91
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 91
Caesar received a call from Hilos before leaving the palace.
As he finished a cup of tea in the reception room, Hilos opened the door and entered.
Caesar greeted him with proper etiquette.
"I am honored to meet you, Prime Minister."
"You've improved since before."
Of course.
I received thorough training while being drilled by Knox.
"Sit down."
Hilos naturally sat at the head of the table.
"Impressive. It's rare to find someone who doesn't tremble in that seat."
"Thank you for your kind words."
"However, the welfare project you mentioned was too hasty."
So it was about this after all?
Caesar used psychometry.
-The welfare project isn't a topic the Emperor is particularly fond of.
-He sees it as a waste of useless finances.
-I was planning to explain it at the right time... But you beat me to it.
It seems the Prime Minister deliberately didn't explain the welfare project to the Emperor.
He should have told me that beforehand.
I almost really got screwed over.
"Did His Majesty the Emperor not know? I thought I had told Your Excellency everything before."
"Everything has its proper order. The Freak Show people haven't been completely rooted out yet, and we haven't found the prophets either. It wouldn't have been bad to start after those matters were concluded."
"Then what happens to the welfare project?"
"For now, there are no official plans for the Imperial family to pursue it. However, we will make an announcement."
As I thought.
They'll probably just make noise in the newspapers without announcing any specific budget.
Well, can't be helped.
It's not like you can demand money from someone who doesn't have any.
Well, since we're getting support from House Redfield, let's just proceed with support projects using their funds.
"I understand."
"Instead, we've roughly come up with plans for what to do with the orphans and mutants rescued from the Freak Show."
"What do you mean? How can there already be treatment plans for them when there's a welfare plan?"
"We received contact from the magic stone mines in the demon realm. They say they're short on workers."
As soon as Caesar heard Hilos' words, he felt like he'd been hit on the back of the head.
"You can't mean you're planning to use them as laborers in the magic stone mines?"
"The narrow tunnels are good for children to work in. The demon realm mines were already recruiting young workers. We plan to send them there."
Caesar let out an exasperated sigh at the incredibility of this cursed era.
Is this really happening?
Even though this may be an era without labor laws or child protection laws, they're going to send children and mutants who were cruelly tortured at the Freak Show into underground tunnels?
Is this truly something a person can think of?
"Is this something His Majesty the Emperor is pursuing?"
"Yes. That's why fewer orphanages will be established than you think. You should know at least that much."
"Then what about the mutants?"
"They'll move to the mines too. Don't they need to work diligently and earn money as well?"
Ha, this is really making me angry.
Even if the Empire is in its end times, isn't this going too far?
Even demons would slap their foreheads and say they learned something new.
'Did Mitchell know?'
No, if he knew, he wouldn't have suggested doing the orphanage project with me.
Then how would Mitchell react if this information reached his ears?
He would naturally minimize welfare costs.
From House Redfield's perspective, investing in the magic stone business would be far better than throwing away money.
The orphanage project will surely just be a token gesture.
"Anyway, keep that in mind."
The Prime Minister rose from his seat.
For a moment, Caesar felt as if time had stopped.
His heart tells him to save the children.
His reason tells him to just follow the Prime Minister's proposal since it's impossible.
Where exactly did things go wrong?
Is it Caesar's fault for falling into this world of cold-blooded people without any conscience?
Then they should at least set the orphans free.
But what?
Send them to the mines?
Yes, this damn Empire deserves to fall.
'Fuck, I don't know.'
Caesar stood up and called out to Hilos.
"Prime Minister!"
Hilos was about to grab the doorknob.
"What is it?"
"Before sending the rescued orphans and mutants to the demon realm, we'll need a place to temporarily protect them, won't we?"
Hilos thought for a moment and nodded.
"That's true."
"I have some land in Homigraph. I'll build a temporary shelter there and protect them. So please send the orphans and mutants to Homigraph when they're rescued."
Hilos slowly approached Caesar.
"What are you thinking?"
"What do you mean, what am I thinking?"
"I get the feeling you have other thoughts in mind."
Right.
Of course I have other thoughts.
I'm thinking of saving the orphans and mutants!
I don't know why I'm doing this kind of thing, but if I follow the Prime Minister's words here, I'll really stop being human.
"I just want to put my name on that temporary shelter. I'll proceed with my own money and sponsorship funds, so please grant me at least that much."
Hilos looked at Caesar strangely, but after thinking about it, it wasn't a bad proposal.
It's not like imperial finances are involved anyway.
"I'll review it."
-Caesar seems to have some scheme in mind.
