Chapter 18 - Haulia's Rampage

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Several Minutes Ago

"Are you Kam Haulia, the chief of the Haulia tribe?"

"What do you want with me, Demon King Aldias?"

"Don't glare like that. Well, it's impossible to tell you not to be wary, but I have no intention of harming you."

Aldias lightly raised both hands, urging Kam, who was openly radiating killing intent, to calm down. Though unseen, a sharp killing intent converged on Aldias from all directions.

(I heard from Ulfric, but... indeed, their movements are well-refined and coordinated.)

They seemed momentarily unsettled by his sudden appearance, but now they had suppressed their presence to the absolute limit, quietly yet swiftly completing their encirclement. If Kam, standing before him, gave the command, they would surely attack immediately.

"Then, what is it you want?"

"Oh, the stealth of that boy there was quite impressive, so I became a little curious. I wanted to see you all with my own eyes."

"..."

Kam's gaze sharpened further at Aldias's words. He likely understood the precise hidden meaning behind them. That is, "Are you Haulia tribe members hostile to us, the Demonfolk?" To put it plainly, that was Aldias's purpose in appearing here. Pal's stealth was, even to Aldias, praiseworthy. Thus, he worried. If the entire Haulia tribe possessed that level of stealth ability, and if it were directed at the people of the Demon Nation, the damage would be immense. That's precisely why Aldias needed to confirm it directly: whether the Haulia tribe were their enemies or not.

"So? How do we appear in your eyes?"

"...It seems you've recently gained power. Such people sometimes become intoxicated with their own strength and lose sight of themselves. If you were deriving pleasure from taking lives, I intended to deal with you here, but it seems my worries were unfounded."

"!?"

"..."

The surrounding Haulia tribe members were momentarily unsettled by Aldias's statement. Although Aldias was unaware of it, there was a period when they had indeed been intoxicated with power and enjoyed killing. They must have remembered that. However, only Kam showed no particular reaction.

"So Hajime's training was thorough, then."

"...What?"

However, when his master's name came from Aldias's mouth, Kam's expression changed for the first time.

"Why does my boss's name come from your mouth?"

"I encountered him a while ago. He was quite a promising young man."

"!?—You bastard! What did you do to the boss!?"

"What did I do? When you encounter an enemy, what you do is already decided, isn't it?"

At that moment, Aldias felt the killing intent from his surroundings swell.

"Well, your master—"

A faint whoosh sounded in Aldias's ear as he spoke. Without turning, he caught the incoming arrow with his hand.

"That's quite a greeting. As I said before, I personally don't intend to fight, you know?"

"Nonsense. You've touched our raw nerve. Don't think you'll leave this forest alive."

Seeing Kam take a fighting stance with his weapon, Aldias realized his blunder.

(...Damn it. I chose my words poorly. I never thought their loyalty would be this strong.)

Aldias had only heard the bare minimum from Ulfric to follow Pal. Apparently, they were strong enough to treat the Bearfolk, the strongest beastfolk race, like infants in combat. Apparently, they were originally a weak tribe unrelated to combat. Apparently, they had changed completely after their encounter with Hajime Nagumo. That was about it. Hearing this, Aldias assumed that the Rabbitfolk, who had a relatively low status in Ferbergen, had been trained by Hajime and gained power. Given that Hajime was a visitor from another world, they hadn't spent much time together, and Aldias judged that they didn't possess enough loyalty to attack just from an encounter. If he had known that the Rabbitfolk had escaped Ferbergen, were attacked by Imperial people, and then saved by Hajime, and that he had changed their fate of being executed along with their entire tribe, his response would have been different. More than anything...

"We... will... avenge... our... boss...!"

"...Hm? Hey, wait. Hajime is—Tch."

Aldias, his eyes slightly widened by Kam's incredibly mistaken remark, tried to correct the misunderstanding, but his words were cut off as arrows and stones flew from all directions. He immediately dodged them by twisting his body. However, as if they knew he would, figures wielding short swords rushed at Aldias one after another.

"Calm down, I'm—"

"How dare you to the boss!!"

"Don't think you'll return alive!!"

"Avenge the boss!!"

"These guys don't listen!"

It seemed the Haulia tribe mistakenly believed that Hajime had been killed by Aldias. The Haulia tribe understood Hajime's mercilessness firsthand. While Hajime didn't fight for humanity, he showed no mercy to enemies in battle. That shouldn't change even if the opponent was the king of an enemy nation. Therefore, the fact that Aldias was still alive after confronting Hajime was hard to believe but implied Hajime's defeat. Aldias's attitude, uttering Hajime's name without hesitation, probably contributed to this belief.

