After causing quite a stir in the Kingdom, there was the monumental task of advancing the Demon race army toward the Elf village.
The Elf village was located in Human race territory, so marching there meant the Demon race army would have to pass through Human race territory.
Normally, that would've been the end of it.
For years, the Demon race had been held up at the Empire's border, unable to cross.
Well, there was an element of deliberately staying put, too.
But this time was different.
Several of the forts guarding the Empire's border had fallen, making passage possible.
On top of that, we were already controlling the interior of the Empire through Yamada-kun and the Vampire-kid, so as long as we deceived the citizens appropriately, there'd be no problem.
We'd borrowed Empire military uniforms and flags in advance, disguising the Demon race army as the Empire's army.
Well, there weren't enough for the entire army, but for the more conspicuous officers and such…
By doing that, at a glance, no one would think it was the Demon race army.
After all, the Demon race looked just like the Human race.
If we changed their attire, no one would think twice.
Normally, heretic interrogators from the Shingon-kyou with Appraisal Skills would be keeping watch everywhere, their role being to find Demon race infiltrating secretly, but even they, in this particular case, were collaborators.
Even if they noticed, they'd look the other way.
Same went for the Empire's intelligence corps.
And so, despite being the Demon race army, we succeeded in boldly setting foot in Human race territory.
The forces I'd brought along this time were the Fourth Army led by Mera, the Eighth Army led by Oni-kun, and the Ninth Army led by myself.
Just those three armies.
Even the Demon King's direct guard army had been left behind in Demon race territory together with
That said, even with just three armies, the numbers and military strength were more than sufficient—arguably excessive.
A single army alone possessed enough power to ravage a small Human race nation.
And we had three.
Moving such an army in secret was simply impossible.
So the solution was to just throw caution to the wind and march openly.
Even if people sensed something was off, when you were this brazen about it, they'd just assume it was nothing after all.
Especially since both the Shingon-kyou and the Empire—two great powers—had jointly declared this to be an allied army.
Well, I'd left the groundwork for that to the Pope, so it should've been fine.
I don't know what kind of negotiations the Pope conducted, but the army that entered the Empire was transported via a massive teleportation circle—one of the giant circles within the Empire that enabled troop movements across its territory—to a small nation near the Elf village.
Though calling it a massive teleportation circle, it couldn't teleport this entire group at once.
So we had to split up and make repeated teleportations to move.
This took quite some time.
It would've been fastest if I consolidated everyone and teleported them in one go, but that would drain a huge amount of energy, so I didn't want to do that.
Besides, even if it took time, there was no problem.
Now that things had progressed this far, the rest was like water flowing from high ground to low.
It couldn't be stopped.
Not without someone like D, or some other existence capable of fundamentally overturning the stage they'd set.
In this world, only Kuro and I could do that.
And both of them were leading this operation, so there was no overturning it.
So taking time posed no problem at all.
It was merely a matter of whether the results came sooner or later.
I watched the lines of people as they shuffled along.
The sheer number of people relative to the road's width made the columns staggeringly long.
The front couldn't even be seen with normal vision.
Leading the way was Mera's Fourth Army.
Being a conventional military unit that had originally been under Balto's command, its appearance was perfectly ordinary.
Following behind was Oni-kun's Eighth Army.
Having originally been a ragtag group, the equipment was mostly mismatched.
Compared to the more uniform other armies, it gave a motley impression—almost like a gathering of mercenaries.
And bringing up the rear was my Ninth Army.
The smallest in numbers, yet the most conspicuous.
Because the entire army was uniformly clad in white garments.
"Grotesque" was the only word for it.
Well, that was my doing!
Even such a bizarre group, as long as they carried the Empire's flag, would attract suspicious looks but not attacks.
They'd been informed in advance that an army would be passing through, and the populace knew what to expect.
Children were even waving at the marching soldiers.
In the end, when it came down to it, this was what it meant to be Demon race or Human race.
If you didn't know that, there was no reason to fight.
Even if there were historical circumstances and obligations that demanded conflict, not knowing about them meant there was no reason to fight.
Ignorance might, in a sense, be bliss.
Someone would probably say ignorance is a sin, though.
"White-chan, are you okay?"
The person most likely to say that was worrying about me.
Currently, the Demon King, the Vampire-kid, and I were elegantly riding in a carriage.
But I was feeling absolutely terrible.
Could I pass for okay?
I was tripping hard enough to glimpse the truth of conflict!
You should never throw a loner like me into a crowd.
I get drunk.
Drunk on the waves of people.
Ugh, I feel sick.
The presence of so many people, even felt through the carriage.
Why are there so many people?
Wouldn't it be fine if there were a few less?
Wouldn't it be just fine to thin them out a bit?
Should I go ahead and do it?
"You're not thinking anything bad, are you? That's not allowed, you know."
Ughhh.
At least if a battle started, I could flip the switch and endure, but just sitting here silently during the move was brutal.
There was never anything good about people gathering like this.
Why do people try to form groups?
Being alone is fine, you know!
Actually, please let me be alone. I'm begging you!
Ha!
A split had detected Yamada-kun taking the bait!
I can't stay here any longer!
I need to head out to observe!
It's absolutely not because the crowd was too much and I'm sneaking away!
This is a legitimate work errand!
"Anyway, I'm heading out."
"White-chan, the only person who'd understand that with just those words would be an ESPer. What do you mean 'anyway'?"
Leaving the exasperated Demon King behind, I teleported.
Phew. I can finally breathe.