After leaving the cave where the seal had once been, the place Vertis headed to immediately was the Forgotten Dragon City, the territory ruled by Milim.
Calling it a territory sounded nicer than it really was. Milim had no interest in managing her own lands, so the city was actually run by Midorei, the high priest of the dragonewt clergy who worshiped Milim as a god, along with the priests under his command.
"Damn it all! Cooperation, my ass. They're looking down on us and calling it help!"
As soon as he arrived, Vertis saw a large bald man in priestly robes raging in anger. This was Midorei, the head priest of the temple devoted to Milim.
"Vertis! When did you get here?!"
The moment he noticed him, Midorei snapped into a salute.
"Just now... More importantly, things don't look very good here. And I see there are some uninvited guests too."
The total population of this city was less than a hundred thousand at best. Compared to the size of the territory, it was a pitifully small number.
Naturally, it did not function as a proper nation. Everyone simply lived by cooperating with one another.
Perhaps that style of governance had been influenced by Milim's free-spirited personality. But right now, far more than a hundred thousand people were staying on this land, and from both their appearance and their aura, it was obvious they were all majin under Clayman's command.
"Clayman's men, huh... I heard Milim destroyed Eurazania, the Beast Kingdom."
"Yes. Because of that, things have been miserable. They suddenly invaded our land, then settled here under the pretext of investigating the territory of Demon Lord Carrion, who supposedly violated their agreement. Since then, they've been squeezing food out of the people with one excuse after another."
The one who answered was Hermes, Midorei's close aide. He had a bold, carefree manner that made him seem unreliable at first glance, but as the second-in-command, his strength was second only to Midorei's.
Whatever the reason, if it was true that Milim had destroyed Eurazania, then they were obligated to assist Clayman's subordinates.
And since they had even brought a written order from Milim, they had no way to resist those commands.
The handwriting looked sloppy, but the priests had seen Milim doodling in the dirt with branches often enough to recognize that it really was hers.
"So Milim hasn't come back here in quite a while, then?"
"That's right. I just hope she's eating properly. Gaia is worried about her too."
Kyuuiii~
Gaia had grown into a fully mature dragon, with beautiful white scales and seven shining jewels embedded in its body. Yet despite that majestic appearance, it let out an adorably mismatched cry and nuzzled up to me.
No matter how much Milim wandered around, she should have come back here at least once a month to see Gaia...
Of course, they knew it was presumptuous beyond measure to both worry about Milim and doubt her. Even so, that did not stop them from being concerned.
"More importantly, how bad is the damage?"
"Clayman's men ordered us to hand over food, so the third granary has been emptied. We have seven granaries left. It looks like things will be difficult until the next harvest."
"If food runs short, I'll have some sent from my country. And... it looks like our guest is here."
Sensing the aura of a majin approaching from far away, Vertis decided to watch the situation from a distance for the moment. Midorei and Hermes also did their best to remain calm as they waited for Clayman's commander-in-chief.
Yamza of the Middle Finger, commander of Clayman's army.
He had a moderately built frame and average height. His hair was split black and white, and his movements were sharp, as though he valued speed above all else.
Clayman had bestowed upon him a Unique-grade Ice Blade, allowing him to cast the elemental spell Ice Blizzard, [Water-Ice Grand Demonic Wind], without chanting.
"Well now, Lord Midorei. Your food support has been a tremendous help. Feeding thirty thousand soldiers takes more supplies than you'd think, after all."
He wore a deliberately friendly smile, but the three of them knew exactly what he meant and gave no reply.
Midorei understood better than anyone that voicing dissatisfaction or anger here would only put them at a disadvantage.
So he swallowed his rage and put on a mask.
"I'm honored to hear it was helpful. However, we cannot provide any more aid than this. Three of our granaries have already been emptied by what was given to your army. If the people starve, Milim will be saddened."
"Lord Midorei, your side is the one lacking in manners. That Demon Lord Milim acted however she pleased. Our army is the one cleaning up after her mess, so of course you lot should show us proper respect!"
Yamza no longer even bothered to hide his true nature as he shouted in fury.
Even so, Midorei remained composed as he answered.
"My deepest apologies. We were thinking only of ourselves. If there is anything we can do, we will not refuse. Please, tell us what you need."
Midorei even lowered his head, humbling himself further.
'So he's not taking the bait? It would've been easier if he'd just exploded here.'
"I see. Then I'll give you a chance to cooperate. We alone are more than enough to hunt down the remnants of Eurazania... so your people can handle transporting supplies."
"W-Wait a moment! Taking our food wasn't enough, and now you want to take our manpower too—"
Hermes protested before he could stop himself, and in the next instant, his left arm was severed.
"...Ghk."
Despite having his arm cut off, Hermes only let out a pained groan instead of a scream. Yamza, who had sliced through it in an instant with his sword, spoke with his true nature laid bare.
"Shut up, trash. I could kill you right here as an example."
'Damn it... looking down on us...'
At that moment—
Whoom!!
Midorei's sharp kick slammed into Hermes's stomach, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
"Please forgive his rudeness, Lord Yamza. I will discipline that fool myself, so I beg you, for my sake, to let this matter end here."
"...Fine. We march in a few days. Make sure all your priests are prepared quickly."
"Understood."
After Yamza left, Vertis revealed himself again, and Hermes's severed left arm was cleanly restored through the priests' holy magic.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"You idiot. I warned you again and again."
"I'm sorry. It just slipped out before I realized it..."
"...Whatever the reason, it's still true that Milim destroyed the Beast Kingdom. So as Milim's friend, I have a duty to scold her."
With those words, Vertis left the temple and decided to meet Milim in person and talk to her directly.
He had a rough idea where she might be.
If Clayman's majin army had come to this land carrying Milim's written order, then the place Milim was currently staying had to be Jistav, the domain ruled by Demon Lord Clayman.
'Jistav... what a coincidence.'
Milim probably did not remember, but the land where Jistav now stood had once been home to the ancient elven kingdom that killed an Elemental Dragon in order to control her.
There was a towering castle in Jistav, and from there he could feel a familiar energy. Just as expected, Milim was there.
"Milim? What are you doing here by yourself?"
"Ah, Ver!!"
The moment she saw him, Milim's expressionless face instantly broke into a bright smile, and she spat out the green pepper she had been holding in her mouth.
"What are you doing here? Midorei and the others are worried about you."
"I see... then I suppose I should apologize. But this one still has to keep acting!!"
"Acting?"
"Acting like Clayman's puppet!!"
"...Ah. So that's it?"
Only after hearing everything Milim had to say did all the puzzle pieces finally start falling into place.
Tempest and the Western Holy Church. And even the destruction of the Beast Kingdom. Clayman had been involved behind all of it.
'To think he believed he could control Milim... how arrogant. But there's no way Milim came up with a plan like this on her own. Someone must have helped her.'
"More importantly, since we finally met, you have to play with me!!"
"Is that really okay?"
"Clayman is so drunk on himself right now that he won't pay any attention to someone like me."
"Is that so?"
"It is!!"
And so, with no real choice, Vertis ended up spending time with Milim. He only managed to get away after playing with her until she was finally worn out.
"At Walpurgis, you must watch my magnificent performance!!!"
With those words from Milim, Vertis returned to his own country and spent his time there while waiting for Walpurgis to arrive.
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