Chapter 5

A Tactical Retreat for this Princess!

Part 1

When we got back to the castle I headed straight to the training room.

I was practicing my sword skills on some dummies. Not training dummies, I mean dumb soldiers who thought they could take the Sword Princess on.

"You sure you wanna do this little girl? What if… What if we're dangerous… Gack!"

The soldier yelped in pain when I slammed my wooden sword on his head.

A part of me wanted to vent, another part of me wanted to occupy my mind with exercise instead of getting all depressed again.

I noticed Komekko-chan entering the training room. The soldiers who were training stopped what they were doing to look at her.

She was wearing a tanktop and short shorts, showing off her athletic figure.

The guys I was sparring with showed speed and agility they never showed in real combat as they strode over to her.

"Hello pretty girl! What brings you here?"

"Did you come here to use the magic treadmill?"

"Wanna do some squats with me? Or better yet, you can squat on me. On my face, specifically."

Komekko-chan looked at the guys and blinked. If I remembered right, nobody back in Axel would dare to speak to her like that in fear of angering the richest man in town.

Well, onii-sama was as rich as most nobles now.

"Eh? You guys are hitting on the devil?"

"So you're a devil huh? Wanna commit some sins together?"

"What part of you is a devil? You seem pretty angelic to me? Wanna show me which parts of you are devilish?"

"I'd go to hell for you anytime. But how about I take you to heaven instead?"

But why are their pick up lines so good though?

Look at Komekko-chan, it's actually affecting her.

I went over to the soldiers and put my hand on their shoulders.

I whispered to their ears and told them a fact about Komekko-chan that might dissuade them.

"Zamn, she's 12?!"

Komekko-chan pouted when I interfered.

She wanted to enjoy the male attention, huh?

"Well, I'm 12, too, baby. 12 inches that is."

"I'm actually 13, though. I'm not even lying."

Since they were squires who were training, they were actually around Komekko-chan's age.

They looked taller and more muscular than Revi, though.

"Ah… The Devil is happy… But I'm taken…"

I patted the guy's shoulders again, showing my pity to them.

If they had met her before Revi, those lines would have surely worked!

They might have worked on me, too.

"Ah, but Iris over there has a pass from Revi because he couldn't help himself and cheated on her! You can try to hit on her!"

This girl…!

I never even took that pass that Revi gave me seriously… Rather, she wanted me to use it to get some kind of leverage on me, probably!

I guess she really is a devil…

Just because we have a truce, I shouldn't let my guard down around her.

"Eh? Well, hitting on Iris-sama will get us in trouble…"

"Wait, she has a fake body right now, doesn't she?"

"And we can't get in trouble because she's the one in charge now…"

Oi, that just means I can send you to the execution grounds myself.

They surrounded me and showed off their after-workout bodies that were pumped up.

"So, how about it, my queen? Want me to service you?"

"How about we do a second coronation ceremony? Ah, but I can crown your head with something else…"

"Rather than kneeling down to kiss your ring… Want me to kiss somewhere else while I'm at it?"

These guys are way too good with those lines!

"Sigh… You guys already know that I'm going to Elroad to make an heir with Prince Revi now. I'm sorry that you've been captivated by my beauty but… It's just not possible."

"The Prince can put buns in your oven… But I can spread you and butter you up afterwards."

"Ah, then if you have enough pastries… Then I can give you the cream."

"I wanna f**k you."

Their pick-up lines were starting to fall apart.

I grabbed Komekko-chan's arm and led her away from the thirsty boys.

Since the army lost a lot of soldiers, even squires and young men like them were being asked to defend the country.

I could tell that they were nervous about the war and just trying to find some amusement where they could find it, so I decided not to give them a hard time.

…Plus, they probably didn't want to die as virgins.

"So, what did you come here for, Komekko-chan? You gonna use the punching bags?"

Since Komekko-chan was a melee specialist, I thought that was what she came here for.

She surprised me when she picked up a wooden sword from the weapon rack.

"Actually, I wanted to train my sword skills for a bit."

"...You have sword skills?"

Somehow I wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Yeah, it was really handy during my fight with the Moguninin… Ah, but I'm around expert level, not master level, so no need to feel insecure about my superior talents again!"

Is this girl doing this on purpose or what?

Since she was giving an innocent smile like always, it was hard to tell.

"How about some sparring then? This master swordsman can give you some pointers."

"Nice! The Devil is up for a challenge!"

We were both using one-handed swords, so I took a saber/fencing stance. Komekko-chan didn't really have a stance, which showed me that she was self-taught.

"En garde!"

"I'll beat you up!"

Even the opening remarks showed the gap between our backgrounds.

Komekko-chan aggressively came out swinging, aiming for a cut to my chest.

It was an easy riposte that gave me a free thrust to her shoulder. I made her stagger than unleashed a quick cut down to her sword hand, hitting her wrist and making her drop her sword.

"E-Eh?!"

Komekko-chan was surprised by how quickly she was disarmed.

"Oi, your movements are too big. You need to think about efficient movements with swords, you know? Especially if you're up against an armored opponent, normally a sword would be useless, so you really need to aim for spots that can do damage.

Gaps in between the armor around the joints, like in the vulnerable parts around the shoulder or the armpit. Aiming to disarm or cut the wrists, places like that.

Komekko-chan meekly nodded, perhaps not expecting the gap in our skills to be this wide.

"...I'm pretty sure the Devil can cut through armor if I'm using devil energy or Hoost to boost my powers, though."

"If you're up against adamantite armor, you'll still have problems making any significant damage… Alright, let's go again!"

We practiced for an hour or so, and I only noticed by the end that I accomplished my goal of taking my mind off things.

I had Komekko-chan to thank for that, though.

Part 2

After we were done sparring, we headed over to my personal bath.

After washing our sweaty bodies, we soaked in the relaxing hot water.

I was leaning back and letting the hot water loosen my muscles.

Komekko-chan was examining the water making magic item attached to the tub.

"What's got you so interested in that?"

"Ah… I was just thinking about how cool Revi was back in the village. He was really smart in class despite not being a magic user. He was even learning about magic item sequences and stuff."

"Well… I guess he uses magic items a lot, so it'll help him in creating magic items in the future, I guess."

Although, he had so much money that he didn't need to be frugal like that. He can just buy a bunch of magic items from somewhere.

