304. Commit a greater sin than anyone else (2)
It is not necessary for each hero to have a corps commander, and I tried to have the corps commanders fill in the gaps on their own, but I don’t think that is necessary.
‘If you think about it, if you don’t have enough manpower, you can make the climate on your side.’
Deon recalled a stick he had once used himself.
If you cut off the end of the stick, the contents would fly out like firecrackers and make snow fall. They say it was developed for use during wartime. Indeed, despite its name, which seemed like a child’s toy, its power was quite powerful.
…At that time, I cut off half of my finger while cutting the end of a stick.
‘Why did I forget this?’
It is a useful item in many ways.
The explosive power to sprinkle snow in a wide radius and the extreme cold to prevent the snow from melting and turning into rain would be effective even if fired directly at the enemy.
I lowered my gaze. The Demon King came into view, pressing and rubbing the area where the wound was.
“I like being a hero. It healed without a trace…”
“Demon King.”
“huh?”
Only then did the Demon King take his gaze off his fingers and raise his head. Deon took his hand out of his grasp and asked the question to the station that was looking at me.
“Do you know how many snowflake sticks we have in stock?”
“Snowflake… Ah, it’s been a while since I heard that name.”
…At first, he was skeptical as if he was hearing an unfamiliar word, but then he let out an exclamation as if he understood.
A reaction that would not have occurred if the item had been actively made and actively stockpiled. Deon’s brow narrowed slightly at the other person’s attitude, as if he had completely forgotten about it.
“Surely they stopped production?”
“Rather than saying it was stopped… it was a test project to begin with, right? It’s just ‘what if it were like this?’ I developed it because I wanted to, so I didn’t mass-produce it. “If it had been an official product in the first place, they wouldn’t have named it something like that.”
To be honest, the name was too rough to even pretend.
However, even though it was a test product, I thought it would go into official production soon considering its efficiency…
“It took a lot of work to make it because it had to be made by delicately processing the magic stone. Wouldn’t it be suitable for mass production? So it was discarded.”
“Ah…”
“But there will probably be some leftover stock. “There must be a related ledger somewhere here…”
He stands up and approaches a bookshelf on one side. He walked along, running his fingers through the various ledgers piled up in a row, stopping at a certain place and pulling it out.
The Demon King, who was flipping through the pages and examining the contents, raised his head and said as if he had found what he was looking for.
“There are two regular snowflake sticks and one blood snowflake stick left.”
“…That’s too bad.”
It’s too less than I thought. You can’t shoot directly at the enemy. Deon clicked his tongue lowly.
‘Still, I should consider it fortunate that I got the minimum number correct.’
You can start by shooting one at each castle.
As if he had sensed Deon’s thoughts, the Demon King, who had put the ledger back in its place, slowly raised the corner of his mouth. A soft voice settled over the sound of footsteps returning to their seats.
“To use it to bring out those who are trapped?”
“yes. If you aim precisely at the sky above the castle and use it, the crops they harvested will freeze or spoil. Then, it will become impossible to hold out due to lack of food…”
“As a last resort, we will attempt to attack head-on. From the other side’s perspective, since they are fighting while hungry, and since they are losing a game, they will be mentally overwhelmed and not be able to show their full strength, and such a situation will make up for the lack of corps commanders on this side to some extent… That’s okay. “One is a blood snowflake stick, but there is no problem in achieving the intended effect, so it doesn’t matter.”
Accurate. Deon nodded.
Even so, it would be better to use it where you can get the most efficiency out of it. In which country would it be beneficial to use blood snowflake sticks?
The answer came quickly.
“I plan to use the blood snowflake stick in the mountain country.”
“Why did you have to point it out like that? I guess there’s some special reason?”
“San-guk is located in the south, where there are many shamans. “Because they will be so sensitive to superstitions, they will be able to encourage public anxiety within the castle.”
Deon saw how scary superstitions were through a book containing records of the past.
Even though there is no basis, they arbitrarily interpret that heaven is angry and kill the king by blaming him for his vices. In the name of appeasing nature, they sacrificed fellow humans and even ate children, believing the unfounded myth that they would make them healthy.
So, if bloody snow falls from the sky, public sentiment will become uneasy. The ugly public will not be able to overcome their own anxiety and will want to solve the ominous phenomenon as quickly as possible by creating a cause that does not exist. In a way, it is only natural that it leads to superstition.
“Good decision.”
The Demon King laughed.
“Individuals may be smart, but the public is stupid. “When waging war, it is fundamental to touch the ‘public sentiment’ of the other country.”
One or two loaches are bound to muddy the water. When they come to their senses, even smart people will be caught up in meaningless arguments with stupid people, and they will be dragged along without being able to come up with a solution. Or, even if you come to your senses and try to do it properly, you will only be caught up in the majority who are already caught up in it.
There will probably be infighting. It will be even more difficult to deal with because it is not an infighting involving weapons, but simply an infighting based on public opinion.
“Because public sentiment is shaken because it means the king’s power is shaken.”
