Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)

Chapter 148 - One Hundred And Forty Eight

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THE LINK IS IN AUTHOR’S THOUGHTS.

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"Hmm. This is quite refreshing." Kanade raised his glass an inch higher in praise. "I didn’t think El Dorado’s land was good enough to produce the fruits for wine like this. Almost as good as our own."

Across from him, sat the Platinum Saber, the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell.

At his praise, the Demon Lord simply looked at him without blinking, taking a sip of his own glass in response.

"You don’t have to look so bored you know. Small talk is a part of the game after all." Kanade grinned. "Indulge me, if you would."

"I have no time for games, and no Interest in indulging one." Leon’s eyes seemed to take on a natural glare, although his hand still gracefully brought his glass to his lips.

"Yes. Straight to business with you. Such a downer." Kanade took a peak at the two people standing behind the Demon Lord.

On Leon’s right was Alros, the knight who had come to receive Maple Tree’s delegation. He was a beautiful and composed man with silver hair, dressed in a full suit of silver colored armour

On the left was another knight in a full suit of black armour, however unlike Arlos, he had his helmet on, so Kanade couldn’t even see his face.

"These two are otherworlders aren’t they?" Kanade couldn’t hide the smile his eyes made when Arlos twitched for a very brief moment. So he was right after all.

"Oh?" Leon looked less bored, although if that was a good thing, Kanade had yet to discern. "So you can tell? How is that?"

’Didn’t you just say that you weren’t in the mood for small talk? And yet, you’re so readily willing to listen to me prattle on about otherworlders. Hmmn, something to note then.’ Kanade let his shoulders rise in a shrug, taking another sip from his glass. The wine was really good, to be honest. He wondered how they brewed it here. Something to ask about in the future.

"The two behind me, are otherworlders as well, just in case you couldn’t tell." Kanade eyed the demon lord.

Arlos’ eyes seemed to do the reacting for Leon as the silver knight widened them, while Leon himself only managed to look even more bored.

’Ah, that’s not good. He’s upset.’ Kanade returned his glass, already running through the thousands of unique skills in his archive.

"After summoning quite the few of them, you can say I’ve, gotten a feeling for the esoteric signal that they give off." He leaned back in his chair. "Of course, it’s not one hundred percent, but I doubt I’m wrong in this case. The elemental spirits within them only served to confirm my suspicion. Amazing work on figuring that out by the way. It took me quite a bit to realise the hazard for summoning those under the age of twelve."

This time, Leon visibly frowned, and Kanade knew he had to play smart here.

"Why don’t the two of you introduce yourself." He inched his face slightly back in a gesture.

Behind him, his own entourage took that as their cue.

Azeeza was the first to step forward, her posture straight, reminding Kanade once again, that the woman was a member of one of the old world’s military.

"Azeeza Al-Rashid." She let the name hang for less than a second before continuing. "Formerly squadron commander. Jordanian Air force."

Leon let his gaze rest on her for a beat, longer than a second, saying nothing.

"I... Died on duty, on may second, two thousand and seventeen, however, upon my death, I was suddenly pulled here by Sir Kanade." Azeeza took that as a cue to continue.

"Is that so?" Leon’s frown seemed to ease down into a straight line.

Kanade mentally gave Azeeza a pat on the back. She really knew what he was thinking without him even telling her, going above and beyond to read the room. He would have to ask Kirara about her placement.

Back to Leon, Kanade confirmed truly, that the idea of summoning displeased the Demon Lord. ’Now isn’t this a conundrum. You have otherworlders of your own after all, and are still summoning more, yet you dislike the practice?’

’No, it’s not the practice itself, but perhaps the implications. He calmed down after Azeeza basically declared that I saved her life. His morality still exists then, good to know the stories were wrong. Maple Tree isn’t summoning otherworlders to use as weapons of war.’

Leon turned his gaze to the other person standing behind Kanade, and Maureen stepped forward, albeit less confident than Azeeza.

