Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga

Chapter 664

As soon as I returned to the mansion after finishing my schedule in Japan, what greeted me was the mansion’s interior, which was incomparably more perfectly furnished than when I left, a somewhat bewildered Tie, and the demons who seemed to have seen me somewhere.

“I was taking you in as a guest for the time being because you said you came to see Ega-sama with official documents…”

As soon as he saw me, Tie looked at the demons who all knelt down and bowed their heads, and explained to them as if she was embarrassed about her first meeting with them…

I was equally embarrassed. I never dreamed that such a bizarre event would greet me as soon as I returned home. It was only natural.

“Was the document real?”

A very obvious question popped up, but Tie just nodded without showing any discomfort.

“Yes, I have confirmed with the royal family. What they presented is an official document written in the name of Saint Deoni Vire of the Masin Church and King Itisel VII. Not only do they each have one, but they also have a metal token in case the document is lost.”

Five demons who have definitely gone through administrative procedures.

Since I spent time with the demon cult members to help the saint, it is understandable that there are some familiar demons that I don’t remember well. Since I spent several months with them, I remember them more than most humans.

But the story changes a lot because of their half-severed horns.

That was the result of a measure taken in case the prisoners escaped.

“You look like some of the prisoners. How come you are here?”

As I asked them a question, raising the tension and magic that had been building up even before I met them with my own eyes, their heads lowered even more as they felt the magic. I thought it was to gain momentum, but it was just to make sure they were taking a humble stance.

“To assist the warrior”

“You, the Demon King’s Army? Me?”

The saintess agreed to that again? What on earth happened while I was away? I can’t help but frown as the incomprehensible situation keeps repeating itself.

“The saintess also anticipated the warrior’s doubts in advance. Would it be okay for me to convey the saintess’s words here?”

He was kneeling in the lobby on the first floor, so he must have said that he would move if the place was not convenient, but since all the labor is provided by people from the Tier sect, there are no true ‘civilians’ in this house.

Even just now, it was like that. As soon as the demons bowed their heads, several members of the religious order quietly left their seats, and not a single ant is moving around. Just in case, I checked the surroundings using all my senses and magic power, but the only ones who can hear are me and Tie.

“say·”

“First of all, the reason was that the telegram that the vampires had attacked the hero reached the saintess through the empire. Since the vampires, which were rare on the continent, attacked the hero in the middle of the empire, the saintess and other executives judged that the Demon King’s army might move additional troops to assassinate the hero.”

So I attached an escort. Up to that point, there was no difficulty in understanding, but the problem was the escort force.

“It’s fine as an escort, but why you guys?”

“First of all… the existing troops were in a state where they had no room to move separately. The saintess said that they were even less manpower-strapped than when the warrior personally moved to deliver confidential information to the human army.”

Next was the absence of those with the skills to be escorts.

The intervention of the Empire was excessive, and it was clear that I would refuse the royal escort, so the saintess decided that she could not just sit back and do nothing. She turned her eyes to the remaining troops of the unit that had been deployed to capture Siegfried and had been defeated by me.

Although it was just arrogance, the elite force was deployed with the evaluation that it was not lacking in capturing warriors. Furthermore, it was not defeated in battle and was captured by force, but surrendered in a form similar to voluntary tax payment, so there was no ideological problem.

Those with impure thoughts all attempted to fight to the death, so that judgment is correct, but the problem is that these people are not those who fought me and survived, but voluntary taxpayers.

“You think you can stop an assassin who threatens to kill me with that level of skill?”

It’s hard to be sure since they didn’t directly clash swords, but if you just look at the amount of magical power, it’s probably stronger than the average Demon King’s army.

But that’s only the story when weaklings fight each other. If a vampire-level creature appears right away, they’ll only be a meat shield.

“I see that all you can do is be a living, breathing shield.”

It’s not as good as moving alone. Unlike now when you can move around freely with your own car, if you move around with all that luggage hanging on you, your options will be limited.

