A Policy That Only Wasted Money
The sound of hooves clattered through the darkness. A convoy of wagons departed from the village of Rob, moving swiftly along the road amid a faint commotion. The carriages were heavily loaded with weapons, armor, and provisions destined for the front lines. A considerable number of soldiers flanked them, maintaining a strict guard. To ensure vigilance even in the dark, they traveled with bright lanterns lit.
As the convoy reached a narrow path some distance from Rob…
“Hm?”
“What the hell is that…?”
The next moment, a single figure appeared before their eyes. Though the area was brightly illuminated, the deep violet armor the man wore gave off an unmistakably ominous impression at first glance.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Do you even know who we are, daring to stand in our way without fear…?”
The soldiers, sensing the gravity of the situation, immediately drew their weapons and advanced. Then—
-Squelch!!
A sudden, sickening sound of something being severed rang out. In the same instant, a black-armored warrior came into view, charging forward and decapitating soldiers in the blink of an eye. The troops watching were struck with intense shock and immediately shifted into combat readiness.
“Is… is that guy a demon?”
“I don’t see any horns on him…”
“Who cares about that right now?! He just attacked us without warning! Cut his head off immediately!”
At those words, the soldiers charged toward the ‘enemy’ before them. However, they had no idea at this moment that the natural course of action they had chosen as soldiers carrying out their duty… would bring them an unimaginably futile and utterly miserable end.
“Guhhhk!!!”
“Kkgh! Guhheeeek…!”
Screams that sounded like they were being cut short echoed as soldiers vomited blood and died. A scene of slaughter where living lives vanished, replaced only by heavy silence and pools of spreading blood.
Yet at this very moment, I—who would have vomited at the mere sight of this if I were still my old self, or rather, who would never have even begun such an act due to basic human emotions—was carrying it out with my own hands.
I, who bore the name of Hero Elan, and who had now become a subordinate of the Demon King, felt a deep sense of bewilderment at how strangely unaffected I was.
There was absolutely no guilt or hesitation that one would normally feel when attacking people. As I lightly swung my black greatsword to sever necks and drive blades into hearts, the emotion I felt could only be described as… if I had to put it into words, it was like playing a game and mindlessly smashing humanoid enemies. No, even that was a slight exaggeration. To be completely honest, it felt exactly like grinding monsters in a dungeon for level-ups without a single thought in my head.
‘This is my first time killing people… and yet I’m perceiving it with the same detachment as a game. I never expected that.’
While feeling a slight shock at that realization itself, I was also relieved that, in this unavoidable situation, I felt no emotional discomfort. Without leaving a single survivor, I slaughtered every soldier who drew their weapon and charged at me.
It was right in the middle of my overwhelming display of force and one-sided massacre that it happened.
“R-run! We can’t beat that monster!”
“Hurry back to Rob! We have to report this!”
The soldiers, realizing they had no chance of victory, immediately attempted a desperate escape. Though the distance back to Rob was considerable, they ran with all their might, determined to survive no matter what.
However…
“Gack!”
“Guhhhk!”
The next moment, the soldiers screamed and collapsed to the ground. Before them stood the Demon King’s executive, who had been stationed there for surveillance, along with his subordinates. They casually flicked the blood from their blades.
In mere seconds, we had successfully annihilated every human present and seized the military supplies. Yet apart from completing the mission the Demon King had assigned me, I now began persuading the demons to proceed with the next phase of the plan.
I felt a slight sense of relief at the short executive’s attitude, which had become noticeably more obedient after the recent battle…
In the heart of the port town of Rob stood a military base that also served as the de facto lord’s castle. A woman was walking through it, accompanied by her subordinates. She wore red armor and gave off an overall cold yet mature impression. She was one of the Three Knights of the Falcon Empire and the person in overall command of Rob.
Cassandra Incliment.
Even as she moved, she continued listening to reports from her subordinates about the current situation.
“So the Hero Party ultimately failed in their attempt to slay the Demon King?”
