WM – Chapter 226: Takatsuki Makoto heads to the Demon Lord Castle

“Uhm…Makoto-sama? This direction is where the Demon Lord Castle is…” (Momo)

Momo pulled my sleeve scared. 

The human farm is at the back of the Demon Lord Castle, and this giant white castle could be clearly seen even from afar. 

The close aides of the Demon Lord are stationed in the vicinity of the Demon Lord Castle.

They are strong, and you would get eaten in the blink of an eye.

That’s why Momo and I had been taking distance from the Demon Lord Castle as we passed our days.

But according to what the boy said before…

The Heroes will be executed.

If Hero Abel is within those people, it is mission failed.

I think the chances of that being the case are high.

According to the Legend of Hero Abel, he gets stronger and stronger in the second half.

Riding the holy dragon that soars the skies, he would go around the whole world, defeat Demon Lords, and began to be called the Savior. 

If the legends are true, there should be almost no one who can win against Abel who has become strong. 

That’s why if they are planning on changing the past, they would aim for the time when Hero Abel hasn’t awakened yet. 

The Demon Lord Bifrons that Abel is supposed to subjugate first.

The Heroes that are apparently going to be executed with this timing.

…It would have been dangerous if I hadn’t been told this.

“Momo, I will be going to the Demon Lord Castle to save the Heroes.” (Makoto)

“?!” 

I have told her my objective, so she must have been expecting it to a certain extent, but even with that, the face of Momo stiffened greatly.

“H-How…will you do it…?” (Momo)

“I don’t know. First, I will gather information on site.” (Makoto)

“Do you have any comrades…?” (Momo)

“None. Not a single one.” (Makoto)

“No way… It is im—” (Momo)

Momo was probably about to say ‘it is impossible’, but she hung her head down and went silent.

“I…I…” (Momo)

Of course this would happen.

Momo’s magic proficiency is on the level that she can’t even use magic chantless.

She would be lacking in terms of battle power.

That said, even if I were to tell her to hide somewhere, there’s no safe place in the human farm.

“Want to come with me?” (Makoto)

“…Is that okay?” (Momo)

In the end, the only thing I could think of was to protect her in a place where I can reach.

Most of all, I myself am in a hurry here.

I want to know about the current state of the Heroes that are about to be executed.

“Let’s go.” (Makoto)

“Yes.” (Momo)

Momo and I held hands. I activated Stealth, and hurried to the Demon Lord Castle. 

◇◇

“Hmm, can’t proceed any further than this, huh…” (Makoto)

“…It would be difficult.” (Momo)

Right now we are at a slightly elevated hill that’s close to the city near the castle.

The castle is surrounded by moats and walls.

However, rather than calling it walls to protect from outside forces, it is more like it is to delineate ‘from here on it is a special place’. 

Also, most around that area are demons.

There’s also elves and dwarves that seem to be the slaves of the demons.

There’s also human slaves.

They would all be beautiful, have great physique, or easy to see characteristics.

(It would be difficult for me and Momo to blend with them…) (Makoto)

I held down my impatient emotions, and concentrated on gathering information with Farsight and Eavesdrop.

The demons spoke loudly and I could easily pick their conversations with Eavesdrop.

The result is that I learned some things.

– Bifrons is currently away.

– The execution will take place when Bifrons comes back.

– There’s 3 Heroes who will be executed (names unknown).

(The Demon Lord being away is the fortune within the misfortune, huh…) (Makoto)

I also heard something interesting.

The conversation of some demons.

“Hey, about the Heroes that were caught and are in the plaza, shouldn’t we execute them at once?” 

“You…don’t you know? If you kill a Hero, the next Hero is born, you know? The Goddesses would give Skills to the new Hero after all. That’s why it is better to capture Heroes without killing them.” 

“But the Great Demon Lord-sama said personally to ‘Kill the Heroes’, right?” 

“Aah, we apparently have to definitely kill a certain Hero… We don’t know who it is, so Bifrons-sama has gone to the Great Demon Lord-sama to confirm.” 

“Can’t we just bring the captured Heroes to the Great Demon Lord-sama…?” 

“You…saying something like bringing the lowly Heroes to the Great Demon Lord-sama that rarely shows itself…? I won’t be responsible for whatever kind of punishment you would get from that, you know?” 

“So scary, so scary. Well, not even we have seen the Great Demon Lord-sama after all.” 

“Just listening to that voice makes me tremble.” 

“Now that you mention it, it is better to capture the Heroes alive, right…?” 

“Yeah, I told you that just now, right?” 

“Then, why is the Black Knight Cain-sama killing the Heroes immediately?” 

“You… There’s no way Cain-sama can make such rational decisions, right?” 

“Ah, right. That personage has several screws loose after all.” 

“Yeah… He is a personage that’s as scary as the Great Demon Lord-sama in a different sense.” 

It was that kind of conversation.

(I see…)

So that’s the reason why they don’t execute them at once.

But, in the end, I don’t know if Abel is within that group.

Also, the former Apostle of Noah-sama has a bad reputation.

Wonder what kind of guy he is…

I kinda want to meet him, and I kind of don’t…

“Makoto-sama…how was it?” (Momo)

Momo was munching on a fruit that looks like an apple which we found while we were moving around.

Sorry, that’s the only food we got.

“I am thinking about going in tonight.” (Makoto)

“T-Tonight?!” (Momo)

“Yeah, it seems like everyone sleeps at night after all.” (Makoto)

We arrived close to the Demon Lord Castle yesterday. 

