Chapter 281: Advance Party Reaches the Demon King’s Castle

After all, they were both boys. Things weren’t necessarily going to work out the way he imagined.

Still, since Warren had confessed his feelings for Qiu Nuoya, it was clear that he had no reservations about loving another man. That made Qiu Nuoya wonder if something might develop between Warren and Xiao Tao.

But that might be an unwelcome idea from Xiao Tao’s perspective, so Qiu Nuoya couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

He couldn’t return Warren’s feelings, but Warren was still a precious companion, and of course Qiu Nuoya wanted him to be happy.

Even so, he would never be so insensitive as to say something like, "I can’t be with you, but how about him instead?"

People couldn’t change someone else’s feelings to suit their own wishes. And having the person you loved return your feelings was never as simple as it seemed.

Some people could move from one relationship to another, dating and breaking up before quickly finding someone new. But Qiu Nuoya wasn’t capable of handling love so casually.

The only thing he could do right now was be honest with his own feelings.

"Warren, remember when we talked about who you’d save first if we were ever in danger?"

"Hm?"

"If something like that happens from now on, I want you to prioritize Xiao Tao over me."

"Huh...?"

Warren looked surprised.

"I’ve been living in this world for three years now, and I’ve managed reasonably well as an adventurer. I’m also better at recognizing and avoiding danger than Xiao Tao is. So if anything happens, I want you to save him before me."

Warren stared at Qiu Nuoya in astonishment. At the same time, Xiao Tao, standing beside him, briefly furrowed his brows.

It lasted only an instant, though, and Qiu Nuoya had no time to wonder why Xiao Tao had reacted that way before Viktor declared loudly,

"That’s right! I’m here to protect Nuoya, after all!"

Viktor, honestly, this was exactly the sort of thing he always did.

Normally, Qiu Nuoya would have immediately protested, telling him not to say things like that because he could protect himself just fine.

But this time, he had anticipated that Viktor would say something along those lines, so he simply nodded.

"That’s right."

Perhaps because Qiu Nuoya’s response was so unexpected, Viktor looked at him with an expression of bewilderment, seemingly unsure how to react.

How strange. Why did Viktor look so troubled whenever Qiu Nuoya actually agreed with him? This was exactly what Viktor himself had wanted, wasn’t it?

"Viktor is here to protect me, so Warren, please look after Xiao Tao."

"What does that mean...?"

Qiu Nuoya smiled warmly but said nothing more.

Igor, however, seemed to understand what was going on. He muttered under his breath, "When did you two get together...?"

...

Several days had passed since the Demon King Subjugation Party departed from the royal capital. The sky was slightly overcast that day.

The official purpose of their expedition was to defeat the Demon King, but only a very small number of people knew that the real problem they needed to deal with was not the Demon King himself, but the mana pool that was driving monsters into a frenzy.

Given the current situation, it was entirely possible that the Demon King might use the mana from the pool to launch an invasion against them. They could not afford to underestimate the Demon King, but their top priority was the mana pool, an even greater threat than the Demon King himself.

Following Igor’s information, they were heading straight toward it along the shortest possible route.

"Hmm. Somehow, things are going so smoothly that it’s almost frightening..."

Standing before them was the Demon King’s Castle.

Various monsters lived throughout the Demon King’s territory, but at the foot of the castle stood a town where all sorts of demi-humans and demonfolk lived ordinary lives.

Although demi-humans and demonfolk had unusual appearances that set them apart from humans, the town was well developed enough to show that those with higher intelligence lived in much the same way as humans did.

It was clear that the residents went about their everyday lives just like ordinary people.

"This looks like a perfectly normal town..."

Igor replied to Qiu Nuoya’s remark with a simple, "Yeah," before looking around.

Demi-humans generally came equipped with horns and tails. Their skin came in a wide variety of vivid colors, including red, blue, and green. Some had scales, while others were covered in coarse fur. Few had the smooth skin typical of humans.

To avoid revealing that he was human, Qiu Nuoya pulled his hood low over his face.

"I never expected this place to be such an ordinary town..."

"Hm? Was it different before?"

"When I came here before, we were advancing on this very place, remember? By the time I arrived, demons and humans were already fighting all over the town. It had been completely devastated, to the point that it was barely recognizable. And maybe it was because of the mana pool’s influence, but I remember the monsters destroying the town indiscriminately, too. I can barely feel that same influence now, though. What’s going on?"

Having reached the Demon King’s Castle by the shortest possible route, Qiu Nuoya and his companions could be considered an advance party.

At first, they had been traveling alongside the royal army. However, they were adventurers to begin with, and even while accompanying the army, they were in no position to issue orders. Traveling with such a large force was simply too inefficient.

As a result, Qiu Nuoya, Igor, and Viktor were currently operating separately from the royal army, though they were staying in close contact.

Mochi and Lumiel were handling communications. The Slime Communication Network was already proving useful.

They had originally planned to bring Long along as well, but various circumstances had made that impossible. After all, if they brought Long, Shangguan Wan’er would inevitably come along too. And if Shangguan Wan’er came, the prince would inevitably follow.

Then, if the prince came, the royal army would follow suit.