Estimated reading time: 6–8 minutes
Chapter 37
Even though we say we’re fighting the Demon King, our opponent isn’t just the Demon King.
When the Demon King is revived, the Demon Army will also be formed alongside him.
In addition to the Demon King himself, the commanders of the Demon Army and other powerful demons will continue to appear one after another.
When that time comes, Alto and I alone won’t be enough to fight them.
Even if we leave defeating the Demon King himself to Alto, we need a battle force to fight against the rest of the Demon Army.
So just like with Alto, I had everyone in the Demon Subjugation Squad level up.
I put all 50 members, Alto included, through hellish level-up training.
I explained the training method to everyone.
First, they would all get beaten up by Domingo and I would heal them – by doing this, they can easily accumulate practical experience and level up while also building muscle.
After all, muscles can be strengthened by damaging them and letting them recover.
At first, everyone objected to my outrageous idea.
「Uhhh…I don’t know about that…」
「I don’t wanna feel pain…」
「Isn’t that a little extreme…?」
「Can we really get stronger like that?」
But what quelled their complaints was Domingo’s testimony.
「Everyone, it’s alright. Thanks to Lord Eld, I was able to become this strong. Look at these muscles! 」
「Whoooa!」
「With his healing magic, all of you can become like me and reach level 1700…!」
「If that’s true then…」
The gathered men are simple-minded.
They’re the type who will do anything to become stronger.
「And you know, even though it hurts at first, you’ll gradually start feeling good! When you think you’re getting stronger, any pain turns into pleasure! Just leave your body to Lord Eld! Right, Alto?」
When Domingo says this, Alto, his number one disciple, nods vigorously.
「Of course! Thanks to Lord Eld’s healing magic, I was able to become stronger too!」
◆
With Otto’s cooperation as well, we’re now training to dodge arrows.
Otto fires arrows in volleys and everyone desperately tries to avoid them.
Of course, Otto is level 1500 and an expert archer.
Avoiding his arrows is no easy feat.
Otto’s arrows pierce into all the members of the Subjugation Squad.
I told him to avoid their heads and everyone is wearing helmets just in case.
But Otto’s arrows still end up stabbing everyone’s arms and legs.
But don’t worry.
No one will die from Otto’s arrows.
As they get hit, I go around healing everyone one by one.
This way, they can charge recklessly into the storm of arrows without hesitation.
「Uwaaaaah this is too intense…!」
「I-I’ve had enough…! I hate pain!」
Some of them cry out like that.
And Alto immediately encourages them.
「What are you guys saying! Even if you get hit by arrows, Captain Eld will heal you! Come on, let’s go…!」
「This guy’s totally lost it…」
Alto has completely adapted to this spartan training camp.
Well, the excitement magic I’m using on him might have something to do with it.
But Alto’s own mental fortitude and determination is also impressive. As expected of the protagonist!
「Please, more arrows Mr. Otto! Getting stronger feels so good, I love these arrow showers!」
Oblivious to the others’ dumbfounded looks, Alto fearlessly charges into the storm of arrows in high spirits.
More and more arrows pierce Alto’s shoulders but he doesn’t seem bothered by it.
Alright, let’s raise Alto to be the mightiest warrior like this!
The training to dodge Otto’s arrows continued until morning.
Gradually, everyone grows used to avoiding the arrows.
Even though I can heal them, getting hurt still sucks so they desperately try to dodge.
Whenever their legs get tired, I heal them immediately.
Like this, their dodging skills improve significantly.
Nice, now they’ll be able to avoid attacks from the Demon Army.
Next, I had Akane help out with her magic.
She hits everyone with low power magic to raise their magic resistance.
Getting hit with minimized magic still hurts a lot but it’s not lethal.
「Take this…! Fireball – First Type, Blaze!」
FWOOOOM!
Akane’s spell assaults the trainees.
「UWAAAAAAHHH!」
But thanks to the arrow training it seems they’ve gotten used to pain since no one complains anymore.
On the contrary, everyone seems to clearly feel themselves getting stronger and their motivation is through the roof.
「More! Give us more! We wanna get even stronger!」
「GWAAAAAAH!」
For three days and nights, Akane kept roasting the trainees and I kept healing them.
As a result, everyone’s magic resistance skyrocketed.
「Aw yeah, my level’s going up too! Lord Eld’s training method is the best!」
「Man, how groundbreaking. We couldn’t do this without Lord Eld’s healing magic. I’m glad I joined the Subjugation Squad!」
I’m getting extremely positive feedback from all the squad members.
Some guys complained at first but Alto took those guys away somewhere.
When they get back, they’re also praising the training.
As we keep going, everyone seems to get addicted to the training and their tension gets weird.
Well, the healing magic does have the side effect of making people excited and hyped up.
It’s not much after just one or two times but after repeated exposures, it causes heal intoxication.
When heal intoxicated, pain is dulled and they get more and more hyper.
◆
There’s about 50 people trained as a proper Demon Subjugation Squad now.
However, the battle against the Demon Army will likely be on a much larger scale.
Just the small fry subordinate monsters under the Demon Army will probably number over ten thousand.
So we need to gather even more soldiers on our side.
That’s when I came up with an idea:
「I know, let’s use slaves!」
As a slave merchant, slaves are of course my specialty.
Slaves provide lots of cheap manpower.
Especially defective ones.
I gave all 50 squad members healing orbs.
And gave each money to go buy 100 defective slaves.
So altogether, 5000 slaves gathered.
And because I healed them, the slaves are also extremely loyal.
I had the 50 squad members each take on the title of Brigade Commander.
With 100 slaves under the command of each Brigade Commander.
And with the healing orbs, the Brigade Commanders can also train their slave troops using the same methods I did.
Like this, 5000 battle-hardened slave brigades were completed.
In addition, I appointed Alto, uniting all 50 Brigade Commanders under him as Division Commander.
With an army of 5000 now raised to hail Alto, preparations to celebrate him as leader are complete.
I also purchased the necessary armor and weapons to outfit the troops as needed.
The funding for that was provided by the King.
With this, we are prepared to face the Demon King――
And so, at last the Demon King revives――
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