𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟏: 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Not long after the three who had gone out to scout returned, a servant came to announce that dinner was ready.

I thanked them with a smile, stood up from the long bench, and followed the guide out of the room.

Asuka, Miliaria, Meisha, and Meg followed.

But, I’m concerned about their whispering.

“I got him to admit it.”

“Good job. Next is Mei.”

“All is as the Supreme God wills. I’ll sneak into his bed.”

“That’s pretty extreme.”

Their voices are too soft to hear clearly, but I’m sure they’re not talking about anything good.

Okaa-san can tell. They’re probably discussing another prank.

The lord of the castle we’re facing is a well-built demon. He looks to be in his late forties, so he’s probably around three hundred or three hundred and fifty years old.

I’m not sure, though.

The age of long-lived species from a human perspective can be summed up as “looks very young.”

Humans can’t normally live up to three hundred years.

“I can’t find the words to thank you for helping us in our time of need and for this warm welcome.”

I bow deeply.

“That’s fine. Life here is boring. I actually welcome a bit of trouble.”

The lord of the castle laughs heartily.

We introduce ourselves to each other and deepen our friendship.

This man’s name is Zachalant. His title is Lord of Piran.

He’s the real lord of Piran Castle. Not an illegal occupant, but a genuine person ordered by the Demon King to protect the castle.

“More accurately, it was my father who received the order.”

“So it’s been five hundred years since then…”

I can’t help but sigh.

Zachalant’s father and his subordinates have been protecting this castle all this time.

Even when the Demon King’s army left for the south.

After they died, their children did.

What loyalty.

“Well, it sounds like a good story when you put it that way. But the truth is, we’re descendants of people who fled here because they hated war.”

Zachalant laughs as he bluntly states the truth.

The battle where the Demon King’s army and the humans decided the victor was the Sumer Plain Battle, but because that became the decisive battlefield, it was confirmed that Piran Castle would not be the main battlefield.

Then, a large number of deserters flocked here.

Of course, secretly.

Apparently, the Demon King’s army was on the verge of defeat.

They’re being pushed back to the current border. If they had been winning all along, they wouldn’t have had to decide the battle here.

So, Zachalant’s father, who was the Lord of Piran at the time, sheltered those deserters.

There was no need to lose their lives in a pointless battle.

In the meantime, the Demon King’s army was defeated, and the demon race fled to the south.

The humans had also suffered heavy losses, so they didn’t have the strength to pursue them and focused on building a new country.

The Piran Castle was completely left behind.

“It seems he thought it would be awkward to follow the Demon King’s army now, so he decided to wait until things cooled down.”

Due to the war wounds, the Demon King died and was replaced, the humans started fighting among themselves, and a new country was formed, and about a hundred years passed without a good time to offer submission.

Once that happens, it’s hard to bring it up.

The humans have completely changed generations to the point where they’re like, “Who are you guys?”

Even in the Demon King’s country, they’ve probably long forgotten about the deserters who disappeared a hundred years ago.

“Well, whatever! So, it seems everyone decided to stay in Piran. This place is rich in the blessings of the forest and close to the sea. We can be completely self-sufficient.”

“Bold or audacious.”

“He just doesn’t think about anything.”

Zachalant laughs heartily as he enjoys his food and drink.

Yeah.

I agree that the correct answer is that he doesn’t think about anything.

After all, I have a lot of experience with people who don’t think about anything. We’re pretty much the same.

And so, about eighty years ago, the current Demon King ascended to the throne and started secret trade with Gaillia.

As a result, in towns near the border, people stopped caring even if the demon race was wandering around.

“We’ve become able to get what we can’t produce ourselves through trade. It’s become very convenient.”

“So you’re trading with humans.”

“Yeah. In fact, the humans in the neighborhood probably know that we live here. They probably don’t make a fuss knowing that.”

“Huh? So that Lich, didn’t it come from this castle?”

Asuka raises her hand swiftly and asks.

There was no time to stop her.

Would you ask that? You, the girl.

“Ah, those guys. They headed towards the human city. After we kicked them out.”

And you would answer that normally? You, the castle lord.

I wonder.

Do these people’s dictionaries not include things like discretion? 

“A while ago, a man came asking. He said it was time to reclaim the ancestral lands that were taken by humans.”

He even gave a stirring speech about the end of the time of lying low, but for Zachalant and the others, there was no such thing as lying low.

They like to hole up here, and they seem to have turned him away saying they didn’t know anything.

Then, he seems to have attacked with a Lich in tow.

But they easily repelled him.

“Hmm.”

I crossed my arms.

I still can’t see the whole picture.

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