Chapter 89 — The Road to the West (6)
Chapter 89 — The Road to the West (6)
"I am not a hostage, Your Majesty."
Grünent's voice was cool.
The human delegation, Spros III above all, stared at her with wide eyes.
"I was part of the tribute offered when you sent the earlier treaty proposal."
"Grünent!"
Spros III, forgetting where he was, shouted her name loudly, but Grünent continued in an unchanged tone.
"And you sent Helen as well. The Saintess is therefore no hostage either. A knight who crosses the border is prepared to die. That she remains alive is reason to thank the Emperor of Evirgio for his mercy, not grounds to accuse him of taking hostages."
"You insolent wench! Grünent! What reckless nonsense is this!"
Spros III roared.
"Did you not offer yourself for the sake of your people's lives? Have you given your heart to the Demon Emperor in the meantime? You think only of yourself, refusing to follow your own father's words for the safety of your kin. Selfish creature!"
"Human King."
Violet eyes flashed.
"Do not speak carelessly to one of my own."
And Overwhelm filled the room.
"Kuh...!"
The king's eyes bulged as if they would pop out. The court wizard hurriedly tried to recite an incantation, then realized the anti-magic restraints on his arms and clicked his tongue.
Human officials trembled violently and broke into cold sweats, while demon officials gritted their teeth.
Knowing what Overwhelm was did not make it easy to counter. One could merely endure it well.
"The warning ends with one."
Roan's voice, thick with anger, resonated low.
"There will not be another. Human."
The moment Roan's words ended, Overwhelm withdrew as if it had been a lie. The oppressive aura vanished as though they had merely had a nightmare.
So the humans were doubting whether the sensation they had felt had been real.
At the Demon King's growling voice, Spros III trembled and barely managed to nod. The wizard was grinding his teeth audibly.
"You dare threaten His Majesty.... Is Evirgio sincerely intent on continuing this agreement?"
To the wizard who condemned Roan with fiercely gleaming eyes, Roan merely smiled.
"You speak nonsense, Wizard. Grünent is my woman. Regardless of the process by which she came to me before, she is already mine."
At the unexpected words, Aranya smiled faintly. To declare his love at this timing—His Majesty truly was a doting fool. Grünent flushed red as if embarrassed, but her expression was not displeased.
The demons were not alone in thinking so. The human women also swallowed exclamations at Roan's words.
Regardless of species, a strong man declaring a woman as his own was a scene women found aspirational.
For Spros III, however, it seemed to be a trigger. His fists shaking, he slammed the armrest of the chair he sat in.
"Did you seduce Grünent with those sweet words and that cunning tongue, Emperor!"
"Mm. I did."
The human king's mouth fell open.
Roan grinned. The human officials who saw his smile exclaimed in spite of themselves.
Even if Princess Grünent had been bewitched by the Demon King, they had no choice but to understand. The Demon King's appearance, his smile, and his bearing each seemed to be shaped to seduce a woman's heart.
"Sweet words? Of course. Was Grünent not the Jewel of Merde? To win her heart, I could afford any amount of sweet words.
A cunning tongue? I know not whether it was cunning, but it seems I had sufficient skill to taste Grünent and to please her."
"...Y-Your Majesty!"
Grünent's face flushed red to her ears.
Several demon officials smiled and barely suppressed laughter.
All the demon officials knew how much Roan usually attended to Grünent and how specially he treated her.
That was so, until the smile rising on Roan's face shifted into an expression a carnivore might wear before its prey.
"You should have treated your daughter better yourself, Human King. Had you done so, Grünent would not appear to have been swept away by me and to have betrayed you like this."
The human officials stared at the Demon Emperor with stiff faces.
"It seems there is another there with sweet words and a cunning tongue; why not use him to win over Grünent? If she was so precious to you. Ah, but perhaps you are too old and incapable."
The wizard who had received the insult glared murderously. Yet Roan's voice remained indifferent and languid.
"He tempted you, didn't he?"
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard again.
"To discard Grünent."
The expression of Spros III, who had barely maintained his composure until now, crumpled horribly.
His face twitching as if in convulsions of rage, Roan met his gaze provocatively.
"Foolish King. It was you who abandoned your own family, swayed by the cunning words that rolled from that three-inch tongue."
The conference room fell into a suffocating silence.
A conversation between an emperor and a king.
This was not merely an emotional dispute between two monarchs.
It was another war, one in which the balance of national power could decide the future course.
And here, Evirgio could occupy a more advantageous position than ever before.
For it was a contest where, as with any war of words, the one who fell silent first was considered the loser.
It was the Demon King who broke the long silence.
The Demon King, who had seemed lost in thought, finally smiled brightly as if he had found an answer and spoke.
"Hmm, yes. If a truce is so distasteful, how about ending the war? I believe I have a method."
Everyone stared at the Emperor of Evirgio with surprised eyes. And for the first time since entering the conference hall, Roan showed his brightest smile.
"What if you all die here, humans?"
