67. Declaration of War (2)
It was a slow touch, as if caressing a wound.
But for some reason, it felt like it was going to grab my neck at any moment, so I had no choice but to remain still.
Besides, this stigma…
‘It’s not like a curse.’
Of course, it is true that the devil did it. However, it was not for the purpose of weakening the body and other cursed purposes as the people in the empire thought.
As I have said time and time again, my body is not weakened by external influences, it is just inherently weak.
So this brand is a ‘location tracking’ spell.
Think about it. Why would the Demon King trust me to obediently send me to the human world?
No matter how good I am in the demon world, in the end, I am a human whose hometown is the ‘human world.’ Although he stays in the demon world obediently without any complaints, isn’t it easy to be shaken when he sees the human world?
That’s why the Demon King always used a location tracking spell on me whenever I went to the human world.
‘It was like that when I first accepted the Demon King’s offer and went to the empire.’
When I said that I would carry the hero’s body with great difficulty and return to the empire, the Demon King cast a location tracking spell on me.
They say it’s for my safety and to prepare for an unexpected accident… but in the end, it means that if I don’t come back, they’ll come find me.
With my nose completely pierced, I couldn’t say anything and just dragged the hero’s body back to the empire. I was in front of the emperor and other important figures of the empire without realizing that my clothes were disheveled from covering the hero’s body. Arrived.
And because he had spent too much stamina, as soon as he put down the hero, he burst into tears and vomited blood.
At the time, I was so focused on getting my body in order that I didn’t even notice that their gaze had moved away from my face and stopped a little lower.
An unprecedented black stigma and hemoptysis. The warrior’s cold body and his colleague who collected it.
In a way, it was natural that their thoughts were influenced by the ‘Demon King’s Curse’.
‘I didn’t listen even if they said it wasn’t like that, and I couldn’t say out loud that I was the commander of the Demon King’s Army, so I kept my mouth shut…’
Now, I just hope I don’t get caught.
There was a good reason for deceiving even the emperor. Because I needed an excuse to go back to the demon world.
What on earth would they think if I, a person with all four limbs intact, had to go back to the demon world? Of course, ‘This bastard is going to betray you outright, right?’ Shouldn’t you start thinking about it?
Therefore, I implicitly acknowledged that it was a curse and slightly added a setting that required one to stay by the devil’s side to break it.
Therefore, it is too late to explain. The moment he finds out the truth, the emperor, who has been fooled, will cut off my head himself. I guarantee you.
So my answer was already decided.
“…I’ll try my best.”
A person who has never been cursed in the first place responded to the person who said that he would like to meet the person next time when the curse has been lifted.
***
“Hart Territory… That’s surprising.”
This land is of little use to me. Of course, if you look at the profit and loss, it is closer to a gain than a loss…
Duke Starbe Illuster glanced at Cruel, who, as always, did not respond.
“…Now that I think about it, when I met Honorary Count Hart in the corridors of the imperial palace not long ago, he said he came because he wanted to return his territory.”
Cruel Hart was also there at that time.
No. He was there first and he arrived late. And I had a conversation with Deon Hardt.
[I heard that the Count also came to see Your Majesty. May I ask what purpose you came for?]
[Oh, there is something I would like to ask about the territory I recently received…]
[Is it because it is not enough? It’s small or the land is barren.]
[No, I just want to return the territory.]
[That’s interesting.]
I only said it was interesting, but I didn’t really investigate what the territory was, but Cruel wanted to personally investigate it. If you did, there’s nothing you couldn’t figure out.
Couldn’t the ‘territory’ in that conversation at that time be this ‘Hart territory’?
The Duke, who narrowed his eyes and carefully examined Cruel’s expression, soon smiled and shook his head.
No way. It seems that he has become sensitive due to the meeting that will be held a little later.
I guess it’s just that I was displeased with the Hart estate being in the hands of the person who destroyed my family.
‘Surely it’s for Deon Hart?’
After thinking that far, the Duke grinned at Cruel.
As always, he looked kindly in his eyes and then spoke soothingly in a soft voice.
“I didn’t mean to reprimand you. This was simply a light event to reward you.”
“….”
“Is there anything else unusual?”
[You bastard!!]
Recalling the shouts and Deon’s attitude at the time, Cruel slowly removed his lips that seemed to have hardened. Green eyes turned to the floor and an unwavering voice came out.
“Nothing in particular.”
“Is that so?”
“….”
“I understand. I will gratefully accept the gift. If you wish, I will hand over all management authority of Hart Estate to you.”
“…thank you.”
Cruel quietly closed his eyes. 들끓는 분노가 압축된 ‘개새끼가’라는 거대한 외침이 고막을 뒤흔드는 듯해서 그는 무심코 데온이 배후를 눈치챘던 그때의 그 상황을 다시금 떠올렸다.
[You must have had fun just playing with me? is not it? 이 개새끼야!!]
온갖 욕설이 쏟아진다. Cruel had been frozen for a long time from the moment the word ‘peacock’ was said.
I noticed.
I didn’t open the window like this. I was just hoping to get a moderately satisfactory result and leave, but I never expected to be able to guess the identity of the person behind it.
‘Now that I think about it, I was quite clever when I was young.’
I’m not happy at all.
Still carrying the child with one arm, he reached around his waist with his other hand and grabbed the handle of his sword.
‘If you’re a duke…’
You’ll want to kill this kid who found out who’s behind it.
Kaang! Sparks flew.
Cruel, who managed to block Deon’s attack from an uncomfortable position, glanced back and forth between the red-hot interior and his younger brother, then hurriedly walked away.
