Chapter 478: The King of the Capital

Parna, the capital of the Bolvat Dynasty.

It was once a splendid capital with a magnificent palace. Now, there wasn’t even a moment of tranquility in this city.

During the day, magical beasts made joyful noises, and at night, demonic beings walked through the darkness for their own amusement. Humans were always the victims.

In the center of it all, a certain presence was in the palace guarded by demons.

「Lord Nutt! I have a report to make. I have a report to make! 」

Lord Nutt. A large bird had that specific name in the capital, Parna.

At first glance, he looked like a heron, but with his huge body several times larger than that of a human, with long wings, it was immediately clear that he was a type of demon bird. On his head, covered in blue feathers, something like a golden crown was visible.

The crown had no particular meaning to demons, but Nutt liked to wear it after hearing that it was worn by human kings.

Just as ravens liked shiny things, Nutt liked power. Just the thought of ruling over someone else was enough to intoxicate him.

And in fact, Nutt was like a king in the capital, Parna.

Of course, he couldn’t defy his master, the magical devilish being Junelva. However, Junelva was almost completely uninterested in governance, leaving it all to Nutt. The magical devilish being Rabel didn’t even show her face.

Perhaps those magical devilish beings were more focused on the Great Demon Vrilligant than in the demons of the capital or the humans.

For this reason, the management of the human race in the surrounding villages was left to the human named Kiel, and all events that befell the capital, Parna, were entrusted to Nutt.

It was fair to say that all power in the capital was concentrated in Nutt alone. In terms of pure power, there were few magical beasts that could match him.

Nutt pointed his large beak at the little bird that repeatedly brought him reports.

「Lord Nutt! Lord Nutt! 」

「I know that without you having to tell me so many times! The magical beasts are rampaging again, aren’t they? Let them do what they want, the ones who die are at fault. Don’t come here and report to me for every single death! 」

The little bird said, “Understood”. Then, it flapped its wings and flew off into the sky, and several more came flying in one after another.

Nutt slammed the arm of the chair he was sitting on with a loud noise. He must have been very annoyed, because the chair’s arm broke into pieces.

After all, Nutt had been speaking consecutively in the past few days. There were countless demons who gathered in the palace, attracted by enormous power, and when that happened, quarrels and chaos occurred.

And yet, there wasn’t even a single system that resembled a governance here. It was only natural, as the city was forcibly transformed from a human city into a demon city.

Nutt spoke as if venting the frustration that had been building up in each feather.

「If there’s anyone who’s dissatisfied with my command, bring them here! Be it a weak girl or a powerful demonic beast, I will swallow them all! 」

Demons worshipped power, used power to control, and died by power. If the weaklings had a sin, then being weak was that sin.

The magical devilish being Junelva and the demon bird Nutt. Their ideologies were completely similar. The only thing that was far apart was whether they were lazy or diligent. This was why Junelva made Nutt into a governor of a city.

「Lord Nutt, Lord Nutt! I have a report to make. A demonic beast that wishes to be your subordinate has arrived with many humans! Three thousand in number! Three thousand in number! 」

「A demonic beast with humans? Did you say it wished to be my subordinate? Surely it didn’t just come here for nothing. 」

Nutt narrowed his eyes even more at the word “three thousand”. He glared at the small bird that had brought the report as if he was going to kill it.

It wasn’t uncommon for demonic creatures to bring humans or precious metals as tribute. But three thousand was an unusual number. Nutt judged that, at the very least, it wasn’t just a wish to be Nutt’s subordinate.

Perhaps it was seeking status and power like Nutt himself, or perhaps it had an army purely because it wished to fight. Whatever the case, it was bound to be troublesome.

The little bird flapped its wings busily and spoke.

「…He said, “Lord Demon, I wish to be granted an audience with you!! Lord Demon!” 」

—

「I told you many times that I don’t want to…」

「Don’t say such things. Someone else might hear you. 」

Shad to me, who was walking along the road, in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.

Shad was no longer in human form. She had transformed into a giant snake that looked like a monster and was entering the city of Parna. Caria, me, and the 3,000 soldiers followed her lead.

While looking around, I whispered some instructions to the soldiers that we had agreed upon. As we continued marching, some of the soldiers gradually disappeared into the city. No one was keeping an eye on them, and since demons and magical beasts were all acting freely, without having proper supervision of us.

It was a cheerful place at first glance. I could call it a wonderful city. Of course, I only said those words since I didn’t see any human corpses piled up everywhere.

However, the city looked exactly as I expected after I sent scouts to check beforehand. There were no problems, and my plan was not hindered.

Shad’s presence and magical power were completely demonic. There was no doubt that she transformed into a large magical beast and brought humans as her subordinates.

The only problem was that Shad tried to escape three times along the way. Caria held her back every time. In a way, she was quite brave to try to escape so many times while being glared at by Caria’s menacing eyes.

There was another reason why we were able to enter the city so easily. This was because the city was filled with chaos. Even in wartime, the gates were left open, and the gatekeepers weren’t able to control who came in and out.

After all, it seemed that most of the gatekeepers and guards were working under the demon’s control. It was rational to use those who could be used, but it was probably a huge nightmare for them.

After all, if something demonic came along, there was no way they could just not let it through. If they opposed a demon, their heads would be cut off immediately.

Arche, the royal capital of the Gharast Kingdom, wasn’t like this. Back then, the watchful eyes covered every detail, and it could be said that everything was controlled by demonic hands, without the use of human hands.

If Drigman the Controller was in charge, then there was no way that he would have allowed 3,000 humans to enter through the main gate. He was truly troublesome as an enemy.

「…That’s surprising. I thought that demonic beings had a tendency to govern and control, like Drigman. 」

Caria, who was unusually wearing a helmet to hide her skull, spoke from behind me. I nodded without moving my eyes.

「I think this is more advantageous to us. And perhaps, they aren’t wary of our power force. In other words, they’re like “look at my power, and if there’s anything you can do, go ahead and do it.” That’s why they ignore us. 」

Demonic nature. They were originally like that. They flaunted their power and ruled with force.

「And in reality, 3,000 humans wasn’t a large number in the eyes of a demon. No, even if Mastigius led a force of 40,000, how much would it mean? 」

Then, I spoke to Shad, who continued to walk along the road, occasionally looking back at me.

「Don’t worry. I don’t mind if you run away in the end. But please lend me your strength just once. 」

「Really!? I won’t forget what you said! I’m definitely going to run away, you know!? 」

A whisper echoed through my ears, and I couldn’t help but twitch my cheeks. I didn’t know what kind of magical beast she was in her essence, but she seemed to belong to a cowardly species. The amount of magical power stored in her body was probably not that enormous. I wondered what kind of magical beast she was. A small snake, perhaps?

The tragic situation in the city came into view more clearly as I continued to move forward after the gatekeeper let us in.

The place that should’ve been the market was now almost devoid of goods, and there were no people setting up their shops. Actually, I hadn’t seen many regular humans. All I could see were people dressed like sorcerers.

They were human, but they behaved as if they were companions of demons. Should I call them arrogant, or praise them for their adaptability? I would definitely have to deal with them if I were to take this city.

Just as I was feeling a little tired, a small bird that had been flying around for a while approached Shad and spoke to her.

「Advance! Advance! Go straight and meet Lord Nutt! An audience! An audience! 」

The bird’s high-pitched voice called out, inviting us to the royal palace.

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I don’t have a good feeling about this…

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