The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

Because it was already dark, and the forest was so dense that even moonlight could hardly penetrate, Naka couldn't clearly see the true face of the short creature draped in a black robe. But the scent emanating from it was undoubtedly the strong, pungent odor of an orc.

Upon seeing Naka, the figure performed a kneeling bow. A calm male voice emanated from within the robe.

"Your Majesty, I have been waiting here for a long time."

"...Did Komre tell you?"

"That's not the case. It's what I sensed from the extraordinary aura emanating from you, and from my reconnaissance abilities."

"Ability detection skills? It seems you're a high-level mage."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."

"Then there's no need for pleasantries. Take me to see Komre."

"Okay. This way..."

The robed orc stood up, chanting an incantation as he drew a large magic circle on the ground with his finger. Naka stood in the center of the circle, and the robed orc followed. He chanted the incantation again, and a beam of light enveloped them both. Then, they both vanished into the forest.

General Kemre

If you travel east from Isard Town, crossing three mountain ranges, two great rivers, and a vast sea, you will reach another human kingdom: the Eastern Kingdom. Traveling by carriage followed by a boat would take at least a month. Separated from the Eastern Kingdom by only a river on the opposite bank lies the demon city ruled by the Demon Queen Nama Kalena. Nama has not yet ordered an attack on the Eastern Kingdom; currently, it serves as a training ground for new demon recruits. The city sits atop a cliff overlooking the river, surrounded by mountains on three sides. Its easily defensible terrain prevents the Eastern Kingdom from launching an attack. This stalemate has continued for many years.

A magic circle suddenly appeared on an open space outside the city. A flash of purple light followed, and two figures appeared there. It had taken them only a second to travel from the forest outside their town of Isard to this location.

"We've arrived, Your Majesty the Demon King. Please follow me."

Leading the way was an orc mage. He strode towards the other side of the city wall. His companion, the Demon King Naka, had inspected the area years ago, and thus noticed that the orc mage was leading them in the wrong direction—not towards the main gate.

"Wait, the entrance isn't over there."

"Lord Komre instructed me to lead you through the side door."

"He's really thoughtful."

The Demon King himself arrived, but there was no grand welcome; he wasn't even allowed to enter through the gate. Naka, however, nodded in satisfaction.

Led by the magician, they arrived at a small opening at the base of the city gate, connected to the ground. There was nothing near the opening; the small wooden door, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, was covered in moss. The magician flicked his right hand, and the moss, as if replaying its growth process, receded back into the ground. The magician took out a key and opened the door, revealing a dimly lit staircase leading upstairs.

"This is a secret passage known only to a very few close associates. This passage didn't originally exist in the city. When Lord Komre took up residence here, considering the possibility of secret meetings with important figures in the future, he built this hidden door that leads directly into the city. If you use this route, you will absolutely not encounter any unauthorized personnel."

"Um"

There was only one staircase to go up, so they no longer needed anyone to guide them. The two switched places, with Naka going first and the magician following behind. Naka went upstairs first, the magician following behind, and then locked the door.

Following the stairs, after countless turns and climbing approximately a thousand steps, she reached the end. At the end, there seemed to be a mural hanging. The mural appeared to be on the other side; Naka could only see its back from the secret passage. Lifting the mural, she found herself in a small but opulently decorated room. The small room was meticulously arranged with various antiques and paintings. On a table at the far end of the room sat a large sword, utterly incongruous with the room's refined atmosphere, clearly revealing the room's owner's martial arts background. And the room's owner himself had been waiting there all along.

It was an orc over three meters tall, with bulging muscles all over his body. He wore leather armor, and the medals around his neck were proof of his status as a general. Upon seeing Naka appear behind the mural, he quickly knelt on one knee, his right hand protecting his heart.

"Your Majesty, I, Komre, have failed to greet you properly. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I am unable to host a grand welcome banquet for you. Please forgive me."

"It doesn't matter"

He was the master of this city, highly regarded and trusted by Naka, and one of the high-ranking officers of the Demon King's army who knew the secret of Naka's infiltration into the human world: the orc general Kemre. Even kneeling, he was still several heads taller than Naka.

