Power Proving
"...That is all I could gleam from the attack initiated by demons this time."
"Hrmph..."
Scarymast had been giving a report on yesterday's attack for several minutes.
An important-looking old man was squinting with a troubled look on his face as he heard her out.
Hello good morning. Yesterday was quite a day wasn't it, hahaha.
We're gathered here at the royal capital's council room early in the morning to report on yesterday's matter to some bigwigs.
On the reporting side we have Scarymast, Aina-san, Hero-sama's party, Hyula-san, Gazanginando-san et al. People who participated in the magic beast and demon sweep yesterday.
I'm also here under the alias of 'Soarer' complete with a hood and a mask on. I'm so done with masks...
The kingdom's side has the king's aides like the prime minister, and some haughty looking noble guys, also the army's generals.
The owner of Black Dragon, 'Ranaia Souma' is among them too. Almost made me flew off the handle but I managed to settle down for now.
"...We have understood the gist of things. Allow me to extend our gratitude for your contributions in saving our kingdom."
"But to think one of the Demon Chiefs made the landfall himself... There were almost no precedents of Chief-class moving out of their citadels in the past."
"We have confirmed that there is a powerful Lv80 demon among the demon corpses we retrieved. Not even demons can afford many individuals of such caliber."
"So we are certain that he is a Demon Chief then. Should we lament this abnormal situation or should we celebrate for having killed their chief without the need to attack their citadel..."
They're matching the information on their side with ours.
But this is mostly about White Demon it seems. Is it that unusual to have a Demon Chief killed?
<<Once a Demon Chief in charge of a continent citadel is dead, all other demons on that continent will retreat to their main citadel. There is a period of around three year at the shortest until a new Demon Chief is dispatched to that citadel. Thus the people living on that continent gains a huge advantage.>>
...Three years huh. Can't tell if that's a long time or not.
Wait, 'Citadel'? Why don't we all raid that base if we know they have one?
<<The demon's Main Citadel manifests once every single citadel on all continents has been destroyed. As such, it is preferable to eliminate Demon Chiefs on all continent as close as possible time-wise.>>
...So you're saying us getting a head start is not actually a good thing?
<<...This continent chief would be the second Demon Chiefs that have been eliminated. A different chief was felled on another continent around a month earlier. Therefore, this does not pose as a large setback.>>
Eh, they'd beaten one already? Humanity sure works quick.
Might as well ride this momentum and defeat all other Demon Chiefs, but I guess it won't go swimmingly.
"...Look how far our army has declined."
"...!"
The prime minister, a dignified old man spoke once their side was done discussing the reports.
Hearing him say that with a disappointed look on his face, another group of old men, likely the army's generals, stood up and turned at the prime minister.
"What were the army doing while the arena was overrun with magic beasts? Were they asleep? Spectating the matches? They could not have been running away alongside the populace, could they."
"W-we were organizing our ranks, to better strike the magic beasts..."
"Nonsense. How many people would have lost their lives if not for the tournament players stepping up while you upper brass ran around like headless chickens. Organizing your ranks? Why should it take so long. The failure to mobilize fast is the result of our army's longstanding negligence, nay, corruptions."
The dignified old man censured the army's bigwigs with an unchanging expression while clearly airing out his disappointment.
His shoulders shrugged as he spoke.
"Then, once you finally showed up late, not only you failed to take care of the sources, you were only good at cleaning up the few remaining beasts. You did nothing against the demons that teleported in later on either, no, our guests here took care of them in your stead... I cannot even muster up a sigh at the sheer incompetence on display."
"P-prime minister! With all due respects, there was a Demon Chief among those invading demons!"
"With our ranks and files stationed in all other important sites, we simply lacked the necessary strength to go up against a Demon Chief. Adding to that Sword King Spadia-dono is still missing, we hope for your understanding on the sheer gravity of the situation."
The army's bigwigs.
Hm, [Sword King Spadia]? Who the heck.
Is there another Sword King besides Alma Papa?
<<Searching information. Complete. There are records of a 93 year old Sword King on active duty at Firie Kingdom. He went missing around half a year ago, and still remains so today.>>
93 year old? Shouldn't he have long walked away from battlefields and enjoyed retirement by now.
