The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time
chapter-cv12

Vandalieu Ark Hillwillow Solder Zakkart – Dhampir (Mother: Goddess), 12 years old, male

The first emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal, who has reached 12 years of age and has had an enormous divine statue of him built.

He has experienced a great adventure that no person in the world of Lambda has ever ventured upon – traveling to the Demon King’s Continent and returning alive… and now makes regular trips back and forth, so both Vandalieu and those around him have forgotten what an incredible accomplishment this is.

By defeating multiple demigods in the battles against the forces defending Botin and Peria, he has become the person in Lambda who has defeated the greatest number of demigods ever, excluding the Demon King and his army – surpassing Schneider, who has defeated numerous Elder Dragons.

He established friendly relations with Gartland and overcame (?) his tone-deafness, establishing his own original musical style and carrying out solo live performances. He has made his mark on Gartland in the form of images etched into the walls and on the ground.

In his private life, he has had his first child with Tiamat, who consumed Marduke’s exhumed bones and Vandalieu’s blood to create a child who is blood-related to Vandalieu. However, due to the conception process being what it was, or perhaps because of his personality, this did not create any friction in his relationships with his non-blood-related siblings.

His son Bakunawa gnaws at his split entities rather than at his shins*, but Vandalieu currently doesn’t feel endangered by the fact that these split entities are being consumed. Upon thinking about it, he has realized that he is already being consumed, as he serves as the source of raw materials for Blood Potion and the equipment made from Demon King fragments.

Regarding his abilities, by becoming a ‘Pale Rider,’ he has become able to select the targets of his ‘Bloodlust.’ This has added a wide-area slaughtering attack that distinguishes enemies from allies to his arsenal. He has become even more difficult to overwhelm through sheer numbers.

By gaining the divine protections of Botin and Peria, the rate at which he improves his abilities has grown even faster, and he is now culling monsters and clearing Dungeons on the Demon King’s Continent until he begins attending Adventurers’ School in spring.

His objective is to become strong enough to defeat Heinz when he has summoned Bellwood upon himself, but… from what he has heard from Gufadgarn and Zod, Bellwood’s method of fighting – defeating all forms of trickery with attacks whose sheer power defy all common sense – has no weaknesses, so he is quite worried about this.

That is part of the reason he has left the running of his food cart in Morksi to Tama and Gyoku, who have acquired the ‘Cooking’ Skill, but another part of the reason is because he wants them to work in his place until he learns how to appropriately use his ‘God Cooking’ Skill that awakened from his ‘Cooking’ Skill.

There has also been a recent, rather mysterious incident where the Pure-breed Vampire Erpel, who has the appearance of a young boy, told him: “There’s no way I’m putting on a collar and calling you ‘Master!’” Vandalieu nodded and replied: “That’s what I thought.”

List of fragments of the Demon King possessed by Vandalieu:

Blood, horns, suction cups, ink sacs, carapace, scent glands, luminescent organs, fat, jaws (fangs, jaws, lips), eyeballs (retina, lens), proboscis, fur, exoskeleton, jointed legs, antennae, compound eyes, gills, sub-brain, tumors, blood vessels, tongue, lungs, fins, venom glands, bones, skin, treasure orb, demon eyes, nerves, stomach, membrane, wings, tentacles, shadow, scales, bone marrow, oviduct, silk glands, muscles, crystals, sweat glands, cnidocytes, mucus glands (NEW!), spiracles (NEW!), spurs (NEW!)

Darcia Zakkart – Chaos Elf Source, 1 year old (resurrected), female

A new grandmother who has accomplished a lot while dealing with foolish nobles causing trouble for her and carrying out a live concert in Gartland. She was surprised at the unexpected birth of her grandson, but dotes on him nevertheless.

If my mother and my other relatives were to see Bakunawa, they would probably faint, she thinks to herself.

Incidentally, she doesn’t feel any reluctance towards being a grandma. In the Dark Elf village she was born and grew up in, it was completely normal for grandparents to look like the siblings of their grandchildren.

In fact, the thing she was more concerned about was the fact that Tiamat became her daughter-in-law. She felt rather uneasy about being called ‘mother-in-law’ by a great Elder Dragon who had lived for over a hundred thousand years… but she managed to overcome that.