“Yes, General. According to one of the survivors, the Hero was utterly defeated by the Demon King’s overwhelming power. They barely managed to escape with their lives.”
“Tsk… Even though we had the oracle this time and I had fairly high expectations. So it ended in failure once again.”
Cassandra spoke with a displeased expression in response to her subordinate’s report. At first glance, news of the Hero Party’s defeat—sent out with the mission of subjugating the Demon King—might have sounded incredibly serious. However, the impression Cassandra and the other commanders actually had was simply that the upper brass had once again wasted a fortune.
That was all the Hero Party meant to them at this point.
“So what are we doing with one of the warriors from that problematic Hero Party? I heard he was a valuable beastman fighter.”
“We have fitted him with the Shackle of Control and are holding him in the basement. His spirit seems somewhat broken, but we judged it still too early to let our guard down.”
“Understood. Still, keep a close watch on him just in case. Since he’s a powerful beastman warrior, we must work him as a soldier until the day he dies and squeeze every last drop of value out of him.”
“Yes, General.”
The Racial Alliance Army, currently engaged in a continuous offensive against the Demon Kingdom, has already seized approximately thirty percent of the Demon Kingdom’s territory. Victory reports continue to arrive from various sectors of the front.
However, despite this favorable war situation, the Alliance cannot afford to view the current state with pure optimism.
The being they must watch most carefully is still the Demon King seated upon the throne in the Demon King’s Castle.
The Demon King possessed overwhelming power and the charisma to unite the demon race. Whenever she appeared on the battlefield leading her royal guard, even the demons who had been pushed to the brink of defeat would fight desperately to the very end. The immense military strength possessed by her and her subordinates had repeatedly thwarted the Alliance Army’s attempts to advance.
Because of this, despite repeated victories throughout the war, the Racial Alliance Army had struggled to push beyond a certain point. As this stalemate dragged on, the leadership of the Racial Alliance had been steadily carrying out one particular plan for several years now, with the goal of ending this seemingly endless war and securing a decisive victory—despite occasional gaps in progress.
The Hero Party.
A special type of mercenary unit formed by occasionally selecting powerful individuals from among the Alliance’s free warriors. Receiving massive support from the Racial Alliance, they operated with the sole objective of assassinating the Demon King. They would exploit gaps created by the Alliance’s large-scale offensives, break through weakened defensive lines, advance into the Demon King’s Castle, and attempt to kill the Demon King.
However, despite the many Hero Parties that had included renowned brave warriors, the outcomes they met fell largely into two categories.
The first was setting out with great vigor only to be cleanly annihilated before even reaching the vicinity of the Demon King’s Castle.
The second was, after suffering the deaths of comrades or defeat in battle, having their spirits broken and ultimately abandoning the party to scatter in all directions.
Although the Alliance had gathered only outstanding warriors, the Demon King’s Army’s response was far more deceptive and powerful than they had anticipated. As a result, the Hero Parties had produced rather unimpressive results compared to the massive investments the Racial Alliance had poured into them.
And this latest Hero Party—which had included the so-called ‘legendary hero chosen by the oracle’—was no exception.
The Hero, who had received extraordinary expectations from the Pope and others, along with the strongest warriors of the Racial Alliance who had joined him in the subjugation of the Demon King. Yet the mercenary group known as the Hero Party had once again delivered nothing but the useless results of defeat and flight after devouring even more support funds.
The only noteworthy achievement was that this party had at least managed to set foot inside the Demon King’s Castle. In that sense, they had certainly lived up to the name of ‘the strongest in history.’ However, in the end, this Hero Party too had accomplished nothing meaningful and simply wasted money.
That was the conclusion reached by Cassandra and the others.
They could at least recover some of the losses by forcing the powerful beastman warrior sold to them as a slave to work as a soldier for the rest of his life. But separate from that, the Hero Party policy itself was nothing more than a meaningless waste of money and manpower in this war.
At least for now… that was all they thought of it.