Chapter 92: A Vacation That's No Vacation (8)
Chapter 92: A Vacation That's No Vacation (8)
Why?
I stared openly at their faces. Slightly darker skin than typical imperial citizens. And armor of an unfamiliar design.
When had it been—right, I'd seen them once during the Eight-Year War, when a conflict broke out with a kingdom in the south.
'It really was the south, then.'
I still couldn't be certain, but.
As the scale tipped further toward this being the south, the rest naturally surfaced.
Of course, before I placed any confidence in the emerging hypothesis, there was something to confirm.
In any case, these people before me wouldn't be able to react to anything they heard right now, so without hesitation I called for Dvellania.
"Dvellania."
"Yes~."
"Was this boundary line discovered before the change of the quarter, or after?"
I knew the demons referred to the timing of my comings and goings as the 'quarter.'
Had the boundary line been discovered before I came to the Demon Realm, or after I arrived?
She hesitated only a moment before an inscrutable smile returned to her face, as if she had never paused at all, and the answer came.
"It was before the quarter changed."
They had hidden it for quite a long time. When exactly had they been planning to report it?
Anyway, thanks to that, I had my answer.
The Empire, unaware that a boundary line to the Demon Realm had formed in the south. Conversely, a kingdom that clearly knew of the boundary line's existence, given the knights were here.
In other words, this kingdom had deliberately concealed the existence of the boundary line.
The reason for that...
'Things in the Empire have been anything but quiet lately, haven't they?'
Waging wars day in and day out.
Given the circumstances, they would have been too afraid to report it.
So now they were hoping we wouldn't cause trouble, even going so far as to give us money for robes, all to hide our presence.
They didn't have the guts to cause trouble anyway, and I planned to do nothing but quietly sightsee and then leave, so there was no real issue.
I watched Dvellania and Ben pull the robes over themselves one piece at a time, then glanced down at the coin purse that had landed in my hand.
'Came out ahead on this one.'
"Ah, and, ju-just in case you didn't know, I should mention."
"......?"
"Goods are... not stolen, but bought... with money...."
"......."
"......In case mercenaries might not know... being the sort who wander the continent extensively and all... just, truly just in case...."
The voice reciting these elaborate justifications grew quieter and quieter, as if the speaker herself realized it wasn't coming out right even as she spoke.
I, who had been silently listening to this somehow desperate speech, quietly turned my head and looked at Dvellania.
You sons of bitches....
Just what and how much had they stolen?
......Let's go back.
This was the conclusion I reached not long after arriving at the market.
Where should I even begin explaining. Right, up until the moment we first arrived at the market, I had been lost in thought over how to handle this newly acquired information.
Critical information the Empire still didn't know. Should I contact the Empire immediately to inform them, or should I pretend not to know and leave it be?
Regardless of my deepening deliberation, the conclusion had already been set.
'......Right now, I belong to the Demon Realm.'
There was no need to spare a thought for the Empire at this moment.
In the Demon Realm, think only of the Demon Realm. In the Empire, think only of the Empire.
The moment I tied that already-decided conclusion into a final knot and raised my head, things blew up.
What kind of place was a market? A place crowded with people. A place where people bump into each other as they walk.
Only, what I hadn't anticipated was that this body was infuriatingly weak, and that ticking time bombs existed all around me.
[Thud!]
"Urk—"
My body lurched violently.
Unlike a mere brush of contact, it was a full-on collision. My body, which had been tipping backward, was spared an utterly disgraceful display thanks to Ben catching me, but the impact that had already struck couldn't be stopped and spilled right out of my mouth.
Blood poured onto the market floor.
"Bleurgh, cough cough—."
"Dae—good heavens! Are you all right?"
"You bastard!!"
Wait, their roles had swapped. Why was Dvellania checking on me and Ben grabbing the guy by the collar?
The two seemed to belatedly realize this as well and swapped places in a flurry.
Ben hurriedly adjusted my posture so the blood wouldn't go down the wrong way, and Dvellania, who had seized the guy's collar as if nothing had happened, wore an expression of deep contemplation over how to deal with him.
Just when I was starting to wonder if we'd really end up in a fugitive chase for murder, the knights appeared.
"Daring to pick a fight in the middle of the marketplace."
