Chapter 28: Reassemble

After walking for three hours straight—thanks to Eva’s navigation skills—we were finally about to cross the desert. Every villager was exhausted and injured due to the human force that had ambushed us yesterday, but it was a relief that casualties were kept to a minimum. We had lost some people, but their sacrifice would not be in vain.

I was leading the demons again. As for Valkira, she was fine, but she must have hit her limit in yesterday's battle; she was still asleep alongside Coco, while Verixa took care of them. Every council member was also heavily injured, but regardless of that, they were helping the others.

“Eva, if you find anything wrong, please let me know, alright?” I said to her while taking a sip from my bottle as we walked.

“Understood, Master,” Eva replied.

“Huh… so you really are a human… and above that, an Earthling.” Diana came up from behind, leaning sideways.

“Well, sorry I was hiding that fact before. You know, if they had captured you while we escaped, I didn’t want them to know a human was helping you. I was already on their wanted list; if they knew, they wouldn’t have hesitated to attack Kraven to capture Verixa.”

“Don’t mind it. But your disguise doesn’t work against the human Knight Commander… huh?”

“I will not give you an excuse for that. Anyway, thank you… for delivering my message. If you hadn’t delivered it on time, things might have been different. And I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save all of your people.” My eyes cast downward as I apologized to her.

She closed her eyes and passed ahead of me. “Don’t worry. Think of it this way: I am still alive because of you. I am also feeling sad that my people are not with me, but it is not your fault. And above all, I have found a new family for myself.”

“I see… Good for you, then.” I smiled, feeling a wave of relief.

After walking for a few more minutes, we finally crossed the desert and found a spot nearby a lake. Everyone started setting up camp, and I was amazed by how systematically they assigned responsibilities. While the female demons mainly focused on gathering food and treating the injured, the male villagers were hunting and setting up the tents, and the soldiers were patrolling for any potential ambushes.

“Hey, Zacken…. I have done what you asked. The girl you brought with you should be fine now. I transferred some of my mana to her.”

“I see. Thanks. By the way, the demons work very systematically, don’t you think?” I questioned, curious to know the reason.

“Ah… this is because of Valkira. She really knows how to handle things quite well.”

“I see… after all, in the end, she is the commander of the demons.” I smiled as I added, “And I am surprised by you as well. I thought you didn’t like the demons at all, yet in this dire situation, you never left their side.” I teased.

“Wha—! I… I just did this because I didn’t want you to blame me if they got executed!” Her face went red with embarrassment as she hid her face from me.

“Master, I think Alira-sama is ill. Her face is turning red,” Eva responded.

“SHUT!!!! UP!!!!” Alira raised her voice.

Just then, a demon walked up to us in a hurry. “Zacken-sama, Valkira-sama and the girl you brought have finally woken up.”

“I see. Let’s go, Eva, Alira.”

We walked toward the large central tent, which majorly acted as the council room for the demons. After we entered, I saw Coco standing in the corner. Verixa was alongside Valkira, Diana was standing near the twins, Tez was arguing about something, and the Chief and Ken had already taken their seats.

I turned to Coco, looking at her worriedly. “You okay?”

“I am still feeling low, but I am fine, hehe,” Coco replied with a quiet giggle.

“Good…” I patted her head.

Valkira walked over to me and bowed slightly. “Thank you, Zacken. I heard you saved us again. I will be indebted to you once more.” She looked up and smiled at me, adding, “Also, welcome back.”

“Valkira! You don’t have to thank him! Being my minion, it is his responsibility to look after us!” Verixa huffed.

“Haha…” I scratched the back of my neck. “Well, I didn’t do pretty much by myself. It was thanks to Eva and Coco who really helped you guys…” I muttered to myself, knowing that Eva was the one who had teleported the human forces away, while Coco had literally saved Valkira from dying.

“Ahem. Anyway… First of all, thank you all for coming on such short notice. I know you all are injured but still attended this meeting. There are things you might want to know, such as where I was and how I returned. But first, I would like to introduce you to the ones who helped you all—the main reason the demons are still alive.”

I walked over to Eva’s side to introduce her. “This girl you are looking at is… well, you might have never heard of it, but she is an Automaton.”

“An Automaton? What is that…?” Siriel asked, confused.

Seeing that everyone else seemed just as perplexed, I cleared up the confusion. “Well, think of her like a golem that runs on mana. The difference is just that while she takes in mana, her body converts it into a metallic energy.”

“I see. That’s why I wasn’t able to sense any mana from Eva-san…” Tez said.

“How did you get her..? I mean, I have never seen a golem as intelligent as her in my entire life,” Chief Dave asked.

“That is a longer story that I will tell you, but first….” I walked over to Coco, who seemed nervous, and gently pushed her forward.

“H—Hi everyone!” She bowed nervously, seeing the demons and the others for the first time. “My name is Coco, I am Zacken's little sister. Nice to meet you.”

“Little sister? But how? When I summoned you, you were the only one who appeared. We found no one else other than you,” Verixa said, thoroughly confused.

“I knew this question would come. So…” I took a deep breath and announced, “I was returning back from Earth…”

“WHAAAAAAT?!” Everyone except the council members and Diana shocked, while the latter looked on in pure confusion.