TWEM Vol. 7 Chapter 16 Part 1
Chapter 16 – Perdis Again
Tendo and I teleported to the garden of my mansion in a corner of the Kingdom of Perdis.
“Whoa!? —Wait, Sir Haruto and Sir Hero! You’ve returned!?”
The servant was surprised to see me and Tendo.
“No, it’s not a little bit, but it’s quite urgent. I wanted to take Finne and the others to the royal castle. By the way, are Finne and the others here now?”
“Yes. Everyone is resting.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked him and opened the door to the mansion. It was not Sebas who greeted us, but Zero.
“Welcome back, Lord Haruto and Sir Tendo. You seem to be back quite early. Did something happen in the Demon Realm?”
Zero asked, but I decided to explain only after everyone had gathered.
“I’ll tell you later. First, I have to inform everyone that I’m back.”
“That’s right. That would make them happy.”
“—Zero, who’s here?”
I heard Finne’s voice from the living room.
We went straight to the living room with Zero taking the lead.
“Lord Haruto has returned.”
Tendo and I peeked from behind Zero and raised our hands.
“It’s not like it’s been a long time. We just returned.”
“Haruto!”
It seemed that everyone was gathered in the living room, and when she called my name, a smile spread across her face.
Finne came up to me.
“Welcome back, Haruto.”
“I’m back, Finne.”
“Welcome back, Tendo.”
“I’m back, Finne.”
Then I noticed Ilmina.
“Ilmina! You’re already here.”
“Yes. I finished work right after that, so I hurried over! I am so glad that you made the long journey safely, Haruto.”
Ilmina said, smiling.
I feel soothed hearing a saintess say that.
After enjoying our reunion, we sat down at the table.
“Haruto, you returned early, so did something happen in the demon territory?”
I nodded at Finne’s words.
“Yes. I was able to meet and talk with the Demon King safely. She didn’t seem to object to making peace with the humans, in fact she was quite enthusiastic.”
“That’s good! That means there won’t be any pointless fighting, right?”
I nodded at Iris’ words. However―
“As Iris said, the war between humans and demons can be avoided. Right, Tendo?”
“That’s right.”
Then, Ephyr seemed to notice the way I phrased my words.
“Haruto, Tendo, what do you mean by ‘can be’?”
Everyone was looking at me and Tendo, so I looked at Tendo.
“Instead of asking me, it’s better if Haruto tells the story.”
“It doesn’t matter who tells it, right?”
“Haruto was the one who actually fought, so I think it’s better for him to tell the story.”
“That’s true.”
Then I began to tell the whole story.
When I finished, everyone was shocked and stunned speechless.
“Haruto, is this true…? I feel like I heard something outrageous.”
“Just like Finne said, it’s no big deal…”
Iris asked Finne with a serious look on her face.
Everyone gathered here looked at me as if they couldn’t believe it.
But―
“Unfortunately, it’s true. The enemy is an evil deity, and besides that, there is also the First Demon King and even stronger ones…”
As everyone was silent, I stood up.
“Anyway, I’m headed to the royal castle right now to talk to Dillan. I want Iris, Ilmina, and Charlotte to come as well.”
The three nodded.
I figured that with the three princesses from each country, the talks would proceed smoothly.
“Haruto, what should we do?”
“Haruto, is there anything we can do?”
Finne and Suzuno asked me.
They weren’t the only ones. Ephyr and Kuzel seemed to feel the same way, because they looked directly at me.
“That’s right. We can all go to the royal castle together, but… prepare to go into battle at any moment.”
The four replied each.
I looked at Zero.
“Zero, I’ll have you join the fight, so you need to get ready.”
“Understood. Should I bring him with me?”
“Him…?”
“Yes. Have you forgotten? He is Glatnis, whom you entrusted with the management of the Labyrinth in my place.”
Come to think of it, I originally summoned Zero as the boss of the Nargadia Labyrinth. But he said he wanted to come with me to the outside world, so I summoned Glatnis – the Ancestral Beast Behemoth – put him in charge of the labyrinth…
I had thought about showing my face at some point, but so many things had happened that it had completely slipped my mind.
It’s true that a Behemoth would be a great fighting force.
But there’s a problem.
“Will he be able to leave the labyrinth?”
“As Lord Haruto said, those in charge of managing the labyrinth can’t leave the labyrinth. But I’m sure Lord Haruto can do something about it.”
Zero looked at me expectantly.
There wasn’t the slightest doubt in his eyes that I could solve the problem.
Ah… Ellis, can you get Glatnis out of the labyrinth?
《It’s possible.》
That’s a quick answer…
So how do we do that?
《We can just bring him out normally.》
Huh? What about the labyrinth then?
