Chapter 73 — Everyone Has a Plausible Plan (1)
Chapter 73 — Everyone Has a Plausible Plan (1)
Like leaves withering from lack of rain, the soldiers of Merde grew listless.
If this were still the game at this point, the Hero or the rescued Grünent would have been bringing Arteala's wheat into Merde.
And Erenier's raid would have destroyed only about half the grain in the warehouse.
In the game, that too had been a meaningful victory that shifted the tide of war, but not to the extent it had in this world.
A long war stretching beyond three years.
They had not managed even proper sowing or harvest.
The Merdean army was starving.
On top of that, Merde's climate was milder than Evirgio's. Most of humanity's great cities, including the capital Spros, lay in the south of the continent.
The northwestern border with Evirgio was a cold place for Merdeans to live.
By October, a chill wind blew across the border; by November, heavy snow fell.
Conversely, for the demons of Evirgio, accustomed to cold, the border was a warm place.
All these individual factors coalesced into one outcome.
"This winter is truly enjoyable, Your Majesty."
The best winter the Finance Minister could remember.
"I believe this is the first winter I've spent without fretting over food, finances, or the lords, Your Majesty. It used to be that my bones ached so much from the cold I could barely move."
His expression wasn't visible, but his voice was bright.
Part of that might have been due to the letters and gifts he was discreetly exchanging with Grünent's lady-in-waiting.
The Chancellor's expression, however, was far from bright.
"There will likely be no insubordination like last time, but... you must give careful consideration to the rewards according to merit for the victorious lords, Your Majesty."
Starting in November, the Evirgio forces had launched an active offensive. By imperial decree, this was to secure the necessary grounds for ending the war over the winter.
And they had won.
Victory after victory.
Unaccustomed to cold, starving, and with morale shattered by an unforeseen crushing defeat, the humans of the Merdean army were slaughtered by demons in the opposite condition.
Even the lords themselves were surprised by the magnitude of the victory.
"You must make it unequivocally clear at the Imperial Council that this honor was bestowed because your command was followed, Your Majesty."
Aranya was meticulous.
The type to scrutinize potential flaws first and take every precaution to ensure nothing went awry.
What first caught her eye were not the lords who, awed by His Majesty's foresight, vowed renewed loyalty after this victory, but those who sought to use their battle merits to seize a position in the nobility's power struggle.
And her liege nodded.
"Understood. Tell the secretary to emphasize that point in the speech."
Aranya smiled at the Emperor's comprehension and bowed her head. Unlike half a year ago, the Small Council now naturally and aggressively presented needed opinions to the Emperor.
The Chancellor worried somewhat, but because he trusted Roan, he smiled with relief.
But Roan was still the evil Demon King.
In the end, no trace of the Hero had been found, and the Demon King would greet the new year still the enemy of humanity.
Contrary to the languid expression on Roan's outer shell, his heart was dark.
'Stay positive..., let's stay positive. They say the universe will step up to help if you wish earnestly enough....'
Of course, a fair number of good things had happened.
The Demon King's body was powerful.
There had been an unexpected blind spot, but fortunately he had met the former Demon King and received advice. He would not collapse for the same reason again.
Even in the Demon King’s body, which had maxed-out stats in everything except Knowledge, he had not neglected training or study. At last, his Knowledge had surpassed 50, and his skills had leveled up as well!
Moreover, he had completed Grünent’s and Helen’s routes, and Erenier was due to arrive soon.
Diobe’s Affection was also fairly high. Lisa was not a romanceable character, but she had helped him enormously in many ways, and his progress with Rauka was not bad either.
