Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 4

by Hiro Ainana

  There was a small hill on the southeast side of the city, and Muno Castle stood at its peak. Three layers of walls protected the castle, encircling nearly a third of the city.

  As I confirmed the city’s layout, I decided to check the position of the demon as well.

  The demon’s real body had gone all the way down to level 26. Since the new doppelgängers weren’t automatically marked or anything, I had to keep an eye on the demon’s level.

  There were eleven new doppelgängers in total, not including the magistrate or the ones possessing the knights.

  One of them was moving toward the southwest end of the territory.

  He appeared to be heading for the hydra herd, perhaps gunning for an MPK-style mass slaughter.

  Well, I’m always up for getting some more cooking ingredients. Hydra meat is delicious, after all.

  I wasn’t sure what the other ten doppelgängers were planning, but they were in position, surrounding the army from the outside.

  The battle between the army and the large band of thieves had started, too; their numbers were lower than they’d been this morning.

  I finished all this in a matter of seconds and closed the map.

  “Wh-where are we?”

  “In a forest near Muno City. Look, you can see the outer wall of the city on the other side of the bushes.”

  At my words, Miss Karina and the other kids turned on their horses to look where I was pointing.

  “I-it’s true… What exactly are you?”

  “I’m just a peddler. The kindly dryad simply brought us here.”

  I shrugged off Miss Karina’s surprise.

  “More importantly, since the dryad was nice enough to give us a shortcut, let’s head straight for Muno City.”

  “V-very well. It is just as you say. Come along, then, everyone.”

  Holding on to her horse’s neck, Miss Karina trotted enthusiastically out of the forest.

  “Karina, waaait?”

  “You mustn’t act on your own, ma’am!”

  Apparently tempted, Pochi and Tama looked back at me inquisitively.

  “Yes, let’s go, too.”

  On my signal, everyone galloped along after her.

  To be honest, I didn’t want to take my kids into an area where a hell demon was wreaking havoc, but since Mountain-Tree Village could easily be invaded by hydras or fallen upon by huge fruits, I didn’t feel safe leaving them there, either. And since the demon could be involved in the hydra invasions, I’d be particularly worried about letting them stay in the village.

  If they’d be in danger no matter where they were, I’d prefer to have them close by so that I could keep them safe.

  The Muno City guard must have noticed the goblin outbreak, or perhaps they were on the defensive because of the absence of their army, because Muno City’s gates were closed.

  “Open the gate! Baron Muno’s daughter, Lady Karina Muno, has arrived! Open the gate at once!”

  Instead of Miss Karina herself, Raka called for the soldiers on the ramparts to open the gates.

  Miss Karina could be quite shy, especially toward men, so she probably had a hard time calling out to the well-built soldiers.

  After about ten minutes, there was finally some movement.

  The steel side gate next to the main gate swung open, and a few soldiers emerged. I could see armed soldiers on the other side. They were on high alert.

  “The baron’s daughter, you say? Let’s see something to prove it, then.”

  The bearded, middle-aged soldier stared at Miss Karina with undisguised suspicion.

  “Proof, you say?”

  “That’s right. We underling soldiers don’t know the faces of the baron’s family. Show me a ring or dagger or something with the family crest on it.”

  “How rude,” Miss Karina huffed, retreating behind me to hide from the older soldier.

  “Lady Karina, do you have anything of the sort?”

  “Well, perhaps the clasp of my overcoat will do, then.”

  Miss Karina removed the fastener and handed it to me. Without it, her overcoat fell open, revealing a glimpse of her dress and the enchanting breasts underneath it.

  This caused a commotion among the soldiers. Naturally, their eyes were all focused on the same area.

  She truly had a magical pair of breasts. They carried incredible clout, it seemed.

  “Mr. Guard, will this do?”

  “…Th-this is…”

  The middle-aged soldier fell speechless as he saw the coat of arms on the clasp, then kneeled to beg for forgiveness.

  “P-please pardon my terrible rudeness…”

  “You are forgiven,” Miss Karina mumbled, taking the clasp back from me.

  The enthralling breasts were once again hidden in the shadows of the cloak, raising a sigh of disappointment from the soldiers.

  Following the middle-aged soldier, we led our horses through the side entrance.

  Muno City’s main gate plaza was very large. It was about as big as the yard of a normal school. In the center of the square was a dried-up fountain with a statue of an armored knight holding a staff and sword and riding a dragon.

  There was a group of impoverished-looking people gathered on the western edge of the square, listening to a speech.

  “…The revival of the demon lord is nigh! If you wish to survive the destruction and rejoice in the new world, join us in knocking on the door of freedom. This is the only way to survive the Season of the Demon Lord…”

  My “Keen Hearing” skill caught some disturbing claims.

  If this were my old world, I would’ve assumed it was a street performer or an actor practicing lines, but here it was undoubtedly a real speech that could easily be perceived as encouraging treason.

  When I noticed one of the soldiers glowering hatefully at the crowd, I asked about it.

  “That gathering there…”

  “Yeah, it’s that group of demon lord worshippers calling themselves the Wings of Freedom.”