Kanade hated to do this to the young girl, but this situation had to be handled with extreme care lest it blow up in all their faces, and no one wanted that. The fact that Leon was going along with it only proved that the Demon Lord was also aware and was handling with care.

The girl looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up again. "I’m Maureen. I’m fourteen, or, I was, though physically I’m eighteen now. M-my death, er, I was..." She looked down again, rubbing her thumbs against one another. "Beaten, to death, by my... My best friend. Then when I opened my eyes, Sir Kanade told me that he had summoned me, to this place."

Kanade once again, gave his subordinates a pat on the back. He could already see Leon’s eyes softening by just a bit, although once again, Arlos was the one reacting for the room as his face full on looked sad at the girl’s story.

"Of course the ones under the age of twelve, are not expected to join Maple Tree’s military. There are schools established to educate the children of all races."

Leon’s eyes had gone back from being soft to being impassive. "Schooling?"

"Mhm." Kanade reached for his glass again. "Reading, writing, arithmetic. Dying can’t save you from school it seems. There’s a joke somewhere in there."

Leon said nothing.

"The older ones, those who are of age and choose to, are given the option to serve. Nobody is compelled."

"And the girl." Leon’s gaze moved briefly to Maureen before returning to Kanade.

"I didn’t exactly bring her for her charming personality. She shows promise."

Leon picked up his glass. "How charitable of you."

Kanade smiled. "I try."

’He’s still not satisfied. He wants to know more but he won’t ask directly. Too much pride for that.’

The unnamed knight on Leon’s left hadn’t moved since the introductions. Hadn’t reacted to anything. Kanade had been tracking him peripherally the entire time and had gotten precisely nothing. Whoever was under that helmet was either very well trained or very good at disappearing into furniture.

Probably both.

"The summoning process." Leon said finally. Not a question exactly. More like a door being opened and left ajar.

Kanade set his glass down. "Yes."

"You’ve improved upon it."

"That would imply that you were the one to create it in the first place. That’s a welcoming information." Kanade returned his eye smile.

"However, I’m not so cocky to declare I improved on something so esoteric, rather I implied that I’d encountered the same problems you have and found some solutions." Kanade corrected pleasantly. "Whether that constitutes improvement depends on what you’re trying to accomplish."

Leon’s eyes sharpened slightly. "And what do you think I’m trying to accomplish."

’There it is.’ Kanade looked at him for a moment.

"You obviously have a dislike for the summoning of people from earth for war, while having otherworlders of your own. And neither of your knights seemed to relate to my own on the cause of their summoning. Which begs the question, why are you so interested in summoning otherworlders? Are you searching for someone?"

The room was very quiet.

Arlos had gone completely still.

Leon looked at Kanade with an expression that was impossible to read. Then he took a slow sip of his wine. "...You’re more perceptive than I expected." he said finally.

"People tend to underestimate me." Kanade replied. "I’ve never quite figured out why."

Leon’s gaze moved to Maureen briefly. Then back to Kanade.

"What is it that Maple Tree wants." he said. Still flat. Still careful. But the boredom had left his voice entirely now.

Kanade leaned forward slightly.

"The same thing you do, more or less." He rested his elbows on the table. "I want to bring people home."

[xxx]

Eva didn’t remember the last time she smiled genuinely. Ever since that fateful day, when Clayman made a deal with those Eastern Merchants, she’d been weighed down by an unfathomable sadness.

Was that when she realized that her Lord had changed, and that he was never going to go back to the way that he was.

No, he wasn’t her lord anymore. Clayman was dead now, and in his place, was the new Lady and Ruler of Dhistav.

Demon Lord Sally.

Eva didn’t really know much about Sally, she would admit. Even after the girl had been summoned and chained by Clayman, Eva hadn’t paid that much attention to the young girl.

She didn’t even know her name at the time, although granted, nobody else knew her name either, other than Clayman himself.

After her summoning, the next time Eva saw her was when Clayman had the girl battle the five fingers, only for the girl to completely dominate all five of them without any effort.

