202
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 202
"We're almost at the beast people village. We'll be getting off soon."
Gloria closed her mouth and tightly hugged Caesar's waist.
Although he spoke casually, she seemed quite tense at the thought of facing the demon race.
"......Where is the beast people's tribal village?"
"It's hidden under these trees."
This is why the Allied Forces had trouble attacking the beast people.
Even when trying to observe from the sky like now, they couldn't identify the beast people's stronghold due to the dense forest, so they had to advance by burning down the entire beast people forest.
"How did you know? Because of that smoke?"
"That's right. I told them to keep a fire going since I'd visit occasionally. I wouldn't have noticed without that."
Caesar landed in a relatively clear opening in the middle of the forest.
Looking around, the beast people were watching Caesar and Gloria with tension.
But since they didn't attack immediately, they seemed to recognize Caesar.
"......It's Caesar."
"Right? Red hair, red eyes."
"And...... I can feel it."
Before they could make any unnecessary remarks, Caesar spoke to Gloria.
"Call Raven."
Gloria carefully spoke into the crystal ball.
"Wizard Raven. They say you can come over now."
Gloria's crystal ball flashed green.
Gloria quickly threw the crystal ball to the ground and stepped back.
Soon, Raven would arrive following the signal from this coordinate receiver.
Meanwhile, Caesar called out to a familiar beast people.
"Hey there... Can't remember your name. Have you been well?"
It was honestly too much to expect Caesar to remember the beast people's faces.
Honestly, they all looked similar to human eyes.
But Caesar remembered this otter tribe member because he was one-armed and had lost an eye.
"Been well. Come to think of it, we haven't properly introduced ourselves."
The otter walked up to Caesar and said.
"Let me formally introduce myself. I am Paro, chief of the Shadow Otter tribe."
"Nice to meet you, Paro. By the way, could I ask you for a favor?"
"If it's about calling Great Chief Arang, it's already done. Even without my saying so, dozens of youngsters ran off to do it."
"Thank you. And could you move these beast people away?"
Caesar whispered quietly to Paro.
"Gloria knows nothing about me. I'm worried they might slip up."
"Ah, I see. Understood."
Paro waved his hand and said.
"It's not polite to make spectacles of guests. Everyone, go about your business."
At Paro's words, the other beast people went off to their tasks.
It seems there's some hierarchy in place since they listen to the chief's words.
Just then, with a distortion in space near Gloria's crystal ball, Raven popped out.
Raven pulled back her raincoat hood and looked around with interested eyes.
"Is this where the beast people live?"
"Yes. Interesting, isn't it?"
They either made homes by weaving tree vines without harming the trees, or lived by digging under dying tree stumps.
The house structures were fascinating, being beyond nature-friendly and practically one with nature itself.
"I'll personally guide you to Great Chief Arang. Feel free to ask questions along the way."
Gloria stayed close behind Caesar as they moved, while Raven kept looking around curiously.
Gloria still seemed to doubt whether the demon race could really be trusted, while Raven's wariness of the demon race had decreased, allowing her to leisurely look around.
"First, I'd like to offer my condolences. All the beast people who went to catch Geotech perished. It was entirely my fault."
Paro waved his hand.
"Saying that would dishonor their heroic deeds. I'm satisfied knowing they did their best for our tribe. Thanks to them, we can live here."
"Thank you for saying that. Are you satisfied with life here? Is Queen Agatha not making unreasonable demands?"
"We were only asked to deal with the Orcs when they invade through the forest. In fact, it's rather stable since we can receive support if there are too many for us to handle directly. I'm living quite contentedly in my own way."
"How do you manage food and drinking water?"
"We either work for wages in Queen Agatha's farmland or hunt in the forest to make up for it. Though life is tough, I'm living more satisfactorily than I expected."
Although it was said that Agatha extorts the beast people cruelly, it seems she takes good care of them after accepting them as her people.
She must be doing this because she's naturally emotional and kind-hearted.
"More than that, we're focusing on managing the newly born Guardian Trees."
"Guardian Trees? New Guardian Trees have appeared?"
"Yes. We found them while exploring the surroundings after moving here."
Gloria, who was following behind, quietly asked Caesar.
"Master, what are Guardian Trees?"
"They're trees that beast people consider sacred. I suppose they're like our Goddesses?"
"What? Trees are gods?"
"That's why beast people consider trees sacred. But that's all I know about it."
Then, Paro pointed to a group of white-clothed beast people walking through the forest.
"If you want to know more about Guardian Trees, it would be better to have Chief Arang explain rather than me."
Caesar extended his hand to Paro.
"Thank you for guiding us, Paro."
"Thank you, benefactor. If you need anything, please ask."
"I was planning to extort plenty anyway."
"...Please be considerate. We're short on resources too."
"I'm joking, just joking."
After shaking hands with Caesar, Paro extended his hand to Raven.
"I must thank you too, Raven. Thank you."
Raven took Paro's extended hand.
And after hesitating briefly, she spoke.
"...They died because of my mistake."
Raven still can't forget the eyes of the beast people looking up at her from that pit.
The owner of those eyes, somewhere between resignation and determination, saved Raven from that hell-like pit, but became another nightmare that often kept her awake.
"If I had known they were doppelgangers, I would never have let them into the cave. They died meaninglessly because I missed that."
Caesar recalled how Raven had worked through the night trying to detect doppelgangers with magic.
Thinking about why Raven tried so hard to analyze doppelgangers magically, Caesar thought it wasn't just because of the feeling of betrayal towards him, but also because of her sense of responsibility for those beast people who died meaninglessly because of her.
