A place underground where not a single ray of light flows
into you .
Squeak –
The sound of footsteps getting closer along with the noise of the iron bars being opened.
Halpas tried to suppress his trembling body, but it was of little use.
Halfas was slightly relieved when he finally realized that the person who appeared around the corner was a black-haired woman wearing a black dress.
“…This is a little too much.”
Christine Daquiten frowned but approached Halfas, who was sitting on a chair with shackles in place.
“Ugh, the smell.”
Halfas trembled with humiliation and shame as Christine approached him and covered her nose with her hand.
They were tied to chairs and unable to use the toilet properly, so it was natural that they were suffocated by all kinds of foul odors.
If he had been like his old temperament, he would have torn a helpless human woman to pieces in an instant, but his body is extremely weakened after being tortured for a long time while being restrained by shackles that seal his magical power.
Christine frowned for a moment, getting used to the smell, then sighed softly and held out the water bottle to him.
Halfas unconsciously lowered his head and drank the water from the bottle she held out.
After quenching his thirst with water for an unknown amount of time, Halfas realized that his appearance was no different from that of a bird being fed by humans, and he was overcome with a sense of shame.
The anger at being treated like this by uncivilized people has long since subsided. He had suffered too much and was too tired to harbor such feelings.
There has never been a time when I have resented the strong vitality unique to the demon race so much.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to die rather than live like this?’
Just as Halpas was thinking about that, Christine spoke up.
“I have some good news, Halfas.”
“…good news?”
Halpas furrowed his brows at the raspy sound of his voice, but Christine didn’t seem to care at all.
“Abyss Corporation contacted me. “It looks like they don’t want to hand you over to the Holy Church.”
Halfas was deeply relieved to hear that.
The Abyss Corporation is not surprised to cut out at least one demon if it causes harm, but they seem to be concerned about how the high-ranking demons that will be handed over to the Holy Church will be used.
Christine continued speaking without making eye contact with him.
“Honestly, I have continued to do business with Abyss Corporation, so I don’t have much aversion to the demons themselves. If it is only profitable, it would be better to hand it over to Abyss Corporation. However, the Marquis de Lafayette….”
Upon hearing that name, Halpas shivered involuntarily.
The man who was worse than the devil truly hated the devil so intensely that he put in sincere effort and research to cause all possible suffering to Halfas.
Christine smiled awkwardly as she saw Halfas shaking.
“…You know, like a knight, he hates devils a lot. “Moreover, I know that the information you leaked earlier was false, so I’m furious.”
Halpas’ face turned blue.
At first, Halfas considered Christine and Pierre to be in the same group.
However, compared to the author who makes people shout that he would rather be killed every time they meet, Christine, who visits occasionally and can talk without causing much harm, is now even nice to see.
“As I said, I would rather send you back to the Abyss Corporation if only the Marquis agrees. “Abyss Corporation is not a place that saves money on things like this, and it is burdensome for me to completely control them.”
As Christine said that, she made a slightly sad expression.
“However, the Marquis will never agree until he feels that he has at least extracted everything he can from you. …I assume you know what I mean. “I don’t want the Marquis to be so angry that he loses control and kills you.”
Halfas, who heard Christine’s words, nodded enthusiastically.
I was giving up when I thought that I was destined to be tortured to death and then sold to the Holy Church and face an unimaginably terrible end, but if I return to the Abyss Corporation, I will lose all my achievements, but if I do well, I will be able to get a new opportunity.
Even if it was the worst, it was clearly better than being dragged into the Holy Church.
A faint hope appeared in Halfas’s eyes, and Christine, seeing that, smiled softly, rolling her characteristic deep, cloudy black eyes.
“Okay, I hope we can bring better news as soon as possible.”
–
The vitality and tenacity of the Halfas high-ranking demons were greater than I expected.
It seems to regenerate most wounds as long as the core, which corresponds to the head or human heart, is not destroyed.
To be honest, I thought it would be okay to torture him since his regenerative ability was greatly reduced due to the magic restraint, but he was surprisingly tenacious.
In the end, after consulting with Christine, I was able to extract some important information after Christine took on the role of the carrot.
Even so, cross-validation took time, but by the end of spring we were able to gather quite a bit of useful information.
I was riding a carriage with Christine heading to Poitiers, a city in the central part of the Francia Kingdom.
To make contact with the revolutionary army.
Inside the carriage, which was soundproofed and blacked out so that no one could see or hear anything inside the carriage from the outside, we were looking through documents using magic lights.