At the time, Eva believed that she was still stronger than the girl, after all, the girl wasn’t able to overcome Clayman, and as much as she still cared for Clayman, she would not lie and claim that he was attuned to battle, rather it was the opposite instead.

Clayman sincerely lacked as a fighter, and if it was something he knew, either consciously or unconsciously, he had the girl become his shadow.

After that, Eva would always notice the girl around Clayman whenever she served him, and sometimes even when she knew she was there she could never actually find her.

It didn’t take long before the girl became an integral part of Dhistav’s military, or at least what was left of it, since Clayman had replaced most of it with mercenaries from outside, letting go of the dark elves that filled it.

Eva closed her eyes, centering herself. She’d been lost in thought. How shameful of her, especially in a moment like this.

She opened her eyes again, focusing on the situation in front of her.

Her new Lord, Lady Sally sat on the chair in front of her, and across from the new Demon Lord, was the familiar faces of the late Clayman’s companions.

Laplace, Footman, and Tear.

The air was so tense that she felt like she could cut through it with her palm.

Beside her, Yamza and Alvaro were ready to attack at any moment. Even Kumara, the five tailed fox, now taller than everyone in the room, was growling at the three masked individuals.

Lady Sally herself didn’t seem bothered by the trio seated across from her, resting on her chair. "To what do I owe the visit of the Harlequin Alliance?"

"Hohoho, to ask such a question." Footman laughed, although Eva could feel the malice rolling off him in waves.

"She must think we’re stupid, Footman." Tear cocked her head to the side. "Are we stupid, Footman?"

"Why, dear Tear, don’t get so riled over her words. She clearly didn’t mean it." Footman laughed again, although his aura basically proclaimed the exact opposite of his words.

Eva felt herself tense slightly. If it came down to it, she would fight to protect her new Lady. Even if she had yet to understand her, she was still her lady, and as such deserved her loyalty for now.

In the distance, she could feel Adalman’s magicules rising. He too seemed prepared for battle.

The temperature in the room rose even further, although Lady Sally still managed to look unbothered.

"Now, why don’t we all calm down." Laplace raised his hand in a calming gesture. "We didn’t come here to fight after all. Sure we’re all upset, but we can be civilised right?"

"I’m very civilised Laplace, super civilised." Tear waved her arms. "Right Footman?"

"Hohoho. Indeed, indeed." Footman chuckled. "Civilised."

Laplace sighed at his companions antics. "Although ya can’t exactly blame us for being upset. We thought that Dhistav had been taken over. But it turns out that the new Demon Lord was you after all? Isn’t that a surprise, eh, Risa Shiromine?"

Eva narrowed her eyes at the name. While she didn’t know much about her Lady, she knew that for Laplace to have mentioned that name, then it was her name, and something like that, could not be seen as anything but hostile in a situation like this.

"Laplace. I won’t lie and say it’s good to see you again." Lady Sally finally letting her thoughts known, leaned forward in her chair. "And there’s no need for all this dancing around the issue."

A heavy presence slowly infused the room.

"You’re here because you want to know what happened to Clayman right?" She asked.

"Well, can ya blame us?" Laplace shrugged, ignoring the aura pressing down on him, if he was bothered he didn’t show it. "You’re supposed to be his shadow right? Yet Clayman is dead, and somehow, ya a demon lord now? Don’t get fishier than this, ya know?"

"You even went and changed the security, so it was super hard for us to get in without killing all yous people." Tear added with a concerned tone in her voice.

"Yeah, what gives Risa?" Laplace’s eyes grinned within his mask. "Trying to push away ya friends? With Clayman gone, now’s the time to stick together, right?"

"Now tell us how Clayman died." Footman’s low voice reached Eva’s ears like bass, all playful tone drained from it.

"Now, now, Footman. We’re all friends here." Laplace seemed to be enjoying the scene. "We should give our friend the time to explain herself. After all, it’s not like she had a hand in Clayman’s death or anything like that, right?"

Then suddenly, all of the playfulness in his tone vanished as well. "Because, if ya did..." From his mask, his eye gleamed a sinister red. "It ain’t gonna end well for ya, Risa."