Volume 8 Chapter 27 Village Head Meeting
When my vision returned, the first thing I saw was a monster rampaging in the snow-covered courtyard.
"GRROOOARRR!"
"Damn it! The villagers of Eeri must be furious to send a Cyclops as the village head!"
"Kill it! Kill it! Get it over there! Yeah!"
The Cyclops was struck down by the sorcery of several village head demons. "Fu..." "It was a good warm-up exercise, I'd say," they said to each other.
"..."
I kept my mouth shut, seeing their carefree attitude. As I did, the village head demons gathered towards the mansion.
The mansion was a hidden, sprawling estate deep in the forest.
I followed the other demons and entered the mansion. I trailed behind them and entered a room.
The room was a large, dimly lit hall with a worn-out carpet. There were no desks, only chairs arranged in a circle, facing the center.
I sat down in an empty chair, imitating the other demons. "Hey, isn't Lord Ris (The squirrel) missing?" "I had a great time thinking about how pathetic they were," the demons laughed from a distance.
I took my seat and waited for a while, until an old man with a shaky hand raised it, calling out to everyone.
"Then, following the previous order, I'll be the chairman of this village head meeting...!"
The hand he raised was trembling noticeably. It was the first time I'd seen a demon this old. Demons usually look young, but...
Still, the way his hand shook made me feel uneasy. His tone was also quivering. But no one seemed to mind.
The chairman began to speak.
"First, let's align our understanding of the current situation...! Does anyone not know about last night's bombardment by Bael-sama and the 20% tax rate...?"
No one raised their hand. It seemed like Bael's bombardment had attacked every village. I thought it was terrifying, with a disgusted expression.
"I see...just as I thought..." the chairman nodded.
"As you all know, Bael-sama has thrown a massive tantrum this time, trying to torment us with boredom... But does anyone know the reason behind this tantrum?"
The chairman's question was met with a raised hand from a demon. A young female demon with a lovely face.
I felt a sense of déjà vu. I've seen her before, I thought. After a moment's consideration, I realized...
She was one of the maids who got blown away by the cannon fire at Bael Castle.
"I'm the new village head of Varga Village. Everyone in the village died from Bael-sama's cannon fire, and I was the first to revive, so I became the new village head."
The village heads murmured among themselves, "Oh...","A new wind is blowing into the village head council..." It didn't feel right. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was off, but the atmosphere was different.
The maid village head spoke up.
"The reason behind Bael-sama's tantrum is that the guest's interference with El-sama's fog sorcery was recognized. I think it's probably due to some kind of sorcery decided upon in the council."
"Ah, I see, so that's what happened...!"
The chairman nodded in agreement with the maid village head's explanation, as if he had finally understood. The other demons, who were likely continuing as village heads, nodded with serious faces.
...So it's not a tantrum after all. It's a justified attack by Bael. Why do they look so proud of themselves, I wonder?
"Well, then. It seems many of the village heads participating in this council for the first time, so let's discuss what happened in the previous council..."
The chairman chuckled and narrowed his eyes with a sly glint.
"What was revealed to Bael-sama was the interference with El-sama's fog sorcery, which was decided upon in our village head council. It's a precursor to a certain ritual."
The air in the room grew tense. Ritual. I heightened my guard.
"We, the village head council, have been searching for a way to get along with Bael-sama in this Bael territory, so that our villages can live better lives. Sometimes we're gentle, sometimes we're bold, and――."
The council head continued.
"――and among those, the current council's response is extremely harsh...!"
"――What's going on?"
Prompted by the maid village head, the council head chuckled.
"――We're planning to summon an evil god."
At that, all of us new village heads, including me, were taken aback. The council head and the other veteran village head demons also opened their mouths.
"We're planning to summon an evil god. The reason the fog's sorcery is going haywire is because the evil god we're about to summon is intervening...!"
"The evil god we're trying to summon has changed the fog's sorcery, which was trying to escape from us, into something that can't be destroyed. And then what? Even Bael-sama's family won't be able to escape that cage!"
"And with the evil god summoning approaching, we'll have Bael-sama killed by the evil god! Unlike us low-ranking demons, a powerful devil like Bael-sama won't be able to revive for decades even if they die once!"
"In other words, if this plan succeeds, this Bael territory will become our paradise!"
The veteran demons burst out laughing. More than half of the new demons also laughed along with them. Rebellion, strife, and conflict. It's as if they're not afraid of those things at all.
"In other words..."
I asked.
"So, you're saying that you can't tolerate Bael-sama's rule and are planning revenge and usurpation?"
At my question, the council heads suddenly stopped laughing. The room fell silent, as if frozen in time.
Did I just say something weird? I thought, and then the council head started talking with a joyful tone.
"There's no way we'd think that about Bael-sama's rule..."
"――Huh?"
I thought, "Don't they take 20% of their taxes?" but the other demons also followed along, regardless of whether they were veterans or newcomers.
"That's just how it is with demons. In accordance with chitin farming, there are very few people who take crops that grow even in this extreme cold to the market. There aren't many who can do that sort of thing."
"In other territories, the people are treated like sl*ves, chained up and whatnot. So, I think we're pretty lucky. As long as we pay our taxes, we're good."
"And even if people from other territories come to attack us, we've got Bael-sama's cannons to take care of them. Plus, we don't have to worry about conscription, which is a relief. Having a strong lord like that gives us peace of mind."
As I grumbled on, Bael surprisingly had a good reputation as a devil. "Huh?" I thought, and asked "So, why..." The councilor chuckled with a smile.
"The reason we're going to rebel against Bael-sama... is because of Bael-sama's son, Cabby-sama."
My eyes widened at the mention of Cabby. He definitely had an arrogant air about him, and I could see why people would resent him.
"We're demons. We're an unmanageable people. When we're hungry, we attack and eat beasts. When we're horny, we attack and r*pe humans. We eat beasts, and we eat the corpses of others. We r*pe the opposite s*x without a second thought, and even the same s*x if we're hungry enough."
"..."
I was getting chills just listening to this kind of talk.
"And so, we old-timers, the village heads, suddenly brought it up... Bael-sama's son, Cabby-sama..."
I realized something there. No, it can't be...
The councilor crushed my hopes with a straight face.
"Don't you want to mess Cabby-sama? I mean..."
I covered my head. Seriously... these guys...
"That beautiful face... that arrogant attitude... do they really think they can get away with being so perverted? We thought so."
"That's right. We couldn't stop ourselves. It wouldn't be hard to just kidnap Cabby-sama, but we want to minimize any potential risks. And besides, Cabby-sama would be more lovable if we broke their spirit nicely."
"So, we all said in unison. Let's take Bael-sama down, then."
"And if that's the case, we can't let Bael-sama's family escape. We've manipulated the fog's sorcery through rituals and the evil god. Now, that fog won't clear until the evil god dies."
"And now! The evil god summoning ritual is nearing completion! Tomorrow, at our village's magic circle, the evil god is scheduled to appear!"
"Come on, village headmen! It's a festival An evil god festival Let's die grandly, let's kill grandly! And if we're lucky, we'll get Bael-sama's death and Cabby-sama in our grasp!"
The village head demons laughed like they'd gone mad. I recalled Clay's proposal, and for some reason I couldn't understand, I rejected it.
"Then, let's inform you of the procedure... You village headmen, for the evil god's descent, will perform a ritual to offer magical power to the villagers. The method is―――."
The chairman explained the method. I forced a poker face and memorized the procedure.
It seemed like the meeting was over, and once again the horn blew loudly. One by one, the village heads were teleported and disappeared.
As I went with the flow, feeling the darkness of my vision, I made a certain resolution.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)