I looked at the documents and opened my mouth.
“Are you okay Christine?”
“What?”
“Can I take my younger brother with me?”
Christine brought her younger brother, Louis, who had just turned 10, on this trip.
“When I was that age, I managed the top. “You have to watch and learn from that kid.”
Christine answers in a casual manner, but isn’t that possible because she is the one?
“Anyway, it would be more difficult for that child to be watching the vassals in the mansion without me.”
“okay.”
I agreed right away. As expected, she pretends not to be like that and is quite soft on her younger brother.
As I was reading the document again, I secretly laughed.
“The revolutionary army is also a mess.”
Benoît Reverie was elected governor by the National Assembly because he most passionately called for courage and freedom in the face of foreign enemies.
His associates sold some nobles, soldiers of the King’s Army, and ‘counter-revolutionary elements’ judged by the revolutionary government to the Abyss Corporation, and Reverie is enjoying gourmet food and entertainment with the money they gave.
I don’t know if Reverie himself knows the source of the money, but even if he doesn’t, I wonder how the people of Francia, who would be angry at the devil, would react if they found out about this.
This didn’t just happen to Reverie’s close associates. Even among the moderate faction we were thinking of collaborating with, it is not uncommon for those who have reached out to the Abyss Corporation.
“…I plan to provide this information to the moderate revolutionary forces through Nicola Brissot, whom I will meet this time.”
Nicola Brissot, who expressed interest in us, had already contacted us indirectly several times. This time I’m going to meet him in person.
“Using this information will help them expand their influence.”
To what I said while nodding my head, Christine slightly narrowed her eyebrows and answered.
“that’s right. But at the same time, I’m concerned. By striking Reverie, we could weaken the influence of the radicals and strengthen the influence of the moderates, but the influence of the radicals is too strong within the revolutionary government. Even if Revery is ousted, it is difficult to expect the radicals to lose all their influence.”
After speaking, Christine held up two documents.
“There are two radical figures who can replace Reverie. Jean Malraux and Mac Similien Isidor.”
“They are both dangerous to us.”
In his words, he is an extremely belligerent figure who claims through the newspaper ‘Friend of the People’ that all nobles and royalists are enemies of the people and should be exterminated.
Maximilien Isidor is the one who cut off my head before returning without going too far.
Reverie is a more moderate faction than those two, but it is difficult to strengthen the influence of the moderate faction without sacrificing a big name like Reverie. Without their help, cooperation between us and the revolutionary government will not be easy.
As I was lost in thought, Christine spoke up.
“I will take action.”
“…how?”
Christine smiled softly.
As I was looking into her abyss-like black and murky eyes, she answered.
“It may not be a very chivalrous method.”
“I trust you, Christine. If you think it’s necessary, do it.”
The answer came naturally, with almost no hesitation.
Christine smiled slightly when she heard what I said, but quickly wiped it away and opened her mouth.
“Then now I’d like to hear it.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Aquitaine family came from merchants who bought titles. I am willing to sell territories that I bought for profit anyway if I can expect more profits. In a way, it can be seen that they overlap about half with the so-called leaders of the revolutionary army.”
Christine added after a pause.
“But not you. “Even though the Marquis de Lafayette is a rising family, your vassals, who are also the Counts of Toulouse, would never be quiet.”
When I heard her words, I thought of Baron Dumont and his vassals. When they heard that they might hand over ownership of their territory in order to join hands with the revolutionary government, they frothed at the mouth and shouted total opposition.
“If I were in your shoes, I would rather join hands with King Louis and not join hands with them. You yourself are an excellent knight, right? You alone can handle a hundred commoners. But do you really intend to stand on equal footing with those commoners?”
After speaking, Christine looks at me quietly as if waiting for my answer.
Can I, a knight who uses magical powers, be considered equal to commoners who do not?
“The honorable knights of the Kingdom of Francia protect the people with their mighty power, and the people must willingly obey their lord.”
A word that has been around for hundreds of years in the Kingdom of Francia.
It is also a phrase that clearly states that the knights who ensured that the feudal system continued even though it was shaking even as it was dying out in other countries were superior to the commoners.
“I keep it simple. “I am a knight, but I am not as good at managing finances or handling information as you are, Christine.”
The magic light hanging on the carriage ceiling sways with the rattle of the carriage, creating the illusion that her jet-black eyes are shaking.
