Wolf of Ruin (2)
"How are the people in the streets? Are they anxious?"
"They're stirred up. Rumors are flying that the Demon King might appear."
Glova straightened his back, far from slouching against the chair's backrest, and replied.
"I know coordinating with the guards isn't easy, Vice Captain. Sometimes our strong pride gets in the way of cooperation."
"The Knights are doing their utmost."
"No internal dissatisfaction building up?"
"No issues. The White Flame Knights are prepared. It's all thanks to Your Highness."
Even as he recited the model answer like a machine, Glova couldn't shake the feeling that the princess's question sounded oddly lewd.
'The princess who relieves the pent-up dissatisfaction inside.'
……Heh. He desperately suppressed the urge to laugh at the wicked joke only he would get.
"Good. Moving on. I heard there've been disappearances in the western district recently, and you're investigating."
"Yes. We're coordinating with the Seongyul Knights and the capital guards to look into it."
"How's it going? Any progress?"
"Well……."
The words didn't come easily. All the guards sent to scout had vanished without a trace. They were planning a search operation, but how to phrase it smoothly?
"I heard from Delia. Tell me straight, no sugarcoating."
"…My apologies. Six have gone missing, and the White Flame Knights are preparing to enter now."
"What do you think? Give me your opinion as vice captain."
"I believe…… there's a dangerous monster lurking in the sewers."
"Could it be the Demon King?"
Aira suddenly cut to the heart of it. Glova realized the princess was far braver and more resolute than he'd imagined.
"……We can't rule it out. Especially given the timing."
"We can't amplify people's anxiety. Can you handle it smoothly?"
"I will see it done."
In a formal audience chamber, the conversation would have ended there. But alone in the room, his guard down, Glova couldn't hide his expression—and Aira zeroed in on it.
"If you have something to say, say it. Make yourself at home."
"Not me…… the Captain would handle it more reliably."
"……."
"Captain Claire, Captain Riana—either one…… It's hard to understand why the kingdom's two greatest assets would both be absent at a time like this."
The official reason for their absence was "escorting the Saintess." That's what Glova had been told. But he'd been with Claire at the scene and clearly heard it: going to greet the Saintess. And yet, there was no reason for them to be gone for days afterward.
Claire and Riana had vanished completely after that day, and Glova had been stuck as acting captain against his will. When the guards who entered the sewers didn't return, he knew it wasn't ordinary. But the chief officer was an unreliable blond guy. He'd reported multiple times, but the absent captains never returned.
Why? Because the Saintess's prestige demanded a four-day escort? Or was someone deliberately targeting her?
"…Vice Captain."
"Ah, my apologies…!"
"Don't panic. That's why I called you here today."
Aira spoke calmly.
"Pardon?"
"Those two are away on a more important matter."
"More important…? Even with signs of the Demon King in the city and suspicious monsters underground?"
"Yes. What could be more important than discovering an immature Demon King?"
"I don't know. Something more important than the Demon King…."
Glova instinctively knew that's why he'd been summoned. Something even the princess hesitated to voice? Nothing good came to mind.
"Demon King Eskalia is alive."
"……."
Now he knew too. What Riana had whispered in Claire's ear.
"Impossible……. But how……."
Wolf of Ruin, Eskalia. How could anyone forget the Demon King who plunged the entire continent into terror?
Even Glova, not part of the hero party, had witnessed the fierce battles as one of the onlookers. The northern continent drowned in blood, three nations fell. When the howl of ruin echoed, herding black wolf packs like storm clouds, people hid in terror, trembling.
Countless died. The legend of the invincible hero Ethan Helleil leading his party in a four-day brutal showdown to slay Eskalia was world-famous.
But…… alive?
Only the hero had stood tall amid that sea of blood.
"I get why you, who saw the battle firsthand, can't believe it. I couldn't either."
"What happened?"
"The hero's cursed sword, Valpurgis, couldn't sever Eskalia's lifeline."
Cursed Sword Valpurgis. The demonic blade wielded by hero Ethan, said to have drunk the blood of hundreds of thousands of monsters. No weapon in the kingdom could surpass its power.
"We announced Eskalia's defeat, but in truth, the Demon King was sealed by the Saintess and placed under the Holy Nation's care until we found a way to kill her."
"…If this leaks, it'll cause massive chaos."
Glova's tone grew heated. They'd claimed victory over the Demon King, but hadn't actually won. Hiding it couldn't be justified, whatever the intent—legitimizing Rune Kingdom's rule or otherwise.
