The Strongest Onmyoji and the Shikigami With AI are Unparalleled in Another World ~ A Second Life Properly Enjoyed Using Artificial Intelligence ~ - Chapter 164

It seems this dragon retreated to the western mountains after witnessing a demonic invasion.

Hearing this, I got out of the hot spring, dried myself off, and put on my clothes.

As I waited, the women, now fully dressed, arrived.

“Yuuma-sama, we heard from the little fox, but is it true about the demon invasion?”

Leanne, who was at the front, asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, this dragon saw a large number of demons aboard massive ships from the northern mountains.”

“Tch! Apologies. I’ll notify my uncle immediately.”

“Do that.”

“Then, for now, I’ll return you to your room, Yuuma-sama.”

There’s not much we can do ourselves, is there?

“Understood. I’m counting on you. Farewell, dragon.”

“Yeah. Just so you know, it’s not like I ran away.”

Still going on about that, huh…

“Yeah, yeah.”

With Leanne’s teleportation, we returned to my room.

“Leanne-sama, I’ll inform my father and Jeffrey about this as well,” Pamela said to Leanne once we were back.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, but don’t spread the word too much yet. It’s not certain they’re launching an attack.”

“I understand.”

“Good. I’ll send you as far as the guild.”

“Thank you. Yuuma-san, I’ll see you later.”

Pamela, her hair still damp, raised her hand.

“Yeah. Don’t catch a cold. You too, Leanne.”

“Got it.”

“Thank you. Well then, we’ll be off…”

After saying this, Leanne and Pamela disappeared, leaving me to settle into the kotatsu.

“A demon invasion, huh… Is it really true? Could it be a false report?” Annie, who usually just floats around as a disembodied head, asked as she sat upright for once.

Alice, too, was awake.

“I don’t know. But if the dragon relocated, there’s probably something to it. I’m not familiar with history—has there been an invasion like this before?”

“There have been, though it’s been decades. Back then, they invaded by ship too, but I heard they couldn’t even make landfall and ended up retreating. The humans were vigilant, and the coastal defenses were formidable.”

The humans’ wariness and hostility toward demons are truly something else.

“Do you think we can repel them this time?”

“I don’t know. The demons must have some chance of winning if they’re launching an attack…”

Probably, yeah.

“What can we do?”

“Not so much what we can do, but there might be a call for a volunteer army. Like the emergency summons during the Stampede.”

So it’s a problem that requires everyone, not just the soldiers, to respond.

“If it comes to that, what will we do? I’d like to at least decide on a general plan.”

“…The attack is coming from the north, right? It’ll depend on which direction they head.”

Huh?

“Which direction?”

“The northern mountains are on the border, just like the western mountains. To the east of them is the sea. So, the question is whether the demons will head for our country or the neighboring northern country.”

“Prioritize our own country?”

“That’s likely. After all, to reach the northern country, they’d have to cross the northern mountains or take a detour west. That takes time, and if a separate demon force heads to our country, we wouldn’t be able to respond quickly. Of course, the military will likely deploy the navy to assist, but for us adventurers, it’s a different story.”

Makes sense.

“Do you think the demons are deliberately advancing along the border to exploit this?”

“Who knows? But, on the flip side, they’d be facing two nations at once. Sorry… I really don’t know.”

I don’t know either.

“What do you think, AI-chan?”

“Apologies, but there’s too little information to make a judgment.”

Fair enough.

All we know is that the demons are on ships heading north.

“We’ll have to wait and see. Let’s wait for Leanne.”

“Sounds good. What will we do if we’re called upon?”

Hmm…

“What do you think?”

I asked the four.

“If Yuuma decides to go, I’ll go.”

“Me too!”

“…I’ll leave it up to you, Yuuma.”

You’re really leaving everything to me, huh…

“What about you, Annie?”

“I’ll follow your lead. As for the clan… well, it’ll probably come down to individual decisions.”

Layla would probably say the same thing.

“Got it. We’ll wait to hear from Leanne and decide then. Until that time, we’re on standby.”

“Agreed. It’s a shame about the hot spring, but let’s go again sometime.”

“…Yeah, definitely.”

With that, Annie and Alice lay down and reverted to their disembodied-head forms.

“Still, demons, huh… Are there going to be a lot of demons like the one we faced before?” Natalia murmured anxiously.

“The demon woman we fought was probably quite high up the hierarchy,” AI-chan said, nodding as she analyzed the situation. “Even among demons, I don’t think there are many with that level of magical power.”

“I think so too. Sven and that musclehead were incredibly strong as well. If there were a lot of people like them, the demons wouldn’t be losing their battles with humanity.”

They were probably elites.

“I see…”

“Well, even if there’s an emergency summons and we decide to accept it, I don’t think it’ll be that dangerous. Like during the last Stampede, if things get really bad, Koma-chan will help you all escape.”

“As long as Koma-chan’s with us, we’ll be fine.”

Koma-chan is strong and fast, so they’d easily manage to escape.

The only problem is that four people might be a bit much.

“I thought this year would end peacefully, but there’s been so much going on…” Lily muttered, resting her cheek on her hand.

“Most of it’s related to demons.”

It started with the Stampede, then the incident at the eastern ruins. The royal capital had its own problems thanks to the king and Ludgar, but even that began with the Stampede and the rewards for demon subjugation that brought us there. And now, the dragons have fled because of the demons.

“Maybe something happened to stir them up after staying quiet for so long.”

“Could be.”

I really did pick an eventful time to be reincarnated.

Though whether that’s a good thing or not, I have no idea.