I headed to the Gahne Nether inside the simulated world where the monsters are gathering.
You can’t tell the border between the normal world and the Nether at a glance.
The human side has created a simple border line with stakes and ropes at least.
Because of the curtailment of the clergy over the years, the Nether is constantly getting smaller, so there’s little merit to making fences or something of the sort.
Even if they did make it, it would be destroyed by the monsters coming out from the Nether.
That’s why there’s only soldier stations that are basically hastily made huts and watchtowers like those seen in Taizu at the very frontlines here.
There’s a lot of beast type monsters showing up in Gahne, but bird, dragon, and humanoid monsters have been seen too.
The threat is low compared to the wyvern type monsters from Taizu, but they apparently appear in the sky sometimes.
But the change from plains to wasteland makes it easy to tell.
The fact that grass grows soon after being purified really speaks a lot of the vitality of plants.
On the other hand, it means that the mana of the Nether affects even the grass growing in nature.
I did feel like something’s different when I entered, but there was personally not that much of a change.
But according to Ilias and Mix, there’s apparently a prickling sensation on their skin.
The Gahne Castle felt equally strange since it is a Nether too, but it seems to be more remarkable since it is a weather-beaten Nether.
Rather than its ecology, I should see this as the things possessing mana being affected.
In that case, would it be possible to cultivate plants from Earth here?
I would like to verify this when I have the time.
It is questionable whether there’s nutrients in the land with it being a wasteland to begin with, but…there’s sunlight and water.
You would have to commute to the Nether, but normal animals don’t like to get close to the Nether.
You wouldn’t be able to enter the Nether with a horse trained in Gahne, so you would have to go in by foot.
After advancing for around half a day, I saw a black mass far off. What was there was a bizarre sight of a horde of monsters standing there silently.
What I feel from seeing them through a picture and seeing them in the flesh really is different. It is the same feeling as that time when I was attacked by a slime: an endless sensation of fear of the unknown, the survival instincts, and the chills.
Even though we should be at a distance where the monsters can see us, there’s no reaction.
According to the Gold Demon Lord, in the simulated world, they won’t do anything as long as you don’t make contact with them.
I went around and observed the surroundings.
Rather than fantasy, this is more like an assembly of members straight from a horror movie.
After I finished checking them, I made Ilias attack them.
The moment she attacked them, they began moving as if they had been breathed life, and the monsters around began to attack all the humans around matching this.
I requested to be quickly withdrawn from the simulated world and went into spectator mode.
Ilias and Mix fought for a while, but it didn’t last long.
Mix can put up a good fight if it is just one and Ilias is so strong she is practically a one-man army.
But their numbers are abnormal and I don’t see the monsters showing any actions to hold back from each other.
If these were people, in a free-for-all battlefield, they would show restraint in order to not drag allied soldiers in their attacks.
They will end up dragging others if they are at their wit’s end, but they still have brakes in their emotions.
But in the case other monsters are within the range of attack, they would still charge regardless of the harm it will cause to the surroundings, and rampage as they please.
Rakura would be able to kill many with their friendly fire just from maintaining a barrier in the middle of them.
But the general consensus was that if they were to make all of them do friendly fire, with these numbers, the mana maintaining the barrier would run out and she would be crushed.
If Wolfie could use a barrier of around the same level -is a possibility I thought of, but I shouldn’t try gambles.
After finishing our verification, we return from the simulated world to the real world.
I wake up and look back at my memories.
Different from the game, we reduced the burden by making the passing of time the same as the one from the real world.
It is currently past noon, and we came back with around 6 hours of memories.
We had her erase the memories of the traversal, but the memories of the observation remain clearly.
It is a truly handy feature. If the Gold Demon Lord comes along, it is possible to go a bit to the past and talk with the dead.
“Now then, I have learned about the degree of the threat, but…what to do…”
It can’t be called a despairing threat, but it is a threat all the same.
Even if we were to put our strength in defense, there’s no method to completely stop that uncontrolled army of monsters.
Gahne is an open field to begin with and doesn’t have tall defensive walls.
If it had tall defensive walls like the capital of Taizu, something could have been done…
This can be handled somewhat better than against Taizu, but doing this with the restriction of keeping the casualties to the bare minimum is increasing the difficulty.
Moreover, their numbers are apparently increasing as we speak. In the simulated world, there’s no Demon Lord to call and gather them, so they don’t increase in number even if you fast forward to the future.
However, it is steadily increasing in numbers in the real world.
If I were to use the numbers of 1 month ago and today’s numbers as reference, Gahne is currently winning in numbers, but that difference will be flipped in less than half a year.
“Difficult, right? My plan was also to use our game to see if defeating Taizu would serve as reference to solve this problem.” (Gold)
“It must not have been of use.”
