232
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 232
Just as the saying goes that even a bull's horns should be pulled out in one go, Caesar immediately summoned his advisors.
"It seems the doppelganger has done an excellent job. All the spies have been found."
Jerry and the other advisors tensed up nervously. They were concerned that one of the people they knew could be a doppelganger.
"Already? Who are the spies?"
"Rats."
"...Pardon?"
"The doppelgangers transformed into rats and have been eavesdropping on our conversations."
Upon reflection, Elijah tended to use doppelgangers transformed into animals rather than humans. Tigers, moles, birds, quite a diverse range, wasn't it? Keeping them in human form was rare except for the Steel Lion' knights.
"Does this mean they could also be transformed into the pigs and chickens we're raising in the unit?"
"That possibility is low. What doppelganger would transform into livestock that could be slaughtered? Additionally, being livestock would limit their access to information, making it ineffective."
"Then they could also be transformed into things like pigeons besides rats?"
"That's somewhat possible. However, have you seen any living birds recently?"
The advisors thought for a moment before shaking their heads.
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen any birds, though there are rats."
"Why aren't there any birds?"
The answer came from Raven.
"It's because of the magical barrier we've put up in this area."
"A barrier?"
"We installed a magical barrier that blocks all projectiles flying above a certain speed in this area. So birds trying to fly here die when they hit the barrier."
Caesar pointed to the chicken soup he had eaten earlier.
"That's why we've been getting good meat rations lately. There are plenty of dead birds at the edge of the barrier. Quite a delicacy."
"Ah..."
Caesar looked at Raven and said:
"Raven, you said there was a way to exterminate the doppelgangers all at once? Could you explain what it is?"
"With fifty magicians, we can kill all the doppelgangers."
"How?"
"We'll simultaneously pour water into all the rat holes in the unit. They'll drown instantly. That's it."
It was much simpler than expected. However, what Caesar wanted wasn't simply to kill them.
"Rather than killing all the doppelgangers, I want to interrogate them to find out what information they have. Could we proceed with keeping some alive?"
"If that's what you want, we can leave one rat hole open and pour water in. Then the doppelgangers will escape through that hole. We can catch them as they crawl out."
"There might be some who give up on escaping through the rat hole and try to flee by transforming into something else. What's the countermeasure for that?"
Jerry raised his hand and said:
"As soon as we start pouring water into the rat holes, we'll raise security to maximum alert. We have trained for this, so we'll respond immediately."
"You even trained for this?"
"While Lord Caesar was away, I had the soldiers train for emergency situations to keep them focused. Raven also told us that devils might attack."
Indeed, very capable.
You really need to work by my side for the rest of your life.
"Good. Then let's request cooperation from Agatha and ask her to interrogate the doppelgangers. They should be able to extract information using charm magic."
Speed is crucial for this operation. The moment news of their capture reaches Elijah, they'll turn to ashes.
Gavin raised his hand and said:
"But would the Demon King do something good for us without asking for anything in return?"
...I think she would.
Though I understand why Gavin would be concerned.
"What's wrong with letting her eat the essence of fresh doppelgangers? And from the Demon King's perspective, they're uncontrollable traitors. Wouldn't she want them dead?"
"Hmm... That's true."
"Then I think it would be best if I personally requested cooperation from Agatha. What do you think?"
Jerry jumped up and said:
"I think it would be better if Raven or a magician skilled in spatial movement does that. If the doppelgangers see you riding Whitey directly, they might feel threatened and try to escape."
...This guy is really scared.
He's worried I might go missing again if I leave.
But hearing it now, it makes sense and is hard to argue against.
Sorry, Agatha.
It seems I won't be able to go personally.
"Raven, can you do it?"
For a moment, it seemed like many emotions flashed through Raven's eyes.
But strength returned to Raven's eyes.
"If it's just exchanging words, I'll be fine. I'll go at dawn today."
"Good. Thank you."
Caesar stood up, hitting the table.
"Good. Let's do it that way then. How long do you think it will take to prepare?"
