Heroes and Machine Girls Looking at Profiles

39 – Creaking Alliance

The Changgwan building where the Balsam Family’s headquarters is located. Perhaps because the sun was still up, the store was closed.

Well, I didn’t come as a guest at Changgwan, so what does it matter?

“Excuse me? Huh?”

I immediately opened the door and tried to go in, but the door was locked, so Z-Crune shook the door and shook it.

Of course, the door was locked.

Well, it was natural since it wasn’t business hours, but since I already knew the true nature of this store, I had no intention of delaying.

Quaaang!!

“Is there a landlord?!”

So, I forcibly opened the door with the key.

The key is called kicking.

A harsh kick that involves raising one foot high and pushing it forward with all your might.

I guess I used too much force, but the door broke and flew away.

“Is it dark?”

“Well, it’s funny even if a place like this has a window leading to the outside.”

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The first floor of the building that was revealed was a typical building that literally claimed, “I am the Changgwan.”

Inside, you can see a dark passage full of doors leading to the bedrooms.

And of course…

“Master.”

“Huh?”

“How far should we go in self-defense this time?”

And of course, there were signs lurking in almost every bedroom, spewing murder.

I felt it, and there is no way Zikrune, who is more sensitive to presence, could not feel it.

“If I just kill them all, there won’t be any problem, right?”

The reason these guys crawled into the slums in the first place was to avoid the attention of the higher-ups.

If you’re a mafia with collusion with your superiors, it might be a little annoying, but other than that, there’s nothing to worry about.

“You can do whatever you want”

“Yay!!”

Zeke Rune smiled brightly, pulled out a halberd as tall as he was hanging on her back, and charged at her.

「It’s one-sided」

“In the end, they are a group of third-rate thugs who hide in the slums and do nothing but extort money.”

Every time Zikrune swung his halberd, part of the building shattered and members of the Balsam Family fell to the ground.

A bright smile filled her face, and she was swinging her halberd wildly, looking at her blood.

Well, it’s been a while since I washed the bloody thing off, but it’s covered in blood again.

“Ugh!?”

“Oh my”

“Kaaak?!”

In the meantime, I intercept several guys who have lost their will to fight and are running away from Zikrune.

Although Zekrune was strong, he tended to enjoy battle too much, so he was lacking in areas other than battle.

Some cowards who usually run away don’t really pursue them.

…Well, the problem with this part is that I didn’t tell you in advance not to miss a single one.

Shortly, the guys lurking on the first floor were wiped out, and Zikrune came back quickly.

“Master! Master!!”

“Uh…Yeah, good job.”

Zikrune is looking at you with eyes that seem to be expecting something.

…The thing sticking out its head is, well…That’s what it wants.

Zeke Rune is happy when I stroke his head with my hand.

「…It looks like a dog」

…Say it nicely.

The first floor is the warehouse, and the basement is the headquarters.

If that’s true, the headquarters should be in the basement of this building.

Actually, I can feel a lot of presence down here, so it must be certain.

The problem is that the entrance from the first floor to the basement is not visible at all.

I searched the first floor like a mouse, but I couldn’t find anything that looked like an entrance to the basement.

There must be a hidden passage or something, but it was so meticulously hidden that I can’t find it at all.

…If I had known this would happen, I would have saved one or two people and interrogated them.

In the end, when I couldn’t find the entrance and sighed in pain, Zikrune, who had been following me from behind, opened his mouth.

“Master? Why are you doing this?”

“Huh? No, I have some business to do with the guys down here, but I can’t find the way down.”

“Huh? That was all?”

That’s all.

I’m struggling because I can’t find a way.

“Please leave it to me!”

Zikrune shouts that with a confident face.

The confidence radiating from that expression was so strong that I wondered if he had some way of going underground.

And then, Zikrune held the halberd tightly and raised it high.

“Yaaa!!”

Boom!!

I took the picture as it was placed on the floor.

A loud noise similar to an explosion is powerful enough to create a large crater on the floor.

Boom!!

Boom!!!

Boom!!!!

And then, Zikrune begins to repeat that action.

Yeah…Well, definitely.

Why bother looking for a secret passage?

If you can’t see a passage, just create one. Okay.

If it were me about a month ago, I would have done that without hesitation, but I guess that feeling has disappeared since I started enjoying civilized life again.

Seeing Zikrune digging deeper while making a pounding sound, I let out a small sigh.

The day after the declaration of war arrived at the Halfas imperial family.

Under the order of Crown Prince Freud, all officials holding important positions in the empire gathered in one place.

This time, everyone had gathered, including those who could not or did not attend that day.

“Everyone came together well.”

The nobles bow their heads in respect to Prince Freud’s words.

After that, Prince Freud, who was looking around at the nobles, opened his mouth.

“I will announce the contents of the declaration of war. Chief Executive.”

“Yes.”

When the crown prince called, the magistrate ran over and took the paper he held out.

And then he started reading it.

To summarize, the person who identified herself as the Demon Lord Elaine was planning to launch an invasion targeting the Halfas Empire and the Kingdom of Cloeti.

There was no justification for the invasion.

He was merely announcing the survival of the Demon King himself and that his army, which currently occupied part of the territory in the eastern part of the empire, was his army.

