Chapter 240: Unease and Shifting Suspicions

Word had spread that Imperial soldiers raided the Demon Church, wiping them out completely. They say anyone even remotely connected was killed, pushing the Demon Church to the brink of annihilation.

Survivors were estimated to be few and far between. For Paul, who was desperately trying to extract Sia, this news struck like a bolt from the blue.

Bang! A fist slammed onto the desk, rattling the stack of documents beside it.

Iram watched Paul anxiously, fearing he might lose control and tear the documents to shreds. Just in case, she subtly slid the papers off the desk.

“Okay, just calm down…”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down?”

Paul’s eyes flashed with fury.

In a way, she was the reason they were in this mess in the first place, all because she’d hidden Sia’s location. How dare she tell him to calm down?

Resentment surged within him.

“Anyone else could say that, but not you.”

…

“Whose fault is this?! How dare you say that to me?!”

Not only was Sia’s location unknown, but they couldn’t even confirm if she was alive.

His anger, which had erupted suddenly and momentarily wandered, finally found its target. Naturally, that target was Iram. He couldn’t fault the current Emperor Elpidius’s response.

Given his position as Emperor and the ongoing war, he couldn’t simply ignore or lightly deal with a group that had attempted and succeeded in summoning demons. He had to make an example to prevent it from happening again. That meant an extreme response was necessary.

Therefore, as a leader himself, Paul understood why Elpidius’s actions, however drastic, were necessary.

So who was left to blame?

“Iram…”

The mastermind behind the Demon Church hadn’t been identified yet.

It wasn’t that he had no suspicions at all, but it was inevitable that his anger focused on the immediate, tangible target in front of him rather than some distant, shadowy figure.

His voice dropped, cold and sharp as ice, directed at Iram.

“…Find her.”

…

“Find her, no matter what it takes. Find her and bring her back safe. If she’s dead, then at least bring back her body so we can give her a proper burial.”

Drop everything else and make finding my sister your top priority.

Iram, silent until now, nodded slowly.

“…Okay.”

Paul rubbed his face and sighed. His sister’s face, blurred by years apart, flickered faintly behind his closed eyelids.

A pained groan escaped him.

‘Of all things…’

Being swayed by pseudo-religions was one thing, but the Demon Church? What in the world was she thinking? He couldn’t understand what was going through her head. She wasn’t a child anymore; she should know better.

He could accept her choice not to join the Revolutionary Army—that was her freedom. Even her drifting through life aimlessly… fine. But this? This was too much.

‘When she gets back, I’m definitely getting her into the Revolutionary Army… one way or another.’

He couldn’t leave her to her own devices; he was too worried. Was this what it felt like to be a parent, constantly fretting over their child’s safety?

Given the backdrop of war, it’d be better to keep her safe, under his wing. He’d been internally debating whether to essentially imprison her for her own good for a while now when Paul finally noticed Iram was still there, not moving to carry out his order to find Sia. He looked up.

His sharp gaze met the hesitant woman.

“Aren’t you going yet?”

“…I have more to report.”

“Sigh… Just say it and go.”

He wasn’t in the mood for more work today, but when was there ever a separate time for work when you were the leader of the Revolutionary Army? Work was whenever new information came in.

Information had a shelf life, as he well knew. He unclenched his jaw, which had been tight enough to shout, and sighed again. The weariness was clear in the dismissive wave of his hand.

“Demon Realm reinforcements were wiped out en route.”

“…What?”

But only for a moment. He had to get up abruptly.

“I thought one of their units was supposed to be incredibly powerful. How could they be wiped out so suddenly? Didn’t they just breach a Sanguo city wall recently? We even suspected it was a ‘contract demon’! And now they’re just… gone?”

It was more of an accusation than a question.

Iram, unable to find a suitable response, gave him an awkward look. Paul, realizing he’d been too agitated, caught himself, ‘Ah—’ and composed himself.

He’d been shaken by Sia’s news, and this new shock was almost too much, but that was no excuse. Reminding himself of his position and responsibilities, he composed himself and spoke calmly.

“Any witnesses? Any idea what happened?”

“They were wiped out en route to the next city, so unfortunately, no witnesses.”

“Damn it…”

Paul pinched the bridge of his nose.

Iram fell silent, as if to give him a moment to regain his composure. A heavy silence descended.

News of the demon reinforcements’ annihilation. For humans, it was good news, so some might wonder why Paul was reacting so sharply.

‘…Right, good news only from a ‘human’ perspective.’

But unlike the demons, humanity wasn’t a united front; it was fractured into various factions.

And Paul himself was the leader of one of those factions: the Revolutionary Army. As a ‘human,’ he was naturally fighting against the Demon Realm, but as the leader of the Revolutionary Army, he was also vying for power against other human factions. Especially since the Revolutionary Army was viewed with suspicion by rulers across the continent, it was impossible for him, as their leader, to simply dismiss this as good news.

He rubbed his temples, lost in thought.

‘No witnesses meant it had been handled discreetly.’

They were wiped out en route to the next city, which, considering the terrain, was likely sparsely populated, but…

Taking that into account, it meant either a large force moved in and eliminated everyone in an instant, leaving no witnesses, or a very small, stealthy group was responsible.

