Chapter 196 - From Settlement To Action (1/2)

“We can’t refuse that proposal. How should we decide on a representative?”

Loren asked, but he was planning to name Gula as the representative if he was told that it could be anyone.

First of all, Gula was the most powerful in their party. She could use an Evil God’s power as well as the more normal magic used by magicians, and she was also rather good at hand-to-hand combat. There was no reason to pick anyone else.

Loren was also interested in how Judie would react if they chose Lapis, but given that she was a Demon King, it was quite possible that she would show no mercy to her own daughter and would pick some unthinkable opponent. He just couldn’t make a wrong choice here.

Moreover, if he really thought about it, the Demon King who was smiling in front of him as if she was watching something interesting was the one who cut off her own daughter’s four limbs. She didn’t seem to be the type that would be more considerate to her daughter.

“You can pick whoever you like, but you have to announce it first.”

Judie said this without losing her smile, and Loren immediately frowned. In that case, Judie would be able to change her representative according to his choice. She didn’t actually say that out right, but Loren believed that was what she meant when she asked him to announce his representative first.

Loren only had three options at his disposal, but Judie had countless options to match each of his. She just needed to pick one after hearing Loren’s announcement.

“Why don’t you announce your representative first?”

To prevent Judie from selecting a representative that corresponded to theirs, the only way was to have the Demon King declare her representative first.

The truth was, Judie had the upper hand here, and if she were to refuse, it would be the end of it. Or so Loren thought, but Judie readily and casually declared:

“Alright. It’s a black knight. A knight in full black plate armor.”

“…What a bad personality you have….”

If he was wearing full-body plate armor, it would be too early to assume that he was not a magician. Considering how Lapis was a priest, it seemed like it was common for demons to be able to use magic. And since there were people who could use magic while wearing plate armor, it wasn’t anything surprising.

The most troublesome thing was the full-body plate armor part. The most annoying thing about full body armor was that you couldn’t tell who was in it from the outside. In the worst case, even if it was Judie herself inside the armor, it would be impossible to tell unless she removed it and let them look. It would be no different from waiting for Loren to make a declaration before deciding a representative. Moreover, full-body armor took a lot of time to put on. If Judie used the long preparation time as an excuse, she would be able to change her representative according to his choice, even if she had to call someone from a short distance over.

“What do you think?”

Judie asked. She didn’t even try to hide that she was testing him. Loren let out a small breath, pushed his hair back, and responded in a resigned tone:

“Who do you want to come out from our side?”

“Oh, so that’s how you go.”

Judie looked surprised. Lapis looked between Judie and Loren and wondered what was happening.

What Loren thought was that, there was some hidden intention behind Judie’s words and actions. In other words, Judie must have had a certain representative that she expected Loren to choose, and if he picked anyone else, she would crush them without mercy.

If that was the case, Loren believed it was better to just follow her expectation from the beginning, and so he asked that question. Judie was surprised because she didn’t expect him to do that.

“Being upfront is a virtue. Demons don’t think so though.”

“I’m a human.”

“Lapis-chan, your luck with men is good, isn’t it? You’ve really picked a good boy to keep by your side.”

“Mother… Please stop talking like that in front of the person himself…”

Lapis blushed and looked down, while Judie was smiling. With that smile still on her face, she turned towards Loren:

“I’d like to see you on the show, Loren.”

Even though Loren was specifically nominated by Judie, he was not surprised – somehow he had already expected this. It was only natural that she would want to evaluate the person by her daughter’s side, a mere human no less.

“Do you have a weapon for me to borrow? I’ve already returned mine to you.”

Even though he had a jacket for armor, he only had spare daggers for weapons, nothing that could be used for a proper fight. Judie couldn’t make him fight barehanded against an opponent wearing full body plate armor.

Judie nodded.

“I can lend you anything you want from our armory. Not the ones infused with magic though.”

“The same condition applies for your side, I assume?”

If she gave him an ordinary weapon and allowed the black knight to use a magic-infused weapon, his already-disadvantageous situation could only be described as hopeless.

“Obviously. So, what do we do now?”

‘So this is the final confirmation’, Loren thought. He had no choice but to answer:

“I’ll go. There’s no choice.”

If he picked Gula or Lapis, they would be met with an opponent impossible for them to handle.