Chapter 135: Walking a Tightrope (9)
Chapter 135: Walking a Tightrope (9)
At my suppressed gasp, leaking out like a groan, the Emperor glanced at me and leaped down from his horse. He scanned the remaining demonic beasts, then raised his sword and drew it lightly from left to right. In the same instant, the upper and lower halves of two beasts separated.
'Someone nearly died back there....'
The Emperor's skill hit home anew.
The rest of the cleanup was over in a flash. In the now-silent forest, he flicked the demonic beast fluids off his blade with a light swing, sheathed his sword neatly, and turned back to me.
"......Considering you're supposed to be struggling just to move, you look surprisingly fine......."
"......Ah, glory to the Empire...!"
"That's not it, I see. It was fighting spirit, was it."
I hurried to offer a greeting, but my body, finally collapsing, was hoisted up by him like he was yanking out a radish.
......He grabbed my arm, so I suppose I could count that as support? But why was it so damn embarrassing.
I was dangling there, relying entirely on one of his hands. Whatever he was thinking, the Emperor silently looked me over, then lifted the corner of his mouth ever so faintly and spoke in a leisurely tone.
"This is the first time we've faced each other like this. Isn't that right, 0th Legion Commander?"
"......!"
"Seems you mixed up the communicator and the communication stone. Since both use magic stones, it's an understandable mistake, but it'd be wise to be more careful from now on. How is anyone supposed to use a spy this sloppy."
So the communication stone was the left one...!
I felt every drop of blood drain from my body. The world, which had barely been regaining its color, turned white again. My face was probably paler than anything comparable on earth right now.
As if my stress had exceeded its limit, something hot surged up from inside me before I could even suppress it.
"Bleurgh...! Hack!"
"I wonder if this is an internal injury, or if it's the curse...."
He clicked his tongue softly, watching the red liquid drip down my chin, then slowly lowered me to the ground.
The Emperor, who had been looking down at me with unreadable eyes, soon opened his mouth as if he'd noticed something strange.
"Your eyes aren't focusing properly."
"Ah... this is......."
"Spare me the excuses. Just answer this. Is it a temporary phenomenon, or a permanent injury?"
"It's temporary."
"Well... what a relief."
"......."
His voice was only slightly slower than usual, completely ordinary with nothing special about it, but I had to struggle not to show the terror crashing over me like a tidal wave.
'I nearly... died.'
A moment ago, the Emperor's aura had been that of someone measuring the usefulness of an object, not dealing with a person.
If I had answered that it was a permanent injury, I definitely would have died right here. If you lose your eyes, your utility as a spy plummets, and your combat ability is almost entirely lost. The Emperor isn't someone who hangs onto a broken sword out of sentiment. The Demon King would surely be the same.
I quietly steadied my breathing to calm my pounding heart when, out of nowhere, a bundle was tossed right next to me.
"Clean clothes. You seem to have snuck out. If you go back looking like that, there'll be an uproar, won't there."
"Ah, thank you."
"And......."
He paused briefly while handing over bandages and medicine, sighed, and looked me up and down.
"......No wonder your vision is blurry. Are you even aware that blood is flowing from your side right now? It's practically streaming out like water."
"Huh...?"
Oh, right. When I was assessing my physical state earlier, I had felt pain from my side too.
I lowered my head slightly. My whole outfit was dyed red, so I must have missed it. Belatedly, I saw the wound between the torn cloth, blood seeping through.
So my vision hadn't gone white from the pain; it was because I was running low on blood.
"The wound looks like it was... carved out. Why is that? Was it hard to keep your head straight because of the curse?"
"......."
"Or can a monster attack even cause a wound like that... Seems you let your guard down."
How exactly does having trouble keeping your head straight connect to a wound that looks carved out?
And why don't you consider the possibility that I just lack the skill? The Demon King, too, and the Emperor... just how highly do you all rate my abilities?
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak. Whatever the Emperor made of that, he stared at me blankly for a moment, then took out disinfectant and hemostatic agent, laid them out, and pulled out bandages.
"Anyway, it'd be best to treat it quickly."
"Yes, thank you...."
"Take off your clothes. No, taking them off might open the wound further. Better to just cut them."
"......Excuse me?"
"Stay still. A single slip and we could add another wound."
No, no, a single slip and I could die, you know?! You're going to cut my clothes with that terrifying-looking sword? And not cut me along with them?
'That's the sword you were using to slice up demonic beasts just now! I, I just won't get treatment. Don't point that thing at me, please...!'
H, help.......
Since it was the Emperor, I couldn't even run away. I watched him raise the sword with trembling eyes, then finally gave up and squeezed my eyes shut.
Please, just don't cleave me in two along with the clothes.......
The brutal treatment ended.
Up until the moment he raised the sword, I had thought, so this is how I die. But thankfully, after cutting the clothes, he treated me properly according to standard procedure. Should I call this unexpected?
"Th...thank you."
"Enough with the formalities. Just get dressed."
I poked curiously at my side, now neatly wrapped in bandages, then took the clean shirt out of the bundle the Emperor had thrown me and clumsily slipped my arms through the sleeves.
The Emperor, who had been standing a step away with his arms crossed watching me button up the shirt, opened his mouth.
"You buttoned it wrong."
"Ah."
It was nerves because I was in front of the Emperor.
I found the misbuttoned buttons and corrected them when he pulled out a pocket watch, checked the time, and then called to me.
"Can you walk?"
"......Yes."
Probably.
There was no way the Emperor would believe an answer so openly laden with hesitation. He frowned ever so slightly, approached again, and grabbed my ankle.
......?!
