Chapter 295: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 295
I entered the Count Vex's mansion, but to be honest, it feels more like I'm in a military training camp rather than a mansion.
Flat plains were equipped with parade grounds and training fields everywhere, filled with gunshots and the sounds of soldiers training. There were no buildings over two stories tall, and they were spaced out in a way that would make traveling without a horse or carriage quite challenging.
"One! Two! One! Two!"
A group of people jogged past Caesar's carriage.
"Who are those people?"
"Looks like trainees from the Vex Swordsmanship Academy."
"The Vex Swordsmanship Academy is inside this mansion?"
"That's right. As far as I know, not only the Vex Academy but also the Vex Province's defense force training camp is located here."
The Vex Province entrusts military training to the Count Vex as a proxy, and in return, the Count receives money from the province, a rather novel and dirty business structure. This is why nobles are reluctant to give up their power.
"Oh... That's why the academy trainees look like soldiers. Their hairstyles and uniforms are all similar."
"Vex Academy graduates are indeed disciplined. Haven't you seen guys who look like soldiers when taking the knight qualification exam?"
Gloria thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
"Ah, now that you mention it, I remember seeing groups of very rigid-looking guys. How should I describe it? Like they're emanating an atmosphere of 'we are different from you'?"
"Those are exactly the ones."
"Oh... It seems very systematic. I've never been to a swordsmanship academy, but are they all like this?"
"Most are, but the Vex Academy is particularly intense."
Gloria watched the trainees rolling around the training ground.
Pow! Bang! Bang!
The trainees crawled under barbed wire amidst a barrage of gunfire, and carried mountain-like loads while swinging swords.
"But it seems less intense than the training I received from my master."
Raven, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head.
"Less intense? It looks incredibly harsh to me?"
"My master didn't treat me like a human. He called me an owl. He said if I wanted to become human, I should do things properly."
"What? An owl?"
"Yes. He said I wasn't quite human yet."
Come to think of it, she remembered being called an owl and trained in the demon realm too. At the time, she had just accepted it, but now it sounds strange.
"What kind of brainwashing education did you give to a young lady of a noble family?"
"Brainwashing education? It's an appropriate educational protocol."
"How is that an appropriate educational protocol? Calling someone an owl?"
"It means to achieve results if you want to reclaim your name."
"If Bellum had found out that Gloria wasn't even treated like a human, you would have been shot in the forehead."
"I got permission from the beginning. I said I would train harshly, so don't interfere."
"You were allowed such an absurd educational process?"
"Absurd? Look at Gloria now. She's grown well. In other words, my educational program was very effective."
Raven couldn't tell if the world had gone mad or if Caesar was just crazy. But one thing was certain, if Raven continued to stick with Caesar, her understanding of common sense would crumble.
***
How far had they gone? The white mansion that seemed distant was now approaching.
"It's really big compared to other buildings."
As Gloria said, the Count Vex's mansion was enormous. It was at least three times taller than other buildings, and instead of being a shabby wooden structure, it was finished with white marble, looking incredibly elegant.
Raven looked at the top floor of the mansion.
"From up there, you'd be able to overlook the entire mansion at a glance."
Just by looking at this building, Count Vex's personality was evident. A controlling and hypersensitive personality that wants to control everything and capture everything within his line of sight.
A typical 18th-century American white cotton plantation owner's mindset. As they entered in front of the mansion, neat butlers and maids welcomed Caesar.
"Welcome. I am Sebastian, the head butler of the Count Vex."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Caesar. What an appropriately butler-like name. Were you always named Sebastian?"
"When one becomes a head butler, the Count Vex personally bestows a name. My parents gave me a different name."
"What an interesting tradition."
"Then, I'll guide you to the reception room. But first..."
Sebastian looked at Caesar, Raven, and Gloria's attire and gave a rotten smile.
"I'll provide shower rooms and clean clothes. Would that be acceptable?"
"We don't mind, but won't Count Vex be waiting?"
"Meeting the Count in unkempt attire goes against etiquette. Isn't this a very basic courtesy learned from childhood?"
There's a barb in Sebastian's words. He's probably hinting that Caesar became a nobleman without properly learning noble etiquette. Caesar is not from a normal noble family but is a bastard from the Sylvatil's family.
'Should I just overthrow this?'
At that moment, Raven grabbed Caesar's wrist.
"Since we're here, let's wash up. We haven't done laundry properly since coming to Vex Province."
Gloria also chimed in in agreement.
"That's right. Perhaps because the security is so poor, the hotel service was a mess. Is it even possible that a hotel can't do laundry properly?"
"Still, I can trust this place to do the laundry. The water will be clean too. Isn't that right? Sebastian?"
Sebastian coughed lightly and nodded.
"...Indeed! It seems you've had a hard time coming here."
"That's right. I'm not sure if Vex's company is running properly."
Well, is this what educated people's roundabout speaking is like? It's quite amusing to see Sebastian looking flustered. Caesar whispered in Raven's ear.
"Just let it slide this one time."
"Please learn to let things go sometimes, Caesar."
Caesar threw his coat at Sebastian and said,
"Then I'll take a shower first. There's a bathtub, right? I need to soak for a bit."
***
Caesar drank tea in the reception room with a refreshed face.
"Hmm, I'm glad I got cleaned up."
