Chapter 37 — Everyone Has a Secret (2)
Chapter 37 — Everyone Has a Secret (2)
"As for me, I never really had friends."
Rauka, who had been gazing out the tower window, suddenly spoke to Grünent. Grünent, who had been reading documents at her work desk, looked over at her.
The red-haired forest elf stood with her arms crossed, staring at the main gate of the imperial palace. A procession of carriages and demon beasts could be seen just entering the gate.
"So when demons... when monsters killed one of the few friends and acquaintances I had, I resolved to repay them in kind. And so I burned an entire village to the ground."
At this unexpected confession of murder, Grünent's eyes widened slightly as she studied Rauka.
"You did... So were you captured because of that?"
"Mm. I killed quite a few more on the way here, too."
Grünent approached the window to see what lay at the end of Rauka's gaze.
The envoy from Arteala, who had finally arrived, was disembarking from a carriage with his escort.
He was to become the teacher for some of the human and demon servants receiving education at the castle.
A faint smile appeared on Grünent's face as she waited for Rauka's next words.
"But in the end, I'm the same as that troll woman."
"Her name is Miane."
"...Don't you think that name is a little too pretty?"
"That is prejudice, Rauka."
At Grünent's half-joking remark, Rauka shrugged her shoulders.
"Mm, right. I guess troll standards of beauty are beyond my understanding. Anyway, in the past, the Demon King... no, His Majesty said that to me. He asked whether I killed them because they were truly evil.
According to His Majesty, they had nothing to eat, and so they devoured my acquaintances and the people of that village."
Grünent's expression darkened as she listened to Rauka's words.
Conflict among humans, forest elves, and demons was hardly a recent development. And at its root, the problem of food likely played an enormous role.
The saying that generosity springs from a full storehouse did not exist for nothing. Merde, too, had created an enemy precisely because its own storehouse had run empty.
"That human must be the person from Arteala. It means that wheat is on its way, doesn't it?"
The correction officer could be seen greeting the envoy.
She was the one who had been selected because the small council had decided that if Aranya, Liron, or Minoreus went, the envoy might faint the moment he stepped out of his carriage.
Grünent smiled quietly as she recalled the brief debate in the small council over who should be sent to meet him.
"Yes. Wheat is on its way, they say."
"If these people had been able to buy food long ago, or if this land had been fertile....
Would my friends still be alive?"
The smile vanished from Grünent's face.
Rauka's sorrowful words were tinged with longing.
"If there had been food, would the village of humans I loved have remained as it was, and would I have been spared burning a demon child to death?"
Grünent could say nothing.
The answer came from Roan, who had entered the room.
"...Probably not."
His voice was calm.
Rauka, who had revealed her innermost thoughts for the first time in a long while, scowled fiercely at the Demon King.
But the Demon King met Rauka's eyes.
In contrast to his unchanging expression, a note of regret seeped into his voice.
"In the past, even when I procured food, I never thought to send it to such frontier villages. No, I did not even know why I needed to procure food in the first place."
This was not speculation but an established fact based on his past within the game.
Because the Demon King had never taken such actions.
"Are you saying you're different now?"
Roan looked at Rauka. A number indicating affection status, -55, appeared and then vanished.
After witnessing Roan's actions in front of the city hall, Rauka's thoughts on demons had changed little by little.
She had come to realize that the words Roan had spoken to her in the past were not lies meant to placate her either.
The altered affection stat was the result.
Nearly two weeks had passed since then.
Rauka knew that Roan had been spending long hours lately in his office and the small council chamber,
because Grünent had been feeling rather lonely.
The sight of Roan striving to keep the promise he had made to his people had moved Rauka's heart.
In the end, Rauka's affection had crept upward bit by bit until it reached -55.
"His Majesty of the past... yes. I heard he had no interest in war and was a heartless thug... a tyrant who cared nothing for who died. So why the sudden change?"
