The final day of the outside parade had arrived. We were currently in the Demon Kingdom Royal Capital, where the event was in full swing. Dense crowds of spectators lined both sides of the route, and the atmosphere was electric. While I had thought the parades in Village Five and Shashato City were impressive, the scale of the capital was in a league of its own. I was genuinely amazed that so many people lived here.
The diversity of races was equally striking; I spotted several I didn't even recognize. I made a mental note to ask someone about them later. I also noticed that the taller individuals, like the Minotaur Race and Centaur Race, didn't crowd the front lines but watched from the back. Conversely, the shorter races were almost always at the very front. I wondered if this was the result of organized direction or simply a matter of established local etiquette. This was another thing I’d have to ask Frau about.
Behind the rows of spectators, several stalls were lined up, selling a wide variety of goods. One was selling what looked like grissini—breadsticks—or perhaps they were pretzel-like snack sticks. Either way, I was curious about the flavor. The stall next to it was selling meat on skewers. I couldn't tell what kind of meat it was from a distance, but it looked delicious. Beside that was a stand selling small portions of fruit in cups. Interestingly, most of the customers there were men. Usually, fruit is popular with women, so I wondered if perhaps these weren't sweet. Or did they sell well regardless? I'd have to look into that too.
I caught myself smiling, realizing I had been swept up in the festive spirit. Despite everything, I was thoroughly enjoying the parade. Knowing it would soon be over even made me feel a bit lonely. While I was experiencing this mild surprise at my own sentimentality, a massive explosion rang out from the direction the parade was heading.
On the night of the parade’s final day, I found myself in a room within the Royal Castle at the heart of the capital. Also present were the Demon King and his officials: Beezel, Randan, and Gratz. Representing the various tribes were Dos for the Dragon Race, Malbit and Reginleiv for the Angel Race, Prada for the Ancient Devils, Galf for the Beastman Race, and Ria for the High Elves. Finally, there was Ire, representing the filming crew.
Including myself, there were twelve of us in the room. A few others were standing by in a separate area. We were gathered for an informal night party. To be clear, this wasn't a review meeting, even if a few people were wearing the grim expressions of defendants awaiting a verdict. More accurately, it was a post-parade review—a chance to discuss what went well and what didn't. I had been told I was free to head home immediately, but I couldn't bring myself to leave just yet. A lot had happened today, after all. I could at least stay for the night.
For some reason, the role of facilitator had fallen to me. I wasn't sure if I was the right person for it, but no one seemed to object. So, I decided to proceed without further hesitation.
"First of all," I began, "thank you all for your hard work today. I understand that an after-party—essentially a wrap party—is already underway outside. Since things will be difficult if the guest of honor, the Demon King, is absent, they’ve asked us to finish quickly. If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to hold this meeting later? No? You’d rather get it over with now? Well, if that’s what the Demon King and the others want, I don’t mind. I’ll start."
My first point was the parade’s conclusion. Had it been a bit too over-the-top? The most critical part of any parade is the ending. You need a performance that clearly signals to everyone that the event has officially concluded. If you don't, the energy just dissipates into a sluggish, lingering atmosphere. I learned that from our village parades. That’s why I usually close those out with a speech followed immediately by a banquet. By framing the event with my opening and closing remarks and then starting the food and drink, people recognize that the parade is over. This wasn't my idea, but something the Civil Official Girls devised.
A flashy explosion can serve as a finale, but it’s unpopular with certain residents—mainly our chickens, cows, horses, and goats. They find it noisy. They’ve grown accustomed to it enough not to find it dangerous, but it still irritates them. The Pegasuses aren't used to it yet, so they still get quite frightened.
A proper conclusion had been prepared for this parade as well, though I hadn't been told the details. I was simply informed that at the end, the swords held by the White Swan and Black Swan would explode, and that would be the signal for a surprise performance. Since I wasn't the one in charge, I had been looking forward to it.
I never imagined that "performance" would be a full-scale military exercise. And not just in one section, but across almost the entire capital. Safety zones had been established for children and non-combatants, but it was still a massive exercise with a staggering number of participants. I had some mixed feelings about the fact that we from the Village of the Great Tree—including Kuro’s pack and the Angels—were cast as the attackers. It was certainly a flashy ending. I suppose I should say it was exactly what I’d expect from the Demon Kingdom. It seemed there were many injuries, but fortunately, no fatalities. It spoke well of the training of the soldiers and the ability of the capital’s residents to handle unexpected trouble.
"Vi-Village Head... may I say something?" the Demon King interjected. I nodded for him to continue. "I am sorry. Regarding that final performance... there was an accident."
