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Chapter 306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 5)

306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 5)

That day, the “Storm Hero” Aerial told me to meet at a coffee shop.

It seems that the lighting in this coffee shop is usually rather low, and with a simple disguise, it might be hard for onlookers to recognize him as a celebrity at a glance.

That’s why he chose this place.

When I look around the coffee shop, I see a man raising his hand from one of the table seats.

He’s wearing a hat and glasses, but he’s definitely Aerial.

I approach him and sit across from him.

「Hey, Ex.」

「Sup, Aerial.」

We make our orders and start chatting as we wait for our coffees to arrive.

Speaking of our parties, I talk about stuff like how Merlin had disappeared somewhere in order to train her magic.

As for the Aerial Party, after the baby had settled down, Masamune and Panacea took turns to go exploring dungeons.

「So?」

Our orders arrive, and after taking a bite, I ask about the main topic.

「Hmm. Oh, see, the industry has gotten really busy lately, hasn’t it?」

「Yes. Come to think of it, it’s been like that since Fenix showed up in the scene, huh?」

For the first time in 130 years, a Contractor to the Fire Spirit had finally appeared.

And then he climbed to the 4th rank in the world with exceptional speed.

And the “Black Sorcerer” who once belonged to his party left to become the Chief of Staff of the Demon King’s army.

Winning the Tag Tournament, repelling adventurers in Raids, rescuing foolish Heroes in the Original Dungeon, and defeating even the strongest Demon King in the All-Heaven Festival Contest… that man has been very busy.

Furthermore, even a Contractor to the Water Spirit appeared as well, and he happened to be the son of the “Unyielding Hero”.

Suuri, who belongs to the party ranked 5th in the world, announced that she is an elf, surprising the world, and together with Lily, who belongs to the party ranked 4th, contributed to the increase in the number of Demi-Human adventurers.

After that, Wraith chose both an Ogre and a Cyclops to join his party, which has also attracted public attention.

There are so many new things that have surprised the industry that there is no end to the list.

「Ah, I’m sure the ranking will change quite a bit.」

I nod slightly at Aerial’s words.

The adventurer ranking is updated once a year.

All parties will be re-ranked at the beginning of next year.

Many parties will go up in ranking, many others will go down, and many others will stay the same, but it’s a big event for all adventurers.

「Certainly, you can’t be looking up all the time.」

I promised myself that my party would be ranked 1st.

But that doesn’t mean that you can ignore the people below the 3rd rank.

They are also rivals competing for the same goal.

「Well, I have no intention of losing in the slightest.」

「Come on, I’d like you to step aside from trying to become ranked 1st. Actually, no, we’ll push you aside, so just wait there, will you?」

「Hahaha…」

「Hahaha…」

We smile at each other while exchanging our fighting spirits with only our eyes.

「Well, anyway. In order for middle-aged people to continue to stand above young people, they need to be powerful enough to convince them, right? However, as humans become stronger, it becomes more difficult to find worthy rivals. That’s even more so for people who train together.」

「…Wait, no way, are you…?」

「Yeah, Ex. Let’s train together.」

It’s not like there’s no precedent for something like that.

During the time of the Raid, I heard that not only did the world ranked 1st, 3rd, and 5th parties fight side by side, but the ranked 4th party also joined them and they all trained together.

Rather than worrying about revealing your hand to your rivals, the gains from improving everyone’s true strength by training with people of similar ability are much greater.

「Right, let’s do it.」

「You replied right away, huh? Wonderful.」

Not long ago, I would have refused.

Because I was afraid of being compared to Aerial. Even now, I still see myself as a coward who can’t throw that fear away.

But I’ve already made up my mind that I have no choice but to keep running forward carrying that fear, so it’s okay.

「Life is longer after becoming an old man. The fun is not over yet. Don’t you think so, Ex?」

Fun, huh?

In fact, that’s definitely something Aerial would say.

「Ex?」

「Yeah, that’s right, Aerial.」

This can’t end with us not becoming ranked 1st and enjoying the view from the top.

The end of this hell is still far away.

◇

「Well, at any rate, it was such a pity, master.」, says a stranger who looks like fire in human form.

