The Demon King Seems to Conquer the World

When the whole thing was over and I stood up, I found that my left knee was scratched.

With a nasty premonition, the thick pants were torn and the skin was scraped. Perhaps it was scraped by his helmet. Since it was the case, it wasn’t a wound that could be stitched.

On top of being scraped, there was a dull pain that numbed the knee to the core.

‘It must have been hurt by the knee attack. The kneecap may have been broken…’

‘I feel it even if I don’t pay attention to it. Should I go to see Carol?’

While supporting the left foot, I walked steadily and went near Carol, who was staring.

“It’s over.” (Yuri)

“…Yeah, I was watching.” (Carol)

Carol’s expression was hard to describe. She was smiling, but for some reason, she looked stunned. Perhaps, she was trying to look firm.

It seemed that she was sweating coldly inside when she was taken hostage and having a sword pointed at her neck. In addition to that, a murder took place in front of her, so not only her, ladies would be more or less shocked.

“No… that’s not it. I knew I would be rescued.” (Carol)

“Is that so?” (Yuri)

Since it was a fifty-fifty percent chance to rescue her, it would be strange if she knew it in advance, but she might have believed it in a good way.

“It seems that his subordinates aren’t around because they aren’t attacking at this time around.” (Yuri)

“I’m not sure about the situation, but it’s possible that they gave up and ran away.” (Carol)

I couldn’t fully explain the event to Carol due to the mess from yesterday. Carol didn’t ask me for an explanation. She probably knew that I was in an extreme state and that was why she was keeping her mouth shut.

As of yesterday, Canker was still accompanied by two subordinates, and there were two more people who were shot by an arrow but I couldn’t confirm their death. Although I felt optimistic that the two, who were shot, were dead, at least two of them should have been almost unharmed.

However, it was more than enough that those two couldn’t keep up with Canker’s forced pursuit. They might have disagreed and separated from him when they saw the burned luggage. After all, Canker didn’t have any luggage. He was completely empty-handed, except for the armor and anything that fit in his pocket somewhere.

“Well, it could be that way.” (Yuri)

“Yeah.” (Carol)

“But it doesn’t matter if we are concerned about them or not. When the time comes, I’ll just do what I can.” (Yuri)

‘With this foot, it is difficult to pursue and kill even a fat opponent who lacks exercise. It’s not feasible to explore, find and kill them because they may be around here. If the situation worsened, there is no choice but to deal with it on the spot.’

“…That’s right.” (Carol)

Carol turned away for a moment, and looked at the ground in a different direction. When I followed her gaze, there was a crutch there.

The crutch had a slight ‘へ’-shape character. In other words, the handle was broken.

‘What kind of momentum did he have when he kicked this?’

“Aah.” (Yuri)

When I walked to the stick, I picked it up. I held the crossbar and tapped the ground with the tip, there was a beeping sound. The stick had become more and more bent. With this, there was no way it could be used. It wasn’t durable enough to bear our weight.

“Well, it should take a little bit more to reach the village. We can manage it somehow.” (Yuri)

‘Maybe.’

“Yes. I think I can walk a bit if I rely on trees.” (Carol)

‘That’s the only way to do it. If it’s impossible by all means, we could walk while lending each other shoulders. We can do that much.’

‘However, even though the situation is getting worse and worse, Carol doesn’t seem to be able to bear it. She is calm. She isn’t trembling or becoming hysterical. That’s great.’

“Let’s go if we want to eat meals in the morning.” (Yuri)

“Understood.” (Carol)

‘However, if there’s no food, it will be really over. It’s unlikely that I can hunt with this foot.’

—

After having breakfast and starting to walk little by little, I found the idea of walking with our hands on the tree was ridiculously inefficient.

“This is hard.” (Yuri)

I took a short break, leaning back on the trunk as I turned around and said that.

The trees weren’t densely grown, so we had to walk between trees without relying on anything. Besides, the trunk of the big trees was not vertical, so we couldn’t put our weight against it. It wasn’t possible to reduce the burden on the legs with the arm strength like the handrails on the stairs.

In addition, the dull pain in the knee and the sole of the foot increased as I walked.

“…Aah.” (Carol)

Carol, who came a bit later, wasn’t feeling well.

‘Rather than being depressed, the pain that comes gradually may be affecting her head as if it shaves the willpower.’

‘But my knee is also quite unreliable. If I put my strength into it, I’ll start trembling like it’s crying. I don’t think I can carry her on my back.’

“Shall we rely on each other’s shoulders?” (Yuri)

“Y-yea.” (Carol)

I went back a little and reached Carol, who was late.

“Haa, haa… I wish you had waited.” (Carol)

‘Well, would it be fine to just wait there?’

“I think you’ll be lonely.” (Yuri)

“…Ah, yes, maybe.” (Carol)

A very honest answer came back as if she didn’t think too much.

“Then… let’s put the shoulders together.” (Yuri)

“Yeah.” (Carol)

I put my hand on Carol’s shoulder. Carol also did the same.

