Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 73 The Demon King's Army's Tactics

"You guys are too slow!!"

"Hurry up, the convoy is about to depart!"

When they arrived at the post station, Kremeya and Fio, two of Mikami's followers, were shouting at them with obvious displeasure.

A little earlier, Miken Hiyori had asked them to reserve seats in the carriage, so she did not go with them to the mansion in the suburbs.

Although Konosuba has teleportation magic, carriages are generally the primary mode of transportation unless there is an emergency.

Keep in mind that teleportation magic costs 30 coins per person each time, which would be painful even for Charlotte.

A five-person team.

With the possibility of discussing mission-related matters later, Yūken Hibiki took the initiative to pay for an extra seat and chartered a carriage.

After boarding the carriages, the caravan slowly set off.

It seems they are indeed waiting for them.

Clemeria and Fio sat on either side of Mikami Hibiki, clinging tightly to his arms, while keeping a watchful eye on Charlotte and Youyou... Correction, they were even more wary of Youyou.

Ah, a woman's jealousy.

"Let's continue our previous topic," Charlotte asked. "You mentioned going to the capital. Has some emergency occurred there?"

"Yes, the situation at the front is critical. According to my information, the Demon King's army has surrounded the capital. Although they haven't launched a full-scale attack yet, the stalemate continues, and the Knights are gradually becoming overwhelmed."

Yujian Xiangye looked serious; he was quite earnest when discussing this topic.

Unlike other stories where the capital is far from the Demon King's castle, the capital is located on the front line of resisting the Demon King's army and is often harassed by the Demon King's army. It is because of this that Alice cannot go to school in peace.

"I heard there are Demon King's army officers there."

"A Demon King's army officer!?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

According to his intelligence, there shouldn't be any Demon King's army officers in the capital. Even Vobak should be soaking in the hot springs in Alcanredia right now. No, that could be something that happened later; maybe it's another Demon King's army officer there.

"When did it start?"

"About a month ago, to be more specific... it should be when I last came to Axel, I received a notice that the royal capital needed support, but... well... wasn't the Demon Sword Gram mortgaged? I've been trying to earn money to redeem it, so it took a lot of time."

Yu Jianxiangye was so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear.

Charlotte vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

When Yujian Xiangye arrived in Axel, it was the same time that the Headless Horseman also arrived in Axel. Speaking of which... after Charlotte relayed the information about the Demon King's army officers to the guild at that time, the guild actually said that it would take a long time to send the knights. Could it be that the capital was also attacked by the Demon King's army, which is why they couldn't spare any manpower?

So, in that case...

The Demon King's army launched attacks elsewhere, keeping the kingdom busy, but were they actually hiding their true purpose—to gather intelligence in Axel? Are they really that clever?

"What's wrong? Did you think of something?"

"I guess so."

Tell him this conjecture—

"What did you say?!" Mitsurugi Kyouya shouted nervously, "Does that mean Lady Aqua is in danger?!"

He becomes like this whenever it involves Aqua.

Charlotte gestured for him to calm down.

"Don't get excited. It's just a guess; after all, we don't know if it's the same in other towns."

Somewhat dry and unconvincing words of comfort.

In reality, after Charlotte and her companions defeated the Headless Horseman, it would have alerted the Demon King, who would then have sent Barnier, the Fallen Angel, and the Fallen Priest to gather intelligence.

After a series of deaths, Aqua and her group decided to take the initiative and attack. Since the Demon King's subordinates had all been wiped out and were completely unprepared, they were easily defeated.

"But protecting Aqua is also simple."

"How do I do it?"

"Just make smoke bombs."

"...Smoke grenade?"

Yujian Xiangye looked puzzled.

Charlotte explained, "Look, the Headless Horseman was killed in Axel, which will definitely arouse the Demon King's suspicion, causing him to send more subordinates to test the waters, right? In that case, why don't we also kill the Demon King's military officers who appeared in the capital? Wouldn't that make the Demon King misjudge the situation?"

"Oh, is that so?!"

It dawned on him.

...That's a lie, the Demon King isn't that stupid.

The fact that a Demon King's army officer was killed in a remote starting village is completely different from being killed in the capital, a place teeming with talent. Charlotte said this simply to prevent Yūki Hibiki from making a foolish mistake.

"Alright! We must wipe out those Demon King's army officers who are causing trouble in the capital!"

"That's right, that's right, if it's Hibiki, he can definitely do it!"

"If even a high priest can do something as lowly as a Demon King's army officer, then we can definitely do it too!"

Clementa and Fiore said this in succession.

Those two stinking women!

Charlotte suppressed her anger. They had no idea how much effort and sacrifice she had made to defeat the Headless Horseman. However, Charlotte did not discourage them. After all, it was a big no-no to talk about being discouraged before a battle.

"...Youyou, what's wrong?"

He noticed that the red demon girl sitting next to him had been silent since earlier, constantly looking out the window at the scenery.

Youyou shook her head.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little worried about Huihui, I don't know if she'll be bullied."

"……oh."

She was a little too concerned about her friend.

Also, instead of worrying about whether Huihui is being bullied, we should worry about whether she'll bully others. That explosive girl, who's quick to anger, would never allow herself to be wronged.

"We haven't really had a proper chat yet," said Mikami Hibiki with a refreshing smile. "I am Mikami Hibiki, level 38, and my class is Sword Master. Let's get along well."

"Y-yes... I... I'm Youyou, a Grand Magister of the Crimson Demon Clan, level 35. I've learned advanced and intermediate magic. If... if there's anything I can do to help, please... please don't hesitate to sign... um!"

Youyou was so nervous that she bit her tongue, and she covered her mouth in pain.

Charlotte sighed helplessly.

"——Cure."

"Thank you."

She lowered her head shyly.

Yu Jianxiangye smiled gently, and his two henchmen introduced themselves at his behest, but they seemed particularly reluctant when it came to getting along well.

"Miss Yuyu, you're quite different from the other Crimson Demons. I visited the Crimson Demon Village before in search of companions, but unfortunately they didn't agree to my request to team up."

"Yes, yes... I also heard of Mr. Mitsurugi, the Demon Sword Hero, during my school years."

As they continued talking, Youyou gradually relaxed, no longer feeling the initial distance and tension.

The atmosphere was great.

The premise is to ignore Clemeria and Fio, who see her as an opponent.

Charlotte thought their team was pretty good. Even though there were two who were dragging their feet, they could still act as cheerleaders, so the trip should be easy and comfortable.

...No.

"Hooohoooohoo————————"

soon.

A deafening roar came from not far away, as if to say that the hardships of the journey had only just begun.