Naka casually sat down on a chair in the room and looked around the luxurious space.

"You're living the high life, aren't you, Komre? Your room is a million times better than the shabby shack I'm living in now."

"I dare not covet glory and wealth. These things are merely proof of the cities I have conquered, to show me that I will not forget those past battles."

"You certainly know how to talk... I'm very satisfied with your arrangements this time. Although it's the middle of the night, I was specially arranged to take a secret passage to prevent being seen by other demons in the city. It seems you have indeed carried out your orders diligently."

When Naka was the Demon Lord, she always appeared in armor. Most demons had never truly seen her face. If Naka were to appear in the city with a face indistinguishable from a human's, it would surely cause chaos. Komre had anticipated this and therefore made corresponding arrangements.

"in addition..."

Naka looked towards the location of the mural. There were two people who entered the secret passage, but only Naka actually entered the room. The orc mage was waiting at the exit.

"That guy's pretty self-aware. Is he your direct subordinate?"

"Yes. Although that guy is an orc like me, he's a rare genius among orcs, capable of mastering the highest level of magic. We orcs are a physically strong race, and we have an inherent weakness in our mastery of magic. But when I met him, I realized his grasp of magic was truly extraordinary. Therefore, I promoted him to specialize in magic-related knowledge. This kind of talent, capable of rivaling human archmages, is truly invaluable. Three years ago, when we conquered the elven kingdom, he contributed greatly to breaking the elves' barriers and magic. If it weren't for him, we might have lost even more soldiers."

General Kemre spoke highly of him, his words brimming with pride. It seemed he was also proclaiming to Naka his excellent eye for talent, a skill worthy of praise. A slight smile appeared on Naka's lips.

"Is that so? Then it's a pity... our army is about to lose a valuable talent."

As she spoke, Naka suddenly raised her hand. A beam of black magic light from her finger pierced through the mural and flew into the secret passage. Soon after, the sound of something falling to the ground could be heard.

Komre was terrified at the sight. He quickly approached Naka by kneeling down and scraping the floor with his knees.

"Your Majesty the Demon King! What are you doing?!"

Naka blew away the lingering magical smoke from her fingertips and answered nonchalantly.

"I believe what you say. This guy is indeed a talent, so I'm going to kill him."

"Has he ever neglected you?"

No, not at all.

"Why is that?"

From the very first words Naka exchanged with the orc mage, she decided to kill him. And the reason? His nonchalant attitude.

"That guy recognized me as the Demon King right away. He said he could sense it. He's not only intelligent, but also very opinionated. He used his ability to detect others' abilities without permission, and saw my attributes."

Naka turned to look at Komre, who still looked completely bewildered.

"Do you think someone who knows things he shouldn't should be allowed to live?"

"this..."

"I believe you never told him about my identity. Perhaps he used his skills to observe my abilities out of curiosity. But excessive curiosity and excessive abilities are the very culprits that led to his death."

"..."

Perhaps because he hadn't seen Naka for many years, Kemre almost forgot that this seemingly young girl was the most ruthless, merciless, and cruel Demon King. Stationed in the Eastern Kingdom, he had heard tales of ancient Eastern legends: a king who killed a learned scholar simply because the scholar knew him far too well—far more than a subject should. Naka was doing something similar. And for this reason, though resentful, he could only remain silent.

"Let's leave this matter at that. But I suggest you don't keep someone like this who acts on his own initiative and makes decisions beyond what his master has ordered during missions. Also, if you dare to send this kind of 'talent' over again, you'll be the one taking responsibility next time, Komre."

"No, I wouldn't dare!"

"That's good... Let's get down to business. What did you call me here for?"

"Yes, my troops recently discovered something very strange while patrolling the area..."

Komre stood up, took several documents from the largest table, and handed them to Naka.

"Your Majesty, please take a look. These are the strange features of the wild monsters inhabiting the nearby forests and valleys that our army has currently scouted."

Naka carefully examined each document. The files mainly contained images of monsters and textual descriptions of their unusual characteristics. As she looked, Naka's eyes widened in surprise.