“It doesn’t take a day or two for educated commoners to help nobles who are inexperienced with paperwork because they are busy training themselves as knights. If human superiority and inferiority must be determined based on ability, why should the standard be force? “Even among commoners, there are people who can match his military power if given the opportunity.”
None other than the gas cylinder proves this. All humans possess magical powers.
The reason knights basically had superior fighting power than commoners was because they had ample opportunity to receive such education.
But can they alone overwhelm the entire common people with force? well. Even before the civil war, it would not have been easy, and now that most of the knights have been killed, there is no hope.
Most nobles in the Kingdom of Francia aspire to become knights, so most magicians in the Kingdom of Francia are commoners, although they may be hired by nobles.
However, the fact that commoners can become wizards means that they have talent and can also become knights if given the opportunity.
The nobles just don’t allow it.
“Most of those great knights don’t know how to show off as much as the vassals who serve them. The fact that even the merchants they look down on do not know how to manage their assets and that a good knight cannot become a good monarch was demonstrated very well by none other than King Louis. In the end, being a superior human being is nothing more than the logic put forth by the vested interests as they see fit.”
The knights, who were superior humans with great military power, were overconfident in their own strength and were defeated by Raphael Balian.
In that way, should Raphael Balian, who is a superior human being, be more worthy of the ruling class than the nobles?
Christine seemed to think deeply about my words and then opened her mouth.
“I understand what the Marquis thinks. But if you think about it that way, their revolutionary government is not that different. It is nothing more than a replacement of the vested class, with the wealthy taking real power and stealing from the nobles to enrich themselves. “There are so many mountains we have to overcome right now to be with them, but you are walking this path without wavering even once.”
Christine looked at me intently for a moment, then sighed softly and added.
“Even I, who comes from a merchant family, sometimes wonder if this is the right path. How can you, a complete nobleman, be so sure that this path is the right one? “Because you are a prophet?”
I smiled wryly at Christine’s words.
“No, actually, I don’t have much confidence in that revolutionary government.”
When I saw Christine frowning, I added right away.
“But I am sure of one thing. If I had joined hands with King Louis to stop that revolution, even if we had won after a sluggish fight, we would have stained this land with blood, become a puppet state of the Germanian Empire, and continued the old system that was even more miserable than it is now. “If I were defeated, I would have been sacrificed along with my people by the wrath of that revolutionary government.”
At least I know that for sure. I have seen the future and know how corrupt and rotten this kingdom is.
“That revolution is a bloody revolution. The anger of the common people built up under the old system may be justified, but even so, it cannot justify the situation they caused. They are clearly a group with many problems, are immature, and face the risk of runaway. Although we are nobles, we will have to pay a high price to be with them. If you fail, your life could be in danger.”
Nevertheless, what I experienced after returning and the truth I found out added to my confidence. There is no bright future for this country while maintaining the old system.
“But it’s still a possibility. The possibility that we might be able to achieve a better future even if we pay a great price. A group of people who are immature and are not tied to the past and long for something new. “I put my all into it.”
Before my return, I want to change the miserable fate that met those who followed me simply because they inherited the blood of the Count of Toulouse.
“Maybe I just chose the lesser evil to avoid the worst. But I’m still confident that it’s better than the worst. “For that, I came this far by persuading those who had doubts and asking for help.”
I remember the moment when my whole life was denied value amidst the booing, hatred, and ridicule of the crowd.
“So I will join them. Even if it means selling the territory that a nobleman considers his life, even if he has to dirty his hands with blood and go through any hardships, in order to meet a better ending than the miserable fate he would have faced after settling for the old system.”
At the very least, at the moment of my death, I would like to say that I was a better person than my father, who only pursued his own greatness at the expense of others.
“I’m not acting on conviction, Christine. We are just humans struggling to avoid the worst and take a slightly better path. … It’s embarrassing to come here and say it, but that’s why people desperately need your help.”
Christine looked at me quietly and smiled softly.
As I was looking at her blankly, thinking that it was a smile appropriate for her age, which was somewhat different from the elegant smile she usually made, she opened her mouth.
“You, Pierre. “Now it looks a little like a person.”
“…Then what were you thinking all this time?”
“…Um, the devil who knows everything and controls everything from behind?”
When I laughed at Christine’s words, she laughed along and held out her hand.
When I looked to see what this meant, Christine opened her mouth with a smile on her face.
“Please take care of me again. “Not to the devil this time, but to you, Pierre.”
I smiled at her and held her hand.
“Then I will also ask you a favor. This time, not to the witch, but to you, Christine.”
?
