■ The Wizard of Oz □
We moved from a place not far from the audience chamber to an office and continued our conversation.
Well, my journey to the human kingdom has been decided for weeks now, and all I heard just now was the formal order.
The Demon King leisurely sipped tea while asking me about my upcoming movements.
“I’ll head to the Emerald Tower first.”
“Hmm, the Emerald Tower?”
“Yes. As you know, the Emerald Tower is one of the four great mage towers on the continent located within the Oz Kingdom but generally maintains a neutral position. Originally, I wasn’t even part of the kingdom’s citizenry; I was dispatched as part of a hero party.”
A kind of rental-type mage.
The difference from a water cooler is that no matter how much rent you pay, my affiliation doesn’t change.
The only exceptional case would be Viscount Lewis who accepted the royal advisory mage position and title offered by the royal family.
“But if it benefits the mage tower, wouldn’t they sell you out?”
“That won’t happen. The master of the Emerald Tower is my Master.”
Originally, the Oz Kingdom officially had three grand mages.
“Ocean’s” Lewis and “Storm’s” Caldlasth.
And the last one is my master, “Slicing Wind’s” Esmeralda.
Recently, Viscount Lewis passed away, and since I defected to the Demon King’s Army, only my Master remains in the Oz Kingdom.
Though their numbers have decreased significantly compared to before, truthfully, the kingdom’s protection with just my Master is more than enough.
Lady Esmeralda is the strongest among the mages I know.
And she recently ascended to the 7th rank?
It wasn’t for nothing that this small human kingdom managed to hold off the Demon King’s Army for hundreds of years.
Since the founding of the kingdom, there have been many remarkable figures like my Master, but the dwarves of Nídavellir provided so much that they could fight fiercely.
Although they likely expect us to act as a floodgate for them.
After hearing my explanation, the Demon King massaged his temples as if he had a headache, but I calmly waved my hand to alleviate his worries.
“You don’t need to worry too much. I understand Master’s personality better. If it doesn’t harm her personally, she’ll stay out of it. Even if she does get involved, I can handle restraining her.”
“That would be fortunate, but the rumors about Slicing Wind are quite unsettling.”
My master, whose body is saturated with mana, has already lived as long as any ordinary member of the Demon Tribe.
Even though the Demon King looks middle-aged on the surface, considering the slow aging process of demons, he might actually be closer in age to my Master than me.
That’s why he seems to know about Master’s legends.
“I’m not sure what rumors you’ve heard, but most of them are probably true. She’s that absurd. Our Master.”
“…Could the rumor about her having three heads and six arms also be true?”
“If humans had such an appearance, wouldn’t she have defected to the Demon King’s Army long ago?”
I dismissed the unfounded rumors about my Master and drained the remaining tea from my cup.
“In any case, then I’ll start heading out soon.”
At that, the Demon King nodded and gave me a piece of information.
“I’ve sent word to the Great Forest side, so they’ve prepared wyverns for you. You can ride them to the border.”
“Thank you for your convenience, Demon King.”
“The only thing I can do for you is this, so I apologize. If the assassination mission seems to fail, feel free to run away.”
“Normally, isn’t it said that one should risk their life to ensure the success of a mission?”
At that, the Demon King chuckled and shook his head.
“It’s a poor strategy to lose an excellent subordinate over something trivial. Besides, it’s not just me who’s worried about you.”
“Huh?”
When I asked what he meant, the Demon King stroked his beard and whispered quietly into my ear.
“It seems Ozma has feelings for you. If you’re fine with it, you could marry our daughter…”
“I’ll be going now!”
Before the Demon King could finish his sentence, I abruptly stood up from my seat.
I had a premonition that staying any longer would result in being forced into something.
Thanks to that, Dorothea and Barnett, who were standing quietly behind me, hurriedly stood up as well. After giving the bewildered Demon King a sharp bow, I immediately left the office.
If other retainers had seen, they might have called it rude, but does that matter now? I almost got dragged into a grave!
“Sorry, Ozma, but marriage isn’t in the cards yet.”
I’m twenty-seven, still a free spirit.
At least until I’m thirty, I want to enjoy my freedom as a bachelor before thinking about marriage.
Anyway, it’s not like getting married late will cause any trouble.
“Hey! Let’s go together!”