‘If a large force was responsible, it probably meant they weren’t affiliated with either side. A third faction, maybe?’

In the current climate, with factions constantly watching each other, news of a force that size moving wouldn’t stay secret for long. The only way a large group could move undetected was if it was a third faction, one they hadn’t even considered.

‘Or maybe it was the work of a small, elite group.’

Or even a single individual.

Honestly, a third faction seemed like a stretch…

He murmured slowly.

“…A small, elite unit? Or maybe even a ‘Hero’.”

It was almost unbelievable that a usable ‘Hero’ still existed in this day and age.

If it was another faction, it meant they’d been hiding considerable power, which was concerning. If not, then in this era where talent was dying off daily, they needed to snatch up this new talent before another faction did.

Lost in thought, Paul was unaware of Iram watching him, gauging his mood, before she finally spoke.

“It’s probably a ‘Hero’.”

“…But I thought you said there were no witnesses.”

“No witnesses to the attack itself, but there are people connected to it, apparently. And rumors, of course.”

…?

Rumors were one thing, but connected yet not witnesses? What was she getting at?

Whether she read the question in Paul’s expression or not, she continued.

“Rumors have been circulating about a ‘true Hero’ wandering the continent, drawing his sword for neglected villages. Recently, mercenaries have added to the tale, saying they were hired by someone presumed to be this Hero to encircle and engage demon soldiers.”

…

“They said they were positioned so far out they couldn’t even see their client, and just fought the demons trying to break their lines, clueless as to what was really going on. Only later, after the rumors started spreading, did they realize their commission was connected to the demon annihilation.”

Thorough indeed.

In any case, he’d heard of a wandering Hero. Half out of curiosity, half with the thought of recruiting him later, he’d ordered intel to be gathered. Piecing together the information they’d collected, his presumed identity was likely…

“Stigma Primiero… wasn’t it?”

“Green hair, aristocratic mannerisms, and mercenaries said he was loaded, paid handsomely—sounds like him.”

“…The Empire’s second Hero suddenly teaming up with mercenaries… It’s a bit far-fetched, but one thing is definitely clear now.”

…?

Paul smirked, snapping his fingers playfully. His earlier gloom had noticeably lifted.

“Stigma Primiero is no longer the Empire’s Hero.”

The fact he used mercenaries instead of Imperial troops or his own knights, and more than that, the Empire wouldn’t waste valuable manpower in this way unless…

A proven talent was now a free agent. Judging by his current actions, he’d even abandoned his noble title. Which meant he was exactly the kind of person the Revolutionary Army should be rolling out the red carpet for.

“Try to make contact.”

Iram, realizing Paul’s intentions, started to nod, then hesitated, and spoke tentatively.

“But if he’s determined to avoid us…”

“Then it’s a shame, but nothing we can do about it.”

…?

“How are we supposed to catch a Hero who’s actively trying to evade us? No point in setting traps and becoming a nuisance—we’d just make an enemy of him. Just try a polite, low-key approach. If it doesn’t work, drop it.”

“Understood.”

Iram nodded and turned to leave, but paused, noticing the papers on the desk in her peripheral vision.

…

“Not leaving yet?”

“Well…”

The documents Paul had dramatically thrown onto the floor earlier, fearing he might tear them up in his rage.

Seeing them reminded her of something, and hesitant to leave, she stalled, placing the documents back on the desk while she considered her question.

‘…Should I ask?’

Truthfully, she’d been wanting to ask for a while now. But she couldn’t get a read on whether it was okay to ask.

Stealing glances at him, she finally blurted out the question she’d been holding back, pushed by his impatient demand to speak or leave.

“…About those papers you ripped up earlier.”

“…Huh?”

The papers Paul had ripped up as a warning when she’d been caught hiding Sia’s location.

“Did you… restore them?”

…Right, should’ve known she’d ask eventually.

Paul chuckled humorlessly, realizing what she was getting at.

Of course, the cause of the revolution was more important to Iram than some girl named Sia. And enough time had passed; she’d be wondering about them by now.

He’d expected it, understood it intellectually… so why did his mood sink again?

‘…Well, he’d heard the question. He supposed he had to answer.’

He couldn’t keep punishing her forever.

A bitter sneer touched his lips.

“I conceived and wrote them myself.”

“So…”

“Of course I remember.”

Meaning he could recreate the documents anytime he wanted.

Iram’s face lit up.

“Can I ask what they were about?”

“…Same as I explained before. Daniel, hyung’s policies were too idealistic to implement right away, so these were interim measures. They represented an ultimate, ideal goal, but one humans, being ‘human,’ could never truly reach. So, they were just a stepping stone.”

Doubt and frustration clouded Iram’s face.

She clearly wanted to know the specifics of the policy. But seeing her expression only made him less inclined to tell her easily. Paul smirked, a touch of playful malice in his whisper.

“If Daniel, hyung’s ideas could be called democracy, then mine would be… socialism.”

Of course, that’s just a label. It wasn’t full-blown ‘socialism,’ just a stepping stone, an interim measure on the path to democracy.