Chapter 304: Snow Flower Stick Strategy

It’s not like we need a legion commander for every Hero, and I was planning to have the legion commanders figure out how to compensate for any troop shortages themselves, but maybe that won’t be necessary.

“Come to think of it, if manpower is the issue, we can just turn the weather to our advantage.”

Deon remembered a stick he’d used personally before.

It was an item that, when you cut off the tip, would shoot out its contents like fireworks, making it snow. I think it was developed for wartime use. True to its purpose, despite its childish-sounding name, its power was quite something.

…Back then too, I’d cut my finger halfway off while trying to cut the stick’s end.

“Why did I forget about this?”

It’s a useful item in many respects.

The explosive force to spread snow across a wide area, and the extreme cold to stop the snow from melting into rain, should be effective even when used directly against enemies.

I lowered my gaze. The Demon King came into view, pressing and rubbing at the spot where his wound had been.

“Heroes really are something. It’s healed without a trace…”

“Lord Demon King.”

“Huh?”

Only then did the Demon King lift his head, his gaze finally leaving his fingers. Deon withdrew his hand from his grasp and directed a question at those red eyes watching him.

“Do you know how many Snow Flower Sticks we have in stock?”

“Snow Flower… Ah, it’s been ages since I heard that name.”

…At first, he seemed puzzled, as if hearing a strange word, but then he exclaimed, like he suddenly understood.

It wasn’t the reaction you’d expect if they were actively producing and stockpiling them. Deon’s brow furrowed slightly at his attitude, as if he’d completely forgotten about them.

“Don’t tell me you stopped making them?”

“Well, not exactly stopped… it was more of a prototype to begin with, right? We just developed it thinking, ‘What if we tried this?’ so we didn’t mass-produce them. If it were meant to be a proper product, we wouldn’t have given it such a silly name.”

True, even at first glance, the name was pretty slapdash.

But even as a prototype, considering how effective it is, I thought they’d move to mass production soon…

“They’re quite labor-intensive, you see, because they require delicate processing of mana stones. Not really suitable for mass production, you could say. That’s why they were discontinued.”

“Ah…”

“Still, there should be some stock left. There’s bound to be a ledger about them somewhere…”

He rose from his seat and went to a bookshelf. Running a finger along the spines of the neatly arranged ledgers, he stopped at one and pulled it out.

Flipping through the pages and scanning the contents, the Demon King looked up, as if he’d found what he was looking for.

“We’ve got two regular Snow Flower Sticks and one Blood Snow Flower Stick left.”

“…That’s a shame.”

That’s far fewer than I expected. We won’t be able to use them directly against the enemy. Deon clicked his tongue softly in disappointment.

‘Still, I suppose we should be thankful we have at least the minimum number.’

We can start by firing one at each city.

As if sensing Deon’s thoughts, the Demon King put the ledger back and subtly curved the corner of his mouth upwards into a smile. His quiet voice settled over the sound of his footsteps as he returned to his seat.

“Planning to use them to flush out those hiding bastards?”

“Yes. If we aim them accurately at the sky above the cities, the crops they’ve harvested will freeze or spoil. Then it’ll become impossible for them to withstand the food shortages…”

“They’ll likely try a frontal assault as a last resort. From their perspective, they’d be fighting on empty stomachs, and since they’d already be on the back foot, their morale would be low, preventing them from fighting at full strength. That situation would compensate for our lack of legion commanders to some extent… Good thinking. One is a Blood Snow Flower Stick, but it’ll still achieve the intended effect, so that doesn’t matter.”

“Exactly.” Deon nodded.

Even so, since we’re using them anyway, it’s best to use them where they’ll be most effective. Which country would benefit us most if we used the Blood Snow Flower Stick on them?

The answer came quickly.

“I plan to use the Blood Snow Flower Stick on Sanguo.”

“The fact you specified it like that… must mean you have a specific reason in mind?”

