II. Comic Panic – side Elrufus Dax

Elrufus Dax,

Pre-Mytherion, 84 years before Great Human-Demon War

I didn’t count how much time has passed since I, Mae and the remaining elite guards of the Diplomatic Faction* travelled back to the demi-human nation to gather up the remaining of Mae’s followers and accompany them towards an expedition to the Demon Capital.

Fred’s father, Lord Igor if I remembered correctly, was so precautious that he sent with us a team of their most elite and skilled magicians, even far stronger than Morgianna and Fred at their current age and experience. He said that this was to prevent another attack from happening, which I really thought won’t happen for a time being. It was just my gut instinct but we gladly accepted the offer.

Fred and Morgianna were left back at the Royal Palace due to the tons of scolding they were about to receive from their parents. That’s what I guessed. He told me that they were about to work on tons of paperworks but to hell with that. I’ve heard that he’s still currently being tutored and haven’t really entasked with the Maou task already. It’s just a front to look good in front of us.

Well what would bring good to think about that now.

Is what I could only think of myself while sitting at the carriage while travelling at the Barren Canyons. It really felt nostalgic, looking outside and seeing the dead lands which the three of us walked about weeks or months ago.

We arrived at the demi-human nation not too long after passing the Barren Canyons.

The nation is still alive and active but it had a different air from when we left it. We did not had any difficulties entering at the main gate. It was very different from what I had expected in which we will be inspected and be forced to hand Mae over. We were ready for the worst case and engage a battle is necessary, but it really didn’t happened.

On the other hand, after we entered the city we were welcomed by the people who’s belief still aligned with Mae Militum Thelesmata’s ideals. It seemed that Irish had not fully grasped the entirety of the population within the nation to join her faction.

What might be the cause?

I haven’t really gone often to the Palace of Affairs so I really don’t know much about our highest council that governs the nation. The only reason that came to my mind was because they were still deliberating and took their time to consider Irish’s liberation of the demi-humans. Being the ones that governed the whole nation, most of the people still respects their decision and were hesitant to act by their own.

As we walked towards the said building, I noticed the stare of the people towards us, these were mixed emotions of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. Which side were they on? Did they chose the Diplomatic Faction? Or did they chose the war faction that Irish proposed? Without someone to decide for them they were like pigeons locked on a big cage, birds that were not of the same feather.

I felt so tired just by walking a little distance. We were walking while carrying the weight of the roles we shoved onto ourselves, I’m really not on the position to complain so I didn’t.

“We’re here Dax, are you going in or will you wait outside until I’ve finished with my meeting with the high elders?”

“I’ll go. I felt that I have to take responsibility too. At this point I really felt that I needed to step up and finally act like The Patron.”

“Fufufu. I really don’t regret choosing you.”

“Wha—please don’t bring ‘us’ up now. There are a lot of more important things we need to accomplish at the moment.”

The talks with the high elders went with a breeze.

Right after we entered the huge building we were escorted to the meeting hall where we met the high elders. The elders welcomed us with top priority and immediately facilitated a meeting. It seemed like they were expecting our arrival and things to report.

They started with the current state of the nation. Despite the announcement Irish had made towards her fellow demi-humans. Militarization hadn’t really struck the country yet. Many of the current followers of both factions living inside the nation hadn’t made any moves yet. It may be due to being fellow demi-humans. Even the highest elders who we members of different factions were had to stay at the gray area as they have to. It was to maintain the balance within the nation.

Still, even if the front of the nation was still a peaceful and prosperous place where the demi-humans could live, the air of the upcoming war still lingered within it. That was the exact thing we have felt while walking at the streets of the main city.

“The Patron’s decision would make a huge impact towards the fellow demi-humans who doesn’t have a clear stand on the current situation of the nation yet. We could make arrangements for a public announcement, the only thing we will be needing will be your approval.”

So they decided to push the decision onto me. At that moment I really felt myself within Fred’s shoes as our positions currently have a great similarity towards each other.

“But suddenly pushing it to Dax, and he finally just completely accepted the responsibilities of The Patron.”

Mae tried to defend me. She had a point but the nation needed a progress more than a delay to provide a better solution. I felt that I needed to look at things from Mae’s perspective since I will be accompanying her towards on.

“Highest Elders, If I may be able to speak.” –I’ve cut their current conversation.

“I believe I should be explaining what happened back at the Demon Territory first.”

Explaining everything that happened had been a very long discussion. After being confirmed that Irish had plotted Mae’s assassination the elders who were at Mae’s stand were furious, but were immediately calmed by Mae herself. The Irish supporters had a loss for words after hearing the confirmation on the spot. It seemed like Irish kept the plot to her closest loyalists to the point that it did not even reached the highest elders. I felt bad for them but they might be hiding their knowledge all along. In any case, they could only give their apologies on behalf of Irish towards Mae.

