Ch. 4 - The Work of the Four Heavenly Kings
Dual Life～in day with the Hero party, in night with the Demon king Army～This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Ever since joining the Demon Kings army, Mirage has never removed his mask in front of others.
Even in front of the Demon King, the ruler of demons, it remained the same, instead of her giving permission and it is the proof of Mirage's ability.
「As usual, Mirage-Tan is so mean. I'm so curious about this face which has such beautiful eyes. I wonder ...…… if you will let me see all of it on the bed？」
Demon King said in a tempting tone and looked towards Mirage, those ruby-like red eyes stole a side glance at him and then turned towards the bed.
It was such a tempting offer that 10 out of 10 ordinary men will fall for it, but Mirage, with a sigh, pushed the Demon King's shoulder away from his chest.
「 Well, I won't expose it even on the bed. Don't say such nonsense, just get right into the main subject. I heard that there was an emergency. 」
In fact, he was the one who was searching for an excuse to be late, but it was a common occurrence for him to ignore his own faults.
「Are all the men of the Shadow Demon tribe so ingenious. Well, let's talk about work. The Demons living in the West have rebelled and have now holed up in a fortress. It's a pretty robust fort, but it's a shame to break it. And the rest.......you should have understood？」
Shadow Demon tribe- is one of the Demon tribes and Mirage's father was also from this tribe.
From the start, it was a rare tribe in the Demon species, with a very low fertility rate, in the Demon Kings army which is the conflation of all kinds of demons, only Mirage has the blood of Shadow Demon tribe.
In the Shadow Demon tribe, there is a tribe limited magic called inherent magic.
「 You're sending troops inside the fort with my transfer Magic, aren't you? I don't care about it because it's the usual job, but I think other Shitenno(4 heavenly kings) can also deal with it. You won't particularly mind them breaking in through the front right? 」
Transfer magic - that's the name of mirage's inherent magic.
As the name suggests, it is a magic which allows one to transfer oneself and others to different places freely, and it is said to be dream-like magic even among the many rare magic.
There are very few Shadow Demons themselves and although there are records of Shadow demon enlisting in the Demon King's army, but they had a very short effective range or they were able to move only themselves and as the handling of the transition magic itself is so extraordinarily difficult, that it is treated as a semi-legendary magic.
「About the other Shitenno (4 heavenly kings), Aho that savage is still obsessed with attacking the human territory, and the other two are .............. out of question. They will just decide to destroy the fortress. As such to handle such a delicate operation I can only call the Shadow Mirage-Tan. 」
The Shitenno(4 heavenly kings) is often called by two names depending on their ability and character.
The Shadow comes from Mirage's use of transfer magic while fighting, the savage comes from the character of the possessor of the name.
Mirage reminds himself of the faces of the two remaining Shitenno (4 heavenly kings) and is convinced that they are not good with small details and are the type to push forward with force.
And not wanting to think anything about the other partner Savage, he completely wiped his existence from his mind.
「 You could have entrusted it to our Tart-Chan. What I'm saying is that she has the same power as the four heavenly kings, and she is also good at using magic. In fact, more than half of the fame of the name Shadow is her achievement. 」
Mirage recommends his subordinates and tries to avoid doing the job somehow.
It was said that rare inherent magic holders will be paid more, and he had been treated as a convenient carrier since he spoke about the existence of the transfer magic at the time of the interview.
This resulted in rising of Mirage's merits and military achievements, also the number of people and distance that can be transferred is incomparably powerful to the Shadow Demons that were enrolled in the past, thus in this way he climbed up to the rank of one of Shitenno (four guardian kings/ four heavenly kings).
Although it is already too late to think about it, but Mirage's dreams of retirement will drift further away if gains more military achievements from this.
「At first, I didn't mind Tart-tan and contacted her, but she recommended Mirage-tan instead. When I considered the time, it takes to travel from the Shadow castle to the fort, I felt that it was better to use Mirage-Tan's transfer magic to quickly carry out the operation. Some soldiers are taken prisoner, and it is better to save them as soon as possible. So, I called out Mirage-Tan. 」
Mirage agrees that Tart-Chan opinion is reasonable as there is certainly quite a distance between the Shadow castle—the castle of one of the Shitenno (4 heavenly kings) and the mentioned fortress.