《The labyrinth is no longer managed by Glatnis, but by disaster-class dragons stationed on each of the deeper levels, so we can leave the management to one of them.》
When did that happen…?!
《It seems that Glatnis summoned them to leave the management to them.》
Was he competent or was he just lazy…?
Was that it? Was he the kind of guy who worked hard because he didn’t want to work?
Anyway, let’s leave Glatnis to Zero.
I asked Zero.
“Zero, can you use teleportation magic?”
“Yes. I can.”
He’s competent too… but when did he learn it?
“Then go get Glatnis.”
“Okay. Should I head there right away?”
“Please.”
“Then excuse me.”
Zero vanished using teleportation magic. And while we were discussing our future plans, Zero returned with Glatnis.
The humanized Glatnis was a muscular giant, two meters tall, with horns growing out of his head, and was quite intimidating.
Glatnis was still as sleepy as ever, but as soon as he saw me he knelt down.
“I heard the details from Zero. They’re going to make their move…”
“Do you know who they are?”
“Yes. I’ve fought the Evil God and his apostles together with Zero and other monsters in the past.”
I see. He lived a long time, so he knew about the enemy.
And if he had fought them before, he must have some information.
“Okay, then, you two, come with me to the royal castle.”
“Yes!”
Meanwhile, Ilmina and Char, who had seen Glatnis for the first time, asked me.
“Haruto-san, who is this?”
“I’ve been feeling a very strong magic power since earlier…”
“Sorry for the late introduction. This is Glatnis. He was in charge of managing the Nargadia Labyrinth”
“Could he be a monster?”
I nodded at Ilmina’s words and explained Glatnis’ true identity.
“Glatnis’ real name is ‘Earth Raging Beast Behemoth.’”
Ilmina and Char were stunned by his words.
“Behemoth…”
“The original and strongest magic beast created by God… but why did Haruto…?”
“Yeah, I summoned it. Right, Glatnis?”
Glatnis introduced himself when asked.
“My ladies, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Glatnis, in charge of the management of the Nargadia Labyrinth. Actually, I was summoned here in place of Zero, who was leaving the labyrinth. I’ve now left the management of the labyrinth to other monsters and have come all the way here.”
“Summoned, you say…”
“Haruto-san is really out of the ordinary…”
Char and Ilmina looked at me with a wry smile.
Well, I’m used to this kind of reaction.
“Well, let’s end this discussion here and go to the royal castle. Finne, I’m leaving the rest to you.”
“Yes! Leave it to me!”
And so, Tendo and I, accompanied by Iris, Asha, Ilmina, Char, Zero, and Glatnis, quickly made our way to the royal castle.
～
We went to the royal castle and told the gatekeeper what we needed, then we were shown to a room, and after a while Dillan came in.
“Haruto, Tendo, you came a little early… Well, let me get straight to the point. How was the Demon Realm that you two saw?”
“Yeah, the Demon King Fran Vampire has no objections to making peace, and is rather friendly towards humanity.”
I could tell that Dillan was relieved by my words.
But that wasn’t the point this time.
Dillan finally seemed to have calmed down, and noticed Glatnis standing next to Zero behind me.
“Haruto, who is this?”
“He’s Glatnis. I told you already, right? About the Behemoth managing the Nargadia Labyrinth.”
“Be-Behemoth… I-I see. I understand. I would like to arrange a meeting to negotiate with the Demon King—”
Dillan was about to continue the conversation but I stopped him.
“Is there anything else?”
“Yeah. Well, that’s the main point, and one of the reasons I came back so early.”
Seeing my serious eyes, Dillan got serious too.
“Let’s hear it.”
As I had told everyone else, I told Dillan the whole story in detail.
As Dillan listened, his face gradually changed color.
“Is this true? If it’s true, isn’t this a crisis for the world?”
Dillan said, looking back and forth between me and Tendo.
Tendo nodded quietly.
“It is true. I saw it with my own eyes. Demon King Fran asks for our cooperation.”
“Cooperation, huh… I see. So that’s why Ilmina and Charlotte came here too.”
He must have realized why I brought them along.
Dillan slowly rose from his seat.
“We need to hold an emergency meeting of all the countries right away.”
“Thank you. Also, Zero and Glatnis seem to have information about the enemy, so I plan to let them speak at that time.”
“Okay. Wait a moment. I’ll get ready right away.”
With that, Dillan left the room to get ready.
As for the rest of us…
“Haruto. The world is in danger, and you can still drink tea…”
Iris said in amazement.
I mean, it’s tea and sweets from the royal castle, right? It’s nothing compared to Asha’s, but it would be a waste not to drink it here.
～