While on the subject of Revi, I said,

"Say, Komekko-chan, what do you actually think about the Revi situation?"

"His situation? Well, I think he's pretty big…"

"Not that situation. I'm talking about how we're sharing him."

"Eh? Having second thoughts? It's fine if you wanna back out! We'll be happy together!"

I went up to her and pinched her cheeks.

"Ouch! The Devil is sorry!"

"Oi, stop being an airhead and answer seriously."

She pouted again when I let go off her cheeks, which left them rosy and puffed up.

"...If the Devil is honest, if there's an opportunity where I can have him to myself, of course I'll take it!"

That's to be expected I guess.

Komekko-chan had very high self-esteem.

She wasn't arrogant or anything, but she thought highly of herself because she was highly capable and talented.

It was the harsh truth of the world that there's people out there who are just good at almost everything they do.

It would be weird for them to not develop some kind of ego.

What's weird is for an incompetent person to grow an ego despite having no reason to have one.

"...As for me, I'd also prefer it if I had Revi for myself."

I was kind of like Komekko-chan.

I was raised to believe that I was a special kind of human being, since I was born with royal blood in my veins.

There was no reason for me to believe that I couldn't have anything I wanted.

That worldview got flipped upside down when I lost onii-sama to someone else, though.

And that someone else was Komekko-chan's elder sister.

I bit my lip, fighting down the flash of anger I felt.

Some part of me felt it was unfair, that even the little sister was competing with me to take the guy I liked.

But the other part of me…

"You know, I wouldn't have agreed to this if I didn't like you, Komekko-chan."

Komekko-chan didn't expect me to say this. Her lips quivered, then she sank her face into her raised knees.

"W-Well, of course it would make sense for even a princess to fall for the Devil's charms!"

"Oi, do you really understand what I'm saying?"

I put my hand on her head and urged her to raise it to look at me.

"...Y-Yeah, I guess I do. You want to keep the party together, right? Rori-san talked to me about it."

"D-Did she do anything else with you?"

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"Nevermind…"

At least Rori-san was faithful!

Maybe I should drop Revi and just elope with her.

"Anyway… Yeah, I only agreed to this because I want us to stay together. And I actually care about you."

"I-I see… The Devil understands I guess."

"Yup. It's good you understand… What are you doing?"

She closed her eyes and pursed her lips for some reason.

"Um… You were confessing your feelings for the devil right? For the sake of preserving our arrangement… I guess I can do it with you…"

"You really think highly of yourself that much, huh?!"

I punched her head lightly, which made her let out a whimper.

"Well… The Devil was thinking… If we're sharing him, we'll eventually do it together, right?"

"Together as in…"

I made some lewd hand motions.

"No, not finger puppets. I'm talking about f******."

That was the second time that day I heard that profanity being used.

"For a village girl, you're somehow more sheltered than me! That's what the finger motions meant!"

"Ow! Alright, I get it now! Stop that meanie!"

I pulled her into a light chokehold and started grinding my knuckles on her head.

Maybe that would activate some of the dead brain cells she seemed to have.

"Well… I just thought that we'd have seperate sessions. Just because we're sharing him, doesn't mean we have to be intimate together."

"Eh? Do you not understand the man we fell in love with? Of course he'll beg us to do it all together."

When she said it like that, it made sense!

"Yeah… That guy is probably biding his time to ask us to do that, huh?"

He'd probably make us fulfill all his harem fantasies after we agreed to date him at the same time.

That's just the kind of guy we fell in love with.

"...What are we even going to do when it comes down to it?"

I blushed about it, embarrassed when I thought about doing those kinds of things with Komekko-chan around.

"Sigh… You sure are a lucky one. Not many people get a chance to see the Devil in action… Try not to be mesmerized by me!"

I was about to respond, when I heard a knock on the door.

Rain came in and saw me and Komekko-chan in the bath.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your yuri time, Iris-sama! We have an emergency!"

I wanted to say something about her yuri comment, but then I remembered what I did with Rori-san.

"It's fine. We haven't done anything yet. What's going on?"

Rain blinked at my comment, then blushed.

"T-That rejection by Kazuma-san really messed you up huh?"

"What did you come here for?!"

I got angry at all the disses I was getting lately.

"Ah, right! There's an emergency! The Demon King army is making their move!"

Since the Demon King army suffered their share of losses during the invasion, as well as the fake out stunt they did when they attacked the capital, we thought that we'd get more time to fortify our defenses and for me to escape the country.

However, they were looking to attack us while we were still recovering from all our losses.

"...What are we looking at? Are all their forces there?"

"Not all of them it seems. If they risk it all trying to finish us off, I think that the battle will end in our favor. They sent a fairly small contingency… so they must be planning something else."

"Maybe they're just doing some terror tactics to continue to lower morale, and encourage the frightened citizens to revolt and riot."

"In any case, please come to the meeting room!"

I nodded and put on my change of clothes.

"I'll go on ahead, Komekko-chan."

"G-Good luck!"

I thought about it, then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Erm… Let's get along."

"Ehe… Yeah, let's get along!"

S-She's really cute, isn't she?

After getting dressed, I went with Rain to the meeting room.

Part 3

I took my seat at the head of the table, with the advisors watching me enter.

It was a weird feeling, since they normally never really cared about me before.

"Alright… What's the situation here?"

Since they were waiting for me to say something, I awkwardly asked this question.

I wasn't used to having this position of power…

"Iris-sama, a group of Demon King army soldiers is advancing towards the capital. The scouts say that they are led by… the fallen angel that was reported to have killed the king and prince…"

I gripped the edge of the table. I didn't think that I'd have to face my father and brother's killer so soon.

"If we are to enact Claire-sama's plan, I suggest that we have Iris-sama escape with the others to Elroad in the midst of the confusion. If we have her escape too early, the Demon King army might just pick them off. We can't send a large contingency to protect the carriage, since it will just draw attention."

I looked at Claire, who nodded at the advisor's suggestion.

"Indeed… We'll need to wait and engage, so the Demon King forces will be too distracted to intercept Iris-sama."

Claire said, looking at the note keeper who wrote down what she said.

I was about to raise my hand, until I remembered that I didn't need to do that anymore.

"...I was thinking about bringing Sonia along."

