The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“How big is the horde of monsters?”
“They say it’s over a hundred.”
“If that’s all, then…”
“…Except, about thirty percent of them are said to be A-rank equivalents.”
“Tch… We might be fine, but for the townsfolk, that’s brutal.”
A horde of monsters numbering over a hundred.
Cassion is said to be part of the Four Heavenly Kings’ royal guard, so even if they’re A-rank opponents, he probably won’t have any trouble.
But the townspeople don’t have that kind of strength.
That must be what he’s worried about, since his expression was extremely bitter.
“There’s no way this happened naturally… Even if it did, there’s no reason a horde would come for the town. Is this harassment from the hardliners? Damn it, those bastards.”
“W-what should we do…? Should we start evacuating—?”
“…No, we’ll fortify our defenses.”
“But…”
“The townsfolk have to come first, but… if we abandon this place, there’s no way we can survive anywhere else. There are kids and old people here too.”
“Ah…”
“We’ll defend this place to the last man. Tell the garrison that!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The atmosphere instantly turned frantic.
Why are demons being attacked by monsters?
Are they actually in conflict with these so-called hardliners?
Too many mysteries appeared at once, and I felt like my head might explode.
But… for now, those questions have to wait.
What should we do from here on?
That’s what we need to think about.
“…Rain, what shall we do?”
“…If we think about it logically, I believe the best option is to go outside and regroup with Tania and the others.”
“…Yeah. If we stay here, we’ll just get caught up in it. That’s true, but… still…”
Yuki, and everyone else too, had hesitation written all over their faces.
I’m sure I was wearing the same kind of expression.
I thought back to when we spoke with the gate guard.
He hadn’t doubted us in the least—in fact, he was worried about us.
The demons of this town had chatted with us casually.
Sometimes the conversation drifted into small talk…
There had even been moments when we exchanged smiles.
And then there was Cassion.
He had sympathized with us so much that he’d looked like he might cry.
It hadn’t felt like an act at all—he seemed genuinely manly.
“Rain.”
Yuki looked at me.
I could feel the strength of his resolve in his eyes.
I felt the same way.
I nodded back.
“We can’t just leave them like this. Let’s help.”
They’re demons.
The natural enemies of all living beings.
But…
The ones living in this town don’t feel like evil.
I don’t think they’re people we can’t understand.
Maybe it’s all an act, and they’ll turn on us later.
Maybe helping them here will lead to us being stabbed in the back.
But even if that happens, so be it.
We’ll deal with it when the time comes.
Right now, we have to think about the present!
“Excuse me, may I have a word?”
“Hm? Ah… sorry. You should’ve been safe in the shelter, and now you’ve been dragged into this. But don’t worry—we’ll protect you, no matter what.”
“No, it’s about that… Could you let us help?”
“What?”
“The monster horde is closing in, right? I, and Yuu here, are capable of fighting to some degree.”
Behind me, Luna muttered, “Why are we being excluded?”—but that could wait.
“I appreciate the thought, but fighting is our soldiers’ job. We can’t put you in danger.”
“Are you really going to let pride put the townsfolk at risk?”
“…What was that?”
“I don’t know the full details, but right now you need every bit of fighting strength you can get. So let us join you. This isn’t the time to cling to ‘soldier’s duty’ or anything like that.”
“Ghh, that’s…”
Cassion’s expression wavered.
It looked like his thoughts were being pulled back and forth between pride and reality.
“But having soldiers rely on civilians is completely backwards. If it comes to that, though… no, letting the others die would be worse. Damn it…”
Cassion fell silent, thinking hard. Finally, he seemed to reach a conclusion and looked back at us.
“When you say you can fight… how strong are you?”
“I think I can handle multiple A-rank monsters.”
“Ah, I can probably take down one.”
“…You’re kidding…? For your age, that’s… incredible. Wait—sorry, I didn’t mean that as an insult.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“…If you’re that strong, then… all right.”
Cassion seemed to have made up his mind.
He bowed his head deeply.
“Please—I beg you! Help us protect the people of this town!”
――――――――――
While Cassion and the others were working out their strategy, we moved to a guest room.
When I said I wanted to check my equipment, they kindly let us use it.
It was helpful—we wanted to talk things over once before the operation anyway.
“Um… first, sorry. We’re supposed to be gathering information, but we’ve gone and thrown ourselves right into trouble. And now we’re even talking about helping demons… it feels kind of backwards.”
“I think it’s fine. Sure, they’re demons, but they’re completely different from the demons I know… ignoring them would just leave a bad taste in my mouth.”
“Indeed. I agree with that sentiment… however, why are we the ones stuck waiting behind?”
The ones going to the defense battle would be me and Yuki alone.
Sora and Luna, under the pretense of having no combat ability, were to remain in the town.
“When you two use magic, your wings appear, right? If that happens, everyone will instantly know you’re spiritfolk.”
“Ah.”
Luna let out a silly sound, as if she hadn’t considered that at all.
“And besides… there’s the possibility this whole thing is an elaborate trap. Just in case, I want you two to stay here in the town. If something happens…”
“That’s when it becomes our turn, yes?”
“Exactly.”
Cassion doesn’t look like he’s trying to trick us…
But he is a demon, and this is enemy territory.
We need to be ready for every possibility.
Though, I have to admit—doubting someone as sincere-looking as Cassion feels a little painful.
“For now, Yuki and I will handle the monsters. Sora and Luna will act if it comes down to it. And, depending on how things go, we may have to contact Tania and the others.”
“Roger that!”
“Leave it to us.”
“That about covers what we need to think about for now.”
Our plan was set.
It was set, but…
“…We’ve ended up with a mountain of things to think about later.”
The demons.
Their internal factions and connections.
What in the world is really going on here?
TL Note- Some good demons like some bad humans or inverse.....
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