Episode 187 Shadow Peace – Pride
After holding a simple disbanding ceremony and chatting briefly with those I had not met during the war, I returned to the long-vacant mansion in the capital.
And then I came face to face with a man I had never thought of.
“It’s been a while, Marquis!”
“Oh, it’s been a while, Baron Dumont.”
Robert de Dumont.
A paunchy man who had served the Count of Toulouse and then the Marquis of Lafayette for a long time welcomed me at my mansion.
No, now that my gray hair is grown, should I call him grandpa?
Dumont answered with a smile.
“Haha, this is the former Baron. “Now my son is Baron Dumont.”
“Oh, did you pass on the title to me early?”
“Heh, that’s how it happened. Now, the only title that comes with it is a mansion…”
Dumont smiled awkwardly, and I gave him a wry smile.
…The servant behind him is restless because he welcomed me as a guest without my permission.
Dumont, who followed my gaze, cleared his throat and protested.
“Keuhum khum. Look at this! What did I say! I told you that this Dumont is closely related to the Marquis de Lafayette! “Why can’t you trust people?”
“I’m sorry. “I didn’t know you were the Marquis’ guest…”
Even though it was a half-abandoned mansion, there were so many people who wanted to line up with me, the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, that I would have been suspicious when I said I was a guest.
From the looks of it, Dumont, who came from the south and didn’t know much about the situation, recklessly claimed to be a guest and stayed.
“Oh, it’s okay. “I will respond.”
When I motioned to the servant to go away, saying it was okay, the servant repeatedly bowed his head to me and walked away.
Since I came to the capital, I’ve spent far more days on the battlefield than I’ve spent in the mansion, so I only have one attendant…
It’s a problem in this situation.
The servant’s expression is not very good, and it seems like he must have suffered while I was away…
“I’m sorry about this. Lord Dumont. “I rarely stay in the capital, so I wasn’t properly prepared to entertain guests.”
Dumont smiled at his servant as if he had never done so before.
“No, no, Marquis. You are not a Frangian if you do not know that the Marquis has been going from battlefield to battlefield for a long time to protect this country! “The Marquis’ Territory is also proud of the Marquis’ performance!”
Although it is no longer a marquis’ territory.
“Haha, then this way…”
Instead of correcting his perception, I guided him to the living room.
“Now that I will be staying in the capital for a while, I will probably have to prepare to entertain guests.”
We’ve been fighting for a long time, but now we have to adapt to the era of peace.
Can’t we expect that the demons who intervened several times during that long war will not be able to do anything since everything has come to nothing?
“Then, how about buying a mansion first? “This is the prestige of the mansion of the Marquis, who is by name the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army…”
Dumont looked at my mansion with disapproving eyes. Still, it is a nobleman’s mansion, so although it has two floors, it is not that big.
Most congressmen have better houses than me.
Well, I definitely wasn’t going to stay there for long anyway, so I was wondering why I would buy a nice house, but…
I offered Dumont some of the black tea he enjoyed and raised my coffee cup and said,
“I don’t think it’s necessary right now. “I think we need to hire at least a butler to entertain guests.”
“Then hire me, Marquis!”
Dumont suddenly shouted and I almost spit out the coffee I was drinking.
“What do you say?”
“I will be your butler!”
Oh no, even though I gave up the baronetcy, why are you still my butler?
“What about the governorship of Toulouse?”
“I put it down!”
“I beg your pardon?!”
“Don’t say anything! Can’t you see that my hair has all turned white? The Marquis de Lafayette hmm. No, the Toulouse region still had some system left thanks to the Marquis, but the central government, whose officials had been wiped out by the revolution, was a complete mess! “After I cooperated with them and established the system, it was so difficult that I couldn’t do it anymore!”
“Heh heh…”
Well, I didn’t know much because I was traveling around the battlefield, but the central government after the revolution had completely wiped out all the bureaucrats, so it went back to its old ways.
Even so, I negotiated with the National Assembly to seat him in this position…
I have a subtle feeling, but I wonder what I can do when he says he doesn’t like it.
