Chapter 41: Honorary Count Deon Hart (6)
Chapter 41: Honorary Count Deon Hart (6)
Wow. Waaah... As expected of the Crown Prince. So much for honesty.
Now that I looked, he had a sly old fox in his belly. I resolved never to go near the Imperial Palace again.
Feeling like a hooked fish, I sat there blankly until I felt General Nemeseus's sharp gaze and hurriedly nodded.
'Whoa, how scary. That loyalty.'
No wonder he was the Empire's first hero.
His loyalty to the Emperor and the imperial family recognized by the Emperor was well-known even within the Empire.
"Then I'll be off. Truth is, I came out on impulse, so I'd be in trouble if I stay away longer. No need to see me out."
"Ah, yes. Goodbye..."
Wait, if the Crown Prince left now, wouldn't I be left alone with that terrifying general?
I glanced at the man who had been standing like a folding screen while I talked with the Crown Prince.
As expected, a scary expression.
Imagining what the atmosphere would be like after the Crown Prince left, I swallowed dryly for a moment.
Perhaps it would be better if the Crown Prince stayed...
"...Please go..."
But how could I dare detain the Crown Prince of the Empire? In the end, I saw him off with tears in my eyes.
The Crown Prince left, and only then did the sturdy man who had been standing motionless sit in the prepared seat.
The anticipated silence arrived.
"..."
"..."
It was suffocating.
Unable to do this or that, I only sweated coldly and subtly avoided his eyes staring straight at me. I felt his unpleasant emotions clearly through his gaze, so I had no choice but to do so.
I didn't know why he disliked me so much.
No, rather than dislike... should I say loathe? Anyway, it was clear that this person held negative feelings toward me.
This uncomfortable silence, which seemed to have lengthened because I couldn't bring myself to speak first, was finally broken after several minutes.
"It's been a while since we've exchanged greetings like this."
"Yes... That's right, General."
"Are you well?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Then."
The air changed. As if the trivial conversation ended here, the general's gaze also changed.
He straightened his back. Even while seated, his height difference was obvious, so the level of our gaze naturally shifted. A low voice spoke.
"Before I talk about the purpose of my visit, let me ask a few questions. I heard there was one captured revolutionary."
"That's correct."
"There were three attackers."
"That is also correct."
"Among them, two died."
Something felt a bit unsettling...
I felt like I was being interrogated, but it was true. I tried to ignore the faint warning from my intuition and nodded.
At that moment, the general's eyes sharply gleamed.
"One was reported to have died in the explosion, but the death of the other was ambiguous."
"...Uh..."
"So I'll ask. How did that one die?"
* * *
Nemeseus stared at Deon Hart with sharp eyes, as if he wouldn't miss a single thing.
His gaze was closer to testing how the other would answer rather than pure curiosity.
In fact, he had some idea of the cause. He was just curious about his answer.
Deon Hart hesitated, looking bewildered. Even that disgusted him, so he slightly frowned.
Nemeseus was not a narrow-minded person who disliked people without reason. There was a valid reason he disliked Deon Hart.
During the Eight-Year War, who had watched Deon Hart's transformation in real time?
Nemeseus had observed him since before Deon Hart was the vanguard commander.
As such, he was one of the few who knew the truth about Deon Hart's extreme personality change,
Therefore.
'It can't be described as simply "disliking."'
His feelings were as heavy as the weight of the truth.
However, he couldn't dislike someone who had become a hero forever.
Though two years had passed since the war ended, thinking he might have gotten a little better, he came in person.
"...Coincidentally, I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know the details. But I was told that the wild dogs tore him apart."
──Nothing had changed.
"...Is that so."
He stood up without hesitation.
Deon Hart's time was still stuck in the war era, and Nemeseus was not one to give second chances.
He hardened his softened heart—which had hoped 'maybe'—and put a period on the judgment he had suspended.
Deon Hart was a dangerous element.
'Someone like this must not be kept by His Majesty's side.'
How could there be wild dogs in the front yard of the Hart count's residence? He should make some sense.
Presumably, the one who killed him was definitely Deon Hart himself.
He must have used his 'personality'. It was a personality that was disgustingly convenient whenever he saw it.
"Understood. Then let's get to the main purpose."
He knew he wasn't evil. He knew that weakness wasn't a sin.
But had His Majesty not said as well?
'Even the same sin, its weight changes depending on the position, and things that are not sins ordinarily can become sins depending on the position.'
The weakness of one in a high office becomes a calamity to those below.
The one who taught this was none other than His Majesty, yet how could he keep someone like him by his side?
Because what a knight serving the Emperor as his lord could do was extremely limited, Nemeseus simply resolved to try persuading him once more and glared at Deon Hart.
His gaze, matter-of-factly stating the reason he came here, was coldly shining.
* * *
Honestly, I was a bit bewildered.
To ask about the cause of death of a revolutionary. From the Empire's perspective, weren't revolutionaries existence that didn't matter even if they died?
Moreover, I didn't know why that guy died. When I later went to the prison and there was only one, I asked in surprise, and the only answer I got was 'the wild dogs tore him apart'.
The look in Rememver's eyes when he said that was peculiar, but I didn't particularly care.
The death of a revolutionary—if just one person to interrogate remained, nobody would care.
So Rememver probably didn't elaborate either.
As I dawdled in bewilderment, the general's brow slightly furrowed.
At the clearly annoyed expression, I finally forced open my reluctant lips and spoke.
"Coincidentally, I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know the details. But I was told that the wild dogs tore him apart."
"...Is that so."
After a short silence, the reply was a simple one.
