Chapter 135

We went to Demon King Tralzard’s country, and united with General Miralda’s army.
She informed me that the substitute corps would be sent immediately, and we were to continue to make our way to the other side of the Demon King’s country.

Currently, Miralda was no longer with us.
Half of her army had already marched on ahead.

We were to be combined with a different corps and go west.

“While we travel, you will all have to obey me.”
Said a Crystal Dragon called Minish.

She was one of the people who had accompanied General Miralda to our country.
Minish was a tall woman who wore something like a ronin kimono.

It had a feminine pattern on it that suited her. But as someone who had come from Japan, it reminded me of seeing westerners in yukatas.

In any case, Miss Minish was General Miralda’s Adjutant.

But she was apparently focused on clerical work, which suggested there was someone else who handled the military business.
However, her mana level was several times higher than mine. It was so high that I wasn’t even sure how high. But according to Saifo, it was somewhere between three and four times as high as mine.

In fact, he told me many times that I had no hope of winning and should avoid fighting her.
Who the hell did he think I was?

In any case, I decided to think of Miss Minish as more of a civil servant.
Though, if she was this strong, it made me wonder how strong her military counterpart was.

“Bah. Why don’t we just ask Miss Minish to defeat Leninoth?”
I couldn’t help but think.

After a few days of travel, I started to get used to the new environment.
When I asked Miss Minish about the army, she told me all kinds of things.

Of course, none of them would qualify as classified information.

She said that General Miralda would be arriving in the west side of the country soon.
Things were in a bad state, thanks to what Nehyor had done.

And there were signs of worse things to come.
Worse…in other words, the possibility of an invasion from the Celestial World.

There was something called a ‘Test Hole,’ which was a small hole that residents of the Celestial World opened up in order to search the Demon World. And one of these holes had been sighted.

As these holes usually close up after a few hours, Miss Minish said that it was only through great luck that someone had seen it.
Of course, having these holes open up was not a guarantee of an incoming invasion.

It was just a possibility.

And then there was us. The people who were currently on the move.
Soldiers led by Miss Minish, the Crystal Dragon.

We were considered the second army on the march.
The weakest one. We were essentially baggage.

And I couldn’t help but think that among the high-ranking officers, Miss Minish looked like she would be the most capable babysitter.

Lastly, there were the troops who were still waiting near the border to the east.
They were also being led by a Crystal Dragon who was called Halm.

She said that there were corps remaining that are strong enough to destroy a country if necessary.
When I pestered her to tell me more about this, she said that General Miralda had five Corps Commanders, and only two were following her. One of them was with us, and the other two were in the east.

She was saying that the two corps that they led were strong enough to take a Lesser Demon King’s country.
And she said this was great certainty. I didn’t tell her how scared that made me.

However, this was a Demon King’s country.
If they went around swallowing up too many smaller countries, they would end up antagonizing the surrounding Demon Kings. And so they avoided it as much as they could.

Yes, the neighboring Demon Kings… For instance, if Demon King Janius kept attacking one smaller country after another, another Demon King might feel that they have to ‘crush him’ before it’s too late.

Unless your own fighting force was getting bigger, the gap would only increase if you just sat back and watched. And so it was obvious that they would act.
Because of this, it was necessary for the Demon King to be careful, and ensure that others didn’t see them as too much of a threat.

It was a different kind of hardship to what the smaller countries faced.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t introduced you to the Corps Commander yet.”
Miss Minish said. Yes, she was right.

I wasn’t actually that interested, and our corps had just stuck together as we moved. So even though a few days had passed, I hadn’t really gotten to know the other soldiers.

In any case, Miss Minish thought that we should at least meet, and so we walked into the camp.
Tomorrow, we would rest here for a whole day in order to recover from the brutal march of the last few days.

“Allow me to introduce you. This is Corps Commander Dyle. He’s a Rock Lion.”
This Dyle was even taller than I was.

Not only that, but his body was covered in armor-like rock.
And he had the head of a lion. His eyes were so sharp that I felt that I would start punching him if he glared at me. That’s how scary he was.

One might wonder why I would punch someone if I was scared. But in the Demon World, you killed before you were killed.
And so if you were scared of something, punching them was a reasonable way to react.

“It’s nice to meet you.”
Of course, I was sure that I would lose in a fight.

He was probably stronger than General Farneze.
At least in terms of physical strength, he would overwhelm her.

And yet he was just a Corps Commander. How powerful could Demon King Tralzard be?

“This is Golan. He’s the leader of a corps of two hundred. I’m sure the General has already filled you in, but you should think of them as guests from Lesser Demon King Melvis’s country.”

…Guests. Well, she might as well have called us useless.
But I suppose it was better than sending us to the frontlines. So I just nodded with a smile.

On the other hand, Corps Commander Dyle looked at Miss Minish and then me, and then tilted his head as if to ask, ‘the leader?’

He was probably noting that I was a low-ranking Ogre, and also had an incredibly low mana level.

It was true, so I wasn’t annoyed.

“I’m sure that you’ll be seeing a lot of each other. And I hope you can get along.”
“Yes.”
I answered obediently.

“Very well. …If they are guests, I suppose that means they were not specially selected.”
“Of course, not. They aren’t from here.”

“What about basic training?”
Corps Commander Dyle said something most ominous. Basic training?

“General Miralda said that they should all be trained. Without exception.”
“I see… And I suppose that I’m going to have to oversee it.”

“Yes. Can you handle it?”
“It will have to wait until we arrive at our destination…yes. I see.”

Corps Commander Dyle’s eyes now looked like they were full of pity.
I felt that I better ask now.

And so I wiped away the sweat from my forehead and opened my mouth.

“Uh, this basic training. What exactly will it involve?”

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Makai Hongi