Chapter 310: A Desperate Race

“I think it’s time to take the Lofty Knights from you.”

The end is approaching, so I suppose this much mischief is acceptable. I’ve been behaving myself, considering your mental state, quite unlike myself.

The Demon King narrowed his eyes in a show of false kindness, concealing his heterochromatic red eyes, and gazed at the Lofty Knights.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Despite the Demon King’s unsettling words and demeanor, the Lofty Knights maintained their composure.

“Could you elaborate a bit more?”

“Our captain is the Hero, so danger shouldn’t be too common for him…”

Though their eyes wavered with worry, their faith remained unshaken.

The Demon King, noting their resolute attitude, narrowed his eyes further, a glint appearing momentarily before he shrugged.

“Surely you knew? Deon is under a curse.”

“…Pardon?”

“Looks like you didn’t.”

“No, what… A curse now of all things? A Hero, a curse… Is our captain some character from a fairy tale?”

“Wonder if a kiss would break the curse.”

“Who’s going to do it?”

Confusion reigned for a moment before the conversation veered off course.

While the Demon King was momentarily speechless, unable to keep up with the sudden shift in topic, Kleter frowned, having listened quietly.

The most sensible of the knights finally interjected.

“…Shouldn’t we be looking for the captain’s bride in this kind of situation?”

As if proving he was only ‘relatively’ normal, his suggestion was quite off the mark.

“Finding a bride will take time. It’s better if someone sacrifices themselves.”

“Sacrifice?”

“Because whoever kisses him will definitely be killed by the captain and the rest of us.”

Not to mention the captain, the rest of the knights would beat the kisser to a pulp, calling him a conscienceless thief and a hopeless perverted bastard. Of course, there’s no chance of surviving the captain’s wrath anyway.

“Isn’t finding a bride a piece of cake with the captain’s face?”

“True… Even if he is the betrayer of humanity, wouldn’t people forgive and forget just by looking at his face?”

“Should we find a bride by advertising with the captain’s face…?”

“…That’s not the kind of curse.”

It’s not like some fairy tale curse that can be easily broken.

The Demon King, barely regaining his composure, hastily steered the conversation back on track. He didn’t give them room to speak, immediately blurting out.

“It’s a curse that makes him hallucinate blood pooling from his feet. It perfectly replicates not just the visual aspect but also the tactile and olfactory senses, so he’ll probably suffocate and die when it reaches the top.”

“……”

Realizing the gravity of the situation, their expressions hardened.

Why do only trials and tribulations befall this already struggling kid? After a heavy silence, someone bit out a question.

“…Why?”

“I don’t know either. But I do know that the level increases every time he kills someone.”

Though in reality, guilt is the catalyst.

The Demon King continued speaking nonchalantly.

“So Deon will try to refrain from killing anyone. Heroes are unavoidable, but in the case of the Primiero Knight Order, he’ll try his best not to kill them, even if it means taking some injuries himself, wouldn’t you agree?”

He can’t die from hallucinations before returning to me, ‘the Demon King’.

“So fighting the Primiero Knight Order will waste a lot of his energy, and that mental fatigue will affect his upcoming battle with the Hero.”

“…Why should we believe your words?”

“If you want, I can swear on my Demon King title.”

A title that will become useless anyway, I don’t mind discarding it in advance. Besides, there aren’t many lies mixed in.

The Lofty Knights, oblivious to the Demon King’s true intentions, grimaced.

“…What do you take us for?”

A voice filled with dismay escaped.

Worrying about someone else when they’re still so young, who are they to worry about?

Kleter dashed off somewhere. The voices of those remaining were heavy with emotion and lowered.

“He wouldn’t have gone far, right?”

“Who knows? He might have already arrived with magic.”

“Shit.”

“Watch your mouth in front of the kid… Oh, right, he’s not here.”

“If we chase after him now…”

No matter how fast they ride, they can’t catch up with magic. By the time they arrive, the battle might already be over.

But as if they couldn’t afford to hesitate and worry about being too late, they rushed to the stables without a second thought. As if belatedly realizing the Demon King, voices echoed from afar.

“We’ll be borrowing some horses!”

The Demon King chuckled.

An answer that wouldn’t reach them escaped his lips.

“Go ahead.”

I should inform the servants in advance so they don’t panic. Ah, and the guys guarding the city gates too.

He picked up the communication stone. Even while manipulating it, he couldn’t suppress his amusement and a mocking murmur slipped out.

“If they just waited, Deon would return safe and sound, foolish things.”

***

Humans on Demon Realm horses were galloping across the plain.

“The weather’s crap too. They said it’s a drought, but why is it raining?”

“Tell me about it… By the way, Kleter, where did you go?”

“To find the herbs Captain left behind.”

“Ah, right. There was that.”

“So, have you decided on the route?”

“We’re going the shortest route possible. See this map? The Captain is fighting here, so we just go straight from where we are.”

“…There’s a river in the middle, though?”

“We just have to cross it. Oh, look, it’s right there.”

“…It’s swollen from the rain…”

“Aren’t we heading to the afterlife if we cross that?”

“Don’t know, man. If we succeed in crossing, we see the Captain, and if we fail, we reunite with our deceased grandmothers, I guess.”

“Will the horses be able to handle it…”

“They’re Demon Realm horses; they should be able to manage this much. Right?”

Neigh! Neigh! Snap!

“Did you hear that? They said yes.”

“……I heard teeth grinding…?”

