Chapter 157
Allen felt a twinge of unease. "Troops... you say?"
"The kingdom's in a bind. The empire's got the best fighters around, right? Lend us some soldiers."
Kamara thrust out her chest proudly as she spoke to Mary, who stared back in disbelief. Allen noticed a few soldiers' eyes drifting toward Kamara's ample breasts, but the throne room's atmosphere had turned icy cold.
"You're asking for... help, after attacking the empire?"
"Huh? But I didn't kill anyone?"
Kamara flashed an innocent smile at Mary, who was struggling to keep her emotions in check. In truth, she probably felt no guilt whatsoever about blasting the castle's roof to smithereens.
What a headache.
"Anyway, hand over the troops, empire girl."
As Allen grimaced at Kamara's unchanged demeanor from their past encounters, she extended her hand toward Mary like she was retrieving a forgotten item.
"First, we need to understand the situation before we can offer aid. Could you explain?"
Allen let out a soft sigh of admiration at Mary's composed response. In that brief moment, she'd already grasped Kamara's nature and was wisely aiming to extract as much information as possible.
Kamara, having nothing to hide, answered Mary's question straightforwardly.
"Mm, Demon King's army. They invaded, and now the kingdom's fucked. So we need troops, got it?"
Her explanation was so crude it bordered on pathetic, but Kamara waved her arms enthusiastically as she spoke.
"You mean the Carshian Kingdom?"
"Oh, you get it! Nice!"
Kamara seemed pleased that Mary could follow her words so easily—likely a rarity in her dealings with humans.
"So the Demon King's army invaded that kingdom... and it seems even a dragon like you can't handle them directly for some reason?"
Kamara nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling as Mary pieced together the situation from her sloppy account.
"What exactly is the problem?"
"Argh, these fuckers keep multiplying no matter how many I kill! Plus, they're brainwashing the kingdom's people, so it's hard to just slaughter them all."
"Pardon?"
Kamara vented her frustration, but even Mary had reached her limit. She glanced subtly at Allen, her eyes asking if he had any insights. But that garbage explanation stumped him too.
"Do you know who's leading the Demon King's army?"
"Blood Bellikiya, probably?"
Allen sighed at Kamara's words. Blood Bellikiya was one of the Demon King's executives—a true vampire. In his previous life, she hadn't clashed with Kamara, but given the dragon's low intellect, she was the perfect matchup. Blood Bellikiya's style was simple: she hid herself thoroughly, using her minions to swell their numbers endlessly. She was like the lich Bahamons in that sense, but while he commanded massive legions out in the open, finding Blood Bellikiya herself was the real issue.
"Do you know anything about her?"
Mary turned to Allen, noticing his sigh. He nodded and stepped forward.
"First off, it's a she, not a he. A true vampire, a real pain in the ass. Even if we threw imperial troops at her, it'd just make her minions multiply."
Mary's expression grew grave at his words, while Kamara eyed him with keen interest.
"Who's this guy?"
"...He's the Hero."
Mary answered Kamara's question. The dragon immediately closed in on Allen. Jena and Marian reacted to her sudden movement, but he signaled them to stand down.
"Oh, you're the Hero of this era?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Perfect! Help me out!"
Kamara beamed at him with childlike innocence. Allen smirked bitterly at the dragon so casually asking for favors. He had more than enough ways to deal with Blood Bellikiya. She was tricky, sure, but he had the saintess who'd overwhelmingly crushed Bahamons on his side.
The catch was his life philosophy this time around: no free favors.
"Help you? What's in it for me?"
"Huh? Do I have to give you something?"
Allen nodded matter-of-factly at her question, and Kamara furrowed her brow in thought.
"Hmm... What to give? Everything in my lair's too precious... Can't you just help for free?"
He shook his head at the greedy dragon. She wasn't resorting to threats with her power, at least, but she pondered his firm stance again.
"Hero."
Just then, as Kamara mulled it over, his companions entered the throne room: the mage Karen, Elf Queen Isabela, Lucille, and Lina. All eyes in the hall turned to the sudden influx of beauties.
Kamara was no exception. She approached his new arrivals with evident curiosity, apparently forgetting her dilemma entirely.
"Ooh! The Elf Queen!"
"...Lady Kamara. It's been a while."
The first one Kamara recognized was Elf Queen Isabela. Both were long-lived beings by human standards, so they were acquainted. Isabela looked openly uncomfortable, but Kamara was oblivious to it.
"Yeah, long time no see. But why's this human girl's mana circle jammed in her womb like a retard? Huh?"
Kamara's body stiffened the moment she scanned his party. It was a split-second reaction, but Allen didn't miss the odd shift.
What the...?
"W-wait a sec. What was I... doing again?"
As Allen puzzled over it, Kamara awkwardly turned her gaze back to him. Her eyes shook like she was scared, leaving him baffled as to the cause.
"Oh, right. The reward. Yeah, reward. Whatever you want. Save the kingdom, and it's yours."
She spoke to him hastily, and Allen grew even more suspicious of her abrupt change. It had happened right around when she'd looked at Lucille and Lina.
For now, he decided to probe that later and accepted before she could backtrack.
"Fine. We'll help."
Kamara gave an awkward smile, while Mary finally exhaled in relief. Allen, meanwhile, shot suspicious glances at Lina and Lucille.
**
"Lina, what happened back there?"
Once outside the throne room, Allen asked Lina directly. It seemed one of them—Lina or Lucille—had influenced Kamara somehow. Lucille was his first suspect; all he really knew about her was that she was Light Sword Frank's disciple.
But truthfully, he knew just as little about Lina. Plus, her sudden arrival at the throne room was far from routine, naturally drawing his suspicion.
"I-I was worried, so I came. Sorry if I got in the way."
He scratched his head at Lina's indignant huff turning into a pout. From her perspective, fretting over him with a dragon in the mix wasn't unreasonable. People didn't always act rationally, even if her presence wouldn't change much.
It felt a bit off, but no matter how he looked, there was nothing unusual about Lina.
"Lucille. Have you ever met Kamara before?"
"Pardon? Oh, no. First time."
Allen frowned at Lucille's flustered denial. Something was definitely up, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Beating it out of Kamara was the quickest way, but even with his Immortal Body, a dragon wasn't an easy mark.
Or maybe I don't need to fight—just sweet-talk her right, and she'll spill.
For now, he shelved the unease to focus on the matter at hand.