The Record of a Great Victory
The draft of the proclamation was more disgusting than I had anticipated. To be precise, it was disgusting because it was written too well. The scribe held out the first page with trembling hands. I took it and read.
[Through His Majesty’s great military strategy, we have broken the blade of Noxvine, collapsed the perimeter of the rebel forces, and...]
I stopped at the first line. "Remove 'great'."
The scribe’s hand stiffened. "Pardon?"
"I said remove 'great'."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The pen moved. I looked at the next line. "Remove 'military strategy' too."
This time, Hermun looked at me. I tapped the paper with my finger. "Belion is still alive."
The room fell silent. "If we write 'great victory' in such large letters, don't we have to achieve another one next time?"
Damn it. Even as I said it, it felt too realistic. The Demon King’s realm was, in the end, just a hell of KPIs.
"This isn't a congratulatory note," I said. "It needs to be a disposal notice."
The scribe swallowed hard. I looked at the name embedded in the middle of the proclamation. Kardia Noxbell.
[The Blade of Noxvine, Kardia Noxbell, captured alive.]
"Remove 'The Blade of Noxvine' as well."
Hermun spoke in a low voice. "That epithet is widely used in the Eastern military camps."
"That is exactly why we are removing it," I replied. "There is no reason for us to officially endorse their nicknames."
The scribe’s pen stopped. I dictated the lines myself. "Kardia Noxbell. Captured in the Noxvine perimeter battle. Registered in the Black King Castle prisoner roster."
Short and dry. And therefore, all the more cruel. Not a blade, but a prisoner. Not a battlefield nickname, but a name on a ledger. That was what a record was.
It was right then. Urgent footsteps echoed from outside the door. A guard entered and knelt. "Your Majesty. Letters of explanation have arrived from three Blood Families in the East."
I stopped my hand, which had been holding the pen. "What?"
"They arrived via different messengers. All of them claim they have never submitted to the military orders of Belion Vergrad."
The air in the room shifted. The scribe’s eyes widened, and Hermun closed his mouth very slowly. I took the three letters of explanation. The content was beautiful. *We did not know. We were merely following orders. We pledge our loyalty to the Demon King.* Truly, the nobility used the most refined ink in the world to write their swiftest betrayals.
"The proclamation hasn't even gone out yet, has it?" I asked.
Hermun replied, "It seems the news of the prisoners and the loss of the perimeter has spread first."
"Because of Kardia?"
"Her name is not light in the East."
I looked down at the letters of explanation. Ah. Now I saw it. Kardia wasn't just a prisoner. To them, she was proof of their liability. Who sent her? Who approved the sortie? Who followed Belion’s military orders? The single name of Kardia Noxbell was tightening the noose around the necks of the Eastern Blood Families.
I laughed slowly. Not because I was happy, but because this board was so filthy. "Fix the proclamation."
The scribe picked up his pen again. "Any Blood Family that dispatched troops or approved the sortie and military orders must submit an official letter of explanation."
Hermun’s eyes narrowed. "Your Majesty. Then the Eastern Blood Families will begin to push the responsibility onto one another."
"Yes," I said. "That is exactly what I am telling them to write."
I didn't need to find out who was on Belion’s side one by one. I just needed to make them point fingers at each other. Families live a long time. And because of that, families are always the first to abandon someone.
I added one more sentence to the end of the proclamation. "Those who do not provide an explanation will be considered to have submitted to Belion’s military orders."
The scribe’s pen scratched against the paper. *Scratch. Scratch.* The sound felt cold. A sound that would last longer than a sword.
"What about the soldiers who laid down their weapons?"
"Register them on the protection list as per the draft."
"Write down that they will be provided with meals and temporary lodging as well."
The scribe hesitated. "Are you going to announce even that?"
"Yes," I said. "Because the soldiers need to read it."
Kardia’s name shakes the Blood Families. Meals and lodging shake the soldiers. Belion bound his army with swords. So, I had to give food to those who put their swords down. The first principle of governance I learned after becoming the Demon King: People succumb to food more often than they do to ideology. I suppose demons are much the same.
"And for the Eastern military camp?" Hermun asked.
"Send it there first."
"They will tear it up."
"They will tear it up after reading it." I folded the proclamation. "Reading it once is enough."
The officer who received the proclamation at the Eastern military camp tried to tear it up immediately. The moment his hand gripped the edge of the paper, Belion Vergrad spoke.
