Near the Border of Valefor’s Domain- Helen

“My lady, I have an issue with… him.”

“My lady, is it possible for you to relocate him?”

“My lady, I hate to inform you this but…”

“My lady…”

Throwing my paperwork aside out of rage, I stormed out of my tent with my sword in my hands.

Goddesses be dammed, how is it humanly possible- or demonly possible- to cause so much trouble in the span of a few weeks!?

“Mikhail, I am going to kill you!” I shouted on the top of my lung.

Ever since I took him my group in order to observe him, he has done nothing but cause trouble and countless headaches.

I was starting to think that using him as a whetstone for my sword would be a better choice than to have him around.

From Chloe’s last report regarding the observation of Mikhail, his last act had ten tents simultaneously catching on fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt but that was still a serious issue.

Since he appeared, a lot of people have been complaining to me about restraining him.

I stormed towards the sound of chaos.

Since we’ve been marching towards the 71st demon lord’s domain with the route that he had picked for us, we have encountered an unheard of amount of trouble, one of which involved a poisonous flower that many touched after seeing him interact with it.

On a special day a week back, the trouble maker, Mikhail, had found a flowerbed of poisonous flowers and decided to rest at the center of it. When he got close, the flowers would release a great deal of mist and pollen that changed color constantly. Seeing that there wasn’t a problem with Mikhail when he laid there, everyone figured that there wouldn’t be an issue if they went through, or touched it.

Unfortunately, because he was part demon, he was immune to the poison, but for everyone else, they were left in bed for an entire day after the occurrence. Because it was a slow acting, weak poison that spreads upon touch and would remain on the body for an entire day, many people contracted the poison before the first person became reacting. This caused us to delay our march by an entire day as over fifty percent of the army had been a victim of the flower.

While I wanted to say that I had the fortune of avoiding it, it was not the case. Rather, Mikhail came over and showed me the flowers which I then touched.

Forgetting about the traumatizing experience of being unable to move my body for an entire day, I finally spotted the cause of my trouble. His pitch black hair that resembles a moonless night sky was one of the many feature that made him easy to spot. Unlike the black hair that other people had, his was far darker and more beautiful.

Silently, I drew my sword from its sheathe and approached him.

Like a rabbit that senses a predator approaching, he stood up and looked around.

As he turned around, I swung my sword down.

Immediately, he jumped back.

His crimson eyes darted around the surrounding frantically hoping to find an escape route.

“Di-did I do something wrong?” He asked with his legs visibly trembling.

“I have had enough of you,” I shouted, ruffling my hair in frustration, “why are you causing me so much trouble?! Did I do something to you in the past life?!”

Chloe, who had followed behind me, silently nodded.

Since I told my private group of knights composed of females that he was a half-breed between a demon and a human, many have tried to avoid him. It was not received well. Still, I would much rather have them avoid Mikhail than have them hate on him. Out of the twenty-four knights that were under my command, a third of them hated him. Since he was a half-breed, and many knew the unfortunate fate that they suffer through, they did not all hate him. Amongst those that hate him was my closest friend and servant, Chloe.

Fortunately, even though they hate him, no one has caused any trouble with him.

When I turned my eyes to what he was doing before, I found a dead carcass of a wild boar.

It was partially skinned.

The knights that were surrounding him were also helping him.

When they noticed my gaze, they all stood up and darted off to their own respective group.

Since we were constantly marching and only given a small amount of time a day to rest, few people went out and wasted their time hunting for fresh food.

Because of that, it was rare to see such treasure. Wild animals were rare to catch since they would all be scared off by the sound of fifty thousand men marching through their forest.

Just imagining what we could do with the wild boar in front of me, I began to salivate.

It has been a year since our expedition started and since then, I could count the amount of times we had fresh food.

When he noticed that I was eyeing his catch, he looked even more fearful.

Remembering all the trouble he caused, I realized what must be done.

In order for my stomach, I mean revenge, I must not allow him the pleasure of eating such a meal.

“For all of the trouble you have caused me, I will be confiscating that wild boar,” I told him before turning to Chloe, “Chloe, please have it carried to our camp and tell the others we’ll be having fresh meat today.”

“Understood my lady,” Chloe responded, glaring at Mikhail, before ordering a couple of people to help her carry it over to our camp, “a wise choice of punishment.”

Mikhail, who was watching the boar leave, had subconsciously reached out for it with his hands.

“Wi-will I be able to enjoy it with everyone?” He asked, looking at me with a pained face.

“No.”

“…You, you, demon!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Did you think I would forget the troubles you have caused?!

I began to laugh.

Unexpectedly, I was growing a bad habit. If I continue interacting with him, I might become a sadist.

*****

After sharing the wild boar with the others, I called Mikhail in.