I tilted my head at the feeling that all sorts of complicated emotions were tightly compressed in it, and for a moment, the general stood up. As I stood up too, my eyes inadvertently went to him, and I could see it.
His coldly sunken gaze.
...No, why on earth?!
"Understood. Then let's get to the main purpose."
His inexplicable attitude was bewildering, but because the topic changed, I couldn't ask.
Once I shut my mouth, an extremely businesslike voice continued.
"His Majesty wishes to take over the revolutionary you captured. The objective is to identify the revolutionaries' base and completely wipe them out."
"I see..."
"Of course."
He cut me off!
"Since you captured him, His Majesty said you need not hand him over if you do not wish to. That must be why he sent a person rather than a royal decree."
"...Is that so. I am honored."
But that statement was not so significant that he needed to cut me off to say it.
Since he mentioned that the Emperor wanted to take him over, I had no particular objection and intended to hand him over.
Why would I oppose taking away a burden that wouldn't be of much use even if kept imprisoned? It would also earn the Emperor's favor, so giving him away was far more beneficial.
Furthermore, whether revenge or complete eradication, the Emperor's side had a higher chance of success than I did.
Rather than talking myself hoarse, I pulled the cord in the reception room.
"Bring the revolutionary."
"No. Take him to the mansion entrance, not here."
"Huh? Yes, understood. Take him to the mansion entrance, not here."
The general walked to the door without lingering.
Seeing that he clearly intended to leave, I gauged his mood and cautiously spoke up.
"Are you leaving?"
"There's no reason to stay here any longer."
"I will see you to the main gate."
"I know well enough that you're busy."
A clear refusal. I inwardly shrugged and stepped back.
Well, even if I followed, there would be no conversation at all, only a chilly atmosphere. Besides, considering the backlog of documents I had to process, seeing him off was clearly inefficient.
It was better to spend that time processing one more document with Rememver.
Ah, documents... Just thinking about it made me feel stressed again. I was going crazy, really.
"Goodbye, then."
"Alright."
With that dry farewell, the general left the room.
Only after the door closed did I bury myself in the plush sofa and slump down as if I had been waiting.
"It's over...!"
I thought I was going to suffocate to death.
If days like this repeated every day, I might get a nervous breakdown. No, I definitely would. It would be strange not to.
To recover my depleted mental strength, I blanked out for a moment and then sluggishly got up.
'Documents... I have to go finish processing them...'
It was horrible, but if I avoided it, I would only face even more piled-up documents, so there was no way out.
Ah, I really didn't want to do it. Should I just run away to the Demon Realm?
With a deep sigh, I forced my reluctant feet to move.
* * *
Except for the visit of the Crown Prince and General Nemeseus, a day not much different from before was passing again.
...Let me be clear. It 'had been' passing.
If not for the damn knocking sound that came again while I was processing those infernal documents, I could have finished today somehow.
[Crash! Clatter!]
Knock knock.
"Is the Count in...?"
"Uwaaah, no!!"
"Can't you let go of my hand?! You guys started it first!"
"You're making a fuss over that? You're a knight and yet so petty! What kind of relationship do we have!"
"We don't have any relationship!"
What the hell was this now?
I looked at Rememver's placid smile and then buried my face in my hands.
It seemed that peaceful days would never come in my life.
Judging by the voices, one must be one of the Mad Dogs, and the other seemed to be a knight of our count's residence...
It was obvious which side was the problem without even looking.
'If I go to the Imperial Palace, I have to talk about returning those bastards first. I really will.'
Those Murderer Knight Order bastards.
If it weren't for them, the count's residence's knight, who was usually so quiet as if he didn't exist, would never come to my office.
"Come in."
"Nooooo!"
"Excuse me."
[Bam!]
The door opened,
[Bang!]
and closed.
Commotion arose again outside the door.
"What are you doing?!"
"You're really going to tell?"
"Would I lie about it?!"
"Ah, jeez, fine, we were wrong, so just let it slide this once."
"Your attitude stinks."
[Bam!]
Eventually the door opened and a knight entered. And the one being dragged along, clinging to his leg... was indeed a member of the Murderer Knight Order.
Ah, yes. It was a fully expected situation.
'But I hadn't calculated this part.'
As I watched the documents near the door being haphazardly scattered by the Mad Dog's struggling, my hand holding the pen trembled and I spoke to Rememver.
"...Summon Lady Rien."
"Understood."
Amidst that, he must have heard the name Lady Rien.
The guy who had been hanging onto the knight's leg sprang up and straightened his white uniform.
But it was already too late. I coldly turned my head and called the knight who was watching him with a dumbfounded expression.
"So, what brings you here...?"
"Ah, on behalf of all the knights of the count's residence, I humbly request: we cannot stay together with those scoundrels."
"!?"
Isn't that too direct?
Before that, it seemed like his words were filled with tremendous emotion. Did he hate those guys that much?
Well, I understood.
"I, too, representing the Murderer unit—no, the Knight Order—would like to say: we can't stay together with those goody-two-shoes!"
"Then get out."
"How can you say that!"
These bastards, you just can't love them even if you try.
Wasn't Lady Rien here yet? I wished she'd hurry up and drag this guy out.
Ah, before that, I was a bit curious about what on earth they did that made the knights say they couldn't stay together. I looked at the knight again.
His name was probably Kain. ...Right?
"Sir Kain."
"Yes, my Count."
Thankfully, I got it right.
"What did those guys do?"
His face, which had shown emotion at having his name remembered, instantly contorted.
I flinched at his demon-like expression, and he apologized, fixing his expression before speaking in an angry voice.
"Those guys ate all the food meant for the count's residence knights."
"...Huh?"