Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Tag (3)
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I had a feeling the ultimate form of spiritual power manipulation would be moving it according to my will without even having to concentrate, just like Ditto.
“Gah-!”
“What the hell is this!”
“It’s alive—it’s alive!”
I was just standing still, holding my hammer where I first landed, yet the soldiers around me were in a complete uproar.
Was it because they were being pierced, bound, and thrown about by the threads of spiritual power I controlled?
Of course, it wasn't as if they couldn't get close to me amidst the chaos, but just because I was manipulating my spiritual power didn't mean I couldn't do anything else.
I was simply concentrating to practice controlling it with more finesse.
“About six strands.”
I wondered if this was what Doctor Octopus's mechanical arms from Spider-Man felt like. Though, of course, I had far more arms than he did.
Once I got used to it, I was sure I could control many more.
I now released my spiritual power and readjusted my grip on the hammer. If I wanted to crack their skulls, I had to hold it properly, not in a reverse grip.
This was my first real battle with it, in a way. I’d barely had a chance to use the hammer in Lubeck. It hummed faintly, as if it were sulking.
A new weight settled into it.
*Fwoosh—*
As heavy as it was, the sound of it tearing through the air echoed every time I swung it, and the result for anyone who took a direct hit was devastating.
A single swing, and they were out of commission.
The enemies swarmed in relentlessly. Now that Van Helsing's presence was confirmed, I figured reinforcements from around the base—and even from farther away—would start pouring in.
“All the better.”
I planned to build a tower with the corpses of these fiends, reeking of demonic energy.
And maybe I’d drive a giant wooden stake through the top. If word of that got out, the higher-ups might not care, but the grunts would surely become consumed by fear.
The soldiers and lower-ranking knights would have to worry about their own lives, after all.
And rumors. They never spread as they are. They always get embellished.
Even if I only took down ten fiends tainted by demonic energy, by the time the rumor reached the capital, I might be known as some lunatic who builds towers of corpses.
So, what kind of rumor would spread if I actually built a tower of corpses and drove a stake through it?
“I wonder.”
Perhaps due to the hammer’s power, the knights and soldiers who needed to fight up close hesitated, while the black mages and archers in the distance kept chipping away at me with their attacks.
My excitement fizzled out. I hadn't expected an incredibly fierce and bloody battle.
Although, admittedly, quite a bit of blood had been spilled.
But I never imagined they would tuck their tails between their legs after just a few swings of my hammer and a taste of my spiritual power.
The hammer picked up speed. One by one, they fell to the ground, and those struck by Ditto's paws also collapsed, spewing blood.
Ditto was a surprisingly good fighter, too. It would fight as a bear, then suddenly transform into a wolf, leaping to tear at their throats, then shift into a bird and soar into the sky to evade attacks.
Whose familiar was this? So proud of it!
Corpses piled upon corpses, and the demonic energy that had saturated the entire base seemed to lose its strength, its deep color fading like mist vanishing in the sunlight.
As quickly as the number of dying fiends.
***
I made a small mound with their corpses and drove a massive wooden stake into the top.
It was a bizarre sight. And a terrifying one. A stake driven through the middle of several hundred bodies.
The sky was now filled with crows, and the dark red blood, mixed with demonic energy, coated the base.
I could have just left it, but if I did, I felt the Empire would find a way to use even this. So, I took out a card charged with Gleb's divine power.
I absorbed the demonic energy with my spiritual power while simultaneously releasing the divine power.
I didn't purify everything. There needed to be proof that they were tainted by demonic energy.
“Whew. That was tough. Don’t you think?”
*Kuoong?*
Ditto, who had turned back into a bear and was licking its paws while I worked, tilted its head and met my gaze.
“Well, this should be a sufficient warning.”
Just when I thought I could finally get some rest, my communication device rang.
What could it be? Hattie Shaw rarely initiated contact unless it was important.
“Hattie, what’s wrong?”
“Urgent news. We have intel that the Minister of Finance, Fritz Schäfer, will be leaving the capital.”
Fritz Schäfer. I'd never heard of him. He must have been appointed after my death. I had a rough idea about the Schäfer family, though.
“The speculation is that he’s either attending a gathering of nobles from his faction, or there’s a problem within the Ministry of Finance. In any case.”
“When is this?”
“It won’t be long. There’s no definite date, but it could be anytime within the next month or two.”
“He needs to be killed.”
“Exactly. This is our chance. Especially since the central figures have rarely left the capital after the Emperor became a god. This is all a result of what you’ve done.”
She was right. It was all a result of my actions. Perhaps Fritz Schäfer was meeting other nobles because the bank had been robbed, or perhaps it was the result of the character Van Helsing running wild.
“In any case, the fact that a man who’s usually glued to his seat is making a move himself means it’s no ordinary matter. He’s the Minister of Finance, after all.”
But they were a funny bunch. Ludwig Brandt and the others. They denied Prometheus so vehemently, yet they continued to use the systems I created.
Titles like Director of Central Intelligence, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Interior, Prime Minister, and Commander-in-Chief had no place in the medieval era.
They were the result of my efforts to define roles that had previously been haphazardly assigned based on noble seniority or power, and to clearly delegate duties.
In any case, the Minister of Finance was the one who managed the Empire's finances. Killing him would undoubtedly deal a major blow.
It could significantly delay their war preparations. While the actual work is done by those at the bottom, setting the overall direction and coordinating it is a job for the top.
