248
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake
Chapter 248
Mitchell led his soldiers toward Luxhope.
'It took longer than expected.'
There were many individuals who had complaints about the Baker Alliance Commander, but it took considerable time to persuade them. If Baker turned out to be real and not a doppelganger, they would face beheading for treason. Nevertheless, Mitchell convinced them by selling the Redfield family name and non-existent dreams, and ultimately secured four former generals and five thousand soldiers.
It was night, and the moon and stars twinkled in the sky. Though one might think visibility would be poor at night, the moonlight was excellent, making Luxhope entirely visible at a glance. Viewed from a distance atop a hill, Luxhope appeared extremely unusual.
"Give me the map."
Mitchell examined the map. According to the map, this was definitely Luxhope. However, it was not the Luxhope that Mitchell knew. The Luxhope Mitchell had seen before was somewhat developed as a port city, and although it had been damaged after being occupied by thieves, there remained at least some traces that human civilization had been established there. But the current Luxhope resembled hundreds of tents set up on a flat terrain that looked as if it had been swept clean by a giant with a broom. The current Luxhope was closer to a village settlement than a city.
'Where is Baker, by the way?'
No matter where he searched in Luxhope, the Alliance Commander's flag was nowhere to be seen.
"It seems Baker has indeed not arrived."
Mitchell nodded at the Red Wing Knight's words.
"It was strange that there were no traces of 150,000 soldiers moving together in this area."
Whatever method Baker used, it seems he changed direction and moved his soldiers elsewhere.
"Where on earth did they go?"
"If we track their traces, we could find them easily."
The footprints left by 150,000 soldiers would be very easy to track. They could probably find them after a day or two of effort.
"First, I should stop by Luxhope to assess the situation."
It was certain that Caesar had occupied Luxhope, and judging by the supplies being steadily unloaded from the supply line, it seemed the security had also been completely secured.
"But isn't something strange?"
"In what way?"
"Luxhope has disappeared without a trace, yet the docks alone appear to be intact."
The knight was correct. Beyond just the docks being intact, flowers were blooming profusely around them. The flowers shone so brightly that they created an illusion of self-illumination.
'Could it be...'
Mitchell had seen these flowers before. These were ‘Illusion Flowers’ created by Succubi. Succubi could create objects by sculpting the dreamlike light emitted by these Illusion Flowers. It seems they had created the docks with these flowers. Mitchell considered various scenarios in his mind, but he could not understand why the Succubi were cooperating so actively.
However, one thing was certain.
"Let's go and see."
The only way to know is to go and see.
***
Luxhope looked strange from a distance, but up close, it was bizarre. This was because vampires and succubi were freely moving among the soldiers. Of course, the soldiers still seemed afraid of the vampires and succubi, keeping their distance, but they showed no signs of hostility. Rather, it felt like two dogs meeting for the first time, keeping a distance while exploring each other. More accurately, only the humans were exploring; the succubi and vampires appeared to have little interest in the humans.
This incongruity was truly bizarre. Originally, vampires and succubi were races desperate to feed on human blood and vitality... It felt as if the reactions of humans and demons toward each other had been reversed.
At that moment, a knight with a prosthetic hand approached Mitchell.
"It is an honor to meet you again, Lord Mitchell."
"You are... Lord Gideon, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Mitchell pointed to the succubi who were creating and planting flowers near the docks.
"What is happening here?"
"Lord Caesar requested the Demon King's cooperation in creating a dock, as I understand it."
"A dock?"
"Yes. We needed to unload cargo. It will only last until dawn today, and Lady Raven said she will create a dock using construction magic with other wizards tomorrow morning."
Succubi could create anything as long as there was sufficient moonlight. However, magic required many calculations, so it could not be produced immediately, and there was considerable battle fatigue following the recent combat. Therefore, they urgently requested the Demon King to create a temporary dock.
"...When did we become so friendly with the Demon King?"
"It seems they became quite accustomed to each other while living together in Eagle valley. Of course, it is not easy for the soldiers to accept this. The same goes for me."
