Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

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Chapter 223


　Having decided on a future course of action with senpai and others, I was assimilated with Ferrum and returned with Amako to the empty house where Nea, Keira and the others were.
　At that time, Amako was asked to remove her hood to explain the situation, but Keira and her friends were predictably surprised to learn that she was a beastkin.
　Roze and Ram were less wary than I had expected, partly because they had never seen a beastkin before, but also because Amako's appearance was so close to Keira's.
　Keira, on the other hand, seemed to distance herself from Amako, in contrast to me.

"... They're tired and sleepy"
"I guess so"

　When it was getting dark outside, I looked down at Roze and Ram, who were both sleeping peacefully in the bed in the other room where Gref-san was being laid down, and I let out a sigh as I leaned my back against the wall.
　The two children soon fell asleep, tired from the monster attack during the day.

"Ferrum, you've been assimilated for quite a while, are you tired?"
『Not at all. As long as you don't use magic, it doesn't put too much strain on me.』

　I don't have any problems myself, but I wonder if Ferrum is the same.
　Is it okay to think that assimilation can be maintained for a long time if I don't use the magic power poorly?

『Ah. I'll tell you just in case.』
"Hmm?"
『If I don't respond, it's probably because I'm either asleep or ignoring you.』
"Ignore me, that's terrible, but what does it mean that you sleep? Eh, does being assimilated by me mean you can sleep normally?"

　Areh? Surprisingly not inconvenienced?
　As I was unable to hide my surprise at the shocking discovery, Amako, who had been watching the sleeping Roze and Ram, turned to me.

"Usato, be quiet."
"Ah, sorry"

　I got scolded.
　In a hushed voice, I speak to Amako.

"Amako, what did you think when you saw these kids?"
"... Innocent kids. I don't want to know the reason why they become attached so bizarrely quickly ... Usato, if you say anything after this, I'll get angry."

　I was going to make a little bit of a mockery of it, but she read ahead and advised me against it.

"I had a bit of a complicated feeling. Because I felt like I'd been shown that the demon tribe is no different from beastkin and humans..."
"I thought I knew it in my head, but... When I see the reality, I realize how naive my thinking was."

　Defeating the Demon King is the same as cutting off a vital lifeline for the demon tribe.
　The demon tribe suffers from poverty and may cause hardship for Keira and the others we helped today.
　These kids haven't done anything wrong.

"... Well, no matter how much I worry, our mission to defeat the Demon King will not change."

　I don't know if the war will end after defeating the Demon King.
　However, in order to stop the invasion, the Demon King must be defeated.
　I put my hands over my eyes, pushing the questions circling in my head out of the corner of my mind.

"For that reason, we mustn't turn our eyes away from reality..."

　Remove my hands from my eyes and turn my gaze once more to the two sleeping demon children.
　Then the door to the room we were in was opened and Nea appeared.
　Behind her was Keira, who was glancing at me, and her gaze turned from me to the sleeping Roze and Ram.

"Nea, what's wrong?"
"Gref has woken up."
"! Understood. I'll be in Gref-san's room right away. Nea, Keira, can I ask you to watch these kids?"
"Yes, leave it to me."
"..."

　I leave Roze and Ram with them and head for Gref-san's place.
　Then Keira, leaving Nea, followed me silently.

"Keira?"
"..."

　Tried to speak to her but she was silent.
　Is she worried about us and Gref-san being in the same room together?
　She seems to be pondering something.
　I arrive at the room where Gref-san is, concerned about Keira, who follows me and keep a distance from Amako.
　When I look in through the open door, I see Gref-san in bed, with his upper body raised.

"Gref"
"Oh, you brought him!"

　Keira's voice makes him aware of our presence, and he removes his hand that was rubbing his bandaged right leg and smiles pleasantly at us.

"Nea told me about you. You guys are Usato and Amako, right?"
"Yes. Is there anything wrong with your body? The wounds have been treated temporarily..."
"About that, I'm surprised that there's hardly any pain. It's as if the injury is gone."

　In fact, the wound really is healing completely...
　Well, for now, let's just say that he was treated with recovery magic.

