"More importantly—"

Oscar held Dilan's hand.

Dilraba gave a surprisingly strong shake back. Ruth, Colleen, and Maureen had tried it too; whenever they grabbed Dilraba or Katie's hand, they would shake it back with incredible force.

It's as if it's saying, "I'm right here!"

"Perhaps—no, they were definitely fighting."

"fighting?"

"Yes, fighting with the warrior spirit within their bodies. Perhaps they were already fighting long before they used regeneration magic."

"...I see. That's right, they're Ou's younger brother and sister, after all."

"That's right."

So──Oscar looked at Mel.

"Mel, thank you. Thanks to you, the two of them recovered enough to wake up. Thank you so much."

"Oscar-chan..."

Even Ruth and the others thanked her gently, which made Mei smile awkwardly.

Just like that, she probably felt that if she was depressed, it would be disrespectful to Oscar and others who were happy that the two of them had recovered to this extent, so her attitude changed 180 degrees.

"What a shame, Oscar. Even if you smiled with such a gentle expression, Mei-sister wouldn't be won over. She's very chaste, unlike Xiao Mi who's easily taken in."

"Xiao Mi is not easily hooked!?"

Mireidi, who was inexplicably affected, protested loudly.

"You're quite easy to hook, aren't you?" "Your innocence, not just in love, is the leader's strength." "Rather than being easy to hook, it's more like being naive?" Opinions such as these also came one after another from the people observing the situation at the entrance of the room.

Meredith gave him a sharp look.

"Natsu-sama, Si-nee and Yunfa are both easy to hook!"

"Of course, this is only for Natsu-sama!"

"You two, shut up for a moment."

Meredith abruptly looked away, not meeting Nez's pleading gaze.

Even so, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became brighter, as if sunlight was shining through the branches and leaves.

Faced with Mel's deceptive attitude, Oscar remained dumbfounded.

"Besides, look, I also made a divine device that can continue to receive the effects of regeneration magic."

Not only Dylan and Katie, but all the other victims wore necklaces with coins around their necks. Although the effect was not strong, it could continue to receive the slow regeneration magic effect.

In the near future, they will most likely recover completely due to the regenerative power generated bit by bit.

"Besides, there is still hope."

He pushed his glasses down. Though the light source clearly couldn't possibly be that, Oscar's glasses still reflected an eerie light. Despite his somewhat stiff expression, Meredith and the others understood what Oscar was trying to say.

"The leader of the White Light Knights, Ross Byrne."

"He can actually deliver a direct attack to the soul. The moves he possesses are truly incredible."

"Next time I confront him... I won't let him go."

Oscar's glasses flashed a brilliant light. But considering the light source, this was simply impossible. Regardless, it seemed that Ross had been locked onto Oscar's glasses.

At this moment, Margaret spoke as if she was calculating the right time to interrupt:

"Is that about it? I'd like to have a good chat with everyone."

Her serious expression and voice made the atmosphere at the scene suddenly tense.

"Well, I have a lot of questions too."

Meredi also dropped his playful attitude and nodded with the expression of an organization leader.

Next, Meredi and the others gathered in the hall. The Liberator and the Schnee split into two sides, facing each other, and sat down directly on the blanket spread on the floor. This blanket seemed to be woven with the wool of sheep-like monsters, which has excellent heat-retaining properties. Like Meredi's quilt, it was very warm.

The Schnee tribe numbered approximately thirty individuals. They ranged in age from children to the elderly, and many, at first glance, possessed multiple features, making their race unclear. Among them was a Silver Wolf, who had made a significant sacrifice at the Raisen branch.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm Margaret Schnee. I'm both the Warrior Captain and the Acting Clan Leader."

"I am Meredith Lessen, leader of the liberators."

Margaret nodded decisively and explained the current situation to Meredith, who had just woken up.

Oscar also joined the conversation and listened to what happened after he fell into a coma.

"Okay, I'm not good at speaking slowly, and I don't have much time."

So Margaret spoke directly about their affairs and made her demands.

"You may have noticed that we were once experimental subjects. After being saved by Master Ban, we were given the clan name of his mother, Master Saslika-sama, and were treated as members of the clan."

In other words, they have no blood relationship with the Xuni people at all.

Margaret looked straight at Meredith and bowed her head deeply on the spot.

"I sincerely ask you, liberators. Please help us rescue our clan leader and compatriots, and if possible, I hope you will protect us."

Margaret knelt and kowtowed, pressing her forehead to the ground. Immediately afterwards, the others followed her lead, bowing their heads in supplication.

These people have no way out. They cannot choose to abandon their leader and compatriots. Even if they are lucky enough to rescue Bandu and others, they will still be hunted by the demon king forever because of their availability.

The Xuni tribe alone cannot compete with them.

It would be difficult to obtain asylum in another country. They are the dark side of the Demon Kingdom, and all of them will surely be pursued by the Demon King. Other countries, let alone human nations, are unlikely to accept them. Rather, the only fate that awaits them is execution.

They can only rely on the underground organization fighting against the world. Although the Liberator retreated before the Demon King this time, there are still four magic users of the Age of Gods. More importantly, seeing how the Liberator treats their companions, it is clear that they can be trusted.

There was no better offer. They could only grasp at straws.

Facing the pleas of Margaret and her group, Meredith—

"Yeah, sure!"

"How casual!" Margaret almost blurted out, but she was so surprised that she was speechless.

"Well, didn't I tell you that?"

It was Marshall who interrupted. He had spoken with the other party first, representing the Leysen branch. He had also told Margaret and the others, who had prepared for the tragedy, "If it were our leader, he would have said yes immediately."

