Chapter 135: Tightrope Walking

A stifled gasp, halfway between a moan and shock, escaped, prompting the Emperor to glance at me before leaping off his horse. He scanned the remaining magical beasts, then with a flick of his sword, sliced through the air from left to right. The top and bottom halves of two creatures separated simultaneously.

‘Some of us nearly died here…’

The Emperor’s skill was truly something else.

Cleaning up the rest was a matter of moments. In the now-silent forest, he casually flicked his sword, shaking off the creatures’ fluids, before neatly sheathing it and turning back to me.

“…For someone who claimed to be barely able to move, you seem surprisingly alright.”

“…Ah, for the glory of the Empire!”

“I see that’s not the case. Was it poison, then?”

Just as I tried to offer a hasty greeting, he effortlessly hauled my collapsing body upright, as if plucking a radish.

…He grabbed my arm, so I guess that counts as helping me up? Why do I feel so embarrassed, though?

Dangling precariously, relying entirely on his grip, the Emperor scrutinized me in silence, a faint smile playing on his lips before he spoke languidly.

“This is our first proper meeting, isn’t it, Commander of the 0th Legion?”

…!

“It seems you confused your communicator with a mana stone. Understandable, as they’re both mana stones, but it would be wise to pay closer attention in the future. An operative this careless is hardly useful.”

The communication stone was on the left…!

I felt like all the blood drained from my body. The world, which had just begun to regain its color, turned white again. My face must be paler than anything imaginable right now.

The stress reached its breaking point, and before I could suppress it, something hot surged up from within.

“Ugh…! Cough!”

“Is this internal injury, or the curse acting up…?”

He watched the red liquid drip from my chin and clicked his tongue softly before gently lowering me to the ground.

The Emperor’s gaze, unreadable, lingered on me for a moment before he seemed to notice something and spoke.

“Your eyes aren’t quite focused.”

“Ah… that’s…”

“Spare me the excuses and answer this: is this a temporary issue, or a permanent injury?”

“It’s temporary.”

“Well, that’s fortunate.”

…

His voice was even, slightly slow, but otherwise unremarkable. Yet, I had to fight to conceal the terror washing over me.

‘I almost died there.’

A moment ago, the Emperor’s demeanor wasn’t that of someone dealing with a person, but rather assessing the usefulness of an object.

If I had said it was a permanent injury, I’d surely be dead right here. Losing my sight would drastically reduce my effectiveness as a spy, and my combat abilities would be nearly gone. The Emperor isn’t one to keep a broken sword out of sentimentality. I suspect the Demon King is the same.

As I calmed my racing heart with deep breaths, a bundle landed abruptly beside me.

“Clean clothes. You seem to have snuck out; returning in that state would cause quite a commotion.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“And…”

The Emperor paused as he was about to hand me bandages and medicine, his gaze sweeping over me before he sighed.

“…It’s no wonder your vision is blurry. Are you even aware that you’re bleeding profusely from your side? It’s practically flowing.”

“Huh?”

Oh, right. I did feel pain in my side when I assessed my condition.

I lowered my head slightly. My clothes were stained red all over, which must be why I hadn’t noticed it. Only then did I see the open wound, blood seeping through the torn fabric.

So, my vision wasn’t blurring from the pain, but from blood loss.

“The wound… it looks almost like something was gouged out. Why is that? Were you too out of it from the curse to react properly?”

…

“Or could a monster’s attack cause such a wound…? You were careless.”

How are being disoriented by a curse and a gouged wound connected?

And why isn’t his first thought that I’m just not strong enough? The Demon King and the Emperor… just how highly do they think of my abilities?

Whether he understood my speechless bewilderment or not, the Emperor observed me for a moment before taking out disinfectant, a hemostatic agent, and then bandages.

“In any case, it’s best to treat it quickly.”

“Yes, thank you…”

“Take off your clothes. No, you might worsen the wound trying to remove them; cutting them is better.”

…Pardon?

“Hold still. You could end up with another wound if you move.”

No, no, at this rate, I’ll be the one ending up dead! He’s going to cut my clothes off with that terrifying sword? Isn’t he going to cut me in half too?

‘That’s the sword he was just using to butcher monsters! I… I think I’ll pass on the treatment. Keep that thing away from me, please…!’

Help….

My opponent is the Emperor; escape isn’t an option. My eyes darted nervously towards the sword-wielding Emperor, and I finally gave up, squeezing my eyes shut.

Please, just don’t slice me in two….

The brutal treatment was over.

When he raised the sword, I thought this was the end, but thankfully, after cutting my clothes, he treated the wound properly. Should I be surprised by this?

“Th-thank you.”

“Enough with the gratitude; get dressed.”

I touched the neatly bandaged side with a bewildered expression before pulling a clean shirt from the bundle the Emperor had tossed me and awkwardly slipped my arms through the sleeves.

The Emperor stood a few steps away, arms crossed, watching as I fumbled with the shirt buttons.

“You’ve buttoned it wrong.”

“Ah.”

I was too nervous in front of the Emperor.

I found the mismatched buttons and corrected them. He checked the time on his pocket watch and then called out to me.

“Can you walk?”

…Yes.

Probably.

