Chapter CLXXVIII - Crimes of a Kingdom (part 2)

I turned my grin to Lescia, and she flustered when my eyes were locked with hers. I didn't do anything, I'm just grinning at her.

And with so much courage in my words, I spoke.

"I'm about to do something stupid."

Of course the princess looked very confused. So, I took out a single item from my space ring and handed it to Lescia. She took it and stared at it while still hugging my back.

"A mask?"

"It's called the devil's mask. It belongs to the-"

"The Masked Devil…"

I can tell she knows about the story of the devil mask, since it was very popular a long time ago. Even a caged princess like her should know, so I showed it to her.

She studied it and quickly figured out what I was trying to say. 

"What I'm about to do... I might have to be a devil for once. I hope... You can forgive me."

I said with a rather saddened tone, and Lescia knows exactly what I meant.

What I will do… might break the rules a little bit.

"Melv... If you are going, can you promise me you won't kill anyone?"

She asked carefully, not wanting me to be disappointed anymore. After seeing her expression, I began to think about it deeply.

"... I can't promise you that... But if I do have a choice where I can kill and not kill, then I will choose not to kill."

Hearing my answer, she grinned.

"I do have a selfish request. Can you… heed it?"

"I'm listening."

"I want you to… hurt Jeruma. He had been... very impolite to me so many times in the past."

H-Hmm…?

I stared at her for a flat few seconds in silence, waiting for Lescia to complete her sentence. But then she turned her ashamed expression away, which immediately answered my suspicion.

After she turned away, I laughed. 

"Waha!! Hahahahaha!!!!"

… Loudly. 

My body fell backwards, and Lescia had to move away so that I could fall to the grass behind me. As Lescia is turning her super annoyed expression back to me, I'm rolling on the ground laughing as if I'm being tickled cruelly.

"Stop laughing!! He actually has done so many--You know!?"

"Hahah, sorry, sorry... What did he do?"

Me and Lescia spent the rest of the morning talking about her meeting with Jeruma from many years ago when they were much younger. Apparently, this Jeruma guy is already three years older than us, and he already had four wives.

And yet, he still lusts over Lescia… unacceptable.

Lescia then told the story of how Jeruma and her met a long time ago. The guy came to Mazino's capital city as the future husband of the princess with all his wives, and he even tried to lay his hands on Lescia.

Then Lescia immediately describes how heroic her father was that night, because he made sure that Jeruma did not get away from his eyes.

I can immediately tell Lescia's father is going to be very strict on me… oh dear.

"Haha, I see. In that case, don't worry. I'll make sure he can never touch another woman. Maybe… by turning him into one."

"... That sounds too cruel, but it is kind of what I requested."

"You really hated him."

"So much more than you think! I have never met anyone more indecent. You can do whatever you want with his father."

"I… have something in mind already."

Lescia began to wonder about it, but I didn't continue. I turned my gaze to the distance, and she followed it. 

This happiness, talking to her, made me realize a certain sudden thought, a thought that might ruin this moment in the future.

"Will your parents... even agree to this... to us?"

She turned to me, and let out a chuckle at me for worrying.

"They will. Probably not now, but they will. And if they don't, I'll make sure of it. It will be easier if you can get your old body back, though."

"… even if I do get my body… will they even agree?"

"You're the hero, aren't you? They are stupid if they don't."

Hearing that, I laughed a little again.

Even strict parents can still reject a hero from another world if they didn't like him, you know? But, I wouldn't tell her that.

"Right… in that case, I'll make sure to get my old body back, and make whoever did this to me pay."

I said that rather coldly, and Lescia hummed for a little bit.

"Hmm. It's nice seeing you say cool things like that."

"What? Like, 'I will destroy everything in my path!' sort of things?"

"... now you made it weird."

I chuckled while slapping her shoulder, and she complained because I slapped too hard.

I stood up and took a deep breath. I began taking out my long brown robes, a similar one to the one I used back then.

Lescia handed me the mask and I slowly put on the mask.

As the wind gushed towards us, my robe was being swayed around by the wind while I hid my hair behind the hood. I turned my crimson red eyes that were hidden behind the mask towards the princess, and locked it with her pale pearl eyes.

"Then… I'll be going."

"En. Be careful…"

She waved her hand at me softly while still sitting on the ground. Seeing this made me truly not want to go. I just want to sit down with her, joke about my unluckiness ever since I was put into this body, and maybe cook some funny food to eat.

I don't want to leave her… but I have to.

The time will come when we can spend some time together. But until then…

I nodded at her and gave her a thumbs up before disappearing into thin air. After I left, Lescia stood up and began leaving as well.

In the village, a junior knight is currently filling the racks that were filled with weapons on one of the buildings that they had set up. He was placing the swords and weapons into the racks, and he quickly got startled when he saw a brown robed masked man landing not too far from him next to the rack.

"Hi there. Can I borrow two swords?"

The knight quickly panicked. He must be a low ranking knight, or maybe even an academy novice. He quickly moved away as I pulled two good looking swords from the racks.

After studying the two swords in my hands, I nodded at him.

"Thanks."

"N-No problem..."

I leaped away and started flying immediately.

.

The knights at the gates were pretty on high alert.

Ever since the king had sent out the war announcement, the guards running on the city had been doubled. The civilians had been more and more pressured, and the men were forcefully drafted into the war.

The rankers are also forced to fight in the battles. It was without a doubt, that without the rankers, the kingdom will definitely lose 70% of its strength.

The knights that were sent to guard the entrances have been tripled, and as for the northern gate, where it's closest with Mazino, it has been eight-drupled(or whatever the name for eight times more than normal).

There are even multiple camps of knights outside the gate, and it was filled with knights and rankers.

They are all preparing the defences, as well as offences that might just happen very soon.

"Hey! Look at that, in the skies!"

The knight on top of the wall pointed, and one of them used binoculars to see. A single object can be seen flying very high in the skies towards the gate right now, and it is flying really fast.

"What the hell!? That thing is fast! Is that a bird?"

"It has wings, but it does not look like a bird."

As the knights watch the flying object in the skies, multiple purple objects can be seen flying towards the gate… very fast.

Those are Emperor tier firebombs.

"Incoomiiiiiiing!!!"

BAARRR!!!

BLAARRR!!!!!

BAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

The atomic strikes were thrown exactly where the knights were being centred. The knights camp outside the entrance, the barracks at the side of the gate, and the top of the wall are now completely gone.

Hearing the insanely loud sound of explosions, the kingdom's knights immediately activated the red alert alarm.

The sound of the alarm can be heard all the way from the entire kingdom, while the knights started to move towards the northern gate that is now filled to the brim with black mushroom smoke that is already five times taller than the kingdom's walls.

The first squad arrived at the northern gate, but the gate along with the wall was no longer there. It has been blown away to smithereens by the gigantic explosions that came from just a few firebombs.

The flying object is flying closer and closer, and they can finally recognize what it was when it stopped just above the camp outside the gate.

Behind it, the smoke was very thick, but they were not staring at the smoke.

It was a single man floating in the air… wearing a skeleton looking mask.

"T-The Masked Devil..."