Clap!
"Alright! Now that everything is settled, it is ti for Layland to prepare for his departure."
"What departure?" I turn my puzzled gaze to Ilschevar.
Ilschevar blinks his eyes. "Hasn't Valeria told you that you are going to join the army today?"
"I believe she hasn't told anything about it." I look at Valeria mildly.
"I was afraid that the coward I knew would refuse to join the army and fail his Awakening, if I told him about that in advance, Lord Ilschevar. I was planning to tell him right after this," Valeria reasons calmly.
"Well, it is elating to know that the coward you supposed to know has already beco a man, isn't it?" Ilschevar looks at with a small smile. "Layland seems eager to join the army."
I am pretty neutral about the revelation, so I neither nod my head to confirm Ilschevar's word, nor do I vehently deny him. I am, however, curious about the army—the other Demons that I haven't t yet.
A light of understanding enters Valeria's eyes, and she imdiately nods her head at appreciatively. I am sure she has just misunderstood my lack of reaction as my way of showing my eagerness, but I don't say anything about it.
"I am sorry for doubting your resolve," Valeria apologizes sincerely. "I just didn't want to take a risk and let you fail your Awakening."
"Don't mind it." I wave my hand nonchalantly. "I have got used to being underestimated by people, and I like to prove them wrong."
"That is a great mindset, befitting of a Demon King Candidate."
"Well... Is that a complint?" I quirk my eyebrow. "That is a very roundabout way to say 'I admire you.'"
Valeria blinks her eyes in surprise. "You are also as shaless as any other Demon Kings..."
She shakes her head not long after, then motions to follow her with her chin. "Anyway, let us gear you up. The army will arrive here in an hour, and you have to be ready before it."
"Ilschevar says that today is my day of joining the army, so can I assu that I am going to go to the battlefield?"
"Ah, about that, you won't enter the battlefield until the person I will entrust you to deems you are ready." Instead of Valeria, Ilschevar is the one who answers . "I can't let you go et your doom this soon, can I?"
I am sure that he ans well with his sentence, but the way he smiles at irks . I can't help my upper lip from twitching, but I don't retort him. I know I am still weak; if the current t the Heroes, I would die 7 out of 10.
I have to avoid eting the Heroes for the ti being, and get stronger as fast as I can. I am confident it won't be that long, because I have my broken Origin, Pride that allows to get stronger as long as I fight a stronger opponent.
"That is understandable." I nod my head at Ilschevar.
"You don't have to be disappointed." Ilschevar smiles. "You are also not going to play around with the person I will entrust you to. He will guide you along with people under him—it will be exhilarating."
I am actually not disappointed at all and I am sure my face shows nothing that indicates disappointnt, but I don't bother to correct him. He is not going to listen anyway, so it is better to save my energy.
Valeria bids her farewell to Ilschevar in the next mont, and imdiately drags with her. Millonia also follows closely behind us as we head to the castle's armory.
I am honestly already comfortable with my current outfit and I think I can manage battling in that, but Valeria insists that I should wear my armor to prevent from getting any undesirable injury.
'Talking about outfit, my coat, shirt, and vest are still in the process of fixing themselves after being blown away by my clash with Ilschevar earlier... I am currently bare chested. It is weird that only half of my abdon is covered with clothes.'
I look down at my body and sigh as I see my clothes are slowly fixing themselves. I am not sighing because of the slow speed they fix themselves, however; I sigh at the fact that I am going to take them off soon.
Although I believe I can still wear my favourite black shirt, I have to say goodbye to my red tailcoat. I am not going to be the idiot who wears a coat on top of an armor.
"Anyway, why are you following us?" I look to Millonia beside .
"Excuse ? I don't recall this place has beco your private property."
"I am not forbidding you to co here—I am asking what you are going to do."
Millonia quirks her eyebrow then taps her dented chest plate. "An asshole did this to my armor, so I need to change it."
I don't say anything to her snarky reply and rely nod my head in understanding. I am the asshole who has wrecked her chest plate with my punch yesterday, so I have to be self-conscious.
That being said though, I don't feel guilty at all. She has done countless of crazy shit to my body, and compared to it, the dent I made on her chest plate is nothing.
"I thought you could afford an armor by yourself."
"I already have a permission to take whichever armor I want from Lord Ilschevar," Millonia replies in annoyance.
"So much for saying that you are broke."
"I am not!"
I shrug and faintly laugh as I have managed to irk Millonia like usual. It always gives a sense of accomplishnt whenever I manage to irk this beautiful, psychotic lady.
Millonia is about to annoy back like she usually does, but a brief glance from Valeria is enough to stop her from doing whatever she is going to do. I am also honestly a little bit scared by Valeria's look, but I play it cool by acting unperturbed.
"Your decision to keep what your Origin allows you to do is correct, Layland."
"I just don't feel the need to tell anyone about it."
"That is good." Valeria nods her head in agreent. "Since there is nothing much known about your Origin, Pride, you shall always bear in mind, as long as you can keep that a secret, no one will be able to figure you out. It's an advantage that Demons rarely got."
"I will bear that in mind."
"You shall do the sa thing about your identity as a Demon King Candidate," Valeria says seriously. "You are not the only one, so make sure to hide your status as long as possible—at least, until you are confident enough with your power."
I hum to myself as I look at my right hand. "Are you going to tell about who I should be careful with?"
I am talking about the other Demon King Candidates. Valeria understands who I am referring to, and imdiately shakes her head.
"Even though you are my ntee, I can't show any favoritism toward you. Like the other Candidates, you have to figure out the rest of the Candidates by yourself."
"Hoh? Hundreds of years of being Demon King Candidates, but none of them have found out about each other yet?"
"I believe they have already figured out about each other's status however..."
"They simply can't do anything about it."
Valeria nods her head as I hum to myself. There is only one explanation about why such a thing can happen: all of them are equally powerful, so they are keeping each other in check.
Rather than finding out who the other Candidates are, the senior Candidates must be doing their best to outclass the others so they can win the competition. They can't lose, because their life will also end if they do.
They must be so engrossed in their personal growth now, they don't pay much attention to their competitors. Depending on Valeria's answer to the question I am about to ask, this is an opportunity for .
"Valeria, can I ask you sothing."
"... Yes."
"You look surprised that I just called you the way you want to call you." I quirk my eyebrow.
"Ah, no. I was just surprised you didn't even hesitate in the slightest."
"I have got your permission to do so—why should I hesitate?" I shrug nonchalantly. "Anyway, that's not important. What about the arrival of the new Demon King Candidate? Is it sothing that everyone knows about?"
"There are only three people who know about the new Demon King Candidate: Lord Ilschevar, Millonia, and myself. The other Demon King Candidates don't know anything about you, and we don't have any plan to tell them."
"... Thank you for being on my side."
I smile at Valeria, but she imdiately dodges my gaze for so reason. I don't have any intention to ask her about that however; I am too glad about the information Valeria has told .
Since none of the other Candidates are told about the new Candidate, , I don't have to worry about being hampered by them. In their eyes I will be just another genius Demon when they see .
I will be the absolute dark horse in this competition, who sweeps all of the prizes by myself.
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