The Road South

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The purpose of the battle on the previous day was to determine who was the strongest warrior of the Ashtaroth army.

 

And the victor would go south.

 

‘Ruin of Ashgold.’

 

That was the name of the dungeon we would be going to.

And it was Jeanne who would accompany us.

 

While there was no real victor, as it had ended in a draw, I had seen that Jeanne’s sword had made contact.

 

It was hard to know what would have happened had the fight continued, but at that specific point, it was Jeanne’s to win.

 

Jeanne.

“If it means I can travel with you, I do not care about the specifics.”

She said.

 

As for Toshizou,

“It doesn’t matter if it was a scratch.”

He said as brushed his fingers over his cheek.

 

And so it was decided that Eve and Jeanne would go with me.

The kobold ninja, Hanzo would also come with us as a guide.

 

He bowed his head very low and said,

“It is the greatest honor to be able to accompany you, Master Demon King.”

 

While we were a small party, we would be heading for this Ruin of Ashgold.

Eve made the preparations.

She had been arranging everything at the same time that she prepared for the fight.

And since we had more funds than expected, we would now go by carriage.

A carriage with a proper roof.

And horses.

White horses.

 

Some might wonder if it was proper for a Demon King to be pulled by white horses, but I felt that using black horses or sleipnirs would be like advertising to the world that a Demon King was inside of the carriage.

 

I had to remember that a Demon King’s life was always in danger.

Outside of the castle, it would be better to be an ordinary young man. Ashta.

So I would not go by Ashtaroth outside.

We would be merchants from the north.

And we would wear disguises.

 

“Understood!”

Said Hanzo with a bow.

 

“Very well, young master.”

She said, immediately treating me like the son of a merchant family.

 

Jeanne was the only one who seemed slow to catch on.

“I see, Demon King.”

She muttered.

 

She always called me that. I only hoped she wouldn’t use it a crucial moment.

 

But then again, we were headed towards a dungeon.

We had no plans to meet anyone, and so it was not likely.

In any case, once Eve was finished packing everything, we left at once.

Jeanne was surprisingly quick to prepare.

I had thought she might take longer, as a woman, but that was not the case.

She told me why.

 

“I had every intention of going, to begin with. So I was prepared far in advance.”

 

She had even bought new undergarments in the town.

 

“Would you like to see them?”

 

She said innocently. But I ignored the question and got into the carriage.

 

It wasn’t the kind of carriage that nobles used. It was for merchants and their merchandise.

In other words, there were no seats.

And so I sat on some blankets instead of a cushion.

We had no choice but to enjoy the ride as the carriage rocked and swayed.

As for the driver, it was Hanzo, who was disguised as a human.

 

Only Eve, Jeanne and I were inside the carriage. And it was a surprisingly quiet ride.

 

This was because, while I had expected Jeanne to be the loudest, it turned out she easily became sick.

After all, the carriage swayed and shook all of the time.

 

I felt so sorry for her that I had the carriage move at a slower pace. And I also considered having the dwarves add a suspension to it later.

 

The Saint heard this and smiled. ‘You are kind, Demon King.’ But in the next instant, she thrust her head out of the window with a pale face. And then she vomited.

 

The vomiting Saint.

 

Saints have appeared in many stories throughout the ages, but I doubt there was a Saint that vomited quite like her.

 

I thought of such things as I rubbed and patted her on the back.

It was an interesting way to start our journey, and things did not improve after that.

 

Jeanne was still feeling ill several days later, and so we had stopped by a lake to rest. That’s when we encountered some troublemakers.

 

Bandits.

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The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King