Maou Gun Saikyou no Majutsushi wa Ningen datta Volume 1 Chapter 24

Sorry about disappearing like that! I had planned to release a few chapters when I found time, but things got a lot more busy than I though they would. Anyways all that's taken care of so things should go back to normal. Enjoy!~

The town of Ivalice, when I returned to my mansion I ordered Sati to bring me “Yuzuke”.

“Youzookeh? Is it?”

Sati stares blankly.
I see, there's no way an other worlder would understand right.
Well, I'm sure a modern person wouldn't understand either though.

Yuzuke is literally food with just hot water poured over rice.

I'm sure a modern person wouldn't understand, but for the food known as rice, preservation isn't effective.

Nowadays with a rice cooker you can eat warm, soft, and fluffy rice whenever, but in a world without electricity that's not going to happen.

Usually rice cooked first in the morning will be reused throughout the day.
As such you end up eating unappetizing rice that's dried out at night.

Naturally, even the ma.s.ses want to eat something that's delicious to a certain degree.
That's why the food yuzuke was made.

Pour hot water on rice that's become dried out, and it will regain moisture.
Of course, even the springy texture of freshly cooked rice won't return, but even then it's many times more delicious than rice that's become dried.

“If it's rice, then I can immediately cook it?”

With a wondering expression Sati looks here.

“No, it's fine like that.”

I answer.

It's not like I'm particularly worrying about Sati, or that there isn't enough firewood to cook rice, or such thoughts.

Just, I wanted to do it once for the sake of superst.i.tion.

That n.o.bunaga as well, seems to have eaten Yuzuke before Okehazama, there's also similar anecdotes about the other sengoku military commanders.

It's not like I admire them, but it's true that I wanted to imitate them once.

“Also rice is good for filling you up.”

Saying that to Sati, I carried the yuzuke to my mouth with chopsticks.
Incidentally, the chopsticks are a work I made myself.

The long grain rice yuzuke wasn't really good, but even then calming down by eating rice with chopsticks is a habit ingrained in j.a.panese people I guess.

Before doing war preparations, I wanted to relax, that might have been my true intention.
When I finished eating the yuzuke, I left Sati with the words, “It was delicious”, and went out of the mansion.

The Undead Brigade's elites all stood in a row and greeted me.

I hoist the tightly grasped Ouroboros cane,

“Now, depart!!”

and shouted.

The brigade members,

“Ohh!”

Together with a shout, left the town of Ivalice.

7th Division Vice-Commander----

Jace who holds the nickname One-Eyed Devilkin was entrusted with Loire's governing, a town in the Rosaria region.

The town of Loire bordered the Maou Army's original territory, from time immemorial fierce battles have repeated over its control.

In the first place since the moment this town of Loire fell to the Maou Army, the Maou Army's surging advance began.

This town of Loire was that important of a place.

Therefore, the staff officer Jiron being worried was something reasonable.

“I-Ike-sama. Is it truly fine?”

What is? Though I know his intention I purposely ask.

“No, speaking of Loire, it's famous as a firm fortress city isn't it. Felling that with just a single brigade is too rash isn't it?”

“Rash or more precisely it's impossible right. If you think about it normally.”

“Eh……?”

Jiron raises a stupid voice.

“T-Then, are we going to fight a lost battle?”

“No way.”

Is what I wanted to say there, but that's right.
However, is it fine to tell that to this guy I wonder.

I waver.

I stare continuously at Jiron's foolish expression.

“Are you the tight-lipped type?”

“No, I'm a blabbermouth.”

He immediately replies.

……he's an honest guy huh. Well, this one isn't very useful, but I trusted this part of him that wasn't two faced.

Starting with telling him that if blabbed to someone I'd make him into roast ・pork, I spoke.

Jiron covered his mouth with both hands, absolutely not telling anyone.

“We are going to challenge them to battle with the intention to lose.”
“…………”
“What's wrong? This time you're not even surprised, huh.”

“……no, ano, I think I misheard. Eeto, I'll clean out my ears and listen, so can you please say it once more?”

I repeat the same words as just before.