Gideon stepped aside and said:
"Lord Caesar is waiting. Shall we go together for now?"
"Yes, let's proceed."
The command tent was not far away.
And it was not ordinary.
"... Here?"
"Yes."
Everywhere else had tents, but the command tent was nothing short of a small palace. A gleaming palace made of solid marble, no less. No matter how exceptional Raven might be, she couldn't create such a gleaming palace from bare ground.
"......Is the Demon King here too?"
"Yes. That's correct. Because she was officially invited."
"Let's go in for now."
Mitchell could immediately sense the relationship between Caesar and the Demon King from this marble palace. And Mitchell could fully feel the winds of the new era about to sweep across the world that he knew.
The inside of the tent was extremely comfortable. Unlike the demon realm where tropical nights were the norm, the meeting hall made of cool marble material was extremely pleasant.
There was a round hole in the ceiling and windows throughout the walls, so hot air rose upward while cool air naturally flowed inside, creating a refreshingly cool breeze.
Caesar was sitting at the head seat as if it were natural. The issue was the Demon King's position. The Demon King was sitting next to Caesar, sipping wine. The fact that the Demon King and Caesar were sitting at the same head seat meant they considered each other equals.
While that might be expected from Caesar, it was hard to believe the Demon King would tolerate such a horizontal relationship. Caesar rose from his seat and showed respect to Mitchell.
"I greet you, Lord Mitchell. Please have a seat."
"......It seems much has happened."
"We could talk all night and still not finish."
Mitchell looked around. Yan was nowhere to be seen.
"Have you by chance seen Yan? He would have gone looking for you."
"The Hero is resting in his private tent. He said he needed some sleep due to battle fatigue."
"......So he went to sleep after seeing this scene?"
It was already widely known that Yan despised the demon race. And Mitchell knew that this was not at all false, but rather an understatement.
After all, Yan only ever expressed his anger when dealing with the demon race.
"That is correct."
If Yan knows about this situation, there is nothing more to say. Mitchell sat down as directed. It was right next to Caesar's seat, but lower.
This made him somewhat uncomfortable, but it revealed how Caesar viewed him. Caesar respected Mitchell but did not fear him. No, rather, it seemed to say that Caesar considered himself in the superior position. Wine and refreshments were placed before Mitchell.
"These are pastries made with flour and butter just unloaded from the ship. Please try them."
Mitchell put a pastry in his mouth. It was just a simple pastry made with flour, some butter, and mixed with a few nuts. Normally, Mitchell wouldn't have given such a low-grade item a second glance, but it tasted incredibly delicious.
Eating freshly made pastries or bread in the demon realm was a rarer occurrence than consuming precious herbs. Not only was it warm, but the flavor profile of the flour was no joke. When you've been at war for a long time, these are the foods you miss the most… The pastry was so delicious that Mitchell almost wanted to follow Caesar's example and just board a ship back home.
After finishing one pastry, Mitchell neatly cleansed his palate with wine.
"Not bad."
"I'm glad it suits your taste."
"More importantly, have you seen Commander Baker of the Alliance?"
Caesar shook his head.
"No. According to the Hero, he should have arrived by now."
"Why do you think he hasn't come?"
The answer came from Agatha.
"Because Baker is a doppelganger."
Mitchell found the Demon King's white horns extremely irritating. Just a year ago, how much had he struggled to kill the Demon King?
Yet now he was sharing a table with the Demon King. They say you never know what tomorrow brings, but today's events were simply too difficult to adapt to.
"The doppelganger we had with us also escaped."
"......You had one with you?"
"When we were attacked by devils, the doppelganger seems to have escaped. He couldn't have escaped alone while under the charm spell, so other doppelgangers probably helped him."
When they saw the traces of the completely cut prison bars that had contained the doppelganger, it was certainly not something that an ordinary prosecutor could have done. When Caesar read it directly through psychometry, it was the work of the Steel Lion Knights.
'We expected that he would come after the doppelgangers...'
It's regrettable that we let it happen despite knowing. But there was nothing we could do about it. Their timing was impeccable, and we weren't in a situation to focus on the doppelganger.