This will be a particularly big blow to the country of Shan, which fanatically believes in its king.
“…Yes, probably so.”
You got it right this time too.
Deon looked at the Demon King, who looked particularly happy, and then looked away. As a nobleman and an honorary count, he was well aware of how the upper world worked.
The king’s shaken power will lead to checks by the nobles. No matter how much you try to do something, there will always be obstacles.
“Greedy nobles are eager to get more even in these situations, so there will be problems with the command system.”
Confrontation and checks to somehow wrest more power.
That alone is enough.
Deon relaxed his body, which had been tensing without realizing it as he was thinking about it, and rolled around on the sofa again. The Demon King, who was looking at him blankly, asked another question.
“When are you going to use the stick?”
“I saw before that even though the snow didn’t fall for that long, the cold air itself that lowers the temperature lasted for quite a long time. As long as the cold remains, even natural rain will turn into snow. So, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in using it in advance…”
“Are you planning to secretly send manpower to use it?”
“No, then there is a possibility that we will get food again, right? We need troops to keep that in check.”
It would be better to send them as an advance team. therefore.
Deon stands up and looks straight at the Demon King. He speaks with his eyes firmly sunken, as if this is the main point.
“Can we hold a corps commander meeting right now?”
“….”
A voice as strong as the eyes.
Instead of answering right away, the Demon King stood up quietly. I walked around the table blocking the space and slowly approached Deon, placing the back of my hand on his forehead.
A short silence passed between the two, and soon a soft question was asked.
“Right now?”
“…yes.”
“I still have a fever.”
A mild fever that has almost become a chronic disease.
I can feel the heat on the back of my hand. The Demon King looked directly into Deon’s eyes, raised the corners of his mouth, and spoke softly as if in a whisper.
“What’s so urgent?”
“….”
“Even today alone, it’s full and overflowing. “How about taking a little rest?”
“….”
“Oh yeah. It might be okay to do it after taking a nap. “It must be hard to endure these days because I don’t even take medicine.”
At some point, Deon stopped taking medicine.
Is that all? Starting with Dan’s death, useless habits have disappeared and now only the basic habits I have had since childhood are left, so I wonder if this can be accepted positively.
‘…No, I’ve developed a new habit.’
The act of silently looking down at your hands whenever you have time. If this were a habit, it would be a habit, but…
I always feel like I’m going to collapse at any moment, and now I just don’t sleep, but it’s too normal. With a clear sense of discomfort, the Demon King looked down at Deon as if observing.
“…Don’t worry about it.”
Deon, who crumpled his face as if he was displeased with the Demon King’s words and actions, roughly slapped away the hand that was still touching his forehead.
“This is not fever, this is basal body temperature.”
“…Yes, it doesn’t go down any further, so it’s not wrong to say it’s a ‘basic’ body temperature.”
Of course, it is definitely not a ‘normal’ body temperature.
Deon twitched the corner of his mouth as if it was funny at the follow-up comment.
“What if one of the reasons for that in the first place is saying those things in front of me?”
The cause of fever is stress. The one who is taking the biggest share of that stress is the devil right in front of us.
A sharp voice continued.
“Isn’t that true even with recent events?”
“If it’s Dan’s business, he just did whatever he wanted and I didn’t do anything, right?”
“At that time, if Dan had not first decided to embrace his sin, you would have suggested that he make the sacrifice.”
The Demon King looked at Deon with a silent affirmation at the shortened remark, as if he was a little moved.
I have no intention of denying it, so I kept my mouth shut for now… So, why is it coming out here? The question was resolved in the remarks that immediately followed.
“So, I’m not talking about ‘Dan’s work’, but your actions in protecting me.”
“…aha.”
The Demon King always surrounded Deonhardt. Deon himself knew that fact better than anyone else.
‘The reason is obvious.’
It must be for your own purposes. It protects me for its own purpose and mercilessly throws away everything other than ‘Deonhardt’ for that purpose, so how can I love it without heart?
It is truly terrible to be able to abandon the people around you against your will due to circumstances, but absolute protection is truly comforting.
“Perhaps you knew the effect that action had on me.”
Deon glared at the Demon King.
The perspicacious Demon Lord must have known that this was a significant amount of stress for Deonhardt.
“Nevertheless, they cover, treat, and take care of you.”
The enemy bastard is worried about my body. I didn’t just take my breath away, I also took care of the mental aspect as well. We take care of them when they get into accidents, treat them when they get hurt, try to put them to sleep when they refuse to sleep, and teach them their hobbies.
It wasn’t just a place of stress, it felt like I was really going crazy.
“…Well, it’s irrelevant now.”
“….”
He suddenly became excited and suddenly cooled down as if he had never seen it before.
…Now I finally understand the identity of the feeling of discomfort. The Demon King quietly smiled, accepting the twisted emotions that bordered on love and hate.
Deon Hardt did not recover normally…
“Sand-like broken glass hurts less than clumsily broken glass shards.”
“….”
“You said you wanted to have a meeting with the corps commanders right away, right? “If you want.”
Do whatever you feel like.
