The bus comes to a stop, and I get off, taking Myrril with me. We move to a small elevated spot in the forest to see where the enemy is supposed to be ambushing us.
“Owe-san, do you know how many enemies there are?”
“As far as I can see from here, there are six heavy cavalries, two light cavalries, ten heavy infantry, and twenty light infantry. They are in battle formation and hiding on both sides of the road, but I don’t see any commanders.”
“…Hmm. There is one hiding behind a fallen tree. That must be the commander. I remember seeing those people somewhere.”
Whatever the case, both the winged tribe and Myrril have amazing eyesight. I can’t see a thing from 800 meters away.
Now that we had made our inspection of the enemy, I returned to the bus and began to give instructions.
“Owe-san, please stay in the driver’s seat and wait here with Luvia-san for the rest of the group. We don’t need support. The first priority is the defense of yourselves and the bus, followed by the defense of the following Transportation Corps as much as possible.”
“”Understood.””
If we are dealing with humans, the 5.56mm rounds from the M4 assault rifle will be fine, but… I’ll leave the RPK and RPG in the vehicle as well, just in case.
“Lionora-san, these two are among the most elite in the Casemaian, and if you rely on them, you won’t have any problems. If a battle breaks out, get down behind the chair and never move. In particular, never touch that weapon over there.”
“Y-yes.”
“Well, don’t worry. A mere forty or so soldiers will never reach this point.”
As usual, Myrril-san was very relaxed.
We were standing in the vanguard, and Luvia-san and the others, either accustomed to us or trusting us, did not look particularly anxious.
“Your Majesty the Demon King, your Majesty the Queen, good luck.”
“Umu, I appreciate your kind words, but since the enemy is only 124, we don’t need any luck.”
“…Hmm? Is there any increase? I thought it was 117 before.” [T/n: I don’t know why it has become 124 or 117; I’m confused here.]
Myrril held the UZI to her chest and indicated her right shoulder, opposite the shoulder holster containing the M1911 copy, and a spare magazine had been added to the right side.
“This is where you keep the “Supeamagajin.” I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know that until now.”
So, seven more bullets, 124 people.
I don’t quite understand her embarrassment, but as usual, she declared, “one shot, one kill.” I haven’t seen her using anything other than UZI recently.
“It is because I don’t have to deal with more than 110 people.”
“That’s not normal. I mean, you can’t just read my mind and respond to me like you always do.”
“It’s a heart-to-heart communication.”
I think she does understand my feelings.
“Yoshua, at the end of the road, just before a gradual descent with a rock on the left. They will be waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. I am ready whenever you are.”
“Roger that.”
I teleport to the designated position on the road with Myrril in my arms.
Once we were in front of the target’s waiting position, Myrril took the left side of the road, and I took the right side, pointing my gun into the forest.
“You have an ugly way of hiding. What do you want from us?”
I heard a gasp of surprise at my sudden appearance and the rustling of leaves.
Unfortunately, my eyes couldn’t see the enemy yet. I would have to roast them.
“If you don’t come out by the count of five, I’ll kill you! …One!”
As soon as I started counting, horses came neighing out of the bushes at the back of the road. Three horses came charging toward me from either side, each carrying a heavy cavalryman.
The soldiers coming with their spears outstretched were wearing brown cloaks that I did not remember seeing on the battlefields of Casemaian. I don’t know what army they are from.
“I admire you for coming out, though.”
I slam a barrage of shots with my AKM against the cavalryman on my right, crushing his horse. It took me more than 20 rounds of fully automatic fire to kill the excited warhorse.
I approached with short-range teleportation, changing magazines, and pointed my gun at the heavily armed cavalryman, who was rolling over and unable to move.
“Who is in command?”
There was no reply. There was no movement among the remaining enemies who might be lurking in the forest.
I looked in the direction of Myrril, where the horses were intact, and only the cavalry had rolled over. As usual, she took one shot to the eyeballs. She glanced at me and nodded as if there was no problem.
The slightly reproachful look in her eyes may have been her way of saying, “The horse is not to blame,” but there was no way I could neutralize a heavily armed cavalryman who was charging at me at point-blank range.
“Who is your commander?”
I called out to the presence lurking around me and shot a lying heavy cavalryman in the thigh. A piece of soft steel, manually hammered and stretched, would not be able to stop a 7.62-millimeter bullet. The cavalryman rolls around, splattering blood and screaming.
“The time for counting to five has passed. Negotiations are over. If you have a grudge, hate your cowardly commander.”
I shot through the cavalryman’s helmet, who was trying to get up to his feet. I shot the other one in the back as he tried to flee.
“What are you doing? Kill him!”
I memorized the position from which I heard the voice.