The Emperor clearly didn’t believe my hesitant reply. He frowned slightly and then approached again, grasping my ankle.

…?!

‘No… Your Majesty…?!’

His head is lower than my eye level now…?

Should I bow? How do I lower my body while sitting?

“You’ve been sitting without getting up… What are you doing?”

“…Nothing.”

I awkwardly straightened my hunched upper body.

The Emperor glanced at me with a strange look but seemed to decide to ignore it, turning his attention back to my ankle.

“You’ve been sitting without getting up…”

…

“You’re not so ill-mannered as to remain seated while the Emperor stands…”

“It’s just a slight muscle strain.”

It’s better to seem physically unable to show proper respect than to appear blatantly disrespectful in front of the Emperor.

The Emperor chuckled, examining my ankle, shin, and knee in quick succession after my overly hasty reply.

“Seems so. No issues with the bones.”

…

“I’ll give you bandages. Wrap them as needed and see yourself safely back. You’ll be summoned in a few days, so make sure you recover by then.”

“Summoned…?”

“Indeed. You followed the Demon King’s orders this time; it’s only fair you follow mine next.”

Wow… seriously….

Why is my life like this? This is driving me insane.

I instinctively caught the bandages the Emperor tossed to me. Even after I was alone again, I couldn’t quite gather my scattered wits.

***

Ironically, the leaders of the Empire’s opposing factions, the Emperor and the Duke, held somewhat similar ideologies. Consequently, nobles, regardless of their allegiance, shared a basic understanding of noblesse oblige.

For example, the nation and its citizens should be the top priority.

If you were to ask why so many selfish and inconsiderate nobles existed despite this, it would be like asking why people hit others when they know they shouldn’t. Regardless of their actual behavior, the current nobles all had a foundational understanding of their duties ingrained in them.

Why am I bringing this up?

“As nobles of this Empire who prioritize the nation, shouldn’t we uncover the truth behind the rumors surrounding Honorary Marquis Deon Hart? These rumors could endanger our nation, depending on their validity.”

There were rumors circulating about Honorary Marquis Deon Hart.

Specifically, the rumor that he’s a vampire!

“I’ve found ancient texts. While their numbers and territories were overwhelmingly vast, preventing much exposure to the Human Realm, ‘vampires’ certainly existed in the Demon Realm.”

“In the past tense, isn’t it?”

“We have no way of knowing for sure in the present. However, we cannot dismiss the possibility that Honorary Marquis Hart is the last of their kind.”

“He is certainly suspicious. His combat style involves excessive bloodshed, after all!”

“And his eyes are red.”

“And what about his pale skin? They say he can’t be exposed to sunlight for long—isn’t that exactly like the vampires described in the books?”

Surprisingly, they were serious.

According to the ancient texts, vampires and demons lived in the same Demon Realm. Wouldn’t that mean he’d side with the Demon Realm if the Human Realm and Demon Realm went to war? Just like how the various kingdoms within the Human Realm would stop their infighting to face the ‘Demon Realm’!

“We must find out for certain this time.”

“Indeed. But His Majesty is shielding him…”

“Perhaps we should speak to Duke…”

“I was chased out before I could even finish my sentence.”

The Duke, knowing the truth, naturally saw it as nothing more than the ramblings of fools.

“It seems we have no choice but to investigate ourselves.”

“I’ve already placed eyes and ears near Honorary Marquis Hart.”

“I have too… Has your contact gone silent, by any chance…?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“They’re probably dead. He’s a Hero; his senses must be highly developed.”

He is indeed a formidable opponent.

This was the collective thought of every noble present.

“…I’ll need to select the most discreet individuals to send again.”

“Then I’ll assign others to observe from a distance, just in case.”

“But… what if he really is a vampire…? What are we going to do then?”

…

…

Could they really remove someone the Emperor was protecting?

Even if they revealed Deon Hart’s vampiric nature to the world, all that would change is that the animosity towards him would intensify. It’s unlikely the Emperor would so easily discard a useful tool.

Perhaps he even knows and is deliberately shielding him. He certainly controls the information about him. He might even leverage the fact that a vampire is siding with the Empire to create positive public opinion.

“…Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Yes. We haven’t even confirmed the truth yet.”

Ignoring the problem is the choice most humans make when faced with a complex and undoubtedly troublesome situation.

The nobles avoided the uncomfortable possibility that was sure to be complex and headache-inducing.

“Ah, and there’s a rumor going around that the combat styles of the Commander of the 0th Legion and Deon Hart are similar… Could they possibly be the same person?”

“Hahaha, what a joke! How could that be? Neither the Emperor nor the Demon King would stand for it.”

“Haha, that’s right. The existence of the Commander of the 0th Legion has been an open secret for over two years. That means they might have been in the Demon Realm even longer. You saw the verbal sparring on the day the Demon Realm declared war, didn’t you? There’s no way those two wouldn’t have known for over two years. That was a good one.”

“Hahaha, you think so?”

In the midst of it all, one noble proposed a unique hypothesis, but it was dismissed as a joke to lighten the mood, fading away with laughter.

The hypothesis was so incredibly implausible that it actually eased the tension.

In the warmed atmosphere, everyone praised the noble’s witty joke, focusing their attention back on the ‘Deon Hart vampire theory’.