Shikkaku Mon no Saikyou Kenja~ Sekai Saikyou no Kenja ga Sarani Tsuyoku Naru Tameni Tenseishimashita~

Chapter 329: Strongest Sage, Appointed as Commander

"We're off."

As I'm about to open the door leading outside.

The knight commander called out to me.

"Please take this."

He handed over a piece of paper.

"And this is?"

"His majesty the king ordered me to pass that to Mathias… Make use of it well, he said."

The top of the paper was written with 『Nomination of Plenipotentiary Commander in States of Emergency』.

…The document states that collateral damage caused during a state of emergency shall not be condemned, and the country will cover for the damage… or so written on it.

It also gives one full authority over local knights.

We had done similar actions before… but having a document that clears it up helps.

Frankly, there is no way to avoid collateral damage if we fight inside a town, and there are ways to utilize the knights in such cases.

For example, it was the knights who helped evacuation during the fight between Second Academy and demons in the capital back then.

If they didn't fully blockade the districts where the battle occurred, it could have gone in a completely different direction.

"Give my thanks to the king."

"I shall."

We left the capital afterward.

Our destination is the town where Zadokilgias was revived--Boseil.

◇

Two hours later.

We arrived at Boseil after as we came up with a plan along the way.

I don't sense demonic mana anywhere as of yet.

"For the time being… Doesn't look like there's that kind of mana here."

"Yeah. Just as expected."

We went inside town of Boseil while talking.

We had already anticipated that there would be no trace of demonic mana here.

Zadokilgias isn't a type of demon who would resort to a direct confrontation right away.

Plan it out carefully and meticulously… then go fight once all of winning conditions have been met, that's how Zadokilgias fights.

In a way, it's the exact opposite of our strategy against demons.

Zadokilgias will hide itself until everything is set.

Were… Zadokilgias to readily show itself up, you should consider it a trap or a part of scheme.

Since this demon hasn't done so… it must be not finished yet with preparations.

Conveniently for us.

"Have you girls memorized the plan yet?"

"Of course!"

"Perfectly!"

"Yes! …Even though it's been so long since I used that… I'll give it my all!"

We were having a conversation under the effect of soundproof magic while walking in the town.

The town is rather lifeless.

It's like… Everyone seems to be starving.

Food lined up on stalls are mostly those that are cheap but filling, like raw monster meat and grain.

"…This town was famous for its good food, wasn't it?"

"That's what I heard, but… Uun…"

I see a lot of restaurants in the town indeed.

But most of them are closed.

"The yield rate must really have been padded to levy heavy tax."

There were many stores that didn't have a guest or downright closed.

Stores oriented for adventurers and cheap things seem to be flourishing… But stores that offer intricate food have mostly gone out of business.

They must be expensive… Or rather, none of the populace could afford stores that sell things at normal prices.

Business being bad is one thing… But this is just a whole other level of bad.

To the point that the town ruled by someone under demon's control was doing better than this.

We kept walking in town while thinking that.

But we couldn't find any trace of demonic mana.

It's not like someone has died in the town either.

Business may be doing bad… but the town itself looks to be free of incident.

…We couldn't find anything suspicious in the lord's mansion either.

We didn't catch a sight of the lord himself… but there were no suspicious spaces or anything in the mansion like it was at Gravy Woods.

"Uun… I can't find it anywhere…"

"Yes, absolutely nothing came up… Maybe the demon's gone to another town already?"

"Nope, this fits just right. The fact that there is no trace of its mana or any kind of hint toward it actions is all but expected."

Indeed, the possibility of Zadokilgias leaving for another town is not nil.

Doing so by flying would make it obvious… but we wouldn't have any way to detect it if the demon just walked away while pretending to be a human.

If a demon as skilled as Zadokilgias was serious in trying to hide its mana, there's almost no way to discern it.

Zadokilgias must have foreseen a subjugation unit that excels at killing demons being sent here after it scattered its mana all over the place right after it was awakened.

Zadokilgias would most likely win against such a unit… But its tendency to not pick the easy way to engage in combat is a bothersome quality of this demon.