As the Demon King, I have married a slave elf. How should I express my love?

The singer should be a water sprite... no, a type of mermaid. Although she is beautiful and has blue hair, her lower body is neither like a snake nor a fish.

Overall, it was like a bright flower blooming in a gloomy banquet. A respectable candidate.

"At a banquet, there are always some people who want to discuss more private topics. That's probably why they play music to cover up the noise, out of consideration for those people."

Of course, if a magician really wanted to eavesdrop, this level of music would be completely meaningless, but having a plan is always better than doing nothing.

After explaining, Shess became even more distressed, pointing at the band.

"Then what about the band? They don't look like living people at all."

The musicians were a group of neatly dressed skeletons. Their bones appeared to have been cleaned up, neither messy nor smelling of decay.

However, bones cannot produce a natural voice.

The mermaid singer was surrounded by a group of dead people. Although she trembled as she sang, her voice did not go off-key, which made Sagan admire her professionalism.

"Hmm. That must be some kind of demon servant of Bifron. The mermaid looks more like a singer they hired; her singing voice isn't bad."

The song reached its climax, with a soaring, deathly raven-like voice rising into the air. It was truly astonishing that such a powerful vocal style hadn't damaged his throat.

Shessty then asked incredulously:

Do magicians always dance to these kinds of songs?

"...Dancing? What are you talking about?"

After Sagan asked the question with genuine curiosity, Neferpitou's ears twitched a few times.

—Could it be that she's interested in dancing?

But Sagan never danced.

As Shesitantly pondered what to do, she timidly asked:

"It might be too late to ask that now, but what exactly was going on at this banquet you mentioned?"

"What are they doing... of course, magicians making deals with each other, do you even need to ask?"

The answer left Shess speechless, and she continued.

"Why didn't you say so sooner! Now I'm dressed like this!"

At the banquet, Shesty was dressed in a gown that resembled what nobles would wear to a banquet.

Looking at the outfit again, Sagan then nodded back.

"But this outfit isn't bad, is it?"

"R-Really? So you think I look pretty good in this... No, that's not what I meant!"

Sagan turned his head away, as if he didn't understand.

"Nefi and Fael are dressed similarly to you, is there anything wrong with that?"

Although this is different from a noble banquet, it is still a formal occasion.

It's somewhat contradictory for magicians to be so polite, but dressing formally for an appointment is just basic common sense... Although Sagan was dressed in his usual black robe, it could be considered a magician's formal attire.

Looking around the deck, I saw that many other magicians were also dressed in formal attire. It seems that not all magicians are as indifferent to clothing as Sagan or Barbarossa.

Neferpitou said to Shessty in a comforting tone:

"Miss Shestia, you look beautiful in that."

"Uh, um, Neferi, you look great in it too... Wait, I told you that's not what I meant!"

She clutched her skirt, looking as if she were about to cry, and continued in a low voice:

(No matter how I dress, I'm a paladin, and everyone else around me is a magician!)

After hearing what she said, Sagan finally understood what she wanted to express... or rather, he really didn't want to think about it.

Sagan's eyes widened, his expression one of disbelief.

"...Hey, you didn't just show up unarmed, did you?"

It was obvious from her formal attire that she was not carrying a sword, but Sagan assumed she had brought it with her luggage.

To counter the superhuman physical abilities of magicians, the church's paladins would wear armor called the Baptismal Armor, a product of the church's miracles. Sagan even specially crafted a new set for Raphael.

Shesty usually doesn't wear her baptismal armor like this. But even without the armor, she possesses considerable strength.

Sagan initially thought she was deliberately not wearing it because she was confident in herself, and even admired her courage, but now it seems...

Shestia nodded, trembling.

"I brought the Holy Sword, but apart from the Holy Sword, everything else..."

Now it's Sagan's turn to have a headache.

"Didn't I say this was a banquet?"

"A 'night banquet' usually refers to a party, right? So I thought you invited me to that kind of event..."

It was common for the church to raid banquets. Sagan thought to himself that Shestie, being a paladin commander, couldn't possibly be unaware of such things.

Sagan was momentarily speechless, while Raphael, who was hiding his true appearance behind the Varefal helmet, laughed heartily.