Until yesterday, there were many skeptical views about the survival of the Demon King.

The majority of the surviving remnants looked at it as a ploy to lower their morale by bluffing about the survival of the Demon King.

However, with the news of Madeleine’s fall coming in this morning, the possibility of the Devil’s survival has increased.

The soldier who ran from Madeleine all night told him that the person who captured Madeleine was the Iron-Blooded Big Bull, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army.

The fact that Big Bull is alive after Frey increases the possibility that the story about the Demon King being alive is not a lie.

“Today, I will send a request to each country.”

Prince Freud declared.

“The survival of the Demon King itself is not certain, but the resurrection of the ‘Demon King Army’ itself is clearly visible, and the time has come for our human nation to unite again.”

A year ago, until the Demon King fell at the hand of the hero.

When the Halfas Empire in the southeast lost a lot of territory due to the invasion of the Demon King’s army.

Not only the Halfas Empire, but all other countries joined forces to fight the Demon King’s army.

If the Halfas Empire falls to the Demon King’s army, your country will be next.

Such anxiety created a united front of human nations within the continent called the ‘Continental Union’.

So, Prince Freud had no doubt that it would happen this time too.

“Here is the draft of the request. I hope that each department will carefully review the statement and point out any problems.”

After delivering the draft statement to each department, the day’s meeting was concluded.

And a few days later, Prince Freud’s request was delivered to each country.

The content not only announced the resurrection of the Demon King’s army, but also called for the participation of each country in a coalition to fight against it.

However, this time something was going differently than before.

“The Halfas Empire has indeed sent a request to our republic.”

Al-Hait Republic.

In a conference room where the president, who can be said to be the representative of the republic, and a number of lawmakers were discussing, an agenda item was raised.

This agenda item is an official letter sent from the Halfas Empire just yesterday.

It was a request to participate in an alliance to fight against the Demon King’s army.

The President of the Republic touched the mustache under his nose and opened his mouth.

“Now, which word do you think we should follow?”

At the president’s words, the lawmakers became dumbfounded.

Originally, the right path would be to join the union at the request of the empire.

As before, after the Empire falls to the Demon King’s army, the Republic may be attacked next.

With that thought in mind, opinions were unanimously gathered regardless of the ruling and opposition parties on giving power to the empire.

But this time, no one spoke.

“Does anyone have any opinions?”

Under such silence.

One person broke the silence.

“I don’t think I should participate.”

The President turned his gaze to look at him.

Congressman Roy Verdimont.

He was a young opposition politician who stood out among young people.

At his words, the President blinked his eyes and said.

“That’s surprising, I thought you’d think you should participate.”

Congressman Roy Verdimont.

His wife was known to be a noble from the empire.

So, it was an unexpected situation for a president who had thought that he would have an opinion in the direction of strengthening the empire.

Representative Verdimont shook his head.

“This is not a matter to be decided for personal reasons. Isn’t the future of our republic at stake?”

Representative Verdimont stood up and shouted.

“And the demon who came to visit just a while ago… I think her words can be trusted.”

The reason why Al-Hait Republic is passive in participating in the alliance this time.

The cause was the demon that appeared at the Republic conference hall just a while ago.

That demon is none other than the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lords, Roselia.

A vampire female monarch who awakened the fear of ‘night’ to the Allied Forces in the past war.

She suddenly appeared in the middle of the conference hall.

She appeared after easily breaking through the knights who were guarding the conference hall at the time, and revealed her identity that she had come as the devil’s messenger.

Her lawmakers panicked when they learned of the survival of her Demon King in addition to the survival of her Four Heavenly Kings, but her president stepped forward and dealt with her.

And, the letter she brought with her from the Demon King.

In the letter, it was written:

I have no intention of conflict with any country except the Halfas Empire and the Cloeti Kingdom.

If you don’t join them, I promise not to cause any harm.

Of course, there was a response asking how to believe those words, but the letter clearly stated this.

‘I promise on the name and honor of Demon King Elaine.’

Like this.

For demons, making a promise with one’s name and honor has a very heavy meaning.

Humans often put their name and honor on the line, but it is no exaggeration to think that for demons, that weight is several times greater.

Such a demon, especially a demon king, put his name and honor on the line.

The possibility that the promise was true was very high.

And the most important fact.

It was a situation in which the hero was absent.

The warrior’s dance was known to the Republic from soldiers who participated in the Great War and returned to the Republic.

Can we fight and win against the Demon King’s army without such a hero?

The politicians of the Republic saw the odds of winning as 30 to 70 in the fight against the Demon King’s army, which had no heroes.

A message from a messenger from the Demon King’s army and a situation where the hero is absent.

The situation caused politicians to worry.

Will you believe in the devil’s promise, or will you believe in the empire and fight together?

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And a few hours later.

“Then our policy has been decided.”

The President declared.

“We, the Alhite Republic, will not be involved in the war between the Demon King and the Empire.”

Alhait Republic decided not to participate in the union.

And, the movement was not only seen by the Republic.

Among the countries on the continent, except for a few countries, they expressed their non-participation in the alliance.

…The Continental Union was creaky from the beginning.