The information recorded in the document is roughly as follows:

The number of monsters that should have been abundant has suddenly decreased dramatically over the past year or so. Initially, Komre suspected a mass migration, but his investigation yielded no evidence. The vanished monsters showed no signs of movement; they seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Simultaneously, some of the few monsters that were discovered exhibited abnormal behavior. They displayed a sudden surge in ferocity and aggression, attacking both humans and demon soldiers indiscriminately. Their stats also increased dramatically for unknown reasons. Even more terrifying, these monsters seemed immortal; even with their heads crushed and hearts destroyed, they could still move and attack. Furthermore, they possessed an unusual heraldic magic circle that shouldn't be present on any monster. Only by destroying this magic circle could a monster truly die. Monsters exhibiting these symptoms included the boar-type monster Inosishi and the bird-type monster Griffin…

At first, it felt like a recurring scene. But as she watched further, Naka was completely stunned.

The Inosiri, who should have been dwelling here, appeared near the town of Isaad, a place far, far away. The Inosiri, whom they should have killed, suddenly revived, forcing several adventurers to fight her for days before finally achieving a hard-fought victory. Furthermore, the strange emblem under Inosiri's armpit was exactly the same as the emblem drawn in the document.

What I care about most is...

All of this information perfectly matched the unexpected events Naka had encountered in the past few days. Naka sat frozen in her chair, speechless for a long time.

"Um... Your Majesty the Demon King? Are you alright?"

"Huh?...I'm fine."

Having finally regained her composure from the chaos, Naka forced herself to appear calm in front of her subordinates and inquired in an inspector's tone...

"Is there any other intelligence? This alone isn't something that would warrant summoning me here."

"Yes. If it were just something like that, I would only think it was some change in nature. But we have discovered this."

Komre took a cloth bag from his robes and handed it to Naka. Naka opened the bag and took out a piece of iron. She noticed that the iron was engraved with an emblem bearing the same pattern as the magic circles on those ferocious monsters. The back was marked NO.005. Naka couldn't help but recall the item that had fallen from Inosishi's body on the day of her battle with Tatia. This was clearly the same model.

"This was found by our soldiers after they fought desperately to kill a ferocious monster. If it were just a monster becoming ferocious, it could be due to natural changes. But this thing could never be a natural product. The carved patterns and characters, and the chains binding the monster, are all clearly man-made. The magic circles on those monsters are exactly the same as this emblem, indicating that all of this was done intentionally. Your Majesty, have you seen this emblem before?"

"No, no..."

"Since you are unaware of this matter, there are only two possibilities: either an intelligent demon or a human. A highly intelligent being is secretly plotting something sinister behind your back, Your Majesty. While I cannot confirm this at the moment, I suspect the owner of this emblem is capturing demons for some kind of modification experiment, transforming them into immortal fighting tools…! Regardless of whether this is the work of a human or a demon, its existence is likely detrimental to you and our army. I believe this matter must be reported to Your Majesty, the Demon King. That is why I specially sent an envoy to invite you here. I hope Your Majesty will make a decision!"

"Let me think about it..."

Naka clutched her forehead. Her thoughts, which she had finally managed to gather, were once again in disarray. She had a general idea of ​​what was going on, but many questions still weighed heavily on her mind.

"Kemre...when did this start?"

"About two years ago, I received feedback that something was wrong with the monster ecosystem. But at the time, I just thought it was due to climate change and didn't pay much attention. Only recently have we realized the seriousness of the situation. I sincerely apologize for the delay in getting the best time to act."

"No, this isn't your fault..."

Two years ago was the year Naka decided to leave the Demon King's castle, disguise herself as a human, and begin investigating the prophesied hero. A month ago, she arrived in Isard Town, and monsters inexplicably appeared in the mountains of Isard Town, a thousand miles away from their original habitat. Her first mission happened to be to defeat this modified monster. If her teammate hadn't been an incompetent spoiled brat, that Inosishi might have gone berserk on the very day of their first mission.

The situation seemed to be unfolding as if it were constantly monitoring Naka's every move. This sent a chill down Naka's spine. As a Demon King, it wasn't unusual for her to be targeted by demons who disobeyed her. But she had specifically concealed her whereabouts before leaving, and Naka had confirmed that only her most trusted subordinates knew about it. Was it a leak, or was there something else going on? Naka truly couldn't tell.

