âItâs nice to see you again, General Miralda. Itâs me, Golan the Ogre.â\n
I followed General Farneze into the meeting room and faced Miralda, much like I had last time.
She was wearing the same clothes, which looked a lot like an old Japanese kimono.
âAh, it has been a while. You might be the only Ogre whose name I remember.â
âI see⊠Perhaps I should thank you.â
âWell, youâre also just about the only Ogre I know.â
âThen of course Iâm the only one!â
I couldnât help but shout.
But Miralda just laughed. She wasnât angry.
âI talked with General Farneze yesterday. But things get so formal. Thatâs why Iâm quite relieved to see you here.â (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
General Farneze chuckled.
âYou were full of threats yesterday. Whatâs changed?â
âI get sore muscles when talking about such serious subjects for so long. Besides, I went through the trouble of coming all of the way here. I was very much expecting to be treated to a welcoming party that would last a few nights.â
After hearing that, I was certain.
âI guess that means you donât really care if your presence here is known?â\n
General Farneze looked at me with a questioning expression.
On the other hand, Miralda now had a mischievous grin.
âMmm. As for why I came hereâŠâ
âWeâre to use you as a feint.â
âExactly.â
Realization finally appeared on General Farnezeâs face.
Up until now, our alliance with Demon King Tralzard was a secret.
As we had the same goal, we would both move to help achieve it within our means.
Something like that.
So, why had Miralda come here instead of sending a messenger?
And we werenât in the Generalâs town, but the royal castle.
Not only was she here to tell us that her army could no longer be stationed by the border, but she was making a show of this alliance between our countries. She was helping us from behind the scenes, so that we could maintain the advantage even a little.
âYou canât become a Demon King by just being strong. Greed is also important. You need to eat others. And so battles between Demon Kings are especially vicious.â
Leninoth and Fara. If one of them became a Demon King, they would still have a Great Demon King neighbor to the east. \nWhich meant they would have to go west in order to strengthen their forces.
âDemon King Janius and Demon King Tralzard are in the west. If someone were to attack one of those countries, which do you think they would choose?â
I wanted to know what Miralda was thinking.
âThe country that my master rules. Itâs our country that is exhausted from this war. And in spite of our lands being so vast, we donât have enough soldiers.â
âAnd there is also the war with Demon King Bardoto.â
Said General Farneze. This time it was me who looked puzzled.
Demon King Bardoto was no longer here. He lost during the invasion from the Celestial World.
His country had been split up, and several Lesser Demon Kings were now fighting for prominence.
âThatâs how it is. The war with Legard is only getting worse each day, and we still have to have soldiers guarding the border with the old Bardoto lands. They were our enemy from long ago, after all.â
âI didnât know that.â
Being a Demon King seemed like a lot of work.
âAnd things have been particularly bad in the west recentlyâin other words, those Wild Hunt fools have been making a mess of things. And so weâve had to send many soldiers to the border as well.â
âSeems like you have trouble on all sides.â
âIndeed. While Demon King Janius isnât hostile towards us now, if we were to attack Leninoth or Fara, it would make him feel threatened. After all, it would mean that our country would be surrounding half of his.â
\nShe could not make any decisions about where to move her army.
âAre there any alternatives?â
If this alliance was to be maintained, then cooperation was a necessity.
Surely Miralda would understand that.
âAnâŠalternativeâŠâ
Miralda fell silent and seemed to ponder it.
Currently, it felt that it would take a series of very fortunate events for our country to be able to survive.
âThere isâŠone alternative.â
Oh? My eyes widened.
I had assumed she would say that there wasnât, and thatâs why we had to fend for ourselves.
âAnd what is it?â
âI cannot change what I already told you yesterday. I must obey the order of my lord. However, it might not necessarily be the case if weâre talking about my own subordinates.â
ââŠWhat do you mean?â
âThe other Generals would object if I just allowed you to borrow my men. However, if it were to be a trade⊠Well, it would be difficult, but not impossible.â