Discovering the Hidden Shortcut

"…There is one more thing I would like to ask you."

After a long stretch of silence, the voice from beyond the shadow spoke up.

"I've considered smuggling grain myself, but never in any serious way. The Empire is vast, so if I assemble a merchant caravan and disguise myself as a traveling guild, there’s no way anyone could track me down unless they dig deep. The problem has always been transporting the wagons carrying grain across our borderlands. Not only is the amount we need far too large to hide, but I can’t find any method that wouldn’t leave obvious tracks. The very fact that horses can’t withstand corrosive demonic energy is only the second problem.

Do you, Edwin-nim, happen to have any solution for this?"

The shadow directed its gaze toward me.

For some reason, his tone seemed filled with genuine earnestness.

I nodded and answered his question.

"Could you perhaps have a map?"

At my request, Pyne glanced toward the doorway and snapped his fingers. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Moments later, Isana appeared with a tightly rolled scroll and unrolled it before me.

"Thank you, Isana."

"Not at all. I’ll remain by the door should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you require anything else."

Having set the map down, Isana turned and left the room. I looked after her and addressed Pyne once more.

"She seems to be on very good terms with you. The way you express gratitude even for the smallest things makes it impossible for me, as her subordinate, not to hold her in high regard."

"Hm? Ah, yes… Thank you."

I had tossed out the remark lightly, hoping to lighten the mood, but the response was far from warm. Since it had produced no effect, I cleared my throat and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Hmm, hmm. Shall we continue with the plan, then? If we use the usual roads, we’ll naturally draw the eyes of the local villagers and the watchmen. The route we’ll take is right here."

"Flatland village?"

The spot I pointed to on the map was a settlement nestled in the middle of the highway running north to south along the eastern foothills of the high mountain range. Pyne read the name with obvious doubt.

"Indeed. Though you may not know, that village has a hidden trail leading into the Wasteland. It’s not a regular path and is kept secret as a contingency route, so it doesn’t appear on standard maps. The path is narrow, but wide enough for a single wagon. When I considered organizing a merchant caravan, I realized how quickly you’re thinking."

"Thinking ahead of time. Good."

"You know your enemy well. Since the eastern people are taller and far stronger than us, we’ll transport the grain by wagon as far as the halfway point, then switch to using your forces for the rest. Of course, this arrangement holds only until we’ve delivered the entire quantity of grain we’re selling. Once all our required grain is gone, we’ll have to station troops along the route again. So I hope you’ll put the thought of reusing this path out of your mind."

I finished speaking and looked back at the shadow.

"Well?"

"…What was that?"

Even after I prompted him, the answer didn’t come. Another long silence followed, so I asked Pyne to respond.

It seemed the shadow only regained its composure after I urged it once more.

"…If we can carry this out exactly as planned, I won’t be able to refuse this deal. But, Edwin-nim, before we proceed, I have one more question. If we go through with this transaction, what exactly will you and your family gain in return?

We can use it to help the suffering common people and stabilize public sentiment, but the only thing you’ll receive is a small sum of money. Yet you’re willing to take such risks just for that paltry amount?"

At Pyne’s words, I smiled and met his gaze.

"Paltry money? Of course it’s a perfectly fair exchange. Besides, if a little grain can earn the trust of our neighbors, what better profit is there? Even though we’re meeting today to discuss this deal, I believe we can sustain a long-term good relationship. Of course, establishing official friendship may be difficult, but you don’t think so, do you?"

"…Do you consider us the same kind of people? Haven’t you seen Isana’s true form yet?"

"I was genuinely surprised. When I saw her in person, the aura was far more intimidating than I imagined. But you needn’t worry. I may not possess her abilities, but I don’t discriminate based on appearance. After all, I’m in this form now—what’s the point of judging others by it?"

I shrugged and delivered the line in a self-deprecating tone. Pyne paused for a moment, then burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha!"

He laughed for a long time before finally calming down. The shadow wiped its eyes with a finger.

"Haha, my apologies. It’s been ages since I laughed like this. Honestly, I was surprised. If I had known there was someone this bold nearby, I would have made friends with you long ago. Those past years have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truly troublesome."

