Chapter 138: A Cracked Dam (3)
Chapter 138: A Cracked Dam (3)
"......How much is left?"
"This is the last one to burn."
"Then tell them to enter."
Permission was granted and the entrance opened for them to come in, yet the person in question did not enter.
Had some problem arisen? The Emperor stared at the entrance with a questioning look. His ears, sharpened by the highly tense atmosphere, caught Deon Hart muttering, 'What is that smell....'
After a brief delay, Deon Hart finally stepped inside. The moment he entered, he covered his mouth and nose and started coughing, which was far from reassuring.......
"Cough, cough, glory to the Empire... Hack!"
"......Blood?"
In that moment, everyone except Deon Hart was of one mind.
Nemesius and the Emperor reflexively turned to look at the sorceress. She, grasping the meaning of their gazes, couldn't hide her bewilderment and hastily shook her head.
'It is not.'
'Is it truly not?'
'It is truly not. That person is unmistakably a living being... Urp.'
A talisman to suppress the energy of evil spirits. Deon Hart hesitating before entering and mentioning a 'smell.' And then coughing the moment he stepped inside, followed by a sudden gush of blood. On top of that, the sorceress approached to confirm and retched.
Could there be such a coincidence? Suspicion naturally arose, but the sorceress, covering her mouth, was firmly shaking her head.
'That man has also committed many sins. He is carrying grudges in clusters on his back.'
'Then Deon Hart is....'
'It is certain that my talisman does not affect the living, but that does not mean he is an evil spirit. It is purely a coincidence.'
"......If so, it must be the Demon King's curse. It was said that this cannot be resolved."
The day Deon Hart retrieved the hero's corpse, bearing an unprecedented stigma, they had naturally sought out the sorcerers first to remove it.
The sorcerers who saw his stigma stated that it was a spell deliberately cast by the Demon King, and that no sorcerer could interfere with it.
"......First, I should summon a physician."
Even if there was no cure, they couldn't just neglect him while blood was streaming out like that.
The Emperor snapped his fingers.
* * *
No, seriously, what the hell were they burning in the Emperor's space? The acrid smell was suffocating.
My throat got scratchy and I coughed involuntarily. That put too much strain on my stomach, causing the blood to backflow. And my delicate throat probably got injured too.
In the meantime, General Nemesius was watching me warily with his hand on his sword, and a woman I'd never seen before sidled up to me and retched, but.......
"......If so, it must be the Demon King's curse. It was said that this cannot be resolved."
The Emperor's voice instantly erased the existence of those two.
"......First, I should summon a physician."
You didn't have to.
It was just a perfectly ordinary bout of hemoptysis, no different from usual. You'd think he'd be used to it by now.
Of course, the thought I only muttered internally never reached the Emperor. The strange woman disappeared, and the imperial physician entered... The imperial physician?!
"Your Majesty...?"
"The imperial physician was the only one who could arrive the fastest. He is more competent than the other physicians, so you need not worry."
Well, of course, because he's exclusively for the Emperor!
If summoned, he would naturally come running, thinking something had happened to His Majesty's precious royal body!
This was too much. Did I even dare to be examined by the imperial physician...? I gauged the situation and inched backwards.
"Honorary Marquess Deon Hart. Are you disregarding the Emperor's words right now?"
That single sentence made me stop.
In the end, only after a diagnosis concluded that no particular measures could be taken was I barely able to escape the imperial physician.
Even after enduring the burden and receiving an examination, the atmosphere was far from good.
Because to them, the statement that no measures could be taken must have sounded like the Demon King's curse was the cause.
"......Only Marquess Hart shall remain. Everyone else, withdraw."
The Emperor waved his hand as if tired, pressing the corner of his eye.
Left alone with the Emperor, who seemed clearly displeased! It felt like being left alone in a predator's den. In the stiflingly silent space, I lowered my gaze and fixed it in place, wary of needlessly offending him.
I'd been so out of it that I'd forgotten, but I was here because the Emperor had summoned me. It wouldn't be for anything good, and it was probably about the matter of contacting Ben, a demon.
'That really wasn't intentional though....'
It was unfair.
Ben, that son of a bitch.... I was internally grinding Ben to dust and worrying about how to prove my innocence when the Emperor's voice fell.
"Raise your head."
"......?"
Following his words was a reflexive action.
The moment my head rose, the Emperor met my eyes as if he'd been waiting. His fierce golden eyes seized my gaze.
"......."
"......."
Even though he couldn't possibly be unaware of the demon incident that had become a noisy public sensation, he made no mention of it whatsoever. He simply looked into my eyes, and as if having read something, he loosened the corner of his mouth and changed the subject.
Unlike the softly relaxed smile, the words that followed were rather... sharp.
"You will be deployed to the battlefield soon, so prepare in advance."
It was a relief that there was no persistent interrogation or reprimand, but I couldn't bring myself to be pleased.
* * *
So after being called around for odd jobs for a while, I'm finally standing on the battlefield again.
'I'd be perfectly fine if they just kept giving me miscellaneous monster disposal work.'
I inspected the white uniform that I felt like I hadn't worn in a long time, fiddled with the white mask covering my face and the cloak hood, then raised my head. A clear, high sky, just like that one time before, filled my vision.
I couldn't be sure because of the mask, but the air was probably clear and clean too. Well, it would soon be filled with the stench of blood, so I had no desire to pull down the mask to confirm. Once I sensed that disparity, I felt like my mood would get really weird.
I was blankly staring up at the sky for a long while when I felt someone's presence behind me.
"Junior."
A title both unfamiliar and familiar, and a neat voice.