“No, but aren’t you just putting it down to rest a little more comfortably? “Even if you have nothing to do, why should I be your butler…”
Then Dumont pounded his chest with his fist with a frustrated face and shouted with burning eyes.
“Marquis, when are you getting married?”
“yes?”
“If this continues, this old man will not be able to die because he will feel sorry for seeing Lady Yuria! “I must quickly give the marquis a true young lady and see how he continues the marquis’s lineage!”
I smiled awkwardly and responded to the spirit of an old man whose stomach could not keep up with even a decent knight.
“I am engaged to the Count of Aquitaine…”
“So when are you getting married? Even though it’s a war, I haven’t heard any news from them even though they’re in their 20s, so I came all the way here to help them! “You broke off the engagement and put the marriage on hold until the marriage period is over!”
No, the war was over and Louis also came of age.
All that’s left to do is for Christine and Louise to decide.
“Don’t worry too much, sooner or later-”
“When is soon! ” Everyone left at Lafayette Manor is eagerly waiting! It can’t go on like this. “I will stick by your side and help you until the day the Marquis of Dumont sees your heir!”
I sighed as I watched Dumont talking enthusiastically, his belly fluttering.
…Oh my head.
…Is this roughly how Eris looks at the Central Party members?
I didn’t know I could relate to Eris like this.
* * *
Pandemonium, the capital of the Abyss Corporation.
In a city where the sun never rises, covered in a thick, murky purple fog, lights are bright as day, and human-shaped drones move around diligently.
Baal, the CEO of ‘Pride’, was watching the scene of Pandemonium with his arms crossed, wearing armor with his shoulders decorated with a split demon king’s crown as always.
And soon, the teleportation magic circle behind him began to shine – and a demon in the form of a human wearing glasses and a succubus in a nun’s uniform appeared.
“I welcome your return. For the time being, we will be able to see the CEO of ‘Grid’ at regular meetings.”
Vassago, who returned after decades as Justin von Wittenfeld, raised his glasses and answered.
“If it’s tens of years, it’s long, if it’s short, it’s only a short time, Baal. “I think I performed my mission quite well…”
Vassago raised the Kingdom of Krafte, which was just a frontier territory of the empire, into a joker who would accelerate the chaos of the empire.
The victory of the Kingdom of Krafte over the empire stimulated other feudal lords, and as the already loose centralization of the empire weakened further, the lords did everything they could to raise armies and became a major player in the Abyss Corporation.
Even apart from Gremoria, who crosses the border of dreams, the reason he acts as an undercover agent is to satisfy his ‘greed’, but even after being away from the home country of Abyss Corporation for a long time, he has shown such abilities and achievements. It is natural that he remains as CEO of Grid.
However, Vassago paused for a moment and then raised the corners of his mouth.
“It seems like the headquarters couldn’t do anything about it.”
Baal still had his arms crossed, but his expression hardened slightly.
“It’s probably because of the uncertain variables. I saw the Marquis de Lafayette in person, but he was unusual for a general. “But it was just that, and even though I was preparing for normalcy to be dealt with, I’m still alive.”
After massaging his chin with his hand, he muttered.
He passed on information about those who would benefit the most from overthrowing the Marquis de Lafayette or who would seek revenge on him.
As if that wasn’t enough, we also prepared the Abyss Corporation’s extreme poison, which can kill humans with impunity.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were able to sort it all out would mean that they had more luck than fame, and that the saintly king who could solve the extreme poison came forward.
“I’m tired. I did everything I could, but I ended up failing at headquarters.”
Baal slowly frowned.
“It’s probably not the right thing to say when you’re under the sway of the Count of Aquitaine, but let’s go.”
“Oh, that was something I couldn’t help dealing with as Justin von Wittenfeld, Baal.”
The Sioux as Justin von Wittenfeld. In other words, since only Krafte’s agents had to move, the restrictions on him were quite severe.
Nevertheless, as far as military operations were concerned, he was able to overwhelm Christine Daquitaine, but only up to that point.
