A blonde woman was staying in a dim room in an inn inside Barse. She
donned on black attire, shut the book she was reading, kept it aside, then
glanced toward the corner of the room.
Suddenly, a man clad in black clothes appeared in front of that woman. The
man knelt and respectfully reported to the blonde woman.
「I have delivered the pendant as per your instruction.」
「Thank you very much! Now, we just need to watch and pray so that those
stupid clowns will dance on our palms.」
The blonde woman spoke in soliloquy while pouring wine into the glass on
top of the table.
「…」
The man in black clothes didn't reply to her; he just lowered his face and
chewed his lips in frustration.
The blonde woman squinted. Then, she stood from her chair and
approached the man in black clothes.
「Uhm, that look! Are you dissatisfied?」
She asked the black clothed man while looking at his face.
「There's no such thi—」
「I understand your feelings. You can't accept the fact that we gave our
treasure to those filthy humans, right?」
The man in black clothes didn't say anything for a while as if he were
waiting for her to continue, but…
「I've made no mistake in choosing you. However, no matter how much
your logic accepts it, the same can't be said for your soul.」
The next moment, she opened her mouth with a determined look on her
face.
「That's right. My soul can't accept this act. But, unless we do this, we will
lose this war.」
「You mean, the legendary hero…」
「Yes, you'll understand why I'm doing this once you see those people's
battles. That's a monster born from the species called humans. I don't think
anyone can beat the hero aside from His Majesty. As if that isn't
enough…」
「Hero's party, huh.」
The blonde woman nodded upon hearing the man in black clothes' reply.
「Strength-wise, His Majesty should be slightly stronger than the hero. But,
both the sage and the paladin can't be underestimated either. If those two
are added into the equation, His Majesty will lose for sure. Moreover, there
are also the sword saint's, the archmage's, and the spear king's gift holders
in the hero party. If we let them grow even stronger, we're gonna lose for
sure.」
「When that happens, the losers—we, the demon race—will get wiped out.
」
「I agree with you. That's the reason I'm willing to accomplish this job at
all costs.」
The man in black clothes replied with a serious look on his face and a bitter
smile on his lips.
「Is it about that oracle?」
「Yeah! That oracle's ceremony exists in that ruin. We can most likely
summon our god into this world by offering several humans as sacrifices
according to the oracle. If that's true―」
「We can crush that hero and his party for sure!」
A strong, dark swirling emotion filled with all kinds of negative thoughts
toward the human race could be seen in the eyes of the man in black
clothes.
「Those heroes might be monsters, but that's only inside our diminutive
rules. They are no match for our god.」
The man in black clothes shrugged upon hearing the blonde woman's voice,
which was filled with a rare passion.
「But, no matter how much we have been cornered, it looks really pathetic
that we have to go as far as to rely on the God who is only mentioned in
fairy tales.」
She heaved a sigh as she muttered those words in a tired voice.
「I feel the same, But, we have no way to survive aside from relying on
that god in the fairy tales. This is literally a desperate plan. And that's even
more reason for us to ensure that this plan works.」
「What if those fellows fail?」
「Naturally, we will retrieve the pendant and look for the next stupid
clown. Leave that matter to me. I'll start right away.」
「Understood.」
The man in black clothes then stood back, placed his right fist on his ch*st,
and left the room.
「Asch-sama, I will definitely grant your wish!」
The blonde woman, who was left alone in the room, muttered those words
with a determined expression.