“Damn right.” (Gold)
“Oi, what are you doing?” (Ilias)
A shining sword at the throat of the Gold Demon Lord and the scary threatening voice of Ilias; a truly lightning fast technique even after just waking up.
By the way, if I had to explain what kind of situation this is, Ilias and Mix were lying flat on the table.
As for me, I was on top of a bed that was prepared beforehand, and there’s the Gold Demon Lord by my side using my arm as a pillow.
We must have been in this position for several hours, my arm is numb and it is painful.
This Gold Demon Lord must have stealthily moved to my location after we were sent to the simulated world.
Can’t even lower my guard with this one.
I get up for now and check my state.
My body is feeling good because I was lying down in bed, but the numbness of my arm and my inability to concentrate stand out.
It seems like the load from seeing the monster army at close range wasn’t something to scoff at. Looks like I will need to sleep properly afterwards.
“Mix, have you brought communication tools?”
“Yes, I can prepare them at any time!” (Mix)
I was thinking about getting the secret technique of Mejis as an apology, but it is apparently almost impossible for Taizu to recreate it.
In the first place, this crystal is a precious material that can only be obtained in a volcano of Mejis.
Anyways, Mix obtained both of them when leaving Taizu.
The only ones who can use it are Rakura and Mix who were taught the method.
Ilias tried to learn it too, but with Wolfie silently showing the chain that she got from Ekdoik, Ilias refrained.
It would be troubling if she were to destroy something that we can’t get a second of after all.
“Hoh, ya have something interesting there. If I remember correctly, it is a catalyst for the communication magic passed down in the Yugura Church.” (Gold)
“I will be explaining the situation to the king of Taizu, Marito. If you join in on the conversation, Gold Demon Lord, the conversation will go faster.”
“Umu, I don’t mind.” (Gold)
Mix borrowed a pillow, set the crystal ball, and began the call.
“Muh, the crystal ball is shining. Is that Mix?”
The voice echoing from the crystal ball is the familiar voice of Marito. The expression of Mix suddenly stiffened after hearing that voice.
Right right, I forgot, but Mix loves her brother Marito a whole ton.
But due to this, when she is in front of the person himself, she would make such a turn that you would wonder who in the world she is.
“A-Ani-sama, uhm, y-you see…” (Mix)
“Calm down. —Is my friend with you?” (Marito)
“Y-Y-Yes! R-Right now w-w-we are at the Demon Lord’s—” (Mix)
There will be no end like this, so I decide to interject.
I tell him about what has happened until now.
And then, I even talk about the existence of the Demon Lord that is trying to aim for Gahne.
“Even though it is your second day staying in Gahne, just how much has happened? Couldn’t you have at least given me this type of information in pieces after 1 week of your stay?” (Marito)
“I completely agree with you.”
We were called by the Demon Lord the next day we came to Gahne, were challenged to a match, were told shocking revelations, and we are currently thinking of countermeasures against the Demon Lord that’s aiming for a Demon Lord.
There should be a limit to sudden developments. Wouldn’t this cover a whole volume if this were made into a novel?
I got a weird thought there for a moment. It must be the aftereffect of seeing way too many monsters and my fantasy brain working here.
“But I can understand after hearing the ability of the Gold Demon Lord. The political measures taken without hesitation in the recent years of Gahne have all been methods with high risk and no precedent. If she has been doing trial and error in the simulated worlds, it makes sense that she would be able to apply them with confidence.” (Marito)
Even though this is a talk that’s in a hard to understand realm, Marito’s power of understanding rivals even that of a modern Japanese person that has been acclimated to fantasy.
“I have gotten a general understanding now. If you are saying you want to help out the king of Gahne—no, the Gold Demon Lord, I won’t stop you. However, I would like you to promise me that you will act with your safety as the utmost priority.” (Marito)
“I will promise you that. In the first place, Mix is here, you know. She has been thinking about my safety first and foremost when she acts and she is really reliable.”
“I see. Good work, Mix.” (Marito)
“No, uhm, ablubu, yes!” (Mix)
I should keep the sudden throwing of the topic to a minimum. But I can tell that she is happy for being praised, so I don’t want to tease her too much about it.
Mix is this nervous wreck when just hearing the voice of Marito, and yet, she apparently isn’t romantically attracted to him.
Actually, she already knows that I have introduced Ruko to Marito, but Mix was grateful towards me and tried to immediately order a bride dress already, which was quite hectic.
I couldn’t feel jealousy, but…the heart of a woman is so complicated that I can’t completely read it. Let’s just do my best to slowly understand it.
In the first place, the reaction of everyone else towards Marito is always exaggerated. Could it be that he is constantly scattering charm magic?
