The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 576

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 576   Additional Reinforcements: Demon King

“Indeed, it took quite some time for us to arrive here, but we bring the advance force of 10,000 troops from the Zaviet Kingdom. Additionally, a total of 70,000 troops, including the following units of 60,000. We will now commence participation in the battle.”

“Huh? 70,000…!?”

At first glance, it didn’t seem like there were that many people who had arrived, so I thought, well, maybe this is it.

But, that wasn’t all? What I saw just now was only the units that had arrived first, and the total is 70,000?

To prepare this much when our country isn’t even under attack… Impressive. I thought it was oddly late for you to come here, but, well, it takes time, doesn’t it?

“Please give your instructions, Your Majesty, the Demon King.”

Seeing my surprised expression, Filia smiled mischievously and courteously bowed.

That means Filia… and the soldiers of the kingdom are under my command, but is that really okay? At least we hadn’t publicly joined hands.

Of course, we are grateful for it. There won’t be any unnecessary conflicts over command, and it will save both effort and time.

Well, Filia’s feelings are probably mixed in there, but it’s also likely the intention of King Lucius, the ruler. There must be some sort of calculation behind it.

Well, even if that’s the case, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re grateful for the current situation.

“What, you’re calling even me a Demon King?… Wait, huh?”

To switch my focus from surprise, I exhaled once and then jokingly complained about Filia’s words. But then, I suddenly noticed someone familiar.

“Long time no see… Ah, right?”

The person who raised her hand and called out to me, then quickly added words, seemingly realizing her poor choice of words.

With a bow slung over her back and a striking appearance with pointed ears, the woman was…

“Lancia? You’re here too?”

“Yeah. Message from Randel.”

“‘More than five hundred warriors from our village. Will join under the Demon King’s army.'”

Unlike Filia earlier, Lancia approached me and kneeled before me, uttering those words.

Joining under… is that okay for you guys? Technically, their area is within Zaviet territory, right? Regarding you, aren’t you more like a guardian of Zaviet?

“Nice to meet you.”

After saying what needed to be said, Lancia remained kneeling, looking up at me.

“I’m not part of the Demon King’s army though…?”

“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“No, it matters to me.”

I may have claimed the title of Demon King, but I’ve never actually called myself the leader of a Demon King’s army.

Yet to be referred to as part of the Demon King’s army… It’s kind of embarrassing, you know.

As Lancia, who had been kneeling, stood up, I could tell from my own expression, contorted enough to be noticeable, that I was feeling embarrassed. At that moment, my father, who should have been fighting, arrived.

“Hey hey, Demon King. Looks like your subordinates have increased quite a bit.”

“Father. Is it safe for you to come here?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I cleared out a bit before coming here, so it should be okay for a while. – More importantly, look over there.”

“Over there?”

At my father’s words, I looked in the direction he pointed, and there, raising a cloud of dust as it approached us, was something huge coming our way.

“…What’s that? …Wait. Huh? Hey, no, that… ”

In the center of that dust, I saw something resembling wriggling tentacles, so I thought it might be a mutant creature approaching, but the color was off somehow.

Upon closer inspection, I recognized its form.

“Is that… the Demon King?”

Yes. The “Demon King” who was supposed to be stationed as the guardian of the Sacred Tree in the Garden.

Technically, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be here since it’s not like we’ve restrained it in any way, but still, I can’t understand why it’s here.

“That’s how it looks to me too. So I came all the way here to ask you ‘why.’ Haven’t you heard anything?”

“No, nothing at all… Why did it come here?”

“To sense your danger, perhaps?”

Well, considering our symbiotic or cooperative relationship, it’s possible it came to help upon sensing my situation, but to come just for that… or maybe it’s the evil god?

According to what I heard from Roroel, both the Hero and the Demon King were originally beings meant to counteract the evil god. If that’s the case, it’s not entirely implausible to think that it sensed the presence of an evil god here and came.

However, can one really sense the presence of an evil god like that? No, if it came here, it might have somehow found out through some means…

While pondering this, I felt like I heard some strange noise… or rather, a scream coming from the direction of the Demon King.