"Since we need to find all the rat holes in the unit, half a day should be enough."
"Even if we mobilize all the wizards?"
"Not all wizards are talented in detection magic. And since we need to use magic without the doppelgangers noticing, it will take more time."
He wanted to finish quickly this morning if possible...
Well, there's no helping it then.
"Alright. Let's go with that then… Le Aidim? What are you planning to do with Leon?"
"Yes. We will transfer Leon out. After the commander's interview, we'll process it as work maladjustment and delete his personnel card."
"Good. But what about Brian?"
Le Aidim tilted his head.
"Did the doppelganger mention Brian as well?"
"They said he was quite perceptive. Said they almost got caught? Who is he?"
"That fellow was originally a Ranger. Well... There was a certain incident, and now he's doing waste disposal work."
"Was he demoted?"
"No. He volunteered. Though his hearing is impaired, he could be used as combat personnel since he's ex-Ranger, but his personnel record card indicates he's extremely averse to combat, so we've kept him as a waste disposal soldier."
"Extremely averse to actual combat?"
"Yes. It's written that he particularly distrusts his own judgment. The symptoms are very similar to the self-doubt symptoms of soldiers who were once enchanted by succubi, so we've continued to employ him as a waste disposal soldier."
Self-doubt symptoms are a mental illness commonly found in soldiers who killed their allies while under enchantment magic.
Soldiers with this mental illness couldn't pull the trigger even with demons right in front of them, mistakenly thinking they might be under enchantment magic even when they weren't.
The symptoms were so severe that unit guidelines were issued to assign those with self-doubt symptoms to non-combat roles like cooking duty.
'Had he been victimized by succubi before?'
Le Aidim watched Caesar's expression as he spoke.
"Did Brian do something wrong?"
"No. From what I heard, he seems like quite a useful talent. Was he ever attacked by succubi?"
"No. There's no record of him being attacked by succubi. Instead, though he was a Ranger, he was apparently a Ranger specializing in doppelganger hunting."
"Doppelganger?"
"Yes. But while recklessly pursuing a fleeing doppelganger, he lost all his platoon members and survived alone."
Caesar looked at Le Aidim as if dumbfounded.
"What were you thinking putting a doppelganger next to such a terrifying person? He could have discovered them."
"He was the only waste disposal soldier who hadn't caused any special problems for the past 2 years, so we placed them together. I apologize for not reporting this beforehand."
"No, it's fine. Looking at the result, that friend helped greatly with the search."
Caesar thought of Brian again.
Though his hearing was impaired, his perception was quite good.
The problem was the self-doubt symptoms...
If we could just cure that, he could become quite a useful talent.
"Bring that Brian fellow here. I want to have a talk with him."
"Yes, understood."
***
Raven arrived at Agatha's garden through spatial movement magic.
When Raven appeared alone in the garden, the succubi tending to it narrowed their eyes.
"What brings you here alone, wizard?"
"Call the Demon King. Caesar has a message to deliver."
"Caesar?"
At that moment, Agatha walked through the succubi.
Agatha's apron was covered in dirt as if she had been doing garden work.
Raven was momentarily speechless at this un-Demon King-like display of domesticity.
Right.
A woman who could look charming even with dirt on her hands and clothes might indeed be someone Caesar could fall for.
"Caesar was looking for me?"
"...Yes. Caesar said he needs your help."
"If that's the case, he should have come himself."
"There are too many eyes watching to come here riding Whitey. Like devils or doppelgangers."
"Hmm..."
Agatha's tail lightly wrapped around her leg.
Though unsure what this meant, judging from the magic waves emanating from Agatha's body, it seemed related to 'displeasure'.
"Caesar seems to be quite disliked by the world."
"He always had many enemies."
"Always?"
"Yes. Always."
Agatha was slightly irritated by Raven's words.
Was it the tone that suggested knowing more about Caesar than herself?
Agatha spoke to the succubi.
"Everyone go back to work. I need to have a chat with this friend."
The succubi dispersed with rustling sounds when Agatha showed signs of discomfort.