I said, trying to keep my voice firm and confident.

"Bringing the Demon King army general along?! Please tell us your reasoning for that, Iris-sama."

"We have to prepare for the worst case scenario. We need to bring her along as a hostage and political prisoner, so we have some kind of bargaining chip to use against the Demon King army should the capital fall."

"...Is that Sonia really such a valuable political piece? I understand that she's a high-ranking member but…"

"Because of her ability to use any artifact or weapon, she is a tremendous asset. I'm sure the Demon King army will not want to lose her."

I explained, after determining that it would be a waste to leave her rotting in jail, and potentially have her break out if the Demon King army is successful in invading the capital.

Claire seemed to approve of my idea. She said,

"I see… Then we shall also use that scroll of storage that Sonia used to store all those weapons and relics, and give Iris-sama the treasures we have here."

"...We're taking such drastic measures… huh?"

"It seems as if we are preparing for the worst case scenario."

The advisors didn't resist the idea of leaving all the treasures and artifacts in my care.

It seemed as if they resigned themselves to the worst fate possible.

"Then everyone… Let us head to our battle stations. Iris-sama, Rain will be responsible for organizing your escape. I wish you the best of luck."

She gave me the royal military salute. I nodded and gave her one back.

"Good luck, Claire."

I didn't say goodbye, because I fully expected to see her again.

…

…

I followed Rain to the courtyard, where I found the portable mansion artifact deployed in its full size.

I spotted Regina-sama sleeping, being carried while she was still on the mattress by the servants into the mansion.

How could she sleep through all that?

Rather, the servants seemed to be tolerating her laziness only because they thought she was actually a child.

If they learned her true age, they'd probably dump her on the ground and make her walk the rest of the way.

I didn't see Revi and Komekko-chan there yet. While I was looking around for them, I saw Serena-senpai and Rori-san talking among themselves.

I went up to them and said,

"Where's Revi and Komekko-chan?"

"Ah… They heard that the Crimson Demon village got conscripted to fight in the war… The kingdom needs everybody's help, after all. So they're meeting some of their friends right now."

'Friends', huh?

Revi said that he met all kinds of cute girls in the Crimson Demon village and even did naughty things with some of them.

…That's a bit suspicious!

Speaking of suspicious, I saw Sonia being led to the courtyard, pulled by a chain held by the female guards who watched over her.

She didn't look happy about her situation. When she came close to me, I sighed and shook my head.

"You're suffering just from this kind of treatment? Good grief… You never even had a chess game to the death in prison and you're already complaining?"

"...What are you talking about?"

I was referencing my time in the Demon King army base prison, but it flew over Sonia's head.

"I expect you to behave, Sonia. You know that political prisoners are generally well treated… If you behave, then we'll accommodate you much better than we have been here in Belzerg."

"...I'm getting tired of looking at prison bars all day, so yeah, I'll behave."

"Good… Then you can wait in your room during our travels. You won't be let out of the room, but you'll have more freedom if we make it to Elroad safely."

"Sigh… So I'll have to endure the boredom until then, huh?"

"We've arranged to put one of the magic game consoles in your room. I understand that form of entertainment was popular in your home country, yes?"

"Eh?! For real?! You guys have Super Smash Hoes?!"

I nodded, making her even happier.

"Finally, I can enjoy my NEET life! Yahoo!"

…If onii-sama and Sonia met in Japan, they'd probably hook up and make a good couple.

I watched Sonia being led inside the mansion, before I decided to look for Revi and Komekko-chan.

I found them inside the castle, talking to two Crimson Demons. One was a girl who appeared to be in her late teens. She had immaculate curls and big breasts. There was a smaller girl beside her who looked like a younger version of the first girl, but she had a more blank expression on her face and half-lidded eyes.

The Crimson Demon girls were looking at Revi attentively when he talked, and that bastard was totally putting on his most charming smile.

I already know that those girls are totally captivated by that playboy's charms…!

I made sure to fix my tiara and dress at a nearby mirror and then approached them.

"Ahem…"

"...! Gack!"

Like a husband who got caught by his wife flirting with the pretty shopkeeper, Revi let out a startled scream.

"I-Iris… I thought you were preparing for our departure?!"

"I have servants to do that kind of thing for me. I'm the Queen after all!"

The two Crimson Demon girls audibly gulped and immediately performed a curtsy.

They even skipped the Crimson Demon theatrics.

"And who are these girls?"

"Y-Your Highness… I mean, Your Majesty! My name is Arue…"

"...I'm Rueka."

They skipped the normal Crimson Demon introductions too.

I smiled and grabbed Revi's arm. They were surprised by the gesture. Did they not know who Revi really was?

"...May I ask how you two are acquainted with my fiance, Prince Revi Elroad?"

"Eh?! Prince?!"

"I swear, we didn't know?!"

Those guilty reactions are really suspicious!

"Um… We're at a really complicated time right now, so if I need to be worried about illegitimate children, please go ahead and tell me."

"N-No, nothing like that happened! I used my hand and mouth at most!"

Arue-san said, defending herself.

So this was the big breasted sexy sensei Revi was talking about.

"...And how about you?"

I narrowed my eyes on Rueka. It's always the unassuming ones you have to watch out for.

"I only just watched. I never got the chance."

So she wanted to do it, huh?

And she could at least pretend that she wasn't disappointed.

"I see… Well, we're in the middle of important preparations so… I'll be taking these two now."

I grabbed both Revi and Komekko-chan and started to pull them away.

"Ah, wait, Iris, we were actually talking about bringing these two along with us."

"Hah?"

I gave Komekko-chan a disbelieving look when she said that.

"...Oi, are you planning on beating me with numbers or something?"

"...The devil is not scheming against you. Wait, I know that sounds kind of oxymoronic. I'm not scheming against you!"

"Then what's the point of bringing these Crimson Demons?"

"Well, they're Crimson Demons."

"You know what, fair point."

A Crimson Demon was probably worth about a handful of soldiers by themselves. An especially talented one is worth a military unit by themselves. They were that powerful.

Putting my suspicions aside, our escape would be much safer if we had more Crimson Demons aside from Komekko-chan around.

"Besides, Revi can continue his lessons with Arue-sensei teaching him!"

I was convinced until I heard that!