“So, are you suggesting we take a detour? Our captain might be in danger, you know?”

“Damn it, fine. Let’s go, let’s go.”

“If the horse gets swept away by the current, make sure to jump onto another horse. Got it? You’ve done it a few times when falling off horses.”

“Doing it in water is a first, but… yeah, let’s give it a shot.”

“Then don’t die like an idiot, let’s go.”

***

The main force of the Demon King’s army arrived at the place where only the advance party had been skirmishing.

The real war had begun.

Even though the Demon King’s army was knocking on the city gates right in front of them, the rulers of each country did not evacuate. There was nowhere further to retreat.

This was where the most troops were concentrated. Going to another city would only mean being breached in an instant and having their necks seized.

And above all….

“How dare I flee when my own brother is fighting on the front lines.”

Emperor Elpidius of the Empire muttered bitterly, running a weary hand over his face.

His heavy golden eyes, which had been blankly staring downwards, finally settled on someone standing to one side. Lindel Riner, the brother who lost his sibling to Deon Hart’s hand, stood calmly holding documents.

“…Are you not participating in the battle directly?”

“Originally, combat was never my forte. Nor is this a stage I dare to step onto.”

Not only was he unskilled in combat, but Deon Hart had also warned him not to expect leniency a second time. If they met again, death was certain. His eyes conveyed a sincerity that suggested it was better not to act foolishly by dismissing it as an empty threat.

Lindel, who had heard all the reasons why his brother had to die back then, had even less reason to risk his life by stepping into the fray. He lowered his gaze and spoke.

“The living must go on, mustn’t they?”

“…I suppose so.”

I certainly don’t think I could.

A faint smile touched Elpidius’ lips.

“You are a strong man.”

“…Thank you for saying so.”

“So…”

The atmosphere had become too heavy. As if to change the subject, his golden eyes landed on the documents in Lindel’s hand.

“It’s not likely to be the scale of the frozen food supplies… is it related to the siege defense?”

“Yes. Matters of food supplies and finances are handled by the Chancellor…”

“If it’s about what Your Majesty mentioned, it’s here.”

The Chancellor, who had been quietly processing paperwork at a desk set aside, presented a concise report as if he had been waiting.

Elpidius received it, scanned the contents, and let out a heavy sigh. A troubled expression surfaced on his face.

“…I am ashamed before Rweche.”

To end up wasting the food they had generously provided.

Snow began to fall suddenly, even though it wasn’t the season, and the temperature plummeted. For the Empire, which had filled its warehouses with food but had to leave some outside due to lack of space, this was nothing short of a disaster.

The grain exposed to the snow absorbed water and froze. Even the already small number of livestock either froze to death or became weak.

The Chancellor glanced at the young Emperor’s expression and added comfortingly.

“It’s not spoiled yet, but…”

“It will be soon.”

It might not cause illness if eaten, but the taste would be terrible, and it would rot soon enough.

It’s too wasteful to just throw it away, so it seems we should prioritize consuming these first…

“…Until it rots and becomes unusable, we should prioritize cooking the snow-touched food.”

“Are you thinking of feeding it to the soldiers?”

“Are you insane?”

Feed it to those who are fighting to protect this country, the future of the Human Realm? What are you even suggesting?

“Those who go out to fight will be well-fed with proper meals, and this stuff should be eaten by those who sit back here and hide.”

“…The nobles will object.”

“It’s not spoiled, and even the Emperor will eat it. Let them try to object. Or is it that you, Chancellor, don’t want to eat it?”

The Chancellor, who had been looking at Elpidius without expression, broke into a gentle smile.

“Of course not. A brilliant decision.”

Elpidius paused for a moment, taken aback by the unexpected smile from his usual adversary, with whom he had only ever clashed since becoming Emperor.

Only for a moment, he averted his gaze and glanced at Lindel.

“Then shall we move on to the next topic? Lord Lindel, report.”

The noble young man, who had been glancing back and forth between the Chancellor and the Emperor, nodded and began to speak.

“We successfully repelled the first wave of the Demon King’s army with an ambush at the city gates.”

“Ambush?”

“Yes, the snow was detrimental to food storage, but it was very helpful for strategy.”

“Ah, that.”

The scattering snowflakes concealed those moving under the cover of night, and neatly covered the traces of the ambush. The Demon King’s army, unaware, rushed in and suffered heavy losses.

“After that, we focused on siege defense, showering burning logs and arrows on those climbing ladders, and boulders from catapults onto siege towers. However, winter is approaching, and we should conserve firewood, so we’ve replaced logs with boulders for dealing with ladders as well. Arrows are still in use.”

“Isn’t there a shortage of boulders within the city…?”

“We’ve scraped together what we could, so it should last for a while. There were also attempts to dig tunnels, but that’s actually more convenient. If we just find the location, we only need to pour boiling oil.”

If there’s no oil, boiling water will suffice.

“So, we intend to feign weakness in dealing with tunnels. In the process, we will inevitably have to allow a small number of enemies into the city, would that be acceptable?”

“To make the enemies concentrate their attacks on tunnels?”

“Yes.”

“Do as you see fit. But prepare for the possibility of the enemy being stronger or entering in larger numbers than expected.”

“We plan to dig a deep trench along the city walls, about 3 meters inside the inner wall. This way, even if enemies enter, we can gain the upper hand and attack.”

The enemies will be isolated and helpless.

As expected, the Princess didn’t bring him as a military advisor for nothing. Elpidius nodded readily.