Yes, I’d heard. A pickpocket had caused a commotion, leading the swords held by the White Swan and Black Swan to explode prematurely. It was impressive that things didn't descend into chaos despite the signal being triggered ahead of schedule.
"Ah, no, well... because of that, I ended up making the Village Head act like a servant," the Demon King added sheepishly.
A servant? Was that how I looked? Once the military exercise began, I had accompanied the Demon King. I couldn't exactly take part in the combat myself, so I spent my time helping him round up Kuro’s children whenever we spotted them, instructing them to return to the standby area in the outskirts. Even then, it’s not like they were running away seriously, so we caught them instantly. It wasn't much work, and I didn't think it looked particularly servant-like. I turned to Ire, who had been focused on filming the Demon King, to ask how I appeared. She replied that I had been even more inconspicuous than a servant. Well, I didn't mind that at all.
"I-I see. Well, then that’s fine. I am grateful you were able to adapt to the unplanned performance," the Demon King said.
"It’s no trouble. As a participant, that’s only natural," I replied.
"Also," he continued, "the crackdown on the suspicious organizations along the route between the capital and Shashato was a complete success."
That was good news. That had been the primary goal of the parade, after all. If we had failed that, the whole endeavor would have been for nothing. I wondered if it was okay to speak of such things so openly here, but since it was only our inner circle, it was likely fine.
"By the way, Dos," I said, turning to the Dragon King. "You charged into the capital during the exercise, but you just wandered around for a bit and then left. What was that about?"
"Ah, you see, the Village Head's carriage combined at an unplanned location, didn't it? I assumed something had gone wrong and charged in to secure your safety. However, the main roads were clogged by the parade. I had to take some narrower streets and unfortunately damaged a few buildings. While I was worrying about that, one of the High Elf girls told me you were safe, so I turned back. Demon King, will financial compensation suffice for the property damage?"
"Money is fine," the Demon King replied. I offered to pay since it had been for my sake, but they both ignored me.
"And one more thing," I said. "What was the reason for Hakuren, Graffaloon, and Guronde—in their dragon forms—surrounding the three Post-Age of Gods Dragons? It looked like a scene from a shakedown."
"I-it was guidance," Dos answered.
"Guidance?"
"It was a matter of whether it is acceptable for the Dragon Race to bow their heads and beg for mercy, even if they know they are no match for their opponent."
Ah. During the exercise, those three dragons had been on the defense side. They were active in supporting the defense soldiers, but when they encountered Kuro’s children on the attacker side, they apparently bowed their heads to avoid the fight. Personally, I couldn't fault them. I would hesitate to stand up to an opponent I couldn't beat, too. Besides, I heard that the defense soldiers gave them very high marks for avoiding unnecessary conflict, so it probably turned out for the best.
"Right, that reminds me... I heard the High Elves and Beastmen rampaged quite energetically. They apparently occupied several government facilities."
When I praised them, Ria gave a sheepish, troubled smile. "Ahaha. We just... got a little too carried away." Galf wore a similar expression. "Yes. We might have overdone it just a bit."
"And Prada, your group was on the defense side, correct?"
"Yes," Prada replied. "But we didn't engage in direct combat. we simply distributed weapons to the citizens."
"Where did the weapons come from?"
"From the capital’s armories. we had scouted the locations beforehand."
Everything seemed to have gone according to plan. "I see. Rather than us, however, you should really praise Zabuton’s children."
"I intend to. I heard they rescued residents who couldn't evacuate in time when the exercise started so suddenly. I'm grateful they prioritized those rescues even while expecting a scolding from Zabuton. I’ll make sure to speak to her so she doesn't go too hard on them."
There were plenty of other minor points to reflect on, and things I wanted to say to those who weren't in the room—especially the Mountain Elves. I hadn't known the transforming carriage was armed. Specifically, I hadn't been told about the additional carriage that turned into a large ballista. It transformed and combined perfectly, but they hadn't even thought about how to load the arrows, so it ended up being just a useless decoration. I really didn't see the need to make it combine with the carriage in the first place. If the carriage itself transforms into a ballista on the spot, that should be more than enough.
Wait, that's not the point. The point is that such armaments shouldn't be necessary... or perhaps they are. I'm constantly told that while our village is safe, the rest of the world is not. Even in Village Five, the areas outside the settlement are supposedly dangerous. Still, a massive ballista feels like overkill for a self-defense weapon. I’d have to discuss that with them.
"And finally, I need to have a talk with Tiselle. Malbit, Reginleiv, are you both really okay with this? This talk about Tiselle building a nation?"
Sorry to keep you all waiting. Let's get started.