Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 231: In Wait

Chapter 231: In Wait

Roughly two months passed since Lucretia was first kidnapped.

The Imperial Army was currently marching towards the forbidden mountains in the far west, where the Demons were said to reside.

They should be arriving where they expect to see the first signs of the opponent soon.

I had heard there was little support from the empire’s allies and even vassal states due to their desire to dominate the opponent with their own force, perhaps as a demonstration to the world proving Drakon-Rasa deserved to be on top.

Incidentally, this included the Christina-Rasa Archduchy, whose ruler, the Archduke, stated he too would remain merely observant to the war.

Outwardly, this was to respect the emperor and the Imperial Princess’ wishes, who was in charge of directing preparation for the war, however I had received a message from Lucretia herself claiming her father likely found it another convenient opportunity to test her.

Regarding that, part of me felt quite relieved. I had only glimpsed the Archduke briefly during Lucretia’s birthday ball last time, but even during those few moments I could tell he was someone genuinely powerful.

I wasn’t sure if it was due to a hidden physical or magical might, or if it was just his atmosphere and appearance, but something in the back of my mind told me it was a good thing he wasn’t getting involved, and the same went for the other allies of the empire.

After all, if the war with the Demons was too easy, the Black Fang would hardly have a chance to be exhausted and weakened.

Even if that might sound a bit cruel for the regular soldiers, it was necessary to increase our chances of success.

‘Although, I’m a bit worried the Demons won’t be strong enough to even accomplish that much…’

Other than their attack during what was supposed to be my execution, I hadn’t ever seen a Demon from this world before, so I wasn’t sure how powerful they were supposed to be or how many of them there were.

In fact, the only time I ever recalled actually meeting a real Demon before was all the way back during my third Contract, with the coliseum slave owners, and even they were far different from the ogre and imp-like things before.

Unlike those humanoid sorts of Demons, the type with red skin and horns or whatever the Demons were from the harem world with the Demon King, I thought the creatures in this world were far more suited to the name ‘monsters’.

They pretty much fit the exact bill for the ‘demonic’ enemies you would find in a game…

‘…No, wait. This was a game, wasn’t it.’

Anyway, I was just curious. The others had spent a little time educating me on at least what they knew about Demons from the past records, but apparently there wasn’t a whole lot of knowledge on them.

I guess the main thing to note was just that there were two primary classifications of Demons, one being Lesser Demons, and the other being Greater Demons.

Lucretia previously mentioned the imps as being under the former classification, but I wasn’t sure if that included the ogres since the gap between them was quite large, and apparently there was no information on Greater Demons in all the available textbooks and historical records.

It all sounded a bit sus to me anyhow, but more than anything else, there was one question I couldn’t get out of my mind no matter how hard I thought about it.

‘Why on earth are Demons like this included in a dating game for young girls…?’

That really was something odd, and I remember even thinking something similar the last time I was here, though I failed to recall what it was about.

Needless to say, the Librarian also didn’t know anything.

I’m pretty sure we should have been able to check out the lore of the game by now to at least get some hints, but maybe that isn’t possible until my authority is higher, if at all.

“I really should have looked something up before I came back…”

I even went so far as to download the soundtrack because it was constantly stuck in my head after listening to it for months, but since I thought everything was already over, I didn’t bother looking up the story of the game.

Of course, it was easy to blame myself for not doing that, but really, how was I supposed to know things would progress in this manner?

“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Don’t you think so?”

“…”

Turning to face Cael, Joádin’s feline familiar who was sitting by my side, I asked that, to no response.

He simply stared at me with those wide eyes, reminding me of the mysterious creature I initially met to get transported to the Library in the first place.

‘…Whatever.’

And then I sighed, turning to gaze into empty air.

This was the first time I was having to rest in a while, so although it was unusually peaceful, I was quite bored.

It was necessary for me to save all the strength I could for what was upcoming, of course, so regardless of what I felt, I reigned it in.

At that moment, I sensed a small swelling of magic energy to the side. Glancing at the crystal orb sat there, dimly glowing, I realised someone was trying to get in contact.

“…About time.”

Collecting my breath, I reached out to grab it.

There, reflected within the lightly shimmering surface, Joádin’s face appeared.

“Sir Enki.”

Calling me practically the moment the connection was established, I briefly raised a single hand.

“You almost there?”

“The scouts have just now encountered the first signs of activity. I can also sense strange behaviour in the surrounding environment’s mana, so I believe it won’t be long now. Is everything organised and prepared on your end?”

“Of course. I don’t really have anything to prepare, anyway.”

Replying with that, he nodded simply. For some reason, I felt Joádin’s voice and expression seemed to contain more gravitas than usual―perhaps he was letting a little bit of nervousness peep through the cracks―but before I could ask if anything was wrong, he continued.

“Very well. Something about the atmosphere of this place irks me, the anomalous mana in the air and the earth doesn’t feel quite right. Things seem to be fine now, but before we progress any further and risk something unforeseen occurring, I’d like to transport you over now and have you hide in wait nearby while tailing the main force, just as a precautionary measure.”

Raising an eyebrow, his words even made me grow a little concerned, but after hearing the explanation I thought it made sense.

“That’s smart. Alright, bring me over.”

As the words rolled off my tongue and out of my lips, Cael abruptly stepped into my lap and sat down, curling into a ball as the magic energy he consisted of gradually warped.

The distortion around me forced my eyes to flinch close, and before I knew it, I was out of the Sunlit Temple’s hideout, all of a sudden hidden behind some trees.

Immediately, I could sense there was something wrong about this area, something ominous, and right then I understood exactly what he was just talking about, enough to send a small wave of goosebumps over my skin.

“Here. I’ll cast a magic concealment spell; no one should be able to find you, but make sure you stay far behind the main force just in case.”

From that point on, I could already tell.

Maybe I didn’t need to worry about the Demons being too weak after all.