270
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake
Chapter 270
The place where Caesar disembarked was Sobram Station located in GoldMile Province.
When Caesar got off, journalists and detectives who had been following to monitor him, as well as assassins who handled the secretive affairs of noble families, also disembarked.
However, people could not help but be bewildered upon arriving at Sobram Station.
Sobram Station was in a territory formerly ruled by Viscount Sobram, which had fallen into decline 10 years ago and was now virtually abandoned land.
It was such a remote village with almost no floating population that the railway company was in discussions about whether to close Sobram Station or not.
How suspicious would Caesar find it that about a dozen people wearing elegant coats or carrying briefcases disembarked at once in such a remote village?
But what could they do?
If Caesar got off here, he surely had business to attend to.
People followed Caesar secretly with hurried steps while being conscious of one another.
Being such a rural village, even when Caesar openly wandered around the station, there were no people making a fuss upon seeing him.
They simply repeated phrases like ‘Have a nice trip’ innocently, just like ordinary rural villagers.
When people followed Caesar outside Sobram Station, they were speechless. It truly was a barren field. There was hardly a carriage properly moving around.
There were only some elderly people setting up stalls and selling food ingredients and herbs of unknown origin.
Caesar turned around. The people who had followed Caesar all pretended not to notice and turned their heads away, but even to themselves, it felt too suspicious.
"Now, I'll only spare those who introduce themselves within the next 10 seconds."
When this game of awareness began, the journalists were the first to react.
"I'm Johnson, a reporter from Happy Time! Sir Caesar, Viscount!"
"I'm Pierce, a journalist from Alloldmor Magazine! It's truly an honor to meet you like this!"
As the journalists stepped forward first, the detectives and assassins began to slink away.
For journalists, revealing who they are doesn't really matter, but for the others, having their identities exposed would cause severe damage to their employers and families.
"There are still bastards who haven't revealed who they are even though 10 seconds have passed."
The detectives and assassins glanced at each other sideways and then scattered in all directions. It was now every man for himself.
Tada!
Caesar gave a hollow laugh watching them flee like cockroaches.
"These bastards don't seem to know my temperament."
Caesar spoke to the journalists.
"You guys, stick to that wall and keep your hands up. I'll spare you."
"Yes! Should we kneel too?"
"You'll ruin your cartilage doing that, man. Just stand there."
"Yes!"
The journalists stood with their hands raised spiritedly. And immediately, true to their profession, they printed headlines in their minds.
-Caesar, a cold yet warm man who worries about journalists' knee cartilage. -Sobram Station, the best city for catching spies!
***
Caesar dusted off his hands and threw a pile of bloodied assassins and detectives in the middle of Sobram Station.
Then he examined the notebooks, letters, and identification cards they had written to confirm which family had ordered an investigation on Caesar.
'Royder Order, Count Vex, Dre Order, Nathaniel Redfield, Imperial nobility...'
He thought Minister Hilos would have also assigned someone to tail Caesar, but perhaps because Minister Hilos knew Caesar's personality and abilities, he didn't commit anything that could incriminate him.
'They're all just low-level operatives.'
If there was anyone who could be considered important, it would be the assassin sent by Count Vex's family.
Despite being a former knight, he worked in the shadows as a loyal servant... No, rather he was someone who had to do such dishonorable work because Count Vex had leverage over him.
Count Vex wouldn't believe in something as soft as loyalty.
He never trusts anyone unless he holds their weaknesses.
Caesar took only him into the bathroom. And poured water over his head.
Swoooosh!
"Cough!"
The man opened his eyes with a bloody cough. When he saw Caesar smiling in front of him, he trembled like an aspen tree.
"Hello? You're Sir Pio, correct?" "......"
Pio chose silence instead of answering. No matter how his name was discovered, he must not confirm it. Because if he did, it was obvious what would happen to his younger sister who worked as a servant in Count Vex's household.
"What a predictable yet tragic past. A father who owes a great debt to Count Vex family, then the father dies in an accident, and ultimately two siblings become slaves to Count Vex family to somehow repay their father's debt—a story of misfortune."
Veins stood out on Pio's neck.
"...Shut up."
"You want to give up everything and just run away, but you can't because your sister is being held hostage, and even if you escaped together, you would immediately be placed on a wanted list because you've committed every crime imaginable while handling Count Vex dirty work."
"I said shut up!"
Pio lunged at Caesar. But Caesar deflected Pio's fist with a light hand movement and drove his knee into Pio's stomach.
"Ugh!"
Pio rolled on the bathroom floor, drooling. He glared at Caesar with trembling fists.
"Don't speak so lightly about the hell I'm living in...!"
"Don't you want revenge?"
"What?"
"I asked if you don't want revenge on Count Vex."
Pio let out a hollow laugh.
"I gave up such feelings long ago."
"Well, you might be satisfied just having your sister married off to a good place. But would Count Vex so easily give up his best means of controlling you?"
"He clearly promised that he would at least release my sister. He promised in his name, so he will definitely keep it."
"For someone raised as an assassin handling a family's dirty work because of your intelligence, you're quite soft in this regard. Do you really believe such words?"
Pio couldn't properly respond to Caesar's words.
People can live with even a thread of hope, even while living in hell.
Pio believed that although there was only a 1% chance, if he served Count Vex faithfully with all his heart, perhaps even that cold-blooded man might be moved and release his sister.
"Let's do this. I'll help your sister escape from Vex province entirely. In return, you bring me all the evidence of the inhumane acts that Count Vex has committed."
"...Why should I believe you?"
"I'm not asking you to believe me."
Caesar said with a slight smile.