Dorothea hastily opened the door and followed me, muttering under her breath.
“No one in the Demon King’s Army treats me like this except you, Caldlasth.”
Her words sounded like they were meant for me to hear, and I smirked as I patted her disheveled hair.
“So, are you smitten with me?”
“Ugh!”
In an instant, Dorothea’s face turned bright red.
As I teased her and stuck out my tongue, she chased after me with fireballs in both hands.
Meanwhile, Barnett, who had slipped out of the office later, assessed the situation and shouted loudly at me.
“Where to next?”
As I ran away from the enraged Dorothea, I shouted back.
“The stables!”[[#]]Our demon assassination squad, consisting of me, Dorothea, and Barnett, headed straight to the stables of the Demon King’s Castle to pick up the wyverns we arranged for from the Great Forest.
“It’s been a while. Old friend.”
I found Bicon, the wyvern I hadn’t seen for nearly three months inside the building and gently stroked his distinctive white mane.
The guy seemed to recognize my face and whinnied while licking my cheek.
“Who says you’re not a playboy? Bicon clearly loves you.”
Watching from the side, Dorothea crossed her arms and muttered in disbelief.
At that moment, Bicon, seemingly interested in Dorothea, stretched his neck and sniffed her clothes with a snort.
“Yikes! Stop that!”
Dorothea jumped back in fright.
Regardless, Bicon laughed with a “Kee-hee!” and started munching on hay again, apparently liking her scent.
While we were watching Bicon, former captain of the royal guard and now member of the assassination team, Barnett, approached us holding the reins of three wyverns.
“Ready. Caldlasth.”
“Ah, thank you… Who are you?”
I widened my eyes upon seeing Barnett dressed in unfamiliar armor, looking elegant.
“What? Is something wrong?”
Normally, Barnett always wore typical plate armor that didn’t reveal her figure at all.
However, the armor she wore now was much simpler, slightly revealing her silhouette.
Though there was no excessive exposure, compared to her previous habit of covering herself completely, it was a world apart.
A red ribbon tied around her neck seemed to cover a scar.
“Let’s call it a mood change. After hearing you say that it’s hard to distinguish gender in armor, I decided to try custom-made armor.”
As she said that, Barnett adjusted the helmet she was holding.
“Oh, you’re still wearing the full-face helmet.”
Seeing the familiar item made me feel oddly reassured.
“The separation is also flexible.”
With those words, Barnett lifted her helmet off her head to show me.
“Aah… That’s reassuring.”
She was indeed still the same old Barnett, the loudest and least dignified person in the Demon King’s Army.
The strange appearance had momentarily startled me, but the sight of the scar on her neck brought me back down to earth.
Anyway, with this, all preparations for departure were complete.
All we needed to do now was lead the wyverns out of the stable and fly toward Hamburg Fortress.
I regretted not seeing Ozma and Camilla once more, but there was nothing I could do.
Fortunately, I had already bid them farewell the day before.
-Squeeeeeeeeek!
“Whoa, whoa.”
I led the wyvern, which screamed every time someone touched it, unlike the ever-gentle Bicon, out of the stable.
“Looks like we timed it well.”
There was an unexpected face waiting for us.
Ozma, who should have been elsewhere at this hour, was riding Bicon with Camilla seated behind her.
Camilla, remembering the humiliation from three months ago, proudly puffed out her chest when our eyes met.
‘Finally achieving her wish, huh?’
Silently, I gave her a thumbs-up, then shook hands with Ozma after she dismounted.
“Did you come to see me off?”
“If I let you go like this, it’ll be a while before I see your face again. It felt right to give you a proper send-off.”
As she spoke, Ozma glanced at Dorothea standing behind me and suddenly grabbed my face, planting a passionate kiss on me.
“Oooh…”
Barnett let out an impressed sigh from behind.
“What… What are you doing!”
Realizing the situation a bit late, Dorothea forcibly separated Ozma and me, but it was too late.
Perhaps because she was disguised as a man as usual, Ozma wiped her lips with a surprisingly tough gesture and took a few steps back, blushing when our eyes met again.
“Caldlasth, you’re the man I’ve chosen. Come back safely.”
Staring blankly at her unexpected outburst, I quickly caught on and played along.
“I shall follow your command.”
Thus began my journey towards Oz.