Incidentally, Vandalieu has reconciled with Veld, who called her a ‘Monster’s Parent.’

Bakunawa – Elder Dragon (with no Titles, as he has only just been born), 0 years old, male

Currently the youngest Elder Dragon in the world of Lambda, born to Vandalieu and Tiamat. Possesses unusual characteristics even among the numerous Elder Dragons in this world – the combination of a powerful and durable body inherited from Tiamat and Marduke, and the grotesqueness of Vandalieu.

In the world of Lambda, there are some Elder Dragons who have one parent that is a Colossus, a Beast-King, or even a mortal (a third of such Elder Dragons are children of Tiamat). But even compared to these, Bakunawa’s appearance is extremely bizarre.

Although he has inherited Marduke’s Breath attack, the most threatening thing about him currently is his hunger and vacuuming ability. Even a demigod would have a hard time maintaining their balance while exposed to his vacuuming attack.

The power of his jaws allows him to break down even Demon King Familiars, which are made from fragments of the Demon King. If a demigod were to be caught in his jaws, they would quickly be devoured.

Perhaps due to the influence of Vandalieu’s blood, he is unaffected by any poison or disease, and he is able to digest and absorb anything – including wood and minerals.

A predator from birth, his favorite foods are his Papa’s home-made cooking… and his Papa.

But although he has a gluttonous personality, he is obedient and listens to his Papa, his Mama, and his grandmother. He is a good boy who sees Pauvina and Juliana as his older sisters, and Zadiris, Basdia and Eleanora as his aunts.

Like many children, he often gets his toys mixed up with his friends’ toys, and the main victim of this is Luvesfol. He sometimes plays with Cuatro and Leo (Bone Man’s mount, formerly known as the Scaled King), but Knochen often provides educational toys (in the form of puzzles made of bones).

Incidentally, he usually resides on the Demon Continent with Tiamat or next to Talosheim, but at the point in time where Volume 12 ends, he is enjoying his meals (monster-culling) on the Demon King’s Continent.

The trials of the monsters living on the Demon King’s Continent have only just begun.

Juliana Alcrem – Hathor Princess Knight, 0 years old (approximately 9 years old in appearance), female

Pauvina’s younger sister. Almost a year has passed since her pseudo-reincarnation, and while she was previously a half-Minotaur, she is now a Hathor. Her skin color has changed from white to light brown, but she isn’t particularly bothered by it. Her subordinates from her previous life, who became both her daughters and her sisters following their pseudo-reincarnation, have also become Hathors.

She will soon be visiting the city of Morksi, and the people there are sure to be surprised… though they will immediately understand that the change is due to her Rank increasing. The people of Morksi have been trained by Vandalieu and his companions to be used to such things.

She is already about as tall as an adult human woman, but she is still growing. She is expected to eventually exceed two meters in height. Both her body and her physical strength are still developing.

As she has been registered as a familiar, she is not planning to follow Vandalieu to Adventurers’ School in spring.

Gufadgarn – Evil God of Labyrinths, ? years old, female?

The evil god who is always in Vandalieu’s shadow, but had to step away from him during the recent battle. She was commanding the battleships and such, but she was secretly yearning to return to Vandalieu.

She was acquainted with the demigods who were defending Botin and Peria, as they had fought against the Demon King’s army together a hundred thousand years ago, but neither side thought of the other as companions or comrades in arms.

The demigods regarded her and the other evil gods on Vandalieu’s side as those they had temporarily allied themselves with in the past, but whose evil nature would never change. Gufadgarn simply thought of them as enemies, as any enemy of Vandalieu (Zakkart) is an enemy of hers.

She is also acquainted with Botin and Peria, but she is not particularly close to either of them.

The reason she treats Godwin differently – more roughly than others – is because he entered the Trial of Zakkart numerous times in the past.

Although she acquired a vast quantity of Experience Points during the battle, she has plateaued at Rank 16. However, she is now capable of wielding the power of her original form while contained in her vessel (the thing that resembles a beautiful Elf girl).