"What kind of lessons? You mean one-on-one Physical Education?!"

"Well, if your majesty permits… Hmph."

Rueka raised her hand to cover her sister's mouth.

I sighed. I considered asking other Crimson Demons to come, but these two were already familiar with Revi and Komekko, meaning that they would be able to work together more efficiently.

"Fine, fine… They can come along."

"Nice! You're the best, Iris! Ah, by the way, there's also Shubaru-chan, Nerimaki-san, Funifura-san…"

He started listing off a bunch of girls' names.

"Oi, don't push your luck."

"Y-Yeah…"

That cheating pass he gave me was starting to look more and more attractive.

Part 4

While we were getting the mansion filled up with our stuff, and assigning rooms to the Crimson Demon girls, we received news from Rain.

"Iris-sama! There's bad news! The Demon King army has started their assault!"

"I guess it's time to move out then…"

"There's more! It seems the fallen angel has erected a barrier around the capital and trapped us in! It will be hard for Iris-sama to escape now!"

"...They left their castle vulnerable to trap us in here?!"

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

We didn't have the manpower or resources to launch a counter attack on the Demon King castle.

They could focus their all into attacking us.

"Are they trying to isolate us from the outside to siege us here?"

"...That's the thing. They're outside the barrier… It seems they're intent on trapping us here for now."

Revi let out a gasp.

"...Iris, they're trying to stave us inside the barrier! They can just keep the barrier around here forever if they want. Meanwhile, they'll be free to attack the rest of the country while keeping the main forces here inside!"

I felt my stomach drop. The Demon King army was able to keep that barrier around their castle for decades. The capital would only be able to last a few months with the resources inside. Plus, there were a lot of people in the capital who came after they were conscripted, meaning that there were more mouths to feed.

Those thirsty squires from earlier would find themselves hungry, too.

"Wah… This situation keeps getting worse. The devil is glad we can escape!"

"Eh? But we're trapped in here. And you can't use your [Teleport] inside the barrier."

"...But there's still the tunnels right? The ones we chased Sonia in."

…Is this girl a genius?!

Well, she actually was a genius, but her occasional airheadedness made it easy to forget.

"I don't think the barrier can affect the underground tunnels. We have a chance to sneak out, then. But we'll have to move fast before the Demon King army catches on."

"...Rain, go ahead and inform Claire about the tunnels. If rations get too low, she can arrange to have goods and rations smuggled in through the tunnels."

"We might need a guide, though… Since we don't know our way around the tunnels."

I placed a hand on her shoulder and said,

"...There's a group of Axis-cultists there who can help you guys."

"W-We'll have to rely on Axis-cultists? They'll never let us forget any debt we owe them, you know?!"

"Not like we have a choice…"

In times of war, you have to use every resource you have available.

Even if it comes to asking Axis-cultists for help.

Besides, Axis-cultists were an extremist Anti-Demon faction. They would be useful assets in the war against the Demon King army.

"We should probably hurry now then…"

Revi said, everyone nodding in agreement.

…

…

We were back in the tunnels again.

We had a vague idea of where to go, so we didn't have any problems going through the tunnels even at a hurried pace.

While we were going through the tunnels…

"Who goes there! This area belongs to the Axis-cult!"

Cecily and Zesta showed up.

Did they make these tunnels their home?

"...Oi, you guys are technically trespassing on the kingdom's property. Which means this is my property."

I said, correcting their claims that the tunnels belonged to the Axis-cult.

"You didn't even know about this place until recently. We claimed it first!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, not feeling in the mood for Axis-cult antics.

"Look, you guys know what's going on outside, right?"

"Indeed! The Axis-cult is mobilizing our troops as we speak!"

I don't know whether to consider that a good thing or a bad thing.

"...If you do well in cooperating with the kingdom using these tunnels as an important strategic asset, then we'll give you official ownership of the tunnels after the war is over."

"Y-You sure about giving up these important tunnels to these crazy guys, Iris,"

Revi said, looking at Cecily and Zesta warily.

"Look, it's not like we can afford to be cheap during a crisis like this. If we lose, everything will be for nothing anyway."

"I guess you're right…"

Zesta pointed a finger at me accusingly.

"And who are you to give us these promises?!"

"...Well, I'm the queen now."

"I suppose King Belzerg does seem to be into the petite ones…"

I wanted to barf in my mouth.

"...I'm Princess Iris. Well, I guess that's Queen Iris now, since my father is dead."

"But you have such beautiful blue hair! Princess Iris has blonde hair and she's a perfect loli!"

I'm not a loli anymore!

This guy seemed to be under the delusion that I was still a loli. I guess his lolicon tendencies went that deep.

I looked at Regina-sama, who was still groggy but awake enough to follow us.

"Regina-sama… Give me one of those temporary potions."

"Eh? They come in limited supply, you know?"

"Well, we need their help, so I need to confirm my identity."

"It's your call."

I drank the potion she gave me.

There was a puff of magical smoke as my body transformed.

"...! It's the real deal?!"

I stood before them, back in my real form.

I pulled out Calibur and did a few poses to give them further authentication.

"...I'm not convinced, Zesta-sama! Perhaps she needs to strip and show us her naked body in order to prove it?!"

"Of course, Cecily! In fact, maybe she needs to let us inspect her body on an intimate level, so we'll be sure it's really her?!"

"Oi, hands off!"

They scurried over with their wriggling hands. I waved Calibur around to fend them off.

"Perhaps we should get moving if they get the message…"

Serena-senpai said, urging us to keep moving forward.

I nodded and turned to Cecily and Zesta.

"You understand what I'm telling you two, right?"

"Yeah! We just gotta assist the kingdom, right?"

"We were planning to do that anyway! Ah, we'll work extra hard if the kingdom rewards us with lolis, of course!"

"Rejected."

These people gave me a headache whenever I talked to them.

After dealing with the Axis-cultists, we moved forward in the tunnels.

We passed by the so-called chapel room and heard the Axis-cultists gathered there singing hymns.

"Praise Aqua-sama! Curse the Eris-order!"

"Eris pads her chest!"

"Let us get drunk in the name of Aqua-sama!"

Is this even a religion anymore?

They were using every excuse to drink and party.

We ignored the people getting drunk during a church service and kept walking, following the path to the exit.