I shot and killed the archer who stood up and tried to shoot an arrow, and I shot and killed the infantryman who drew his sword and came running out, shooting him through his shield.
Meanwhile, the sound of UZI fire continues to echo calmly and steadily from my left side at regular intervals. The bullets fired from the UZI must have shot through the eyeballs of the soldiers. Not a single soldier made it out of the forest.
“Yoshua, it’s over. The commander is behind a fallen tree in the back there.”
Wait, wait, it looks like there are still five or six more trying to go around from hiding over here.
“Fumu. They’re going to join the others.”
Just as she’s saying this, a UZI is fired, and a soldier falls behind a bush that I couldn’t see at all.
What a difference in potential. As I thought, I’m merely a merchant, not a demon king, in terms of combat ability.
“Hey, you old man. Come out, or I’ll kill you. Even if you resist, I’ll kill you.”
Myrril unleashed an unusually unabashed fury at the shivering commander in the shadows of the trees. I heard her spat out in a voice that only I could hear.
“…I’ll kill you even if you don’t do anything. You damn disgusting thief.”
“Do you know him, by any chance?”
“You maybe know him, too. There was that fool who tried to kill us when we were in the royal capital, wasn’t there? And it was Duke Torreis, who was hiding in there, who arranged it.”
…Let’s see. I remember that we were almost killed when we escaped from the royal city, but I don’t really remember the story of the nobleman.
Was it the nobleman who was said to have taken the mechanical bow from Myrril?
“…Hmm? But wasn’t that the army of the margrave that wearing green cloaks?”
“That was the one who bought the mechanical bows, a small follower of his. It was Duke Torreis there, no doubt, who tried to monopolize my knowledge and skills and came to kill me when I refused?”
I don’t understand the story. I don’t recall ever hearing such a name. More importantly, I have no interest in it. I’d like to just kill him and be done with it, but he doesn’t seem to be coming out.
“That duke, if he lives in the royal capital, he must be a royalist, right? What is he doing here at a time like this?”
“I don’t know. He may have run away and fallen in with the king. He was a court nobleman with no lands. They say he was making a profit from the kingdom’s economy, but you destroyed that, too, didn’t you?”
“We did, didn’t we? Is that important?”
“Anyway, he is a pathetic old man who has lost everything. Perhaps he was looking for a chance to avenge himself on the Demon King of Casemaian? If he wants to die here, why don’t you make it happen?”
“You bastards! Why don’t you just shut up and listen to me!”
An old man in silver armor came out of the forest. He held a sword in one hand and dragged a large shield in the other, perhaps because he lacked the muscle strength to carry it.
The old man was very agitated and probably had a lot of conflicting feelings toward Nojaloli-san.
“You filthy little Dwarf girl! To think that you have become a servant of the Demon King, the enemy of mankind. It seems that it is true that subhumans have the blood of the demons mixed in their veins. Now, I’m going to defeat you with my own hands!”
No, that’s impossible, of course. You didn’t see how she killed nearly 40 combatants in an instant, did you?
Maybe he saw it, but he just can’t accept it.
“You know, Duke.”
Myrril didn’t look back but slung the UZI over her shoulder with a leather belt. It looks like he’s lost the will to kill, but that’s outrageous. She’s very motivated, this one.
“You said when I protested when my achievements were taken away from me, “You are opposed to the House of Torreis. If you defy House Torreis, you will not be able to live in the royal capital,” didn’t you say that?”
The duke raised his sword without answering the question and started to move, and Myrril pulled an M1911 copy pistol from its holster and fired.
The metal plate that was supposed to protect the duke’s knees crumpled, and the old man’s body tilted. 45-caliber bullets must have penetrated the plate and shattered it. The duke, unable to even move under the weight of his armor, convulsed and screamed.
“A-aaah, aaaah!”
“I am so grateful to you for your judgment. If I had stayed in the royal capital, I would be rotting by now. My body, my mind, my pride, my aspirations, my dreams.”
“Aaaah, ah…”
“So you see, Duke. I forgive you for taking the mechanical bow from me. I forgive you for trying to kill me. The many insults and ill-treatment are trivial now. Your despicable decisions have made me what I am today. Ironically, your malice led to the acquisition of so many irreplaceable and wonderful things, you know?”
The duke did not hear any of Myrril-san’s words. He probably has no intention of listening to her. As the old man struggled to raise himself up, the dwarf girl laughed and shot him in the elbow.
“A-aaaah, aaaaahhhhh…!”
Supported by the sword, the body that was trying to stand up collapsed from the face down and rolled.
The duke was lying on his back, looking up at the sky and out of breath, and Myrril held a pistol to his nose. She looked into the old man’s eyes with a smile that was almost affectionate and said.
“His Majesty the Demon King Tekehue Yoshua has bestowed upon you a special death. Accept it respectfully.”