“We are not all united. That pompous, blood-sucking bat is probably hoping to slit the throat of our master one day. Another murderous monster like you joining us would hardly make a difference.”
The kobold looked at him in disbelief.
“Don’t worry. This is my own will. The Demon King does not have time to be spying on an old bull like me.”
“B-but…we won’t be allies. Never.”
“So you are firm in your resolve…”
It wasn’t because he was a moneter. But kobolds had been put at the bottom of the ladder, and so they did not trust others easily.
“In that case, you can think of it as using me.”
“I-I already am!”
“Not like that. More boldly. I am saying that we should help each other for profit.”
His purpose was to defeat the Heroes and Demon King. At the same time, it was obvious that he greatly lacked the power to do that.
“You should join my army, Sheto.”
“I…could not.”
“But what would change if you work alone? How can a kobold have enough power to change the tide of battle?”
The kobold was silent at that. Even with a god’s power backing him, miracles were not enough to solve every problem.
“Join my army and help me. That break art you used. And your other talents. It can help me destroy the Hero’s army.”
“I…will kill you too, eventually.”
“That is fine. My master is taking the path to conquest while harboring traitors. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t do the same.”
“I, I will fight. Only against the Hero’s army. Never kill or steal, from unrelated people!”
“Well, I wasn’t going to give you such a lowly task to begin with. Of course, regardless of what you do, we will have our own orders to follow.”
Sheto furrowed his brows and thought about the proposition desperately.
“Wait a moment. Will discuss it.”
“Very well.”
Sheto moved away in order to speak with the goddess. Berganda looked up at the sky.
The Demon King’s castle was moving towards the center of the continent. Demon beasts were being sent down in order to retaliate against the Hero’s army.
It would be some time before the Demon King came to collect Sheto.
“So I’ll have to keep him around until then…”
What will be the goddess’s decision? It was hard to think that she would agree to working with monsters. But there was plenty of chance for some kind of compromise.
After all, this goddess was mad enough to use a kobold as a Hero.
‘While this is unprecedented, I do have something to say.’
When Sheto returned, it was the goddess who spoke.
“You have my thanks. Uh, what is your name?”
‘Saliashe Shus Suira. The one whose life is bound to Sheto.’
“And I General Berganda, servant of the current Demon King.”
‘What I am about to say is not a suggestion. It is a command.’
The goddess said piercingly. It was clear that she would accept no argument.
‘If Sheto is to join the army, then there must be now pillaging and torture whatsoever.’
“Torture is one thing, but banning pillaging is impossible. We do not raise our own crops. We live by killing and stealing. I cannot accept it.”
‘Then there is no reason to talk.’
“That is fine. However, I do wonder which of us will suffer because of it.”
Berganda said provokingly to the goddess who he could not see.
“Did you not see, goddess? The power of the Hero’s army. And how we have no way of beating him.”
‘That is… How would I know about that? Besides, you may be hiding some secret. And only pretending…’
“Even if we did, would it really be effective against them? I may not have the best eye for such things, but it is clear that they are using some revolutionary tactics. Now…goddess. Do you have some method to break through that?”
He asked, and she was silent for some time.
“Indeed, Sheto has more courage than most kobolds. And he has impressive power on top of that. However, that is not enough. The enemy is too strong. You need some other element. Something to weaken them in order to stand as an opponent of equal power.”