.

“So what’s the plan?”

Although his tone was quite harsh, I was able to put my mind at ease by his expression of willingness to follow what I said.

I was so happy to have received their support, which I thought would be difficult to convince, that I answered with a faint smile.

“I will meet the Demon King and bewitch him with the skills I learned.”

A simple and seemingly foolish plan.

The original plan was simple, and it was easier to achieve.

But Athena didn’t seem to think so, and muttered to herself with a frown on her face.

“…I guess I should think about it again.”

“No.”

Athena clicked her tongue at my firm rejection and asked again.

“Yeah. Let’s say you’re possessed. How on earth are you going to meet the Demon King? Are you going to invade the Demon King’s castle?”

“Umm…Actually, that’s the problem…”

Should we really say that he was once a dark figure? He pointed out the biggest problem right away.

As Athena said, we can’t just storm the Demon King’s castle.

The most difficult part of this operation was meeting the Demon King in a place where he could be as safe as possible.

‘Demon King…what could he be doing right now…?’

If I had known even a little bit about the Demon King’s plan, I think I could have somehow created an opportunity to meet him. But without any information, I was just at a loss.

I even thought about asking Sephir for help, but I didn’t think she could do anything since she was already firmly under the Demon King’s thumb.

‘Is there really no other way than going to the Demon King’s Castle..?”

That’s when I became lost in thought for a long time.

dripping-

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“..Who are you?”

‘Sister. It’s me.’

An answer that comes right back.

The owner of the voice was my sister Lily.

‘..Isn’t it time for class to end yet..?’

Looking at the clock, it was still time for afternoon classes. Lily wasn’t supposed to be in the dorm yet.

Did he skip class to come see me?

If that was the case, I approached the door with the intention of giving him a sharp rebuke.

As I opened the door, the face of my pretty younger sister, with her ash-colored hair that matched her perfectly, came into view, just as I had expected.

“…Lily. What about class?”

Should I say that this is fortunate?

Lily didn’t just skip class.

“Sister. Is this guy asking me for help?”

Lily pointing to her side.

Following her fingers, I discovered a completely unexpected figure.

A girl who looks to be around Lily’s age.

She ran to me with a pale face and grabbed my hand.

“Help me….Please…”

I could feel how much she was shaking through the hand I was holding.

I slowly turned my head and examined her appearance.

Lighter golden hair than Athena, neatly dressed, and a large ribbon adorning the top of her head.

And above all, it clearly shows her characteristics.

Long ears that stick out to the side.

“Hey..right..?”

I could recognize it right away.

Elf Haley, the scout of the warrior party and the unyielding warrior’s wife.

As I muttered her name, the girl raised her head and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“Elvenheim is….burning….”

Haley was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even utter a single word.

I knelt down in front of Hailey, who was shaking violently, held her hand tightly, and looked up at her.

“Speak calmly and slowly. What on earth is going on that makes you so upset?”

“Devil King….”

My body trembled at the unexpected name.

“The Demon King…attacked Elvenheim…”

“……Huh?”

It seemed like the opportunity to meet the Demon King came much sooner than I expected.

*

“Dragon…”

Hailey carefully touches Marie’s back with a face of disbelief.

Well, whoever comes will be surprised by this situation.

A strong wind noise could be heard all around.

The cool air passes by my face.

We are now.

I was flying through the sky on Marie’s back, who had returned to her dragon form.

Although the young Marie was not as large as an adult, she was still able to carry about four people.

Originally, I would have avoided flying in the sky in the form of a dragon, if only to hide the noisy rumors, but… because of the urgent situation, I had no choice but to be indebted to Mari.

“Thank you Marie.”

“Okay!”

When I gently stroked her back, Marie responded with a loud cry of joy.

I gave a shallow laugh at Marie’s cute behavior and looked back at Hailey.

“Is it true that the Demon King attacked Elvenheim?”

To my question, Hailey nodded vigorously with her small head.

“….yes.”

“…I guess I’ll meet the Demon King right away.”

He continued to ask Hailey while Athena grumbled and talked nonsense next to him.

“Don’t you know why?”

“I got a call saying there was a sudden attack..”

This time too, Hailey can’t finish her sentences properly.

Her characteristics were exactly like those in the novels I had read.

Because she was the type of person who liked to live alone and quietly, Hailey didn’t talk to other people very much.

Naturally, her conversation skills fell behind others, but readers supported her, saying that was her charming point.

‘…..I hope you’re okay.’

Elvenheim. A huge forest where elves live together.

No one would have expected that the Demon King would attack that place.

The academy is raided and the attack follows immediately.

I had no idea where danger would lie after Elvenheim.

“Mom….”

Kkadak-

Hailey bit her nails hard enough to draw blood.

…I’m probably more upset than anyone else right now.

In the novel, Hayley was a serious mama’s girl.

The only person who can enter the girl’s closed space is her mother, Helia, the queen of the elves.

Hayley followed her mother so closely that it was almost as if Helia was her world.

The reason Hayley came to the Academy was simply because that’s what Helia wanted her to do.

If anything were to happen to Helia, Hayley would be devastated.

And to prevent that from happening, I had to do something to stop it.

I took Hailey’s hand away from her mouth, her face pale and trembling.

“Haley, don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

“……But the Demon King..”

I smiled confidently and extended my hand to reassure Haley.

“We have dragons. Athena the hero. Lily the warrior. ”

“Ah…”

“So don’t worry. We’ll definitely protect you.”

As I wrapped my arms around her warmly, the little girl stared blankly at her clasped hands for a moment before looking at me with sparkling eyes.

“Who the hell are you..-”

“Stop. We’ve arrived.”

Athena cuts off Haley.

As I looked around at her words, a dense forest with no end in sight came into view.

A scale that is different from that of a typical forest.

Big blue trees.

A fragrant, grassy scent that tickles the nose.

In the middle of such a forest full of life.

A black flame that burns so large it’s ominous.

It was the power of Demon King Erbes.

“…Marie! Fly over there!”

“Crrr.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Marie flapped her wings once, and the black flames that had been visible from afar were now right under our feet.

“Lily! Athena!”

“Yeah, unnie.”

“Yes, master.”

As if they knew what I was going to say, Lily and Athena got off Marie’s back and jumped to the ground before I could finish speaking.

After I saw that they had landed safely on the ground, I reached out to Hailey and spoke to her.

“Take my hand, Hailey.”

“……Yes.”

Her palm timidly resting on mine.

I pulled Hailey into my arms and then rolled off Marie’s back, landing on the ground.

And not long after I set foot on the ground, something tiny fell from the sky and landed right in my arms.

“I’m having a hard time, Mom. Hug me.”

Marie, who had returned to her girlish appearance, hugged me tightly in her arms.

“Uh..Mom..?”

Hailey looks at me in disbelief.

I felt like there was some kind of misunderstanding, but I decided to let it go since it wasn’t that important right now.

I looked around while holding Marie tightly to keep her from shaking.

The intense sound of fire burning everything down.

Screams can be heard from everywhere.

It was the same scene as when the academy was raided.

And just like that.

She appears when you follow the terrible scream.

She was still in the midst of the disaster.

Her figure appears in the middle of a giant black fire.

Red hair and eyes that look like they’re painted with blood. A pair of horns that are so large they’re terrifying.

The Demon King Arbes was right before my eyes.

“Arbes!!”

Her eyes turned to me at my shout.

Her eyes widened as she met someone unexpected.

“Once is coincidence…twice is fate, they say..”

The Demon King, who had been muttering something to himself, soon looked at me with a big smile on his face.

“Nice to meet you. Are you here to pick me up this time too?”