“Also, act without throwing away the possibility that this is a plot of the Gold Demon Lord. The other party is a Demon Lord, moreover, a fox that bewilders men. Make sure not to lower your guard.” (Marito)
“I have been listening from the side here and am getting terribly insulted. I heard ya were the Wise King, but ya seem to be a narrow minded man beyond expectations. I won’t deny I am a fox though.” (Gold)
She is a fox demi-human after all.
I have not explained to him about her past and about her outward appearance. I am impressed he managed to pinpoint that.
“Thanks to your political measures that don’t consider the foreign countries, our country had bandits flowing into it, and it was extremely troubling. Telling me to believe a king who can only rule because of a special power of theirs is a hard request.” (Marito)
“Isn’t it only because yer lacking adaptability, being unable to subjugate mere bandits in yer country? Nfufu.” (Gold)
“—Hooh, you can bark loud, Yellow Demon Lord.” (Marito)
“Right back at ya. Ya really seem to want to make this one yer enemy, brat.” (Gold)
The two of them are trading blows with their words.
Ilias and Mix are showing anger at what the Gold Demon Lord is saying, but they seem to be more in fear at the anger of Marito.
Speaking of which, I have only seen Marito angry when Ilias failed to protect a certain someone. He normally doesn’t show his anger, so it makes it extra scary when it happens.
Now then, I feel like a war might happen if I just leave these two talking with a ‘wanna take this outside?’, so I move the conversation forward.
“Marito, we will be doing our best over here, but you should also be careful of the Taizu Nether. The Green Demon Lord is lower in hierarchy compared to the Gold Demon Lord, but they are dangerous enough to pick a fight against the Black Demon Lord. It is apparently safe as long as you don’t bother them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they have already resurrected.”
“Yeah, I will share the information with Pope Euparo too, and do what must be done… Be careful. Once you are back, let’s have a nice drink toge—” (Marito)
“Stop that. You are jinxing me here. I will be returning as usual. That’s all there is to it.”
“Ah, okay.” (Marito)
Setting a flag all casually. This world doesn’t have the concept of death flags, so it can’t be helped, but it is worrying, you know.
The call ended like this. With how overprotective Marito is, I thought he would tell me to go back immediately since there’s no information of Raheight in Gahne, but…it seems like he plans on letting me act freely to a certain degree.
“What’s with that brat?! How nasty!” (Gold)
“Remember what you tried to make us do in the simulated world, okay?”
As if there’s a king who would want to get along with a Demon Lord -considered the sworn enemies of the world- after being told ‘we were having a bit of a game where we tried to destroy your country’.
The Gold Demon Lord is also someone that had been made to swallow a bitter pill in the simulations against Marito, so the initial hate towards each other was already way too high.
It would be troubling to have neighboring countries not getting along, but maybe it is a world constant that neighboring countries are considered potential enemies…?
The two of them seem like people who would get along talking about common topics, but it seems like having them get along will be impossible.
—Let’s switch gears here. Now that I have gotten the permission of Marito, our range of actions have increased.
If I could have a direct talk with the other Demon Lord, I could try probing them for information, but that’s not realistic.
Even the Gold Demon Lord can only talk with them once a month. Who knows where the other Demon Lords are.
It is an enemy we don’t know the appearance or identity of, but I think I have taken in information to a certain degree.
The biggest harvest here was that we managed to see the monsters personally with the simulated world of the Gold Demon Lord.
The only monster I have seen is a slime, so there were things I noticed due to this.
It is great that I managed to investigate this carefully when I was in good gear.
“Alright, I am off to sleep. I would like to rest my mind.”
“I see. Ya can sleep here, ya know?” (Gold)
The Gold Demon Lord pats the bed that’s still out. The quality of the bed is good, but there’s external factors getting in the way of a good sleep.
“As someone who doesn’t get affected by the Nether like Ilias and the others, using this castle as a resting place isn’t bad since there aren’t many people, but if I did that, my two bodyguards wouldn’t be able to rest. Also, I can’t sleep soundly if I am not alone.”
“How cold. I could have sang ya a lullaby. Hearing mine singing is a rare luxury, ya know?” (Gold)
“I will get that as a reward when we succeed. Well then, see ya.”
I bid farewell to the Gold Demon Lord and returned to the manor.
Wolfie had already woken up and was training with the chain made by Ekdoik alone in the garden.
Rakura is still fast asleep. Ilias and Rakura apparently barely have any memories remaining, so the mental health of the two should be totally fine though…
I then looked at the chain of Wolfie and noticed that the movements of the chain are strangely vigorous.
I saw the same thing yesterday, but can there be this much change in just one day?
I was watching curiously and it must have been uncomfortable, Wolfie spoke to me.
“Shishou, is something the matter?” (Wolfie)
“I was just thinking that you have gotten a lot better at controlling the chains compared to yesterday.”