"You know my disciple will duel at Count Vex residence on January 1st next year, right? At that time, I'll say to Count Vex: 'I had a nice chat with Sir Pio, I heard his sister is quite pretty, may I see her?' Like that."
Pio's eyes filled with rage.
"You son of a...!"
"Listen. I'll make you a promise. If you bring me one box of evidence containing Count Vex family's secrets, I'll give you enough money for you and your sister to live comfortably for life. And tell me whether you want to live in Homigraph or any of the three countries of Yel. I'll provide you with a suitable house too."
"You expect me to believe that after threatening me like this?"
"Well then, would you believe me if I do this?"
Caesar took out a fountain pen and a handkerchief from his pocket. Then he wrote on the handkerchief.
[I, Caesar El Lindger, promise to Sir Pio. If Sir Pio brings evidence related to Count Vex family's secrets that could damage their image, I will immediately give him 1 million Del and guarantee the lifelong safety of Sir Pio and his sister.]
Afterward, Caesar wrote a check for one million Del and handed it to Pio.
"Here, there's a certificate and a check I've written personally. Of course, I haven't signed the check yet, but I will once you provide me with proper information."
Pio couldn't take his eyes off the words written on the handkerchief.
"......Why are you going this far?"
"Do you think I'm doing this because of you? It's because I tend to settle things once and for all with bastards who cross me."
Pio began to think deeply. Caesar decided to read Pio's thoughts using psychometry.
-Looking at how far Caesar is going, it's clear that he really wants to get back at the Count Vex. But can I trust this?
-Caesar is from Vex province, but he has his base in Homigraph, so even if he fails to get back at the Count of Vex, he won't suffer much damage.
-But I would lose everything.
-Can I trust this?
-No, can Caesar really rescue Hiya?
All kinds of negative images filled Pio's mind, but people always want to reach out when they see even a thread of hope.
-Even if not for me, at least for Hiya......
After much deliberation, Pio opened his mouth.
"Alright. I accept."
"Good. Not bad."
"......Can you trust just my word?"
Caesar stood up and said.
"You're a knight. Isn't it natural for a knight to take responsibility for his words?"
Pio's heart pounded at Caesar's words. Pio had passed the knight qualification test and became a knight, but he had never once been treated as one.
Something welled up inside him when he was acknowledged as a knight for the first time by the person he had been following.
"Then we'll meet at the Count of Vex's residence on January 1st next year."
"Alright......"
Pio looked at where Caesar had been just moments ago, but there was no trace of him.
Only a gentle breeze brushed past Pio's cheeks.
'What an impossible level of skill.'
To disappear so perfectly that even he, trained as an assassin, couldn't sense any presence.
He was certain that if Caesar had wanted to kill him, he could have done so at any time.
Pio took a deep breath and stood up.
Having decided to betray the Count Vex, he needed to do it properly.
***
Caesar smirked as he watched Pio coming out of the bathroom.
'I never dreamed I would meet that guy like this.'
Pio is a fairly famous assassin in the Valent saga.
His specs as a knight are unremarkable, and he doesn't have any particularly outstanding abilities.
Nevertheless, the reason he's famous is because he's the one who assassinates the King of Vex Kingdom. [T/N: Author did it like that]
The decisive reason Pio assassinates the King is because of his younger sister Hiya. Hiya is later raped by the King's first son and becomes pregnant, which enrages the Queen of Vex who then has Hiya killed.
With Hiya dead, Pio, who had nothing to lose, ends up poisoning the King, Queen, and Crown Prince of Vex, and at this time, there's a quest to help assassinate the King if certain conditions are met. In return for helping Pio, one can obtain information related to all kinds of corruption committed by the King, and if this evidence is taken to another country, a big reward can be received.
To make a long story short, now that Pio has decided to cooperate with Caesar, obtaining the dirty secrets of the Count Vex is virtually guaranteed. Then, how to extract his sister...
'I'll figure that out when I get there.'
Whether to kidnap her in the middle of the night or use some other method. Caesar moved on after seeing Pio disappear.
The direction Caesar was heading was toward a snowy mountain. The artifact Caesar was targeting is a five-day walk from here.
***
"......Damn, I miscalculated."
Caesar smacked his forehead as he looked at the burned-down village.
Caesar alone could never find the dungeon he was looking for.
First, he needed to get off at Sobram Station, then walk for two days to reach a village with the common name ‘Snow-covered Village.’
And there, hire a herb gatherer as a guide to take him to ‘Pigeon Cave’ to easily find the dungeon.
But what Caesar overlooked was that the current situation was not normal.
Snow-covered Village had been ransacked by bandits and was in ruins, with corpses scattered everywhere. Moreover, it seemed the village had been attacked by bandits quite some time ago, as all the bodies were covered in snow, with no signs of life to be found.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
Valent saga is ultimately a game, not reality.
In the game, you would find an NPC herb gatherer, request to go to Pigeon Cave, and then with a screen flicker, a caption ‘Five days later…’ would appear, and you'd arrive at Pigeon Cave.
Finding such a convenient game system in reality is impossible, so a herb gatherer is absolutely necessary...
'Should I just give up?'
No. I've come this far, I can't give up. And the ancient artifact Caesar is looking for is truly useful. Caesar clicked his tongue and rolled up his sleeves.
"I have no choice."
Caesar swung Thunder strongly.
The accumulated snow flew away in the strong wind.
Frozen corpses and broken furniture were revealed before Caesar's eyes.
Caesar found a relatively intact handcart among them and began piling the corpses on it.
First, he decided to clean up the surroundings while using psychometry to find information about the bandits who attacked this village.
Who knows?
Maybe one of the bandits knows about the Pigeon Cave.