Chapter 130

「Welcome back . 」

When we returned to our room within the Hotel “Raven”, I greeted Akira who was completely reenergized .

The dark circles under his eyes were also gone, and I was relieved that he looked better .

「We’re back . 」

Tired from walking, Kurou headed into the room first .

Akira did not say anything .

「After everyone’s rested, pack up right away . We will leave as soon as everyone has made their own preparations . Kurou, Zeal-san, Amelia, hero, and Kyousuke, gather in the next room . 」

「Got it . 」

Everyone started moving at Akira’s words .

It felt like Kurou, the one who wanted to take leadership the most among us, didn’t say anything, so Akira reluctantly did so .

When everyone who Akira mentioned gathered in the next room, we formed a circle, though that had not been arranged beforehand .

「Then, let’s decide on our future course . 」

Nn?, when the hero and Kyousuke tilted their head in confusion, Akira put his hand behind his neck and turned away .

He did this when he was embarrassed .

Akira said that he didn’t want the heroes to accompany us, but he called the two people to the meeting to decide on our future course .

In other words, it’s that .

The hero, half delighted, and half confused, started to speak .

「Oi, I’m grateful that you let us go with you, but why are you suddenly saying this?」

「I didn’t actually say that you could come if us if you let me see how strong you are . I said that I didn’t need people who need to be protected . As a result, you guys decided on who to protect, and chose to fight on your own . That’s enough, isn’t it . 」

I pondered over Akira’s words, and nodded .

「It’s unacceptable that you did not discuss it with me in spite of the fact that it was such a big issue, but…maa, it’s fine . It seems like it was troublesome . 」

The two people let out a sigh of relief .

It seems that they had been worried about hiding things from Akira .

「In any case, we’re going to discuss where we’re going after this . Specifically, the demon territory where the demon king is, or Uruk where Gram is . 」

The hero gave a reaction when the demon king was mentioned, and Kurou to Gram .

We had to go to either one of those places sooner or later .

「…what do you think? Of course, not including the various people’s circumstances . 」

I didn’t know what he meant by ‘various people’s circumstances’, but Akira thought about it a little and answered .

Kurou stared fixedly into Akira’s eyes .

「…the demon territory is, considerably complicated and there are few places that are safe . On top of that, just the other day, it seems that the demon king had erased the information about the demons from Yoru’s mind . 」

Unconsciously, I glanced at Akira’s shoulder .

I hadn’t seen him in these few days, but Yoru usually stayed on top of Akira’s shoulder .

Was it related to him having disappeared .

Akira didn’t seem worried, so I didn’t say anything either .

「Therefore, in order to enter the demon territory, it is absolutely necessary to have an expert’s knowledge . …even if that knowledge was from more than a hundred years ago . 」

All eyes turned towards Kurou .

If it’s Kurou who had once ventured deep into the demon king’s castle, he would be well-informed .

According to legend, they spent roughly fifty years to thoroughly investigate the demon territory .

「It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I know the demon territory like the back of my hand . …it probably hasn’t changed in one hundred years . 」

「Um, is there any basis for that?」

Kurou gave a sharp glare to the hero who cut him off, as he said this .

「Basis? It’s simple . Those guys don’t, feel the need to be cautious . The disgusting monsters that wander aimlessly around the demon territory don’t know this, but the demons do not even have a sense of wariness . Those guys know that they can not be defeated by the races other than the demons, so they are not on guard nor are they vigilant . Not much has changed . 」

Come to think of it, when we were in the dungeon, Yoru said that there were people among the demons who have never experienced pain before .

The demons’ astounding vitality and offensive ability correlated to magic power, but their defensive ability also outstripped that of the other races .

It seems that, they’ve never been wounded during battle, much less get hurt in their everyday lives .

Really, thinking back now, it was miraculous for us to be able to escape .

「In other words, having Kurou with us when traveling to the demon territory is imperative . It seems that if we fulfill a certain condition of his, he would guide us . We need to go to Uruk as it is related to that condition . 」

Just what was that “certain condition .

I had nothing but bad premonitions about this .

「And so, I thought that I should go to Uruk before heading to the demon territory . However, that condition, I can take care of it even if it’s just me, so it’s fine even if we split up . 」

A condition that Akira could take care of by himself… .

I wonder, what kind of request was it .

「Disregarding everything, I want to immediately attack the demon territory and go home . …however, there is an order to things, so I can’t do that . 」

In other words, it seems that we’ve reached the conclusion that we should head to the demon territory by means of Uruk .

I had decided to follow Akira, so it didn’t matter if we took a detour somewhere, but it seems that that was not the same for the two heroes, and they sunk into silence with complicated looks on their faces .