306 – Encounter
His complexion is obviously poor, but, Yamada-kun walks forwards with a steady gait. Perhaps this is to expected of the holder of the Divine Protection of Heaven skill, as Yamada-kun was able to turn up with good timing for him and bad timing for me. Ahh, the discussion is going to get even more complicated.
「It’s been a long time eh, Wakaba-sa…n?」
Yamada-kun said that while looking at me. Why did he phrase it as a question? At the start he was glaring at me strongly, yet now he is making a somewhat dubious expression. Is there something on my face? Well, my eyes have lots of pupils though.
「Well, never mind. More importantly, I want to be included in this discussion. I have the right to do so, don’t I?」
After lightly shaking his head, he continued with that. I’m not really sure, but it seems that there’s something bothering him. Well, as far as I’m concerned he’s already here so what’s done is done. It’s not like I couldn’t drive him out, but that would be troublesome in its own way anyway. Basically, the moment Yamada-kun got here the situation became troublesome either way.
「Go ahead, suit yourself.」
What’s done is done so I give out a half-hearted affirmation. I don’t forget to put out a “you’re not welcome” aura.
「Thank you.」
Yet despite that, he doesn’t pay attention to that, and rather Yamada-kun accepts it as if it was a challenge. Ooshima-kun suddenly makes a move, bringing a chair for Yamada-kun. Yamada-kun sat on that chair while thanking Ooshima-kun, and then Ooshima-kun got a chair for herself and sat down next to Yamada-kun. I wonder why? Why did some of the girls seem to make a soft “Oh-ho” like sigh on seeing that?
After Yamada-kun sat on his chair, he then deliberately checked over the surroundings. His eyes stopped at several locations, then finally pointed back at me. Hrm, tsk. Can’t be helped.
「10th Army, come out.」
In response to my directive, several white clothed people appear in the room. Most of the reincarnators were shocked the moment they saw those figures. These white clothed people, are the soldiers of the 10th Army that I command in the Demon King Army. They were members who are especially good at spying, who I had assigned to covertly watch over the reincarnators. Yamada-kun had spotted that they were here it seems, since his eyes had paused on them when scanning the room.
Oh, now that I look again, Felmina-chan is right in the middle of them isn’t she. Girl, you should have the title of vice-commander of the 10th Army, so why are you doing minor stuff like this then? Perhaps Felmina-chan had noticed my curiosity, as a vein twitched on her forehead in anger. It’s not like I literally saw such a thing, more like I got that impression. It gave off the feeling of saying something like “because you were asleep!”. Yup, I’m honestly sorry about that.
「Leave this place. Until I have further instructions, get some rest.」
In accordance with my order, the white clothed people soundlessly vanished on the spot. I could hear someone say “ninja”. Yep, to be honest I think that my soldiers in the 10th Army are better ninjas than Kusama-kun. Ah, amongst the white clothed people that left, only Felmina-chan went up to the third floor it seems. That reminds me, Hasebe-san who was confused and forced to sleep was there wasn’t she. Certainly someone needs to keep a lookout on her. I think it’s wrong in various ways for an executive member like Felmina-chan to do such a thing, but I won’t say anything.
「Who were they?」
Yamada-kun asked that with a grim expression.
「They are soldiers of the 10th Army in the Demon King Army. I had put them in charge of guarding and escorting the reincarnators.」
At my words, the reincarnators became noisy. Well naturally, since they were right next to each other yet they never noticed them. The ones who noticed, were just the Tagawa-kun and Kushitani-san pair huh? I had thought sensei had noticed as well, but since she is staring in amazement it seems that she hadn’t noticed.
「They gotta be the elites of the Demon King Army huh.」
No, they’re rank and file soldiers. Ah, no, well, due to my Spartan training they’re especially strong compared to the other soldiers in the army, so maybe it’s not wrong to call them the elites then huh? Well, it’s minor difference either way. They’re rank and file, mere rank and file.
Yamada-kun still looks unwell. He might have considered the difference in strength between them, on seeing the white clothed lot’s movements. Being the Hero, Yamada-kun’s power is, well, at least nothing like the common masses. But, while you could say that he’s strong, that’s only strong in the sense that he fits into the category called common sense. He falls a long way short of how the Demon King and I used to be, and on the contrary he’s no match for vampire girl and oni-kun here either. If things went badly for him, even the white clothed guys from just now might be able to beat him with some luck. One-on-one, I doubt they could win, but with two of them perhaps they could find a route to victory. That kind of level. Despite that though, due to the convenience of the Divine Protection of Heaven skill, he would probably be able to achieve more than his raw ability might indicate.
「Well then? You used Yuugo, Natsume, as bait and invaded this place. What for?」
Yamada-kun throws a straight question right at me. Uh, hmm. So he actually asked that huh.
I glance at sensei. I know all too well. This is not a topic that I can avoid. However, if I talk about this then sensei’s position will definitely go from bad to worse. It will, but there’s no way I can’t talk about it after all.
「The leader of the elves, Potimas Hyphenath, is the enemy of the world. His existence brings harm to the world, and in order to subjugate him the Demon King Army and the Divine Word Religion collaborated together, leading to the offensive on this occasion.」
At my words, sensei’s jaw dropped down in amazement. That face indicates that she finds this to be incomprehensible. In comparison, Yamada-kun took my words surprisingly calmly. Next to him, Ooshima-kun is half astonished and half consenting, with a delicate grimace on her face, so it doesn’t seem like she knew about Potimas beforehand.
「Firstly, the elves in this world are existences that have threatened the world since long ago. Publicly the elves are taking action to stop the conflict between the humans and the demons, in order to achieve true world peace, but that is merely camouflage in order to conceal their hidden side. They are secretly exploiting the life force of this planet, and are an evil influence that is shortening the life of this planet. Those few who know the truth have repeatedly warned Potimas Hyphenath and the rest to cease such actions, but those warnings were ignored. Finally, when this planet’s life span reached a critical stage, strong measures in the form of an attack is what brought about the current situation.」
Suddenly faced with the discussion taking on a momentous scale, the reincarnators became noisy.
「What a minute! If what you said is correct, then what’s happening with this planet?」
Kudou-san presses me for an answer while half standing up. Seeing is believing. I activate magecraft, projecting how this planet looks. Showing overhead is a three-dimensional vision of the current planet, looking something like a globe. Shown there, is the collapse of half of the planet.
「This is the current state of the planet.」
Stunned silence. That is the main reaction here. Apart from vampire girl and oni-kun who knew about it beforehand, it seems that this image had a devastating impact. I heard voices saying things like “It can’t be” and “There’s just no way”. Yamada-kun is not an exception either, and his eyes are wide open and glued to the image.
「This has gotta be a lie, right?」
Even the cool, calm and collected Endou-san is gazing at the image with her lips trembling.
「This is no lie. Would you like to go and see it yourself?」
Nobody accepted my invitation. Nobody would consider going to such an inhospitable place of course. Well, if I put up a barrier there wouldn’t be any problems, but nobody knows that of course.
Everyone is in a daze. This is the point where I give the explanation as to just what kind of situation they have found themselves in. Then, as I informed them where the Empire was located, and about the continued existence of the planet, it appears that their ability to think was suspended.