Is it normal to count on a retiree as part of your war forces? These army guys are super eager to whip those old bones to the ground.
<<He was healthy enough to train Alancyan Aizawa the night before he went MIA.>>
Old man's got way too much energy. Wonder who's stronger between him and Alma Papa...
"I see, I see. In other word, you're saying the army serving our kingdom is beneath that 'Soarer' who felled a Demon Chief. I beg your pardon. It was foolish of me to put my lofty expectations on you lot."
"W-what are you trying to imply!"
"You have been riding on coattails all this time, believing you don't have to fight as long as you have Black Dragon around. You never stop to realize that our army exists precisely for these times Black Dragon-dono cannot mobilize."
Err, can't you save these blame shifting games until after we've left you guys alone.
Heck, can't believe this old man dared to talk about national shames like army's corruptions out in the open like this.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"We cannot put any stock on the report regarding this mask defeating one of the chiefs! How could such a suspicious individual accomplish a feat beyond even Hero-sama and Egoless Archer."
"Err, I get how suspicious he looks, but this man is much stronger than me, you know? I saw with my own eyes how he beat up that Demon Chief beyond recognition in a lopsided battle if you could even call it one."
"Then, how about divulging us his identity!"
"That's right! He ought to show his true face if he's truly innocent!"
...That's how they're gonna act to the one who beat the Demon Chief huh.
I wouldn't want the general populace to fall victims to demons, but it might do us all good if these people did.
As the army bigwigs pressed on, Scarymast spoke.
"Apologies, however his identity is Adventurer's Guild's top secret. We are unable to comply to your demand."
"What do you mean top secret! We're merely asking if that man is worth our trust!"
"Ah, then let me say here that I know his identity and can vouch for him."
"On what ground?"
"I'm a Rank S adventurer, remember? Are you implying you don't trust my judgment?"
Scarmyast and even Aina-san covered for me.
...What do, should I really do nothing as the person concerned.
The dignified old prime minister had something to say here.
"Turning a blind eye on your own shortcoming while laying the blame on the persona who saved our country... I suppose this is a most opportune time for a clean up of the army?"
"W-what are you saying!"
"You can't deny the possibility of that mask being a mole, can you!? We have to make sure he backs it up with a show of force!"
...A mole?
Are they implying, I'm in cahoots with those demons?
Ho ho.
Let's have a little demonstration shall we.
I shut my eyes.
And focus energy on my eyeballs.
All while loading all the irritation building up from listening to these army old men.
I pop my eyes open, glaring at them with intimidation!
Focusing energy on eyeballs not only increases your field of view, but also enhances your glare, aka your intimidation factor.
This should at least make them believe 'He's no ordinary man...!'
"Gabo!?"
"Abaa!?"
"Hiie!?"
The moment I glared, the wailing old men all passed out, foaming on the mouths.
Several noblemen near them jumped up while screaming.
...Huh?
"Ah hey, stop, stahp! Don't do that!"
"Soarer, calm down! You went too far!"
Aina-san and Scarymast stopped me in a hurry.
...Must've put too much energy. Oh my, some of them even wet their pants...
Crap, what do I do now. N-no, acting timid here is just gonna bring me more trouble later.
Might as well put up a bravado.
"Does this count as proof?"
"...I see. You do appear to possess the capability indeed."
I tried to act as smug as possible.
The prime minister frowned a bit at that, but he sounded convinced.
"Now then, I surmise this is more than enough proof of his ability to defeat a Demon Chief. Any objection?"
The dignified old man looked over the other noblemen and army bigwig.
They all went quiet like in a funeral.
...Yup. No objection it seems. Cool cool, all is right in the world hahahaha.
『That presence I sensed. It must be you.』
...!!
A bassy heavy voice reverberated out of nowhere.
"Oy, we're in the middle of a council. Fall back, you're gonna make things messier here."
『I cannot do that. The owner of that intimidating pressure may very well harm you.』
Ranaia Souma shooed away the owner of that voice.
The possessor of mana, that even felt slightly nostalgic to me, is peeking from a council room's window.
Covered in lustrous black scales, a giant winged lizard.
His reptilian eyes gleam as he stands outside.
Black Dragon...!
The black lizard I saw at the end of Hunting Fest.
This being showed up before us once again.