Everyone in the room likely had to deal with keeping their opinions to themselves for so long that being around like-minded people is probably a massive weight off their shoulders.

It is really nice that they all seem like decent people.

In this shitty world, people like them are rather rare.

I feel like it is kind of sucky of me to keep them in the dark, but I have absolutely no intention of telling them that the whole Hero Squad is basically just a decoy.

That, and the fact that I am the Demon Lord.

It is probably a bad sign that I get a bit of sadistic pleasure knowing that I am using them to further my rather fucked up plans, but there is nothing I can do about that.

Who is gonna play therapist to the Demon Lord Hero anyway?

Finding one would be as impossible as Lucifer himself getting a therapist in Los Angeles while helping the cops solve crimes.

Pure nonsense, that.

I lean against the door frame as I look over everyone in the room.

They seem to be waiting for me to give them orders like a bunch of lost puppy dogs.

Not wanting to deal with the awkwardness anymore, I try to come up with a way to move things along when I remember something from earth.

For the sake of getting everyone in the group acquainted I will have the group play those ice breakers that they would always force upon you in school!

If anyone wants to judge me on that, then I would remind them that I have practically zero social experience in either world.

Thankfully the charms that block mind magic I passed out mean that even Sera can join in on Two Truths And A Lie.

Yeah… I really don't know what normal people do to get to know new people.

We spend the next hour slowly getting to know each other, being loud and snacking on bits of Wyvern jerky as well as other treats laid out on the table.

Clap! Clap!

“Alright, that is enough for now. I think we should get to work doing Hero stuff.”

Sera, Agera, and Randall all stand up from their seats.

I can tell they are excited to get to work by the way they look at me with such burning respect.

It makes me uncomfortable.

Sera gives a tiny salute for some reason.

Sure, ok girl, you do you.

Agera, being the most sensible of the bunch, looks over at me with a serious look in his piercing silver eyes.

“What’s the plan? There are still no movements on the Demon Lord front. Even The Oracle can’t get a read on its location anymore.”

I look over the group and gather my resolve.

The plan starts here.

“Well, I think we ought to investigate criminal activity across the kingdoms bordering The Sea of Trees to start with. The Demon Lord could already be acting without us realizing.”

I am, I totally am.

In fact, I have several operations up and running now.

The first of which should be happening any moment now.

Before anyone can respond, there is a knock at the door.

I have Prim open the door, letting in a silver haired man with burning red eyes.

He looks no older than twenty five but has the air of a stern seasoned veteran.

A black suit with red accents, crystal glasses that are certainly not for visual correction, and perfectly trimmed mustache.

The emperor’s butler calmly steps into the room.

“Greetings Hero’s party, I am Sebastian Volflur and I hope you pardon the intrusion. I regret to inform you that there is a stampede currently seen exiting The Sea of Trees and heading towards Fulm, Carrion, and Bright.”

At this revelation, the whole room erupts into panic.

I can see a fearful look in Sera’s eyes as she looks to me for hope.

Fulm, Carron, and Bright are the three border cities that sit right inside The Mouth.

The Mouth is the area in between the mountains that surround much of our continent as well as the sea of trees.

Though, this opening is rather small in comparison to the size of the actual forest.

The mana draining edifices of rock that tower into the clouds barr any and all passage into the forest that is not through The Mouth.

From east to west there are three nations bordering The Sea of Trees that have built within this location: The Divine Theocracy, The Kingdom of Alcott, and The Dragon Empire.

These nations each have a single city sitting in The Mouth, with Bright city belonging to The Theocracy, Fulm to Alcott, and Carrion to The Empire.

Naturally, such cities would be heavily protected against monsters coming out of the forest.

Massive walls, powerful barriers, and enough soldiers to kill anything that gets too close.

Obviously these places would not find any difficulty in repelling a few dozen monsters rampaging out of the forest.

Then why is everyone concerned?

Why report such a situation to us?

Because I went ahead and herded hundreds of Class 3 monsters from the third ring towards the aforementioned border cities.

I felt it appropriate to start things off with a big show.

“What should we do?”

Agera is trying rather hard to calm himself as he asks this question.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Sebastian had just finished explaining the whole situation and the dangers involved.

The cities are simply not prepared to deal with so many high level monsters at once.

Even a Class 4 would have little luck wading through such a mess on their own.

“We can’t cover every single city at once.”

Sera grimaces at Randall’s assessment of the situation.

Fulm is the least defended of all the border cities.

Alcott is a much smaller nation compared to the two empires surrounding it.

I explain as much to the rest of the team before getting their input.

“So you think we should head to Fulm?”

Randall seems to agree with me and I can see Sera breathe a small sigh of relief.

She must know someone in Fulm if she is so concerned.

“Yes, but I am not sure how much help we will be.”

We are a rather small group and while I may have the strength of a Class 4, I make clear to them that all of us joining the fray will be of little help compared to the total forces they must be collecting.

Their shoulders slump rather heavily after I point that out.

I turn towards Sebastian and ask for the exact location that the stampede heading towards Fulm was located.

The upright butler pulls out a map from cubes knows where and points to a location not far from the edge of the forest.