"Hey, if I remember right, you guys closed off the tunnel to block my escape."

Sonia said, reminding me that Komekko-chan used earth magic to block the tunnels.

"It should be easy to destroy it."

Komekko-chan narrowed her eyes.

"...Are you saying that the Devil's magic is easy to destroy?"

"Wouldn't it be more convenient for us if it was?"

"Hoh. Maybe you'll find that it's harder to destroy than you think? It'll be a shame if we get trapped in these tunnels because the Devil's magic is impenetrable!"

"Stop raising flags! We need to get out as fast as we can, alright?!"

"...Yeah, of course! Oh, look, the blockage is up ahead… Ah, what was the spell I used again last time? Oh, yeah it was [Earth Wall]!"

When we reached the blocked path, we found that there were more walls blocking the tunnel than the last time we saw it.

"Oi, you used [Earth Wall] didn't you?! You made it really damn obvious, too! What happened to that competent Komekko-chan I used to be jealous of?! You're showing off your true self, huh?! Shameless!"

"The Devil doesn't know what you're talking about! Now, go ahead and see if you can beat my magic that easily!"

She created a meaningless obstruction for us just because she felt her pride as a Crimson Demon was challenged. That's really annoying!

"Well… In terms of firepower… All of us here mostly focus on supporting Komekko-chan. So only Komekko-chan has the power to take down those walls…"

"Ah, then the Devil will take them down! [Fireball]!"

She tore the walls down with a fireball, melting the earth into mud.

Is this girl actually stupid or what?

"Wow. Good job, Komekko-chan. Alright, let's move forward now."

"Wait… I just want you guys to know that my [Earth Wall] can normally withstand even the most powerful attacks, alright? It's only because my [Fireball] is a superior spell, that's why I was able to take down the walls so easily."

"Yeah, we get it!"

I led the group forward before there were any more distractions.

Part 5

"We made it out…"

We went through a hidden entrance away from the capital. We safely made it out from the barrier.

"Wait, everyone please hide!"

Rori-san pointed at the sky. There was a flying figure with white and dark wings, hovering above the capital.

"...That's the fallen angel."

It wore a robe with a hood that hid its face, but the wings gave its identity away.

It was the bastard who murdered my remaining family.

We ducked down behind some foliage, careful not to let the fallen angel see us.

"Iris, keep your killing intent down. What if he can sense it?"

"If he can do things like that, then we're screwed anyway."

Next Revi's gonna say that the fallen angel is moving faster than his eyes can keep track.

Let's keep the weakling lines to a minimum and not raise any more flags.

"I have an idea. Us Crimson Demon girls can teleport everyone to Axel. It's the farthest city away from the Demon King army troops, and we can go to Elroad from there."

Arue said, looking at Komekko-chan and Rueka, who nodded.

"I see… That will reduce our travel time. Alright, let's go for it."

We formed a circle and held hands.

"[Teleport]!"

After a surge of motion, we ended up back in Axel.

…Only to see that it looked a bit more different than the last time we were there.

"Alright, move it! Give all your crops and food to us!"

There were demons in the town.

"...!"

We all looked for places to hide, ending up in an alleyway as we watched the situation from afar.

"Don't tell me the Demon King army is occupying the town?"

Regina-sama said, as we watched the townsfolk giving tributes to the demons, who were demanding food supplies from the people.

"...Well, Axel has given the Demon King army a lot of trouble in the past. Maybe they want to make sure that the adventurers here can't interfere."

Sonia said, as she tried to scratch her back even as her hands were shackled. I did her a favor and scratched her back for her.

"...! We have to check up on onee-chan and the babies! If we're talking about people who gave the Demon King army a lot of problems in the past, it would be onee-chan's party, right?!"

Komekko-chan said in a panic.

"Well… It looks like we'll need some help sneaking out of here anyway. We don't know if there's a Demon King general here or not. We'll need to lie low for now."

I had conflicted feelings about going to see onii-sama again, but I couldn't really go against the most rational option we had. Claire told me that she saw me as an adult, so I needed to act like it.

While sneaking around in the alleyways, we headed over to onii-sama's mansion.

Only to find that it was surrounded by demons.

"Wah… They're really keeping this place in lockdown."

Revi said, as we watched the soldiers keeping the perimeter of the mansion secure. Each of them were armed with crossbows.

"I suppose we'll have to sneak in."

I nodded to Serena-senpai, who pulled out her doll.

We used [Shadow Puppetry] to scout the area before making our move.

"Whoa, those dolls are cute! Ah, this one is a Crimson Demon doll right?!"

"You're too loud, Komekko-chan."

I chastised Komekko-chan as I focused on my recon.

After we determined the demon's surveillance patterns, it was Rori-san's turn.

"Alright everyone… make sure to keep your movements coordinated."

She disguised everyone as demons with her illusion magic.

We coordinated our timing and moved in when there was a gap in the steady rotation of guards circling around the mansion. When a guard unit came into view, we fell into a steady march, imitating the movements we observed.

Once we were out of vision from the unit of guards behind us, we made our move.

"Quick, quick!"

We each took turns sneaking into an open window.

Once we were inside, I saw a pair of young red eyes watching us sneak in.

"Wah… Mama!"

The baby saw us and started crying.

"Oi, I told you bastards we'd cooperate if you didn't step foot inside my home!"

Before we could calm the baby down, I saw a flash of steel headed straight for me.

I drew Calibur just in time to block the single-edged sword. I recognized that sword with the unusual name.

Onii-sama was glaring at me with his sword clashing with mine.

Rori-san dropped the illusion before the conflict could escalate.

Onii-sama blinked when he saw me.

"...Um, are you here for Aqua?"

Onii-sama said, looking at my blue hair.

I blinked. The shock of seeing onii-sama after a while, and having him attack me…

It made me sick.

"Bleh!"

I vomited in front of him.

"Gah! I guess you really are Aqua's acquaintance! Oi, stop puking!"

"Onii-chan! Stop! It's us!"

Komekko-chan, with the illusion gone, ran towards onii-sama and put her arms around him.

Seeing her do that so easily, I felt jealous.

"Eh? Komekko?"

He looked around at our party.

"...Arue, Rueka… and even the loli succubus who treated me very well?!"

"What's this about a succubus?"

Big boss… Megumin-senpai stepped out with her arms crossed.