Zadiris – Ghoul Full Moon Wizard Princess, 301 years old, female

Popular idol in the city of Morksi, and Vandalieu’s master (at least in name). She possesses an indomitable spirit that refuses to give up on achieving her ambition of becoming ‘Queen’ rather than ‘Princess.’ Although her Rank increased in the recent battle, she has gone from being a Moon Wizard Princess to a Full Moon Wizard Princess.

Zadiris is known as the ‘Original Magical Girl’ in the Demon Empire of Vidal, and her ‘Wind-Attribute Magic’ has awakened into ‘Wind Princess Magic.’ However, Kanako is known as the ‘Magical Girl’ and is more prominent in human society, so Zadiris was hoping that her title of ‘Princess’ would be taken from her, but… that has not happened.

She is uncertain as to whether to place her remaining hope in ‘No-Attribute Magic,’ or in the possibility that ‘Light Princess Magic’ and ‘Wind Princess Magic’ will awaken into different Skills once more.

Incidentally, people have begun questioning whether she is leading people to become princesses, but she strongly denies this. However, she was extremely nervous during her last visit to the Job-changing room, and was visibly relieved when she left it.

It seems that she is very afraid of certain Jobs becoming available to her.

• Name: Zadiris
• Age: 301 years old (Has undergone age reversal)
• Title: Magical Girl, Magical Staff Master (NEW!), Transformation Demon Princess (NEW!), Original Magical Girl (NEW!)
• Rank: 13
• Race: Ghoul Full Moon Wizard Princess
• Level: 75
• Job: Magic Moon Princess
• Job Level: 0
• Job history: Apprentice Mage, Mage, Light-Attribute Mage, Wind-Attribute Mage, Philosopher, Great Philosopher, Great Mage, Wizard Princess, Magical Girl, Magical Staff User, Magical Princess, Great Magical Princess
• Passive Skills:
  • Dark Vision
  • Pain Resistance: Level 5
  • Superhuman Strength: Level 4
  • Paralyzing Venom Secretion (Claws): Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Mana Enlargement: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Augmented Magical Power while equipped with a staff: Large (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Transformation: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-Strengthening: Guidance: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Magic Resistance: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Moonlight: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
• Active Skills:
  • Light Princess Magic: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Wind Princess Magic: Level 2 (Awakened from Wind-Attribute Magic!)
  • No-Attribute Magic: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Fine Mana Control: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Alchemy: Level 7
  • Chant Revocation: Level 9
  • Multi-Cast: Level 9
  • Surpass Limits: Level 8
  • Housework: Level 2
  • High-speed Thought Processing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Staff Technique: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Singing: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Dancing: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
• Unique Skills:
  • Zozogante’s Divine Protection
  • Garess’s Divine Protection
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
  • Deanna’s Divine Protection

Jane Doe – Dimension Spirit Legion, ? years old, female?

A space-attribute Ghost, an aggregation of the souls of the adventurers who lost their lives in the Trial of Zakkart. Each of them died in various ways, and ordinarily, they would not have all become attached to the same attribute. However, because they spent long years in the presence of Gufadgarn, the Evil God of Labyrinths, they became attached to the space attribute.

Under normal circumstances, they should have regained their personalities and memories as their Ranks increased, but their uncertainty and fear of possibly discovering that they were Martina of the Five-colored Blades made them choose to erase those memories and personalities instead in order to become indistinguishable from one another.

Their current appearance is that of a swarm of female Ghosts, a ghostly version of Legion… Because the spirits belong to those who entered Gufadgarn’s Dungeon, more than half of them should have originally been male, but they have all become female. This is because the strong desire to believe that they are not Martina has caused even their appearances to change.

This great change they underwent has been rewarded; Vandalieu has given up on finding Martina and accepted them as a new companion with the name of ‘Jane Doe.’

Their personalities have vivid traces of insanity, and they are unable to converse with anyone other than Vandalieu and Gufadgarn. However, they are safe to be around, as they do not possess a hatred for the living or destructive impulses.

