Chapter 155: The Traitor of Humankind, Deon Hart (3)
There was no reason to refuse. He'd had no intention of refusing from the start anyway.
Empire or not, there were limits to standing alone against the Demon Realm. The King of Sanguk knew that too, which was why he could be so assured.
The Emperor quietly stroked the back of his hand.
He knew the King of Sanguk was running his mouth like this after having prepared in advance, already accounting for the power struggle that would follow the alliance.
'A bit of a shame.'
If Sanguk hadn't held the card of having a vassal state, or if they'd had it but didn't know how to use it and merely played intermediary by talking up the synergistic effects of what Reweche and the Empire possessed, he could have lowered Sanguk's voice in the coming alliance.
Having gauged the other's intellect, the Emperor thought things were going to be quite exhausting ahead and lowered his eyes, only to spot something and pause for a moment. Perhaps that hesitation looked like reluctance, because the King of Sanguk added,
"The priority enemy is the Demon Realm, after all."
"......Right."
It wasn't because of that, though it was indeed the question he had been swallowing because he couldn't ask first.
If the Demon Realm's claim was true, this war was happening because of the Empire. Was that really alright? Even if it wasn't, this was the Empire that had been waging wars of conquest until now—did they truly feel nothing?
It was something he'd been holding back because letting it slip could become a weakness, but apparently the King of Sanguk already knew.
'This much is acceptable.'
It might put him at a slight disadvantage in the coming alliance, but the Empire wasn't so feeble as to be cowed by something so minor.
Besides, that hadn't been why he paused. A silent sneer spread faintly across the Emperor's face.
'He must have had the curse removed through a sorcerer.'
Was it because the war was dragging on? The hallucinations were getting worse.
But not now. Pretending he had seen nothing, he raised his head to face the two kings and nodded slowly.
"I have heard your opinions."
"Then...."
"Is this not a war between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm? I accept gladly."
* * *
When the news that Deon Hart had turned to the Demon Realm's side spread throughout the Human Realm, who suffered the most damage?
Deon Hart?
How could harm be done to a person not in the Human Realm?
The betrayer of humanity and the people's directionless rage. The anger of those, too great to simply swallow down, poured onto the Murderer Knight Order, which had been quietly waiting on standby under the Emperor's orders.
Thwack!
"You fucks, fine! Before we kill demons, we'll start by killing you bastards first!"
"You think we're easy?! Huh?! You think we're easy!"
"Life's only for today anyway, we're taking you down with us!"
"His Majesty... ah, screw it! We'll just say we'll pull the weight of two knight orders!"
"Boys, take your drugs!"
Smack! Crunch!
Calling it 'quietly standing by' was a bit ambiguous, but considering they'd endured that much discrimination and insult without killing anyone yet, it deserved acknowledgment.
Moreover, they had every reason to bristle at those who hurled excessive profanity at Deon Hart and say 'Don't insult our Captain' out loud, but as if proving they hadn't survived the battlefields all those years for nothing, they spewed all sorts of rough words while conspicuously swallowing back those particular words.
That was why the Emperor had also tacitly condoned the Murderer Knight Order's behavior.
"And even that's hit its limit now."
One of the knight order members huddled together in a secluded corner spoke up.
"We did cause a bit of trouble, didn't we?"
"Word is the Emperor's starting to show signs of stationing us at the very front. At this rate, we might end up facing off against the Captain."
"How'd you get that information?"
"The butler told me?"
"The butler, just what...."
The voice of the old butler, who had recently chuckled about how there were insane people charging at the Marquis' residence with torches, flitted through the knight order members' minds.
They hadn't met face to face—they'd spoken via the communicator he had secretly passed them—so they hadn't seen his face, but... they had heard something being dragged, something heavy, right? Like the sound of dragging a human corpse....
"If it's the butler, it makes sense he'd know."
"Yeah, if it's the butler, acknowledged."
"Honestly, nothing the butler does would surprise me."
The fact that he'd readily handed over a precious communicator, they didn't know where or how he'd gotten it, no longer surprised them either.
The Murderer Knight Order members returned to their original topic.
"We know where the Captain is now... let's bolt."
"Where to?"
"Where else."
The Demon Realm.
The member about to say that shut his mouth abruptly at the chill crawling down his spine.
The others, seeming to feel the same thing, hurriedly covered each other's mouths and held their breath. As befitted those closer to beasts of prey, their senses were accurate.
"I'd always wondered where the limit lay, but it seems I'll die of rage before I see it. To talk of running away brazenly in my domain."
Footsteps laden with pressure sounded.
With each stride, his short-cropped green hair swayed. Brown eyes, far from affable, held mockery as they turned toward the Murderer Knight Order.
Stave Primiro, the Empire's second Hero, temporarily tasked with the Murderer Knight Order under the Emperor's orders, murmured in a cold tone.
"If it weren't for my junior's knight order, I'd have killed them hundreds of times by now."
Not dozens—hundreds.
At the blatantly leaking killing intent, the Murderer Knight Order members each went 'Eeek!' and cowered. Among them, Millan, the one with the least fear, barely raised his head and spoke with a hint of playfulness to lighten the mood.
"What brings you here, Marquis Primiro? Are you here to give us more education?"
"Did I not say the other day that I've given up on educating you? You're the first since my childhood to draw out my rage to such an extent. I nearly died of anger that day."
"The ones who nearly died were us. You drew your sword that day...."
Bam!
"Who in the world could ever instill culture in you?"
"......."
"I tried to teach you for my junior's sake, but what can I do when the foundation is rotten? I've decided to simply make peace with it and think of you not as a knight order, but as the pups my junior is raising."