…It amazed me how she looked the same as back then, even after being a mother of two.

Her hair was a bit longer, but that was pretty much it.

Komekko-chan was pretty much twice her size… in more ways than one.

"Eh? What's everyone doing here? And why did that Aqua lookalike vomit on our expensive carpet!"

"S-Sorry…"

Komekko-chan gestured to me and said,

"Ah, she might have blue hair now, but this is actually Iri… Mmph!"

I covered her mouth before she could say anything.

"Sorry about that… We got here with teleportation magic but I'm not used to it, so I got sick. My name is Risu!"

I didn't want them to know that it was me yet. There were already a lot of things going on with me and I didn't want any more stressful things affecting me.

"Right… Well, you should all come in. I guess you guys are running away from the Demon King army, right?"

Arue and Komekko-chan went with Megumin-senpai to explain things to her, while the rest of us were led to the dining room by onii-sama.

The baby stopped crying and was smiling at the new visitors from her papa's arms.

It was a cute sight but made me very sad at the same time.

Part 6

"...So you guys are the adventurers who partied up with Komekko-chan, huh?"

Onii-sama said, looking at me, Revi and Rori-san. Regina-sama was also with us, along with Serena-senpai, who chose to stay quiet for the most part.

Sonia seemed like she wanted to talk to onii-sama, since she immediately recognized the game, but I had her locked up at a guest room for now, since she was still our prisoner.

"Yeah! It's funny how these things work right, aniki!"

"I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"You forgot?!"

Revi slumped against his seat when onii-sama didn't recognize him.

"Um… It's Revi Elroad…"

"Wait, I know a shitty brat named Revi… Wait, that's you?"

"Well… I guess I was a shitty brat back then huh?"

Revi said, as if he didn't have his shitty brat moments even now.

"What did they feed you?! How did you get so tall! Rather, your ikemen looks are making me instinctively hate you."

"Eh? But isn't aniki more of an ikemen than me?"

"E-Eh? Really…?"

I agreed with Revi 100%. Onii-sama looks even more dreamy now that there's an air of maturity about him.

"I beg to differ…"

The self-proclaimed expert on hot guys, Regina-sama, chose this moment to speak up.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I am Regina, the goddess of vengeance and manipulation. And I declare that you're not an ikemen at all!"

"Another wannabe goddess, huh? Well, I never thought that I was one…"

"That's not true, aniki! You're the man I aspired to be, so of course you're the coolest!"

"...! I don't really think so, but if an ikemen says it, it feels like it's true…?!"

"No, this boya is just clouded by his opinion of his childhood idol! I rate you a 6/10 in the looks department! Just a bit above average!"

"I disagree, Regina-sama! Rather, your words are really bothering my hero, so I ask you to stop!"

"Fufu… Since the boya I rank as a 9/10 asked me to stop, then I will stop…"

Onii-sama looked like he was a bit tired of the subject, since his emotions kept rising and falling with every praise and insult he received from those two. He turned his attention to Rori-san.

"I'm surprised that you ended up at the same party as Komekko… Y-You haven't been teaching her weird things, have you?"

Rori-san smiled and said,

"I feel like I don't have anything to teach her?"

"W-What does that mean?! Should I be relieved or not!"

I felt like the conversation was drifting off to unrelated topics, so I cleared my throat to get onii-sama's attention.

"Ahem… So, onii… I mean, Kazuma-san, it seems that you struck a deal with the demons, is that right?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, my party member Aqua is currently sulking about it, but there's nothing much we can do. I don't want to start a fight and get the whole town involved. We also have our kids to worry about…"

He tickled the baby sitting on his lap, who giggled at the act.

"If you guys are being this cautious, then I assume there's a Demon King army general here in Axel?"

He nodded and sighed again.

"Yeah… some really powerful shark demon showed up. Some adventurers challenged her but she beat them up pretty easily."

"Another female Demon King general?"

"As someone who values gender equality… I find this very unfair and biased! Of course, if I were in a position to hire people, I would also choose a mostly female staff…"

Onii-sama said, nodding his head to his own words in agreement.

"As expected of aniki! I would also do the same thing!"

Of course Revi would agree with him.

In the next moment, a blue haired girl wearing a maid outfit came out. I recognized her as Aqua-san, but it took me a while to recognize her since I wasn't used to seeing her in a maid outfit.

"Oi! Kazuma, my meal is late! I'm starving in my room! You're making it hard for me to ignore you and sulk in my room if I have to come out here to get food!"

"You shitty maid! Why am I, your employer, expected to make food for you when that's your job! And you can't even sulk properly, huh?!"

I didn't really get what was going on, but it seemed like Aqua-san was working as a maid for onii-sama now.

He probably got tired of her freeloading all the time and forced her to do some housework.

"Kazuma-san, do our years of friendship mean nothing to you?! I'm the friend you've known the longest in this world but you're treating me as a lowly servant! You're so cruel!"

"Just be glad that I'm even letting you and Darkness stay here even while I'm raising a family! Any other guy would have kicked you expired fruit cakes out by now!"

"Wah, I'm sorry, Kazuma-sama! Don't kick me out!"

This scene must be a regular occurrence in this household, since the baby on onii-sama's lap wasn't bothered by the noise at all.

"Speaking of expired cakes… Where is Darkness anyway?"

"She's bothering the demons outside, asking them to violate her and stuff."

"Again? Oi, Aqua, go out there and tell her to stop bothering the demons. I feel bad for them."

"Why does this goddess have to associate with those lowly demons?! Do it yourself, you hikiNEET!"

"Do you not have an ounce of self-awareness?! How does a NEET like you with no boyfriend, no job and no prospects calling a rich married man like me a hikiNEET, huh?!"

This argument went on for a while and ended with Aqua-san crying even more and running back to her room.

…

…

Later on that evening.

Onii-sama was kind enough to order catering for everyone.

Business was allowed to resume in Axel, but the demons took food and other goods as tribute.

Aside from the general uneasiness the presence of the demons created, and the tribute the people had to pay, life was as close to normal as it used to be in Axel.

"The people are used to paying high taxes when that Alderp guy was the landlord here, anyway. Aside from having scary looking demons around, not much changed."

That was onii-sama's explanation for how life was in the town since the demons arrived.