However, if she had accepted the request, then her merits would have increased, and yet when he thought about a serious person like Tart-Chan who only thinks about getting a perfect result, Mirage let out a gloomy sigh as he saw his chance of escaping disappear.
「ah---, I understand. so, are the soldiers gathered at the training ground as usual.? 」
Mirage's creed is that you should avoid all the things that you don't need to do with all your power and to do what you have to do quickly.
It was not because he was very serious, but originally, he had wanted to maximize his reading time, which was his hobby, as a result, his evaluation increased for completing his work quickly, but he still hasn't noticed that.
Of course, he hates doing the same work twice, if we have to define his working style it would be "quick skilled" (巧速 ) --- made by blending the words "slow and elaborate" (巧遅) and "rough and ready" (拙速) --- and this ability is the cause that he is appreciated even more. 1
「 I have already sent in orders for the soldiers to be on standby, I'm counting on you. I have prepared lots of mana potions. Somewhat around several hundred, although it might be a little terrible ordeal」
Mirage has considerably understated the effect of his transfer magic.
Originally, not wanting to overwork, to live at ease and enjoy the comfort and slow down while working, he reported this ability to his minimum thinking it would not be a problem, but from the perspective of others, it was still considered a threat.
Mirage's full magic power can transfer about 100 people at the same time, and if one person is there then the effective range is the entire area within the demon territory, the range is inversely proportional to the mass to be transferred, that is the ability of his recognized by others.
However, even if the number is a hundred times more there will be no problem for him, and if he sets up a magic mark ----a mark which is carved out of magic---- then he can also move to any place in the world, not just the demon territory.
It's just that Mirage who has out of standard Magical power has to put on a performance of drinking Mana potion—a medicinal solution that helps in restoring mana--- a very bitter thing as he had under-reported with the desire of earning money effortlessly.
It can be said as a result of lying for ease has resulted in him having to drink a large amount of the bitter liquid every time, he uses transfer magic.
「ah--, it seems you were already prepared。……well then, I am going to excuse myself」
Remembering the taste of the bitter Mana potion which was not suitable for drinking, Mirage bowed to the Demon King and turned around to leave, while slightly regretting his own decision.
「 I'm counting on you ー. Anyway, I'm really glad I found Mirage-tanー. Look forward to your rewardー. 」
It was the Demon King himself who knew the power of Mirage and promoted him to the position of four heavenly kings.
No matter how powerful one's inherent magic is, it is not easy to become one of the Shitenno(4 heavenly kings), as it can be said that the heavenly kings represent a racial faction in the Demon king army.
Actually, the other three heavenly kings, except for Mirage, belong to the races with the greatest number of demons, and all the predecessors were also from the same race as well.
In such a situation, it can be said that it is because of the recommendation of the Demon King that Mirage was selected as one of the four kings, completely disregarding the other party who was seen as the next of the Shitenno (4 heavenly kings) by others.
The unfortunate thing for Mirage is that the Demon King doesn't truly have an ill will, she thinks that it is regrettable for Mirage's true abilities to remain hidden and thus she took such actions.
「 I don't need any more money. If it is a reward, I want you to dismiss me from the four heavenly kings or give me a long vacation. 」
Leaving the Demon King's room, Mirage faced toward the training ground while thinking how many times it is going to be today, let out a big sigh and disappeared.
If the person who had been regarded as the next of the Shitenno (4 heavenly kings) would have heard this, he would certainly have been infuriated, but for Mirage it was his true feelings.
「 I wish that the Demon King makes Tart-Chan one of the Shitenno (4 heavenly kings). I think she's much more serious than me and is better suited to the position of Shitenno (4 heavenly kings). I wonder if that will make Tart-Chan soften her attitude a little. 」
To steal the seat of next in line of the Shitenno (4 heavenly kings) Astarte and command her to be the subordinate of the person who stole her position Mirage, can be said to be the deed of the Demon King.
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