The matter that we would discuss today retained to the demon lord and our future action.

We were quickly approaching the domain of the 71st demon lord and our strategy on dealing with the demon lord was being questioned. I, myself, had a lot of doubt on the task at hand.

“This is a map of the 71st demon lord’s territory and the general layout of his castle. I do not have a perfect map of his domain but this should be more accurate than what you may have,” Mikail said, laying out a few maps, “it would be best if we organize each battalion to fit the terrain. Mage battalions should be stationed here, archers on the other side and-”

“Why do you have this?” I asked, looking at the map that he had laid on the table.

“Must you really know everything?” I could tell that he was till scornful from having all of his effort taken away.

“Yes.” I replied, resting my sword on his shoulder.

If it was anyone else, I would never dare to do something as dangerous or audacious as this, but it was Mikhail. That was enough reason for me.

Looking down at the sharp blade, he sighed dejectedly. I could tell that he was starting to regret his decision on joining my side, but even though he was in such a state of frustration, I couldn’t help but want to laugh.

“I figured that it would fetch for a high price if I sold it off,” he answered my question reluctantly, “the general layout of the 71st demon lord’s castle was something that I had drew while I was a water boy for the chief, and the maps of the territory can be purchased from the market as long as you are a demon.”

Seeing that he had answered my question obediently, I drew back my sword and sheathed it casually.

Needless to say, but the other commanders also knew of who he is. Since I vouched for him, they were willing to listen without saying a word.

“Continue,” I ordered when he stopped talking, “what do you suggest we do?”

“In order to kill the demon lord, I suggest we trap him.”

“A siege tactic?”

“No, we cannot give him the opportunity to request assistance from the other demon lords. If any of the higher ranking demon lords appear, even alone, it would spell disaster. What I am suggesting is that we attack him from the front with a majority of the soldiers, while we hide some group around the demon lord’s domain in case he decides to flee his castle,” he explained with a serious appearance. The sulking, vengeful person was completely gone from him. “I suggest twelve groups of one thousand should cover the perimeter, while the rest battle against the demon lord’s army.”

“If we split our forces as you suggested,” One of the commanders said, “then our main force would not be able to deal with the demon lord’s army.”

“We do not need to defeat their army to win, we just need the demon lord’s head,” he responded, “if you cut the head of the general, the army will naturally collapse. If we can distract his army, surround the area with hidden groups in case the demon lord flees, and send a small, but strong group composed of twenty-five people at max, to sneak into the castle and assassinate the demon lord, then there is a high chance that we will not only win, but be able to kill the demon lord. He does not possess a standing army. He probably has barely started to recruit soldiers for his army. It will be ill prepared and won’t compose of much more than twenty of thousands at most. If we account for the disparity between the strength of a regular human and a regular demon, their strength will be barely the equivalent of our army.”

“A feint… and assassination,” the general muttered, “and what happens if the assassination attempt fails?”

“Then the hidden groups should converge and assault the castle,” I replied, “it’s the only fall back plan and the last chance of taking the demon lord’s head should we fail. But it would be a lot more difficult.”

“What if the army is unable to hold off the demon lord’s army?” A commander grunted, “how long do you expect us to hold off the enemy?”

“I do not know how long it will take since I do not know what sort of demon we will encounter within the castle, but if you cannot hold them off then we’ll all be dead,” I replied, “but, I believe this is the safest gamble.”

“Excuse me,” one of the commanders spoke, “this is all assuming that he will be within his castle when we assault his army- what if he decides to lead his army?”

“That won’t be likely.” Mikhail shook his head, remembering the sight of that pathetic lowlife, “he is not brave enough to fight on the frontline. He is a weakling who is only a demon lord in name. He’ll be too afraid to risk his life and powerless compared to others.”

“How are you so sure?” Another commander asked, feeling rather uncertain about his suggested plan.

“I have dealt with him before,” he replied swiftly, “while I could do nothing to him, I could see his characteristic. He’s a coward who only knows how to use his mouth.”

Seeing that no one had anything else to say, I clapped my hands together to gather their attention.

“Very well, that sounds like a plan.” I declared, “we’ll do as you say. But, as for the people who will be assaulting the castle, you’ll be coming with me.”

He froze for a moment and looked at her, “eh…?”

Strangely, he had a bemused expression on his face when I said, “you know the general layout of the castle the best, and if you lied to me, you’ll be the first I cut down.”

“Can you put a little bit of trust in me?” he asked, “I don’t think there is anything else I can tell you except for the color of my-”

“After this entire ordeal, I’ll trust you.”

“Right,” he rolled his eyes, “well… we should get marching… as for how we’ll infiltrate the base, once the time comes, I’ll tell you.”

I really regret trusting this demon before me.