"But it seems like Kazuma-san and his family are confined to the mansion."

"Well, we don't really go out anyway, so life hasn't changed for us."

Onii-sama had always been an indoors type person, so he didn't seem particularly bothered by the development in his town.

Onii-sama and I somehow found ourselves alone in the dining room, having tea. Everyone else was hanging out in the living room.

I thought I saw Revi and Komekko-chan sneaking out upstairs… I did them a favor and distracted onii-sama before he could spot them.

"So, Kazuma-san…"

"Um… Just call me Kazuma. Hardly anyone adds honorifics to my name so I feel weird if you do."

I blushed a bit, since I never called onii-sama just by his name before.

"T-Then, Kazuma…"

"There we go! You're Komekko's comrade, so let's get along!"

He patted me on the back, like he would a female adventurer friend. It made me feel all kinds of emotions I couldn't sort out at the time.

"Um… You heard about what happened to the royal family, right?"

I wondered what his thoughts were about the crisis in the capital.

His face fell and he glanced down.

"Yeah… I'm actually quite close to Princess Iris, so I was really sad to hear what happened to her family. I'm worried about her, too. I heard a rumor that she escaped, but I don't know where she's going."

It made me smile a bit, knowing that onii-sama still cared a lot about me.

"Actually, we came from the capital and we heard that Iris-sama is safe, so you don't need to worry about her."

"I'm glad to hear that…"

The sincere way he looked relieved made a bunch of old emotions I thought I repressed come surging back.

Maybe I haven't gotten over onii-sama yet.

I was sure I loved Revi, but just like Revi had enough room in his heart to love Komekko-chan, too, I also felt some affection for onii-sama.

"Anyway, don't you want to talk to Aqua now?"

He said, while sipping his tea.

"Erm… I'm not actually acquainted with Aqua-san."

"Eh? But you both have blue hair. And you even vomited, too."

Is vomiting a trait common among Aqua-san's associates.

"No, no, not at all! In fact, this is the first time I've seen her!"

"Ah, I see. Sorry for getting the wrong idea, then. So tell me about yourself, then, Risu."

I struggled to think of some half-lies to tell.

"Ah… Actually I'm a Priest of Regina-sama's order…"

"Eh? That little girl is actually a goddess? No wonder why Aqua is antagonizing her right now."

I looked at the living room and saw Aqua-san and Regina-sama arguing about something.

"...I'm surprised that Kazuma accepted the fact that Regina-sama is a goddess so easily."

"Well… I guess you can say that I've seen so many goddesses and deities and stuff that I'm kind of just desensitized to it now."

I giggled, somehow not surprised that onii-sama had close ties with divine entities.

He was my extraordinary onii-sama, after all!

"By the way… What are we going to do about that prisoner you guys brought? The one in the shackles?"

He asked about Sonia. We locked her in one of the mansion's rooms and left her some food there. We didn't expect to have to make a stop at Axel, so we didn't know what to do with her yet.

At the very least, since it seemed like she wanted to talk to onii-sama earlier, I could at least grant her wish.

That would make it easier for her to cooperate with us from now on.

"Um… Kazuma, your name and appearance means that you're Japanese, right?"

"Eh? How do you know about that?"

"Ah, it's just something I heard from Sonia, the prisoner. She claims to be Japanese."

"Well, she does have black hair and black eyes. Her name was Sonia, so I didn't think she was Japanese, though…"

"It's just a pseudonym. She also mentioned something about being called 'Dark+Angel' back in her country."

"Eh?! No, it can't be, right…?! Sorry, can I visit her now? I need to confirm something…"

I agreed and let onii-sama go upstairs to see Sonia.

After a while, he came down while blushing hard.

"Eh…? Don't tell me something happened?"

I said, after seeing his blushing face after he caught up with his old MMO guild member.

"Ah, no! And don't say that… my wife will get weird ideas?"

"Then what's with the blush?"

"Well, she said something like 'I would have hooked up with you back in Japan'..."

Ah, hearing that from an old acquaintance, especially a beauty like Sonia, would make any guy blush, I guess.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

"So, are you gonna go for it?"

"I'm married, you know?!"

Since onii-sama was talking to me like a friend around his age, he was talking to me casually.

It was kind of nice.

Part 7

Lalatina, or Darkness as she was known around here, came in some time after dinner.

"Kazuma, I have urgent news!"

She came in, breathing hard and sweating a bit.

"One of the demons took your offer and deflowered you? Congrats."

"What?! W-Why would you come up with such a tempting scenario?! Tell me more!"

She got excited for some reason.

"No… I have important news! The Demon King army general is apparently furious! She demands to see the rebels who attacked the base her men were building!"

"...Sigh… I guess some adventurers chose to rebel against the Demon King army occupation, even though we told them to cooperate. I guess we'll have to have another public address… Oi, Megumin, why are you glancing away like that?"

Onii-sama turned to his wife, who was slowly backing away from us.

"A-Ah… Don't mind me…"

"...Don't tell me. Wait, you don't need to tell me. You're the only one here who'd do such a thing!"

Even though they're married, onii-sama went over to the mother of his children and started grinding his knuckles into her head.

"Ow! What do you expect from a Crimson Demon like me?! If I see a Demon King army base being built next to our town, of course I'll go and unleash my Explosion on it! I'm only following my natural instinct!"

"You should listen to your survival instinct instead! Wait, someone must have helped you, and Yunyun isn't around… Oi, Aqua!"

Aqua-san was also trying to sneak away until onii-sama called out to her.

"Um… Of course, a humble servant such as myself cannot go against milady's orders…"

"Don't act like a real maid all of a sudden, you mooching goddess! When are you actually going to pull your weight around here!"

Lalatina came in between Aqua, who was about to receive punishment from onii-sama.

"Wait, Kazuma! Now is not the time to demonstrate your dominance over us servants! You can save that kind of play later!"

"No, Darkness, you're not even under my employ… Also, please stop saying such weird things all the time."

"The Demon King army general is heading over here to look for an explanation…"

"Eh? That shark loli is heading over here? Wah… Do you think she'll go away if we give her our alcohol again?"

"No! I refuse! We're already running low! Don't do this, Kazuma-sama!"

Aqua-san started profusely crying once she heard that the alcohol would be used to appease the Demon King army general.

