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I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 281
"I really can't trust what people say."
Although he would be allowed to pass if he removed his mask and revealed his face now, Caesar didn't want to reveal his identity. Well, can't be helped.
"I'm sorry. Then I'll be on my way now."
Bang!
A bullet flew and hit beside the horse.
"Shut up. Since you won't take off your mask, you must be a devil worshipper."
The holy knights and guards raised their weapons toward Caesar.
"If you don't want to die, surrender. Devil worshipper."
"Sigh, really. The world is going to hell."
Romance has disappeared too much from this world.
To call someone a devil worshipper just for hanging a few heads on a carriage. Until two years ago, people used to like it when you hung heads on your carriage.
'Anyway, what should I do?'
The easy way would be to abandon the carriage and just run away.
Honestly, if he decided to run, he could easily outrun all those holy knights wearing such heavy armor. It's a bit of a shame to lose the collection hanging on the carriage, but he could always gather more while traveling again, so it's not a huge loss.
The difficult way would be to somehow persuade those guys with words.
'Is there any need to take the difficult path?'
Caesar carefully put Lefty and Thunder into his spatial bag.
"What are you doing? Surrender immediately!"
"I don't want to."
"What?"
Caesar checked the carriage again for any traces that could identify him, then shouldered his bag.
"Well then, goodbye everyone."
Caesar vanished like the wind.
"Wh-where? Where did he go?!"
"It's a devil! He must be a devil!"
Their frustrated voices echoed, but Caesar didn't care and moved forward. Just a little more running and he'd reach Shalibi.
Ding! Ding!
How long had he been running?
The 'Devil's Call' vibrated. Caesar stopped on top of a tree.
"...So that's why the holy knights were wandering outside the village."
There was a one-horned devil within 10km of this area.
It seemed the holy knights had been tracking this devil.
Should he track the devil or not?
'A one-horned one... That's a recently emerged devil.'
It's generally best to kill devils, but Caesar is not a holy knight.
He has neither the obligation nor the leisure to track a mere one-horned devil. Caesar decided to ignore it and head to Shalibi.
Ding! Ding!
Caesar's wish was not easily granted. The more he headed toward Shalibi, the more violently the Devil's Call shook. Caesar arrived at the entrance of Shalibi.
Ding! Ding!
The fact that the Devil's Call became even more intense despite arriving at Shalibi meant there was a high possibility that the devil was hiding inside Shalibi.
"...Sigh, just my luck."
Even Caesar isn't comfortable enough to sleep with a devil whose hiding place is unknown. It seems like he'll have to go devil hunting himself if he wants to sleep peacefully tonight.
It's not just any day, but the day he's meeting Agatha.
***
Gloria melted at the lavish treatment she was receiving after a long time.
"This is really amazing."
After sleeping on the rough wilderness ground for almost a month, lying on the soft bed in the top-class hotel suite in Shalibi was nothing short of heaven.
And what if you add a warm bath and a nice glass of wine?
"Lady Raven, is this heaven?"
"According to the Dre Order, Dre province is the place closest to heaven."
Raven dryly wrung out her hair with a towel.
But to Gloria, who had been closely observing Raven for the past month, that expressionless face of Raven looked different.
Raven was also extremely satisfied right now.
"You really must be an amazing person, Lady Raven. Holy knights coming out to escort the carriage from Sanctus Lumen Station to Shalibi, and the suite room automatically reserved. I never thought we would receive such exceptional treatment."
"Then what did you think of me until now?"
"...Um, just a great magician?"
"Just?"
"A very great magician?"
"Come on."
Gloria may have seen enough of Raven's magical skills, but this was the first time she truly felt Raven's reputation firsthand.
The only time Gloria had been with Raven was when they were rolling around in the dirt together in the demon realm or wilderness.
But receiving such lavish treatment now made her truly realize that Raven was indeed the hero who killed the Demon King and led the demon realm war to victory.
As her body relaxed and her mind became more at ease, one person came to Gloria's thoughts.
"By the way, what might Sir Caesar be doing now?"
"I don't know. I've contacted adventurer village, but haven't heard anything about Caesar appearing.
When I called Homigraph, they said Caesar had already left Homigraph in early November."
"Sobram Station was the last place, right?"
"That's right. All contact stopped from there."
Gloria let out a deep sigh.
"Sir Caesar really never goes without disappearing, does he?"
"The most unnecessary worry in the world is worrying about Caesar. Let's focus on our own business."
Gloria understood Raven's words intellectually, but found them difficult to accept emotionally.
Hearing that Caesar had disappeared made her heart pound. She kept feeling anxious, wondering if something had happened to him.
Raven observed the anxious magic waves emanating from Gloria's body. She wanted to tell her that worrying about Caesar was pointless, but she knew it was impossible since Gloria's obsession with Caesar was almost like a disease.
After drying her hair with drying magic, Raven got up.
"Let's go and do what we came here to do first."
"Right. We came here to fix the Blood Moon."
"Yes. The best blacksmith in Shalibi should certainly be able to fix it."
"If it's the best blacksmith, could it be..."
Raven threw a coat to Gloria.
"Yes. Blacksmith Giggs. The blacksmith who made Yan's sword."
***
Blacksmith Giggs forge was in the center of Shalibi city.
"...Is this really a forge?"
"Don't you hear the sound of steel being hammered? It is."
"It looks like a factory and shopping mall combined."
Giggs' forge was the largest among all buildings except for public facilities like temples and libraries.
It was so large that the biggest shopping mall in Shalibi looked like it was just clinging to the side of Giggs' forge.
The inside of the forge was hot in many ways.
"Here is a sword handcrafted by Master Harodo, the 20th disciple of blacksmith Giggs!"