[Iron-Blooded Demon King
True Name: Roan■■■■
Level: 539
Strength: 99 (Max)
Knowledge: 51
Wisdom: 92
Technique: 99 (Max)
Health: 99 (Max)
Charm: 99 (Max)
==========
Possessed Skills
— Overwhelm Lv. 1
— Mihon Lv. 1
— Detection Lv. 1
— Mirror (Degraded) Lv. 1
— Will <Cannot Grow>
— Attentive Hearing
└ [Derived] Appeal Lv. 1
— Politics Lv. 3 <Cannot Grow>
— Charisma Lv. 3 <Cannot Grow>
Unallocated Skill Points: 2 pt]
The number of skills he possessed had doubled, his level had risen, and he even had spare Skill Points. It had already been half a year since he became the Demon King. These were the fruits of his desperate efforts.
Decisively, he knew this place's future and its major events.
...No, regarding the future.... He 'had' known.
The in-game knowledge he possessed was absolute in this world. But he was busily twisting that story, that future, with his own hands.
'If I don't, I can't survive.'
The inner Roan inside his mind made a sulky face.
He'd intended to establish justice in this nation to distance himself from the Hero, and the future was warping.
He'd taken Grünent as a concubine to avoid being cast as the enemy of humanity, but as a result, the rescue party had failed.
The Hero hadn't appeared, and the head of the Church of Laurecia, and Helen, who would have returned to Merde with Grünent, had met a different fate.
Diobe, who would originally have sold his information, was working as an official. Consequently, her contact, the spy, had also become untraceable.
Of course, he could have let her Affection stay negative as part of a sting operation, but he had no desire to risk such an adventure using his own life as bait.
Furthermore, the discovery of the Waypoints was taking longer than expected.
Roan, who had been silently listening to the Small Council deliberate, asked once the topic was exhausted.
"Knight Commander."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"How goes the exploration of the ruins?"
Minoreus's voice turned gloomy.
"...My apologies, Your Majesty. There has been no significant news so far."
This was strange.
Roan couldn't understand.
It wasn't some ruins buried dozens of meters underground; the Waypoint near Basel was simply in the forest on the outskirts of Basel.
In the game, after Grünent was rescued, the Hero had escaped in the opposite direction from their escape route to buy Helen time to flee, then had fled into the forest and discovered the Waypoint.
He was able to vanish the moment he left Basel, just like that, despite being pursued by tracking parties.
If someone gave Roan a map, he could pinpoint it exactly, and he remembered what nearby landmarks there were. Even after he told them all of that, they still couldn't find it.
They had said the landmarks he mentioned were there, but the ruins never appeared. They'd dug into the ground, too, of course.
The situation was the same not only near Basel but also at the other Waypoint locations in Evirgio.
As the Emperor's expression clouded with worry, Minoreus grew even more uneasy.
"It seems the search is taking time as the Deep Winter sets in. I will instruct them to search thoroughly once more, Your Majesty."
"Hm. Proceed without losing any team members."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
The Knight Commander bowed his head, fidgeting anxiously. Since half of the exploration team consisted of Aranya's Surveillance Unit, Aranya's complexion was also poor.
But they couldn't give up.
Though it was the 'Deep Winter' when movement was difficult for everyone, Roan had no choice but to urge the exploration team forward.
Because spring would come next year, too,
and his people would still need to eat next year.
The clue that could potentially change the desolate lives of demonkind started right with those Waypoints.
Lost in various thoughts, Roan finished the council meeting and, after dinner, visited Grünent's room.
One of the reasons the King of Merde had decided on war was connected to the very clue Roan sought. So Roan asked Grünent about the King of Merde.
"Does that really... exist?"
But Grünent just asked back, her expression saying she'd never heard of it. Helen's face also looked like she didn't know.
"Hm. The 'Dark Forest Seed' is originally a giant ore. And I thought Merde started the war aiming for it.... Was I wrong?"
Because Grünent now placed absolute trust in Roan's abilities, she didn't ask how he learned these things.
A competent king always had his own intelligence network, after all.
Grünent tilted her head.