The tension rose quite a bit but it immediately subsided. It was true that there were only two opposing factions at the meeting room at that moment but it was also the reason why everybody have kept their calm and composure. The Demi-human nation at that moment was divided into three types of people, those who were on the Supremacy’s side, those who were on the Diplomatic side, and those at the gray area. Still, even though divided, we were still fellow demi-humans who have built this nation. A nation fortified with a hundred years’ worth of fellowship won’t be easily get abolished by a sudden establishment of opposing factions.

With that in mind, I further explained the goals I’ve had on my mind towards the current demi-humans who were currently at the room. It was a very long, several hours of discussion. I was surprised myself, it was I who was currently leading the highest elders and Mae of the important parts and steps to take to control the current situation of the demi-human nation.

Fred initially explained to me back at the canyons that being bestowed upon with a certain calling* comes with several passive traits that will lay dormant within the capabilities of the individual himself. It was only up to him whether he will be aware of the trait itself and be able to handle it. As for me, that might have been one of the traits I obtained with me being the current Patron.

I initially heard that The Patron’s duties was to maintain the prosperity and order of the Demi-human nation.

But at that moment I felt like I was another person, like I could achieve even greater heights, start making a name for myself.

---

The discussion ended with several agreements within both opposing factions. These will be implemented to maintain order and peace within the Demi-human Nation grounds:

The Demi-human Nation will be a non-aggression zone between the demi-humans standing for both opposing factons: Supremacy and Diplomatic Factions.

2. The fellow individuals who were in the neutral faction and within nation’s premises will be tasked to monitor the actions and activities of any individual belonging to a certain faction.

3. The Highest elders will be delegating one member each to accompany the opposing factions where they try to establish their base of operations, respectively. They will oversee the activities and decisions being made by Mae and Irish.

4. The remaining elders will continue to oversee the Demi-human Nation so it won’t get overtaken by the ambience of war.

5. The Patron is to choose only one faction to support.

6. The Demi-human nation, as per the initial goal of the convoys that set out towards the Demon Territory and the Human Capital to initiate diplomatic talks, should always stay out of the war zone once the great human-demon war resumed. The nation won’t provide any assistance from the people who chose to remain within nor will accept refugees from other nations.

7. The mentioned items above are to be agreed by both opposing sides before the two factions are to aid assistance on both races.

“The mentioned above is highly confidential and should only be notified towards the involved individuals with high authoritative level.” –I explained towards Lord Igor inside his personal room back at the Demon Capital.

There are a very few number of people currently on that room: Lord Igor, Maou Fred, Morgianna, Mae, the elder that accompanied us (forgot his name) and me. Ricardo accompanied us towards the highest floor where the room was located but he was forced to stay out of the soundproof room and guard it due the elder’s request.

Crunch!

Fred was eating an apple while laying his lazy body at one of the couch besides the table where Lord Igor was located. How was he able to look unsightly and carefree while we were in the room? Had he gotten too used with us around? How about his father? How about this elder which accompanied us? I was anxious due to thinking what impression old highest elder here would give Fred.

“That’s some juicy apple you got there Fred, now do you spent even a little time to absorb any single condition on the list we proposed?” –I broke his carefreeness by directly doubting his ability to cope up with the situation.

“Aaah were going doing this again Dax, I told you never to doubt me every single time already didn’t I?”

I knew Fred’s capabilities. You may think of his just as a clown on the sidelines by the unsightly habits he’s always showing. But it’s always only on a select number of individuals. One seeing him at that form would mean that he’s being lax around you and he trusts you that much.

Sometimes you will only know how close you are to someone when you see things he does that he could not show just anyone.

“Fine, fine, I get you already.” –I gave up on arguing with Fred.

“I want to ask you again, Mae. Will it be alright for the diplomatic faction to reside by the Demon Capital? It really doesn’t look like you guys are promoting diplomacy.”

What Fred said was true. What he wanted to point out was the scope of Mae’s duties with her calling. What will siding with a warring race bring upon to us? What if everything else failed? The blame could be put all onto Mae. Fred was just concerned.

“No need for your concern Lord Maou, this is a choice I’ve made. I won’t have any regrets whatever the outcome is.”

Mae answer straightforwardly. Looking at her you could really tell how much she have changed during these past six months. How could a little time of experience lead to a growth of such escalating manner? The more she grew the more I found myself being attracted to those qualities of hers.

“Well there you have it Fred. About the agreement between the Demi-human Nation, the only part which we needed assurance from you will be the non-aggression part.”

“But you see, wouldn’t this be pointless? Enemies on the battlefield can’t stay as fellow countrymen anymore once they entered a non-aggression zone. It will only incite anxiety amongst the citizens.”

“Yeah, this is war we are talking about Lord Maou…”

…

“But still, most of the volunteers and the followers have families who chose to stay within the demi-human nation, which will be within the grey area once the war resumed. As a soldier, wouldn’t it be nice to know that even though you are battling between life and death, you know somehow that your family is being kept safe and sound inside their homes?”

And there was silence. At first I’ve wondered what the rule was for, like Fred. I never looked at things the way Mae does. Maybe this was because even though we’ve spent a lot of time together as kids, the weight of our callings still influenced our perspectives. Same goes for Irish, that’s why she had done what she did.