"Oops, I didn't introduce myself. As you may already know, I'm Gref ..., an oddball demon tribe travelling around the demon king's territory."
"My name is ...... Usato, a traveller just like you."
“Amako. As you can see, a beastkin. Fourteen years old"
"Eh!?"

　For some reason, Amako emphasized about her age.
　And Keira, who had been silent until now, is surprised to hear her age.
　... Well, looking at Amako's height, she probably thought she was about the same age.
　Gref-san bowed deeply to me, who was casually being glared at by Amako, perhaps because it was on my face.

"Thank you so much. You guys saved not only my life, but also the lives of Keira, Roze and Ram."
"N-No, we couldn't overlook it either..."

　As usual, I ask Gref-san to raise his head while panicking.

"Many demons rot down to their hearts along with the earth, yet ... it's rare to find a kindly demon tribe like you nowadays. Hahaha."
"I-Is that so?"

　I returned an amiable smile while being shaken by Gref-san's words.
　I don't know the personalities of common demons...! Specifically, the only demons I know are the corps commanders and Ferrum...!
　Is that it? Should I act like Koga?

"Gref-san, Usato-san is troubled."
"Eh, really? Hahaha, I'm sorry."

　Gref-san, who was warned by Keira, apologized to me.
　Let's change the subject a bit.
　If not, things would be falling apart.

"Gref-san, regarding your injuries, ...  you should be able to walk in about two or three days, roughly."
"Is that so? I didn't think I could get bitten by that bloodthirsty hang wolf and get away with that much ... To be honest, right after I woke up, I thought my legs were all going to stop moving. I was really surprised that it didn't hurt as much as I expected it to."

　Gref-san rubs his right leg and mutters to himself, and Keira sits on the chair beside the bed where he is.

"It was a terrible injury, but Usato-san took care of it immediately."
"Eh, how terrible was that?"
"Dangerous"
"Is it dangerous?"
"Yeah, it was dangerous"
"That's so... It was dangerous..."

　It's a unique interaction.
　Muttering "Dangerous" as if parroting back, Gref-san smiled gently and placed his hand on Keira's head.

"Sorry to make you worry. Also, you did a great job."
"...Yes"

　Keira nods curtly, expressionless.
　A little later, he removed his hand from her head and continued to speak to her.

"Take a rest today. You must be tired too."
"But..."
"Don't worry about me. And look, if you don't get some sleep soon, the scary healing mage is going to come and kidnap you?"

　Hmm? I wonder, it's like a line of dialogue that relates to me just now at a completely unrelated time.

"... Gref, I'm not scared of that."
"Hahaha, I know. Go then."
"Yes"

　Sighing, Keira gets out of her chair and heads towards the entrance to the room.
　Just when I thought she was going to leave the room, she stopped in front of me.

"What's wrong?"
"Usato-san... Um, can I ask you to teach me how to use dark magic later?"

　D-Dark magic!? I'm capable of healing magic and rescue squad-style training, but dark magic is frankly not my area of expertise.
　... No, I'll let Ferrum, who is assimilated with me, teach her.
　There is an option to refuse, but if I refuse here, I might look suspicious, so I will accept.

"Yeah, I don't mind."
"T-Thank you very much! Well then!"

　Keira's anxious look turned into a bright smile and she ran straight out of the room.
　After seeing her back off, Gref-san has a troubled smile on his face.

"Sorry about that. Keira seems happy to see a dark mage like herself. Please don't be offended."
"No, I'm not bothered about it."
"I'd appreciate it if you said so. It's not nice to stand up, you can sit down."

　In response to Gref's words, I pulled out other chairs from the corner of the room and sat in it with Amako.
　Now, the first thing I want to ask him is...

"Is Keira ...... your daughter?"
"... No. She is... a child I took in on the way."
"Took in, as in..."
"There are circumstances. She can't go back to her family."
『...I knew it』

　Ferrum, who had been silent until now, mutters.