  Yikes, people actually worship the demon lord? I did hear that belief in the impending apocalypse had been popular around the turn of the century back home, so I guess some things never changed no matter what world you were in.

  “Are they troublemakers, then?”

  “They don’t really do anything bad, so they’re harmless enough, but…” She hesitantly trailed off.

  Another soldier behind her explained tersely, “The magistrate has instructed us not to interfere if we see them.”

  “…The magistrate?”

  Well, if the magistrate was a demon, it would make sense that he’d be all right with demon worshipping.

  “Yeah, well, the ancestral king did establish freedom of religion when this kingdom was founded.”

  My suspicions that the ancestral king Yamato had been Japanese were only deepening.

  “Well, that’s the official stance, but the real reason’s probably that the guy giving these speeches is the good-for-nothing son of a leading merchant from the duchy.”

  This made sense, too. There were probably few merchants willing to travel to Muno City when the barony was in such a sorry state.

  I checked just to be sure, but the merchant’s son and his comrades didn’t have any abnormal status conditions.

  I felt like I should put a marker on him just in case but decided against it, since that might hinder my monitoring the demon. I added Wings of Freedom to my list of search keywords so that I’d be able to keep an eye on them at any time.

  We proceeded to the castle with a group of six soldiers guarding our front and rear.

  The city’s main street was an impressive thirty feet wide, but since many of the shop fronts on either side were closed or vacant, it felt more like a ghost town than a thriving metropolis.

  “Is everything on top of that hill part of the castle?”

  “That’s right, Arisa. In terms of size, our Muno Castle is second only to the royal palace and the castle of the old capital.”<
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  As Miss Karina and Arisa chatted, the great bastion loomed large atop the hill. I already knew all this from my map, but looking up at it from the bottom of the slope only emphasized its enormity.

  When we passed through the castle gates, we proceeded up a winding ramp. There were low walls around it with narrow openings, probably for archers to ward off invaders in case of emergency.

  When we came out past the second castle wall, we entered an area that was divided into several hundred-foot halls by ten-foot-tall walls.

  We couldn’t see where we were going, so the identically shaped halls felt like a maze. That would help rob invaders of their sense of direction.

  The castle itself wasn’t even visible, so soldiers working in the castle would probably feel lost, too, until they got used to it.

  When we made it out of the series of connected halls, we reached a wide area that could accommodate maybe even thousands of soldiers. There were several buildings nearby, probably soldiers’ barracks.

  Then, after crossing a dry moat and passing through the third wall, we were able to get a full view of the castle.

  The real thing was far more intimidating than numbers on a map and imparted a true sense of its enormity.

  However…it was also a little run-down.

  I think it must have been a beautiful white castle when it was first built, but the ivy-covered walls were crumbling in one place, and cracks ran all over it. On top of that, there were several places with what looked like scorch marks.

  This was probably the result of the battle with the Undead King Zen’s troops.

  “Master, take a look at this, if you would.”

  Liza was pointing at a Magic Cannon installed in one of the towers at the corners of the castle.

  The old folks at the river had said that Zen had destroyed the cannon, but the demon magistrate must have repaired it or something—as far as I could tell from below, it was in perfect working condition.

  It was identical to the Magic Cannon Liza and I had found in the underground treasury of the wraith’s fortress.

  “Ah, you’re familiar with Magic Cannons, Liza? My father had it removed when he became the lord of this territory, but the magistrate had a dummy reinstalled to maintain public order.”

  “A dummy…? Is it broken, then?”

  “Indeed. We did take a look at it to see if it could be used to defeat the demon, but the control device had been completely gouged out. It was probably destroyed by Dark Magic or Space Magic.”

  Raka answered my question in Miss Karina’s stead.

  If the Undead King Zen was the one who destroyed it, he’d probably used Shadow Magic.

  In that case, he must have actually been going easy on us when we fought in Seiryuu City. Although it had sure seemed like he was going all out with that shadow whip.

  “Perhaps you could fix it, though?”

  “I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

  Miss Karina glanced at me hopefully, but I was quick to say no.

  I did have the skills and materials to do so but not the machinery or equipment. Besides, if I chose to repair a weapon of mass destruction that could easily be turned on the people, and then it was actually used in battle, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

  Arriving at the main gate of the building, we were greeted by a number of maids in simple navy-blue dresses. The soldier who’d gone ahead of us had probably let them know we were coming.

  “Lady Karina! Thank goodness you’re safe!”

  “Yes, I’m home, Pina.”

  One slender maid embraced Miss Karina, celebrating their reunion.

  Normally, I’d think it would be a problem for a servant to hug her master in front of guests, but nobody here seemed to mind.

  As I watched the scene unfold, Tama tugged on my coat, peering up at me with mild distress.

  “What is it?”

  “Mmm, the ground is weeeird,” Tama muttered at the floor beneath us. “Let’s leeeave?”

  “Tama, you mustn’t bother master so much.” Liza rebuked Tama, who responded by clinging to her leg and rubbing her face against it.

  My “Sense Danger” and “Trap Detection” skills weren’t pinging anything, so what could be scaring her?

  Checking the map, I saw that there was a prison underneath us, where the demon magistrate was currently located.