Revi looked around nervously and said,

"Erm, what do we do? There's a lot of us here… What if they find us?"

"Just go to your guest rooms for now. If things get bad… Arue, Rueka and Komekko can teleport you guys somewhere else."

Arue raised her hand.

"There's only one problem with that, Kazuma-kun. There's a limit to teleportation points… I used mine for the capital, the Crimson Demon village and Axel. I'm pretty sure Rueka and Komekko-chan are the same."

They nodded, since those three locations were the only places they frequented.

"I assume the Demon King army would have already secured the Crimson Demon village… Since they seem to be occupying places that will prove as threats to them. If they went out of their way to occupy Axel, I'm sure they will also occupy the Crimson Demon village, which has been a constant thorn in their sides."

Onii-sama couldn't help but accept Arue's words.

There was basically nowhere for us to teleport to, if things got rough.

I didn't know if this Maouko was just lucky, or if she predicted all of our moves beforehand.

"Hmm… Well, we can just say that we had guests come in. You guys aren't hiding from the Demon King army or anything, right?"

Komekko-chan pointed at me.

"Actually, onii-chan, Iri…"

I threw a slipper at Komekko-chan.

"...S-Since we have a prisoner from the Demon King army, we are wanted by the Demon King army…"

"I see. Kuroko… I mean, Sonia's presence will make things complicated, huh? Then I guess you guys have to make sure that you're not seen… We'll try to appease the Demon King general while you guys hide."

We nodded and prepared to hide.

However, before I went to hide in my room, I left the doll in the living room, so I could use [Shadow Puppetry] and keep an eye on onii-sama and everyone while they dealt with the Demon King army general.

We went into our respective guest rooms. Since there were a lot of rooms in the mansion that were unused, there was enough space for all of us if we shared rooms.

I shared a room with Rori-san.

"Uwa… This is quite exciting isn't it? Hiding from the enemy like this."

Rori-san said, while she smiled and hopped around excitedly.

"Erm… Even someone like me who likes going on risky adventurers doesn't get why you're so excited, Rori-san."

Should I consider her admirable or slightly crazy?

Since devils were basically immortal, their sense of values regarding their own lives were incomprehensible to us human beings.

I remembered what Revi said, that our finite time in the mortal world was meant to add meaning to the infinity of the afterlife.

However, before I could ask Rori-san about her opinion on it, I saw demons coming through the front door of the mansion, through the shared vision I had with the doll.

Onii-sama wasn't joking when he described the Demon King army general as a shark loli. A small girl came strutting in with an arrogant look on her face.

Her features were more shark than human, although she had the bipedal structure of a human. Aside from that, she had gray skin, gills, rows of sharp serrated teeth, a tail and a fin protruding from an opening from the back of her leather armor.

She had wild white hair that looked sharp, although they flowed smoothly behind her. She carried a trident that seemed to glow, the effects of a magical enchantment.

She stopped in front of onii-sama and said,

"Satou Kazuma! I thought we had an agreement! We won't take any aggressive actions on the people of this town as long as you cooperate!"

"B-But we give you guys a good portion of our food and supplies, don't we?"

"That's true, but that means nothing if we can't properly set up a base! My men will have to sleep in tents again! If the surrounding monsters attack us during the night, the soldiers will lose morale!"

I thought that the demons would sleep in the town, but from what this shark girl was saying, they chose to sleep in tents outside the town.

It must have to do with the curse afflicting the demon race. When they annex or take over an area, the soil in that land will lose its fertility and ability to grow crops.

That was why they made sure not to physically occupy Axel.

"About that, I am planning to speak to the town's adventurers again! There are some people who aren't cooperating, so I'll go and straighten them out!"

"...So there's still rebels around, huh? Very well, since you're the leader around here, I'll leave you to deal with them."

Lalatina raised her hand.

"A-Actually, the Dustiness clan is in charge of this place…"

"...Aren't you the girl who showed up at our campsite and started sexually harassing the soldiers? Please stop, they have wives and children at home."

"O-Oh. Sorry."

At some point you have to feel bad for Lalatina.

"Sorry for the wait! Here's your tea! Ah, sorry, I spilled it on you!"

Just when the discussion was going well, Aqua-san came in and very intentionally spilled some tea on the Demon King army general.

"Gah! That's hot! And it's not even tea, it's just hot water!"

"Oh, my? Do mere demons think that they deserve more than plain hot water?"

Megumin-sensei came in as if to make matters worse.

"Fufu… You think that the magnificent destruction dealt to your base was the work of mere rebels? Behold…! It is… Gack!"

Onii-sama threw a slipper at Megumin-sensei to shut her up.

…Are these guys really the famous party who gave the Demon King army so much trouble a few years ago?

I thought that my party had its rough areas, but onii-sama's party was a dysfunctional wreck.

"...Whatever. Satou Kazuma, I'm only doing this out of respect for you. Once you find the rebel leader, go ahead and tell us. Actually, you might already have an idea who did it."

"Well… It's Dust."

He sacrificed some random guy without any hesitation.

"Dust? You mean there was some kind of dust storm around here that could have wrecked our base?"

The Demon King army marched off, looking for their new hunt.

Once it was safe, we headed downstairs to talk about what just happened.

"...As you can see, the situation is like this. Until the war ends, I think they will stay here."

Onii-sama said, as he watched Aqua-san clean up the hot water she spilled.

"What do we do, then? If we try to sneak out and get caught, it will not only cause trouble for us, but for the rest of the town."

I said, while pondering over our limited options.

"Well, we don't have to come up with a solution right away. It's getting late so let's get some rest and come up with some ideas to get you guys out of here soon."

Onii-sama thought it was a good idea for us to head over to Elroad.

The excuse I gave him was that we were tasked to send Sonia, a political prisoner, over to our allies in exchange for Elroad's help.

Since it would be safer for Komekko-chan to be out of the country during the war, he readily agreed with the idea.

Just as onii-sama asked, we headed back into our rooms and rested for the night.

After I said goodnight to Rori-san, who was reading a book since she didn't need to sleep, I drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, I heard a loud noise.

Surprised by the disturbance, I looked out the window to look for the source of the noise.

I saw a plume of smoke and fire from the woods outside the town.

…That Megumin-sensei launched a second Explosion assault on the Demon King army base.