「…Um, nice to meet you, I’m Lean Bloodlord. Pleased to meet you.」
「Oh my goodness, you are so polite for such a little girl. It’s nice to meet you too.」
She gave me some kind of awesome benevolent look.
What if I told her that mental age is not as it appears?
「…Um, then… Tiana,-san? You will take me?」
「Yes, I am sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve been on the front lines for a bit, blowing up a couple of thousand humans with my magic.」
…Oh wow.
Even though she is polite and a beautiful woman full of perfect superhuman qualities who uses polite language even to a child (appearance) like me, she is still a senior officer of the demon army.
She said awesome things with a nice smile. But it’s a nice touch.
「I’ve heard your story, Lean-sama. I know it’s not something that I can gauge… I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.」
「N-No, that’s…」
…I wonder if there are rumors about me in the demon army.
I’m sure it has. A「species」called the vampire race was destroyed by humans and the last survivor of the race is a hot topic of conversation.
「…Then, let’s get to it. We will now move to our most important base, the『Demon King’s Castle』. Please hold on to me.」
「Uh, yes.」
「Here we go.《Teleportation》.」
A moment later, the view in front of me bent and vanished, and a tenth of a second later, a completely different view opened up.
It was just like a castle of disaster like Rasdan in Dora〇e… It was not.
It was black all over… I don’t know, it just seemed classy somehow. Of course, the sky was not red. It’s just a normal morning and the sun is shining.
It is called「Raven Castle」because of its blackness. It looks like a westernized version of Matsumoto Castle, about 5 times bigger… Would you get the idea if I told you? No, that’s impossible.
「Welcome to the Demon’s Castle. We welcome you, Lean-sama.」
◆◇◆◇◆
「The area around the castle is surrounded by Transference Sealing Wards, so from here to the top floor, where the Demon King resides, you will have to travel on foot. Apologies for the inconvenience.」
With that, I followed Tiana-san as she walked away and entered the castle.
I wonder if it’s okay to enter so easily… As I was thinking, Tiana-san, who seemed to have read my thoughts, added,「I can break through the warding to some extent」.
The inside of the castle was truly majestic.
The furnishings were appropriately scattered around without being too grotesque, and various people were coming and going from here to there.
The only thing they have in common is that they are not human.
「Oh, Tiana-sama, you have returned?」
「Yes, I was picking her up. You can go back to work now.」
「…Ah, that’s the girl you’re talking about… I understand.」
After all, it seems that I am the talk of the town in this castle.
At least, there doesn’t seem to be any hostility. Rather, it’s… I feel sympathy, pity, or something like that.
「…If it bothers you, I can make it transparent.」
「That’s a light line… I’m okay, really.」
「I am glad to hear that. You…rather, there have been quite a few rumors among the demon army about vampires. In the process, you have also become quite famous.」
…Did I do something that would make me that famous?
Tiana-san chuckled, perhaps sensing my thoughts by her expression, and,
「…A normal five-year-old wouldn’t be able to kill 21 humans, would they?」
I was very surprised.
No, that’s true, but…… Now that you mention it, that’s true.
But to think that they already know about it, the information network of the Demon King’s Army is truly something to be reckoned with.
「So you’ve been the center of attention for a while now. If you find it bothersome, you can always tell me.」
…She’s a good person…No, a good elf.
Then we walked for a while and I felt small but somewhat at home… Yes, I was taken to a room that had that kind of atmosphere, like a secret base I made when I was a kid.
「Well then, I have contacted the Demon King by telepathic communication, so please wait a little longer. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.」
Questions…mm. Not that there aren’t any, but…
「…Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but… I had an image of elves as being on the side of humans.」
…I said.
I knew she’d be offended…but I couldn’t help my curiosity…
Despite my thoughts, Tiana-san didn’t look disgusted… Rather, she had a curious look on her face.
「…You have a very old image of me, don’t you? Sure, there was a time when we elves coexisted and prospered with humans, but that was over 400 years ago, remember?」
She replied.
「…Oh, I see! Perhaps Lean-sama is under the impression that only demons are members of the Demon King’s Army?」
「Ah, yes… Because the king of the demon tribe unites them, so it’s the『Demon King’s Army』isn’t it?」
「No, that is not true. The demon king’s army is…『An allied army of all races except humans』.」
「…Eh?」
…Eh, what, in essence, we are at war with humans vs. all other species?
「It was about 500 years ago, when humans began to be fanatical about Misery and began to view the demonic races as the enemy. At that time, even against those of us who were not demons, humans said,『Misery-sama is absolute, no god but Misery-sama, and those who don’t believe in Misery-sama are not intelligent life forms』…They began to do whatever they wanted, killing or enslaving any race that disobeyed them.」
「They did that to more than just demons!?」
「That’s right. As a result, we elves gave up on humans early on and survived by seeking protection from the Demon King, who had received a blessing from Isuzu-sama. Following suit, other races turned to the Demon King’s Army one after another… As a result, the war has become what it is today. Nowadays, humans seem to define us elves and other races with a bias as『demon』races.」
……I knew it, but you are irredeemable, human.
「Still, when you look at the total number, it far exceeds ours, and you can see that humans make up far too large a percentage of this world… Oh, it looks like we are ready. Let me show you to the top floor where the Demon King resides.」
…Finally, we are face to face with the Demon King?
It’s hard to have a good image of it because of the RPGs of my previous life, but…