“M’lord, what might our plans be?” Charlotte sipped her tea, looking me straight in the eyes.

With breakfast over, we were still located in the dining hall—simply because there’d been neither opportunity nor reason to move.

I nodded, mostly to myself. “You are asking about retaliation, no?”

“Indeed, M’lord.”

«Are we fighting? Can I beat someone up?» Davna cut in. Despite her reptilian face, she managed to look excited.

“In that case,” I said, “I cannot deny that I have an idea. We shouldn’t talk here. You lot, with me.” Since Philia and Richard had already left, it was clear that I referred only to my Demon Generals and Evyna.

Without any objections, I lead the group to the meeting room located near my bedroom.

I rested my elbows on the rectangular table, leaned forward slightly, and folded my hands together in front of my face. The black stained glass window let in little light and the candles in the room were unlit—as such, my face, along with much of the room, was cloaked in shadows.

“Now then,” I said, “I’m sure you all know why we’re here. After all, you were all witness to the assault on our castle just yesterday.”

The six gave voices of assent, so I continued. “After this assault by a measly five Heroes, there was… another. Larger. Twenty, or so.”

“Twenty…? M’lord, art thou sure thou art uninjured?” Charlotte furrowed her brow as she looked at me, a slight concern twinkling in her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah! Master, if you’re hurt, you should tell us!” Davna said, nodding repeatedly. She’d taken on her human form to fit in the room.

Meanwhile, Evyna’s face paled. “Twenty… so we were a sacrificial scouting party…” she mumbled to herself, casting her gaze down.

“Able to handle twenty Heroes on your own… Master, you are truly amazing!” Tempest said, edging closer to me.

Since I could tell her goal was research, I shoved her away and cleared my throat. “As you can see, Charlotte, I am fine. In any case! Lady Luciel sent not just one, but two groups of Heroes at Lady Entropy’s castle. Clearly, there is only one word that could be used to describe this.”

“Nwah?” Lilith made a strange noise, probably as a way to get my attention. “What word izzat, then?”

“Unforgivable. This is equivalent to a declaration of war. Thus, we must strike back.” I could feel a smirk take over my facial expression.

“Judging from that expression,” Tempest said, “Master, you have a plan?”

“M’lord, whenever thou make an expression as such, it can only mean abominable things.”

“Says the vampire.” I chuckled. “But, yes. I suppose I have the rough outline of a plan in mind.”

“Plan? What is?” Navillus asked, burbling and sloshing with feelings I couldn’t identify.

“Lady Luciel, being the buffoon she is,” I said, closing one eye, “has spread a significant amount of her power to seven followers—her seven Saints. If we can slay them, that should make this war significantly easier.”

“U, uhm, mister Astaroth?” Evyna asked, peering up at my face. “It, it looks to me like you have, uh, personal feelings towards the, uh, Saints, too…”

I shook my head, even despite the internal turmoil the girl’s surprising perceptive skills had caused. “Nonsense, nonsense. No such thing.” Once again, I cleared my throat. “In any case, if we are to defeat the Saints, our first target must be Theliel, also known as the Saint of Heavenly Protection.”

Fiddling with the clasps on her grimoire, Evyna raised her hand, though she cast her gaze down.

“I already told you to say what you want to say. Speak.”

“Ah, it’s just… If it’s about Lady Theliel, I might, uh, just maybe, know where she is, or such…”

I clapped my hands together. “Splendid! Tell us, then.”

“When we left, she was stationed at, uh, the Holy City, Gramrock, and she was supposed to stay there for, a month, I think? So she should still, uh, be there.”

“Gramrock?” Lilith said, grinning to herself. “From what I’ve heard, it’s a city full of beautiful girls and handsome guys…”

Charlotte heaved a small sigh, but found it difficult to admonish Lilith, given they were seated on opposite sides of the table.

“If we’re going to a human city,” Tempest said, “we’ll need to disguise ourselves. I can create something for our mana without a problem, but physical attributes are…”

I shook my head. “I could easily wear an eyepatch, and Tempest and Charlotte look essentially human to begin with, but…” I turned my head to Navillus, Lilith and Davna in turn. “That’s not viable.”

