Chapter 153 – A (Demon) Magic Lord?
After finding out that I was the new magic lord, I went back to the dragon palace.
Cruz smiled at me.
「Al! Congratulations!」
「Huh?」
「Well, I knew you weren’t just some ordinary old dude.」
Cruz said as she nodded to herself.
Even though she was the hero, she wasn’t hostile to the new magic lord at all.
「Cruz, seems I’m the new magic lord…you don’t have to fight me?」
「Why would I?」
Cruz said, genuinely confused.
「Why? I mean…the hero always goes after the Demon Lord.」
「No! We only attacked the Demon Lord after he invaded, right?」
「You’re right…now that you mention it.」
Then Cruz thought to herself.
She put her hand to her forehead and nodded.
「What is it, Cruz?」
「I was just thinking about what I should do if you invaded, Al.」
「You’d have to attack me?」
「Well…」
Cruz was seriously thinking it over.
Thinking it over so much, in fact, that Moofy came over to the motionless Cruz.
Moffy chewed at and licked her clothes, all over.
She was about to bite her hand, but then Cruz grabbed Moofy’s head with both hands.
「First, we need to destroy the old Demon Lord’s castle!」
What the hell was she talking about now?
「What?」
「Cruz, what are you saying?」
Luka and I asked her.
「What do you mean? The way to invade! It’s easier to invade if you have a base like the Demon Lord.」
「But aren’t you worried that since now Al is the new magic lord that you’ll have to attack him?」
「Why would I have to attack Al!?」
Cruz said with an unshaken face.
「But if you ever do invade somewhere, tell me! I’ll help!」
「Oh…thanks, Cruz. But…」
「But you can’t kill people! It’s bad if you do that! Instead you can wreck some castles and take over kingdoms!」
Cruz was having too much fun thinking about war.
You can’t take over a kingdom just by wrecking a castle.
「What are you two talking about?!」
Luka was lost, but Yureena nodded in complete understanding.
「Cruz really is your partner. It’s what makes her special.」
「Partner? I wonder if you could call her that!」
Vi-Vi said, taking my hand.
The Moofy quickly approached me. Moofy’s been focused on me a lot lately.
Maybe no one’s been giving this cow the affection it needs.
「But the Demon Lord always becomes the king of the devils, right? You can do whatever you want, Al!」
「Oh, thanks, Vi-Vi.」
「So become the king of the devils then.」
「I wasn’t intending on that, Vi-Vi.」
「I think it would be a great idea!」
Vi-Vi seemed pleased about it for some reason.
「I think for now, Al needs to keep this a secret.」
「Yeah, too much trouble otherwise.」
If people knew I was the new Demon Lord, then the royalty in the capital wouldn’t just sit there.
Same with the church and the guild.
Also, many in the devil community would get all riled up. It might cause an unnecessary war.
「I’m not going to do anything special even though I’m the new lord. Just everyone keep it secret.」
I liked my job as a country guard.
I could do whatever I wanted at Mulg. All I had to do was stand guard everyday.
A capital guard couldn’t imagine how easy I had it.
「Okay, Al.」
「I won’t alert the guild.」
「Or the church.」
They all promised to keep it secret.
「Old man! It’sth stho cool your the new demon lord!」
「Keep that secret from the village, Collette!」
Collette clapped her hand over her mouth in understanding…such a cute kid.
「So that makes me the disciple of the magic lord. Better than just having a good teacher!」
Millet was trying to joke about it. Or trying to make the situation less serious.
I’m glad she wasn’t scared.
「Thanks, Millet and Collette.」
「Hm? You’re welcome, I guess.」
「Don’t worry ‘bout it, old man!」
Then Luka said, with a sober face,
「Even so, I wonder why you’ve become the new lord.」
「Because he’s so strong!」
「I don’t think strength had everything to do with it.」
Luka said in denial, then Timisoara said,
「No, the god of magic loves those that are proficient in magical ability.」
「Maybe he was chosen because he was so much better than the Demon Lord?」
「Very possible. It’s the god’s will, though. There’s no way we can know what the god’s thinking.」
「No way to know…」
「Yes, the lords up until now were all chosen for their exceptional magical ability. That’s probably the reason you were.」
No way to understand the gods or their intentions.
But seeing how they acted in the past, you could probably guess.
「When did Al become the new lord?」
Luka asked Timi.
「Probably as soon as he defeated the Demon Lord.」
「At least it’s pretty certain that the Demon Lord lost his protection from the god when he was defeated.」
「After Alra showed up with more skill than the Demon Lord, the god may have pulled his protection.」
「So you think that’s when he became the new lord?」
That would mean the new lord and hero defeated the old one.
「Even with the magic god’s protection taken from the Demon Lord, that doesn’t mean that a new lord is quickly chosen…at least from past examples.」
「I see.」
「Someone stronger like Alra shows up, and the lord’s position becomes open. I think the greatest possibility is that Alra is just filling the position after the Demon Lord was defeated.」
「Filling the position? Like stepping in for a bit?」
「I guess there were several examples of that in the past.」
Timi looked down at my left knee.
「The immortal-killer arrow is of the god of death, the reaper. The reason it was a weak attack is because of your protection from the magic god.」
「It really hurt, though…」
It hurt like crazy when that stone formed. I wonder if that’s supposed to be “weak.”
Timi rubbed Shiggy’s head.
「I heard about my sister’s condition. She screamed in pain night after night.」
「…yeah.」
「Her nerves were very strong, she was strong against pain. She was noble, proud, and simple pain would not have caused her to cry out.」
Jilnidora probably felt far more pain that I had experienced.
「ryaa?」
「Yeah, your mother was a very strong dragon.」
「ryaa」
Shiggy then drew herself close to Timi.
「I guess by growing in magic, you fall under the protection of the magic god.」
「Maybe so.」
「Yeah.」
Yureena looked at my knee and said,
「He was protected after killing the Demon Lord, but…lately the stones in his knees have been growing quicker.」
「True. He used to use magic and the stone never grew.」
「Now he uses it a little and the stone grows.」
Timi rubbed Shiggy and said,
「Hm. If that’s so, then I think it’s connected to the power of the death lord.」
「That’s not a good sign.」
「I think the best thing is to talk to the death lord first.」
Upon deciding that, we all returned to Mulg.
「Alra. You need to take this treasure.」
「Can I?」
It was the map that showed all the different lords.
「Yes. You are the Alra that my sister bequeathed her seal to. Without this, it will be hard to find the death lord.」
「Well, then I’ll gladly borrow it.」
I carefully put the map in my magic bag.
Then we all walked to the transport circle.
As I watched them enter, I looked over at Femm,
「Thanks, Femm.」
「Wuff?」
「Back then, getting between me and Cruz. You were trying to defend me.」
When Cruz identified me as the magic lord, Femm quickly got between us.
Femm threatened Cruz, and was ready to fight.
Cruz was the hero. There was no way Femm could win even as the king of the magic wolves.
Even so, Femm still stood up for me.
『Wuff! You’re wrong…I…』
「What then?」
『Um…umm…』
「Thanks anyway. It made me really happy.」
I grabbed ahold of and hugged Femm.
「Wuff.」
Femm barked softly and wagged its tail.