-It's not a bad proposal for now, so I'll think about it seriously.
-Homigraph is conveniently connected to waterways anyway.
With those words, the Prime Minister went outside.
I don't know anymore.
Looks like I'll be spending more money.
Ah whatever.
Harrison will take care of it.
***
Caesar hid halfway up the mountain while looking at a small mountain fortress.
There, he could see outlaws warming themselves by a fire.
'The Empire is definitely heading towards its downfall.'
As soon as the Emperor officially declared he would crush the Freak Show circus troupe, they began sleeping with the Emperor's enemies.
The ones they chose were the gangs.
From the gangs' perspective, since the Emperor had announced he would thoroughly eliminate them, they accepted quite easily, and thus a fantastic collaboration between the devil-controlling Freak Show circus and the gangs was born.
Just then, he heard movement from behind.
It was Hudson.
"Looks like there are over 500 just at a glance."
Caesar spoke while pointing at the scout whose head had just been cracked by his axe.
"It's 700."
"That's almost an infantry battalion. What about their armament?"
"I heard they have guns and even mortars. And of course, devils too."
Hudson spoke while warming his frozen hands with his breath.
"That's within the expected range."
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes."
Caesar used Wind Riding.
He could hear the breathing of the knights gathered around him.
The number of knights, including Caesar, was exactly 50.
Among them, 5 holy knights were assigned to hunt devils.
Can we handle it with these numbers?
Absolutely possible.
"If each person kills about 15, we'll be done. Can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll go first."
Caesar used Steel Wind.
Sharp wind brushed against his earlobe.
But Caesar felt no pain.
Having consumed medicine made from the white tiger's heart, his cold resistance was extremely high.
This level of cold was nothing.
Caesar leaped like a tiger hiding in the bushes.
"Huh?"
Splat!
The head of the gang member on perimeter watch quietly exploded.
Simultaneously, Thunder, which Caesar had thrown, made a round and instantly exploded the heads of 4 sentries watching from atop the fortress.
Thump!
Caesar caught Thunder as it returned like a boomerang.
He could hear knights running from behind.
But since all the sentries with ears had their heads exploded, they couldn't hear that loud noise.
As the knights drew near, Caesar broke down the main gate with his axe.
"Wooooaahhhhh!"
His body heated up intensely with Berserker Stack 1.
Birds flew up startled by Caesar's battle cry, and the gang members were even more surprised.
"W-what is this!"
Splat!
Caesar threw Thunder and exploded the head of a gang member who was warming himself by the fire.
"What else could it be but an ambush."
Led by Caesar, the knights began sweeping through the fortress.
Gang members and Freak Show members aimed their guns at Caesar and the knights.
Bang Bang!
But Caesar and the knights slaughtered the gang members, undeterred by the bullets raining from all directions.
For Caesar, bullets were merely ticklish, and the other knights were wearing steel armor covering their entire bodies.
Particularly, the knights who volunteered for this operation were from the Black Shield Knights who had participated in the demon realm war in the past.
They were all classic-type knights and even carried sturdy shields, so bullets were no problem.
Rather, the bullets ricocheted off the Black Shield Knights' shields and pierced through the gang members instead.
"H-how are knights here...!"
"Devil! Where's the devil!"
Caesar used wind reading to start searching for the devil's location.
These guys are just a ragtag bunch.
The only one to watch out for is the devil.
Caesar used Wind Riding to search for the devil's breathing.
Crash!
Then he saw a devil breaking out of what looked like a large warehouse.
The devil had two horns and chains bound all over its body.
"Ah, it hurts! I-I don't want to hurt anymore!"
A man who appeared to be the circus master swung his whip in the air.
"Then hurry up and kill them! You damn bastard!"
At the sound of the whip, the devil's eyes turned purple and it screamed.
"It huuuuurts!"
At the sharp scream, the gang members' bodies exploded right there.
The knights blocked the scream with their shields, but that was all.
The scream made the steel vibrate, shaking the weak armor joints, and some knights wearing poor quality armor had their armor fall off or twist with a clatter.
"Aaaaarghhhh!"
That wasn't the end.
The chains bound to the devil's body began to tremble and rampage.
"W-wait aaaaarghh!"
The circus master hit by the blind chains was vertically sliced in half and died.
The devil became even more excited and screamed wildly.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"
The devil shed purple tears and attacked indiscriminately without distinguishing between friend and foe.
The damage to the gang members and circus members was even greater.
At that moment, the waiting holy knights charged in.
The holy knights' greatswords were coated with holy oil, emitting a mysterious blue light.
