231
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 231
Jerry stood holding documents in front of Caesar's personal tent.
Gloria was standing next to the personal tent.
Caesar told Gloria to wait comfortably in the command tent, but she said if it would look like she was idling in others' eyes, she asked him to either work in the command tent or let her wait in front of the personal tent.
So to prevent her from getting rained on, they asked Raven to install an umbrella-shaped artifact in front of the tent to block the rain, allowing Gloria to stand guard in front of the personal tent without getting wet.
"Lady Gloria, by the way, how are you feeling? I heard through letters that something serious happened."
"There was no particular issue. Thank you for your concern."
"Hmm... I see."
Honestly, Gloria's condition looked good on the outside.
Her appearance was neat and her eyes were clear and lucid.
That's why it was even more strange.
It made no sense to Jerry that she was unharmed after being captured by Raum, a notorious devil who controls Tatiana, the Knight of Perfection, not just any other devil.
It didn't make sense according to Jerry's common sense.
"Could you call Lord Caesar? I need to report to him."
"Please wait a moment."
Gloria said while slightly lifting the tent flap.
"Lord Caesar, Strategic Staff Officer Jerry wishes to see you."
"Just a moment."
There was a brief clattering sound from inside the tent, and then Caesar's voice flowed out.
"Tell him to come in."
Jerry entered as Gloria held the tent flap open.
The first sense to respond upon entering was smell.
Caesar's tent was filled with a sweet scent.
Should one say it was closer to a floral scent mixed with sweetness?
It wasn't an unpleasant smell, rather it could be considered pleasant.
Jerry looked at Caesar.
Caesar was sitting in a chair next to the table, and it seemed he had been handling artifacts until just now, as magic stones and artifacts were scattered on the table.
"What's that on the table, Lord Caesar?"
"...I was just looking at some artifacts for a moment."
"Artifacts? I heard that if you handle them wrongly, strange magic can manifest and lead to strange situations."
"These are fine. They're artifacts made with increased durability and stability, designed for easy physical disassembly and assembly so that knights without magical knowledge can easily maintain them."
Jerry tilted his head.
Should one say it's unlike Caesar?
He gives off the impression of being very knowledgeable about magic.
At that moment, the sweet smell grew stronger.
Jerry stopped thinking, distracted by the sweet smell.
'I guess that's just how it is.'
"What kind of artifacts are they?"
"Just artifacts with restraining magic. I plan to use these artifacts when we capture the doppelgangers later."
"Ah, I see."
Caesar pointed to Jerry's documents and said.
"More importantly, what's that?"
"Ah, I've drafted an operation plan regarding the Luxhope recapture operation. It includes everything from logistics, personnel, to communications."
"What about magical firepower?"
"I couldn't include it yet since Raven isn't around. It seems she's in the middle of personal research. Looking at it now, it must be because of the artifact production you requested."
"Ah, ah yes, right?"
Caesar said while placing the operation plan on the table.
"I'll review this and let's have a meeting about it this evening."
"Don't you want to receive a briefing now?"
"You said we need to hear from Raven anyway. Let's do it together with Raven."
"Ah, yes. Understood. Then I'll take my leave."
Caesar waved his hand dismissively.
"Yes. Go ahead."
Jerry went outside the tent.
And tilted his head.
"Strange."
Gloria immediately approached Jerry and asked.
"What do you mean? Is Lord Caesar having stomach problems? Or is he sick somewhere? The tomato soup taste was a bit odd today, I should have told him not to eat it. The tomato taste was too sour..."
"No, it's not that..."
Jerry couldn't hide his bewilderment at Gloria's sudden outburst.
It's like her gear suddenly shifted.
"Then what's strange? Should I call a doctor?"
"No, it's not that, it's just his facial expression..."
"His expression?"
"It strangely resembles Raven's half-dazed face..."
Gloria tilted her head.
"Isn't he just sleepy?"