"You flatter me. And what’s the point of regretting the past? What matters now is the future. I’m sure you feel the same way, Pyne-nim."

Upon hearing my words, the shadow nodded.

"Precisely. What matters is the future. Very well, Edwin-nim. I, Pyne, the rightful successor of the Barda Clan, accept your proposal. I’ll have Isana arrange a room at the estate, so feel free to stay and we can discuss the details at leisure."

"I’m delighted. Ah, and Pyne-nim—earlier you mentioned that the only thing we’d gain was a small sum of money. In truth, I have a few additional requests. If you think the terms are unbalanced, I hope you’ll at least listen to me."

***

After completing my conversation with the future Demon King Pyne, I followed Isana’s guidance to the reception room.

The room was simply decorated yet impeccably clean, giving it an elegant atmosphere.

I roughly unpacked my luggage and collapsed onto the bed in the corner of the room.

"Hah…"

It was already late, and Pyne had a schedule ahead, so we would continue the detailed discussion tomorrow.

A schedule, indeed. What exactly was the Demon King doing?

The figure I had faced earlier was only his avatar.

The real Pyne was probably disguised as a human somewhere in the Empire, carrying out his activities.

In truth, I didn’t know much about demons.

Up to the last point I had read, the story of the Demon King had yet to unfold in earnest, so my knowledge was limited to a few fragmentary facts.

He was male.

Unlike other clans that avoided contact with humans, he actively established bases and used disguised artifacts to infiltrate and live among them for years.

In fact, the Demon King was a moderate type who enjoyed the culture of the western people, but due to the circumstances of the demons and the demands of the hardline factions under his command, he eventually launched an Empire invasion.

And near the end of the war, as most of the hardliners were exterminated by the Hero Party and the demons’ offensive reached its peak, they made peace with the Empire, ceded a portion of the land, and settled there.

So it was even more surprising that I could meet them so easily.

…In any case, selling a bit of grain wasn’t going to stop the demons’ invasion.

The recent catastrophic drought in their eastern continent wasn’t a temporary event—it was a permanent shift in climate.

This year, if luck held, we could sell surplus grain and alleviate their suffering, but there was no guarantee we could do the same next year and the year after.

Even with the quantities we provided, it would be insufficient to feed all the demons, so their discontent would only grow with each passing year, eventually exploding and turning the blade toward the Empire.

Like humans in this era, demons had yet to establish a proper central government.

While humans were gradually moving toward centralization, demons remained in a more primitive state, divided into multiple clans and barely forming a military nation.

In the original story, Pyne was elected as the representative Demon King thanks to his innate immense power.

However, he was not an absolute ruler; he could not ignore the influence of the military commanders who led each clan.

And that was precisely why the great invasion occurred years later.

The problem was that the ones who would have to bear the direct brunt were me and my family.

Between the Empire and the Forbidden Zone stood a high mountain range that rose like cliffs, blocking the inflow of demonic energy and all sorts of monsters. The only passage was the Wasteland that lay between the south and the Forbidden Zone.

The farthest point in the south was, of course, my family estate—Maidheaden.

If we continued to strengthen ties with the moderate Demon King Pyne, we would gain room to negotiate in a crisis. Besides, since the other clans would also benefit from our trade, we could soften the public opinion that demanded an unconditional southern alliance against the demons.

If everything went well, we could avoid the worst-case scenario where the entire south would become a wasteland, as in the original story.

Of course, this assumption was overly optimistic and would definitely require additional measures. Still, this was the best solution I could come up with right now.

The fact that he had revealed the shortcut did bother me a little, but the path was very narrow and unsuitable for moving large numbers of people at once. Moreover, since it was a trail cut between sheer cliffs, we could simply use magic to block it during an emergency. I would only need to be careful about that.

"Hah…"

I didn’t possess the overwhelming power to overturn the entire era single-handedly, nor the high intelligence to design and control every situation alone.

The fact that the only tool I could use to avoid tragedy was a handful of fragmentary knowledge was not a pleasant reality.

"Surviving is so difficult…"

As I continued to think, my consciousness eventually drifted beyond the soft mattress of the bed.

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