"I couldn't attend the major councils as His Majesty my father kept me in check, but... the surface reason for war was human freedom, and the actual reason was to weaken the noble factions. It would have been difficult to move an army for a legendary 'Dark Forest Seed'."
Helen, who stood behind Roan like a guard knight, added,
"There were rumors that the King of Merde—Spros III—coveted the Dark Forest Seed. But it sounded like something from a story, some sort of fairy-tale object.
I doubt anyone took it seriously, Master."
When he turned his eyes to Helen, a description of her appeared—the description that surfaced when he looked at a woman whose route he'd completed.
[Name: Helen
'The Demon King's Watchdog'
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Height: 168 cm
Measurements: 38-24-36 (96-62-92 cm)
Bust Size: G Cup
Duplicated Skill: Charisma Lv3]
which covered her neck with a high collar, the collar Roan had fastened around her neck remained in place.
Among household knights, some indeed addressed the Head of the House as Master. Knowing this, Grünent gave Helen a 'Hmm' look at her form of address for Roan and moved on.
"I'm more amazed that His Majesty, who isn't even a forest elf, believes such a story. Even for me, a forest elf, it's a hard story to believe."
Leaning against the window with his arms crossed, looking outside, Rauka cut into the conversation.
"Where did you hear such talk?"
"Well...."
Roan hedged appropriately.
"...A book?"
A setting compendium, to be precise.
Rauka furrowed his brow as if surprised.
"...Do you actually believe fairy tales for kids, Your Majesty?"
But Roan's answer was serious.
"I read a passage like this.
「The 'Dark Forest Seed' is the source of life so vast it grew the Dark Forest itself. No existence in this world may dare perceive it with the naked eye.
Yet the seed accumulates its power in the earth for other life. The life becomes crystal, forms veins, and rises to the surface.」"
Rauka's eyes went wide.
"...How do you know this?"
But it was Grünent who picked up after Roan's words. She recited the following part as if singing.
"「Where deep traces of life remained, the Goddess left her footprints.」"
"Isn't that an inscription from the 'Dark Forest Monolith'?"
Rauka looked at Grünent and Helen in disbelief.
"...Is it required learning for humans or something?"
"I'm considerably intelligent among humans, Rauka."
"I read much about the Goddess's traces in the Order. Rauka."
"...That's unexpected."
This was the inscription on the 'monolith' found at every Waypoint.
To be precise, the inscription on the monolith at the Dark Forest Waypoint location.
Thinking about it this way made it even stranger.
Wherever a Waypoint was, that 'monolith' existed as a marker. The common phrase was 'the Goddess's footprints.'
The monoliths were old and famous ruins. Anyone educated like Grünent or Helen would have heard of them. The story of the 'Dark Forest Seed' was also known as a fairy tale, as Rauka said.
Monoliths identical to those in the game remained, but no one had ever discovered a Waypoint.
Something was definitely
different from what he knew.
After contemplating silently, Roan spoke.
"I'll need to look for it myself."
All three looked at Roan simultaneously.
The first to speak among them was Rauka, his tone incredulous.
"...For what? Don't tell me the 'Dark Forest Seed'?"
"No, the crystal mine imbued with the seed's power."
"...Isn't it equally absurd anyway, since you're looking for something that doesn't exist in this world?"
He didn't know where the 'Dark Forest Seed' was, anyway. Because it didn't appear in the game.
He had no intention of finding it, either. If he rashly retrieved it and the entire Dark Forest withered and died, he'd be an assassination target not only for humanity but for the forest elves, too.
However, he did know the location of the crystal mine where the 'Dark Forest Seed's' power had crystallized.
'Dark Forest Monolith': right after descending at the Dark Forest Waypoint, a thirty-minute walk following the shadow cast when the full moon was at its highest.
...A landmark that felt like directions to a residential area 'five minutes by village bus from the train station' somewhere on the city outskirts.
It sounded like a fantastical tale, but it was a story published in the official setting compendium for Legend of the Holy Hero.