"That could be it. That's why he said he'd rest in the tent all day today. But there's something else strange about the smell..."
"The smell?"
"Rather than a musty smell, should I say there's a sweet smell? Didn't Lord Caesar usually have a slightly damp, musty smell?"
"Is that so? Should I go in and check?"
Jerry looked at the tent for a moment, then shook his head.
"No. It might just be my imagination. Well then, keep up the good work."
***
Leon thought while following Brian.
'How on earth did he figure out there was a doppelganger within the unit?'
Leon was very curious about Brian's identity but felt frustrated that he couldn't guide his thoughts through questions.
Since Brian was actually deaf, casual conversation was impossible and they had to stop and write to communicate.
'Let's ask while smoking tobacco later.'
They arrived at the bathroom near the command tent.
Unlike the ones used by soldiers, it had proper partitions as it was used by officers.
And since female wizards used it too, it was clearly divided into women's and men's sections.
Brian went into the men's bathroom himself and started scooping poop.
Leon wondered if he should help, but Brian just kept scooping so he couldn't assist.
'This is my chance.'
Leon looked around while hiding himself as much as possible.
There was no reason doppelgangers wouldn't be wandering around here.
To check current situations and future plans of the unit in real-time, they must roam near the command tent where information gathers and plans take effect.
'Where are they? Where?'
Leon mobilized every cell to search for the doppelgangers.
He could see staff officers and company commanders chatting while smoking, patrol soldiers, and knights protecting this area.
They must be waiting disguised as someone.
'...They're not here?'
Leon searched thoroughly for traces of doppelgangers but couldn't find any.
Could they possibly not be in this area?
Or do they have other means of gathering information?
At that moment, Brian was glaring at Leon.
Probably thinking he was slacking off instead of working.
Brian handed the poop scoop to Leon as if throwing it.
When Brian pointed to the women's bathroom, Leon carefully entered and started scooping poop.
'Are they not here?'
Or was the timing wrong?
Or do they have other means of gathering information?
While deep in thought, Brian appeared.
Brian was smoking while staring intently at one spot with sharp eyes.
'What is it?'
Leon decided to slightly read what Brian was thinking through psychometry.
-...Those doppelganger bastards are here again.
'Doppelganger?'
Leon couldn't see them no matter how hard he looked.
But how did he manage to find them?
Leon followed Brian's gaze.
And at the end of that gaze were officers gathered chatting.
Leon couldn't sense any traces of doppelgangers no matter how hard he tried.
Could it be because of the distance?
No, that's not it.
Originally, you can recognize a doppelganger right away when you 'see' them.
Could Brian have a special aura manipulation technique to detect doppelgangers?
Leon focused more deeply on Brian while scooping poop.
-These rat bastards.
'Rat bastards?'
Leon saw rats hiding under the officers' feet.
And he felt a strange sense of similarity from those rats.
'That's it...!'
Leon figured out how Brian noticed there were doppelgangers.
-Rats only wander around near food storage.
-They have no reason to dig holes and move around near smoking areas with terrible smells.
-And smoking areas are usually in low ground.
-With rainwater constantly flowing into the holes, there's no reason to maintain those rat holes.
And decisively, rats have no reason to hide in holes during the day to eavesdrop.
Rats usually move around at night.
Isn't that why they say daytime words are heard by birds and nighttime words by rats?
They were all transformed into rats to gather information.
The toilet barrel was full of poop.
It was time to dispose of it.
Leon wrote on the ground.
[Shall we go, Sergeant Brian.]
[Yes.]
Leon thought Brian's keen eye was such a waste.
What kind of experience did he go through that such a talented person is just scooping poop?
This is a waste of the unit's combat power.
'More than that, why hasn't he mentioned the appearance of doppelgangers until now?'
If he witnessed doppelgangers wandering around, shouldn't he tell someone?
Could it be that since he's deaf, his subordinates dismissed it as nonsense?
