107. In fact, they knew (1)
“The devil declared war. “War is inevitable.”
There is no way to resolve this peacefully. The open space suddenly became noisy.
I understand. A war with the demon world while we are already in conflict with other kingdoms. How will the lost troops be replenished and what will be the funds? What about the mental strength of soldiers devastated by successive wars?
‘Furthermore, even if we manage to win the war against the demon world, there is no way other kingdoms will just stand by and watch an empire that cannot afford to fight any more wars.’
Since relations with other kingdoms have already reached their worst point, the downfall of the empire is preordained.
In a situation where he had no choice but to walk, even though he knew it was the path to downfall, the emperor spoke calmly.
“We have to focus on the demon world, so all wars within the human world will be halted.”
“Excuse me, but Your Majesty, will the kingdoms that were at war accept you obediently?”
“It has to be that way. “Because this empire is the only country in the human world that can deal with the demon world.”
And the emperor fell silent for a moment.
He stopped talking there, but I could tell what he was trying to say.
‘They would rather support the empire.’
If the empire falls, will the demon world really stop there?
No way. If the empire falls, the human world will soon fall.
In this situation, the most the other kingdoms could do to express their dissatisfaction would probably be not to support the empire. Even if the situation becomes dangerous, active support will have to be provided.
‘But there is no need to fight a war with insufficient support from the beginning. ‘He must have swallowed those words.’
In the current situation, there is no need to offend other kingdoms.
The emperor must have judged that way.
‘But…’
His opinion is premised on one assumption.
Assuming that no kingdom joins the Demon World.
My head suddenly tilted. We have seen a lot of human greed and selfishness during war. Is there really no chance that a powerful person with a lot to lose will join the side of the demon world for his own safety?
‘The Demon King accepted me as a human.’
This means that there is no special hostility or prejudice against humans. So, he would choose to accept it instead of rejecting it.
It’s easy once, but then it’s a battle of wits. Those in power will rush to betray the empire and offer their country to the devil. What is the importance of race? What’s important is my safety.
‘Well, there’s no need to say something I’m not sure about.’
It’s still a distant future. I don’t want to incur hate by saying something that wasn’t asked.
I don’t know. I never thought of something like that. I buried the thoughts that came to my mind and looked at the emperor with a calm face. He was once again nailing the story.
“So just be aware. From now on…”
“!”
The fishy scent of blood passed the tip of my nose.
A vivid bloody scent that is completely different from the scent of blood that comes from a monster that has been caught for some time.
Damn it. What kind of situation is this again? Before I could even turn around, I heard a clear voice right behind me.
“I guess I got the timing wrong.”
Could you please step aside for a moment?
Uh huh? The owner of a voice that could be considered a model of an aristocratic tone gently pushes me away and passes by. The thick, bloody smell followed behind, leaving a trail.
Holding a blood-soaked wooden box in one hand, he walks with restrained steps, neither fast nor slow, and stops in front of the emperor. He raised his head straight, without bowing an inch, and made eye contact with the emperor.
“….”
“….”
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he slowly bent one knee. He put down the red-stained wooden box next to him and bowed his head.
His green hair flowed down as he moved, and his neat voice came out again.
“Glory to the Empire. New Stigma Primiro sees the current Empire.”
Stigma Premiere. The second hero of the empire.
No matter how much of a hero he is, it’s too much for him to come in with such a strong bloody smell. Can’t you see that the nobles around you are frozen?
…although his clothes are strangely neat.
‘I feel a strange sense of déjà vu… I guess it’s just my mood.’
I feel like I’ve been through a similar situation with a different main character and location, but I guess that’s just my mood. Let’s ignore it.
“Get up. “What is the box next to it?”
“I prepared this out of regret as I cannot participate in the hunting competition due to circumstances, but… I don’t think I can give it to you because the timing is not good.”
“Tell me the content.”
“It’s the enemy’s head.”
Oh… as soon as they declared a halt to war in the human world, they came carrying the enemy’s head.
But it’s not the stigma’s fault. I didn’t know, so what can I do? The Emperor’s words will be known from today onwards, so for now, all he can do is carry out his duties faithfully.
The emperor was silent for a moment and then waved his hand at a nearby attendant. Stigma obediently hands over the box to the attendant who approaches him, and after receiving the box from the attendant, he opens the lid.
The scent of blood carried by the wind became stronger.
“…Good work.”
The answer from the emperor who cared about heroes was as expected.
As if Stigma had expected this, he slightly bowed his head and expressed his gratitude. The emperor handed the box back to the servant and walked forward.
“Orders will be delivered soon. “The war within the human world will stop and we will prepare for the war with the demon world, so prepare in advance.”
Stigma quietly retreats and asks the nobles around him who won first place in the hunting competition. He slightly widened his eyes and then smiled elegantly, as if he had answered sincerely despite his hesitation.
With that, the official monster hunting first place was Deon Hart, and the unofficial human hunting first place was Stigma Primiro, and the competition came to an end.
It would have been nice if…
The hunting competition is over, but it is not over. What does it mean? It means I can’t go home.
After the hunting competition hosted by the imperial palace, an after-party and social gathering is held. It would have been better if I hadn’t been able to go home because I was attending the banquet.
“I heard something happened. “Are you feeling okay?”
“it’s okay.”
It’s okay, so please just let me go now.
As soon as the emperor announced the end of the hunting competition, he grabbed me and dragged me into a quiet forest.