Agatha slowly approached Raven with her arms crossed.
"So what's the message Caesar wanted to deliver to me?"
"Before that, there's something I'm curious about."
Agatha seemed to know what question Raven would ask.
Though she didn't have the talent to read magic waves like Raven, was it some kind of succubus intuition? Or perhaps a woman's intuition?
Anyway, Agatha was certain that Raven had heard about her from Caesar.
"Right. You did look like you had something to say. So Caesar told you?"
"Yes. He had no reason to hide it from me."
"Your way of speaking is somehow irritating. Just what are you?"
Agatha looked down at Raven.
"Why are you suddenly emphasizing your relationship with Caesar like that?"
Raven didn't know what she came to say to Agatha.
She didn't come to fight.
Just seeing Agatha caused her uncomfortable feelings toward Caesar to explode.
Originally, Raven wasn't this kind of person.
Like a proper wizard, Raven is rational, reasonable, and always level-headed.
Rather, because of this, it was incredibly difficult for Raven to adjust to this aching pain in her chest.
"I must be envious of you, Agatha."
"What?"
So Raven had no choice but to spill out this pain.
She couldn't express it in front of Caesar, and since she couldn't talk about it with others, she had to tell everything to the only other person who knew all of Caesar's truths.
The problem was that this person was the Demon King and even Caesar's lover...
It felt like she couldn't hold on without saying something.
"You... Did you perhaps like Caesar?"
"No."
Raven held back her tears firmly.
She didn't want to cry in front of anyone, especially not Agatha.
"I liked Barre."
"You..."
"That's why I could forgive Caesar. I hated Caesar for deceiving me, but I was so grateful for Barre who cherished me. So when Caesar was revealed to be a doppelganger, I was able to forgive."
Raven hadn't known until now that she was such a weak person.
She had endured most wounds gracefully, but the pain of unrequited love wasn't easy to bear.
Raven clenched her fist.
"I thought I had sorted out my feelings with that, but I guess not. Even knowing that he was a demon race and I was human, making us an impossible match, I must have fallen for him who always treated me with sincerity."
"So I felt butterflies for Caesar again. I'm so frustrated that I have to give up these feelings without even trying anything, when I only just realized them..."
Raven had decided not to cry.
But there are things that can't be achieved by determination alone.
Tears fell from Raven's eyes.
"It hurts."
Agatha could only stare blankly at the crying Raven, having no way to comfort her.
Wiping her tears, Raven spoke.
"So I came to make a small request of you."
"...A request?"
"Make it not hurt. Agatha."
Agatha's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"Just seeing Caesar hurts so much. So make me not like Caesar. I know magic that can enchant someone, but I don't know magic that can make someone dislike another."
Raven's tears fell, trailing down her chin.
"Do you perhaps know? Magic that can make someone dislike another?"
To Raven's painful request, Agatha had only one possible answer.
"I don't know such magic either."
"...I thought as much."
Raven pulled out a small note and crystal ball from her clothes.
"...I wrote Caesar's request here. Read it and respond through the crystal ball."
As Raven waved her wand to leave immediately, Agatha grabbed her wrist.
"Raven."
"...What?"
Agatha is selfish.
And instinctive and honest.
That's why even knowing Gloria liked Caesar, she confessed to him out of anxiety.
So to resolve her uncomfortable feelings, Agatha offered inadequate comfort to Raven.
"Burying your feelings by hating Caesar will torment you for life. So..."
Agatha gripped Raven's hand tightly, hoping her words would become shackles on Raven's heart.
"I hope you'll cover Caesar with another love."
Raven read Agatha's heart.
The desire and anxiety of not wanting to lose Caesar.
Yet not wanting to hate Raven, but rather feeling sympathy and wanting to comfort her, these complex emotions whirled and tormented Agatha.
"You know too, Agatha."
"..."
"How selfish those words are."
Raven removed Agatha's hand.
Whoosh!
In the space where Raven disappeared like a candle flame, only dew-covered flower petals remained.