By the time Adelio returned to the middle world, the majin who had been lying in wait within the great forest also began to reveal themselves one by one.
"Hohoho, already an army of two hundred thousand... It seems the plan is proceeding smoothly, doesn't it, Lord Gelmud?"
One was a peculiar man with a massive build, a high-pitched voice, a circus costume painted green, and an angry clown mask.
"Yes, of course. Footman. The Demon Lord personally lent us power. There's no way I could fail."
The other was a pale-skinned man dressed in a tailcoat and silk hat like some stage magician, wearing a beaked mask and even carrying a cane.
These were the kind humanity broadly called majin and shunned as monsters.
"Now we only have to wait a little longer, and 'my child' will lead the soldiers to attack that insolent [Ogre] village. They dared refuse the offer of a name without knowing their place, so a massacre is a cheap price for them to pay."
"Hoho! An excellent idea. If the soldiers devour the [Ogre], one of the great forest's higher races, they'll gain that much more power as well."
Gelmud's proposal.
It was one part of their overall plan, and an operation he had personally begged the Demon Lord to approve.
If a monster with promising talent appeared in the great forest, they would give it a name and make it a subordinate, let it build up its own power, then force it into conflict with the higher races and other named monster factions. In the end, the last one standing would become the new master of the great forest.
And as for the monster who would remain at the very end, Gelmud had already made his choice.
"Mm, if it's my child, Geld... he will surely devour every higher race and become the new ruler of this great forest."
It was the emperor of the pigheads, born for the first time in centuries: the [Orc Lord].
**
"...The [Orc Lord]?"
The Free School in Ingrassia.
Before fighting the [Orc], I decided I needed someone to help for a little while, so I transferred to this place where Shizu was working as a teacher.
Killing two hundred thousand [Orc] would only take a few swings of my sword, but unfortunately, they weren't prey I was supposed to kill.
That was why I needed someone who could make sure the [Ogre] didn't die while I was subduing the [Orc] without killing them.
I could have set up a barrier before the battle, but this was also a good chance to check Shizu's abilities, and I didn't want to waste it.
"Yeah. It's one of those legendary monsters that might appear once in a hundred years, if that. Since one showed up recently, the great forest's ecosystem is collapsing."
"...So that's why you came to ask me in person, Teacher."
"That's right. Before long, requests from various nations will start pouring into the Guild for an investigation anyway, so it'll be easier for you to look into it now before things get annoying."
If it was a massive army on the scale of two hundred thousand, requests would inevitably reach even heroes who had already retired from the front lines.
Some of the great powers would even go so far as to call in people and ask me directly, so there was no need to mention everyone else.
Shizu in particular was still staying in Ingrassia, which made her location easy to identify.
That was why, even now that she had stepped away from active duty, various nations were still urging her to return as an adventurer.
As I said before, humanity was severely lacking in top-tier fighters compared to monsters.
"So, what do you think? Want to go? The school's on break right now anyway, and you said you wanted to stop by the Kingdom of Blumund near the great forest at least once."
"...Mm."
After hearing my offer, Shizu seemed to think it over for a moment, then lifted her gaze toward the woman standing behind me.
"Then... is Teacher Ria going too?"
At the end of Shizu's gaze stood a white-haired beauty in a dress, carrying a calm and composed air.
The person behind me... or rather, the demon, was naturally Ria.
"Hehe, of course. I'm not one of the Demon Lord's subordinates, so it doesn't matter if I enter the great forest."
Ria normally spent her days checking on newly arrived demons coming up from hell at the White Ice Palace, or resting at my estate, but lately she had been spending far more time in Ingrassia with Shizu.
It seemed she was curious about the speed of Shizu's growth, just like I was.
Even from my perspective, as the one who had taught her the most, Shizu's rate of growth was astonishingly fast, so it made sense that Ria, a Primordial Demon, would be even more interested.
'That kind of talent could never come from an ordinary majin. That's probably why she never grew like this in the novel.'
Whenever I watched Shizu grow stronger, I felt pretty satisfied. It made the [Hero]'s Egg I gave her seem far from useless.
"...All right."
While I was briefly lost in thought, Shizu must have made up her mind, because a small smile curved at her lips.
"If both Teacher Adelio and Teacher Ria are coming, then there's absolutely no chance of danger. I'll go too."
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