Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 165: The World a Demon Lord Only Knows (2)

Chapter 165: The World a Demon Lord Only Knows (2)

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This time, I moved together with Paimon’s <Liberation Alliance>.

The Liberation Alliance was already preparing for a large-scale peasant uprising. I didn’t know the exact scale that they were preparing for. However, since they were saying that it would be large-scale with the utmost confidence, it should probably be big enough to shake the foundation of an entire nation. The members of the Liberation Alliance planned to become the leaders of the peasant uprising.

I was supposed to provide supporting fire while moving with these leaders. ……Yeah. There was no point in hiding it. The Liberation Alliance asked for me to help them ‘instigate’.

Even if the world has fallen into chaos due to the Black Death and the famine that followed, there weren’t a lot of farmers who would willingly pick up their spears and scythes to fight the nobles. The nobles have knights. Knights that could use aura were something that farmers feared.

Madness was required to overcome that fear. Giving speeches was an exceptional way to plant madness into the populace……. I have to admit, there was probably no better person than me to do this since I was the one who made this division clear during the 8th Crescent Alliance’s ceremonial speeches.

It should be okay to say that Paimon and I shared a similar goal. She wants the kingdoms in the human world to collapse while I simply want the human world to fall into turmoil. Recruit people who could become my knights in the Kingdom of Frankia while occasionally giving speeches to the public. This was my schedule.

I arrived at Frankia with a teleportation scroll.

The white light that had enveloped me soon faded away.

Once I opened my eyes, there were already people gathered in the clearing in front of me. There was a small dwarf mixed in among them. The dwarf slowly approached me once he saw my arrival. He then bowed courteously.

“Jack Bonhomme of the Greenbeards gives his humble greetings to His Highness Dantalian.”

I had already met Jack Bonhomme before. He was present when I stayed the night at the ruins of a castle and was introduced to the Liberation Army by Paimon. However, we didn’t have enough time back then to learn more about each other. This was basically our actual first meeting.

People often say that first impressions allow you to get a glimpse at the other party’s true nature. Was this really the case?

If I were to give an answer, then yes. You could figure someone out to a certain extent.

Jack Bonhomme didn’t greet me as soon as he saw me. He first gave me a nod before approaching me slowly. He was checking whether anyone else was teleporting in after me or not. He was a prudent person.

Additionally, he had on shabby clothes. The people standing behind Jack Bonhomme were definitely mercenaries. They had swords attached to their waists and were wearing extravagant clothes that were blue, yellow, and purple. They were bearded people who spruced themselves up needlessly. Despite this, their leader, Jack Bonhomme, was wearing normal, frayed clothing.

This meant that he had unconditional confidence in himself.

Leaders tend to wear more extravagant clothing the less confidence they have. The fact that he was wearing frayed clothes meant that he was undeniably a powerful leader. Jack Bonhomme was most likely an incredibly charismatic person within this mercenary group.

A person of his standing had greeted me courteously in front of his absolutely loyal subordinates. Therefore, he made it clear that he didn’t intend to disregard an outsider like me. If anything, he was setting an example for his subordinates so that they would treat me with respect as well.

Putting it all together.

Jack Bonhomme has a prudent personality, has complete control over his group, does not like being extravagant, and treated me with respect since we were going to be traveling companions.

What a gentleman!

I intentionally smiled widely.

“It has been a while, Comrade Jack Bonhomme. Have you been doing well?”

I patted his shoulder.

“You still have quite the impressive body. Even time does not have the power to harm your body. I feel safe already knowing that you will be leading our journey. I will be in your care, Captain Jack Bonhomme!”

Jack Bonhomme had given me his sincere respect, so what could I do in return?

Sustain the pecking order.

I’m saying this again, but I’m nothing more than an outsider. I may be a Demon Lord, but from the <Liberation Alliance>’s perspective, I’m nothing more than a newcomer. I have no idea how the organization operates and what must be done during this journey to achieve our goal. I was no different from a child. Despite this, the other party was trying to treat me with respect because I was a Demon Lord.

It would be the end of me if I tried to act as his superior here. Jack Bonhomme would have no other choice but to treat me with respect, like I was some sort of king, while his subordinates would be displeased by this relationship and end up becoming hostile toward me. A group falling apart from the inside is a lot scarier than one might think.

Did my reaction come as a surprise? The dwarf raised his brow slightly.

He soon smiled back at me. He didn’t give off a crude feeling despite being a dwarf. I could only feel happiness from him. I nodded. It appears that we were going to get along.

“I have the honor of escorting Your Highness for the following two months. The weather is still cold since winter has yet to pass, but I will do my best to provide Your Highness with a comfortable journey. Hey! What are you guys doing?”

Jack Bonhomme shouted at the soldiers gathered behind him.

The mercenaries gave a loud response before lining up in front of me. They were all wearing cuirasses. They were definitely elite soldiers. They were probably a renowned mercenary group within Frankia.

“Double Ax Mercenary Brigade!”

Jack Bonhomme put his hands behind his back and shouted. I was almost caught off guard. He had been talking in a small voice all this time, but he suddenly let out a shout that echoed throughout the hills.

The soldiers stood in a single file line and put their halberds forward. Their halberds shimmered coldly as they received the late winter sunlight.

“Salute to His Highness Dantalian!”

Thirty mercenaries got down on one knee at the same time and greeted me. It was quite the sight. In this era, it was hard to find an army with this much unity outside of knights. I applauded them.