“Damn, that is only two days away at best.”

Agera swears as he glares down at the map.

“How did they even get that close without being noticed?”

I raise an eyebrow at the butler as I play my part.

This whole interaction is mostly planned out for the sake of building up a Heroic image for myself.

The butler smoothly answers, his acting significantly better than mine.

“That is unclear, though I believe it may be possible that this may be an action by the Demon Lord.”

The group looks to me for my opinion.

I am the one meant to be facing off against this Demon Lord.

“I think we should get ready to head out immediately. Sebastian, can you get into contact with Fulm and request teleport permission?”

“Of course my lady.”

The capable butler bows and leaves the room immediately.

“How are you so calm right now?”

Sera nervously stumbles over looking incredibly pale.

“To be honest, I am not all that calm on the inside right now. But, I am the leader here so I have to do my best to set an example.”

Sera’s eyes widen and look up to me with even more respect and admiration than before.

So much so that it is kind of blinding.

Truthfully, I really am a bit nervous on the inside.

I find it really hard to lie most of the time so I am doing everything I can to maintain the facade right now.

…

An hour later we are standing on a large stone platform with a space mage standing before us.

Soldiers form a small protective guard around our group as we finish doing a check over of our supplies.

Most of the soldiers are heading to Carrion city, while we are hitching a ride with a small squad heading to Fulm.

“Ready for transport!”

A shout echoes out across the room and we all brace ourselves.

A purple energy washes over us and floods into the runes carved into the teleport point beneath us.

I grimace a bit at the sight of the mana.

A bad habit of mine that I doubt I will be kicking any time soon…

A flash of violet light fills our vision as we suddenly find ourselves on an identical stone platform and surrounded by even more soldiers than before.

These soldiers however are wearing the signature colors of Alcott, White and purple armor reflects off the light shining from the remaining magic.

Among the formation of knights I can see a small, more poised group heading straight towards us.

A young woman with solid white eyes and long braided silver hair. A long regal dress with leather armor strapped around it in an elegant display of design and functionality.

Beside her is a man who looks no older than Sera, though physical age is meaningless after the first advancement.

He wears a simple gold band around his head that contrasts deeply with his flowing deep blue hair.

Small veins of water make their way up his arms and move around on their own.

He looks over with his classically handsome face locked into a refined visage.

Immediately Sera hits the floor, kneeling before the two individuals.

I guess that answers who these two are.

Well, that and all the study material I was given by The Dragon Emperor beforehand.

“Welcome Heroes! Please, come with us so we may discuss how to handle the incoming stampede.”

The Oracle really seems so refined, but if Drask is calling her a brat who complains a lot, well that means this is just a really good front.

Sebastian did say that she was overjoyed that the Heroes would be visiting her city instead of the other two.

I wonder how this will go.

We follow along as the whole room starts to move out.

An opulent hall waits for us with staggeringly tall ceilings and stained glass enchanted with privacy runes.

Commanders and soldiers are moving around rapidly as they discuss reports and troop formations.

Things rapidly quiet down as the nation’s leaders enter.

I can hear whispers about my appearance as well as that of my assembled team.

Things about how low Sera’s level is, or that we don’t seem all that impressive.

I am personally impressed that they are willing to make such rude comments in front of their leaders, but they probably assume that we can’t hear them.

Low level soldiers and nobles don’t really understand the difference evolution can make when it comes to someone’s hearing.

The Oracle raises her hand to silence the room completely.

“Before we begin.”

She then turns to me and looks me right in the eye.

Then, without any time to prepare myself, the nation’s leaders both bow towards me in apology.

Noble and knights gasp at the action.

Murmurs spread even faster through the crowd than before.

“We must apologize for the tragedy that occurred with your family. We failed to realize their malice and you paid dearly for it. We are sorry. And we swear to ensure such things never happen again. I do hope that we can make it up to you somehow.”

I stumble back a bit in shock.

That… was unexpected.

Seems they really want a good relationship with the Hero.

Though, considering that The Oracle was the one raising the warning bells at the news of the Demon Lord, she must be very concerned about the threat I pose.

Ugh, what do I say? I really don’t want to deal with this crap in front of so many people.

I try to think of multiple responses with my accelerated thoughts but ultimately decide on the safest and most truthful option.

“I would rather not talk about it, but thank you for the words.”

I picked that phrasing mostly because it should convey that I don’t actually accept her apology, just that I recognize an attempt.

From what I understand they didn’t even question things when my father reported my “accidental death” and even let my father get away to hunt me down in the forest thanks to their incompetence.

“I see. Please know that your position as head of the Knight family will be yours as long as you wish it.”

And now she is not so subtly trying to entice me back to her kingdom…

I can understand Drask’s dislike of the woman a lot better now.

If you are going to dredge up this crap in front of so many people I might as well try to get something out of it.

“Understood. If I may, I would like an opportunity to speak with my mother at some point.”

“That can be arranged.”

Nodding at the affirmation of my request, I take the first opportunity to shut the conversation down as I ignore the contemptuous glares from some of the nobles.

“Good, now we should get to preparing for the fight ahead.”