“…” he went silent for a while.

“My son, the lady has a point. Besides, I do not see any problem within any of these stated on the agreement. Their nation will stay on the Grey area. Any dispute that will happen within their premises should be out of our scope already.” – Lord Igor explained further.

“Then what would happen if ever a rule is to be broken by either of the four groups, humans demons Mae and Irish factions?”

“Both Mae and Irish factions are to pull out our aid and settle their disputes within ourselves.”

I answered.

Fred scratched his head and let out a scream.

“Aaaaaargh!! Fine! Suit yourselves. I just don’t want to think about politics any more for a while. Let me sign those papers already.”

“Fredericus! That’s so unsightly.” –Lord Igor tried to stop his foolish son’s inappropriate rantings but he could not. Were the Maou’s decisions so absolute that even his high-esteemed father could only try to reprimand him of his actions? Lord Igor gave a sigh and passed the supposedly sealed paper towards Fred.

“…Aaaaaaaand there! Now all we could do is to wait for Irish’s side to confirm their agreement on their end. Whew now we have some free time to kill!”

I got a bad feeling about the words that came out of his mouth.

It was the same feeling as when he let out ridiculous suggestions and decisions while we were travelling together at the barren canyons.

“Shoo kids, now meeting adjourned. Let me take a rest for a while.” –even Lord Igor were too stressed by the very little time he spent with Fred. I wondered how much did he had to go through all these years of raising such an unbecoming form of mass which he called ‘son’. Fred’s childishness seemed to have infected him already too.

“Hey Dax, let’s continue our sparring from way back at the Ancient Ruins.”

“Eeeh you’re still hung up on that. It’s not like you lose or anything each time we fight.”

“Wow that happened between you two?”

“Please don’t bring up that topic anymore Fred. And also please stop challenging me to sparring already. We all know the difference between our abilities is overwhelming.”

“No no no, don’t get me wrong. You still remembered the thing I’ve told you back from when we had our first conference here at the palace?”

A scene from when we departed from the demon territory where Fred and Morgianna had to see us off flashed within me.

“You might want to come back faster Dax, I will still need to test your fitting as one of my trusted generals.”

Oh that… shit…

Fred hadn’t talked to me about this one. I thought it was about time he told me about this already. What’s with the general thing?

“You should be telling me first what this is all about.”

“You see… Every generation of Maou had delegated three trusted generals. Selected individuals overwhelming with ability, talent, wisdom and guts.”

“Ugh… you’re not trying to impose me to become one right?”

“Yes I’m imposing on you.”

“No you won’t.”

“Eeeh Dax that sounded cool don’t you think?”

“Quit it Mae I’m overloaded with the responsibilities of the Patron already.”

“It was a premonition.”

“…”

“From the time when you step out of the camp which turned into a big ruckus. Remember how I and Mae went out of our way just to find you? Before that I was dreaming. A dream of a huge, long, silent and deep river. You were beside me. It was you when you were still young, not manifested by the calling of the Patron yet.”

“That… does not make any sense.”

“I humbly ask of you. Please Dax. This is neither a calling nor another set of responsibilities to be pushed onto you. This will be a title, only for you. The only thing you need to do is to trust me. I won’t be asking you to follow me or order you around. I will still be respecting your calling as the Patron and if you decide to quit. Just this once, I humbly ask of you to trust me.”

What was that? Suddenly Fred who was just a bit ago were having fun joking around went too serious as to lay down his title and humbly ask of me to be one of his generals.

A premonition was a premonition. It was a sign foretelling someone of things that will happen in the near future, also important things that were meant for someone.

Whatever that was, it seemed that even the Gods of this world took notice of me and planned out a few more things for me to handle. If that’s how it’s supposed to be then so be it. I will take upon this challenge.

“Fine, fine, but if you lose I won’t accept the offer.”

---

Nothing much happened after that. Of course I lost. That was a pure overpowered Maou we were talking about. Even with the capabilities of the Patron I still could not match up against someone not only had the same type of calling as me, but also absorbed almost all of the talents when god let them rain from the heavens above.

It was a complete defeat but I didn’t complained. It was something I chose for myself.

And with that, I was also named as ‘General Orcas of the Silent Rivers’

I never had the time to ask Fred why it was named as that at the very first place. It must have been connected to his premonition of the river he told me about. What was it like for the previous generation Maou? Did they also dreamed like Fred as they saw the premonition? Or did they just met their generals and a sign suddenly appeared telling them that the individual was the one? I stopped thinking over that after a long time.

A few days after the sparring we received another holographic call from Irish at the human capital. It was not really a long talk. She just informed us that both her faction and the humans agree to the terms and conditions we have set too.

The agreement was sealed and implemented.

Mae went out a sigh of relief. All of her efforts were not for naught. She have accomplished what she initially campaigned for the demi-humans. I’m happy for her too.

After that we prepared for the upcoming resume of the long running human-demon war.

And it was then during the last siege of the humans towards the demon palace…

I died during the final confrontation of The Maou and The Yuusha.