"Huriyap!"
The holy knights charged at the creature almost simultaneously.
At that moment, the devil pushed back the holy knights with a whip-like sharp chain to create distance.
It used sound waves.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The holy knights staggered and fell to their knees.
Judging by the blood flowing from their helmets, it seemed their fragile eardrums had burst.
This is why devils who use sound waves are so annoying.
Without a mage, there are very limited ways to block sound wave attacks.
If they were tank-type knights like Caesar it would be manageable, but it's not easy for classic-type knights.
It seemed like it was time for Caesar to step in.
Caesar threw Thunder.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The devil immediately responded by shooting sound waves at the Thunder that was discharging blue electricity.
Surprisingly, it dodged the Thunder that Caesar threw.
But the Thunder hit its chains and...
Crackle!
Thunder's current traveled through the chains and electrocuted it.
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
When it screamed, the mountain fortress collapsed.
The snow piled on the hillside began to collapse and pour into the fortress.
The gang members and circus members trying to escape were buried in snow pouring in from all directions.
While it was still disoriented, Caesar charged in wielding Lefty.
"Shut up! You bastard."
Caesar blew away its jaw.
He had originally aimed for the head, but it dodged with surprising speed.
It seems that just Berserker Stack 1 isn't enough to match the speed of a devil with two horns on its head.
"Uwaaaaaa!"
Its long tongue drooped down to the forehead.
The creature screamed again.
But when its jawbone shattered, the sound waves definitely weakened.
Meanwhile, a holy knight approaching from behind struck its long heel.
Thud!
"Uwaaaaaa!"
The holy oil began to burn the devil as it reacted intensely with its blood.
The other holy knights followed suit.
The holy knights began to slash at the devil's body with their greatswords.
"Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhhh!"
Its legs buckled and chains were cut off, and finally its head was slammed to the ground.
"Ahh..."
Purple tears from the devil wet the ground.
Caesar brought Thunder down on its head.
Thud!
The devil's head exploded, signaling the end of the battle.
***
Caesar took a sip of water and looked around the ruined fortress.
The captured gang members and freak show members were busy gathering their comrades' corpses in one place.
The knights had removed their helmets and were treating their injuries.
At that moment, Hudson approached.
"No critical injuries?"
"No. Fortunately, they only suffered eardrum damage."
Caesar handed Hudson the circus master's notebook he had found earlier.
"It shows here how they tamed the devils."
Hudson opened the notebook Caesar handed over.
[Creating an obedient devil was hard work.
Creating a devil was easy enough.
Just feed them Night Maker, burn hypnotic incense, and whip them.
But making them obedient wasn't easy.]
[We've already had 51 failures.
Are those prophet bastards sure this is how you make devils?
We almost all died.]
[I figured out how to make devils.
The failure rate was lower when making children into devils rather than adults.
Damn Emperor, come at me all you want.
I'll create a devil legion and reduce the imperial capital to ashes!]
The method for creating obedient devils was very similar to taming elephants.
Feed Night Maker to children, burn hypnotic incense, then torture and brainwash them.
Tell them they can survive if they just obey the ringmaster.
Tell them it won't hurt anymore.
Like the elephant taming 'Phajaan', break down their self-awareness to tame devils stronger than humans.
Caesar took another sip of water before speaking.
"Did Sir Hudson know about this?"
"...I found out recently. Of course, this information was treated as top secret."
"Is this information not authorized for me?"
Hudson closed the notebook.
"That's the principle, but what can we do since you already know?"
Hudson put the notebook in his breast pocket.
"And I know Sir Caesar isn't someone who would carelessly spread this information. There won't be many restrictions."
Caesar turned his gaze to look at the burning devil corpses.
Those were the ringmaster's 'failures'.
Crackle…Crackle!
Looking at that, he felt like he was missing something.
"But isn't something strange?"
"What do you mean?"
"The notebook clearly stated that the ringmaster had figured out how to create tamed devils, right? So why is there only one devil?"
"..."
Hudson was momentarily speechless at Caesar's question.
And it was right after that when Caesar's Wind Riding detected strange footsteps.
Caesar turned around.
Specifically, toward the hillside that had collapsed in the avalanche.
Countless footprints were being created there in real time.
Caesar's action was instinctive.
He shrunk Thunder in his hand and threw it toward the footprints.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"
Purple blood splattered on the snow along with the scream.
And the knights including the holy knights couldn't believe their eyes.
Halfway up the hill.
They saw thirteen devils and a man wearing a black robe crossing over the mountain.