The Paladin Order had two deputy commanders.
One was a mediocre swordsman who was valued for other reasons: Gustav Montagnés. He was leading the knights headed for the city wall.
The other was next to Remedios: Pink of the Nine Colors, Isandro Sanchez.
“If he could use it as many times as he wanted, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t be using it right now. I believe it’s safe to assume there is some sort of condition that has to be met or that it will be some time before he can use it again.”
“Right. Maybe I was worrying too much, splitting us up like this.”
“No, not at all. He could be conserving some vast power. We can’t let our guard down.”
“Ah, true. Got it.”
Remedios ended the conversation. She really wasn’t one for using her brain.
Politics, especially, gave her a headache. In particular, she didn’t understand why the nobles frowned and complained about there being no precedent for a woman being holy king.
Calca’s title was the greatest proof of that discontent.
As a female holy king, people called her the Holy Lady. That’s what was decided on when they refused to give primacy to a female title by calling her holy queen or changing the title to something else.
In that sense, Remedios found it simpler to just think about things in terms of strong and weak.
“Commander Custodio. The flags from the priest and the adventurer groups have also been raised.”
“And Her Holy Majesty Calca?”
“Not yet.”
“I see… But go ahead and start casting defensive spells that will last. Once Holy Lady Calca arrives, we’ll make first contact with Jaldabaoth. We’ll distract him as bait. Steel your resolve and be ready for his special attack.”
Her troops responded with a brave cheer.
“He hasn’t moved from the square?”
The initial unit had already been wiped out. If their target had moved, the adventurers scouting ahead should have notified them. If there was no report, it meant that Jaldabaoth hadn’t gone anywhere.
“This demon is going to be sorry if he’s underestimating us! He probably thinks if he kills us all here that he’ll have no trouble conquering the whole kingdom.”
“B-but Commander. He could be buying time. If Jaldabaoth pins us here, the subhumans will have an easier fight.”
“…Aha. That could be it… This Jaldabaoth guy is pretty smart.”
“He’s a demon so I suppose he’s devilishly intelligent.”
“…Hmph. I’m gonna thrash this cocky demon and make him cry.” Remedios vowed to the gods, and as if it had been waiting for that moment, the last flag rose.
“Deputy!”
“Yes, ma’am! We’re ready to go!”
“All right! Follow me!”
Remedios ran, determined to stick her sword through that ridiculous demon’s face.
She turned the corner, sprinted, and turned another corner.
Then, in the middle of the square dyed red with the blood of scattered corpses, she saw a strange figure. He wore a mask, and a tail curled out from his backside.
He looked just as the soldiers who had escaped said he did.
No bat wings or curved horns—the only thing that pointed him out as a grotesque was his tail. Seeing him like this gave the impression he was just a man with a mask on.
But…
“So you’re Jaldabaoth?!”
“I rolled out the red ca— Oh?”
As she stepped into the square, the pungent stench of innards and blood hit her nose, and a chunk of flesh squished beneath her foot. But she wasn’t aware of any of that. All she cared about was charging in and bringing down her sword.
When he dodged her attack so easily, she became even more uncomfortable and raised her blade again.
And he evaded once more.
Remedios knew that even if she spent hours and hours studying, she couldn’t get good results. That’s why she had put all her time into raising her fighting power. It was clear that she had some aptitude in that area. And that’s how she became known as the strongest warrior in the country.
Paladin Remedios Custodio’s instincts screamed at her.
It’s no accident that Jaldabaoth is dodging. He only appears relaxed because he’s that skilled. There are only a handful of humans capable of keeping up with the battle that is about to unfold. I need more magic support.
And at moments like these, Remedios’s instincts were never wrong.
“Take cover! You guys need to find shelter! No—give us a wide berth! This demon is strong!”
As she said that, she took some distance like her subordinates did. Her troops shifted back a lot, but she didn’t go quite that far—four yards at most, so she was within striking distance if she took a running start.
Jaldabaoth’s shoulders slumped. “You’re like a bull, huh? What? Did someone wave a red cloth?”
Ignoring the demon’s comments, Remedios noticed the soldiers led by Kelart and Calca out of the corner of her eye.
They were rushing over, surprised that Remedios had already engaged.
The demon turned his entire body to face Calca, leaving his unprotected back open to Remedios. But she knew that he was waiting for her to attack him from behind, so she didn’t move.
“You guys, he’s strong! If you don’t have the soldiers fall back, they’ll die for no reason!”
The two listened to her shout and acted accordingly. Only Kelart and Calca approached.
Remedios maintained her distance from Jaldabaoth but circled around to stand in front of the other two.
“Remedios, please don’t try too hard.”
“Listen to her, honored sister. Isn’t this the sort of adversary we should all take on together?”
Though registering their nagging behind her, Remedios never took her eyes off Jaldabaoth. He could use the power that broke the wall at any second. The instant he seemed like he was going to try it, she intended to attack.
But she didn’t get any sense of that from him.
His leisurely air made her nervous.
I’m definitely—no matter what—going to make you crawl in the dirt!
“So you’re Jaldabaoth, are you?”
The way he shrugged his shoulders in response to Calca’s question offended Remedios even more. Every single thing he did annoyed her.
“That is correct… Your slave attacked without even waiting for my reply. What was she planning to do
