Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Victory Celebration Party
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The ball had ended, and Duke and his companions returned to their carriage.
"Be careful, sir."
Before parting ways with Duke, Hana issued a warning.
Duke responded with an answer that was somewhat out of context.
"I am one who finds beauty in the clash of convictions. So worry not, and fulfill your role."
Hana pondered his meaningful words before responding with a smile.
"Thank you for your consideration, sir."
"Mm. I look forward to our next meeting."
Duke had originally spoken casually to Hana, but the meaning behind his change in speech was something only the two of them knew.
With that, Duke ended his dreamlike time with Hana and set off to return to the inn.
But dreams are destined to end eventually.
Just before their carriage arrived at the inn, the situation took a sudden turn.
"Duke! Ari! The citizens! The citizens!!"
The citizens Rex had saved just a few days ago were being attacked by knights.
A cornered human will do anything.
Humans are inherently distant from reason, but a human with nothing left to lose can become even uglier.
"Rex... you bastard...! You alone... you alone...!!"
After the banquet ended, the old count vented his rage alone in his study.
His plan to kill Rex at the banquet and seize his territory had failed spectacularly.
He hadn't ingested the poison from the start, and the lord of the neighboring territory's participation made assassination impossible.
The count had considered a frontal assault at the time but ultimately abandoned the idea.
'They say his maid took down that demon.'
This meant Rex's maid was a 4th-rank monster as well.
Factoring in Duke the knight too, even if the count mobilized the full forces of his city, it would be a razor-thin margin.
'And that wench.'
The biggest problem, above all, was Lord Sneria.
Though 4th-rank, she was no force to dismiss lightly.
If she were, he would have invaded her territory long ago.
The Viscount Sneria the count knew was an incomprehensible freak.
She pursued meaningless justice, placed great importance on etiquette, and scrupulously honored contracts that were little more than scraps of paper.
If he attacked Rex in front of her eyes...
'That wench would side with him too.'
Inviting someone to a party and then attacking them violated what she considered justice.
Thus, the count abandoned the assassination.
With her joining in, his chances of victory were nil.
- Do I really need to obsess over that brat?
The sliver of reason left in the corner of the count's mind halted his train of thought.
But the grim reaper named lifespan, pressing close behind him, silenced his reason once more.
'I can't die like this.'
His fingertips trembled more severely than a month ago, and his heart began to race faster.
Judging by the progression of his symptoms, his remaining time wasn't long.
"Time. I'm short on time."
If he'd obtained the dead demon's heart, he wouldn't have fixated on Rex like this.
He could just feed it to another demon and kill that one.
But with even the heart gone, only emotion and rage dominated the lord's mind.
The count recalled Rex smiling innocently at his maid, feigning ignorance.
'Fine, if that's how you want to play, I'll use that wench too.'
The count pictured Viscount Sneria's face.
He didn't know what tricks Rex had pulled, but her oblivious appearance at the party made her utterly detestable.
But seen another way, it was an opportunity for the count.
'That wench will honor the contract.'
The count recalled the recently renewed military pact with her.
It stated that if one side was attacked, the other would provide support.
However, scanning all the surrounding territories, there was no domain with the caliber to invade the count's.
In effect, it was a one-sided protection treaty.
He'd signed it under false pretenses to obtain luxury goods from her territory.
But now, that useless paper felt useful for the first time.
'If Rex attacks me, that woman will have no choice but to aid me.'
Whatever Rex's circumstances, Hana was a ruler before she was human, so she would undoubtedly side with the count.
'Then this is what I'll do.'
A way to provoke Rex into attacking him came to mind immediately.
Reports indicated Rex, unbefitting a superhuman, showed excessive sentiment toward trivial things.
In that case...
'Since you destroyed my precious possession, it's only fair you feel that pain too.'
The count curled his lips upward.
Convinced Rex would fall for the provocation.
"Duke! Ari! The citizens! The citizens!!"
The words reached Rex suddenly.
How urgent must it have been for him to shout aloud instead of messaging as usual?
"What's wrong, Master?!"
Ari responded frantically.
But Duke remained in his usual composed state.
Rex glanced once at the inscrutable helmet before refocusing on the interface before his eyes.
"The citizens are under attack!"
Ari immediately knew which citizens Rex meant.
They were the ones rescued from the demon-ruled city, now staying in a nearby village.
"Who did it?!"
Feeling just as responsible for those citizens as Rex, her reaction was dramatic.
In contrast, Duke stayed silent.
In the end, the conversation proceeded only between Ari and Rex.
"I don't know who! They look like bandits... but I'm not sure."
There were no proper contracts among the citizens, so the location only showed as a dot.
All he could infer was from the red dots encircling the green one.
Ari, who had received the shared minimap, showed impatience amid the firefly spirits' display before her eyes.
"What do we do? Even running there on foot would take three days!"
"A faster way to..."
At Rex's mutter, both turned to Duke.
"A faster..."
"Way..."
That must have been why he'd seemed so leisurely.
They looked at Duke expectantly.
As if responding, Duke finally spoke.
"We can get there."
"As expected!"
"Sir!"
"But we won't."
"Why!"
"Why not?!"
Duke found their reactions amusing and wanted to tease more, but decided against it lest he get smacked.
Instead of explaining, he headed to the nearest stable.
"Let's go first. I'll explain on the way."
Three days passed.
After a fan meeting with the bandits—now a welcome routine—the group reached the village at the end of their peaceful journey.
There, Rex encountered faces he hadn't expected but were(?) welcome.
""We've been waiting, Your Excellency! Liege!""
The sight of roughly 300 knights saluting Rex was spectacular.
"Urgh..."
