"Let's hurry . This period where the demon has just been resurrected is our best chance at defeating it . "
"Got it!"
"Yes! . . . We're heading in that direction, right?"
Ruli pointed at the direction where the mana flowed in .
Identifying directions from within roughened up Dragon Veins is supposed to be quite a task . . . But she handled that nicely .
"Yeah . You've got the general direction covered . . . and now I'll go check its exact location . "
I probe Zadokilgias's location from Dragon Veins' flow .
Then . . . I managed to pinpoint it .
"Zadokilgias is over there . In the direction of the capital . "
The demon's mana reaction is located further ahead of the capital .
Might as well contact the king and the princ.i.p.al since it's along the way anyway .
Still quite far, but it shouldn't take too long with our legs .
Advertis.e.m.e.nt"Err . . . Would you like to ride on my back since we're in a hurry and all?"
Iris flaps her arms around while still in her human form .
That's the fastest method for sure, but . . . .
"Nah, we'll walk there . The period after its resurrection may be the best time to defeat this demon, but one or two days won't make a difference . . . Iris, preserve your power . "
"I got it!"
Iris will be our trump card for this fight .
Since her [Dragon Breath] boasts firepower that can be dealt just with a difference in skill .
How to make best use of that is the point of the upcoming fight .
Thanks to the continued treatment, Iris's magic circuits have stabilized considerably .
One shot of [Dragon Breath] should be no problem to her .
However . . . Flying in her dragon form would put unnecessary burdens on her recovering magic circuits .
We should just walk the walk if it would lessen that load .
"Are we gonna go straight toward the demon?" Alma asked as we reached the capital . "No . Let's gather some info first . " Zadokilgias's body gets stronger over time . We'd be better off gathering more information within that time frame . The royal castle will prioritize matters concerning demons after all, might as well ask away . "Let's head back to the Second Academy for now . " Contacting royal castle is faster through Second Academy . I got connected to comm magic while walking . 『What's the matter, Grevil?』 『I felt demonic mana mixed in the Dragon Veins while I was making an observation at Second Academy . Is that also why Mathias-san has come back?』 Looks like he's already noticed the problem this time . 『Yeah . . . How's the situation? Any incident taking place?』 『I don't see anything amiss since the time I detected the demonic mana . However . . . This demon is most likely quite strong despite its mana . Please be careful . 』 『Oh right, are you not aware of Zadokilgias then, Grevil . 』 I probably took care of Zadokilgias long before Grevil was born . 『Zadokilgias . . . Do you mean the [Demon of Destruction]?』 『Yeah . It's quite an old demon specializing in skillset . 』 『I know the name at least . . . I've been keeping my observation for any suspicious trends after that one time . . . But there has been absolutely nothing in the Dragon Veins since . 』 I see . 『Can you inform the princ.i.p.al that we'll be arriving at Second Academy?』 『Yes . I shall ask the royal castle to gather information pertaining known spots of demons . 』 On the move already huh . Nice footwork . I made my way to the Second Academy's princ.i.p.al room while thinking that .
◇
Evening of that day .
We arrived at the Second Academy without issues .
There were no abnormal mana movements caused by demons or anything either .
Pa.s.sing through the capital to head straight to Zadokilgias's location is faster indeed .
However . . .
However, mere one or two days won't make that much difference .
Information about geographical features and neighboring towns near where the demon is could influence the fight .
And we've got Grevil at the Second Academy .
The princ.i.p.al will get us through back pa.s.sage instead of the normal annoying procedures .
The caller was not me .
This mana . . . it's Grevil .
Perhaps he has information I don't have considering how close the capital is to the demon's location .
Yet the demon's mana is abnormal enough for him to be wary of its strength .
At least it doesn't seem like there's a large-scale magic that makes use of Dragon Veins .
Zadokilgias isn't the type that heavily relies on the scale of magic to begin with though .
Instating Grevil as Second Academy's instructor was really a correct choice .