Chapter 826
Chapter 826
826: Jayne
After the dwarves showed up, another army appeared. This time, an army of demonkin.
With their support, we managed to join up with the dwarves.
「Orfalve-sama! Thank you for your assistance!」
「Fuahahaha! It is just what we needed to repay our debt to Fran! You need not worry about it!」
The dwarf queen laughed off Hilt's words and welcomed our hundred man army into their ranks.
The dwarves came forward to protect Fran and the others, smiling at us as we passed them by. They also seemed to be trying to reassure us by giving us a thumbs-up or a guts-pose.
Their opponents were no normal antidemons. Even without the ability to coordinate, the hordes still consisted of elites, the powerful black antidemons. Your average soldier would be saying their prayers right about now.
To the dwarves, however, this difference was insignificant.
Just as I had seen in our first battle with the dwarves, they simply marched forward, knocking down the antidemons with impunity.
The march of the dwarves showed no sign of stopping. They made it look so easy that the thought, "Huh, were they really that weak?", almost passed through my head.
Especially Orfalve, who was leading the warriors on the front line, was a surprise even to us.
She made no attempts to defend herself, simply shrugging off each blow with her own toughness and armor, then crushing her opponent with a counterattack. And this was against the black and red knight-types that even we struggled against.
Not a single antidemon could get past the wall of dwarves.
The tense atmosphere of Fran and the others seemed to have loosened up a bit. They still didn't let their guard down, but they certainly felt relief at this sight of hope.
Being behind the dwarves was just that reassuring.
And they were not fighting alone.
The demonkin had joined up behind the dwarves, sending them healing and support magic. The dwarven army already had overwhelming power, and now you're giving them magical support? That's just overkill.
I had finally regained enough composure to examine the demonkin army.
Initially, I believed their army was about half the size of the dwarven army, but they were even smaller than I thought. The demonkin army only looked bigger because of all the undead following them.
There were a little more than 200 undead guarding the demonkin, all quite powerful.
I searched for Jean, but couldn't find any signs of his presence. Maybe he was hiding from us?
Just as I was thinking that, I heard Announcer-san's warning.
《A presence is approaching.》
『Eh?』
Where? I didn't sense anything, but Announcer-san wouldn't lie to me. I diverted all my concentration to detection, searching for the person Announcer-san was trying to warn me about.
And sure enough, someone was there. I could feel a very slight vibration with each step they took. Fran sensed this too.
She quickly turned around, and her eyes widened.
That someone was really closing in right behind us.
And it was the sorceress at the head of the demonkin army.
I couldn't feel any hostile intent, but she did attempt to sneak up on us. Fran glared at the woman warily.
But the sorceress simply shrugged her shoulders, not looking apologetic in the slightest.
「Oh? Guess you caught me.」
「……Who are you?」
「Ahahahaha! My name is Jayne, Jayne Dovey, ruler of the underworld, and she who has gazed into the darkest depths!」
Ugh. I could tell she was related to Jean even if she didn't tell us her family name! Maybe she's Jean's little sister or something?
I tried to appraise her, but I got repelled somehow. Not only was she powerful enough to resist, I felt something blocking me as well. Judging by that feeling, she was likely using some sort of anti-appraisal skill combined with an anti-appraisal item.
「Ahahahaha! You just attempted to appraise me, huh? Nonsense, simply nonsense! I'm wearing a very powerful appraisal blocking item, so not even Garrus' Divine Eye would work! Well, that's no wonder since the boy can't even fully utilize his Divine Eye!」
Did she call Garrus "the boy"? I thought she was Jean's little sister, but maybe she was the older sister instead. You just can't tell the age of these long-lifespan races by their appearance.
「……Who are you?」
「Huh? Didn't I already answer that?」
「You said your name was Jayne, but you didn't say who you were. Are you related to Jean?」
「Ah! That's right, of course. It's been so long that I've spoken to someone who didn't recognize my name. What a blunder!」
So she must be at least famous enough to have her name recognized back home?
「Gasp! Ever since I arrived at this continent, I've been getting weird looks every time I introduced myself…… Don't tell me that this was the actual reason. I had thought they were all stricken with fear at the mere mention of my name!」
The complete inability to listen to others combined with that eccentric personality… I'm sure she shares the same blood as Jean. They were similar in appearance too.
Jayne was about 160 cm tall, with skin so pale it almost looked blue. She also shared the same dull silver hair, goat-like horns, and red eyes as Jean.
However, the softness in her eyes probably made her seem more friendly than Jean. She appeared strangely approachable, in spite of her behavior.
Maybe her voice was a part of that too? She had what I would call a "loli voice", that could probably be mistaken for that of an elementary school girl. You might say she was the complete opposite of Orfalve, whose tone always had a regal air.
Her outfit was similar to Jean's, a robe with skull accessories scattered all over. However, the two main differences were the chest gap revealing her cleavage and the bottom of her robe turning into a tightly fitting dress.
「Ah yes, we were still in the middle of a conversation! I am Jayne and Jean Dovey is one of my sons!」
「Son?」
Seriously? This is his mother? That's not what I was thinking when I said they were related!
「Precisely! Uhh, the ninth son, I believe?」
「Jayne, he is your eighth son.」
「Huh, really?」
「!」
『Uwah!』
Damn, that really scared me! The skull necklace resting on Jayne's chest suddenly spoke out of nowhere! That silver necklace looked just to be one of her many skull accessories……
Is it an undead? If so, I was certainly unable to sense any sign of it……
「Surprised? This is an undead item! It's specialized in concealment and disguise, so I'm sure you couldn't sense it, right?」
It turned out that this necklace was the trick behind her Presence Blocking and Appraisal Blocking. It probably applied the effect to both the item itself and the wielder.
「My name is Tort Dovey, the one in charge of making sure she does not go over board.」
「Dovey?」
「Tort is my great-grandfather. He turned himself into an undead to continue serving his country.」
「Indeed. It is a pleasure to meet you.」
「……Jayne, are you someone important?」
「Ahahahaha! You see, Dovey is the family name of the demonkin kingdom's ruling class!」
「So……?」
「You are certainly one calm girl. She means to say she is the queen of the demonkin kingdom, known widely as the Demon Lord.」
「Precisely!」
The Demon Lord smirked with a smug pose in front of us. What? You're telling me this girl is the Demon Lord? And if she's Jean's mother, then she must be way older, right? Judging by her appearance and behavior, I could have sworn she was a teenager……
「Hmm.」
「D-Do you not think you are being a little too composed?」
「Oooh, that's one cool attitude! I like you a lot!」
No, Fran's only calm because she doesn't realize how important the demon lord is! I'm currently freaking out here! Is this girl seriously a queen? Doesn't that make Jean a prince? Say it ain't so!