Aldias continued to deftly avoid the Haulia tribe's attacks. He intentionally took the attack of a rushing Haulia male head-on, using its momentum to create distance between them. It wasn't that he couldn't react in time, but remaining in the center of their encirclement would put him at a disadvantage.

"!?—This is..."

The moment Aldias's feet touched the ground after leaving the Haulia tribe's settlement and breaking through their encirclement, a trap on the ground activated, and thin wires spread around Aldias. The wires, gleaming faintly in the sunlight filtering through the trees, looked as if they could be easily snapped.

"Don't even think of doing anything strange. Those steel wires can easily cut even ore. Needless to say, a human body."

A voice came from above Aldias. He looked up to see Kam looking down at him from atop a tree.

"That's not all. For you, this may be the scythe of the grim reaper taking lives, but for us, it's merely a hunting ground where we can utilize our abilities."

Instantly, a shadow darted past Aldias's vision. The passing shadow—a young Haulia male—leapt freely through the air using the wires as footholds. The shadows gradually increased in number, making it extremely difficult to track them all with the naked eye. Furthermore, slingshots and crossbows aimed at Aldias through the small gaps between the leaping Haulia tribe members.

"We wouldn't stand a chance against you head-on. But the terrain is on our side."

Kam slowly raised his hand. And then...

"Kill him."

At the signal, the Haulia tribe members leaped simultaneously. Stones and arrows assailed Aldias through the narrow gaps. In response to this situation, Aldias sighed...

"Demonic Blaze (Maretsu)"

A shockwave of magic erupted from Aldias, blasting out in all directions. The Haulia tribe members who had attacked Aldias were blown away before they could even react, and those who had been aiming from a distance were blown away along with the surrounding trees. A powerful magical storm raged, stripping not only trees but even the earth itself. The blown-away Haulia tribe members held on to intact trees or clung to larger individuals, enduring the onslaught.

When the seemingly endless, kingly violence finally began to subside, the entire area had been transformed into a scene of hell.

"Ugh, y-you bastard!!"

Amidst the countless fallen Haulia tribe members, only their chief, Kam, remained, kneeling but glaring intensely at Aldias. However, Aldias met his gaze unflinchingly, calmly replying.

"...Is this the end?"

"C-!"

Seeing Aldias looking down on them, Kam finally realized his blunder. Through Hajime's rigorous training, the Haulia tribe had acquired combat skills and an unhesitating aggressiveness that allowed them to toy with even the Bearfolk, but in terms of physical specs, they were still inferior to the Bearfolk. The only reason they could overwhelm the Bearfolk was by utilizing their instinctively honed crisis perception and stealth abilities.

Simply put, they were natural assassins. For such individuals to attack when their existence was known and the enemy's abilities were unknown was nothing short of folly. Normally, the correct approach would have been to let the conflict pass, observe Aldias's actions and abilities, and then formulate a strategy. However, they were enraged by the (mistaken) belief that their boss, Hajime, had been killed, and thus attacked in their fury.

(To lose myself to anger... how pathetic! I apologize, Boss. In the end, I couldn't avenge you.)

Kam clenched his fists so tightly that blood seeped from them, ashamed of his own weakness. This was no different from their past battle with the Bearfolk; he had not grown at all. He was merely a beast that attacked enemies on impulse.

(And Shea. If the boss was killed, then you too... I can't let you die in vain. As a subordinate, as a father... even if my body perishes, I will strike one blow...!!)

He spurred himself on, whipping his body to stand up. Around him, other Haulia tribe members, drawn by Kam's resolve, also showed their will to fight. They too swore absolute loyalty to Hajime, who had changed their destiny. More than anything, there was also the matter of their family, Shea. Originally, they were a tribe deeply emotional enough to try to escape the forest as an entire clan just for Shea's sake. No matter how cold and cruel their personalities had become, they couldn't feel nothing if their family was harmed.

"Are you still going to fight?"

"Of course. This is a battle to avenge our boss and my daughter—"

"He's alive."

" " " ...Huh? " " "

"Hajime, and Shea. I thought you might be of the same tribe, but... I see, Shea is your daughter. It's true I fought Hajime, but I didn't kill him. Shea is completely unharmed."