• Name: Jane Doe
• Rank: 10
• Race: Dimension Spirit Legion
• Level: 77
• Passive Skills:
  • Mental Corruption: Level 10
  • Composite Soul
  • Magic Resistance: Level 7
  • Mana Enlargement: Level 1
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Creator: Level 3
  • Self-Strengthening: Guidance: Level 3
• Active Skills:
  • Space-Attribute Magic: Level 10
  • Mana Control: Level 10
  • Scream: Level 5
  • Parallel Thought Processing: Level 10
  • Possession: Level 1
• Unique Skills:
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
  • Gufadgarn’s Divine Protection

Borkus – Zombie High Legend Hero, ? years old, male

A hero of Talosheim who has defeated Colossi. His skills with his sword have improved to the point that he was able to cut through even iron and bronze that was tempered by demigods to be as hard as Orichalcum.

His strength was legendary before, and now it is worthy of being called mythical – if he had existed a hundred thousand years ago, he would have been a powerful ally in the war against the Demon King’s army.

Talos, the father of the Titans, is proud to see one of his children become so strong… However, Borkus’s mind remains that of a Zombie. He grilled the heart of the Colossus he defeated and served it to the Snow Ice Titans that he was meeting for the first time.

His ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Eating Demigods’ Skill synergizes well with Vandalieu’s newly-awakened ‘God Cooking’ Skill; he has recently started chewing things like Madroza bacon before fighting.

Perhaps because he is unable to follow Vandalieu and the others to Adventurers’ School as a familiar, he has started practicing pretending to be an ordinary Undead again, something that he isn’t very good at. If the people of the royal capital demand Vandalieu to explain why he is able to tame Undead, Borkus intends to force them into silence by radiating his bloodthirst at them.

Will the bladders of the royal realm’s people be able to endure this trial? … It will all depend on whether he is able to improve his acting skills, and on Vandalieu’s judgment.

… They will likely be fine.

• Name: Borkus
• Rank: 15
• Race: Zombie High Legend Hero
• Level: 78
• Title: Sword King, Grim Reaper of the Former Scylla Territory, Colossus Slayer (NEW!)
• Passive skills:
  • Dark Vision
  • Monstrous Strength: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Physical Resistance: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Attack Power Enlargement when equipped with a Sword: Small (Awakened from Augmented Attack Power when equipped with a Sword!)
  • Augmented Defense Power when equipped with Non-metal Armor: Very Large (LEVEL UP!)
  • Intuition: Level 6
  • Mental Corruption: Level 5
  • Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Magic Resistance: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Eating Demigods: Level 5 (NEW!)
• Active skills:
  • Sword King Technique: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 10
  • Archery: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Armor King Technique: Level 1 (Awakened from Armor Technique!)
  • Transcend Limits: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Dismantling: Level 6
  • Commanding: Level 3
  • Coordination: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Teaching: Level 2
  • Transcend Limits: Magic Sword: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Transcend Limits: Magic Armor: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
• Unique skills:
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
  • Talos’s Divine Protection
  • Vida’s Divine Protection (NEW!)

Zorcodrio – Abyssal Pure-breed Vampire, approximately 100,000 years old, male

A Pure-breed Vampire who has had a year filled with turmoil. He revealed his true identity with Schneider by accompanying him on his rampage in Duke Marme’s domain in the Amid Empire; found disciples to pass on his ‘Muscle Technique’ to that he had believed nobody else would be capable of learning; and fought against demigods who had been his comrades against the Demon King’s army, but enemies in the war between Alda and Vida. His dream is to be the owner and bartender of a bar.

He does feel emotional about the fates of his former comrades. But during the war between Alda and Vida, he was on the side that was attacked without provocation. And in the recent battle, Vandalieu did call for them to surrender. Thus, he felt no hesitation in fighting against them.

Vandalieu and Legion have successfully acquired ‘Muscle Technique,’ but it seems that Oniwaka will need a little more time.

Incidentally, he had suggested that Vandalieu take the Abyssal Pure-breed Vampire Erpel, who has the appearance of a young boy, with him to Adventurers’ School in spring. However… Erpel responded in a shocking way, shouting, “I’ve lost my respect for you, you pervert!” while throwing dried food at him. Zorcodrio was perplexed by this, not understanding what the big deal is about simply wearing a collar and calling Vandalieu ‘Master.’

It seems that Zorcodrio’s common sense is unfortunately diminishing due to the influence of Schneider, and more importantly, Eleanora and Isla.