Even more terrifying is that the mysterious disappearance of Inosishi wasn't limited to just that one monster; it was happening in large numbers. This means that in other places, at any time, more modified monsters could potentially appear.

This worrying situation was completely out of Naka's plans. The human hero alone was enough to give her a major headache. Now, a new danger, full of unknowns, had emerged. She had thought that successfully teaming up with the adventurer would put her plans back on track, but reality seemed to be more complicated. The path before Naka, which had been clear, was now shrouded in mist.

Is that all the information you have?

"Yes. I will report to you immediately if there is any further information."

"Very well... I am satisfied that you promptly informed me of the situation."

Thank you for your praise.

"Is there anything else to report?"

"No, not at the moment. I will send Lord Farn's routine military intelligence report on time next week."

"Understood. I will have Faen inform the officers in various regions about this matter, and have them begin investigating whether there are any missing or mutated monsters. You remain on standby. You have rendered meritorious service in reporting military intelligence this time, and I will arrange the reward you deserve."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Then, I'll head back now."

At this point, all the clues point to the conclusion that "someone is operating in the shadows." Although their identity and purpose are unknown, the only option now is to wait and see. Regardless, Naka is not afraid of them. If they slip up, she is confident she can eliminate them no matter where they are. For now, Naka wants to focus on playing the role of the "saintess."

Naka stood up and walked towards the secret passage. Kemre followed closely behind. When they reached the exit, a corpse lay there. It was the corpse of an orc mage. A large hole had been ripped open in his forehead, and blood and brain matter stained the ground beneath his feet. Yet, his expression remained calm, as if he had neither realized nor anticipated his fate until his death.

Passing through the secret passage, they arrived at the clearing where Naka had appeared earlier. Clear traces of a magic circle remained on the ground. It was drawn by the deceased orc mage. However, he was dead, and the magic circle could no longer be used.

"Your Majesty the Demon King..."

"You don't need to worry about how I'll get back. I have my own methods, which is why I dared to kill him."

"Well, I really did go to unnecessary trouble."

"One last thing."

Before leaving, Naka gave Kemre some instructions.

"Only you, I, the magician, and Fane know that I was here today. The magician is dead, so there are only three of us now. Don't tell anyone about today's events. Not even your most trusted subordinates."

"Your Majesty, I understand... There is actually one more thing, but because it is not very important, I have not said it outright."

"What's up?"

"I have been rude."

Kemre moved closer to Naka and sniffed her three times. Naka thought he was going to say something official, but instead he was just smelling her scent.

The orc race doesn't have many highly intelligent individuals. The lowest-ranking soldiers are practically indistinguishable from mindless beasts and monsters. They can only obey the most basic discipline; once battle begins, they act almost entirely on primal instincts. Burning, killing, raping, and committing atrocities against enemy civilians or soldiers are commonplace during wartime. Some within the Demon King's army oppose these actions, which cause unnecessary sacrifices and losses and damage the Demon King's army's reputation, hoping Naka will take control. Naka initially believed this would improve the orc soldiers' loyalty and morale and didn't take any action. However, today, when an orc actually smelled her twice, she immediately felt uncomfortable all over. Although she knew he meant no harm, Naka instinctively took two steps back, hugged her shoulders, and her face showed unbearable disgust.

"What are you doing?"

"Your Majesty the Demon King...why do you have such a strange smell?"

"Strange? Are you implying that I have body odor?"

"I dare not"

Thinking about how tired she had been these past few days, and how she hadn't had time to shower for several days, Naka realized there might be a slight odor. She sniffed her clothes, but found nothing unusual.

"I can't smell it."

"What I'm referring to isn't the smell of your own sweat. It's the smell clinging to you. And the smell itself isn't strange; what's strange is that this smell shouldn't exist anymore..."

"How to say?"

"No...it must be my imagination. I'm terribly sorry, Your Majesty. I was just talking nonsense."

"?"

Krem started a topic and then ended it on his own. Naka was quite displeased with this. However, Krem had also helped Naka by providing information. In the end, Naka decided to turn a blind eye to the matter.