  Tama was probably upset because she was sensing his presence. I didn’t know if that was her “Enemy Detection” skill or just her wild instincts, but I was impressed.

  After a while, one of the lower-ranking maids prodded Pina to remind her of our presence. Pina apologized for her rudeness, then led us upstairs to the private room where Baron Muno was waiting.

  We were invited into a hall with such a high ceiling that it was practically a ballroom.

  However, it was quiet, and a partitioning screen and some furniture in one corner created a room within a room. Maybe this place was too large for someone to relax in.

  As we approached the screen in the corner, we could see the baron and his companions beyond it. There was a plump middle-aged man with black hair and a mustache, a beautiful raven-haired woman with blue eyes who resembled Miss Karina, and an unnecessarily handsome young man in his twenties, all sitting on a sofa.

  These were the baron, his eldest daughter, and the fake hero. I didn’t even need to confirm it with my AR display.

  “Father, sister, I’ve come home.”

  “K-Karina?!”

  The baron exclaimed with surprise and leaped up from the sofa. Apparently word that Miss Karina was back hadn’t reached them.

  He must have been greatly worried, as dark bags shadowed his kindly eyes.

  “Karinaaaa!!”

  The baron practically tripped over himself as he rushed up to Miss Karina.

  On the other hand, the eldest daughter simply remarked, “Oh my!” with bland surprise. She had the handsome fake hero help her up and walked toward us.

  As she was Karina’s sister, it was no surprise that her chest jiggled with each step.

  This woman, who had round, soft-looking eyes, was twenty-four years old and single. Since early marriage was the norm in this world, this struck me as unusual for a noble’s daughter.

  The men around here must have knotholes for eyes if they’d ignore a beauty with breasts comparable to Miss Karina’s.

  Heedless of my amoral, wandering eyes, Miss Karina and the baron rejoiced at their reunion.

  “Y-you’re all right… I’m so glad you’re all right…!”

  The baron wailed as he hugged Miss Karina.

  “Welcome back, Karina.”

  “Soluna, my dear sister.”

  Miss Soluna hugged the pair lightly, patted Miss Karina’s hair, and gently admonished her with affection. “Father hasn’t slept a wink with worry since you left, you know.”

  “…I’m sorry, Father.”

  Miss Karina looked to the baron apologetically.

  Behind them, the false hero crossed his arms lightly and nodded along. Noticing my gaze, he shot me a dashing wink. I guess that gesture was a thing here, too.

  Arisa shrieked something about her “Satou x Fake Hero OTP” behind me, so I had Lulu rebuke her. It was more effective than my telling her off myself.

  Watching us with a bemused smile, the handsome fake hero amicably addressed me.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Hauto, a hero.”

  His name was just a slight misspelling of the actual hero’s name, Masaki Hayato. Of course, he didn’t have the Hero title, and while he did have skills like “Shield” and “One-Handed Sword,” he was only level 7.

  He didn’t have any status conditions or bounties, though.

  “Ah, so you’re a hero, sir? I am Satou, a peddler.”

  “No need for the ‘sir.’ Just call me Hauto. An apostle gave me this Holy Sword Gjallarhorn and appointed me a hero, but I was originally just a humble farmer.”

  Listening to Hauto’s self-introduction, Ar
isa muttered something quietly.

  “…Gjallarhorn? The lost Holy Sword of Shiga Kingdom? The real thing?”

  It was a fake, of course. I knew because I had the real thing.

  The AR display called the fake Demon Blade Gjallarhorn, so the demon probably gave it to him, disguised as an apostle of a god.

  As I chatted with the false hero until the baron settled down, I learned that he’d lived in a poor village inhabited only by the elderly until a man bathed in light appeared before him, told him that he was a hero, and bestowed upon him the Holy Sword.

  Then the magistrate came to get him the next day, and he’d been training with the soldiers at the castle ever since.

  In any case, it seemed like he was a good, ordinary man. Why would the demon go to the trouble of making him into a fake hero?

  If you wanted to sully the name of heroes, wouldn’t it be easier to use someone more corrupt as your imposter?

  Wait, the demon has the “Transformation” skill, too.

  Maybe it was planning to build trust in the fake hero and then disguise itself as him.

  Well, whatever. No matter what the demon was planning, it wouldn’t matter if I defeated him first.

  Okay, well, that was a worthless conjecture. Time to think of something else.

  My radar showed that the demon magistrate and one of the possessed knights would be arriving in this room any moment now.

  “Something’s comiiing?”

  “What is, sir?”

  Tama and Pochi, who were currently under Liza’s arms to prevent any funny business, looked at each other.

  Apparently, Tama had sensed the approach of the hell demon.

  “Lulu, take Mia and Arisa and move to the side of that wall. Nana, guard them, please. Liza, Pochi, Tama, you’ll be in front of Nana. Wait for my signal before you draw your weapons.”

  “What’s going on, Satou?”

  As I suddenly started giving instructions, the fake hero looked at me curiously.

  Without answering him, I shucked the bag containing everyone’s weapons off my shoulder and handed it to Liza.

  Just then, the demonic magistrate appeared from behind the door with the possessed knight in tow.