Amemiya Mei – Human, 3 years old, female

Due to an anomaly causing her world’s time to pass more quickly for a while, Mei has reached three years of age. She has started to gain an awareness of her surroundings, and she finds it strange that her other friends can’t see Banda. But there are some friends (?) who can see him, so she has just decided to accept this. However, she also finds it a little strange that the friends who can see Banda can be divided into two categories – people like Uncle Joseph, and people who can’t be seen even by Uncle Joseph and the others.

Death-attribute Mana resides in her body, but she is still unable to use magic. She does know that Rikudou and Moriya seem to be bad people, but she still does not understand just how bad they are.

Speaking to ‘Metamorph,’ whom she remembers seeing in her dreams and cares about, caused her brainwashing to be broken; Mei is indeed no ordinary three-year-old.

If she or her older brother Hiroshi were to be endangered, the danger of Vandalieu descending upon Origin would grow. Vandalieu would use up much of his power to do so, but… he is not hesitant to do this; he believes that he can worry about the details after he saves Mei and the others.

Luciliano – Dark Human, 34 years old, male

A 34-year-old male researcher who finds it absurd whenever he is recruited to fight on battlefields.

Seeing unusual monsters and demigods on the Demon King’s Continent with his own eyes was indeed a valuable experience for him as a researcher, but he never wanted to be standing on the front lines.

He has recently been forced to participate in battles and in Dungeons more frequently, so he has been training to master the use of the transformation equipment he has received, as well as going through special training for staff techniques and using magic during battle. But this has only caused him to be forced to join battles even more frequently; he is currently trapped in a vicious cycle.

As a desperate attempt to escape from this, he insisted that he had no time to join battles because he needs to focus on his research to turn demigods into Live-dead, but he still ended up being forced to join battles anyway.

The reason he has been given for this is that higher Skill Levels are desirable for research, and using Skills is the best way to increase their Levels. And the best situation for using Skills frequently is during battle.

… This is true, and he is unable to deny it, so he joins every battle he is asked to.

He has no interest in Vandalieu’s upcoming attendance at the Adventurers’ School. However, researchers at the Mages’ Guild who observe Vandalieu will inevitably utter things like, “It can’t be!” and “Impossible!”, and Luciliano has a rather vulgar desire to smile smugly and say, “Yes, I know. I know how you feel. I truly do!”

Privel – Scylla Origin High Druid Princess, 20 years old, female

She is becoming more and more proactive, having become friends with Doraneza, the Merfolk queen who led her tribe to Gartland.

She has lost in leg count to Tama and Gyoku, and to Tiamat in the race to have a baby with Vandalieu, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered much by this. Tama and Gyoku don’t have human-like upper body halves, and the process through which Tiamat created her child with Vandalieu was like something out of mythology, so she doesn’t consider it to be like an ordinary relationship between man and woman.

Gizania, Myuze and Basdia think the same way. Meanwhile, Eleanora and the others are more focused on Erpel than Tiamat as their rival.

Duke Sauron is looking to retake control of her homeland, the former Scylla territory in the Sauron Duchy, but she remains unaware of that. And even if she did, she wouldn’t feel any sense of danger over it.

Godwin –Majin (Battle-Majin), several thousand years old, male

The battle-junkie whose term as king is coming to an end. He was treated roughly during the battle against the forces defending Botin, but he is still greatly satisfied that he was able to participate.

He is aiming to follow Vandalieu to Adventurers’ School as one of his familiars, despite expecting there to be trouble caused by this. He feels no reluctance towards wearing a collar or calling Vandalieu ‘Master.’

The other Majin are unconcerned and happy to let him do as he pleases. The only one who wants to stop him is his daughter Iris, who was born to human parents, but he intends to stop her from interfering by nominating her to become the next monarch of the Majin.

Doraneza – Merfolk, 15 years old, female

The leader of the Merfolk tribe that originally lived on the coast of the Orbaume Kingdom’s Farzon Duchy, guarding a fragment of the Demon King while worshiping Marisjafar, the Righteous Evil God of the Crimson South Sea.

However, the Five-colored Blades led by Heinz accepted a commission from the Farzon Duchy to exterminate her tribe, and she fled from the Bahn Gaia Continent to Gartland, along with Dediria and the rest of the Majin tribe that they had long been allies with.

