Chapter 320: During the Audience with His Majesty the Demon King

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Lynn asked his questions, seriously and with somewhat teary eyes. The demon king answered.

“It has been set for it to be like that due to an old contract. You’re definitely no sacrifice. No one else but the demonkin brave is to head to the royal capital to destroy the palace over there. He may take a few companions with him. This rule is part of the contract. Things would likely be over quickly if I went myself, but I’m forbidden to do so by the old contract. And if I break that taboo, the demon king’s country will perish.”

Lynn gasped. I cocked my head in doubt at that answer.

Well, if such a contract exists, only the brave can head over there, right? But, the problem lies with the question of who has come up with such a contract in the first place.

Even so, with that sort of reasoning, the braves are clearly sacrifices, no?

The demon king further added, “According to the contract, a place to rest your tired legs ought to have been prepared right after you cross the desert. It must be a mistake that this resting place doesn’t exist. We should investigate this and review the contract.”

Hmm, in other words, a lot more oases dotted the desert in the past, huh? Going by his words just now, all the other magic tools, which have been creating those oases like Harla, must have broken down. I feel bad for the slimes who used to live there.

Lynn brooded about something and then looked back at us.

“…Didn’t you guys want something from His Majesty as well?”

Sword and I exchanged a look, and then I shouted after turning my face to the front again, “Please let us play in the dungeon!”

“Go ahead.”

His Majesty the Demon King confirmed instantly.

Sword and I froze.

Eeeeeeh!? Is it really okay to give permission so readily? He won’t start saying, “Haha, duped you! Just kiddin’. Tehe!”, or something like that.

As I was surprised, I got scolded by Lynn, “Not that! You guys told me all sorts of things, didn’t you!?”

So what if we did?

I retorted, “I told you that I don’t know the situations in your country and stressed that it was just my general opinion, didn’t I? Anyway, isn’t it great if you were able to reach an understanding? However, going by your conversation so far, 『Humans are evil』 hasn’t played a role. It’s just that there exists an old, old contract, stating, 『You must send those deemed to be demonkin braves to the capital』. Even so, I still think it’d be better for you demonkin to stay clear from humans, if possible. Spoiled wimps, who seem like they’d start bawling the second they’re treated just a bit harshly or told something slightly mean, wouldn’t find many friends among the humans.”

…When I answered up to that point, I suddenly recalled, “Ah, but maybe I might be wrong about this too. My demonkin boy acquaintance, who was picked up by humans as a young child, has been able to integrate himself into human society just fine. Right now he’s reigning as number one womanizer in the capital’s academy!”

Hearing my objection, Lynn stared at me with his mouth agape.

I continued, “You’re free to interpret it as you want. Having a small group invade the Kingdom in accordance with some old contract can be regarded as 『sacrifice for the survival of the majority of demonkin』 or as 『honor for saving anyone』. By the way, the current two braves on the human side are split into those two differing views. One of them, the one being pissed because he thinks the former, has decided to take care of monsters at our place.”

Lynn kept staring at me with his mouth wide open. Is he actually understanding what I’m telling him?

“In the end, no matter how you interpret it, the outcome will be the same either way. So the question would be what you, as the one chosen as brave, are going to do. Well, seeing how the capital still stands after all these years, I feel like the demonkin won’t be destroyed, even if you don’t go to the capital.”

Lynn cast his eyes down after I finished like that. Argh, what am I going to do if he starts to cry once again…

Just when I wondered about this, someone spoke up.

“Do humans think so?”

Everyone looked at the owner of that voice ― the demon king.

“Are you seeking an emotional reason in an old principle? The demonkin brave heading to the royal capital to try destroying the palace there has nothing to do with sacrifices or honor. It’s an old contract based on an old principle.『So be it』. Overthrowing that principle will lead to a harsh punishment. That’s all there is to it.”

Hmm, I see.

…The demon king doesn’t seem to be a demonkin, as far as I can tell. Those calm and cool-headed words don’t fit the personality of pampered, demonkin wimps.

I asked him, “I see. Now that you mention it, it does make sense. But, even if you don’t go as far as overthrowing it, the royal palace hasn’t been destroyed to this day. And the demonkin haven’t perished yet either. What sort of principle is this supposed to be?”

“The old contract states that 『the braves are to head to the capital in order to destroy the royal palace』. It doesn’t give us any timeframe as to when the palace has to be destroyed by braves.”

Oh, okay. I see. How to put it…I can’t really tell whether that contract is actually worded like that deliberately or whether it follows some objective with this.

“…But, does that old contract somehow understand the emotions of the braves in some way? I mean, if it cannot determine whether a brave departs this country with the intent of destroying the royal palace or fully determined to flee halfway in order to escape their fate, it’ll be difficult to enforce it…no, can you actually understand what living beings think through magic in the first place?”

That would be at the level of psychic abilities.

The demon king curtly answered, “I don’t know.”

Ooh, is that so…?

I folded my arms, “…In other words, it wouldn’t be a problem for a demonkin brave to enjoy a fun life at the academy as foreign student of the demon king’s country while officially claiming that he’s going to destroy the royal palace, right?”

Lynn and Sword gave me a hard look.

“It also means it wouldn’t matter if the human braves were to play in the demon king’s castle dungeon while claiming that they’re going to defeat the demon king, right? I see, I see.”

For some reason, everyone had fallen silent.

“…Certainly, that wouldn’t contradict the old contract,” the demon king admitted after remaining silent for a while.

Yep, just as I thought.

After nodding at the demon king, I looked at Lynn and asked, “So, what are you going to do, Lynn? Going by the reasoning just now, you certainly aimed to destroy the palace, so you basically fulfilled your duty. If you still feel like giving it another go, I’ll take you all the way to the capital. But, we’ll fight each other over there. If we do it like that, I’ll receive an S-Rank adventurer rank and you’ll be able to carry out your initial objective. In short, a win-win situation for us.

But, you won’t ever be able to defeat me with your weaknesses. I mean, you’ll start to cry and become unable to do anything as soon as I tell you something slightly offensive, so you’ll lose before we actually fight, you know?”

“There’s no way for someone bein’ capable of takin’ you on ‘nyway. Definitely.”

I feel like I was told something heartless.

Becoming sulky, I asked, “Anyway, are you going to the capital?”

“I don’t want to go to a place filled with evil beings like you.”

Kiii, how vexing!

“I won’t give you any candies anymore!”

“Please forgive me,” Lynn immediately apologized upon my yelling.

Is he a brat!? No wait, no need to ask the obvious anymore.

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