106
Chapter 106
The Demonic Realm.
Pandemonium. Pandemonium. The adventurers' graveyard.
A parallel world that doesn't even allow mankind, the lord of all creation, to conquer it.
We strolled through such a place as if it were perfectly normal.
Leisurely admiring the surrounding scenery as if we had come to look at flowers.
I did announce at first that everyone should stay on guard.
But no matter how much we walked, we didn't see a single enemy.
Because suppressing my Divine Power to keep it from leaking out had a one-hour limit.
Even though my location was likely being broadcast live across the entire Demonic Realm, not even a named Demon, let alone a single goblin, came looking for me.
Glance. Glance.
Hans kept stealing glances at me. Shock and terror were embedded in his eyes. I could see right through what he was thinking.
The rumor that the Black Fang Leader could see a thousand miles ahead and summon a massive Sword of Light from the sky, as colossal as Mount Tai, to judge sinners.
There wasn't a single person left who didn't know the story of Sian Ludbes' death.
He probably saw my Divine Power earlier and figured I wiped out the Demonic Realm with the Sword of Light before coming here.
"Ah, I apologize for my disrespectful words earlier...."
Sure enough.
That was how the guy apologized.
He looked so pale that he seemed like he would faint at any moment.
Well, if I were actually the Black Fang Leader, I would have hated being called the Pope. So it wasn't unreasonable for him to be so terrified.
"I didn't do this. I'm telling you, I have no idea what's happening right now either."
"What? Then what in the world is this...."
Hans made a bewildered expression.
I had wondered if the Demons and monsters had disappeared for some reason over the past ten years.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
I pondered for a moment before voicing the first guess that came to mind.
"Do you think the Empire stepped forward and wiped out the Demons?"
I didn't know the motive or the reason, though.
Because if there was a faction with enough overwhelming military might to pull off something like this, only one came to mind.
"Those guys? But they've just been ignoring this place all along, so why all of a sudden...."
"Well, it's a Knight's duty to protect the citizens of the Empire. To save the people..."
Naturally, my words trailed off.
There's a limit to how nonsensical things can get.
An Imperial Knight protecting Imperial citizens?
That kind of bullshit was even less believable than a possessed web novel protagonist saying, 'I just want to live quietly without interfering with the original plot.'
But... no matter how much I thought about it, there was no other plausible suspect besides the Empire. I was struggling with this bizarre mystery for a while when...
A transmission suddenly went off.
The face that appeared on the screen was Balzac.
More accurately, the fake Balzac.
A spy planted in the Empire by inserting a different soul into Balzac's body.
He opened his mouth with a slightly bewildered expression.
[Um... did you perhaps plant another spy in the Empire besides me? Or maybe suborned the Imperial Family?]
The moment I heard that, the bewilderment infected me as well.
A spy?
And in the Imperial Family at that?
What kind of nonsense was this supposed to be now?
When I made a questioning expression, Balzac awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
[No? Then what is it?]
After going back and forth with the bizarre conversation for a while, the fake Balzac returned to the main topic.
[The Empire has wiped out the Demons. It seems they thought Black Fang was taming the Demons to use as a means to invade the Empire.]
"Demons? How the hell do you tame Demons?"
My face flushed with even more bewilderment than before.
They were a race that couldn't even communicate with in the first place. How on earth could they be tamed and used as allies?
If that were possible, we would have done it ages ago.
There were Demons like succubi and incubi who obviously looked like they'd bring in money. It wasn't for nothing that there were no businesses utilizing them.
Countless people tried and failed.
As the unlucky ones among them turned into handfuls of blood, it became common knowledge that Demons could not be tamed.
There was no way that common sense had suddenly vanished in the past ten years. Why on earth did they think that?
I couldn't understand their way of thinking at all.
[The one who devised the operation was the Second Prince. I'm not sure if he was close with the original owner of this body, but he doesn't guard against me at all. If I play my cards right, I think I can take care of him... what should I do?]
The fake Balzac asked just that.
Perhaps Lucy selected the soul well, because he seemed even more capable than expected.
