Chapter 284: Hero’s Testimony

Among the ancient texts detailing various histories, there are books containing testimonies from Heroes who witnessed the Demon King’s end and returned alive.

This book was one of them.

「…Merely relying on a single record from a time when he fought the Demon King, and assuming he could only use a long sword, was a grave miscalculation. The Demon King was proficient with various weapons.

Those who carried fragments of the Hero’s power, meant for ranged support, all perished. It was due to his use of bows and daggers. He even used a greatsword, not a long sword, when facing the Hero.

Who was in charge of investigating and analyzing the Demon King? Lives were lost because of that fool’s naive approach. Severe punishment must be dealt.

…The reason I was able to return alive is that the Demon King simply let me go. After dealing with everyone else, he was clearly looking at me.

He stood there with a greatsword as tall as a woman planted in the ground, both hands resting on the hilt, looking this way…」

“They say even when he was standing still, it felt like he was charging…”

It is written that the sight of his hair, reaching down to his waist, billowing in the wind, gave the impression that he was charging forward even when he stood still.

The rest is likely useless information. With that sentence about suffering from nightmares as the ending, Elpidius closed the book. Aletea, who had been sitting on the armrest watching him read, raised her gaze.

“Still, we learned one thing: the Demon King can use various weapons.”

“Yes, that’s something, at least.”

“And we also learned that the Demon King changes his style according to the era.”

“…That will vary depending on whether he’s following trends from the Human Realm or not.”

The Demon King has never been to the Human Realm. If he’s keeping up with Human Realm trends, his intelligence network must be considerable. But would someone of the Demon King’s stature really follow the styles of commoners? At the very least, it would be noble trends.

“Anyway, that’s not important right now, let’s move on.”

Elpidius, who was rifling through papers on his desk and about to say something to Aletea, paused when he found one particular document.

It was a report detailing the disappearance of the troops guarding the border. He had already reviewed it, but it seemed he had forgotten to put it aside. Thanks to that, the unpleasant feeling he had momentarily forgotten resurfaced, and he reflexively frowned.

‘…There’s a limit to how much they can openly disregard the Human Realm.’

He had been incredibly displeased the moment he received this news.

They had left the border completely unguarded. It was a blatant display, as if knowing well that they wouldn’t dare to invade the Demon Realm first. The completely empty border, devoid of even minimal defenses, clearly showed their contempt for the Human Realm, which stung him deeply.

Suppressing his unpleasant feelings, he pushed the report aside. This wasn’t the purpose right now.

And without much difficulty, Elpidius found the document he was looking for and continued the conversation he had interrupted.

There was something he had been preparing since the moment Aletea became a ‘Hero’.

“Aletea.”

How should he propose this? He hesitated, unable to find the right opening.

“Emperor, how about you do it?”

The direct words burst out.

Despite the rather shocking statement, there was no strong reaction. Aletea, who had been anticipating this since Elpidius picked up the documents for the imperial succession, or rather, had been expecting it for a long time, did not show surprise but instead gave a composed look.

Following that, a slightly apologetic, slow yet unwavering voice flowed out.

“Even if I become Emperor, I will still go to the battlefield.”

“……”

Silence mingled with sorrow.

Towards her brother, who wore a resigned expression as if he had expected as much, she offered a deliberate smile.

“I know what you’re thinking by saying that, Brother.”

She had become a ‘Hero’. In a situation where they needed to gather even one more ‘Hero’, it was natural that she too would go to the battlefield. More than anything, the Crown Prince, who should be setting an example while everyone else was risking their lives, couldn’t possibly excuse herself.

Her brother was still hiding the fact that his younger sister, the Crown Princess, had become a Hero. It must be to keep her away from the battlefield. However.

‘He can’t not know that I will reveal it myself.’

So, the tactic to hold her back was this.

A faint hope that if she became Emperor, he might be able to keep her from the battlefield. She felt sorry to shatter this hope so directly, but…

“But even Uncle was an Emperor and still went to the battlefield.”

It’s no use. Aletea curved her eyes with ease.

“Right now, this will only cause more chaos by unnecessarily transferring imperial authority.”

“……”

“So please don’t do that, Brother.”

Elpidius, who had been quietly looking at his sister’s smiling face, lowered his gaze. A faint sigh leaked out at the end of the brief silence.

“Actually, I knew you’d say that. But I thought you would at least pretend to consider it…”

“Giving false hope is even worse.”