"Do not tear it."
The officer froze. "Your Highness."
Belion’s eyes met his. The officer immediately shut his mouth. That title was still alive here. But it wasn't as solid as it used to be.
Belion read the proclamation slowly. *Kardia Noxbell captured. Registered in the Black King Castle prisoner roster. Perimeter supply depot recovered. Soldiers who dropped weapons registered on the protection list. Meals and temporary lodging provided.* And finally, *Any Blood Family that dispatched troops or approved the sortie and military orders must submit a letter of explanation.*
Belion stared at that sentence for a long time. The officers in the tent held their breath.
"Cunning," one officer gritted his teeth. "He is trying to drive a wedge between the Blood Families."
"They are already divided," Belion said.
The officer stiffened. "There must be those who sent letters of explanation before the proclamation even arrived."
"Surely—"
"There are," Belion said with certainty. He knew the Eastern Blood Families. They boasted of their blood, but they hated the thought of their own blood being spilled. The moment Kardia was captured, someone must have already started erasing their own name.
Belion did not tear up the proclamation. He pressed it down right next to the map. "From now on, we must cut off the path that paper takes before we worry about the supply depots."
The officers raised their heads. Belion pointed his fingertip at the roads on the map. "Lucion sends his path before his sword." His voice was low. "So, we must block the path."
Only then did the officers realize. Belion had retreated, but he had not yet broken. He did not hide his defeat. Instead, he was choosing the next battlefield.
The dawn prayers still lingered in the small chapel of the Seraphion Order. Ariane Seraphel stood with her white hands clasped. The candlelight did not flicker. The prayer hung upon her lips. Then, a priest brought a copy of the proclamation.
"Saintess."
Ariane opened her eyes. "It is the new proclamation from Black King Castle."
She took the parchment. At first, she saw the name Kardia Noxbell. *Captured. Prisoner roster.* But Ariane’s gaze soon stopped at a different line.
[Soldiers who have laid down their weapons will be registered on the Black King Castle protection list.]
Her lips closed very slowly. "He didn't kill them."
"Pardon?"
"Them."
The priest bowed his head. "According to the reports, that is correct. It is said that those who laid down their weapons were even provided with meals and temporary lodging."
Meals. Lodging. Protection list. Ariane looked down at the prayer book in her hands. In the past, she had told Lucion she would pray for him. She had told him to do nothing. To be precise, she had hoped he would not interfere with the world. But now, instead of killing people, Lucion was keeping them alive under his own name.
A line of prayer caught in her throat. Ariane looked at the old record box placed before the candlelight. *Noxvine Defense Battle. Seraphion Order Blessing Records.* She reached out and untied the string of the record box. The prayer was not yet over. However, she could no longer pray with her eyes closed.
The copy that arrived at the Roadmia estate was placed on Ivelin’s desk shortly after noon. Ivelin read the proclamation to the end. *Kardia Noxbell. Eastern perimeter. Protection list. Blood Family explanation submission.* On one side of the desk was a box containing a black gemstone necklace. Ivelin looked at it. And then, she closed the lid. *Click.* It was a small sound.
"My Lady?" the maid asked.
Ivelin placed her hand on top of the proclamation. Memories could not open the palace gates of Black King Castle. If that was the case, she had to offer something else.
"Bring me the supply ledgers of the Roadmia Blood Family."
The maid’s eyes widened. "The supply ledgers?"
"We must first prove what we did *not* give to Belion," Ivelin said quietly. "His Majesty will not accept loyalty through mere words."
Her gaze lingered on the last line of the proclamation. *Those who do not provide an explanation will be considered to have submitted to Belion’s military orders.*
"He will accept it through utility."
The words were cold. And for the first time, they were accurate.
The proclamation spread across the roads of Noxvine before the sun set that day. Some read the name of Kardia. Some read the words "protection list." Some thought of their own family names before the sentence regarding the explanation deadline. And I... I received a new ledger.
Hermun placed it on the desk. "Your Majesty. The Eastern Blood Families have begun to send envoys of explanation more actively."
I looked at the first line of the ledger.
Damn it. Winning didn't mean the work was over. It just meant the reception desk had opened. I picked up the pen. My hand no longer trembled. I didn't know yet if that was a good thing.
"Accept them," I said. "In the order they lined up."