“Now that you mention it…” (Ilias)
“I researched what kind of training is good in the world of the Gold Demon Lord!” (Wolfie)
“Yes, Wolfie-chan has been training the whole time after all!” (Mix)
“Aah, I see.”
The experiences in the simulated world are returned to your initial values.
As someone who trained for close to half a year and has experienced mock battles, I know how vexing it is to be reset to how you were initially.
However, even if it is reset, you can still verify things.
Wolfie utilized most of her time in the simulated worlds worth practically a whole lifetime in training.
The experience points you get in the body and spiritually are zero, so it may look pointless, but you can learn what kind of results your growths have brought forth.
She must have done quite a lot of training related to the chains in the simulated world. She found out which kind of training suited her the most and brought the result only.
And so, she can now perform the most efficient methods in the real world.
Even this alone should have a lot of worth for Wolfie.
“The biggest winner here might have been Wolfie.”
“What do you mean?” (Wolfie)
“I ended my simulated world experience in just the first run after all. The only thing I earned was stuff that left a bad aftertaste.”
“Umu… As for me, I have only been left with the result that I lost.” (Ilias)
“True. When it comes to things earned, Wolfie-chan is number one.” (Mix)
If I had to mention anything, it would be that I managed to have a one-on-one talk with the Gold Demon Lord, and the fact that I managed to save the team of Ilias before the game finished.
The latter was necessary, but it didn’t really have any benefits; the former one was fruitful but could have been done later too.
I could have tested out a variety of things if I had done several iterations… Right, I could try learning magic in the simulated world.
It is now that I noticed. Even if I have no talent, if I researched a way to use magic, I might have been able to grasp some sort of opportunity!
Looks like my mage debut in an isekai still lies further ahead. I have requested this of Marito though…
“Shishou, did something painful happen?” (Wolfie)
“No, I was simply reflecting on myself that I was also a prisoner of victory.”
“?”
A game really should be enjoyed. To think I would be the one being taught by Wolfie; I am a failure as a shishou.
I for now smile and pet the head of Wolfie to play it off.
Even after training like that, she didn’t manage to defeat Pashuro.
Pashuro himself must have gotten stronger after 10-20 years, but even the outstanding talent of Wolfie was ineffective.
Wolfie cannot use her talent to the fullest if she learns by herself. The training with Ilias and the Ragudo Division members has a high effectiveness, but it might not be suitable for Wolfie.
As long as Wolfie is seeking strength, I want to help her out somehow…
It really might be better to consult with someone like Ekdoik. He was one of the top people that said the talent of Wolfie was being wasted.
He might be able to lend us his knowledge if we tell him about how the Nether has grown… Maybe go all the way and call him here.
Ah, speaking of which, there was also that one.
—A lot of ideas came to mind, but let’s go to sleep for now.
“I will be going to sleep, so wake me up at dinner or something.”
“Yes, have a good rest, Shishou.” (Wolfie)
“Let’s alternate our sleeping schedules over here, Lady Ratzel.” (Mix)
“Right. Then, I will be on watch first.” (Ilias)
“No no, I am not sleepy yet, so you go first, Lady Ratzel.” (Mix)
“But Mix-sama should be the one that’s more…” (Ilias)
I left the unproductive pushing of turns from Mix, who was still excited from her conversation with Marito, and Ilias, who found it hard to sleep before the little sister of her superior, and headed to my room by myself. When I entered the room, I collapsed on the bed instantly and sigh.
The bed here is lower in quality to that of the bed prepared by the Gold Demon Lord, but it is still several times more extravagant than that in the house of Ilias.
A bed that doesn’t lose to a hotel you would splurge on when traveling overseas. If I were to complain here, the me from when I just arrived in this world would get angry.
At times like this, I would stare at my wooden sword and remember the days when I slept outdoors.
Yeah, I am currently blessed with a high quality environment.
Let’s sleep already.
Wolfie will wake me up when time passes, and there’s no assurance Rakura won’t be causing problems in the meantime.
I could sleep if I wanted to, but my stamina being full is getting in the way. Let’s try counting sheeps and other purposeful methods.
Right now there’s 6 resurrected Demon Lords counting the Gold Demon Lord. Someone of them has created Creature type monsters and is trying to invade Gahne.
I will eliminate the possibility that this is a self-produced issue by the Gold Demon Lord at present.
There’s 5 Demon Lords remaining… One of them can be excluded, so 4…
If we consider their personalities…3 remaining.
If we consider their standings…2 remaining. Which one…no, it doesn’t matter which…
“…I can’t sleep. Let’s switch to how to improve Rakura.”
After a few seconds of that, I imagined myself throwing the towel as I fell asleep.