Chapter 224 (1/2)

There were many even within the castle town who had noticed Eric on the terrace.

The fact that a person who they had never seen before was in a place where someone of the Demon King Army would normally appear might have been rare for them.

Among those people who noticed, there was also the group of Sylphids who were in the middle of touring the castle town’s shopping district.

From their perspective, it wasn’t from curiousness like the citizens of the Zadark Kingdom’s citizens, but rather from noticing that a face that they knew very well was in a place that stood out.

「Oh, isn’t that Eric-sama?」

One silver haired Sylphid pointed at the Demon King Castle. The tourists other than the specially treated Eric and Luuty just happened to be about to receive an explanation of the Demon King Castle from their Mazoku guide right now.

「Oh, it’s true. Oh man, it looks like the view is so good from up there.」

「Hahaha, makes me a bit jealous.」

「Okay, okaーy, quiet downー. I’m going to start my explanation.」

Saying that, the female Mazoku guide──Moka clapped her hands.

Where they were at right now was in front of the Demon King Castle’s main gate. A beautiful garden could be seen from the gate that was left open, and that scenery was very far apart from the repulsiveness that the words 「Demon King Castle」 would make people imagine.

「Now then, the castle you are looking at is the Demon King Castle that the Demon King who acts as the great king of our nation, Vermudol-sama, dwells in. In fact, currently, it has implemented a complete remodelling, and it has made free use of the Zadark Kingdom’s latest construction techniques. When the day turns to night, there is an event that could be said to be Arkverm’s special product but……I will leave that as something for you all to look forward to in the distant future.」

「I have a question, but may I ask it?」

In response to the one Sylphid man who declared that after waiting for a pause in the explanation, Moka turned a smile towards him and nodded.

「Just now, you said something about the latest construction techniques but……even the Demon King Castle that was in the era of the legend, I heard that it was a castle packed with various magic techniques that were said to be impossible to reproduce even now. May we think of it as being the latest on that sort of aspect as well?」

Hearing the Sylphid man’s words, the other Sylphids also went “now that he mentions it……” and remembered that.

Certainly, in the legend, there were things a gigantic barrier that covered the entire castle, and doors that would deny intruders that didn’t have the qualifications to enter. There were various mechanisms where there was no telling if it was all the truth or just exaggerations.

「I cannot answer you in detail since those would be national defense secrets……but, I will only say that the Demon King Castle is the crystallization of the latest technology in all sorts of meanings.」

In actuality, there were a considerable number of techniques that were lost in the era of legend──in other words, in the era of the previous Demon King Gramfia, and there were naturally techniques that were treated as unnecessary and weren’t used as well.

「I see……」

The man’s interest was in “whether or not that would become a target in trade after this”. He simply didn’t say that out loud since it would be inappropriate to say that here, and the man’s eyes were glued onto the Demon King Castle that stood towering over the surroundings.

No, it wasn’t just that man. Even the other Sylphids, they were nobles that were in some sort of field that was related to the Jiol Forest Kingdom. This was due to the fact that only nobles who possessed the desire to develop their country were elected, and they were charmed by the unknown possibility known as the Zadark Kingdom that was just before their eyes.

In the Hero legends, the Dark Continent was depicted as a primitive land, and with the point of contact with the Zadark Kingdom being the single diplomat called Nanalus, there was a limit to what they could see of the Mazoku country that he had spoken about.

For those who had actually seen the country known as the 「Zadark Kingdom」 with their own eyes, there was only the king and a portion of the cabinet ministers, and even if the other nobles were to hear their stories, they could only be half-convinced.

That is why they couldn’t get rid of the mental image that it was a primitive land, and even if the main imported goods from the Zadark Kingdom were agricultural crops, that was instead the natural thing to think.

In that sort of meaning, this was now their first time understanding the country called the 「Zadark Kingdom」.

The Zadark Kingdom, which was a 「not really understood place that Mazoku lived in」, was revised to a 「friendly nation and promising trade partner」 within them.

The fact that the Zadark Kingdom’s Mazoku were intellectual was known to a certain extent if one was a Jiol Forest Kingdom noble. Even so, considering their position with external nations, there was a part to them where they couldn’t publicly say that they had a friendship with the Mazoku.

Even within the Jiol Forest Kingdom, there were many who loudly shouted that people were planning on destroying mankind by supporting the Mazoku, and the fact that using 「they’re actually pretty nice guys if you try talking with them」as a rebuttal towards such voices did not get through to them was a matter of politics, and of diplomacy.

But, once it was known that the Zadark Kingdom was a nation that possessed a culture level that wasn’t inferior when compared to the other nations, the story was different. Possessing a mature culture and vast territory, the Zadark Kingdom was worthy as a friendly nation, and if world peace could be maintained by forming a friendship with them, that would obviously be for the best.

「Now then, next, we will be moving on to the inside of the shopping districtー. This shopping district is called Arkverm’s First Shopping District, and it’s said that it all originated when a single blacksmith opened shop, but as a matter of fact, we don’t really know if that’s true. Many of the stores were made at generally the same time, and no one has really minded it after all.」