“He is avaricious. More so than you can imagine. I suspect he might be the master of the demonic energy of Avarice, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Avarice…”
“The problem is, while he acts so miserly and squeezes the nobles and the common folk dry, a portion of that money goes straight into his own pocket.”
It’s said that handling money breeds greed and that some will always stick to your fingers, but for a Minister of Finance, wouldn't the amount be extraordinary?
“That’s why he must be killed. It will surely deal a significant blow.”
“And if possible, captured.”
“Hmm? What? Captured?”
Killing a man like that would be good, but capturing him was also an option. There would surely be things to uncover.
Just imagine how much information a minister of a nation would possess.
“He must know about the Emperor. His recent activities and such. After all, a minister of his rank would surely have had an audience with the Emperor.”
“That’s true. But kidnapping…”
It wouldn't be easy, of course.
It would be several times harder than simply killing him. Especially if he was tainted by demonic energy. He wasn't some powerless man who only received protection.
Couldn't he suddenly transform into a demon, like Ivan Pons? That would make capturing him several times more difficult than killing him.
And even if we did manage to capture him, where would we hide him? Where would we extract information from him?
But these were all minor problems.
The biggest problem.
“Whether we kill him or kidnap him, we have to be prepared for war.”
“That seems likely. But we can’t just let this opportunity slip by.”
A war could break out immediately. No, it was nine out of ten that it would.
Honestly, the only reason the Empire was leaving the Northern Alliance alone for now was because its internal affairs were a mess.
Or perhaps they were planning to pluck the fruit of the Northern Alliance when it was perfectly ripe.
When the Empire needed to unite.
“Still, the reward for success is great.”
“I’ll have to contact the Northern Alliance.”
“Right. This isn’t something we can handle alone.”
Even if I carried out the kidnapping, it would be up to the Northern Alliance to extract information from him and keep him hidden.
They were the ones who had to prepare for the actual war.
***
“It is still too early.”
“But it is an opportunity, is it not?”
“That may be, but…”
The discussion in the conference room continued endlessly. Various opinions were exchanged, but a conclusion was not easily reached.
The meeting was about the kidnapping or assassination of Fritz Schäfer, the Imperial Minister of Finance.
Everyone was thinking the same thing. If the kidnapping happened, it would be the prelude to war.
That was why the side that believed more preparation was needed opposed it, arguing it was too soon. The other side countered that they couldn't prepare forever; the Empire would be preparing just as much as they were, making now the perfect time.
Neither side was wrong, so the meeting was at a stalemate.
“Let’s take a short break.”
At Krain Rzhev’s declaration of a recess, people let out sighs and left the conference room as if to get some fresh air.
“This isn’t easy.”
The only ones left in the conference room were Krain Rzhev, Mike Hoare, and Gleb.
The de facto representatives of each allied faction.
“What do you think?”
“About what?”
“About Kratos.”
Silence fell over the conference room.
“He’s the spitting image of his master.”
Krain Rzhev grumbled his reply.
“What? You mean his knack for stirring up trouble?”
“Exactly. I wondered what he was up to, and then he goes and kills two nobles in Lubeck.”
Mike Hoare chuckled, recalling Prometheus. He knew exactly what Krain Rzhev meant.
“This time, he raided a base below the Holy Kingdom's border. I heard he built a mountain of corpses and drove a giant stake through it.”
“In this situation, if we go for a kidnapping, the Empire will surely respond with full force.”
The three of them sighed in unison. Thanks to him, the Empire’s full attention was now focused on Van Helsing.
“War…”
Hattie Shaw and Kratos hadn't just brought up the kidnapping and the war.
As if they had been waiting, they had laid out all the data they had.
Each piece was astounding.
Information on the nobles’ dirty secrets, enough to blackmail them, the state of their soldiers, the situation in the capital.
Even a list of individuals presumed to be running the state in the Emperor's stead and the intelligence routes of their information bureau.
It was enough data to guarantee an early advantage in the war, even if the final outcome was uncertain.
“...We have to do it.”
It was definitely an opportunity.
However, Mike Hoare remained silent for a moment, lost in thought.
A message Kratos had sent to him alone.
[Before the war, we must elevate the status of the mercenary corps. What do you think about establishing a Mercenary Nation?]
A nation made of mercenaries. When he first received the message, he thought it was a ridiculous idea.
But the more he thought about it, and the more he discussed it with Peri Batoni, the more he thought…
Kratos was right.
When war with the Empire breaks out, it would be the mercenaries on the front lines. But the image of a mercenary was just someone who gets paid to do a job, and that’s it.
[You have a castle, territory, and even people in the Demonic Realm. There's no reason you can't establish a nation. The scale doesn't matter. What matters is being a nation in itself. Rzhev already functions like a city-state. There's no reason the mercenary corps can't do the same.]
Politically speaking, he was right. A Mercenary Nation was far better than a mere mercenary corps. It would foster a sense of belonging among the mercenaries and give them a stronger voice during the war.
“I’m thinking of creating a Mercenary Nation.”
The sudden declaration, thrown into a meeting about whether or not to go to war, left Krain Rzhev and Gleb speechless.
“With the Demonic Realm as its territory. We’ll wage war as an alliance of the Holy Kingdom, the Mercenary Nation, and the city-state of Rzhev against the Empire. Not just participating as mercenaries.”
It was an incredibly abrupt announcement from Mike Hoare, but the same thought instantly occurred to the others.
This was Kratos’s idea.