Rauka's eyes bored into Roan.
She was a forest elf, inborn with the ability to discern truth. The sharp eyes of the elf flashed.
Roan made up his mind to tell the truth.
"Because at this rate, I felt I would be murdered."
Rauka's expression told him to stop joking, but Roan spoke seriously.
"An enemy to humans, an enemy to forest elves like you. Abandoned even by the people I was supposed to look after. And then, one day, I felt I would end up being stabbed to death."
Rauka asked back with a dumbfounded look.
"There's someone who can beat Your Majesty with a sword?"
If he had kept living like that scoundrel, then yes, one hundred percent, such a person was due to appear. Though now, he wasn't sure.
Roan shrugged his shoulders.
"Who knows. The world is vast. Still, fortunately, I gained the opportunity to change. I came to understand what I needed to do, and luckily, I also have the ability to do it.
So I simply resolved that I must do what I can, even now."
In the end, Grünent could not hold back and had to interject.
"Your Majesty. You are already magnificent."
Her defense was appreciated, but there was much to be done.
In order to survive,
in order to raise affection and acquire skills,
or for my own satisfaction.
There were countless reasons.
Only, time was lacking.
So, he resolved to do everything he could right now.
Roan decided to put one such thing into practice here and now.
"I am grateful for your sentiments, Grünent. But much remains to be settled, so I shall hear your praise once everything is resolved."
If I am still alive a year from now.
"In that regard, Rauka. I am sorry."
A deep furrow carved itself between Rauka's brows.
"As you said. Had I opened my eyes just a little earlier, you too might have been spared your losses."
Rauka, her lips pressed firmly together, only listened to Roan's words.
"You may think this is meaningless, but please accept it at least as a vow that I will never revert to the foolish behavior of the past."
"I don't need vows."
Grünent's eyes rounded in surprise at Rauka's immediate reply. But Roan remained unmoved,
because a familiar sound effect was heralding a shift in Rauka's mood.
"Because Your Majesty already seems to be someone who practices with your body, at least. I killed demons too, but you gave me a chance to live regardless. You did the same for Grünent. And you spared that troll, too."
Grünent smiled.
Under Roan's silently watching gaze, the forest elf turned her eyes toward the window as if embarrassed.
"Honestly, every time Grünent called Your Majesty merciful, I told myself not to spout nonsense... But I'm beginning to think that you might be a little better than the rumors that circulate would suggest."
"...Thank you."
"Because doing something yourself is harder than just saying it. Well, Grünent says it every day, so I suppose she must be right."
At that moment, accompanied by a frantic string of beeps, Rauka's affection surged vertically. The affection value shot up to -35 and then disappeared.
Observing the affection increase that exceeded his expectations, the Demon King stood silent, and Grünent spoke.
"As Rauka says, Your Majesty truly is a person worthy of respect. I know full well that even if one says one will change, actually putting it into practice is never easy. Your Majesty, I too have many such things."
"You do?"
Rauka chuckled and spoke.
"You mean how you keep telling yourself, 'I'll be calm with His Majesty!' but then you plead and whine a dozen times a day about how you have to go to his office?"
"Rauka!"
Grünent cried out, her face flushing crimson.
Roan smiled quietly at the sight of Rauka leaning against the window frame, giggling, and at the embarrassed Grünent.
"Grünent. I would prefer if you are never perfectly calm with me. At any rate, I am late to the main point, but I stopped by because there is something I wished to ask of you."
"...Ooh, Your Majesty, to say such a thing.... saying it so suddenly is rather.... What was it you wished to ask?"
Her cheeks dyed red, Grünent writhed and squirmed, while Rauka's expression suggested she was getting goosebumps.
"It is about the envoy that you and I together requested. I thought it would be best to go down together and meet him with you. What do you think? In any case, having one human present would likely make things less difficult for their side as well."
At the fact that he had summoned her to an official occasion, Grünent once more expressed her gratitude to Roan.