"Did you just call us pups...."
"Did I say such a vulgar thing?"
Patter. Stone dust fell from the wall Stave had struck.
They surreptitiously rolled their eyes to check, and saw the wall was caved in....
"No, sir!"
Even mad dogs had the sense to survive. The knight order members shook their heads like mad.
Ever since the Emperor, worn down by trying to control the daily troublemaking Murderer Knight Order, had shoved them off onto Stave, they had been forcibly acquainted with Stave's fearsomeness.
Even though Deon Hart had been branded the betrayer of humanity, Stave accepted them as before, calling them 'my junior's knight order.' Rather, he had even said it was a good opportunity to teach culture to his junior's mongrel-like knight order and entrusted the education to his own knight commander and vice commander. The atmosphere had been fine up to that point.
Until both declared surrender on the first day, and Stave, feeling puzzled, stepped up saying he would educate them himself.
He readily stood before the Murderer Knight Order for education, and not long after.......
[Which ear is it that refuses to listen to people?]
He drew his sword.
[They seem to do nothing but get in the way, utterly useless. May I cut them off for you?]
[Eeek!]
[Stay still, or you might lose your neck instead of your ear.]
That was definitely sincere. The look in his eyes was unhinged.
Anyway, after the commotion that day, Stave also declared surrender. The fuss was so huge it was astonishing there were no casualties, and even those brazen Murderer Knight Order members flinched for a while at the mere shadow of Stave.
"......."
Stared at the trembling knight order members for a moment, Stave let out a sigh.
"Running away while under me won't do. They say you're a knight order even His Majesty struggles to control, but regardless, I've been ordered to take charge of you. If you run away, what becomes of my honor for letting you slip?"
Knight order member Kletter snapped his head up.
It wasn't that they couldn't be let go because of 'the Emperor's orders,' but because of 'honor'?
Which meant.......
"I'll speak to His Majesty and have your affiliation transferred. I can't say for certain where you'll go, but transferring your affiliation will be possible. If I cite that I'm likely to die of rage, he'll understand."
He says that right in front of us. Too harsh.
"The officially recognized criminal is my junior, not you. You aren't criminals yet, so if your affiliation is transferred and you're moved, the surveillance won't be as strict as when escorting a convict. The accompanying troops will also be relatively few."
Relatively, compared to convicts, that is.
Just because they weren't official criminals didn't mean there would be no surveillance, as they were being treated as provisional criminals. But that much, they should be able to shake off and flee with their skills.
"Then......."
"If you desert then, it won't leave a major scar on my honor. You'll already be out of my hands by then. Anyone else in my position would have faced the same situation."
Of course, if it were the nobles who had been waiting for him to show an opening, they would cry 'Aha!' and try to tear him apart.
But this much was perfectly defensible. If his honor could be chipped away by something so minor, it might as well have been nonexistent from the start.
Stave lightly lifted the corner of his mouth.
"So wait just a little. No need to worry that I'll hold you back. I, too, am of a mind to get you out of my sight as soon as possible."
"Your words are a bit... too harsh...."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, sir!"
* * *
Click-clack-
The cube turned roughly. Deon Hart sat right below the Demon King, spinning the cube with a lukewarm expression.
Contrary to his indifferent face, his insides were quite twisted.
'The results are less than expected.'
According to plan, they should have brought down one of the Empire's fortresses faster than this.
He'd thought they could break through smoothly with the demons' innate physical abilities, even if the Demon King had issued a magic prohibition decree.
'Goddammit.'
He'd lacked information on the demon race. Just because he'd spent some time in the Demon Realm didn't mean he knew the demon race inside and out—he'd been arrogant. He should have confirmed information about his own allies before making a plan.
Was it irritation at his own incompetence, or irritation born of impatience? His nerves sharpened to a keen edge of their own accord.
Afraid he'd end up venting unjustified irritation at the meeting about to begin, Deon fiddled with the corner of his mouth in dissatisfaction, then closed his eyes.
The Demon King, who had glimpsed him, pretended not to have seen anything and naturally turned his gaze to sweep over the meeting room.
"All the demons who were coming seem to be here... then let's begin. Idelia, you said there's new information about the Human Realm?"
The 4th Legion Commander Idelia nodded.
"Yes. The key Human Realm kingdoms to watch have formed an alliance. The Empire, Reweche, Sanguk. Esperanes is the only one left out of the alliance, but it's a very small and closed-off kingdom, so if we count it as nothing, it's safe to say nearly all humans have united."
"......In the end."
Someone murmured lowly.
A calm voice devoid of surprise or shock revealed resignation, as if it had been expected.
"Considering the things the current Empire has done, it's a little surprising, but......."
It wasn't completely unexpected news.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say it came later than expected.
With expressions that said it had come at last, the demons each relaxed their tense bodies—folding their arms, leaning back into their chairs.
"Then now, measures to...."
"......Measures?"
Click, the hand spinning the cube stopped.
Slam!
The completed cube was slammed down roughly onto the desk. The tension that had loosened tightened again, and the attention of all the demons focused on one place.
"Is there anything worthy of being called measures?"
The white-haired man's red eyes were flashing.
"When we're going to sweep them all away anyway."
"......Hah!"
Meeting the red eyes staring straight at him, the Demon King burst into delighted laughter.
Ever since asking for the Empire to be thoroughly destroyed, Deon Hart had occasionally expressed his dissatisfaction to him in this way.
Unlike his previous method of lamenting his circumstances while requesting to resign, now he would subtly sneer and express discontent over the occupation of the Human Realm.
'He has every right to.'