NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77: Crimson Demon Village
The Crimson Demon Village here and the one in Megumin's memory isn't all that different. It looks incredibly peaceful, even though it's surrounded by forest full deadly monsters. All the citizens are Chuunibyou but they all live together in harmony.
"Well then, we'll resume our security patrol."
Bukkoroli said before chanting an invisibility spell. I think he meant to make a grand exit but doesn't want to waste mana.
We decided to ignore him for now and continue our way through the village. We decided to stop by Yunyun's place first, just to be safe. Maybe the village really is in danger, who knows?
On our way through the village, we came across a large griffon statue. Behind it is the Red Prison Crimson Demon Academy. The place where Yunyun, Megumin, and all Crimson Demon learns how to become an Archwizard at the age of twelve.
"Megumin, what do you think about enrolling Liz there?"
Megumin looked at the academy.
"I don't know, I mean, she's already pretty smart…"
I nodded a little. "You're right, but I want her to make friends with other girls her age," I told her. "Besides, there are some useful stuff she can learn there, like alchemy and crafting. I'm sure she can use it."
We all turned to Liz who's just staring between us and the school.
"I'm not sure…" Liz said to herself. "How long do I have to study there?"
"A whole day, five days a week, for two years or so,"
"A whole day? Then what about adventuring? I don't want to stop adventuring, I love adventuring!"
I rubbed my chin in deep thought. "You're right, we can't have the sixth member of fantastic dreamer leaving like that…"
Liza sighed a little in relief.
"Or, I can arrange something with the principal. So you'll only have to attend during the non-magic studies like Alchemy and Crafting."
Liza stiffened again.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Megumin said.
Liza looked between us in silent horror.
"When's the next term starts?"
"W-wait!" Liza yelled in panic. "Let's talk about this, Otou sama, Okaa sama,"
Darkness seemed to have caught up to our conversation. She walked towards us and saw Liz fidgeting around in slight panic.
"What is it Liza chan?"
Liza turned to Darkness and her face paled a little.
"It's, uhh…"
"We want to enroll her to school, but she refused to. For some reason…"
"It's not that! I just…"
We were about to ask what's wrong when I heard Yunyun's and Elena's voice coming from a distance away from us.
"No! Aqua stop!"
"Ah! Who's great idea is it to put this thing here!?"
Aqua stood in front of the Griffon Statue. Behind her, Yunyun and Elena are desperately dragging her away from the statue. It seems Yunyun succeeded because the patch of fur on the griffon's body turned back into stone.
We decided that there are other things we need to worry about right now. Mainly our goddess here and the numerous amount of seals locked in this place.
---
Soon enough, we made it to Yunyun's home. A large mansion located in the middle of the village.
"Oh? That letter? It's just an update I sent to my daughter, I just got a little carried away there, haha!"
The one who said that is none other than the village chief Hiropon, Yunyun's father. Yunyun herself was more than just a little bit pissed after hearing that.
"Wh-what!? At the beginning of the letter you wrote, 'By the time you read this letter, I will probably have already passed on from this world' and now you're telling me there's nothing wrong!?"
"Isn't that the standard greeting amongst us Crimson Demons? Didn't you learn that in school?… Ah, now that you mentioned it, you and Megumin graduated early because your results were excellent."
"… And the part about being unable to break through the military base built by the Demon King's army…?"
"Ah, that part? Those guys built a very extravagant base. Should we destroy it or keep it as a new scenic attraction? We couldn't decide."
Yunyun gritted her teeth and lunged at her father. She then begun comically clobbering her own dad with her fist.
"Ah! Dad you stupid! You and Arue! You made me ahh!!!"
Her dad was a bit surprised at her action. Before he suddenly broke into a large grin.
"Yunyun! To think that you've grown this much since the last time!" he laughed gleefully. "Well, shall we have a battle to the death!? You must be aiming for my throne right? Let's go Yunyun! I'll call everyone else to start our death match!"
Yunyun groaned in frustration before sitting back next to Megumin. The latter just pat her shoulder patiently.
But then, Darkness asked something that honestly went past all of our radar.
"Wait, so the Demon King's army did build a military base here. So, the part about the 'Demon King's General was coming' was…"
"That's correct, it's as stated on the letter, they sent a General with high magic resistance here. Right, right, it's almost time. If you're free, do you want to come and take a look?"
Ahh, that must be the general Wolbach told me about. I think Sylvia was their name, they're aiming to go after a weapon sealed around this place, right?
"Demon King's army alert, Demon King's army alert. Everyone who's free please gather before the griffon statue at the village entrance. We have visuals of the enemy, they number about seven hundred."
"Just seven hundred?" I asked.
The village chief sighed a little in disappointment. "The attacks have been decreasing lately, I was hoping the light show would attract tourist, but…" he cleared his throat a little. "Well, it doesn't matter, I'm sure we can squeeze some profit off this."
We walked out of the mansion and saw the village as peaceful as ever. Some looked quite eager after hearing the attack. Others just continued their day without the care of the world. I turned towards the rest of my party to see their reaction.
Everyone but Darkness and Elena looked very eager after hearing that. The former looked just a little worried while the latter is looking at everyone else like crazy.
"No, seriously, what do you mean by just seven hundred?" Elena asked, walking beside me. Behind her, Megumin and Liz is already talking excitedly about the upcoming massacre. "That's not a number you would usually scoff at."
I shrugged a little. "It's a small number. Don't you know? All Crimson Demons become Archwizard at twelve years of age," I told her. "Not only that, but every single one of them are as overpowered as Yunyun here,"
"So the Demon King army…"
"Is not a threat, at all."
Elena looked away for a bit, deep in thought.
"You know, I always wondered why the world is peaceful even with someone like Demon King is around. So you're saying that the Demon King is nothing more but a fake threat that never managed to actually do anything?"
"Yep!"