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The Hero’s Victory.

While the hero’s victory is certainly a benefit for the entire Principality, strictly speaking, the hero is not a citizen of the Principality.

In other words, he can leave the Principality whenever he wants.

It’s a well-known fact that he didn’t come to the Principality to subjugate the Demon King’s Army but rather because he was trapped here by them before he could achieve his goal.

So, there are those who think they must find a way to keep the hero party in the Principality for as long as possible!

Some worry, “If we cling too tightly to the hero party, they might get fed up and leave.”

We cannot afford to turn away this unexpected fortune, but slicing open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs is just nonsensical.

Thus, if we want to keep the hero party in the Principality, extraordinary measures are necessary.

The least we can do.

That is to cooperate fully with the hero party’s endeavors.

– The Sorceress of Crimson Lotus is recruiting strong male warriors!

This news even reached a tiny tavern not far from Dragon Lift’s port.

“…Recruiting warriors, you say?”

“Yes. It seems they’re recruiting skilled warriors. It looks like they’re planning a large-scale operation.”

Rough-skinned men, led by a blonde woman with an eyepatch, tilted their heads in confusion.

“What do they plan to do by gathering muscular warriors?”

“Nobody knows yet. But one thing’s for sure: the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus is seeking those with good physiques. Knights under the nobility are prioritized, and it seems they’re also summoning muscular regular soldiers.”

“Muscular….”

“Maybe they’re trying to form a squad to face the Demon King’s Army alongside the hero? They mentioned physiques and muscles, but there will presumably be plenty of fights against the Demon King’s Army, right? If you’re interested, why not participate?”

While the tavern owner went off to serve snacks and beer, the faces of those deeply engrossed in their drinks turned serious.

“Captain, what should we do?”

“…….”

“Shouldn’t we help?”

“…Well. It feels a bit reckless to act without clear intel. We might be walking into a trap.”

The eyepatch-wearing captain scanned the surroundings.

“Muscular men. That’s precisely what you are.”

“But they say they’re even trying to summon knights from the nobility. If they’re planning a fight against the Demon King’s Army, would they go that far?”

“I don’t know… But they’re the ones who attacked us.”

Crack.

The captain, no, the princess of a fallen nation, bit her lower lip.

“The ones who attacked us and trapped us at sea are the hero party. It was obvious from the start. They probably had no intention of hiding it. They seemed to care little about us, but that turned out to be a lie.”

“Are you suggesting that the Demon King and the Prince are using the hero party to capture us?”

“Yes. Whether the hero is with them or not, their intent is to seize us…”

“Ah, but arranging for the hero to marry the princess is taking it a bit too far.”

Inside the tavern, the voices of men at another table grew noticeably louder.

“No matter how handsome the hero is, even if the princess is currently missing, forcing a marriage between the princess and the hero? I don’t think so.”

“Why not? When the princess returns, she’s likely to be married off to some fat noble from the Empire, so wouldn’t it be better for her to wed the hero instead?”

“But she’s a princess. She’ll be forced into war. That’s a no for me. I don’t want to be dragged back into the battlefield.”

“True, you and I both lost an arm a decade ago at the border… tch.”

The two men clinked their mugs with one arm.

“…So, are you going to sign up?”

“With one arm like this, how can I apply? Even if I wanted to, they’re recruiting warriors to fight on the front lines against the Demon King’s Army, and they won’t just pick anyone.”

“I suppose not. Sigh, if I were fit, I’d go.”

“Enough. Pour the drinks. We just need to do our best in our own corner.”

Cheers.

The rough wooden cups clashed, spilling beer.

The men’s conversation reached the ears of other patrons, including the princess, who began to muse while fiddling with her drink.

“Captain, what they said….”

“…What if.”

The princess continued to ponder, her fingers running over her glass.

“If that means the hero could be a citizen of the Principality, would that elevate our status to an even greater height than it was ten years ago…?”

“…I can’t say. We fainted, but you… faced him directly, right? He attacked us without hesitation.”

“No one knows the true purpose of their arrival in the Principality. It’s suspicious that they suddenly appeared from the sea and even more so that they were friends with that suspect Magic King.”

“…Looks like there’s no choice then.”

The princess turned her gaze away.

“You should go check it out.”

“…Me?”

The young man with blonde hair and tanned skin, just about to drink beer, jumped at the princess’s mention.

“Y-you want me to…?”

“Yes.”

The princess extended her hand to the young man.

“…Knight Leonidas. You must go and uncover the true intent of the hero party.”

*

After finishing a simple party.