"This is a shield made by Master Eyar, the 46th disciple of Blacksmith Giggs! A special shield containing 0.05% For Honor!"
Pretty clerks were promoting and selling swords, shields, and armor at the stands, and people who appeared to be knights were creating huge crowds to see these weapons.
"...Damn, it's too expensive."
"It's made directly by Giggs' disciple. Of course it's expensive."
Customers were intimidated upon seeing the price tags on the weapons and armor.
While they could trust the quality from the best blacksmith in the Empire, the prices were ridiculously inflated due to the high brand value.
But Giggs' forge didn't forget to show consideration for customers who had plenty of vigor and courage to beat devils and villains, but lacked money.
"Short on money? We have quick loan products! Same-day loans without advance interest with just a steel identification tag!"
"Lowest interest rate ever! An opportunity you can't get except now! Come on in!"
After looking at a few loan products, customers finally clenched their fists.
"Damn it, let's go!"
"Do you think I can't invest this much to protect my body?!"
Young knights and knight aspirants full of vigor immediately took out loans to purchase weapons. Gloria glanced at some loan products on the advertisement board and couldn't hide her shock.
"What? 38% annual interest? And if you can't repay, you have to work as a debt collector until it's all paid off?"
Although the statement about hiring them as debt collectors if they can't repay sounds like they'll make them slaves of the bank for life if they can't pay, doesn't it?
"How can a bank employ knights? Isn't this unreasonable?"
"It's possible if the bank's owner is a noble. The debt collectors work for the bank, but they actually belong to the knight family that owns the bank. That's why famous knight families like the Vex family or the Springfield family are in the banking business."
"What about the Redfield family?"
"In the case of the Redfield family, they consider exploiting knights like this to be dishonorable."
"It's good that there's at least one family with a conscience."
Raven snorted.
"The Redfield family wouldn't just let such a profitable business go. When the Parker family officially requests debt collection from His Majesty the Emperor, the Emperor assigns the debt collection proxy work to the Redfield family. Then a separate order of knights operated by the Redfield family moves to collect the debt. After collecting the debt and passing it to the Parker family through His Majesty the Emperor, the Parker family makes a donation to His Majesty and the Redfield family as a token of gratitude. This creates cleanly laundered money that can't be traced."
"...Using administrative power for such things? This is corruption—"
"You should watch what you say. Unless you want to be arrested for insulting the Imperial Family."
Gloria finally shut her mouth tightly. Gloria's eyes darkened as if she had seen the dark side of the world.
"You know a lot about these things, Lady Raven. I thought you were only knowledgeable about magic."
"Mitchell taught me that you need to know these things to become the master of a magic tower. Sometimes I curse my smart brain that can remember everything I hear just once."
At that moment, something else caught Gloria's eye.
Beyond the crowds, she could see a furnace emitting red heat along with the sound of hammering, where countless blacksmiths were working.
Seeing them working hard and sweating made her feel more at ease.
"By the way, how do I get my sword repaired? Should I just request a repair at the reception desk here?"
"I can't treat the Green-Eyed Wizard’s request so coldly."
Gloria was startled by the sudden voice of an old man.
He looked like an ordinary old man, wearing a shabby shirt and pants with a bucket hat that you could easily see on the street.
But the old man's calloused hands and firm forearms revealed that he was no ordinary old man.
"You used a recognition interference spell, so it was a bit hard to find you. Raven."
"It's been a while, Master Giggs."
This person is Giggs?
Gloria wanted to examine his face carefully, but feeling too awkward to stare openly, she stood close beside Raven.
"Follow me. I'll give you a cup of tea."
Raven and Gloria followed the old man out of Giggs' forge.
Gloria carefully opened her mouth.
"Don't you work here?"
"You're quite a curious knight."
"...I am a bit. Sorry for bothering you."
"Well, I don't really like the hustle and bustle. I have a separate workshop."
***
The place Giggs guided them to was a detached house not far from the center of the village.
Guards were waiting outside the house, and they immediately opened the door when they saw Giggs.
The detached house was neat.
There was a small building that looked like a workshop in the small yard, and next to it was a two-story house.
If you were told that the world's greatest blacksmith lived here, it could be considered somewhat modest, but if you think of the craftsmanship associated with blacksmiths, it was quite a splendid house.
As Giggs sat at the table in the yard, Raven and Gloria followed suit.
Someone who appeared to be a servant brought tea and placed it in front of Raven, Gloria, and Giggs.
As Raven turned off the recognition interference spell, Giggs removed the greenish brooch hanging on his chest.
"Well, asking how you've been now seems awkward... Let me hear about your friends. How is Yan doing?"
"He's doing well."
Giggs took a sip of tea. His eyes were directed at the table, but his gaze was reading Raven's expression.
"Really? I heard he got hit hard from behind by Elijah in the demon realm."
"Yes. But his mind is clearer than ever."
"What do you mean by that?"
Raven took out Nameless from her spatial pocket.
When Nameless emerged from Raven's hand, Giggs was momentarily surprised and his hand trembled.
This caused the teacup and saucer to collide, making a loud noise.
"How... That shouldn't be possible..."
"Yan has known for a long time that Nameless was eating away at his mind. He just didn't have an opportunity to let go."
"How did he let go of Nameless?"
"Yan almost became a devil because of Nameless. So Caesar and I persuaded him to let go of it."
Giggs' expression froze.
"...To the point of becoming a devil?"
"Yes. That's right, Master Giggs."
Raven placed Nameless on the table.
"Because of that issue, there was something I wanted to request from you, Mister Giggs. I was going to send you a letter, but I hesitated because if someone were to hear my secret request, it could greatly damage both Yan's and your reputation. But now I think I must do it."
Raven spoke while fully feeling the 'craving for blood and power' emanating from Nameless.
"I request that you classify Nameless as a devil sword."