Chapter 138: The Cracked Dam

“…How much longer?”

Just this last bit to burn.

Then let it be done.

Permission granted, the entrance opened to allow entry, but the person in question didn’t come in.

Is there a problem? The Emperor stared at the entrance with a questioning gaze. His keenly attuned ears caught Deon Hart muttering, ‘What’s that smell…?’

After a slight delay, Deon Hart finally stepped inside. The sight of him clutching his mouth and nose while coughing was concerning right from the start….

“Cough, cough, glory to the Empire… Hack!”

“…Blood?”

For this moment, everyone except Deon Hart was of one mind.

Nemesius and the Emperor reflexively turned to the sorceress. Understanding their unspoken question, she frantically shook her head.

‘It isn’t me.’

‘Are you sure it’s not you?’

‘I’m certain. That person is definitely alive… Ugh.’

A charm to suppress the aura of evil spirits. Deon Hart’s hesitation before entering, mentioning a ‘smell.’ Then the coughing fit upon entry, followed by him coughing up blood. And to top it off, the sorceress even gagged when she approached to check.

Could there be such a coincidence? Suspicion naturally arose, but the sorceress, still covering her mouth, was shaking her head firmly.

‘That man has committed many sins. He carries a trail of resentment on his back.’

‘Then Deon Hart is….’

‘My charms definitely don’t affect the living, but that doesn’t mean he’s an evil spirit. It’s just a pure coincidence.’

“…Then is it the Demon King’s curse? You said this couldn’t be undone.”

The day Deon Hart returned with the Hero’s corpse, bearing a new mark, they had naturally sought out the sorceress first to try and remove it.

The sorceresses who saw his mark said it was magic deliberately cast by the Demon King, and no sorcerer could interfere with it.

“…For now, we should summon a physician.”

Even if there was no cure, they couldn’t just leave him there while he was spitting up blood.

The Emperor snapped his fingers.

***

What on earth are they burning in the Emperor’s space? It’s full of a pungent smell.

My throat felt scratchy, and I couldn’t help but cough. That excessive force on my abdomen made me regurgitate blood. My delicate throat probably got scratched too.

In the midst of all that, General Nemesius had his hand on his sword, eyeing me warily, and a woman I’d never seen before had cautiously approached, only to gag….

“…Then is it the Demon King’s curse? You said this couldn’t be undone.”

The Emperor’s voice quickly erased their presence from my mind.

“…For now, we should summon a physician.”

You really don’t need to.

It’s just a normal coughing fit, nothing out of the ordinary. You’d think they’d be used to it by now.

Of course, my internal monologue didn’t reach the Emperor. The strange woman disappeared, and the royal physician came in… the royal physician?!

“Your… Majesty?”

“The royal physician was the quickest one available. He’s more capable than the other physicians, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Well, yeah, because he’s exclusively for the Emperor!

If summoned, he’d naturally rush over, thinking something was wrong with His Majesty’s precious body!

This is too much. Am I even worthy of being examined by the royal physician? I glanced around nervously before slowly backing away.

“Honorary Marquis Deon Hart. Are you disregarding the Emperor’s words?”

That single sentence made me stop in my tracks.

Only after the diagnosis came back that there was nothing they could do was I finally able to escape the royal physician.

Despite enduring the awkward examination, the atmosphere was still heavy.

The inability to do anything probably sounded to them like the Demon King’s curse was the cause.

“…Hart, you stay. Everyone else, leave.”

The Emperor pressed his temples as if tired and waved his hand.

Being left alone with the visibly displeased Emperor! It felt like being left alone in a tiger’s den. In the suffocatingly silent space, I carefully lowered my gaze, trying not to provoke his ire.

Now that I think about it, I was summoned by the Emperor. It couldn’t be for anything good; it was probably about the incident with the demon Ben.

‘That was really not intentional….’

This is unfair.

Ben, that annoying pest…. I internally grumbled about Ben while racking my brain for how to prove my innocence when the Emperor’s voice cut through the silence.

Raise your head.

“……?”

Obeying his words was a reflex.

As soon as my head was up, the Emperor met my gaze, as if he had been waiting for it. Fierce golden eyes locked onto mine.

“…….”

“…….”

He couldn’t possibly be unaware of the widely known demon incident, yet he didn’t mention it at all. He simply looked into my eyes, and after seeming to read something, his lips relaxed slightly as he changed the subject.

Unlike his softened expression, his next words were quite… sharp.

“You will be heading to the battlefield soon, so prepare yourself.”

The absence of intense interrogation and scolding was a relief, but I couldn’t bring myself to be happy.

***

After being called on for odd jobs for a while, I’m finally going back to the battlefield.

‘I wish they would just keep me dealing with those low-level monsters.’

I checked the white uniform that felt like it had been a while since I last wore it and fiddled with the white mask and cloak’s hood that concealed my face before looking up. Just like before, a clear, high sky filled my vision.

I can’t be sure with the mask on, but the air probably feels clean and fresh. Well, it’ll soon be filled with the stench of blood, so I don’t particularly want to take off the mask to confirm. Feeling that contrast would just make me feel strange.