So, to finish it off neatly, I hit a fastball and got a completely unexpected answer.

“If that is really all we can do, we will be shields. That is why we are here.”

He spoke so nonchalantly that at first I thought I had misheard him. However, the demon who was the most vocal seemed to have kept me in mind as he drove the wedge in firmly.

“We will assist you, hero, even if it means dying, in order to repent for our past when we joined the Demon King’s army and tried to resist you, Ephaga.”

It seems that my escort is a one-way ticket to Jerusalem and an indulgence for them.

◈

The former Demon King’s army had the fear they felt when they first encountered Eldmia engraved deep in their bones, but they still broke out in a cold sweat as soon as they saw Eldmia for the first time in a long while.

It wasn’t that I had any ambitious plans to antagonize him or to assassinate him when I had the chance and then return to the Demon King’s army. It was more like an instinct to cower in front of a strong person.

Eldmia seemed to have become stronger than the day she was sent to capture the Empire’s warrior Siegfried, whether she had grown stronger in the short time since or if there was some special magic on the dragon armor she was wearing. She was so strong that even though she didn’t raise her head, not only her gaze but her presence was clearly felt.

“I got a little annoyed because of that damn mosquito.”

Because of that, every time Eldmia said a word, the former Demon King’s army flinched, but fortunately, Eldmia didn’t say anything about it. Instead, Eldmia kicked the ground with her soles and made a thumping sound. After a while of awkward silence, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“You have two choices: make a contract with me to dispel my suspicions, or return the way you came and report to the Saint that I have rejected her favor.”

From the beginning, they had a faint sense of loyalty towards the Demon King, so they turned their backs on the Demon King’s army and surrendered, and thanks to that, their faith in the Demon God was quickly restored. Among them, the five who were carefully selected were the ones who made the current choice. Since even Saint Deoni Bire and the heretic judges acknowledged it, I thought that if a problem arose, only their skills would be mentioned, but who would have thought that they would even mention the imprint contract.

“Even if the Demon King’s army realized that they were on the wrong path and changed their minds, I have absolutely no reason to evaluate you favorably. Even though the saint and the church acknowledged it, the fact remains that you were a bunch of idiots who ignored and trivialized Ephaga’s efforts.”

So if you really want to stay, show your will by engraving it. After saying that, Eldmia began to wait quietly for an answer. Then, the gazes of the demons, who had not raised their heads since meeting him, turned toward each other for the first time.

But no one was flustered or worried. The demons, who had already confirmed that they had made up their minds since the day they faced Eldmia and surrendered, nodded briefly to confirm each other’s intentions and then bowed their heads again.

“I will engrave it”

“Yeah, that could be it. Now come back… what?”

“I will engrave your mark and become a shield that protects you, warrior.”

The reason I followed the Demon King and joined him even though I had no interest in the Demon King’s cause in the first place was because I worshipped strength.

The Demon King was so talented that rumors spread that he had the power to see the future. That alone was enough to gather people, but he also seemed to be leading the Demons down a new path with plausible reasons, so people thought there was no reason not to follow him.

But then, someone appeared who directly refuted that idea.

He foresees the future as soon as he moves, and he shattered the plans of the Demon King who was praised, and even slaughtered the erosion that was considered to have overwhelming power, and furthermore, he captured the light-shooting Iraph, a big shot in the Demon King’s army, and made even the infamous Soa Shinore of the Special Operations Department escape, and he even opened a way for the Demon Cult, which was on the verge of death, to escape.

Those who are steeped in the ideology of the Demon King’s army consider Eldmia as Ephaga’s last desperate attempt, but to them, who have worshipped only the Demon King’s competence from the beginning, this story is of no concern.

They are much weaker than the warriors. They were able to be chosen as escorts because the circumstances were right. If not now, then this is the chance that will never come again. They were prepared to die anyway, so what’s the big deal about the imprint?

“···This is ridiculous·”

Eldmia’s face, who had no way of knowing the intentions of those demons, was filled with absurdity.