“…For a Demon King… it’s making some weird sounds. What about you, father? Is my hearing playing tricks on me?”

“Or maybe it’s your head. But don’t worry, I can hear it too.”

Despite exchanging banter with my father, I remained vigilant while observing, but after a while, the Demon King approached us and stopped its movements.

Yeah, it’s definitely the Demon King. I knew it when it was approaching, but seeing it up close made it clear.

But this Demon King… it seems to have some “accessories” attached to it.

“Why are you here… huh, what’s this? A letter?”

I’m really curious about this “accessory,” and I’m also curious about why it came here, but before I could ask about it, the Demon King moved its tentacles and handed me a letter.

“Dear Demon King, Given that we both seem busy, I’ll skip the greetings.”

The letter started like that. It’s from Edward.

As for the main topic, it was about why the Demon King, who was originally stationed in the Garden, was sent here.

Apparently, the Demon King had originally intended to come here, but the elves stopped it, and Edward persuaded it to stay. They said it would be a hindrance if it came now or something like that.

Certainly, if the Demon King came here, that would be a problem in itself.

However, since it would undoubtedly be a valuable asset in battle, they must have sent it here at a time when it wouldn’t pose a problem, predicting our situation.

Furthermore, it seems that they sensed something like the presence of the Sacred Tree and the elves were unsettled, with Leireine unusually leaving the village and coming to the Garden. So, they sent it here in hopes that it could be of use if it persuaded them somehow. Persuade them… to be of use? Well, Leireine is also the child of the Sacred Tree, so there’s probably some significance to it, maybe.

“I see… What’s it say?”

“It seems the Demon King wanted to come here, so they sent it at an opportune time.”

Handing the letter back to my father, who peered into it, I briefly explained about the Demon King. That should be enough for now as an explanation. The rest, they can read themselves.

“Hehehe… Hey hey hey! More people came, right? Then then, I finally get to have my own subordinates—Ohhh!?”

Lilia seemed to have noticed the arrival of reinforcements and skipped over happily, but her words stopped midway and turned into a scream.

“Ahhh!! Mom!? Wait, no way! Why are you here!? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Upon spotting her own mother, Leireine, Lilia’s eyes widened, and she started to retreat.

Her attitude towards her own mother was incredibly rude to the point of being disrespectful, but I could understand why she would act that way. I mean, she started off with “I didn’t do anything wrong.” You can tell how she’s usually treated.

After retreating a few steps, Lilia glanced around nervously and then ran towards me, hiding behind my back.

…Hey, why are you coming over here? You should just run away obediently.

Well, maybe she thought Leireine wouldn’t be able to get mad at me, or maybe that’s actually the case, but if by some chance Leireine seemed angry, I wouldn’t hesitate to throw you under the bus.

“L-Lilia? …Lilia~! Wahh! That was scary, that was really scary~!”

Leireine’s scream seemed to have reached Lilia’s ears clearly. Leireine got off the platform that the Demon King was pulling and, almost falling over, rushed over to Lilia. Ignoring me, she hugged Lilia from behind and started crying pitifully. There goes the queen’s dignity.

“Goodness. You never come out of the house, and yet you end up coming all the way here. Look at me. Come on, look. You see? You can be this dignified!”

Seeing her mother crying without getting angry seemed to embolden Lilia, who had been frightened moments ago, as she started grinning and getting carried away.

“Hey, what are you gonna do about that?”

“Why are you asking me?”

While my father asked, looking at Lilia who was standing proudly with her hands on her hips and Leireine clinging to her, I wished he wouldn’t ask me. After all, I didn’t summon them here, so I’m just as clueless about what to do.

“Whatever, the elves are your responsibility, aren’t they?”

“Well, yeah, that may be true, but… wasn’t it Edward who sent her here?”

“What’s the point of complaining to someone who’s not even here? Come on, hurry up and go.”

Ugh… Isn’t it too awkward to talk to someone who’s crying and screaming in public like this? Even the person crying probably doesn’t want to be talked to in this situation.