Agatha spoke after drinking the wine.
"Then they would have known what information we took from him, and it would make sense that Baker would run away in panic."
"What do you mean by that?"
"When we interrogated that doppelganger, he said this. The one pretending to be the current Baker Alliance Commander is a doppelganger. Of course, the real Baker is still alive."
"I would appreciate a precise explanation. This is a very important matter for us."
Agatha spoke while dipping a cookie into a dish of fresh strawberry jam.
"According to the demon, you've been serving a doppelganger as your Alliance Commander all this time. And as you might have guessed, he's a dog loyal to Elijah."
"How was that possible? Commander Baker of the Alliance knew a secret that only he and I shared."
It's difficult to trust the Demon King's words. However, since Raven would have undoubtedly verified the Demon King's words, that statement must be true.
"He said they deceived you by interrogating Baker in real-time and transmitting the answers through telepathic abilities whenever you asked questions."
Agatha smiled contentedly while eating her cookie. The strawberry jam must be really delicious.
"It's natural that Baker fled after that fact was discovered. And his destination is already determined."
"...Where are you referring to?"
"Elijah, of course? He'll either try to trap and kill all the Allied soldiers or persuade them to become Elijah's soldiers. 150,000 soldiers is quite a burdensome number."
Mitchell felt a chill down his spine. It's problematic enough that 150,000 soldiers could vanish at once, but if they fall into Elijah's hands, there's nothing Mitchell can do. Currently, there are only about 20,000 soldiers remaining in the Demon King's castle. Including the soldiers Mitchell brought, it's about 25,000, but with that number, there's no way they could breach Elijah's Iron Fortress.
'What should I do?'
Mitchell can no longer receive support from the Redfield family. His eldest brother would already know that Mitchell had lost almost all of his Red Wing Knights and was in a precarious position. Given his brother's ambition, he would likely hurry to inherit the duke position and treat Mitchell as a dead brother. Caesar knew Mitchell's concerns very well.
"I have a proposal for Lord Mitchell."
"...What kind of proposal?"
"I want the magic stone mines in the demon realm to operate normally."
"The existing mines 1 and 2 near the Demon King's castle have already been attacked and destroyed by Elijah. It will take a very long time to rebuild."
"Those are obviously not viable. But what if I knew a place where we could safely mine magic stones?"
"Where are you referring to?"
"Near the Red Mountain Range."
At Caesar's gesture, soldiers brought and set up an easel.
"You must know about the Red Mountain Range right next to the current Demon King's autonomous territory. There's a magic stone vein at the entrance of the Red Mountain Range, about 3km away from this territory."
"How did you know that? Was it thoroughly investigated?"
"The beast-people have known about this vein for a very long time. They occasionally mined magic stones from around here when they needed them for rituals."
"Is there enough business potential?"
"That would need more investigation, but there's also another sure way to find magic stones."
Caesar pulled out a large magic stone to show.
It was a highest-grade magic stone of high purity.
"Steel monkeys live halfway up the Red Mountain Range, and their characteristic is that they collect and store anything that sparkles. And that includes magic stones."
"I've heard there are many dangerous monsters living in the Red Mountain Range?"
"That's a problem Lord Mitchell would need to consider. However, when I caught Geotech, I raided a steel monkey's nest, and an enormous amount of magic stones was discovered there."
"How much?"
"According to Raven's description, it rivals the Magic Tower's annual magic stone consumption. It's dangerous, but not bad for striking it rich."
Mitchell pondered Caesar's words.
Caesar's desires were already apparent.
Magic stones and demon race.
The Magic Tower needs regular magic stone supplies, and only Mitchell and Yan can properly handle and proceed with this responsibility.
"Can you handle the rumors spreading in the Empire about cooperating with the Demon King to mine magic stones?"
"Arch Duke will handle it."
"Arch Duke knows about this?"
"No. But he's desperate enough that he'll have to handle it."
Laar Arch's lifespan is now at most 1 month, or 3 months if extended.
Laar Arch would surely want to resolve this magic stone supply issue before passing the duke position to the next generation.