There was a slight difference in height.

“Are you alright? I have an injury on my left leg, and you have an injury on your right leg. So, let’s walk normally in the way of marching.” (Yuri)

“Understood.” (Carol)

“Alright. Let’s do it.” (Yuri)

When I stepped on my right foot, her shoulder twitched.

‘She might feel the pain. However, since you’re putting the weight over my arm, it should be much lighter than before.’

I put out my left foot and apply light force to Carol’s shoulder in the same way. Carol also endured tightly because her left foot was completely fine. It was easier than I expected.

“We can do this.” (Yuri)

“Yeah” (Carol)

Carol said so.

“You can put more weight on me. But you probably need to adjust.” (Carol)

“Is that so?” (Yuri)

Even though she said so, I actually didn’t notice it.

“I understand that men tend to be reluctant to rely on women in this situation, but if your feet are weakened, it’ll be really painful to me as well. After all, my left foot is fine.” (Carol)

‘Carol doesn’t train at the same level as me, but it’s true that her left foot is fine. Even if it’s impossible for me, she should have enough physical strength to carry and run as much as Myaro if she has no injury.’

“Understood. I’ll do that.” (Yuri)

“Please rely on me at such times.” (Carol)

“Alright.” (Yuri)

‘Is it a weak point that I don’t rely too much on others? No, I think I rely on others quite a bit.’

—

After walking for more than six hours, we came out on a small road. The cobblestone road was poorly made, but the forest was divided into two nicely.

It was a familiar road that I used several times during the encampment. The width and the condition of the cobblestone road looked exactly like the road that branched off the main road and led to the Nyukka village.

“Aah…” (Carol)

Carol, who was exhausted and trembled, collapsed. We were shoulder-to-shoulder, and I put on quite a weight.

“Oi.” (Yuri)

“Aah… haa, sorry…” (Carol)

When I said that, Carol put a lot of effort into her body and recovered herself. I looked at her face. Her rugged looking face disappeared and she looked relaxed with a sense of security.

‘No wonder. To tell the truth, it feels like she would want to sit down here and cry.’

‘Carol is probably expecting her to be helped at the village. Compared to me, who thinks that we have little hope from the beginning, it’s natural that I feel relieved a lot.’

‘Besides, I can’t say that I should expect it in this situation. The more the hope there is, the better.’

“What do you want to do? Do you want to take a break?” (Yuri)

“No, I’m still fine.” (Carol)

“Alright, shall we walk?” (Yuri)

We started walking to the left direction of the road.

‘I don’t remember where this road is because there’s no landmark, and I don’t know how long we will take to reach the Nyukka village. If we’re unlucky, we may not arrive by the end of today.’

“Hey, let’s stop for a bit.” (Yuri)

I looked at my watch. It showed 2.30 PM.

There was not much time.

“What’s wrong?” (Carol)

“I wonder if we can reach there by the end of the day. But it’s impossible.” (Yuri)

“Why is that?” (Carol)

“I don’t know where we are now. It’s possible that the village is close, but it may not work that way.” (Yuri)

“No, it’s pretty close.” (Carol)

‘?? How do you know that?’

“This road is well maintained with paving stones as it gets closer to the village.” (Carol)

“Is that so?” (Yuri)

“Yes. As you can see, this is much closer to the village than the main road.” (Carol)

‘Hoho. I didn’t pay attention to that, but it seems to be that way. It’s possible that the cobblestone road is well managed only in the frequently traveled area, as the villagers would have used these well-maintained roads to access the forest.’

“You remember it well.” (Yuri)

“This is my first time to be in a rural village like this, so… it felt unusual and I had been watching a lot. While imagining the life of a villager, I should see a lumberjack hut if we walk a bit further. I’m sure of it.” (Carol)

‘I also remember the existence of the lumberjack hut. In such a place, the lumberjack makes several simple bases in the forest and cuts trees. In the case of building materials, they will hire people and carry it around as it is. When making firewood, they will cut it to an appropriate length on the spot, and carry it to the village by using an eight-wheels carriage.’

In the lumberjack hut along the road, some logs that had been laid down, should have been rolled to the side of the hut and dried.

“If so, it’s pretty close.” (Yuri)

‘To be honest, I only know my current location vaguely. It’s a complete coincidence that we walk to this road and it is near to the village. It’s lucky enough to describe it as miraculous.’

“Yeah, maybe, I think I have no doubt about it.” (Yuri)

“That’s great. If that’s the case, it’s a different way of feeling.” (Carol)

‘It’s still important to reach the village, regardless whether or not the ally is waiting. If you know that it is close, the heavy foot will become lighter.’

“Then, let’s go immediately.” (Carol)

“Don’t. If we’re close, we don’t have to rush.” (Yuri)

“Uh… yes, that’s right.” (Carol)

“It’s fine if we get there by night.” (Yuri)

I put my watch in my pocket.

“Well, let’s go. Starting from the right foot…” (Yuri)