「How is the fire talking? It gives me the creeps.」

「Ahaha, why are you saying such cold things all of a sudden, you hurt my feelings.」

Ah, come to think of it, she was one of my subordinates.

The “Flame Spear Soldier” Amy.

「Ah, Amy. I deleted you from my memory because you’re so unpleasant.」

「It seems that you have restored it, so that’s great.」

Right now, we’ve been summoned by our king and are on our way to his office.

「…So what was a pity?」

「Huh? I mean, After all, even though we managed to meet our admired Lord Lucifer, we died before we got a chance to fight him properly.」

「Ah, about that…」

Being able to participate in that final battle as one of the Big Four of the “Southern Demon Castle” was a great experience.

Though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated…

「Well, at least we got to get ourselves killed by the Esoteric Art of the one we admire, so, as a fan of his, I’d say that’s a win for us.」

「What about you specifically?」

This strange flame was also summoned by the command of the “Black Sorcerer” Lem.

「Well, I’m full of regrets. After all, we were like dogs called by their master. We could’ve been more helpful out there, right?」

「Your words are as light as air.」

「That’s so cold of you.」

Then we arrive at our destination.

I take a deep breath in front of the door.

「I wonder what our Demon King needs from us. Do you think he’ll be angry about making a contract with Lem?」

「Actually, we talked about that in advance, so it won’t be a problem.」

Both the “Black Sorcerer” Lem and I had already explained that to our king.

「Oh, that’s right. Well, the fact that our Demon King now has a contract with Lem also stands.」

「To be honest, I was surprised, but…」

Just as the “Six-Horned Demon King” Asmodeus said in the final battle, a Demon King normally doesn’t follow anyone.

The “Black Sorcerer” Lem is the first in history to ever make a contract with a “Demon King”, even if it was in the form of a covenant.

The world is now full of people who marvel at the extent of his network of personal connections.

I take another deep breath, then knock on the door.

「Come in.」

After being granted permission, we enter the office.

The minimalist interior seems to reflect the personality of our king.

「You called for us, Lord Paimon?」

The lord of the “Southern Demon King’s Castle” — the “All-Seeing Demon King” Paimon.

He looks so pretty today as well.

He has a beautiful face that makes others mistake him for a woman, even after being told thousands of times that he is a man.

「You guys made a contract with Lemegeton.」

「Yes.」

「There’s a bit of an interesting trend going on in the “Impregnable Demon King Castle” right now.」

「An interesting trend?」

「Under the pretense of strengthening each Demon King’s castle, candidates may cross the boundaries of their affiliation and train together.」

「…I see.」

For example, with this, this strange talking flame could potentially train with the “Watchdog of Hell” Naberius, who protects the 1st Floor of the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”?

Exchanging opinions and training as fellow flame users looks like it would only benefit everyone.

Each dungeon is treated like a separate company in the same industry, so they can’t easily cooperate with one another, but after the experience that was the All-Heaven Festival Contest, they must have felt that this doesn’t have to be the case.

With the “Impregnable Demon King Castle” at the top of the list, the “Northern Demon King’s Castle” and us have been getting busier.

Every time we defend our castle, adventurers learn something new, which they share with one another as a means to devise new strategies, so we need to expand our own range of tactics and become even stronger.

So, this could be thought of as nothing more than a “partnership” between the personnel of each of the Five Great Demon King Castles.

「I will entrust you with the role of coordinator.」

Certainly, it would be also easier for them at the “Impregnable Demon King Castle” if I, who is a contractor of their Chief of Staff, were to serve as the mediator between our two castles.

「Understood.」

As I bow and accept the king’s order, Amy raises her voice behind me.

「Well then, what will our Demon King do?」

…Don’t just ask what he wouldn’t say himself…

I’ll have to scold her about that later.

「Ah, I have a previous engagement with that old hag Asmodeus.」

Does he mean that both of them, who have fought together against the strongest Demon King, will train together?

「That’s amazing…! Hmm? Won’t you call the Demon King of the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”?」

「She seems to have found herself a training buddy already.」

When it comes to being fit to train with the rulers of the Five Great Demon King Castle, who is their Demon King planning to train with?

I’m curious about it, but oh well, I can always ask the “Black Sorcerer” Lem about it later.

◇