They moved without hesitation, as if they'd come knowing everything already, even though no one had stepped forward to explain.
Two knights seized the man's arms.
"W-wait... what is the meaning of...."
"Drag him away."
"No, why is the Roy— keuhk!"
"You talk too much."
"No, why are Royal Knights here—eeeeee!!"
The guards! Call the guaaaaards...
I stared at them vanishing from sight in an instant with a hollow gaze before forcing my head to turn away.
It was an ominous start, but it was probably just my imagination. It was just a coincidence.
......Or so I thought. That was just the beginning.
"Th-the guards are one thing, but where did these—!"
"Let's go."
"Spare me! I won't do it agaaaain...."
Even when I was nearly pickpocketed.
"Oh dear, sir! I did it to make a living!"
"Let's go."
"Sir! Siiir!!"
Even when someone almost swapped the fruit I'd personally picked at the market with inferior goods.
"Cough, cough—!"
"What is this! Poison?!"
"Poison, you say. Drag him...."
"It's not!"
I was just choking, you crazy bastards!
Given the situation, what choice did I have? We had to go back before more trouble broke out.
From the looks of it, the knights would keep tailing us until we left. From their standpoint, they were probably trying to wrap things up on their end before the demons could cause trouble, but from my perspective, it only felt like they were escalating things.
In the midst of all this, I clutched the tea leaves I'd managed to salvage tightly to my chest and quietly called the two over.
"Let's head back now."
"Ah, already?"
"Yes, I've obtained all the information I need."
The tea leaves I now held were Deusa tea leaves, a tea that was hard to come by even in the Empire, let alone in other kingdoms, and traded among nobles at exorbitant prices.
This had been available in the market at a relatively low price. What did that imply?
'Among the southern kingdoms, one that can afford to loose such precious tea leaves onto the market.'
To my knowledge, there was only one such kingdom.
Small, but a kingdom of tea that made its living exporting tea leaves.
The Taehon Kingdom.
"Um... the Den Trading Company has contacted us again regarding the distribution of Deusa tea leaves...."
"Agh! I said I'm not doing it! Why are those bastards so persistent?!"
"It seems they're overflowing with passion, being a newly established trading company. They say they absolutely want to open a distribution route."
"Ha, fine, let's at least see the faces of these bastards and what they're about. Tell them to come."
It was certain. The Taehon Kingdom was the only one that could brew up this kind of situation with Deusa tea leaves.
I took one more look around the bustling space and then glanced at Dvellania. As if she had keenly read my desire to go back, she gave a light nod.
"If you're satisfied... then I shall guide us back."
"Yes."
Let's go back, quickly.
I pulled my hood down further and hastened my steps.
***
"......And so, as a result of our observations, it has been determined that the demon in the black robe is not the 0th Legion Commander."
"Haaah...."
The king quietly pressed his fingers to both temples.
The news that the black-robed demon was not the danger second only to the Demon King—the 0th Legion Commander—was welcome, yet he could not bring himself to smile.
He had coughed up blood from something so trivial. Well, yes, he certainly wasn't the 0th Legion Commander.
"Then who in the world is he?"
"That is... unclear."
A physically frail demon escorted by the 2nd Legion Commander.
What kind of demon could possibly fit that description? In the first place, the Demon Realm operated on the logic of power, so the very premise made no sense.
If he was physically weak, there was no way the 2nd Legion Commander would be 'escorting' him. Yet the informant had clearly stated that the 2nd Legion Commander was indeed 'escorting' him.
No matter how much he agonized over it, there would be no answer. In the end, the king, nerves shot and eyes bloodshot, pressed around his eyes firmly and murmured in a voice of resignation.
"......Should I just be satisfied that they left without causing trouble?"
He hoped they would never cross over again.
Acutely aware that his hair loss had been accelerating lately, he could do nothing but sigh heavily.
"I ought to hold an exorcism or something, good grief...."
***
Once we returned to the city, I gave in to Ben's cautious urging and contacted the Demon King immediately.
Contrary to my worries, the Demon King levied no punishment whatsoever on Dvellania and Gaisitel for concealing the boundary line's existence. He simply brushed it off with a casual 'Oh, did they?' as if it were nothing.
His response was so utterly unconcerned that even I was momentarily dumbfounded, but I soon understood.