Duke Farzon had viewed them as a tribe of Merfolk with whom his people had never interacted, who had an alliance with the dangerous Majin, and worshiped a suspicious god named Marisjafar. He believed it was only a matter of time before they caused trouble and victims in nearby cities and villages suffered.

From Doraneza and her tribe’s perspective, they couldn’t abandon the guardian deity they had worshiped for generations and allow the Demon King fragment they were guarding to fall into the hands of humans who caused Demon King fragment rampage incidents to occur once every few centuries.

From the perspective of Heinz and his party, there was no reason for them to hesitate in fighting Doraneza’s tribe, as they refused to surrender.

Those were the circumstances around the deadly battle between them.

Doraneza understands that the duke and Heinz’s party had their reasons for doing what they did. She understands, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t hate them for it, and she looks forward to the day that Vandalieu destroys them.

There is an old Merfolk by the name of Bastian who serves as her close aide. He and Dediria support her in her duties as leader of the Merfolk.

She was initially bewildered by Privel referring to her as ‘Doraneza-chan,’ but they are now close friends.

She is not very powerful in terms of strength, and now that she has given her Demon King fragment to Vandalieu, she has lost her trump card for emergency situations.

Dediria – Majin (Beast-Majin), ? years old, female

The leader of the Majin who worship Peryazeil, the Evil Poison Mushroom God. She is a Beast-Majin who is approximately two meters tall and possesses the features of multiple beasts, but she is not the ruler of her tribe; her position as a leader is as a priestess of their god. There is a separate leader to manage politics and another in charge of the warriors.

Her tribe has a long-standing alliance with the Merfolk led by Doraneza. They would gather information in order to keep themselves hidden from the humans and move locations every few centuries – living in the oceans when there was conflict among the humans and moving more inland when their nations went through periods of decline.

In more recent times, she used collaborators among Duke Farzon’s bureaucrats and his nobles to keep her tribe safe, but this was discovered by the duke and his advisors. They then targeted her and her Majin tribe, whom they saw as using spies to plot some terrifying conspiracy within the duchy.

Dediria doesn’t blame them for coming to that conclusion. After all, there were Majin in the past (several millennia ago) who did plot such conspiracies to destroy human nations.

However, she is extremely regretful about the fact that she got Doraneza’s tribe caught up in the mess, though the Merfolk insisted that they have always been in the same boat since their alliance started, and didn’t consider themselves to have been caught up in someone else’s mess.

The relationship between Dediria’s tribe and the Merfolk continue to this day, even after their numbers were reduced drastically during the battle against Heinz and his party and they fled to Gartland.

Yurak Shimon, Homunculus, ? years old, male

The mayor of the ‘town’ in Gartland. At first glance, he appears to be a gentle human male, but he is actually a Homunculus.

He has a gentle personality, but due to his history with the various races of Gartland, he has multiple wives. He is a devoted husband who, when asked what he loves about his wives, replies that he loves their hooves, their glossy skin, their pincers, or the shapes of their bodies.

This may be why he said, “As expected of the emperor,” in an impressed tone when he saw Vandalieu in the company of Gizania, an Arachne with the lower body half of a spider; Myuze, an Empusa with the features of a praying mantis; and Privel, a Scylla with eight tentacles.

Randolf – Elf, ? years old, male

The S-class adventurer who infiltrated the city of Morksi as Rudolf, and successfully left Morksi with his disguise intact despite being partially guided.

Having spoken with Vandalieu, he has come to the conclusion that he is not an exceedingly dangerous individual… about as dangerous, or less dangerous than, other rulers and religious leaders. He is currently on his way back to his base in the royal realm.

He is unaware that he received a request from Duke Rudel Sauron while he was absent. Even if he was aware of it, he would have no intention to make contact from his end.

However, because he was in disguise as a bard named Rudolf, he is unaware that a certain person intends to attend the Adventurers’ School in the royal realm in the spring.

Zalzarit – Pabilsag, ? years old, female

The leader of the Glaistigs who live in the mountainous region of Gartland. She was born as a mutant with the features of multiple races, but the Glaistigs, a female-only race with the lower body halves of goats, consider her unusual features as something sacred. This allowed her to rise to the position of leader without facing discrimination or persecution.