I agonized for a long time over whether to take this opportunity to eliminate the Empire's Prince....
'...What the hell is this now?'
The earring seemed to whisper to me.
Telling me not to do it. That I shouldn't.
Eventually, after much deliberation, I opened my mouth to speak.
"No, just leave him be."
[Yes! Understood!]
When you're at the level of the Empire's Sword Master, people's attention is always bound to gather. Saying he couldn't maintain the transmission for long, the fake Balzac ended the call.
I'm not sure if this was the right decision, though.
Well, if I needlessly assassinated the Prince, attention might fall on the fake Balzac, and that could eventually reach Rubia.
Thinking about it calmly, it seemed like a fairly reasonable judgment.
'Above all... for some reason, I feel like it'd be better to keep him alive.'
Even setting aside the earring's warning. I had a feeling that keeping him alive would be more beneficial.
Well, my intuition has always been lacking in reliability and accuracy. So it's not exactly a trustworthy indicator.
Thinking such thoughts, I was about to walk down the street again when... our eyes met.
A gaping mouth.
Hans looking at me with a face full of shock.
"U-um, I've actually been supporting Black Fang for a long time, too."
The guy pulled out a glossy black fang-shaped brooch from his pocket. It seemed merchandise had been produced without my knowledge.
I tried to explain something... but gave up.
From his perspective, I must look like an untouchable heavyweight who had subjugated the Empire's Sword Master and was using him as a spy.
Nothing I said would be believed.
Complaining about being misunderstood as a revolutionary organization when I had sent a spy into the Empire was honestly a bit ridiculous.
"I knew of Black Fang's greatness through rumors, but. To freely manipulate the Empire and even command its army...."
Hans was looking at me like I was some genius strategist.
"So that's what it was! This was all part of the plan.... Why didn't I realize it?"
To make matters worse.
Even Rien, persuaded by those words, was looking at me with eyes full of admiration.
Even though I had given up on convincing them, seeing that sight still made my head spin.
I sought a way to change the subject. Well, it wasn't particularly difficult. I had things I needed to say anyway.
"Enough about Black Fang, please just focus on your duties as a Guide, Hans. If we keep going this way, we'll end up at the castle where the Corpse Lord resides."
I hired a Guide, but somehow I seemed to know the way better. We'd been pressing forward because I was distracted by other matters.
Heading in this direction would lead us straight to the Corpse Lord's castle. We needed to avoid dangerous places, so I had to change course quickly.......
'...Wait a minute.'
In an instant, an obvious fact flashed through my mind.
Balzac had definitely said they wiped out all the Demons. The sheer national power of the Empire was an undeniable fact.
That much was clearly the undeniable truth.
Then what happened to the Corpse Lord?
And his castle?
The answer to that was incredibly obvious.
They were obviously all dead. Both the Corpse Lord and his subordinates.
The castle would be left desolate, without an owner.
The other named Demons were likely in similar situations as well.
"I-I'm sorry! I got distracted and.... I'll guide you to where you want to go right away!"
"No, it's fine."
I said that with a smile.
When I first heard the news of the Demons' annihilation. I had simply thought it would make my journey easier.
But perhaps what the Empire had done for me this time was far greater than just rolling out a red carpet for a stroll.
"Thinking about it carefully, this is still a trip at its core. Wouldn't it be better to take our time and enjoy it?"
Unless the Empire was completely stupid, they definitely would have taken all the Mana Stones dropped by the Corpse Lord and the equipment he had been wearing.
But would the Empire have found it?
The easter egg hidden in Bone and Blood.
Elixirs and Artifacts were just the basics.
A hidden room with a treasure chest that dropped incredibly precious Rune Stones, which could even grant you the traits of a Boss monster if you were lucky?
There was no way they found that.
Therefore, there was only one thing I needed to do right now.
"Since we're already here, let's drop by a few places and do some sightseeing."
The Empire had already killed all the Bosses and mob monsters for us.
All we had to do was snatch up the core rewards they had left behind.
...It was time to cash in on a free windfall.