“How splendid! I am Rank 71 Demon Lord Dantalian. If there is anything that I can help with on this journey, then I will do everything within my power to do so. Let us work hard together.”

“We are honored. Please refer to this one as Jacquerie.”

Finally, Jack Bonhomme, no, Jacquerie gave me a 90 degrees bow. Haha. I could tell that this was going to be a relaxing journey.

“Hm?”

However, there were still some people remaining in the back who had yet to be introduced. They were wearing gray robes. Different from the mercenaries, I could barely feel any emotions from them as they stood in the back and watched in silence.

“Who are they? Are they your workers?”

“Well.”

Jacquerie made a complicated face. Huh? This wasn’t a response I was expecting. I wonder what the issue was.

One of the gray-robed people walked forward right when I was about to inquire further about them. The person got down on one knee in front of me.

“We have the honor of meeting Your Highness once more.”

“Once more?”

I furrowed my brows. Come to think of it, they had a strangely familiar voice. They removed their hood as I was trying to search through my memories. Sky blue hair fluttered out of their robe once they removed their hood.

“Ah, you are…….”

“Our client ordered us to escort Your Highness this time as well.”

The woman smiled. Half of her face was covered in severe burn marks.

The assassin who had saved me and Lapis under Paimon’s command when I was attacked in the demon world, that woman was currently kneeling before me. She was the woman who asked if she could serve me but had to back away after I nagged at her.

“I see. It has been a while, but…….”

I turned to glance at Jacquerie.

A mercenary brigade and an assassin group. I wasn’t told that these two groups would be working together. How did the hierarchy work here? Were the mercenaries on top or was it the assassins? Who listens to whose orders? My response had to change according to this.

Jacquerie made a face.

“I am the branch manager of the Liberation Alliance branch in the Kingdom of Frankia. This person belongs to a group that Her Highness Paimon had personally hired.”

“…….”

I almost gagged out loud. Didn’t this mean that there was no system of command? This was definitely not good news. Who was going to grab the reigns and give orders to all of these people?

I reprimanded Jacquerie with my gaze. This was a matter he should’ve resolved before I got here. It was hard to think that such a veteran mercenary captain would’ve overlooked a problem as important as this. What was the problem?

Jack Bonhomme must’ve understood the meaning behind my gaze as he looked apologetic.

“This journey will be mainly under the flag of the Liberation Alliance. Thus, this one had tried to receive the authority to command, but…….”

“Our client ordered us to receive orders from Your Highness.”

The woman spoke up.

“Since we have taken this request, Your Highness should naturally have the authority to command us. We also have no intention of taking orders from a midget.”

“……We also have no intention of listening to a frail and small woman.”

Jacquerie scowled as he looked at the woman. It felt like he wanted to say all sorts of bad words, but was holding them back since I was present. Contrary to his outside appearance, Jacquerie might actually be a rather aggressive person.

The woman smiled brightly.

“I do not know if you go by Double Ax or Rotten Ax, but you most likely only played around in the human world. We are quite literally an assassin group that crawled out of hell. Would you like to know what will happen if your throat gets slashed by a frail and small woman’s dagger?”

“I wonder if your foolish brain will start to work correctly if an axe is slammed into your skull.”

In the end, the two leaders started a battle of nerves. Come to think of it, Jacquerie was a dwarf and the woman was an elf. Dwarves and elves were famous for being mutual enemies.

Not only were they disputing over the chain of command, but the favor and spite within their races were also involved. This was quite literally the worst case scenario……. I let out a sigh.

“Haah.”

There would be an upset party no matter whose side I decided to take. Even the smallest of complaints could cause a group to divide. I had already long given up on the idea of having a comfortable journey.

“It cannot be helped. Jacquerie.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Jacquerie immediately stopped arguing as he responded courteously to me. There was only one solution left.

“I had intended to leave everything to you while relying on your experience and performance, but it, unfortunately, seems like I am unable to do that now.”

“I apologize.”

“From this point forth, I will be taking the authority to command the Double Ax Mercenary Brigade.”

Jacquerie kneeled.

“As you command, Your Highness.”

That’s right. The only way to bring together groups that act separately is to give all the authority to the individual whom they both acknowledge.

Jacquerie had probably expected this. That was why he was incredibly polite to me from the very start. Kuh, and here I was getting all excited because I thought I had met a true gentleman.

I turned to look at the assassin woman.

“Name?”

“Please refer to me as Jeremi, Your Highness. This one is the leader of the Scarlet Scar Assassins.”

The woman smiled. Her emotions were still faint as usual compared to her facial expressions.

“Very well, then. Jeremi, I will be giving the Scarlet Scar Assassins orders from now on.”

“As you wish.”

Jeremi, the woman with sky blue hair and a face covered with burn marks, bowed her head. The assassins behind her also kneeled at the same time. With this, thirty mercenaries and twenty assassins came under my command.

I now had to become accustomed to the tasks carried out by a mercenary brigade and an assassin group……what’s up with this? I was definitely nothing more than an outsider. Rather than being an outsider, I ended up becoming the top dog of the group. Damn it.

“Haah.”

Why was it that nothing ever goes smoothly for me? I already feel a headache coming. Curse the world…….

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. The assassin’s name being Jeremi sort of threw me off. It really isn’t a name commonly used for females. I looked around online to confirm this and the ratio is around 9:1, the 9 obviously being males with the name. On another note, the recent early release chapter was rather frustrating to translate so I’m probably going to take the rest of the day off. That chapter is probably a prime example of a chapter you can never MTL.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.