Yamada-kun stepped forward, his face visibly pale but his stride steady and firm.
As expected of someone blessed by the heavens — for me, this was terrible timing, but for Yamada-kun, he couldn't have picked a better moment to show up.
Ugh, this is just going to make everything more complicated.
"It's been a while,
Yamada-kun looked my way as he said that.
Why does his tone end in a question?
He'd been glaring with enough force to burn holes earlier, but now he just looked suspicious or something.
Is there something on my face?
Well, there are plenty of pupils in my eyes, sure.
"Never mind. More importantly, I want to hear what's going on too. I have that right, don't I?"
Yamada-kun shook his head slightly before continuing.
I'm not sure what's going on with him, but something seems to have caught his attention.
Well, since he's already here, there's no helping it.
I could throw him out, but that would only create a different kind of mess.
At this point, once Yamada-kun showed up, things were going to get complicated no matter which way it went.
"Go ahead. Help yourself."
I gave a passive affirmative since there was no other option.
I made sure to radiate an aura that said I was not welcoming him.
"Thanks."
Despite that, Yamada-kun didn't seem to care one bit — if anything, he looked like he was ready to challenge me head-on.
Oshima-kun smoothly moved to bring a chair for Yamada-kun.
Yamada-kun thanked Oshima-kun and sat down, then Oshima-kun brought his own chair over and sat beside him.
Why, though?
Why did I hear a collective "ohhh" breath from some of the girls watching?
Yamada-kun settled into his chair, then slowly looked around the room.
His gaze stopped at several points before finally turning back to me.
Hmm. Well.
No choice.
"Tenth Division, assemble."
Acknowledging my declaration, several figures in white appeared before my eyes.
Almost every reincarnator who saw them was visibly startled.
These white-clad soldiers were members of the Demon King's Army Tenth Division under my command.
Among them, I'd assigned those particularly skilled in Stealth to covertly watch over the reincarnators.
It seemed Yamada-kun had noticed them and fixed his gaze on them.
Wait — now that I look closer, isn't that Fermina right in the middle?
Girl, you're supposed to be the Tenth Division's deputy commander, so why are you doing grunt work like this?
As I pondered this, a vein pulsed on Fermina's forehead — or at least, I sensed something to that effect.
You couldn't actually see such a thing, of course, but the atmosphere conveyed it clearly.
It was very much a "This is all because you were slacking off!" kind of vibe.
Yeah... I honestly feel bad about that.
"This gathering is dismissed. Rest until further instructions are given."
At my command, the white-clad soldiers vanished without a sound.
From somewhere, I heard someone whisper "Ninja."
Honestly, I think the Tenth Division soldiers are more ninja-like than Kusama-kun.
Oh, and while the other white-clad figures disappeared, Fermina alone headed up to the third floor.
Come to think of it, Hasebe-san — who'd been put to bed after her breakdown — was still up there.
Someone had to keep watch over her, after all.
Having a high-ranking officer like Fermina do it felt wrong in a number of ways, but I decided not to comment.
"What was that just now?" Yamada-kun asked with a grim expression.
"Soldiers of the Demon King's Army Tenth Division. I had them keeping watch over the reincarnators while also serving as guards."
My words set off a murmur among the reincarnators.
If they found out that those figures had been lurking undetected nearby, of course they'd react that way.
The only ones who'd noticed beforehand were probably Tagawa-kun and Kushitani-san.
I thought the teacher might have known too, but she had her eyes wide with surprise, so she clearly hadn't realized either.
"So the Demon King's Army really does have elite forces."
No, they're just rank-and-file soldiers.
Well — no, wait. Thanks to my Spartan training regimen, they are significantly stronger than soldiers from other divisions, so calling them elite isn't entirely wrong, I suppose.
It's basically a margin of error thing, though. One soldier at a time.
Yamada-kun's complexion hadn't improved.
Watching the white-clad soldiers' movements, he was probably calculating the difference in combat strength.
Yamada-kun's power as the Hero was, of course, nothing like the average joe.
But while he was strong, his strength still fell within the bounds of common sense.
He couldn't hold a candle to the former Demon King or to me, and he was outmatched even by the vampire girl and the oni kid sitting right here.
With the right circumstances, the white-clad soldiers I'd just shown might even be able to defeat him — if they got lucky.
One-on-one, he'd almost certainly win. But in a pair, there was a chance.
That was the level we were dealing with.
However, with that convenient Skill — the Blessing of the Heavens — he'd probably pull off feats beyond what his actual combat power should allow.
"So? You used Natsume as bait and infiltrated here under Yugo's command. Why?"
Yamada-kun fired the question straight at me.
Ugh... he went and asked it, did he.
I snuck a glance at the teacher.
I already knew this was a topic we couldn't avoid.
But if I said it, the teacher's position would definitely get worse.
It would. But I couldn't very well stay silent.
"The Elven Chief,
At my words, the teacher's mouth hung open.
Her face said she had no idea what was going on.
Yamada-kun, on the other hand, received my words with surprising composure.
Judging by the half-surprised, half-understanding expression on Oshima-kun beside him, he hadn't been briefed on Potimas beforehand.
"To begin with, the elves have been a threat to this world for far longer than most people realize. On the surface, they preached true world peace — claiming to end the conflict between the Human race and the Demon race — but that was all camouflage to hide their true face. In truth, they've been draining the life force of this planet, shortening its lifespan. Potimas Harlequinas was at the forefront of this, and those few who knew the truth repeatedly warned them to stop, but those warnings fell on deaf ears. With the planet's lifespan finally reaching a critical threshold, extreme measures became necessary — and that is how the current situation came to be."
The sudden escalation in scale sent a ripple of agitation through the reincarnators.
"Wait a minute! If what you're saying is true, what happens to this planet?!"
Kudou-san half-rose from her seat and pressed me for answers.
Seeing is believing.
I activated a magical projection and displayed the planet's current state.
Like a globe, a three-dimensional image of the planet materialized in the air above us.
What it showed was devastating — half the planet had crumbled away.
"This is the planet's current condition."
Silence.
That was the reaction of nearly everyone present.
Aside from the vampire girl and the oni kid, who'd known beforehand, the image was a shock.
I heard murmurs — "No way," "This can't be real," and similar sentiments.
Yamada-kun was no exception. His eyes were wide, fixed on the projection.
"This... this can't be right?"
Even the typically composed Kudou-san was trembling, her lips quivering as she stared at the image.
"It's no lie. If you don't believe me, would you like to go see for yourselves?"
No one took me up on the offer.
Nobody in their right mind would want to visit a place that looked like that.
Well, if I threw up a barrier or something it wouldn't be a problem, but none of them knew that.
Everyone was stunned.
This was the place where I was supposed to explain the situation they'd been thrust into — a conversation that went beyond imperial politics and into the very survival of the planet. Having heard all of that, their capacity for thought had ground to a complete halt.