In the end, it was inevitable that we would lose in the field of diplomatic warfare without any foundation.
If he had been able to use all his assets as the CEO of ‘Grid’ from the beginning, well.
Vassago smiled and opened his mouth, thinking that it would have been a fun match.
“Anyway, it’s a big deal. It’s a big deal. This Vassago was able to easily divide the empire and move Krafte to start a war with Franzia, but the ‘Pride’ company, which is in charge of the ‘head’ of the Abyss Corporation, was repeatedly failing in its grand strategy. ”
“Is ‘Grid’ trying to challenge ‘Pride’?”
As Baal spoke in a low voice, Gremory, who had been quietly swimming in the air until then, quickly intervened between the two.
“Now, calm down~ Love&Peace! Internal conflicts are prohibited at Abyss Corporation! It’s banned! “Everyone is laughing and having fun~”
Thanks to the succubus, who half-intentionally floundered in the middle, winking and smiling, both of them lost their momentum.
“Hahaha then I guess I’ll have to check out ‘Grid’ for the first time in a while. Then, it was fun to walk around the dream world, Gremory.”
“Thank you for using it again, Mr. Greed of Bad Taste.”
Vassago snorted and turned his back.
Gremory then breathed a sigh of relief and spun around in the air, pulling his legs with both hands and crouching down to look at Baal.
“Baal Fortress is too harsh-”
Baal stared at Gremory and then opened his mouth.
“Gremory, what did you think of the Marquis de Lafayette?”
“yes?”
“Almost 400 years have passed since the establishment of Abyss Corporation. Never before has Pride’s power evaluation and prediction been so wrong. “I don’t understand how that is possible.”
The Marquis de Lafayette clearly did not make a mark in the early days of the civil war.
Then, at some point, it appeared like a comet and changed the scenario of civil war prepared by the Abyss Corporation, and as a result, their plan to use the revolution to profit from the Central Continent was completely shattered.
In the end, the Abyss Corporation tried to eliminate the Marquis de Lafayette and defeat Frangia so that the Empire would win even if it meant giving up the gains from the revolution.
At least in their opinion, the weapons provided to the empire were sufficient to make that possible. There was also extreme poison from assassins.
Nevertheless, the Marquis de Lafayette overcame it and even intervened in the Iberica Peninsula, their main source of materials, and defeated Paimon.
As a result, the Marquis de Lafayette no longer became something more than a mere variable.
As a result, many of the connections that the Abyss Corporation had planted on the continent over a long period of time were lost, and the empress of the empire cut off trade with them, cutting imports and exports in half.
In the end, they mobilized the strongest cards they had.
However, even the attempt to somehow catch him by using the cards he had developed for the division and tribulation of the empire ultimately failed.
“Even though I prepare so that there is no way to fail, I fail every time. I can not understand.”
They clearly assessed Franzia’s strength correctly. However, in each fight, they showed a power that far exceeded the power they had shown before.
Saint Queen Esiliste, Count of Aquitaine, Count Mirbeau There are many other threatening elements to Francia, but in the end, there is one person who is their focal point and has been working to ruin the Abyss Corporation’s plans from the beginning.
“How on earth does Pierre de Lafayette always break our expectations and ruin our plans?”
Gremory smiled delicately and answered.
“Well, I wonder if I’m receiving love from God.”
Baal snorted, but Gremory spoke carefully.
“Baal, how about changing the policy now? It’s slowly reaching a dangerous level. If it is no longer difficult to gain the upper hand against them and gain an advantage, let’s cooperate appropriately-”
“It must have been hundreds of years ago that you were a saint of humans, Gremory. Do you still empathize with them?”
Gremory kept his mouth shut.
The ‘pride’ or ‘pride’ of demons.
Baal, CEO of Pride, stated simply:
“The Abyss Corporation still holds a firm technological advantage over the races of that inferior continent. They have always been our puppets and must remain so.”
And if there is anything that interferes with the hegemony of the Abyss Corporation, it must be excluded in some way.
Baal turned his back on Gremory and started walking.