…To briefly summarize the party, three women in dresses ended up appealing to Lucius with their charms.

I didn’t have to dress up, and Lucius took the three ladies to a quiet room, marking the end of the party.

And at night.

Fearing that Lucius might have another scare, I led my main body to Mammon’s room and changed.

“Ugh. I feel more active as a beastkin.”

“Can’t you just stick with your original body?”

“The task ahead requires a high degree of concentration.”

“Huh?”

“That’s just nonsense that resembles what you just said. As long as I can achieve results, it doesn’t matter what form I take, right?”

While the small party was underway, I checked the condition of the items Mammon had created: the speaker and the microphone.

“Okay, this will do as a mega amplifier for Satan. The rest is just about gathering the muscular knights and making their protective gear. How did it go with the knights?”

“…I’m a bit embarrassed to say, but we only managed to recruit 300.”

“What? 300?”

What the heck.

“Weren’t you trying to recruit a lot more than just knights? There’s the knight order of the Principality and nobles with their own knights, right? Even regular soldiers… only 300?”

“There’re hardly even 30 knights. The rest are just regular muscular… civilians.”

“Unbelievable.”

I had a feeling this would happen.

“The nobility must have hidden their loyal knights for fear they’d be harmed.”

“More precisely, they didn’t even offer support… I truly feel the weight of that saying you occasionally mentioned.”

“What’s that?”

“That humans are inherently born evil.”

“Why sugarcoat it? I often refer to humans as ‘going to hell’ quite quickly.”

“Is that okay?”

“While I don’t say it outright, when they display such behavior, I should be able to call it as it is.”

Humans can sometimes genuinely be hellish.

Like right now.

“With the nobility like this, can Lucius really become the hero of the Principality? Tsk tsk. At least I’m relieved that some people stepped up. But for real, are there only 30 knights?”

“There are no knight orders inside the Principality. They were all disbanded when it became a Principality, and the remaining kingdom’s knights…”

“Ah, I get it. They said those guys are war hawks. That explains why their numbers are low.”

Thirty knights.

Three hundred men.

I feel somewhat sorry for the knights, but appointing them as ten-man captains seems fitting.

“I should give something very special to the knights.”

“What do you mean by giving something? What are you planning to do with 300 muscular men? Are you really aiming to form a squad?”

“Bingo. More precisely… I aim to provide equipment that can make each one a fighter of at least semi-swordmaster level, if not the Hero of the Holy Sword.”

“Oh….”

Mammon’s eyes sparkled in interest.

“What kind of equipment are you referring to? For the Demon King to create equipment for his soldiers… that sounds quite extraordinary.”

“Extraordinary… Hmph, yes. It would certainly be extraordinary for you, ‘female.'”

“What did you just say?”

Mammon immediately flared up.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll understand when you see it. Let me use Feor as a mannequin for a moment.”

I snapped my fingers, and the maid outfit Feor was wearing vanished in an instant.

What appeared instead was a Feor clad only in lingerie.

I utilized the remaining mana in this body to project an illusion.

“…What is this?”

“The protective gear that the Magic King should create is three pieces: a helmet, a groin guard, and military boots.”

Aside from those three essential points of protection, all other areas are exposed to the enemy.

At least on the surface, it appears so.

“I’m going to create a very special device inside the helmet. When embedded with magic stones, the mana from those stones will flow along the skin, forming a protective barrier that sticks to the body automatically.”

“And then?”

“What do you mean and then? It means all the warriors will have a protection shield automatically. Even without wearing full plate armor, just by using the magic stones, they can provide the defense of armor.”

“…Wait, that is not…?”

“Exactly. I’m incorporating the methods of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.”

In the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess, as long as one receives moonlight, women are safe from any danger.

And now it’s time to extend that miracle to men, even if in a similar way.

“Don’t worry. It’s not blasphemy or anything. It’s a measure to save humanity from the Demon King.”

…….

“I’ll prepare the spell to embed inside the helmet. You just need to mass-produce the helmet, groin guard, and military boots. Simple, right?”

“…Was it like this even 500 years ago?”

“Heh, hey.”

I thumped my chest.

“Did you really think the orcs 500 years ago walked around shirtless?”

They believed completely in the great Demon King.

“Let’s show it to Satan. While the enemies are busy attacking orcs wearing mere rags, we’ll have these splendid muscular warriors fighting for us. Even the Saintess showcases herself entirely for safety. Isn’t it fine for men to go all out too?”

Covered where it mattered.

No indecency whatsoever.

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with that?”

 

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