After staring blankly at the sky for a long time, I sensed someone approaching from behind.

“Junior.”

A familiar yet unfamiliar title and a refined voice.

I instinctively turned my head. A man with an upright and proper posture was smiling elegantly in my direction.

“…Senior Stigma?”

“Yes, it has been a while. I was looking forward to our next meeting, but I didn’t expect it to be in a place like this.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right….”

“Why are you drawing out your words? You seem quite flustered. Anyone would think I was scary.”

Honestly, you kind of are… No, it’s nothing.

“Hmm, to put two heroes in one place when every bit of strength counts….”

This place must be important. Now that I think about it, I did hear it was a somewhat dangerous situation.

I blankly watched him mutter to himself. I gave up on thinking about these things a long time ago. All I have to do is move according to orders; why bother stressing myself by thinking?

That thought must have shown on my face. Stigma narrowed his brow slightly and called out to me.

“Junior.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you also have soldiers under your command?”

“That’s correct.”

“That means you are also a commander. Surely you understand the danger of a commander who doesn’t think….”

S-scary!

Is it because this is a battlefield? Why is he so intimidating? I don’t think he was like this during our first meeting….

…Or was he? Was the atmosphere like this even then?

Unable to even answer, I was trembling when someone who seemed to be Stigma’s knight approached.

“My lord, the tension between the Lofty Knights and the unnamed knights directly under the Imperial Household is escalating and affecting our men. What should we do?”

“Surely none of my men are acting rashly. If they are, ensure they are properly disciplined.”

“Yes, I understand….”

“And.”

Snatch.

Stigma grabbed the knight by the collar and pulled him close.

“I am in the middle of a conversation with my junior. Do you really think it appropriate to interrupt with such trivial matters?”

“…My apologies.”

…Okay, the Stigma from a moment ago isn’t scary anymore. But this Stigma is incredibly terrifying.

He was being very kind to me….

I shrank back even further, trembling, when a thought suddenly struck me, and I quickly raised my head. Wait a minute. Didn’t I hear a very familiar name in the conversation just now? The Lofty Knights….

‘Those are my guys!’

The official name of the Killer Knights!

Startled, I looked around for my guys. It wasn’t hard to find the mad dogs.

“And you call yourselves heroes without a fragment of the Hero’s power!”

“You’re just some nameless knight order!”

“A knight order’s name has nothing to do with combat prowess!”

“We can fight just fine even without some Hero’s fragment!”

“…You’d lose if we really went at it!”

“Yoo-oo would lo-ose if we real-ly went at it–!”

“You!”

It’s never quiet when those guys are around. Where did Sir Lien go?

Just as I thought they might really start fighting, I looked around frantically and heard a voice.

“If you’re looking for your knight order’s captain, he’s away speaking with our knight order’s captain.”

“Ah.”

That’s right, they said they would be away for a bit to coordinate the bare minimum.

The only person who can control these mad dogs…! As I despaired silently, Stigma, who had been watching me, suddenly asked.

“Is there no vice-captain?”

“Milan… that guy flexing his arms at the very front is the vice-captain. Yes, the one who just drew his sword.”

“…Your knight order seems to need some overall training.”

His tone was light and elegant, but for some reason, it was intimidating.

I wondered just how well Stigma had trained his men and turned my head to see knights standing at attention in perfect formation, like they were from another world.

Eyes fixed straight ahead, expressions blank.

‘Wow… is this what real elites look like?’

“The attitude of your subordinates can reflect on their lord’s dignity. You might need to review the proper behavior of a noble. A noble must act like a noble to be treated like one, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uh….”

That… sounds a bit… off.

He doesn’t look like the type, but is Stigma one of those? A believer in noble supremacy?

Perhaps my thoughts were showing again, as Stigma added.

“You seem to have misunderstood my meaning. I don’t mean you should act arrogant or boss your subordinates around. People tend to judge others based on their demeanor—their expressions, posture, way of speaking—and how others treat them, don’t you think?”

Ah, I get it.

But has my expression always been this easy to read? I don’t think so.

Then the remaining possibilities are that Stigma has keen observational skills, or he’s paying such close attention to me that he can catch even the slightest change in my expression.

…The latter is scary, so let’s go with the former.

“I’m only saying this because I don’t want you to be looked down upon. Especially if you’re being disregarded because of your subordinates’ behavior, which isn’t your fault… I imagine that would be quite unpleasant.”

I can feel the killing intent in those last words….

Unable to answer, I stared blankly at him. Meeting my gaze, he offered a faint smile.

“More importantly, don’t you think someone might actually die if they keep going like that?”

Ah, right!

“I’ll be right back!”

“Go ahead.”

***

The ‘hero candidates’ don’t acknowledge Deon Hart as a hero.

How could a human without a fragment of the Hero’s power be a ‘hero’? That position should have been theirs.

No matter how great his achievements or how skilled he is in battle, he is still ultimately within the realm of an average human. They were confident they could win in a proper fight, so their gazes naturally held an underlying contempt for Deon Hart.

How would the Killer Knights react to this?

‘How dare those bastards look down on our… no, our captain… no, our Marquis?’