The city of Latnia is located not far from the border of the Roran Empire.
It is a city with a high human population, where most people have little to no combat experience.
Among them, there were some who voluntarily signed up to participate in battle.
It is a dangerous undertaking that could cost them their lives, but for some reason, the Demon King accepted it.
Tenji was chosen to train the volunteers.
Neither the Royal Guard nor the members of the Knight Order expressed any complaints.
If a trainer were to be absent during training with no one available, it could make an already unfavorable combat situation even worse.
“Is it really alright for me to do this?”
“Yeah. At least be able to protect yourself.”
The Demon King didn’t ask Tenji to train the volunteers to the point where they could catch Undead.
The Undead soldiers are inherently trained.
There’s no way a civilian who trains for just a day or two could ever defeat them.
Later, Tenji went down to the basement of the hotel to see the volunteers.
Upon returning to the room with the Demon King, Isabel rushed over and held out her hands.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I got my armor and sword.”
“I disposed of the armor because it was too worn out. I’ll give you the sword later.”
“Well, it was old anyway.”
Isabel’s armor was in a condition that could still be used with some maintenance, so it wasn’t completely unusable.
While I was curious about the reason for disposing of it, I felt that right now, she wouldn’t give me an answer.
A week had passed since I had stayed in Latnia.
There were no signs of the Undead Legion attacking, but news arrived.
Number 5 hurried into the hotel room to relay the story he heard to the Demon King.
“A large-scale legion has appeared in the southern region!”
It wasn’t an area that Tenji and I needed to go to, but it was said to be nearby.
Currently, news came that the surrounding armies had set out to confront the Undead Legion.
Information was pouring in from all directions, and they said that Latnia was in a similar situation.
Even the capital, which claimed it had no resources to send reinforcements to Latnia, dispatched the Knight Order upon hearing the news of the large-scale Undead legion in the south.
With a great crisis looming over the Empire, even those who had been politically at odds had to take action.
Compared to the troubling situation in the south of the Empire, Latnia was peaceful.
I went down to the underground training facility of the hotel where Tenji was training.
I had occasionally gone down over the past few days to practice wielding my sword alongside them.
I had a few sparring sessions with the trainees, but those who had only been learning for a week couldn’t match me.
Except for one person.
“I’m going to win today.”
“Really?”
He seemed to have trained somewhere in the past, as his starting stance was different from the others.
His swordsmanship was similar to mine, but he was at a disadvantage in strength against me since my transformation was undone.
Catching up to the physical difference between a demon and a human isn’t easy.
The style Tenji taught wasn’t exactly the Empire’s swordsmanship.
He claimed it was a sword style he learned from where he lived, which mixed techniques using fists and feet along with the sword.
“Shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
Tenji commanded the others to observe our sparring.
I lightly warmed up and concealed my wings and tail.
“Are you just observing?”
“No, I just hid them because they were a hindrance.”
Now, I was able to hide the traits of a demon like my tail and wings without drinking a transformation potion.
This was an achievement I gained while practicing the transformation magic to become a Dragon.
Eden drew his sword and stared at me silently.
“Aren’t you going to draw your weapon?”
“Should I?”
Slowly, as the vapor in the air froze from nothingness, an ice sword appeared in my hand.
“If it’s ice, it’ll break after a few hits.”
“That’s what I was hoping for.”
In fact, I was conducting various experiments through sparring with Eden.
Fire and ice are relatively easy to control.
I wanted to create a sword made of lightning if possible, but it would be too dangerous to use against a sparring partner.
Eden charged at me with his sword.
It was a simple downward strike.
As I twisted my body slightly to dodge the sword, one of Eden’s hands grabbed my collar.
He pulled me in the direction I was trying to avoid, naturally drawing my body closer.
Eden changed the direction of his sword and lunged towards me.
Clang!
With the sound of shattering glass, my shield broke.
The impact on my shield weakened the attack, allowing me to escape Eden’s grip.
The initial swing wasn’t aimed at me but designed to make me react, creating an opening for him.
It was quite impressive that Eden could showcase such a technique in just a few days.
He had clearly been working as a shopkeeper until now.
I couldn’t tell what he had done in the past, but he was definitely no novice.
To have such skill just a week after picking up a sword is beyond imagination.
Just by observing the reactions of the trainees watching our duel, it was clear.
They were looking at Eden with surprise and admiration.
Since I was a demon, I was not someone they could idolize.
I overwhelmed ordinary humans with my innate physical abilities.
Thus, there was no one cheering for me in this training ground.
If one or two stronger allies could be forged through training, that alone was satisfying.
I wasn’t particularly outstanding in swordsmanship compared to the trainees.
However, if someone hasn’t properly learned the basics, they cannot be a match for me.
As I swung my sword straight down from above, Eden hesitated in his defense for a moment.
My ice sword tapped against Eden’s shoulder and shattered.
“No, are you really just swinging it?”
“Didn’t you feel anything while sparring with me?”
I didn’t know how to be flashy with tricks or techniques like the others as I swung or thrust my sword.
Eden must have been contemplating whether to block my sword or look for a trick as I swung.
I remade the ice sword and grasped it.
“This time it’s my turn!”
I took a thrusting stance and quickly lunged forward.
“Ah!”
By the time he moved to block my sword, the ice sword had already pierced Eden’s thigh.
“That’s it.”
“I concede.”
Eden admitted his defeat and stepped aside.
After the sparring ended, Tenji’s training resumed.
I also repeated and learned the basic movements alongside the trainees that Tenji was teaching.
Eden was off to the side, absorbed in practicing with his sword alone.
After the training time ended, the training ground was left with just me and Tenji.
“It seems he has significant talent.”
“Indeed, was the technique he showed today something you taught him?”
“No, I think he developed that himself.”
His talent for swordsmanship, which he himself was unaware of.
Tenji asserted that if he received proper instruction, he would become a famous swordsman known in the future.
“But why are you listening to my training?”
“When I spar with the people here, it helps me too.”
I had also applied what I learned from Tenji’s training in my own way during the sparring.
The thrust I used during the duel was an example of this.
I had always aimed for the upper body with my thrusts, but I hadn’t considered targeting the lower body.
Sparring with Eden was definitely a significant stimulus for me.
When Tenji and I returned to the room, Riki was there.
“Is something going on?”
“It’s just a routine report.”
On one side, a threat equivalent to war had arisen, but here was still so peaceful.
“I’m going to train starting tomorrow.”
“Did you get permission?”
“Yeah.”
The Demon King, who had been telling Isabel not to move, finally allowed her to take action.
“But you have to practice magic in exchange. So, please take care of her~”
At Isabel’s words, I looked at the Demon King.
There, the Demon King had an unreadable smile, slowly nodding in agreement.
