Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 6===
Gardo was currently in Lundvall Castle, watching the battle that was unfolding in the distant ancient arena. He was at the top of the west tower — in the room of Leohart’s older sister, Riara. Through the projection device that Leohart had prepared, when they witnessed the outcome of the battle—

“Mmhmm, Lars certainly did well~. he was steady unlike his opponent, right?”

With a satisfied smile on her face, Riara sought his agreement.

“Yeah.”

Gardo then nodded and continued

“That guy knows exactly how to beat his opponent, and he executed it perfectly.”

Gardo calmly commented as he watched Lars’ laidback figure exit the stage after being released from the dimension of the battle, leaving behind the fainted Maria. In terms of pure fighting prowess, although Lars could not match up to Gardo or Leohart, an important ‘headroom’ during battles could always be sensed from his body — a bottomless impression. As for Maria who had been carried off the stage by Lucia—

''…Even if that succubus can master the power of adult transformation…''

The majority of the outcome would not have changed, and Lars would still have used other methods to defeat her. At that time—

“Gardo…if you were to fight against Lars, could you win?”

“…I don’t know.”

If Gardo was in a complete state, he probably wouldn’t lose to Lars. However, he was unable to predict whether he would win or not. In an imaginary duel, even if he was able to corner Lars, Lars would most certainly slip away right at the critical moment…that was the result of Gardo’s speculation. When faced against a stronger opponent, escape was somewhat equivalent to victory. He simply felt that no matter where Lars was, and no matter who his enemy was, he would be able to escape with his life intact…being able to make people think in this manner was one of the things that he excelled at.

“I see…so Gardo wouldn’t be able to win so easily either~”

After Riara heard Gardo’s uncertain answer, the shape of her eyes changed, and they seemed to indicate delight.

“I once told Lars to ‘get along well with Leohart’…fufufu, is this what one would call ‘having an eye for talent’?”

“Indeed…”

This woman’s candid smile caused Gardo to naturally respond with a silent smile. In order to protect this smile, Leohart was determined to become the Demon Lord to unify the Demon Realm — despite knowing that he would be manipulated like a puppet in the hands of the Council. That’s why Gardo was currently here. —Originally, Leohart did not allow any man aside from himself into Riara’s room. But, he made an exception for Gardo to enter the room to act as ‘insurance’ in case anything was to happen.

Leohart wanted to use this decisive battle to eradicate the Council that had killed his foster parents and scourged the Demon Realm; on the other hand, the Council also wished to silence Leohart, who was becoming increasingly difficult to control. Therefore, either during or after this decisive battle, a great change more significant than the battle between the two factions would definitely take place. In Leohart’s past, the Council had murdered his foster parents while he was away on the battlefield. Worried that they would make a move on Riara at such a time again, he asked Gardo to accompany Riara until the end of the decisive battle; Gardo promptly agreed to the request so that Leohart could concentrate on fighting. Although Gardo had lost an arm and was still in the midst of recovery, if something really did happen, he still had the power to escort Riara to someplace safe.

“—Ah, it looks like the next one is starting.”

Riara’s words caused Gardo to direct his eyes back towards the projected image of the arena. The third representatives from both sides were currently on stage. The representative of the Moderates factopm appeared to be a girl who was still yet to reach maturity. A spirit magic user of the Hero Tribe — Nonaka Kurumi.

“Hmm, is that one of the members sent by the Council…do you recognise him, Gardo?”

Riara asked about the youth facing Kurumi while she looked at him with a neutral expression.

“…Yeah, I know him.”

Also looking at the same broadcast, Gardo nodded as he replied. In the middle of the stage, the person with a slight grin on his face as he sought a handshake with Kurumi was—

“He is Admirath…a subordinate of the seat of [Greed] on the Council, that which belongs to Mardones.”