393. Delayed Time Limit

While I was looking at Lieuon’s empty status in shock, her father, Mody, looks at me with worry.

“W-What’s wrong? Is there a problem with my daughter……?”

I bite my lip in response.
I-I don’t know what to say.

“U, ugh……”

Millia’s voice broke the silence.
Wha-?! She’s already waking up so soon?
I bow to Mody and give him my thanks, then I tell Volk and Alo to start getting ready to leave.

“I’m sorry, but we’re in a hurry so we’ll be heading off now. Thanks for saving Milli-…… I mean, that girl over there”

After giving my thanks without waiting for their response, I hurriedly walk towards the exit.
Volk and Alo follow after me.

“…… W-Where, am I?”

It’s Millia’s voice.

“Oh, you’re already awake. You suddenly collapsed in the city. That person there rescued you and brought you to my house for treatment”

Mody tells Millia while pointing at me.
He intends to have Millia give her thanks to me before I leave.

“Ah, thank you for looking after me. I remember…… talking to one of the palace people…… but I don’t know what happened after that. I’ll give my thanks to the mister who saved me too”

Millia approaches me.
I know I shouldn’t be letting her see me, but I turn around anyway.
I meet Millia’s gaze. Her eyes begin to widen.

“Uhm, have we…… met before?”

I promptly leave the building without answering.

After meeting up with Nightmare outside the shop, I start reassessing my schedule while walking around the capital city.
Because of humanization, I’m running low on MP.
If I need to leave before it runs out, now’s as good a time as any.

According to what we discussed with Lilyxila…… she'll meet up with us in three days, in other words, tomorrow, and that's supposedly when I'd start rampaging in the palace to lure the Demon King out.
However, the Demon King has grown more powerful than we initially anticipated.
The royal palace has now become the slime's stronghold.
We can assume that all of the three head knights are rankＢ+…… and in humans' perspective, monsters in those ranks are already a catastrophe on their own.

Although, I’m not so sure that me, Alo, Lilyxila, and her familiar will be enough to fight against the Demon King.
Seriously though, Lilyxila’s assumptions were spot on.
I’m gonna need to find some time to meet up with Lilyxila and re-confirm our fighting strength before the big battle.

Alo and Thermal are both rankＢ+…… Thermal is completely immune to poison while Alo can’t be inflicted with any status abnormality at all.
If we get Alo to level up some more, he might be able to put up a decent fight against the〖Poison Ruler〗, Thermal.

I also need to convince Lilyxila that she needs to abandon appearances right now.
If she could just bring entire troops from the Holy Land, we can deal with all these slime monsters roaming around, pretending to be human soldiers.
And when that happens, me and Lilyxila can finally focus on the main target, the Demon King.

After fighting one of his subordinates…… I can make a guess on how strong the Demon King is.
When I fought him as a rankＢ- Plague Dragon, he was only rank Ｄ that time.
He should be more higher than rankＢ+ now.

The longer we wait, the more people will get sacrificed.
Many of the adventurers who were invited…… and more tragedy like Mody’s daughter will only increase.
But…… if we get too impatient, we can’t beat them.
If I just stormed into the palace as I am now, with little MP and a poisoned status, the three head knights will just toy with me and I’ll lose my only element of surprise.

We need more time, but too much time will be too late. That’s why…… we’ll attack tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we’ll meet up with Lilyxila, confirm our current fighting strength, and strike down the Demon King.
This is the only option we have.

Once I share the information I’ve obtained to Lilyxila, there’s a chance she might change her mind and come up with a more aggressive plan of assault.
I don’t have to force her, I just need to convince her.

I nod to myself after making that decision…… but then, I suddenly had a bad feeling.
I feel like I’m missing something. Or rather, I missed something.
But, what?

“…… Hey Volk, when’s the party starting?”

I ask Volk with a casual manner.
I feel like there’s something about the princess’s party that I missed.

“It’s tomorrow…… don’t tell me you intend to stop it? It’ll be a hundred times harder than fighting that man. But if you’re really insistent, then I, too, I’m up for the challenge. If they intend to kill me to increase their level, then I just have to kill them first. Besides…… the legendary master swordsman that I’ve been looking for might show up there……”

“Tomorrow, huh……”

They probably plan to kill every adventurer there all at once.

“Can you spare us your time, Volk? With your help…… we might be able to stop at least one of the three knights. Honestly, the Demon King’s power has risen more than I expected. I want more time to prepare”

Volk’s stats are comparable to a rankＢ+.
But, because of his straightforward fighting style…… he’s a terrible matchup against the slime knights who have loads of different kinds of skills, but it doesn’t mean he won’t stand a chance.

“I’m sorry, but that request is something I cannot fulfill. Whatever you’re planning, I cannot ignore the challenge that is presented before me by waiting. If that villain intends to disrupt the harmony of this country, I will not run from it”

“…………”

Knowing that he might die tomorrow, he’ll still go?
I’m…… not sure if I’m okay with that.

“If you’re that worried, why don’t you come with me? Everyone who’s been invited is allowed to bring one companion with them for the party. If it’s you…… I’m sure you’ll be able to seize the chance to take the Demon King’s head without their suspicion”

One extra person can come?
I thought the reason that only the invited are allowed to join the party is because to avoid suspicion…… but apparently, it’s the opposite?
By allowing someone you know to accompany you, it lessens the risk of people like Lieuon to look for them when they disappear.

All this thinking is giving me a headache, so I shake my head.

The slime I know isn’t that weak.
He’s timid and prefers to do things behind the scenes.
And besides, he’s probably picked up a ton of regenerative skills, so one hit isn’t gonna be enough to finish him off.

“My time’s almost up…… I’ll need to return to the Alban Mine soon. I’m not sure if I’ll be here in time for tomorrow’s party”

“That’s unfortunate. This may very well be our last time together. I’ll go get your Steel Horse back. You can ride it back to the mine”

Volk says as he turns his back on me and heads to the stables.
I stare at his back for a while, deep in thought.