Paro looked straight into Raven's eyes and spoke.
"They were warriors, Green-eyed wizard. They were prepared to die from the moment they decided to follow you. So if you want to commemorate them, don't blame yourself for your mistake, but spread word of their courage. That is how you can lay down your burden and properly honor them."
Raven nodded slightly.
"...I understand."
"Good. Then have a good time."
After shaking hands with Raven, Paro left without lingering.
Gloria watched Paro leaving with empty steps.
Gloria never dreamed that this race, looking completely different from humans, would have such diverse emotions and deep philosophy.
This was because all she had heard about beast people was that they were beasts no different from monsters who ate human entrails while they were still alive.
Like when she met Agatha before, she felt her prejudices about demon race were being quickly broken down lately.
"We've been waiting for you, Caesar."
At that moment, Arang approached.
"Arang, it's been a while. But your attire seems different?"
Beast people basically don't wear clothes because they have thick fur.
Even when they met before, Arang only wore a leather belt to hang daggers, pouches, and water containers.
But now Arang was wearing white linen clothes that a priest might wear.
"Is it because you became the Chief?"
"No, being Chief doesn't require anything special."
"Then why are you wearing such clothes?"
"You don't seem to know what I originally did. I was originally a priest who managed the Guardian Trees."
What?
Arang was a priest?
Maybe it's because of the first impression... But it really doesn't suit him.
He seems more like a strict soldier than someone sacred.
"Not a soldier?"
"I became a soldier after the Guardian Tree fell ill and collapsed. But originally, I managed the Guardian Trees."
Arang looked at Raven and Gloria and spoke.
"More importantly, it seems there are people who need to be introduced?"
"Ah, this is Raven and this is Gloria. You know Raven well, right?"
"How could I not know? She's the wizard who rescued the beast people from Geotech. Though I'm not too fond of her being a close companion of the hero."
Arang extended his hand to Raven.
"Raven, I've heard about your merits from other beast people. I sincerely thank you."
Raven accepted the handshake, drawn by the warm magic wave flowing through Arang's hand.
"......No one would have predicted our relationship would become like this until a year ago."
Raven and Arang's eyes naturally turned to Caesar.
"I feel the same."
It was thanks to one doppelganger, Caesar, that beast people and humans could have a conversation without animosity like this.
Arang thought that tongue of his that enabled Raven and himself to exchange smiles and handshakes was more impressive than that terrifying axe hanging on Caesar's back.
"By the way, Gloria was it? Who might you be?"
Gloria cleared her throat and spoke.
"Ah, I am Caesar's adjutant and disciple."
"Oh, Disciple? Since Caesar chose you, your skills must be quite good."
Gloria gave an ‘Ahem!’ cough while checking Caesar's reaction before speaking.
"Well... I've never heard of myself getting beaten up anywhere."
"Is that so? We have some beast people who just completed their coming-of-age ceremony, would you be interested in fighting them? Those fellows haven't experienced fighting knights yet."
"I won't back down from a fight. Bring them on. I'll show them how impressive a knight can be."
The figure who had been worried about whether it was really okay to fight beast people just moments ago had completely disappeared, and a brave warrior now stood beside Caesar.
Should one say this is befitting of a mafia boss who once ruled the Homigraph underworld?
Her spirit is truly remarkable.
"We were actually going to ask for that too, so this works out well. Shall we arrange a match once our talk is done?"
"Not bad. Of course, our warriors will win though."
"You shouldn't ignore the fact that this is a disciple I personally trained. Different from other riffraff."
"Oh really? Then shall we make a small bet?"
"A bet? What kind of bet?"
"The loser grants a small wish. How about it? Not bad, right?"
"Interesting. I should start thinking about what to get from you from now on."
Raven glanced at Gloria.
Gloria's magic waves were trembling, riddled with tension and worry.
Nevertheless, Raven was slightly impressed by Gloria's acting skills as she showed no signs of anxiety.
'I absolutely cannot lose this.'
Who would have known things would get this big?
Gloria felt her hands getting sweaty from nervousness, even more than when she first went to war.
Raven decided to quickly change the topic to both save the frozen Gloria and dispel the tense atmosphere.
"More importantly, I heard a Guardian Tree was born, where is it?"
"Ah, the Guardian Tree?"
Arang pointed to the path he had come from earlier and said.
"It's over there. Would you like to see it?"
"Is that possible?"
"There's no reason why not. Then follow me. Feel free to ask anything you're curious about on the way."
Caesar's group followed behind Arang.
***
Belial sat on the pyramid and listened to the prophets' report.
"So their corpses were in the Red Mountains?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"What happened to Geotech?"
The prophets chose their words carefully before speaking.
"......There was one corpse presumed to be Geotech. It had five horns and from the surrounding circumstances, it seems he had become a 'Disaster'."
"A Disaster... Did he self-destruct?"
"No. There were signs that someone had killed him."
The prophets made one beast person kneel before Belial.
"This one should be able to provide a detailed explanation about that."
"This one?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Belial looked straight into the beast person's eyes.
The beast person did not avoid Belial's gaze.
That's why it was strange.
There was no emotion whatsoever in the beast person's eyes.
No anger, no sadness, no anguish, not even a desire for life.
Is it because they're resigned to death anyway?
No, it's far from that.
This one simply has no emotions at all.
"How unique. Who are you?"
"I am a doppelganger. Belial, I came to deliver a message to you."