"And the other kids too?"
"Yeah. Those kids are the ones whose parents were killed by the monsters. I'm taking over for them, but I'm not sure I'm doing a good job."
"That's not true. Earlier, those kids didn't want to leave you when you were asleep..."

　I nod at Amako's words.
　As a matter of fact, I carried Roze and Ram to bed because they had fallen asleep leaning against Gref-san's bed.
　As far as I can see, those children must have trusted Gref-san from the bottom of their hearts.

"...Recently, the monsters have become more active. We decided to go to a safe place with a group of people who were trying to move to the center of the country, ... but we were attacked by monsters and we got lost.”
"I heard from Keira. Can you still join the group?"
"Fortunately. It seems that the injury will not be as serious as I thought, and in about two days we should be able to leave here, pass near the ruins, and head to the village we plan to join."

　...I was a little worried about the daytime, but what is the ruins?
　Let's try asking him.

"Um, what are the ruins?"
"You don't know? It's very rare nowadays for a demon tribe not to know about this. By ruins, I mean the place where the Demon King and his subordinates had their stronghold hundreds of years ago."
"Eh!?"
"You really don't know? It's also the place where the Demon King and the Hero had their last battle..."

　It was a more important place than I thought...!?
　Amako's eyes widen too, revealing her surprise.

"Now, it seems that the revived Demon King is in the castle of the city, ...... but there are many rumors about the ruins. The demon king's special golem that protects the ruins is still active, a high concentration of magic power fills the ruins, and some of the weapons that the hero used to use are hidden inside."
"! The weapon that the hero used..."

　In my mind was Amako's foresight.
　A sword different from the kodachi that was the basis of my gauntlets.
　It may be in the place where the Demon King used to be based.
　When I looked at Amako, I saw that perhaps she was thinking the same thing I was, she had her hand on her chin and was pondering something.

"Well, it's a rumor that's not worth believing."
"R-Right..."
"So, what about you guys?"
"We?"
"Aren't you traveling like me?"

　While a little nervous, I explained what I had decided beforehand with Leona-san.

"We are mainly traveling in the direction of the beastkin country rather than the Demon King's territory."
"Ah, so that's why Amako, the beastkin, is with you. Is there anyone else here besides you and Nea?"
"Yes. There are four of us and my partner, a monster, in an abandoned house a short distance from this house."

　Now, here's the important part.

"But other than us... There are people who avoid interacting with other people and have behavioral problems, so I can't let them meet you. One of our friends in particular is a respectable person, but she is a bad influence on the children, so..."
『Some of it is true』

　Senpai is really dependable when she is serious, but when she gets out of control, she becomes unmanageable and her actions and words are on another level...

"I-Is that so? Well, it's no wonder, since most travelers have something in their past. But what's a partner monster? Is it not familiar?"
"No, it's not familiar, it's just friends. It's called a blue grizzly."
"... Blue grizzly?"

　Ah, this is deja vu.
　I knew he would be surprised, so I told him there was no danger right away.

"It's not dangerous. It does not attack people, rather it is a reliable presence on the journey."
"... I think I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anyone like you before. Could it be that you have a dark magic connection and are acquainted with the second corps commander of the Demon King's Army?"

　Second Corps Commander ——— Koga huh?
　What comes to mind is the image of a bas*tard standing in front of me as I try to fulfill my mission as a rescue squad member, laughing and punching me in the face.
　Before I could think, I quickly responded.

"No, you're wrong. I don't know anyone with a brain made of muscle like that."
"... Eh, isn't that a lie? Are you really acquainted?"
"Hauh!?"

　Shoot, I immediately responded with a spinal reflex...!?

『You're the one with muscles all the way down to your brain, you idiot.』
"Usato..."

　While parrying Ferrum's insults and Amako's gaze, which looks like she's looking at a pitiful person, I smile while being upset.

"It's a rotten relationship. We just quarreled and hit each other a few times."
"I think you're pretty good when you're going to go toe-to-toe with an outstandard who rose to the rank of corps leader at the youngest age."

　I wonder why I feel like I'm digging more and more graves every time I open my mouth.
　I can't talk back to senpai because of this one...