Leon wanted to know in detail why he was staying silent, but he couldn't dig deeper into those thoughts since he didn't know much about him.
'I'll have to hear the details later.'
Let's deal with the urgent matters first and think about it.
After finishing his daily routine, Leon headed to Caesar's private tent under the cover of night.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
Before reaching Gloria, knights blocked Leon's path.
They were Caesar's blood shield knights.
They guarded against Leon while holding their shields up front.
Leon wrote on the ground.
[Please tell the staff that a deaf person has come. They will understand.]
"What?"
Leon pointed to his ears and said.
[I can't hear what you say. Because I'm deaf.]
"Hmm..."
The blood shield knights started contemplating briefly.
-Come to think of it, the Personnel Staff Officer said a deaf person would visit during the shift change.
-Must be this guy.
One knight gestured to Leon to wait, then entered the tent.
Then Le Aidim came out right away as if he had been waiting.
Le Aidim glared at Leon and spoke.
"Is it you?"
His tone was harsh.
That's understandable since Le Aidim probably thinks Leon is the Demon King's minion, not Caesar's.
Leon wrote.
[I came because Caesar called.]
Le Aidim erased Leon's writing with his foot and said.
"Follow me."
Le Aidim led Leon past the command tent toward Caesar's private tent.
Gloria was waiting in front of the private tent holding a torch.
And beside her were Jerry and Gideon.
Gideon glared fiercely at Leon and whispered quietly.
"If you try anything foolish, I'll cut your head off immediately. Be extremely careful with every finger movement and breath. Understand?"
'Why are these guys talking when they know I'm deaf.'
Leon thought about saying something but let it go.
Well, it's not like he actually hates me anyway.
When Gloria opened the tent door, Leon went inside.
Suddenly a sweet smell hit Leon's nose.
But he just ignored it.
Maybe Raven put on perfume or something.
However, it was Raven, not Caesar, who stood before Leon.
"...?"
Why isn't she transformed into Caesar when she should be?
Then Gideon and everyone else entered.
They saluted toward Raven.
"Lord Caesar. We've brought him."
'Ah.'
So that's why there was a sweet smell - this guy must be using fascination magic.
Fascination magic often uses 'fragrance' as its base.
"Good. Then everyone leave."
When Raven said that, Gideon stepped forward and spoke.
"Lord Caesar, that's not safe. It's dangerous."
"You think I can't handle someone like him? Just step out for a moment."
"But..."
"Go on."
Finally everyone including Gideon left at Raven's words.
Only then did Leon speak comfortably.
"Looks like you used fascination magic."
"You can see my true form?"
"Yeah. I thought you were using polymorph or something but guess not."
"I didn't trust my acting skills. I thought they might suspect a doppelganger if I acted as you while polymorphed."
"Hmm, that makes sense."
Raven held her nose and said.
"By the way, you smell terrible. Did you really defecate?"
"Kinda. Never thought I'd have to pack shit in my life."
"You defecated in the middle of the camp before too."
"That was just acting! Didn't I clean it up!"
"Who do you think cleaned that up?"
"Ah..."
Leon came to regret his past actions.
Raven waved her wand and cleaned Leon from head to toe.
Only then did Leon's body emit a fragrant smell.
"More importantly, how is it? Did you find the doppelgangers?"
"I found out where they are and what they're doing."
"Already? There are over 2,000 people in this unit, when did you check them all?"
"I didn't need to check people."
"Then?"
"They all transformed into rats to gather information."
"...They turned into rats?"
"Yeah. That's why we haven't seen anyone suspicious of being doppelgangers until now."
Leon spread a map on the table.
And drew a circle with a pencil at the smoking area of the command tent.
"There's a rat hole here. The doppelgangers seem to move around through this rat hole..."
"So if we properly investigate this rat hole, we can find out where they're moving around?"
"Exactly. Is there a way to exterminate the doppelgangers?"
Raven thought for a moment and nodded.
"I have a good method."