"Your anger is justified, Vice Captain. I see it as the kingdom's shame too."
"It's not Your Highness's fault… I believe that."
"No. Even if you weren't there, the hero's decision was the kingdom's decision. I won't shirk my responsibility."
"……Your Highness."
"Ethan said we'd find a way to kill her later. Right now, we needed to give people hope."
"…A noble intent."
"At first. But hiding the truth always comes at a great cost. In the end, we've shouldered a petty shame."
Even with the noble goal of spreading hope to the broken-hearted, claiming they'd killed the Demon King when they hadn't could be seen as unforgivable fraud by two nations clinging to the benefits of the "subjugation." Plenty of room for that interpretation.
"…Intense debates raged in the kingdom daily. I was there every time."
"Must have weighed heavily on you."
"The reason it dragged on until now……."
Aira's voice trembled.
"…Something impossible happened."
"Impossible?"
"Vice Captain. Think back to our original dilemma."
Glova suddenly realized, a chill running through him.
"Two…… Demon Kings…?"
"……Yes. With Eskalia alive, another Demon King appearing is…… impossible."
There was a law like that. No more than one Demon King could exist at a time. Not decreed by gods, but proven by long history and data.
One might reign up to fifty years, but Demon Kings were so unique that two never coexisted in an era. Like malformed beings gorging on limited resources.
The world's laws flowed that way naturally—no ancient records showed two at once.
"Then what is the second Demon King prophesied by Saintess Esilla…?"
"I don't know. Unknowable."
An unidentified Demon King existing alongside Eskalia, where none should. Cold sweat trickled down Glova's back.
Some truths were better unknown for a peaceful life. This was one—knowing only amplified the terror.
'……So the princess has been fighting this horror alone.'
"Then the captains went to Eskalia…?"
Aira nodded gravely.
"Yes. If two Demon Kings exist, one must be eliminated. No hero can handle two."
"Why not sooner? Was there a reason?"
"There'd long been analysis that Captain Claire's White Flame might slay Eskalia."
Glova agreed vehemently. He'd seen countless monsters perish in White Flame beside Claire. Who could withstand the Dragon King's embers? Not even the Demon King.
The pity was having a White Flame wielder in the kingdom and not using her sooner.
"It's a century-long seal. The goal was to find a kill method in the next hundred years and erase her…. The right to break it arbitrarily lies with the Holy Nation. We broached it, but couldn't persuade them."
Glova sighed. The Holy Nation might not grasp Claire's prowess—or refused to yield control even if they did. Good intentions sour into diplomatic tangles between nations. Common enough.
But that wasn't what mattered to Glova.
His captain……
"Then, truly, the Captain has…."
As she'd always said.
"…gone to slay the Demon King?"
Without telling anyone…….
"Yes."
"Why…."
"I'm truly sorry for informing you, the White Flame Knights' vice captain, so late."
Seeing Aira's downcast face, Glova couldn't muster anger anymore. His captain heading alone into such peril.
Without him knowing…….
Just whining about no time, carefree worries—it made his blood boil in retrospect.
"I sent the kingdom's strongest, the two I trust most. They'll return safely with good news."
Aira comforted the crestfallen Glova.
"Thank you."
Glova hung his head in shame. No more "why me?" thoughts.
"Tell me what I must do, Your Highness."
Aira gazed at him with softened eyes.
"It reminds me of what Vice Captain Shiroko said before retiring."
"Pardon?"
"You're always half-assed, but reliable when it counts."
"Ugh…!!"
From the childish guy who teased her about her breasts daily.
She'd said that before leaving…?
Glova felt his face burn.
"Funny thing—Captain Claire's evaluation matches."
"What?!"
"Vice Captain Glova seems unreliable more often than not, but he gets it done. She said she could entrust her back to you."
"……."
'Captain, Vice Captain….'
"Now you know how vital protecting the city is, how heavy your shoulders are, Vice Captain."
"…Yes, ma'am!"
"Keep people's anxiety from growing. Guard it splendidly. From today, I grant you permission to use the National Treasure."
National Treasure. Beyond cultural artifacts, in this context, an item of immense power.
Time returned to the present: the morning after the princess's tournament speech, in the communal barracks.
"Hoo……."
On his shabby bed lay a stunning pure white spear, sprawled defenselessly in the beautiful form of a young, pretty girlfriend.
He'd bragged crudely, "I'll handle it all," but now Glova's stomach twisted with the weight of it.