Because his tone was so serene and his face seemed so pleased, the humans' shock came a beat late.
The officials' faces turned pale, and the wizard's beard quivered. Spros III merely repeated the words "Y-you scoundrel...," looking as though he might collapse backward at any moment.
'...He's my father-in-law in a way, but did I go too far?'
At the excessively long silence, Roan felt slightly awkward.
Yet without at least this level of shock, Merde did not seem likely to agree to negotiations.
Moreover, if necessary, he truly could end the war in that manner. In exchange, both the future and the Hero would spiral unpredictably beyond any estimation.
Therefore, Roan had firmly resolved to abandon this rather attractive option.
I would just scare them enough and wrap this up.
"No guard knight in this place, nor even the knight commander you brought from outside, can defeat me. Among all humans—no, among all living creatures on this continent—there is virtually no one who can overcome me, I daresay. Thus, whatever counterargument you make will be meaningless."
Roan shrugged.
"Ultimately, this depends on what I decide. And if you think these words are a mere threat, that too is a miscalculation."
The Emperor of Evirgio smiled and gestured with his chin toward Grünent, who stood behind him.
"Is there not an heir to the throne of Merde right here?"
The shock delivered by this statement was immense.
"The heir to the throne whom you sent here."
Spros III's face turned crimson.
The color drained from the court wizard's face, and the officials looked ready to foam at the mouth.
The Demon King was now
saying that he could annihilate the royal house of Merde.
"Why? Do you think I cannot? How long do you suppose it would take Evirgio's army to reach Spros? Those who were at the front lines must have seen them not long ago. My valiant soldiers."
Roan's eyes narrowed.
His gleaming pupils were fixed unwaveringly on the King of Merde.
"Evirgio, in the name of justice, supports the princess who rose up in righteous indignation to save the people of Merde from a foolish king. Splendid. Speaking of it aloud, I really am beginning to find this plan appealing. Hm."
"Whatever Your Majesty commands, we shall follow Your Majesty's orders."
At Aranya's words, the humans stared at her with expressions as if they had been struck by lightning.
Because she had attempted to lead the talks with calm words and demeanor until now, the human officials wore the faces of people betrayed by Aranya.
Roan, however, simply laughed.
"Chancellor. Even you must not do that. Is my purpose not to alleviate the suffering of the people?"
"If killing everyone were the quickest path, might you not choose it? I have complete faith in Your Majesty's decisions."
"Hm."
Letting out a satisfied murmur at Aranya's loyal answer, Roan asked the King of Merde.
"So, King. I am a merciful emperor, so I shall give you a choice.
There is the way of signing the agreement here and returning alive, and there is the way of dying and leaving everything behind in peace.
Should you choose the latter, I will certainly minimize the pain. I do not care for torture. What say you?"
The smile in the Demon King's eyes was captivating.
"What will you choose?"
*
In the end, the humans who participated in the negotiations had to acknowledge that they had suffered a crushing defeat in both war and talks. Evirgio once more guided the discussion toward ending the war, but with no further ground to retreat, the human king desperately insisted on a truce.
There is a saying that a cornered rat will bite the cat, so this time Roan decided to give Spros III a loophole through which to escape.
The king's life had merely been extended. As long as Grünent remained in Evirgio, Roan's words would remain valid at any time. Just as the previous Demon King had invaded the Merde border city of Rose and crushed everything, so too could Spros meet the same fate.
Especially now that the Waypoint had been discovered, the feasibility of that had soared. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the humans of Merde did not know that fact.
Thus, a truce was established on the premise of Roan's mercy.
The rulers of both nations completed their signatures on a ceasefire treaty centered on the following conditions.
— Soldiers stationed at the border between both nations shall be withdrawn, excepting personnel necessary for border patrol.
— Neither side shall cross the border or arbitrarily attack the people of the other nation. Should this be violated, war shall resume.
— This treaty shall be maintained for a minimum of three years, and the party that violates it shall bear aggravated responsibility for the lost trust upon the war's conclusion.
The King of Merde had put out the immediate fire.
Both the crisis of becoming a defeated nation and the crisis of being annihilated wholesale along with his delegation had fortunately been averted.
Yet humans, being foolish, fail to recognize their fortune and repeat the same mistakes.
"They said he possessed no interest in politics, yet he proved to be deceitful beyond measure."
Spros III spoke in a sinister voice.
"He was one who harbored a viper in his bosom. That must be why he is called the Demon King. Though he was a fiend, Your Majesty responded to the best of your ability."
Comforting his king, the court wizard made a single proposal.
"That man cannot be overcome in direct confrontation. It would be best to employ a different method."
"A different method—do you have a sharp idea? Shulana."
The wizard, who had a benevolent face, spread a cunning smile across his wrinkled features.
"Among the assassins gaining notoriety of late, there is a band of beastmen. If they are beastmen, they should be able to infiltrate the demon nation without arousing suspicion. How about hiring them and commissioning an assassination of the Demon King?"
With an expression as if drawn in by the wizard's words, the king nodded.