“We are going to challenge them to battle with the intention to lose.”
“Eehh!? We're challenging them to a match with the intention to lose!?”
“Idiot, you're voice is loud.”

“B-but, I've never heard of something like going to fight a lost battle. If that was leaked to the brigade lot, then morale would plunge.”

“Yea. That's why I kept it a secret. But, as expected I would have to tell you at the very least.”

“However, how do you plan to lose?”
“That's simple. In the midst of battle, I'll give an appropriate command.”

“Haa, but if you do that won't our brigade guys die? That would be truly pitiable.”

“I don't care about that. We're demons.”

Is what I wanted to say there, but as one would expect I couldn't say it.
In the first place even demons have emotions at least.
There are few guys who, told to walk to their near certain death, would walk.

No, if it's the lot of the 2nd Army Corps that silences even crying children, then if the commander were to say, “Die”, then they might die.

However, unfortunately our Undead Brigade is famous for it's leniency.

It's received a grim name such as Undead Brigade, but the Undead Brigade is often looked down on by other demons.

“Since you guys hardly fight, you don't die is all. That's why you're the Undead Brigade.”
Like that----.

The reason is that the brigade commander there is too soft.
Because I'm human, it might be fine to rephrase it as such.

Instead, I also have the “Cheat” of my previous world's knowledge on hand.
In this time's fight, I planned to make use of the “Cheat” to my heart's content.

When we arrived in the vicinity of the town of Loire, the scout kobold turned up.

His name is Taro.
He's still a juvenile, or rather a puppy.

When he grows up he'll become a fine soldier I'm sure, but he's still young, so I'm having him partic.i.p.ate as a scout.

The race known as kobold aren't a very bright race, but their sight, hearing, and sense of smell are outstanding even among monsters.

Therefore there are no other monsters better than them to entrust these kind of reconnaissance mission.

“Ike-sama, it seems the enemy is going out into to battlefield.”
“It's turned out like that huh.”

I mutter a few words.

“Yes. But why would they purposely go outside of the fortress I wonder?”

The juvenile kobold asks while stretching out his tail tautly.
Proof that he's nervous.

The race known as kobold are dog monsters.

They resemble werewolves, but the big difference is that kobolds are always in the form of a dog, werewolves can also be in the form of a human, thereabouts I suppose.

Both have common features as Canidae monsters.
As expected that ecology is reflected strongly in their bodies.

In other words, if they're nervous then they'll tense their tail, if they're happy they'll wag their tail.

Taro too, usually he would be wagging his tail, but as expected it's the battle's tension.

That mental state appeared greatly in his tail.
In order to soften Taro's nervousness, I patted his head.

Being happy when their head is patted is also a canidae monster trait.

“The reason they went outside the fortress is probably because they're making light of our Undead Brigade.”1

“Eh? They're making us into light?”

“……not in a literal sense.”

A kobold's intelligence is low.

A dog's intelligence is the level of a 5 year old child, or so it's said, it's similar even in this world. They aren't very clever.

I explained simply so that even Taro could understand.

“They think that we're small fry. That's why, without staying inside the fortress, they plan on fighting for real on the battlefront.”

“But, we're the Undead Brigade that doesn't know defeat? Why are they doing that? Something like treating us as small fry.”

“Well, the one secluded within Loire is tentatively the 7th Army Corps' Vice commander, One-eyed Devilkin Jace after all, he's got a right to make light of us.”

Our Undead Brigade's size is about 300 people.

On the other hand, Jace isn't vice commander for nothing, he employs twice that many demons and monsters.

In addition according to information brought just now, another brigade seems to have joined Jace.

He seems to have repeatedly taken steps to betray the 7th Army Corps in advance.

Since he's poaching other brigade commanders from our 7th Army Corps that has unity and renown, he's quite skillful.

I was honestly impressed, but at the same time I believed them pitiable.

(Good grief, I don't whose idiots betrayed us, but they did something foolish.)

If you're going to stick to your allies no matter what, then you should side with the winning side.
While thinking that I head towards the plain where we'll clash with Jace.

1. Here 舐めている is used which can literally mean lick, which is what the kobold thinks in the next line.

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