As the one among the leaders of Gartland who has some common sense, she pacifies Zorg and Feltonia while pressuring Yurak to be quicker to act.

Regarding the matter of Gartland becoming a part of the Demon Empire of Vidal, her common sense serves her well and she has a very reasonable opinion: She agrees with the move, but it should be done after the necessary discussions take place.

She is welcoming towards Gartland’s recent additions, the people led by Doraneza and Dediria. She is particularly delighted by the advances in mushroom cultivation and food culture brought about by Dediria and the god her tribe worship, the Evil Poison Mushroom God Peryazeil.

The pseudo-Divine Realms that were recklessly created by the forces defending Botin have affected Gartland despite it being deep underground, causing frequent incidents of high-Rank monsters to drop from the ceilings and walls. This has been resolved by Vandalieu and his companions, so she views them as heroes.

She is a person who has been recognized by the gods she worships, and she is thankful that Vida has also officially recognized her people as races that she created.

Zorg – Snow Ice Titan, ? years old, male

The man who serves as leader for the Snow Ice Titans, who live in Gartland’s coldest regions and have thick, white fur that would cause people from Earth to call them ‘abominable snowmen’ or ‘yetis.’

He is a heavy drinker who is quick to get into high spirits, and his mind works in crude ways, but he is good at taking care of others and has the qualities of a good leader.

He and Feltonia made a request for Vandalieu to conduct the special ritual that increased the strength of participants, known as an ‘Idol Concert,’ and this request was granted in exchange for promising that no enormous divine statue of Vandalieu would be built.

A solo concert was held with Vandalieu singing in a completely monotonous voice, with Demon King Familiars playing music and acting as bizarre background dancers, and the fanaticism inspired by it resulted in enormous images of Vandalieu being etched into the walls by his people.

To him, his people, Vandalieu, and those guided by Vandalieu, the images created by his people appear to depict Vandalieu. To everyone else, they apparently look like bizarre, nightmarish images initially, and then they gradually begin to resemble him.

Feltonia – Androscorpion, ? years old, female

The woman who serves as leader of the Androscorpions, a female-only race of people who mutated from Arachne and possess the lower bodies of scorpions (including the pincers). These people live in Gartland’s desert region.

She has a more proactive personality than Zalzarit, and as a result of her pestering Vandalieu to hold a concert… her people etched enormous images of him into the sands of their desert after hearing his solo performance.

Takkard Alcrem – Human, 60 years old, male

A duke who is reaching old age, but maintains youthful skin and a bountiful head of hair thanks to his use of V Cream.

His workload seems to increase by the day – with the reforms to recognize Ghouls as a friendly race created by Vida, foolish nobles in his realm causing trouble with Darcia, getting caught up in the reckless plans of youngsters from a neighboring duchy, and claims from people related to the church saying that the statues of some gods crumbled and statues of the goddesses were shining.

He has given up on trying to compete in national power against the Demon Empire of Vidal, even with the entirety of the Orbaume Kingdom. His aspiration for this year is for his own realm to become a powerful nation, as an ally of the Demon Empire.

Implementing the reforms as quickly as he can is a part of those efforts. Vandalieu is not hurrying him to do so, and is rather impressed by how quickly Takkard is carrying this work out, but there is an invisible pressure being applied to Takkard and his advisors.

Vandalieu has provided large quantities of V Cream out of good will, but Takkard has interpreted this as being told to use it to implement the reforms as quickly as possible.

To Takkard and his advisors, Vandalieu and his Demon Empire are like a shield at their back that has sharp spikes attached to it… The stress caused by this means that more V Cream is supplied out of good will, creating a never-ending spiral.

However, although his goal is to make his duchy competitive in terms of national strength, the relationship itself between his duchy and the Demon Empire is favorable; things like public order is being left to Starving Wolf Security, which is led by Michael (Miles)… Thanks to this, both he and Vandalieu’s side assume that communications are proceeding smoothly, neither being aware of the slight misunderstanding that is taking place.

As Vandalieu will be attending Adventurers’ School in the royal realm next spring, the Takkard foresees a drastic increase in the number of enquiries and attempted infiltrations into the Alcrem house in order to gain information.

Takkard’s trials aren’t over yet.