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Evyna once again decided to offer her opinion. “Maybe you could pretend they are your, uh, tamed, monsters?” She raised her gaze again, but fixated especially on Lilith—it seemed she’d figured out trying to get a reading of Navillus’s or Davna’s feelings was a lost cause.

“As expected,” Lilith said, “even for me, pet play is a little…” She looked away and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

I shook my head and hit the table to draw the two idiots’ attention to me. “That would fail. Lady Luciel—really, the entire Holy Astal Kingdom—is fanatically anti-monster, stretching even to peaceful, nation-building demons like Lycanthropes. Trying to take monsters in would lead them to inspect my status to confirm if I’m truly a Monster Tamer, and even I can’t forge a status.”

“Can’t I just burn the city to the ground?” Davna asked, displaying a terrifying, full-faced smile.

“I fear that would nary work,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “The Saint o’ Heavenly Protection’s duty is exactly protecting Holy Cities and the other Saints from assault. Though a Red Dragon, thy attack would surely prove insufficient.”

“ ‘Sides,” Lilith said, “Master’s a soft-hearted dolt. Doesn’t wanna hurt any people who don’t have an Azalyth. ‘N I wouldn’t wanna waste all those pretty people, either…”

I turned my gaze to her. “Lilith?” I said, smirking. “Call me that again, and you’ll come to regret it, understood?”

With a speed far exceeding her usual actions, she averted her gaze. “G… Gotcha, Master,” she said, tugging on the collar of her shirt.

I cleared my throat once again. “Anyway,” I said, “does anyone else have any ideas?”

The voice that answered my question came from a truly unexpected source. “Navillus has idea! Master and Charlotte and Tempest go into city! Then tell Saint-lady to leave city! And then, everyone beat up Saint-lady!”

I looked at her in stunned silence for several seconds. “That’s… a reasonable plan.”

She made some manner of squelching sound. I took it as happiness.

“Truly, ‘t has been too long since last I visited a mortal wen. I concur with this shift.”

Tempest canted her head to the side. “Perhaps I could get some inspiration from the city…”

“I’ll get to beat someone up, right? I’m in!” Davna said, a bright grin on her face.

“Well, I won’t get ta see the people, but… Can’t be helped, I guess. Sure, count me in.” Lilith was clearly already focused on something else entirely, judging from the way she was looking about as far from anyone as she could be.

“B-But, uh… How will you get Lady Theliel to, you know, uh, leave the city?”

“Hmm.” I considered Evyna’s question for a few seconds, then turned my gaze to Charlotte. “Charlotte, you are skilled at makeup, no?”

“I am grateful for thy words. ‘Tis one of a proper lady’s essential skills, M’lord.” She paused a moment, and then tilted her head. “Yet, if I may say such, I do not believe M’lord wouldst be particularly more convincing if thou were more handsome?”

“Not that, not that.” I chuckled to myself. “Do you think you could reproduce, say… a scar, or a wound?”

Probably without her conscious approval, she copied my dark smile. “I do not b’lieve such would pose a problem, M’lord,” she said.

“Please take care, Lord Astaroth, Esteemed Generals.”

The maids before us spoke in unison as they bowed, a sight which could almost be considered creepy.

Evyna stood next to them. “Please, please come back safely, mister Astaroth,” she said, looking to the ground. “I wouldn’t know what to do in a castle like this if you didn’t, uh, come back…”

“Be safe,” a small voice whispered near my ear.

I responded in a similar volume. “I will absolutely make sure to return to you. Rest assured, and do not worry, Lady Entropy.”

“I wasn’t worried. Idiot. You know I trust you.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. Then I turned my attention to the crowd that had gathered on their own, presumably with the intention to see me off. “Everyone!” I said, “This is the beginning of our counter-attack on Lady Luciel! Without fail, we will return with victory!”

I turned around and used [True Demon Form] on my upper back. In a similar way to my arm the previous day, two pitch-black, almost spectral wings appeared, majestic and grand. With a flap, I was off, towards the human city.

Charlotte unfolded her bat-shaped wings and joined me in the air, and Tempest, too, joined me on the other side, sitting on a broom. Lilith could float on her own, so she didn’t particularly need to do anything to keep up.

Navillus took on the form of several quadrupedal creatures, mixed together, to run along with us on the ground, and Davna did a similar thing in her unchanged, humanized form.