Actually, I didn’t drag it, but it’s the same as dragging it to me anyway.
[Wouldn’t you like to take a walk with your luggage?]
Who would dare refuse when the emperor makes such an offer?
I followed him with a miserable feeling. Even after a long time had passed, his mouth opened and the words that came out were about the commotion that had occurred at the hunting competition and his regards to my body.
“I’m glad you’re okay, but something went wrong at the tournament held by the imperial family, so I guess I’ll have to take responsibility. “I will send an additional amount to the prize money to be sent to your mansion.”
I felt like they were trying to subtly use money to get away with it, but I just went along with it.
Anyway, even if you tell me what you want, there’s no way they’ll grant what you really want, and other than that, I don’t really want anything else.
“thank you.”
“And… the plant-type monster you caught.”
I was shocked for a moment here.
I’m sure the emperor didn’t hear that ridiculous rumor either. I’d like to have some hope that it hasn’t been long since it started to spread and the Emperor hasn’t heard about it since he arrived.
But is that possible? Knowing full well the emperor’s intelligence, I immediately threw away my weak hopes.
‘Do you have any doubts?’
The emperor might be suspicious.
But I really didn’t control it. … I happened to bring him here, though.
“I will send someone soon, so I hope you can help us keep records of the attack method and response method.”
“All right.”
He sighs languidly, as if satisfied, and touches the back of his left hand. A hand wearing a glove came into view.
Now that I think about it, it’s strange. I remember that the emperor usually didn’t wear gloves. Didn’t you hate that your fingertips felt numb when you held and moved the sword?
As I was inwardly tilting my head, the emperor softly called my name.
***
“Deon Hardt.”
The guy’s mood changed, as if he sensed that he was about to move on to an important story.
Red-red eyes quietly look at me, revealing heavy power. I feel this every time, but the ability to judge ‘which side’ is the story that should be heard is truly top-notch.
‘No, in this case, we should first see it as sharing what we have heard and what we will remember.’
But it can’t go on like that forever.
It doesn’t matter because it’s not important right now. The Emperor, who was looking into Deonhardt’s eyes, opened his mouth leisurely, without any haste.
“You too will participate in this war.”
In the war within the human world, I was sent to the side of the Demon King, but not this time.
Deon Hart must take up the sword and deal with the demon lord’s army. Maybe I will stand in the Demon King’s camp and cut down the imperial army.
“So, I think we need to decide for sure now.”
One step. I narrowed the short distance further and placed my hand on his shoulder. The moment has come when everyone must face what they had ignored with tacit consent.
The emperor.
We know Deon Hardt is neutral.
The Demon King would also know this. That’s probably why Deon Hart is still alive and well.
A war of nerves with the Demon King and the Emperor’s Deonhart in the middle. The rules implicitly formed there were truly strange.
[Do not oppress Deon Hardt.]
Don’t let him remain in a below-competent position for fear of information leaking out.
For the same reason, do not detain Deon Hardt when he tries to cross over to the opponent’s camp.
It is also a monarch’s ability to place Deon Hardt in such a position and not reveal confidential information to him. Moreover, he answers questions honestly, so there is no need to torture him.
Games played under these rules were quite interesting.
[Who uses Deon Hart more effectively?]
[Who attracts Deon Hart first?]
[If Deon Hart decides on a camp, how quickly does the opponent realize this and take action?]
In the third case, Deon Hart Hart will also be actively participating in this game. The stake will be your own life.
So, I understand that they are desperately trying to remain neutral.
“You are a human.”
I can’t wait any longer when the situation has reached this point.
“I was born and raised here, and all my stepping stones are here. “If you were born under the sun, there must be a reason, but you can’t live your whole life in a place where the sun doesn’t exist just because you are weak to the sun’s light, right?”
“….”
“Stay here.”
Curses will disappear if you kill the Demon King.
The voice that said that was unexpectedly soft.
The person who caused this whole situation simply looked up at the emperor with mysterious red eyes.
Deon Hardt.
Because I am neutral, I know that the Emperor and the Demon King will not kill me.
It was intentional. It was to live.
If you refuse the devil’s advice to join the devil’s army, you will die. However, he couldn’t betray the emperor and side with the devil. Because he had work to do when he went back.
So it became completely neutral.
If someone holds a sword and hurts someone, they blame the ‘someone’ holding the sword, not the ‘sword.’ Similarly, in a situation where an opponent takes my sword and cuts me, there is no fool who gets angry and says, ‘The sword betrayed me.’
Deon became a ‘sword’.
‘Is there another owner of the sword? The one who holds it in his hand is the owner.’
The two monarchs, who had no way of knowing his intentions at first, astutely realized the situation as Deon went back and forth between the two camps once more.
There is no clear physical evidence, but I am confident. At that time, the Demon King looked at me with an interesting look and smiled, and the Emperor looked at me with a strange look and laughed as if it was funny.
It must have been embarrassing. But it would be a waste to kill him.
It’s not on my side, but it’s not on the other person’s side either. I don’t necessarily say anything I haven’t asked first, but I answer obediently when asked. Although he never takes the initiative, he faithfully follows orders. In addition, although there are some misunderstandings, his skills are also excellent.
As long as you attract it, it becomes a useful hand.
With the implicit consent of the two monarchs, Deonhardt was able to host a game with me as the prize.
‘The participants are the Demon King and the Emperor.’
‘The host is Deon Hardt.’
‘The product is also Deonhardt.’
‘The prospective participant is also Deon Hardt.’