Chapter 166: A Time When Many Are Weary (2)
[They are discarded pieces. Troops I cannot take responsibility for, troops I cannot save. The one who made that decision and gave the order was none other than myself, so all responsibility for what follows is also mine to bear.]
Everything, from the simple deaths of soldiers to the psychological stress their commander would suffer as a result.
[It means this is not a realm where a mere commander ought to interpose themselves.]
One person crumbling under the weight of responsibility was enough.
That a liege lord and their knight should share such a similar flaw. Had I known it would come to this, I should have saved myself the sore jaw and simply summoned them both together to speak.
Lady Rien, who could not possibly know that the Emperor was now thinking of someone no longer present, silently kept her gaze lowered. Unable to dare talk back to the Emperor, the words she couldn't bring herself to utter swirled in her mouth.
'But, Your Majesty.'
Shifting resentment and hatred onto someone else was very far removed from what she considered knighthood.
Evading responsibility was unbecoming of a knight. Could she boldly declare that they deserved to die simply because they were discarded pieces?
The king, his eyes rolling back in fury, would kill the troops who were discarded pieces. Lady Rien Rainer would return alone. The Empire would likely use this as a pretext to offset its sins. Ultimately, the alliance would be maintained through their deaths.
Lady Rien shut her eyes tight.
'If only I had not known.'
The Emperor had said nothing. He had simply told her to go and return.
It was her own brain, educated and exposed to much as a noble, that had grasped the situation.
'Using the excuse that I won't suffer harm, that they are discarded pieces, that the political situation favors their deaths.'
Was turning a blind eye to those clearly marching to their deaths truly an act befitting a knight?
The answer came quickly.
Still in the posture of offering her wrist, Lady Rien spoke.
"If you grant me leave to bear a sword, I will offer my wrist before your eyes this instant."
I will save them. I will save them, take responsibility, and return them to the Empire.
"......Enough. Are you trying to give the Empire a pretext?"
The King of Reweche, who had shown a slightly surprised expression, soon swept a hand down his face.
Thanks to that, his head cooled. No matter how furious he was, and even if the supporting troops hardly qualified as troops, touching those who came under the banner of 'reinforcements' was an act that must never be committed.
With a look of profound exhaustion, he waved his hand dismissively.
"Return and inform them. The alliance is dissolved. If they have any conscience, they will have nothing else to say about this choice."
"......."
"......I will apologize for taking my groundless anger out on you, Lady. In return, I will give you my firm assurance that Reweche will never side with the demon realm, so do try your best. I will be watching."
* * *
The task he thought would take months was resolved far faster than expected.
The difficulty had only ever been in meeting the sorcerers to begin with. Dan utilized his unexpected connections and the trading company's funds without reserve to locate them and smoothly persuaded them with a glib tongue.
Having just met the last sorcerer and concluded a contract for the distribution of talisman paper, Dan tidied up and casually broached the subject.
"By any chance, is there a talisman that suppresses the abilities of the demon race?"
The mission Deon Hart had tossed out in passing after all other discussions were finished. Who would have guessed that one would be the trickiest?
He had posed the same question to every sorcerer he met so far, but they only shook their heads, unable to provide an answer clear enough to be fully satisfying. That was why Dan posed the question this time without much expectation either.
"Abilities... do you mean magic?"
The same question he'd gotten from the previous sorcerers came back.
In response, Dan shrugged his shoulders likewise and gave the answer that had become habit.
"I'm not sure. If it were magic, I feel the client would have clearly said 'magic'."
"Then they likely mean a talisman that places restrictions on all abilities of the demon race, including physical capabilities."
Dan slowly nodded in affirmation.
As had been the case so far, he waited for the expected 'I don't know' to follow, but the old man before him, who had once been an imperial court sorcerer, instead let out an exclamation as if astonished.
"If the talisman I'm thinking of is correct... I do not know who your client is, but I would like to ask how they know of that talisman."
"......Do you know something?"
"There is a talisman given to the Hero who embarks on a long journey to slay the Demon King, and to that Hero's comrades."
"......."
It seemed his career as an imperial court sorcerer hadn't gone anywhere. Dan quietly straightened his posture.
"Among the Hero's comrades, there are often those who are not 'heroes' bearing a fragment, so an alternative for them was necessary."
"......That alternative was a talisman? One that suppresses the abilities of the demon race?"
"That is correct. Actually, it's a type that is practically obsolete in the human world, only used for the Hero and their comrades. I wonder how your client knows of it...."
Well, because Master has the record of having been a comrade of the Hero.
So that was why he was told to obtain a talisman that suppresses 'abilities' rather than 'magic.' Suppressing his admiration internally, Dan opened his mouth.
"Perhaps the Hero or comrade survived and rumors spread little by little."
"That's unlikely... That talisman is given without even the recipients' knowledge. It's hidden within the epaulet on the shoulder."
"......?"
If so, how did Master come to know the true nature of that talisman?
A question surged up, but he was currently face-to-face with someone. Dan skillfully schooled his expression and changed the subject.
"You said it's useless in the human world... May I ask why?"
"Because that talisman imposes 'the restriction given when exiting to the human world through the boundary line' upon demon-race beings within a 3-meter radius. In the human world, that restriction is already applied, so it's rendered useless."
