Furious, Dogora stood up and punched the table.
The table dented and the food momentarily floated off the plates.
"Why will you go alone!?"
Dogora bit at Helmios.
It was because Helmios had declared that only he and I would go to defeat Demon General Razel.
"That's because you'll slow us down."
Helmios asserted without any trepidation in the face of Dogora's ferocity.
"What did you say?"
My friends, except Dogora, looked at me with "What does he mean?" look instead of Helmios.
(Hmm, I don't mean to go alone with the Hero, but, well, I see. But I have to say it.)
I wasn't planning to fight the Demon General alone with Helmios.
However, I had not been able to fully share what I heard from Helmios in the Central Continent to my friends.
I looked at my friends and started explaining.
"Helmios says that only the two of us will go, but I want each of you to make the final decision."
"Does that mean I can decide for myself if I want to fight the Demon General?"
"That's what I meant. However, I'm going to talk about the strength of the Demon Generals that Helmios told me about."
Then I talked about the strength of the Demon Generals.
Dogora also sat back in his chair once I began to speak.
Helmios had defeated two Demon Generals.
However, he said that he had only been able to defeat them in five battles.
And even with parties made up of strong members, such as Master Swordsmans and Saints, many people died.
Helmios closed his eyes and listened to me.
I did not want my friends to know that, but I kept going, hoping it would help my friends to make a decision.
"I see, I know now that he is very strong. Allen, what do you think our win percentage is against Demon General Razel?"
Win percentage was one of many words that I sometimes uttered when we used to fight strong opponents such as an A-rank magical beast.
I didn't always talk like we could beat all magical beasts, so my friends were used to hearing me talk like that.
"The Demon Generals are a lot stronger than I thought they'd be. I've heard that the strength of the Demon Generals varies a lot as well. Maybe 10% without Helmios and about 50% with Helmios. They is probably a Demon Great General too."
I told them what I had heard from Helmios, that even if we lumped Demon Generals as just one group, they had very different forms and different strengths.
"Demon Great General?"
"As the word implies, they are one rank higher than Demon Generals. We probably won't be able to win if that Demon comes out. Helmios once fought a Demon Great General and lost many of his friends."
I also added that the friends Helmios lost were stronger than them.
We talked about winning percentage, which in this case leads to mortality.
When I said we only had 10% chance of winning, that also meant that we had 90% chance of dying.
And even with humanity's Hero, there was a 50% chance that we might die.
""...""
Helmios spoke to Dogora, who had folded arms in silence.
"Dogora, you said. Why do you want to fight a Demon General? You're not from Rosenheim, are you?"
There is no reason to take the risk of fighting, Helmios asked admonishingly.
"Because he's my friend."
"What?"
"My friend is going to fight against a powerful enemy. My friend's country has been attacked. What other reason do I need to fight?"
"I see. I see."
To Dogora's immediate response, Helmios replied somewhat regretfully.
"Allen, what will you do if you find that we can't defeat the Demon Generals?"
Kurena asked me, perhaps trying to change the atmosphere.
"Of course we'll run. Let's just say that our next meeting will be about how we can escape."
I assured them with a determined look while joining Kurena in changing the atmosphere.
"Boo! Oh, hey."
Kiel blew out. He wondered what all the tension was about.
"No, seriously, listening to Helmios, I can't be sure of winning. I'm sorry for the elves, but depending on the state of the war, we may have to wait a few years to retake Fortenia and worship the World Tree."
(If there is a boss you can't beat in your first fight, it's common sense to train and try again.)
Only my friends there understand the true meaning of my words.
This meant that I had assured them that after a few years of training, I would have the power to surpass the Demon Generals.
"But then what about the promise you made to the Spirit King? I won't be able to become a Grand Mage."
(Hey, you're showing your true colors.)
Cecile was worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill the promise I made to the Spirit King.
Rather than a promise, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to become a Grand Mage.