I have been observing the Demon Lord Castle and the area near the castle for a whole day.

There’s few who walk around at night.

I will create mist with magic, and slip in that way.

There’s lookouts, but they lack any sense of danger and are slacking.

There’s most likely no one who would attack them.

I thought the Heroes had attacked the Demon Lord Castle, but they apparently didn’t even reach the city near the castle.

Will they even be able to win against the demon lord army like this…?

While feeling uneasy about this…I wait for night to come.

“Water Magic: [Mist].” (Makoto)

The sun and the moon couldn’t be seen because of the Pitch Black Clouds.

It is probably 3:00 a.m.

I slowly approach the city of the demons while using Stealth.

If Furiae-san were here, I could use the Sleep Curse.

Well, can’t ask for what’s not here.

We would get caught by the gatekeeper if we were to pass through the gate, so we go over the moat and the walls. 

I create a path in the air with water magic, and move by using Surface Walk.

I have been holding the hand of Momo the whole time.

Her face is stiffened from the tension.

(I should have taught her the Calm Skill.) (Makoto)

A point I should reflect on next time.

While I was thinking that, we successfully infiltrated the city. 

At the center of the city, there’s the Demon Lord Castle that could be seen even through the mist. 

I heard that the execution of the Heroes will be at the front of the Demon Lord Castle. 

There’s magic street lights illuminating the streets of the demon city. 

Momo and I walked through the backstreets as much as possible.

Detection showed way too many enemies, so I got scared and stopped using it.

I relied only on the danger alert function as I aimed for the center of the city.

Is this how it feels for a terrorist when they infiltrate an enemy camp?

There were demons walking around, but I managed to deal with it with the thick mist and Stealth. We safely arrived at the place that seemed like the plaza.

{Momo…are you okay?} (Makoto)

{Y-Yes…I am scared though.} (Momo)

We hid in the shadow of a building and spoke in a low volume as we checked the state of the plaza.

Momo held my hand tightly, and I did the same.

There’s around…10 monsters as lookouts.

They are gargoyles.

How problematic.

I see a number of cages in the center of the plaza.

I could see people inside of them.

(What should I do…?) (Makoto)

The gargoyles were sitting on the big pillars that are here and there at the plaza.

They have a view of the whole plaza, and it looks hard to do a surprise attack on them.

Hmm, I want to act carefully, but I don’t want to stay long.

What should I do…?

“[Eavesdrop].” (Makoto)

The gargoyles were conversing, so I listened in.

“Hey, the mist today is dense.” 

“Yeah, what a displeasing day. My body is getting all damp and it feels bad.” 

“Aah, I want to dry my body with an open-fire or something…” 

“Totally agree. Want to take a short break?” 

“But we will get scolded for that, you know?” 

“We are simply gonna be drying up on an open-fire for a short hour. It would clear our minds and it would allow us to concentrate more in our watch.” 

…Gargoyles are monsters with will.

So they hate moisture, huh.

“[Mist].” (Makoto)

For now, I will do more of what my enemy hates.

“Ugh! The mist got denser.” 

“I can’t take this anymore! I will take a break!” 

“Ah! That’s not fair! I want to go too!” 

“Oi! Leave someone at the very least!” 

“Then you stay, leader!” 

“Don’t joke around! I am your superior here!” 

The gargoyles left.

It seems they left at least one, but if I take a wide turn, I could arrive at the cage without being noticed.

The gargoyle that fell behind was mumbling complaints and not concentrating on his watch at all.

They are neglecting their job to the extreme, but that’s fortunate for me.

I move slowly through the dense mist with Stealth and approach the cage.

Inside the cage there’s a man who was shackled in both arms and legs, and his body was tied up with chains. 

He looked like he was sleeping, but when I got close, he soon woke up.

The man directed wary eyes at me.

“You…are a human?” 

The man made a dubious expression.

“I have come to save you.” (Makoto)

“?!” 

I said this straight, and the man opened his eyes wide.

“That would help a lot…but this cage is something that the confidant of the Demon Lord, Shuri, created with her darkness magic. It would be difficult to open—” 

I didn’t wait for him to finish speaking and take out the dagger of Noah from my waist.

*Clink*

The blade of the dagger made a short sound, and the bars were severed. 

“Huh?” 

I ignore the surprised man, enter the cage, and cut off the chains and shackles.

I try to grab them so that they won’t make a sound, but it was so heavy I was on the verge of dropping them, but Momo supported me.

“Are you okay, Makoto-sama?” (Momo)

“You saved me there, Momo.” (Makoto)

“N-No problem…” (Momo)

Looks like Momo has more strength than me.

This is sad.

“You…just who in the world…” 

I say to the dumbfounded man.

“My name’s Makoto. I have come under the oracle of Althena-sama and have come to save you Heroes. You are a Hero, right?” (Makoto)

I asked.

Hearing this, his face turned serious.

“I am the Earth Hero, Volkh. Thanks, you saved me there. I have comrades in the other cages. Please save them too.” (Volkh)

It wasn’t Abel.

But there’s others.

What about here?

“Got it. Are your other comrades Heroes?” (Makoto)

“Yeah, that’s right… The ones captured over there are the Wood Hero Julietta, and the Lightning Hero Abel.” 

“?!” 

I pumped my fist inside my mind.

I have successfully made contact with Savior Abel.

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