Cruel quietly whispered to Deon as he increased his speed to escape this hot space as quickly as possible.
Deon was still struggling and swearing.
“If you want to live, don’t speak out about what you learned here.”
You’re smart, so you can tell what things shouldn’t be said.
And just as Deon’s dagger was about to hit his side again, Cruel, who opened the door and went out, saw his younger brother’s knight named Lien in front of him and immediately threw Deon.
‘….’
Duke Starbe, who had been quietly examining Cruel, who was speechless as to what he was thinking, turned his gaze with a natural smile. The same soft voice as always filled the room.
“…and Saerin.”
“Yes, Duke.”
The woman who had been waiting in the corner for their conversation to end, as she had once done, looked up.
A woman who willingly took on the tiresome task of overseeing the Salvation Church. The duke looked sweetly at her.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“…I just did what I had to do.”
The answer came a beat late. The duke continued speaking regardless.
“From now on, move very secretly under the water. “The emperor must not get caught.”
There are words that are filtered out from the Salvation Church and taught to the remaining true believers as if to brainwash them.
The emperor is sin, the duke is salvation.
Peacock is salvation.
‘Stabe Illuster is salvation.’
This is the purpose of the Salvation Church.
Making people blind to Duke Stave Illuster.
At the same time, it worsened public sentiment towards the emperor.
“Please leave it to me.”
“I feel reassured.”
After smiling once, I turned around.
I erased the woman’s existence from my mind and spoke to Cruel, who was waiting behind me.
“Then let’s go. I’ll be late for the meeting.”
I started walking. You can hear a sound following you at a certain distance from behind.
The eyes of the Duke walking ahead were so cold that his previous appearance seemed like a lie.
***
When the duke entered the conference hall, everyone except the emperor had already gathered.
The noble faction and the imperial faction. It looks like they are sitting perfectly divided into two groups.
Although the sight was quite funny, the duke naturally calmed down his expression and gave a soft greeting.
“I guess I’m late.”
These words were spoken by the head of the noble faction and the second most powerful person after the emperor. Those from the noble faction began waving their hands.
“No. Your Majesty hasn’t come in, so the meeting hasn’t started yet.”
“You came at just the right time.”
“There isn’t even an agenda yet. Please sit here.”
The duke follows the instructions and sits at the head table, which is the seat closest to the emperor among the aristocratic seats.
The faces of the emperor faction frowned at their confident and natural attitude, but they did not say anything.
Because according to principle, it is right for him to sit there. It’s just that the person himself is so unlucky that no matter what he does, he just looks disapproving.
“…Sudden meeting. I’m worried about what’s going on.”
“I don’t know what it is, but it must be important. There’s no way His Majesty would have held such a large meeting without thinking.”
“What on earth is going on?…”
That’s war.
I can’t believe I still can’t get my head around the subject I’ve been watching the emperor for so far. The duke suppressed the laughter that was trying to escape his mouth.
I had fully anticipated this situation from the time I prepared a separate budget plan.
Even if he had not been aware of the preparation of the budget, he would have fully predicted that the meeting would be related to the ‘war’ since the meeting was convened.
Isn’t he ‘the’ emperor?
The easiest way for someone who has cut off all of his blood to prove his qualifications as a monarch is to turn the tip of the sword he is holding outward.
Proving your worth by conquering.
‘That’s what he can do best and-‘
–Because it would be much better to be remembered as a conquering emperor rather than a corrupt emperor.
‘The conquering emperor still deserves praise for expanding his territory…’
“What do you think, Excellency the Duke?”
“You mean what I think?”
I raised my head and looked around at the question that suddenly occurred to me.
Not only the noble faction, but even the imperial faction had their eyes fixed on him as if they were curious about his answer.
“Yes, I wonder what your Majesty will say…”
“Well, how can I know your deep thoughts?”
“Ah…”
I guess I was secretly looking forward to it. Contrary to his vague gestures as if he knew something, when the answer came back that he didn’t know, sighs broke out here and there.
These are not people who will literally believe what comes out of their mouth. There was a subtle confidence and doubt in their eyes.
I guess I should respond appropriately at this point.
The duke added, still showing a suspicious smile.
“However, I heard that the Kingdom of Ireon has been causing controversy recently. It might be related to that.”
A cold silence fell in the conference hall.
I was glad for the silence, so I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes for a moment. At the cautious call, the Duke slowly lifted his eyelids.
“That means… Are you saying that there might be a war?”
“It’s just a guess.”
It wasn’t an outright affirmation, but it was definitely not a denial.
The moment the people in the meeting room fell silent at the answer full of affirmation, a voice was heard outside the door announcing the emperor’s appearance. .
As soon as everyone stands up, the door opens and the emperor, accompanied by Nemeseus, walks in. He strides forward
as if there is nothing to get in his way, and everyone flinches at his ferocious force for a moment, then a unanimous greeting comes out of everyone’s mouth. came out.
“Bright on the empire.”
“Everyone, please sit down.”
A low voice fell.
Those sitting in their seats reflexively looked at the emperor’s expression as the voice was uncomfortable to even pretend to hear.
Expressionless, but expressionless with a cool feeling somehow. This is it.
All of those who are here now are people who have survived so far in the imperial palace, where if you lose your head, you will be blown off your head. They have been able to sense the emperor’s mood and have calmed down. If you open your mouth incorrectly, you will die. Let’s keep it as close as possible. “First of all, even in the midst of being
busy
, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who participated in the sudden meeting.”
Of course, a few years ago, one person lost his title after failing to attend due to being busy
… “I’ll get to the point quickly.”
“….”
“Three days from now, Jim is planning to declare war.”
“…!“