A short while later, the emperor appeared in a splendid hall.
The situation was not conducive to receiving the envoy in the throne room together with all the civil and military officials,
because this envoy was, officially, a hostage.
Nevertheless, he remained an important foreign guest.
Thus, the Demon King received the envoy from Arteala in the second most majestic hall, after the throne room.
Since he was a secret guest, those present were Roan, the small council along with noble officials in charge of practical affairs, and the human Grünent.
After offering the emperor an ornate greeting, the envoy also conveyed his regards to Grünent.
"Your Highness — no, Lady Grünent. It has been a long time. You look to be in good health."
"Yes, we meet after three years, Baron Grabe. I heard you had retired. I am surprised and glad to see you in person like this."
The elderly man, his half-gray hair swept back neatly, smiled at Grünent.
"My spirit of adventure was stirred by this tremendous opportunity that Your Majesty has provided. I have already entrusted the operation of the trading company to my children, but I am not yet content to sit by as an old man in the back room."
The eyes beyond his glass monocle were keen, but his voice, unlike them, was gentle.
He looked back at Roan and bowed his head once more.
"We in Arteala can scarcely contain our joy that Your Majesty has extended your hand first. I would be grateful if the trade of glass you mentioned could be conducted through our Grabe Trading Company."
A peculiar light gleamed in the baron's eyes.
It was a look in which greed, a competitive spirit, and drive were properly mixed.
"I, too, shall ensure that the disciples I acquire in this country become proper merchants, so that Your Majesty will be satisfied."
Through Attentive Hearing, Roan was able to glimpse the determination behind his pledge.
Roan had sent samples of glass to Arteala and, in exchange for trade in glass, had requested priority wheat purchasing rights and personnel.
Evirgio, too, produced items like glass that humans needed.
However, a trading company run by demons was, in truth, an awkward counterparty from the perspective of foreign humans.
Moreover, demons were a race that looked down upon calculation and commerce. Their trading companies lacked system.
If humans could be properly employed in a demon-run trading company, trade with other nations would become smoother.
That was why Roan had asked them to send a master to teach commerce to both humans and demons.
And the one who had come was Baron Grabe.
The legendary merchant of Arteala. A man who began as a commoner and became a great merchant, and for that achievement had even been granted a barony. Even then, he advised Arteala on its finances.
Upon hearing that he would be coming as the envoy, Grünent had been practically ready to jump for joy.
— Your Majesty. Baron Grabe is the person in all of Arteala who best reads the flow of money. Those who have learned their work from him now move Arteala. This is truly excellent, Your Majesty!
He also knew how to conceal his wariness toward demons and was sincere in his dealings. Roan liked this envoy.
"I heard of your reputation from Grünent. Those under my protection require a good teacher. I shall look forward to it."
Baron Grabe's eyes gleamed sharply as he realized that the 'those under his protection' Roan mentioned referred to what Merde called 'the pitiful humans caught in the Demon King's ruthless clutches, abandoned people whom we have no power to rescue.'
Despite Roan's subtle Overwhelm, the old man, who had taken an interest, smiled leisurely.
Having completed a few necessary formalities, the envoy thus took his leave and withdrew.
The small council would handle the practical work from here on well enough.
Roan once more went over the light in the baron's eyes in his mind.
A person capable of climbing to the highest position in a nation was someone who was not to be taken lightly, accordingly.
Therefore, in truth, the results were also something worth looking forward to.
"I look forward to the baron's instruction."
"Yes. He is a man who never does work sloppily. I truly did not expect him to come. Your Majesty."
"It seems Grünent's help played a great role."
Grünent's eyes rounded at Roan's praise.
"If I had merely sent a letter, would the baron truly have come here? It must have been possible because you added your own words. Thank you."
Grünent smiled as if a flower were blossoming.
In that instant, a look of resolution flickered across her face.