The Strongest Wizard Becomes a Countryside Guardsman After Taking an Arrow to the Knee

Chapter 152 – The New Magic Lord

llimie.

「Why are you looking at me? I’m not the Magic Lord!」

「It’s not me, either!」

Vi-Vi and Vallimie both looked troubled as they denied it.

Yureena was still unmoved.

「You may have become it without knowing.」

「I don’t think it’s me or my sister. The magic lord is very, very strong.」

「Well, lately Vi-Vi, you’ve become very good at drawing magic circles!」

「That’s just because of practice!」

Luka and Yureena weren’t trying to scare the sisters with interrogation. They were just searching for the truth.

The two sisters continually denied it, though.

Of course they did. There was a long history between the magical lord and the hero.

「Mooo mooo!」

「Moofy, thanks for believing me.」

Moofy rubbed up against Vi-Vi.

Vi-Vi held the cow happily.

「Mommf mooommff」

「Heh heh heh, stop already.」

Mooofy started munching on Vi-Vi’s hand.

Vi-Vi petted Moofy again.

「Why would a cow that’s been resurrected by the follower of God chew on Vi-Vi’s hand then?」

Vallimie said, pointing at the two.

「I told you, I’m not the magic lord!」

「Maybe there’s another reason?」

「Yeah…」

But Luka and Yureena weren’t convinced.

Moofy basically chewed on everyone’s hand anyway.

Cruz shook her head and laughed.

「No, it’s not Vi-Vi.」

「Why do you think so?」

「Cruz, do you have proof?」

The two asked her, and Cruz thought for a second.

「Because, it’s clearly NOT her.」

「So what’s your proof?」

「This is so like you Cruz.」

Yureena and Luka both looked at her, lost.

Vi-Vi grabbed Cruz’ hand in thanks. And Moofy kept chewing on the other one.

「Cruz, thank you! You believed in me!」

「Stop chewing on her hand!」

Moofy’s drool covered her hand.

But Vi-Vi was so grateful, she was almost to the point of crying.

「Well, you do have that intuition. If you say so, then I believe you.」

I said, and Luka nodded.

「You’re right. It might be that some demons are hiding around here or something.」

「Timi, is it possible some demons have infiltrated this place? I mean, you said that the place’s defenses were incomplete without Shiggy ascending the throne.」

「Well, someone as strong as a Demon Lord would be able to get into the palace even after the ascension. The Great Demon that killed Shiggy’s mother did.」

「I see. Then we definitely need to take a look around.」

Cruz was interested in the conversation as she petted Moofy.

Then, she said, unprompted,

「No, you don’t need to search…because the new magic lord is Al…right?」

Cruz said, looking right at me.

The room fell into silence.

「Wait…there’s no way…」

As I whispered this to myself,

「WUFF!」

Femm jumped in between me and Cruz. Femm’s tail was standing straight up.

Femm suddenly seemed to threaten Cruz.

Femm was probably worried that Cruz was going to attack me.

「Wait, Cruz. There’s no way Al’s the new magic lord…right?」

「Yeah. There’s no way he’d take up after the Demon Lord.」

「Yeah, we were his allies, after all!」

Everyone was there to defend me. I was thankful.

On the other hand, Cruz quickly hugged onto Femm.

It was so fast that Femm had no time to react.

「Wuff? Whoon」

「Femm, it’s okay…」

「Woooon」

Cruz petted Femm and Femm seemed to calm down.

Cruz smiled and said,

「I think there’s no doubt that you are the new lord of magic.」

Vi-Vi grabbed onto Cruz’ arm and said,

「Even if he is, you’re not going to kill him like that Demon Lord!」

「Wh…what? Why would I have to kill Al?」

「Wait, so you wouldn’t kill him?」

「Vi-Vi, you’re letting your mind run away…」

Cruz looked genuinely puzzled.

I knew why Vi-Vi was worried, though. There was a history between those fighting for God and those fighting for the magic god.

「Old man, you’re the magic lord! Wow!」

「Funny to hear you be referred to as a lord…」

Both Millet and Collette were impressed. But they weren’t scared.

It made me relax a bit.

However, it was a bit embarrassing for an old man to be called magic lord.

「Moo moo!」

Moofy chomped down on my hand.

「Mooph mooff」

Moofy was nervous about the situation.

「ryaa ryaa」

Shiggy licked my face. She probably was worried.

「Wow! It’s kind of cool though. I’d rather be a magic lord than a hero!」

「Cruz, what are you talking about?」

「I mean…it’s cool, right?」

Maybe Cruz was just trying to lessen the tension.

Or maybe Cruz was right…it is pretty cool to be the lord of magic.

But I didn’t know what she really meant.

「It’s not only strange that you’re not the magic lord, Alra, but with your strength, you really have to be the magic lord.」

「Yeah, and if Cruz says so…it’s very possible.」

「But, he’s not a demon…so being a demon lord?」

「Al’s got more magic than those demons.」

Timi, Yureena, Luka, and Vi-Vi all talked it over seriously.

Then Vallimie said, after thinking it over,

「There were only a few lords of magic that weren’t demons.」

「Really?」

「Yeah, but this map is so big, we can’t be sure.」

「Well, it’s the whole globe. It’s not detailed enough.」

We continued to talk it over.

「I don’t feel like I ever became a lord.」

「Well, I never felt like I became a hero!」

「Really?」

「Yep!」

Cruz said smiling, while taking my hand.

I could feel Moofy’s slobber still on it.

「So you and I, Al, are both the chosen of our gods!」

「Well, the gods are different, and I don’t know if I’m really the magic…」

「No, you’re the one.」

Seems like Cruz’ intuition was the only think that made her determine I was the magic lord.

But you can’t make fun of her intuition.

Maybe I am the new lord? I found myself saying.

「Wow, we’re both the same!」

「Y…yeah.」

I was a bit troubled by it, but Cruz was fine with it. She was very happy.

I kind of blew it off for that reason.

As our conversation about it stopped, Vi-Vi interjected,

「Well, let’s send Al back to the village through the magic transport. If the symbol moves, we know it’s him.」

「You’re right!」

「Let’s try it.」

While we held the map, I went to the transport room.

「Okay, here goes nothing.」

I took the map with me as I stepped into the circle.

『What happened?』

「Where’s the mark?」

「ryaa」

Femm, Vi-Vi, and Shiggy all peered at the map after following me through the circle to Mulg.

The red mark had moved to Mulg. Cruz’ blue mark was still at the pole.

「Holy crap…」

「It might be that I’m the magic lord, Al. Let me go back to the pole first.」

Vi-Vi disappeared through the circle, but the mark of the magic lord didn’t move.

『It might be me. I’ll go back.』

「Yeah, sure.」

Femm went through, but no change.

「So, maybe it really is me…」

「ryaa」

After that, we tried several different ways of this, and I even sent Shiggy through.

But, it turned out that I was definitely the new (Demon) Magic Lord.