“…I…”

The words ‘I’m afraid of losing even you’ surged up to his throat, but he swallowed them down.

Afraid that speaking them aloud would make them a reality. Elpidius, who became a coward in front of his family, suppressed his weakness and rose from his seat.

“…It’s almost time for the meeting, let’s go. The nobles will be eager to grill us.”

The nobles were already dissatisfied with him acting arbitrarily without even a word. Now that the deal had fallen through, leaving them with only losses, they would surely demand accountability.

…My ears already ache at the thought. But when he considered that thanks to Uncle, their private soldiers were in their grasp, and even those were mostly lost, their outcry was just the whining of old men without the troops to even stage a rebellion, it wasn’t unbearable.

Today is going to be tiring. He faintly furrowed his brow and opened the door.

***

Arriving just in time, no sooner had Deon finished his archery practice and returned to his seat than each legion began returning one by one.

Deon, holding a bottle of wine in one hand—wine that the Demon King had specially procured from the Human Realm—was scanning them when he paused, his gaze snagged by a particular demon. His red pupils flickered for a moment at the incomprehensible sight.

‘Why is the physician covered in blood…?’

Setter, the legion commander’s personal physician, stood there drenched in blood.

Judging by his exhausted expression, he seemed to have gone out and hunted magical beasts himself… Why would a physician do that?

‘Could it be that he’s trying to hunt in advance because he’ll be exhausted if the legion commander gets injured… No way…’

Nah, no way… Even Ben wouldn’t do something like that…

…Anyway, perhaps thanks to him, the returning legion commanders were generally unscathed, merely splattered with some blood.

‘More importantly… it looks like there was another dispute over there.’

The atmosphere was ominous. Deon unconsciously shifted his gaze towards the dark aura emanating from one side of his vision. The Commander of the 3rd Corps was glaring at the Commander of the 4th Corps.

His lips parted, and he faintly heard words spat out.

“Cowardly bastard.”

“Cowardly?”

Corps Commander Idelia nonchalantly fluttered her fan.

“When have we ever stolen your hunting spoils? We never have, and such an act is impossible in the first place. Even if the results seem poor, it’s still inappropriate to make such easily misunderstood remarks in a public setting.”

“…Right, you didn’t steal the ‘spoils’. But you stole our prey! There’s plenty of space, yet you deliberately came next to us and hunted only the ones we were targeting. If that’s not cowardly, what is?!”

Hmm… I roughly understand what’s going on. Idelia was in the wrong.

The atmosphere is tense. Well, it’ll subside once the Demon King speaks. Deon averted his gaze and calmly tilted his glass to wet his throat. And after blankly spacing out for a moment, Deon turned his head, sensing a gaze.

He met eyes with Dahar, the adjutant of the Commander of the 12th Corps.

“?”

“……”

It was only for a moment, as the other person looked away first… He felt like their eyes had met before departure too, and now again?

Could this really be a coincidence? As he looked suspiciously at the back of Dahar’s head, the Demon King, having checked the mana stones of all legions, rose from his seat.

“Did everyone enjoy themselves sufficiently?”

Those who had been growling at each other in their respective positions immediately straightened up.

Deon also leisurely shifted his gaze to look at the Demon King. True to his nature of disliking unnecessary formalities, he spoke, omitting pleasantries.

“Then, let’s announce the results right away.”

Should I announce from 1st place, or from 3rd place?

A voice close to a murmur followed, and soon, a snap of fingers was heard— *snap*.

Light seemed to enter the mana stone of the 1st Corps, and then a screen appeared in the air. The screen displayed the scene of the 1st Corps hunting, with an unintelligible number displayed at the top left.

“Originally, I was going to show from 3rd place, but the 3rd place’s hunting scene was more impressive than I thought. So I’m just going to show it in order from 1st place.”

“Does that mean…”

“Yes, weren’t you all already somewhat anticipating it?”

The 1st Corps wasn’t the 1st Corps for nothing.

At the statement confirming 1st place, the 1st Corps members’ faces brightened. Jaykar nodded as if accepting the obvious result, and the other legions also showed signs of understanding.

Because the 1st Corps’ hunting scene was like a thorough and sharp sword. Deon also agreed with that.

‘The way they systematically herd magical beasts and hunt them in one place… it’s just like…’

Ah, right. It reminds me of Senior Stigma’s knight order.

“But what is that number at the top left of the screen?”

“That? That’s the number of magical beasts that legion hunted.”

“……”

Deon looked at the screen again.