At the fact revealed by Aldias, Kam and the other Haulia tribe members let out a bewildered cry. But it was understandable. They had fought, risking their lives, believing it to be a battle to avenge their beloved boss and precious family.

"Nonsense—"

"Do you think I'd lie in this situation?"

"That is..."

Kam, who had recovered from his paralysis the quickest, retorted, but then fell silent at the immediate reply. As Aldias said, there was no reason to lie in such an overwhelmingly advantageous position.

"More than that, I am prepared to bear the burden of every life I've taken with these hands. I won't abandon it halfway."

"..."

Hearing Aldias's words, Kam fell deep into thought. The surrounding Haulia tribe members seemed to be leaving the decision to Kam, silently watching his and Aldias's movements. After a while of contemplation, Kam raised his head, as if he had come to a conclusion, and issued instructions to the surrounding Haulia tribe members.

"Everyone, return to the settlement."

"...Understood."

Following Kam's instructions, the surrounding Haulia tribe members all left Aldias's vicinity. Perhaps still not fully recovered from the damage, their movements showed some sluggishness compared to before. Once their figures disappeared from sight, Kam turned his gaze back to Aldias.

"Don't misunderstand. We are retreating for now, but that doesn't change the fact that you are our enemy. If you ever lay a hand on our boss or my daughter again, next time I will take your head."

"Alright, that's fine. As long as you don't harm my people, I have no intention of needlessly increasing my enemies."

Kam continued to glare at Aldias, but after a while, he turned his back and disappeared into the mist. Aldias waited until their presence completely faded before letting out a deep sigh.

"So he decided to back down somehow... Still, the Haulia tribe... in a sense, they're even more troublesome than the Empire."

He had no intention of losing in a fight, but considering their abilities, he couldn't be optimistic. Especially if they fully utilized their stealth abilities, it wouldn't be impossible for them to inflict significant damage on his nation in his absence.

"It's annoying, but I might have to thank him for that."

On that day, when he first encountered Hajime, Aldias definitely intended to kill Hajime and Shea. The only reason that didn't happen was Alv's intervention. At the time, he found it irritating, but if he had killed Hajime and Shea then, he would undoubtedly have become an enemy of the Haulia tribe. In that case, Aldias would have to annihilate the Haulia tribe. He wouldn't hesitate if it were for the peace of the Demonfolk, but if a conflict could be avoided, it was better not to engage in one. It was very... very unwillingly, but it seemed that Alv's intervention ultimately led to a positive outcome. Aldias, though frowning, thanked Alv for the first time in his life.

In the Haulia Tribe Settlement

"Was that alright, Chief?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What else... about the Demon King. I understand there's no reason for him to lie in that situation. But it's a fact that he harmed the boss and Shea-nee-san."

Pal asked Kam, who had returned to the Haulia tribe's settlement. While they were happy that their beloved Hajime and their family member Shea were safe, it was a fact that they had been harmed. So, was it okay to let it go? That was the question.

"If we had continued, it was clear that we would lose. As chief, I cannot let you die in vain."

"That may be true, but..."

"Besides, there's a possibility, even if zero, that the boss will confront him again. That's when we'll unleash our power. Until then, sharpen your fangs."

"...Understood."

Watching Pal's departing back, Kam thought about Aldias from earlier. Kam had seen Aldias from a distance eight years ago. At that time, he was simply impressed by how a mere child was interacting as an equal with Ferbergen's elders, but now he understood.

(Equal? Don't make me laugh. The elders are like infants compared to him.)

Even if the entire tribe attacked with all their strength, having fully grasped the advantageous terrain, the battle situation, and even the enemy's strength and personality, Kam couldn't imagine a scenario where they would win. Precisely because they had gained power through Hajime's training, they could clearly sense the overwhelming difference between themselves and Aldias. However, he wasn't without weaknesses.

Aldias's weakness... was the people of the Demon Nation he protected. Kam had heard rumors that Aldias cherished his own people. Meeting him in person made it clear that this was true. If they were to take someone from his nation hostage, Aldias would likely be unable to make any rash moves. However, at the same time, that would be equivalent to kicking a dragon's tail. If one were to act carelessly, it would be easy to imagine that the foolish person would be annihilated without a single cell remaining.

"Even so, if he becomes an enemy of the boss, our path is decided... we will eliminate any obstacles to the boss."

Kam quietly muttered words of resolve, not speaking to anyone in particular, and squinted his eyes at the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the trees.