"B-but, you're aware of the Demon King's strength, right? And we... are holding your companions hostage..."

"I've already had a good talk with Xiaoban about this, so it's okay."

Meredith knelt before Margaret, who was still half-kowtowing, and cupped her face in her hands.

"We are liberators. Our mission is to liberate people from an irrational and tragic fate."

More importantly,

"I've already decided that Ben is my partner."

On the other hand, she wouldn't let them get away. Even if the Bandu or the Shuni turned their backs, Meredith would chase them and demand, "Be my companion!"

Oscar and the others were the same. Having been manipulated and then being helped by the very people they were supposed to save, they couldn't just sit back and let it go. The regret they felt at that time still burned fiercely in their hearts, undiminished.

"If you're willing to join us in taking on the world, I'd be delighted. But you don't have to fight. I, we'll do our utmost to protect you all."

Meredith's words were unwavering, without a trace of hesitation. Oscar and the others behind her also wore resolute expressions. Margaret and the others watched the 'Liberator' with bated breath. Meredith, standing up and taking a step back, smiled fearlessly.

Then she made a strong victory gesture and declared:

"It was just a small failure! Next time we will definitely beat the Demon King to pieces and save Ben and everyone else! And then we will perfectly prove that I, the genius and beautiful magician Mimi, am the strongest in the world!"

Margaret and the others narrowed their eyes silently, looking at Meredith as if they were looking up at the sun. Then, naturally, they lowered their heads.

Was it out of gratitude, or was there some other reason? Meredith hurriedly said, "No, don't kneel before me!" and made them raise their heads.

"I'm sorry. Our leader is usually annoyingly demanding respect, but she's a real troublemaker who runs away when she's actually respected. So just deal with her casually."

"Hey, hold on, Oscar. If you want to pick a fight, I'll be there for you, right?"

Looking at Meredith, whose eyes half-lidded in displeasure, Margaret and her companions exchanged glances, then smiled wryly.

They looked at the people in the Lassen branch, and everyone had the same expression.

As everyone felt a strange sense of unity in their leader's recognition, Meredi faked a cough.

"I have something to ask you."

"What is it? If it's something we know, we'll tell you everything."

Facing Margaret who nodded in agreement, Meredith asked the question that concerned her most among all the questions she wanted to ask—no, the thing that was most necessary to know.

"The reason why Ben can't abandon the Demon King."

"Wow... is that so... Mr. Ban still misses Mr. Rasser."

For a moment, Margaret's eyes widened in surprise, but then she immediately showed an expression of understanding.

"So what exactly happened between the two of them?"

"It's going to be a long story."

The story following this opening statement about Ban's origins is extremely tragic.

The human experiments conducted on the Church in order to obtain decisive combat power actually originated from the father of the previous demon king, Ra'er and Bandu.

No one knows what sparked this opportunity. However, the experiment, which began suddenly, naturally hit a bottleneck immediately, but the former Demon Lord continued his research as if possessed.

But the days passed as the number of victims continued to increase in vain...

A turning point finally came one day when they captured a female dragon-kind. Yes, it was Bandu's mother, the ice dragon-kind -- Saslika Schone.

That race was far rarer than the vampires who also lived in the southern continent. It was natural for the previous Demon King to notice her, and it was inevitable that they would have a child.

"That's Mr. Ban."

"I see. Because Mom is a dragon, Ban can transform into a dragon."

“…I heard the news from Natsu-sama, but he really has transformed into a dragon…”

Margarita had a complex expression that seemed to be both joyful and sad. Meredith, not knowing what it meant, tilted her head in confusion.

As if to say that if she continued listening she would understand, Margaret continued to tell the story of Bandu.

"The long-running experiment has come to a standstill. After all, this is simply a fantasy. They're not trying to create a half-blood child, but rather to physically blend traits through transplantation and magic."

It is well known that mixed-race children born from other races will have characteristics of both groups.

That being said, the previous Demon King wanted ready-to-fight forces, soldiers who could be immediately replenished in the event of war.

The Demon King's goal was not to raise a child from scratch.

Therefore, despite the extremely tragic human experiments, the situation changed drastically when Bandu awakened to magic at the age of six.

"Born in the dungeon and raised with us there, Mr. Ban was allowed to live in the palace. Of course, he wasn't a royal. Because he was a mixed-blood, he was degraded to a 'bastard' and treated like a semi-servant... But even so, it was much better than living in the dungeon."

At the same time, the experiments were temporarily frozen, and instead, the powerful monsters born from human experiments were organized into an army.

And the Bandhu filed a petition.

I hope the previous Demon King will stop harming my mother and Margaret, the subjects of my experiments, and allow them to live normal lives. In exchange, I will create an army of monsters as a contribution.

His petition was accepted because it would make it easier to utilize the Bandhu.

"At the cost of Mr. Ban's hard work, we have achieved temporary stability."

Bandu, Saslika, Margarita and others were given an inconspicuous remote mansion, and they pretended to have a master-servant relationship, but in fact they lived there together as a family.

However, this peace did not last long.

Because of the monster army, a war broke out between them and the church, and the result was a loser for both sides.

The monster army was effective, but still insufficient, and their numbers were reduced.

As a result, the previous demon king became greedy and thought that Bandu alone was not enough.

He broke the agreement and raped Saslika.

"Ban-sama noticed this and—lost control."

“…No wonder.”

It is not surprising that the pressure that has been accumulating in the past will burst out when it meets the mother's crisis.

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