"What a joke! With your swordsmanship, which is arguably the fastest among paladin commanders, an ordinary magician who is not up to par would not even have time to cast a spell before being defeated by you. There is no need to be afraid."

"Weren't you the one who wanted me to be the standard-bearer for the symbiosis faction? How come now it's on the condition of eliminating the magician!"

"Because that's how we've lived our lives!"

The one who killed nearly five hundred magicians in self-defense was none other than the former paladin Raphael.

Halfway through her roar, Shess suddenly gasped and covered her mouth.

All the magicians around were now focused on Shessie.

—After all, if you shout so loudly, everyone will hear you.

A magician, if he is determined, can see everything clearly even with this level of light.

Although there was a band playing jarring music nearby, Shisty and her companions' conversation had already spread across the deck, making them the focus of attention for the magicians on deck.

(Did that woman just mention paladins?)

(I've seen her. She's the only female Grand Master in the church.)

(Damn the church, do they even want to disrupt the banquet hosted by the Demon King?)

(She's too arrogant. Let's kill her.)

They were indeed fortunate enough to attend the Demon King's banquet; not only were they not afraid of her, but they even exuded hostility.

Sagan sighed as if he'd had enough.

—Shestia is not wearing her baptismal armor right now. If she is left unattended like this, the consequences could be dire.

Although her identity is utterly despicable, Shirley is undeniably beautiful, and magicians are hardly gentlemanly creatures. There's no way he'd let a female enemy, unarmed and infiltrated into enemy territory, escape unscathed.

Sagan flicked his cloak, turned and left, saying:

"...What a troublesome guy. Never mind, come with me."

Not knowing what tricks Bivron was planning, Sagan didn't want to be too conspicuous, but it seemed that now was not the time to care about such things.

Sagan deliberately crossed the center of the deck and headed towards the bow, with Nefi and Fal following behind, and Raphael trailing behind them.

As if anticipating their arrival, the band switched to playing solemn and serious pieces.

This was music that filled Raphael with admiration.

"Oh, is that 'Demon King March'? It seems this band is quite accomplished in music."

Sagan was obviously unfamiliar with the music, but it seemed to be a piece describing the demon king leading his forces in an invasion. Just listening to it instilled an indescribable unease.

Because of this music, Sagan, who was swaggering forward, became an object of awe for everyone.

This made Shestie cry out in frustration.

"Hey! What are you thinking? Why are you deliberately walking into that group of people!"

"At times like these, we should act openly and honestly. If there were a Demon King sneaking around at this time, I would definitely be the first to take his head."

"Well, maybe that's not wrong..."

Although she still sounded uneasy, Shessty had no choice but to follow.

The magicians began to whisper among themselves as they watched Sagan and his entourage marching with an air of deliberate emphasis on their presence.

(Hello, this is Sagan.)

(That new Demon King? Look, the Undead is right behind him too.)

(There were rumors that he was dead; did he actually join Sagan's ranks?)

As planned, Raphael, wearing a snake-shaped helmet, was mistaken for Varefal from The Undead.

Raphael pretended to follow Sagan.

Next, Nefertini became the focus of everyone's attention.

(And who is that white elf?)

(Sagan's wife. You'd better watch out, because I heard that the book "Purgatory" that attacked her was later torn to pieces by Sagan.)

(Yes, I heard that after seven days and seven nights of torture, Sagan spared his life only after Sagan swore eternal loyalty to Purgatory.)

"Purgatory" is also Barbaros's title.

Sagan did indeed take care of him personally, but the story was embellished and spread around.

—Speaking of which, since the Shestia are here, could it be that Barbaros has followed us here as well?

He seemed quite unhappy about not being invited, and might very well use being his bodyguard as an excuse to follow him.

Then, the focus shifted to Fal, who was taking small steps forward beside Neferpitou.

(Is that little guy diagonally across from us a dragon?)

(It seems so. Although I don't know who it was, I heard that Sagan killed Raphael with her own hands just to get ownership of her.)

(So ​​he really did kill that paladin who specialized in hunting magicians?)

Sagan had already publicized his defeat of Raphael extensively. At the time, some fools were eyeing Sagan's downfall, and killing the "Demon" Paladin Commander would serve to dampen their animosity.