The Demon King was a thoroughgoing 'results-ist.'
Whatever you did, only the results mattered.
They had hidden the boundary line's existence, but since no problems had actually arisen as a result, there was no reason to punish them.
That was probably why he had no comment even though the 9th Legion Commander, who was supposed to be guarding the boundary line, had returned to the Demon Castle and made himself at home simply because he was bored.
'Though the moment a problem does erupt, the 9th Legion Commander's head will fly first.'
-Ah, and Demon. When you return, I'd like you to take the outskirts again....
"......Yes... yes?"
-Don't worry. I'm not telling you to push yourself to return. I still remember that scene from last time, too. The numbers were greater than expected. I'll send the 5th Legion to meet you, so rendezvous with them en route and return together.
Just as I was about to reply that I understood, I suddenly felt a sense of incongruity and shut my mouth with a pause.
'The 5th Legion...?'
The 5th Legion... well... no way, that....
......I had a pretty good idea why, of all the many legions stationed at the Demon Castle, he was sending the 5th Legion.
I hurriedly opened my mouth again.
I meant to ask if he couldn't send a different Legion Commander, but unfortunately, the Demon King was a step faster.
-That's all, then.
"......."
-Now I'll be able to live a bit more quietly.
Click. The communication cut off.
I, who had been standing there blankly, unable to accept the situation, quietly clamped a hand over my mouth.
A gush of blood poured out.
"D-Demon-nim!!"
***
The Empire, in the midst of full-scale war, was flooded with new reports every single day.
For example, that several kingdoms had formed an alliance to oppose the Empire.
That during the southern advance from the Empire's east, an infectious disease had spread, and in that environment, the imperial army's advance had been stalled by a kingdom's army waging guerrilla warfare—only for the second Hero, Stigma Primiro, and his unit to thoroughly crush them.
Or that in the Empire's west, the fourth Hero, Cruel Hart, had declared checkmate on the enemy.
News of the first Hero Nemeseus, who was overseeing and driving the southern advance from the Empire's center, and so on....
Yes, as you may have gathered by now, the Empire was currently at war with multiple kingdoms simultaneously.
Each Hero took charge of a region and played land-grab with each kingdom. It was nothing short of madness, but unfortunately, this was reality.
The Emperor had long since completed nearly all handover procedures with the Crown Prince and taken up his sword to come out to the battlefield, unleashing those who possessed Hero's Fragments he had gathered—the Hero Candidates.
Perhaps his fervent talent-scouting had not been in vain. Astonishingly, the Empire was smoothly expanding its territory even in this absurd situation of waging war against multiple kingdoms at once.
'At this rate, in two months—no, even one month—they'll have swallowed half the continent.'
The Duke, who had been silently reading the report, pushed it aside, quietly laced his fingers together and rested them on the desk, sinking into thought.
......In any case, by then, the board itself would be overturned. This game, too, would change from land-grabbing to a different sport.
What must I do then?
'The cards I currently hold are.'
The Salvation Church, inflamed public opinion against the Emperor, and the Revolutionary Army.
His violet eyes drifted toward the paper on the desk—the document detailing information on the Revolutionary Army. The Duke reached out and picked it up.
His indifferent gaze seemed to skim over the words before it twisted with irritation.
Daniel, leader of the Revolutionary Army, had returned from Ireon. And he'd brought new forces with him, just as he'd insisted he would.
'If only they would just obediently move as I wish.'
The Revolutionary Army had no need to gain more power. They must not.
Their objective was to kill the Emperor, but all the Duke wanted from them was to lower the level of support for the Emperor. Nothing more.
He was rather in the position of wanting to prevent anything beyond that.
'Now that they've gained strength, the Revolutionary Army will move. If their entire force resolves to act under Daniel's command, they might really kill the Emperor.'
The Duke's expression hardened as he recalled their extraordinary leader.
The Emperor must not die by the Revolutionary Army's hands.
The Revolutionary Army's forces had to be reduced.
To do that....
The endless chain of thought halted.
Lowering his eyes and reviewing the possibilities, he unlaced his fingers and called out to the woman who had been standing by at the side the entire time.
"Saelin."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Reduce the Revolutionary Army's numbers. Sowing discord would be a good method. You may also make use of the Emperor."