'No... Your Majesty...?!'
Your head is now lower than my eye level...?
Should I lower myself too? How do I lower my body while sitting down?
"Staying seated instead of standing... what in the world are you doing?"
"......Nothing."
I stealthily straightened my awkwardly hunched torso.
The Emperor, who had been looking at me with a subtle expression, seemed to choose to ignore it. He lowered his gaze again to examine the ankle he was holding, and picked up his unfinished sentence once more.
"You kept sitting down without standing up......."
"......."
"And you're not so disrespectful a person that you'd dare sit while the Emperor is standing...."
"It's just a minor muscle injury."
Better to have been unable to observe formalities due to my physical condition than to appear to have behaved insolently before the Emperor.
At my excessively quick answer, the Emperor, who had been examining the bones from ankle to shin to knee in order, let out a short laugh.
"Seems so. There's nothing wrong with the bone."
"......."
"I'll give you bandages. Wrap it up decently and see yourself back safely. There will be a summons in a few days, so it'd be best to manage your condition well until then."
"A summons... did you say?"
"Yes. You moved according to the Demon King's words this time, so next time it's only fair you move according to my words, isn't it."
Wow... my god.......
Why is my life like this? I'm seriously going crazy.
I reflexively caught the bandages the Emperor tossed, and even after I was alone again, I couldn't reel my scattered wits back in.
* * *
Ironically, because the ideologies of the Emperor and the Duke—the heads of the Imperial Faction and the Noble Faction that were opposing each other within the Empire—were somewhat similar, the nobles, regardless of faction, all possessed the fundamental common sense associated with noblesse oblige.
For example, that the nation and its people must be the top priority.
If one were to ask why there are still so many selfish and senseless nobles despite this, it could be likened to knowing you shouldn't hit people but still hitting them. In any case, whatever their actual behavior, that basic common sense of a noble was firmly lodged in a corner of the current nobles' minds.
Why did this topic suddenly come up, you ask—
"As nobles of this Empire who prioritize the nation, should we not definitively uncover the truth behind the rumors concerning Honorary Marquess Deon Hart? Depending on whether they are true or false, these rumors could endanger this country."
There was a rumor about Honorary Marquess Deon Hart.
Namely, the rumor that he was a vampire!
"I have looked through the ancient texts. It is said that, although their numbers and territories are so overwhelmingly vast in the Demon Realm that they are not often exposed to the human world, there certainly existed 'vampires' in the Demon Realm."
"Is that not past tense?"
"There is no way to know for the present. However, we cannot ignore the possibility that Honorary Marquess Hart is the last remaining member of that bloodline."
"He is certainly suspicious. Like his combat style, which involves excessive bloodshed!"
"And his eyes are red."
"What about that pale skin of his? They say he can't even be exposed to sunlight for long. Isn't that exactly what the vampires in the books are like?"
Shockingly, they were serious.
According to the ancient texts, vampires and the demon race both reside in the same Demon Realm. In that case, was there not a high possibility they would side with the Demon Realm when the human world and the Demon Realm go to war! Just as the various kingdoms within the human world might war with one another yet cease their conflict to stand against the 'Demon Realm'!
"We must confirm this for certain this time."
"Indeed. But with His Majesty shielding him......."
"What about bringing it up to His Excellency the Duke...?"
"I was thrown out before I could even finish speaking."
To the Duke, who knew the truth, it was nothing but the nonsense of fools, so that response was only natural.
"It seems we have no choice but to investigate ourselves after all."
"I have already planted eyes and ears on Honorary Marquess Hart's side."
"I have done so as well, but... perhaps, you haven't lost contact...."
"Now that you mention it......."
"It appears they are dead. He is a hero, after all; his sensory perception must be highly developed."
He was certainly a difficult opponent.
It was a thought that occurred to every noble in this gathering simultaneously.
"......We must select the most cautious individuals and plant them again."
"Then I shall separately plant people to observe from afar, just in case."
"But... if he truly is a vampire... what do you plan to do?"
"......."
"......."
Could they definitively eliminate someone the Emperor was protecting?
Even if they exposed the fact that he was a vampire to the whole world, the only thing that would change was that hostility toward Deon Hart would intensify. The Emperor did not seem like someone who would easily discard a useful sword.
Perhaps he already knew and was protecting him. He certainly did tightly control all information regarding him. The possibility that he might even leverage the fact that a vampire was siding with the Empire to shape favorable public opinion could not be ruled out.
"......We shall think about that when the time comes."
"Yes. After all, we haven't even discerned its truth yet."
The method most humans choose when faced with an unanswerable problem is avoidance.
The nobles evaded the uncomfortable hypothetical that was clearly complicated and headache-inducing.
"Ah, and there's a rumor circulating that the 0th Legion Commander and Deon Hart have similar combat styles... could they possibly be the same person?"
"Hohoho, you jest! How could that be? Neither the Emperor nor the Demon King would stand idly by."
"Haha, true. It's been over two years since the existence of the 0th Legion Commander emerged as an open secret. That means the possibility exists that he was present in the Demon Realm even longer than that. But you all saw it, the day the Demon Realm declared war, didn't you? There's no way the parties who engaged in that kind of verbal dispute wouldn't know for over two long years. That was an amusing joke."
"Ahaha, indeed, right?"
In the midst of this, one noble had proposed a peculiar theory, but it was dismissed as a joke to lighten the mood and subsided with laughter.
It was a wildly implausible theory with no credibility, but precisely because of that, the atmosphere was relieved.
In the now-warm atmosphere, everyone praised that noble's witty joke and focused on the 'Deon Hart Vampire Theory.'