Rex staggered, called "Liege" in front of everyone, but they were welcome faces nonetheless.
The Yormungand Knight Order.
The knights once scattered across the territory for Rex had gathered here again.
""First time meeting you, Sir Rex.""
And for some reason, an unidentified group had joined them.
Dazed by the vertigo, Rex demanded an explanation.
[How... did this... happen...?]
At Rex's question, the squad leaders proudly listed their achievements.
"We rescued those unjustly enslaved in this territory."
"Over the past few months, we preached Your Excellency's greatness to them—"
"And successfully brainwashed... er, educated them."
Rex's jaw dropped.
In the blink of an eye, his responsibilities had grown from 300 to 1,000.
Rex shot Duke a look demanding explanation.
Duke grasped his feelings but feigned ignorance, responding proudly.
"Liege. In times like this, you should commend your subordinates' efforts."
*This crazy bastard.*
Rex's eyes seemed to shoot that message.
Duke, of course, played dumb.
'Ah, I should've told him how we'd search the slave markets.'
A protagonist who was a chuunibyou had delegated command and focused on adventures; he deserved the consequences.
The karma of granting Duke message command access without checking had grown this massive.
However, Rex's thoughts differed slightly.
'Damn skill!'
Rex even felt his status window mocking him.
Afterward, Rex contracted with the additional 700 as well.
He had no desire to witness a 1,000-man group oath show.
Having barely endured the bewildering moment, Rex returned to the main topic.
[But why are you all here?]
At Rex's question, the 1st Squad Leader—no, now Company Commander—dark elf replied.
"Your Excellency commanded it. That ruffians dared harm the commoners resting in your shadow. So we came ahead to welcome them."
Rex and Ari's gazes turned to Duke's helmet.
'Hm, impressive, right?'
Duke positioned himself with the sun at his back for maximum effect and puffed out his chest slightly.
This was why Duke had remained composed throughout.
Knowing the count's next move in advance, he'd assembled the knights here before the party even began.
By the time Rex arrived at the village, the mysterious red dots attacking the citizens were nowhere to be seen.
"How did you know?"
At Ari's question, Duke finally explained everything.
The unidentified group at the great chieftain's corpse in the demon city,
The count's situation, which he'd personally investigated,
And the regular reports from squad leaders every evening.
Combining it all, he'd inferred the count's objective.
"Once you know the goal, reading the moves isn't hard."
Of course, this relied on original knowledge, but Duke was someone who'd left his conscience behind 200 years ago, so he didn't care.
'Can't let him touch the rescued citizens too.'
Duke planned a complete victory over the count for once.
He had to deny that old man everything until the end.
Having finished explaining events so far, Duke gauged Rex's reaction.
The response was largely as expected.
"Why didn't you tell me until now?"
"I wasn't certain until this attack."
Duke's words were highly reasonable.
The fact that the village attackers were knights from another city under the count's orders was decisive proof.
Prior evidence had mostly been circumstantial; it lacked the knockout punch to confirm the count as the mastermind.
Convinced, Rex nodded.
"Fair enough..."
It made sense.
Rex fell into thought again.
Duke and the knights waited until he spoke.
Duke especially awaited Rex's words.
'Now, how will Rex respond?'
In the original, Rex grew into a ruler through immense suffering.
And in this village raid, he truly resolves to become a lord.
'Originally, he'd plan the lord's assassination.'
Learning the truth, Rex acts.
Realizing the knights he first commanded in the research city were victims of this territory's 'human laundering,'
That his cherished Ari was also a victim,
And now even the citizens he'd saved were targeted.
The boy who'd wanted to remain a city staffer decides to become a lord, spurred by the deaths of those who'd placed faith in him.
To ensure no more such people appear around him.
But this world is different.
Many of the growth pains Rex suffered in the original were preempted.
So what kind of person would this boy become?
This was Duke's gamble too.
It risked veering completely off the original path.
But he didn't want this poor friend to suffer misfortune just for growth's sake, even if he could prevent it.
'What kind of person will this world's Rex become?'
Finally, Rex ended his deliberation and spoke.
"I'm not... someone with such a grand vessel."
"But for those who follow me, if necessary, I have no choice."
"Let's pull down the lord. So no more tainted blood flows on this land."
Duke's lips curved upward at Rex's words.
'As expected.'
Even if the world changed, people didn't.
Even without deaths, Rex's sense of responsibility remained intact.
Rex was insensitive to personal insults but took full responsibility for those who trusted him.
Duke defined this as the quality of a ruler.
"It's shameless, but I'm asking. Help me."
Resolved, Rex made his request to the knights without trembling.
In the original, Rex had only adventurer contacts and Ari to ask.
But here, countless soldiers followed him.
Toward their requesting liege, Duke knelt first.
"Liege. Don't beg. Just command us."
The knights behind Duke knelt as well.
""Command us!!""
Soon, Rex steeled his resolve and shouted.
"I declare here! No more innocent blood will flow on this land! Those willing to stake their lives for me, swear it!"
As if waiting, the knights rose one by one.
"1st Company Commander, Hedonius. I swear on my heart. I will establish your will on this land."
"2nd Company Commander, Jinaria Saga. I swear on my blood. True morality will be upheld here."
"3rd Company Commander, Remesis. I swear on my name. Your warmth will spread across this barren land."
With the three company commanders' declarations, Duke rose last, hand on chest.
"Yormungand Honor Guard Captain, Duke Awik. I swear here. Not a single one of your enemies will set foot on this land."
With his declaration, light entered Duke's status window.
But Rex, captivated by the scene, didn't notice.
'Bitcoin's about to list.'
The direction of loyalty was a bit off, but it was loyalty nonetheless.