I reflexively turned my head. A man with an upright and straight posture was smiling elegantly in my direction.
"......Senior Stigma?"
"Yes, it's been a while. I was looking forward to the day we'd meet again, but I didn't expect to run into you in a place like this."
"Yes, yeees......."
"You're drawling, you must be quite flustered. If someone saw this, they'd think I was scary."
Honestly, a little bit scar... No, I mean, no.
"Hmm, seeing two Heroes crammed into one place in a situation where every bit of combat power is crucial...."
This place must be really important. Well, I did hear it was a somewhat dangerous situation.
I stared blankly at him as he muttered that. I'd long since given up on thinking about these kinds of things. Why bother thinking and gaining stress when I just need to move as ordered?
It seemed this thought had shown on my face. Stigma frowned slightly and called my name.
"Junior."
"Yes."
"Don't you also have troops under your command that you must take responsibility for?"
"That's right."
"And that being the case, that means you, junior, are also a commander. You wouldn't be unaware of the danger posed by a commander who doesn't think......."
S...scary!
Was it because this place was a battlefield? Why was he so scary? I was certain he wasn't like this when we first met.......
......Or was he? Was the first meeting this kind of atmosphere too?
I couldn't even answer and was trembling like a leaf when someone who looked like a knight on Stigma's side approached.
"My lord. The nerves between the Lofty Knight Order and the Imperial Household's Nameless Knight Order are overheating and it's affecting our kids too, what should we do?"
"Surely none of the fellows under me would act rashly. If there are any, take responsibility and make sure to discipline them properly."
"Yes, understood...."
"And."
Grab.
Stigma yanked the knight by the collar.
"I'm in the middle of a conversation with my junior. Is cutting in with such a trivial matter acceptable?"
"......My, apologies."
......Alright, now the Stigma from a moment ago wasn't scary anymore. In exchange, the current Stigma became incredibly scary though.
So he had been treating me exceptionally kindly.......
I shrunk down further and trembled, then suddenly raised my head at a thought that flashed through my mind. No, wait a moment. Didn't I hear a very familiar name in that conversation just now? The Lofty Knight Order was....
'That's our guys!'
The formal name of the Murderous Demon Knight Order!
Startled, I looked around to find the kids. Finding the mad dogs wasn't hard.
"You don't even have a Hero's fragment!"
"You're just a Nameless Knight Order!"
"A knight order's name has nothing to do with combat power, you know?!"
"We fight just fine even without a Hero's fragment or anything!"
"......Even though you'd lose in a proper fight!"
"Tha-a-at's becau-au-se we let you wi-i-in~."
"You!"
As expected, wherever those guys were, commotion never ceased. Where the hell had Lady Rien gone?
It looked like a real fight was about to break out, so I frantically looked around, and a voice reached me.
"If you are looking for your knight commander, she stepped away to confer with our side's knight commander."
"Ah."
Right, she'd said she was stepping away briefly to coordinate at the bare minimum.
The only person who could control the mad dogs...! I despaired silently, and Stigma, who had been watching me quietly, suddenly asked.
"Don't you have a vice-commander?"
"Millan... that guy rolling up his sleeves at the very front is the vice-commander. Yes, the one who just drew his sword."
"......Your knight order, junior, seems to be in need of education as a whole."
The tone was exceedingly light and elegant, but for some reason, it was terrifying.
Just how well had Stigma trained his men? The moment that question popped into my head and I turned my head, I saw knights standing at attention in perfect posture, as if it were a completely different world.
Eyes fixed forward, expressions blank.
'Wow... so this is what an elite force looks like.'
"The attitude of one's subordinates can also represent the dignity of their lord. You, junior, should reacquaint yourself with the proper bearing of a noble. Won't a noble receive noble treatment only when they act the part?"
"Uh......."
That... sounded a bit... off.
Given that he didn't look the type, was Stigma also like that? A noble supremacist?
Perhaps my thoughts had shown on my face again, because Stigma added.
"It seems you've misunderstood my meaning. I'm not telling you to act arrogant and insolent. Nor am I telling you to control your subordinates with an iron fist. When people judge others, don't they mainly do so based on the person's expression, posture, tone, and other such attitudes, as well as the way other people treat that person?"
Ah, I understood.
But was my expression this easy to read? It shouldn't be.
If so, the remaining assumptions were either that Stigma was highly perceptive, or that he was focusing on me enough to catch even the slightest changes in expression.
......The latter was terrifying, so let's think of it as the former.
"I'm saying this merely out of a wish that you, junior, won't be disrespected anywhere you go, so I would appreciate it if you took it to heart. Especially if you were disrespected due to the attitude of your subordinates, which isn't even your fault... that would feel, quite, unpleasant."
I could feel bloodlust in those last words.......
I couldn't bring myself to answer and just stared at him blankly. Meeting my gaze, he gently raised the corner of his lips.
"More importantly, at this rate, it looks like someone might actually die. Are you sure it's alright not to stop them?"
Ah, right!
"I'll be back shortly!"
"Do go."
* * *
The 'Hero Candidates' did not acknowledge Deon Hart as a Hero.
How could a human without even a Hero's fragment be a 'Hero'? That position should have been theirs.
No matter how outstanding his achievements or how well he fought, he was ultimately just within the average human range. They were confident they could win in a proper fight, so the eyes looking at Deon Hart naturally held an underlying psychology of looking down on the opponent.
What would the reaction of the Murderous Demon Knight Order, upon seeing this, have been?
'How dare pieces of shit like you look down on our kid... no, captain... no, the Marquess?'