"......Indeed, it would only be useful for the Hero and comrades."
Since no humans other than them would be crazy enough to go all the way to the demon realm to fight demons.
However, the sorcerer slowly shook his head.
"In fact, it is useless for the Hero and the heroes who bear the Hero's fragment. Especially to the Hero, it is nothing more than a scrap of paper."
"......That's different from what you said earlier, why...."
"All restrictions on the demon race are lifted when facing the Hero's power. In other words, it's only useful for comrades who are not 'heroes.' However, since that person might feel a sense of alienation or discrimination, it is hidden in the shoulder epaulet and mounted identically on everyone."
It was quite an interesting story.
Having briefly savored the feeling of a grandchild listening to their grandmother's old tales, Dan soon returned to being the trading company head and subordinate executing his master's task, organizing the information.
'In that case, distributing this talisman would yield no demand. The current war is barely managing to hold back the Demon King's army pushing toward the imperial capital, let alone advancing into the demon realm.'
If the war situation were to flip, it was something that could be reconsidered then. For now, he would just get a bundle of the talismans Master had ordered and leave.
"Could I receive about a bundle of those talismans? I will, of course, compensate you without disappointing."
"......That talisman is so complex to produce that several sorcerers must work together just to barely create a single sheet. A bundle, you say."
"Oh dear."
It was that difficult? A bundle of them... Did Master order this knowing that?
But he couldn't fail the mission for a mere reason like that. Dan slightly lowered the corners of his eyes.
"Isn't there any way it could be done? If you wish, I can connect you with other sorcerers."
"As long as it's not just me alone.... When would you need them by?"
"A week?"
"......."
"......Ten days?"
"......Fortunately, there are some I've made before... I'll try to fill the order within two weeks somehow, so give me at least that much time."
Sleep was out of the question for two weeks, then.
The sorcerer's murmur, tinged with a sense of resignation, pricked at Dan's conscience for no reason, making him clear his throat awkwardly and avert his gaze.
"Then I leave it in your capable hands."
Two weeks—a period too awkward to go back and forth to the demon realm. He'd just stay here and enjoy sightseeing in the human world to his heart's content.
He might frequent the human world for various tasks, but there was no way a person who had lived his whole life in the human world until now would be satisfied with just that.
'And as it happens, there's a village I've been wanting to set on fire.'
Now with an excuse secured, Dan stepped outside and strolled leisurely. Despite the cold weather, the warm sunlight greeted him.
* * *
[Thank you.]
[I did it for payment, so thanks are unnecessary. Still, I hope a request like this never comes again. It's something I couldn't do a second time.]
[Haha.]
[......Saying more would be pointless, I see. Just take this.]
[This is... isn't this candy? Why....]
Having returned to the Demon Castle with a bundle of talismans and some candy tucked into his inner pocket, Dan knocked on the door of Deon's room a few times before tilting his head.
'No answer. Is he sleeping?'
Under Deon's implicit permission, he had often entered without asking, so he opened the door without hesitation. The empty room greeted him.
'......Where did he go?'
The man who'd been practically stuck to this room like a bound spirit.
As Dan looked around the room, mentally listing the places Deon might have gone, his gaze inadvertently fell outside the window and he flinched. A dumbfounded voice escaped him involuntarily.
"......What's that?"
In the public training ground, the Murderer Knight Order stood with an air of obvious panic. The person standing before them was none other than Deon Hart.
Ed, fidgeting anxiously and hovering near him, didn't even enter Dan's sight. Dan leaned his elbows on the windowsill and looked down below in a much more comfortable posture.
"How long has it been since you were accepted here, and you're already causing trouble? If you wanted to die that badly, you should have said so earlier. I would have personally sent you off without pain."
"C-commander, let's try talking first...!"
"This dagger's name is Talk."
"No, first calm down and...."
"This dagger's name is Calm Down."
"Do you have so little faith in us?! Please listen to what we have to say too...."
"Faith? That's this dagger's name. How did you know?"
"How many daggers do you have with names like that! What are the names of the rest, then!"
"That's a secret until you mention them."
"That means you're going to slap a label on them every time we say something!"
"How cheeky."
Seeing that they were here, it seemed the Demon King had accepted them. He'd always drifted around with a gloomy atmosphere, but seeing that vitality could be felt even from this distance, the Demon King's acceptance was understandable. They were probably in the position of emotional support animals, roughly speaking.
But.
"More importantly, Commander! Can you do something about that way of speaking? I really can't get used to it!"
"That's right. It's exactly like Stigma... no, Marquis Primiro! It's terrifying!"
"If you were truly terrified, you wouldn't be flapping your gums so freely in front of me."
"Eeek, see! I told you it's scary!"
What was this unpleasant feeling?
'He never showed that side of himself in front of me.'
Even though I had served, in my own way, as his closest aide in the demon realm.
How long had he been staring, his attention stolen by the liveliness emanating from Deon, when he happened to look up and their eyes met?
And at the same moment, witnessing the vitality drain from Deon's face, Dan suppressed one corner of his mouth that threatened to curl up and lightly bowed his head.
'Our eyes met, so I suppose I should go down and give my mission report.'
He turned around and opened the door.