After soaking in a warm bathtub with bath salts for about three hours, all his fatigue had disappeared. He would have loved to sleep deeply right then, but Sebastian had asked him to come to the reception room, so he had no choice.
The door opened, and Raven and Gloria entered.
"Your complexion seems to have changed? Your skin looks better."
"The maids even helped me with makeup. How do I look?"
"Well. Not bad."
"Ahem! Should I dress up like this from now on?"
"No. Just do it when necessary, there's no need to do it all the time."
As Raven and Gloria sat down, tea was served.
"By the way, aren't we keeping Count Vex waiting for too long? The sun has already set."
"We'll wait just as long. I guarantee he absolutely won't come before 10 PM."
"...For that long?"
"Want to make him come a bit earlier?"
"Do you have a method?"
"I have a very simple method."
Caesar looked at the maids waiting behind and said,
"Can you step aside for a moment? We want to talk among ourselves."
The maids looked at each other with confused expressions before speaking.
"I'm sorry, but according to convention, we cannot leave guests alone in the reception room..."
"Is that so? Then can't be helped. Raven."
Raven took a sip of tea and then snapped her fingers. Immediately, a sound block magic was cast precisely on the table where Caesar, Gloria, and Raven were sitting.
"As expected, right on point."
Gloria tilted her head.
"Why did you cast a sound block magic?"
"To make Count Vex curious."
Raven waved her hand again, and a semi-transparent sphere was placed around the table. From inside, you could see outside, but from outside, you couldn't see inside.
"This will make Count Vex unable to resist coming down."
"...Isn't using magic without permission inside a noble's residence not allowed?"
"Seems like you don't know. We're currently in the tiger's mouth. Count Vex is an enemy we must deal with. Creating a situation that would make the enemy uncomfortable is a basic strategy."
Caesar sipped his tea.
"And Count Vex really hates when something happens in his jurisdiction that he can't control. No, he can't bear it."
Caesar pointed to the reception room door.
"Not long from now, this door will open wide, and Count Vex will enter."
Gloria waved her hand.
"No way, would Count Vex fall for such a childish trick?"
At that moment, the reception room door opened, and a black-haired man with sharp eyes appeared, accompanied by knights. It was Count Vex.
"Huh... Really?"
As Raven snapped her fingers, the magic disappeared. Caesar rose from his chair and greeted Count Vex with elegant etiquette.
"Pleasure to meet you, Count Vex. I am Caesar El Lindger."
Count Vex stared at Caesar for a while before speaking.
"Come out for a moment. I want to take a night walk."
Count Vex immediately walked out. Caesar winked at Gloria with a smile.
"Saw that?"
***
Caesar walked slowly beside Count Vex. The walking path of the Vex family, which seemed to have no aesthetic sense, was surprisingly not bad.
"It's quite charming."
"Isn't it like walking on a silver plate?"
Caesar looked at Count Vex with a surprised expression.
"How poetic."
"It's not my words. An adventurer who visited here said that."
Count Vex stopped for a moment and looked at the lake. The full moon illuminating the lake was so beautiful it could blind one's eyes.
"So I killed that adventurer."
"...What do you mean?"
"After that adventurer said those words, whenever I look at this lake, all I see is a clean silver plate. For blocking my free imagination, I mixed poison in that adventurer's food and killed him."
This crazy psychopath. Is this real? Caesar used psychometry.
"Of course, it was a joke. Surprised?"
"How could I not be surprised?"
"But everyone thought the same. That adventurer simply squandered the sponsorship money I gave on drugs and died of acute drug overdose. Everyone thought I killed the adventurer."
-Looking at Caesar's expression, he seems to have really believed it.
-I can tell what he thinks of me.
"They oppress the citizens of the Imperial Province with the weapon of fear. But do you know what they have in common?"
"What do you mean?"
"Those who have never received sponsorship from me. The journalists who received money from me have never written an article unfavorable to me."
I feel like I now understand how Count Vex thinks about journalists. Although they claim to have soul and conscience in his writing, they are ultimately dirty individuals who can be bought with money.
Caesar was thinking similarly, so he could unexpectedly see that they have this point in common.
"In that respect, I think you are quite remarkable."
"In what way?"
"From what I know, you don't spend much money on media outlets, yet your image in the central and northern continents is extremely good. In fact, there were rumors that journalists who wrote articles defaming you were stoned to death."
"I'm hearing such a story for the first time."
"Well, that's not the important part. I think your ability to control the media is impressive. Isn't it an achievement even after confronting the Royder Order? I believe your brilliant rhetoric and image-making skills are worth learning."
Listening to this, it's not entirely a bad thing, but my feelings are complicated. Should I say it feels like Stalin or Hitler praising one's media manipulation skills? I'm unsure whether I should take this as a compliment or not.
"In a way, I think it would have been much better for you to inherit the family business of the Sylvatil family, rather than your brother."
-Or perhaps Caesar is already controlling it.
-Eric might be playing the role of a figurehead.
Caesar thought it would be best not to delve deeper into this conversation. This was because there was a 'recording magic' artifact in Count Vex's possession.
The moment Caesar misspoke, it would surely be spread to the media and become a special news story the next morning.
"I do not understand what you are talking about. I simply acted according to my beliefs. The reason I am loved by the Imperial Province people is because they recognized my good intentions."
Count Vex fidgeted with his ring. When slightly uncomfortable or things are not going his way, he touches that ring.