"That's not a problem. Because I've already fulfilled my promise to the Spirit King."
""Huh?""
The eyes of everyone at the round table focused on me, their voice leaked out in surprise.
"I want you to remember. What I promised was to save Rosenheim. It was never about taking back Fortenia or the World Tree. The elves are safe now and they know that we were the ones to save them."
I explained further.
The threat to Rosenheim's existence had vanished.
The 7 million magical beasts of the Demon King's army were almost completely eradicated.
Compared to that, losing nearly two-thirds of Rosenheim's land for a few years would not be a big deal. But that's only compared to the extinction of the elves.
For the time being, the elves had to fight the Demon King's army using the Fortress LaPolca as frontlines, but since we had hunted down all the magical beasts till then, we didn't have to fight for at least the next year.
""...""
It was then that my friends realized about my plan and my promise to the Spirit King.
(I promised the Spirit King as much as I can accomplish, without giving specifics. I don't know if I can defeat the Demon General.)
I wanted to make sure he got a reward from the Spirit King.
I didn't need to raise the bar to get the same reward.
"Of course, we are not asking for anything more. Master Allen is completely right"
The Queen, with the navel-gazing Spirit King in her lap, answered on behalf of Rosenheim.
She didn't seem to care earlier either when I had said that the war was not over because of Demon General Razel.
"You have a really unusual way of thinking, Allen. To be honest, that kind of thinking scares me. But I guess it's better than using violence."
Helmios agrees with my idea.
"As I said, I'll do my best to make it as safe as possible and increase our chances of winning as much as possible. Don't worry about that. So, before we get to the strategy, here's some basic information about my party."
Before talking about our strategy against Demon General Razel, I started to explain our fighting style to Helmios.
Helmios listened to me for about an hour, saying, "I see, I see."
Helmios said that he wanted to hear everyone's point of view, so my friends joined in the conversation as well, telling the story from the vanguard and rearguard perspectives.
"Well, thank you. It's a little different from the fighting style taught in the Academy, but I got the gist of it. Can we do the rest outside instead of in the Meeting Room?"
(I guess we've had enough of Meeting Room talk.)
It's good to plan strategies in the Meeting Room, but it's better to actually move your body, Helmios said.
As for Helmios, I thought he had already heard everything he wanted in the Meeting Room.
"You mean you want to match our coordination with your movements?"
"That's one thing, but I want to know how strong you really are. You should go out there and show me how strong you are and how you fight. I'll be your opponent."
"That's nice. I was the only one who's ever fought against you."
I agreed. A sparring would be more instructive than words. In order to fight the Demon General Razel, cooperation was important.
"Dogora, right?"
"Yeah?"
"You were so heroic just now. But I hope your mouth is not the only thing good about you."
Helmios put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist and provoked Dogora.
"..."
Wordlessly, Dogora grabbed the axe he had at his feet, placed it on his shoulder, and walked out of the room.
"What's with all the tension? Are you okay?"
"Helmios doesn't want Dogora to die."
I could understand Helmios' feelings.
All of us also went out of the building following Dogora.
We headed for an open ground, which was a short distance from the building.
"Your vanguards are a Master Swordsman and an Axe Knight. Your party is really small, isn't it, Allen?"
Looking at us, he murmured a few words.
"One of my party members has returned to the Baukis Empire, but, well, but you are right."
"Well, then, Dogora, you can start. I want you to show me your Extra Skill."
"..."
Dogora did not reply.
Helmios seemed to have noticed something.
"Oh, I see. I'm sure you already know, but you're not thinking of fighting a Demon General without being able to use your Extra Skill, are you?"
With that, he pulled out the Golden Orichalcum sword at his waist.
"..."
"What's the matter with you? Come here. I'll knock your naive ideas out of your head."
Helmios continued his provocation against Dogora.
At Helmios's provocation, Dogora grabbed his axe and went at him with all his might.