“Sanguo is located in the south, where there are many sorcerers. That means they’ll be very susceptible to superstition, so we can stir up unrest among the city’s populace.”

Deon had seen in history books just how terrifying superstition could be.

They’d arbitrarily interpret events as heaven’s wrath, even without any basis, blaming it on the king’s failings and killing him. They’d even sacrifice other humans to appease nature, and believe baseless rumors about gaining health by eating children.

So, if blood snow falls from the sky, the populace will get seriously agitated. The panicked masses, unable to cope with their fear, will invent causes where none exist, desperate to resolve this ominous phenomenon as quickly as possible. It’s practically inevitable that this would descend into superstition.

“Good call.”

The Demon King chuckled.

“Individuals might be smart, but the masses are foolish. When waging war, messing with the enemy country’s ‘public sentiment’ is just common sense.”

A few troublemakers are bound to muddy the waters. By the time the smart ones realize it, they’ll be dragged into meaningless squabbles by the fools, unable to come up with a plan and just getting pulled along. Or even if they do wise up and try to get things done properly, they’ll be held back by the majority who are already caught up in the chaos.

Internal strife will likely break out. It won’t be armed conflict, just infighting in public opinion, which will make it even harder to deal with.

“When public sentiment wavers, so does the king’s authority.”

This will hit Sanguo especially hard, given their fanatical devotion to their king.

“…Yes, probably.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head again.”

Deon watched the Demon King, who seemed unusually pleased, then looked away. As the heir to a Count’s family, and an honorary Count himself, he knew the ways of the upper echelons of society very well.

A king with weakened authority will face scrutiny from the nobles. Any attempt to act will be met with constant obstruction.

“Greedy nobles, always eager to seize any opportunity, will be looking to exploit this situation, further disrupting the command structure.”

Conflict and power struggles, all to grab more influence.

That alone should suffice.

Deon relaxed his body, which he hadn’t realized was tense from all the mental exertion, and flopped back onto the sofa. The Demon King, who had been watching him quietly, posed another question.

“When are you planning to use the Sticks?”

“From what I saw before, even if the snowfall isn’t long-lasting, the cold that lowers the temperature itself lasts quite a while. As long as the cold lingers, even natural rain will turn to snow. So, it doesn’t seem like there’s any harm in using them sooner rather than later…”

“Planning to sneak in some troops to deploy them?”

“No, because then they might try to bring in more food supplies. We’ll need troops to prevent that.”

It’d be better to send them in as a sort of advance team. So…

Deon straightened up and looked directly at the Demon King. His gaze was steady, as if he was getting to the main point. “So…”

“Could we hold a legion commanders’ meeting right now?”

…

His voice was as firm as his gaze.

Instead of replying immediately, the Demon King quietly stood up. He slowly walked around the table that separated them and placed the back of his hand on Deon’s forehead.

A brief silence stretched between them, before a soft question broke the quiet.

“Right now?”

“…Yes.”

“You still feel feverish.”

A mild fever, practically chronic at this point.

His hand felt warm against my forehead. The Demon King looked directly into Deon’s eyes, then slowly curved his lips into a smile, speaking softly, almost whispering.

“What’s the rush?”

…

“We’ve got plenty of time today. Why not rest a bit before we start?”

…

“Oh, right. Taking a nap first might be a good idea. You must be finding it tough to manage these days without your medicine.”

Deon had stopped taking his medicine at some point.

Not only that, but since Dan’s death, some of his less helpful habits had vanished, leaving only the basic ones he’d had since childhood. It made you wonder if that was a good thing.

‘…Actually, maybe a new habit has developed.’

The way he kept looking down at his hands whenever he had a moment. If that even counted as a habit…

He’d been on the verge of collapse not long ago, but now, aside from not sleeping, he was almost unnervingly normal. The Demon King stared down at Deon, observing him with a clear sense of something being off.

“…Don’t worry about it.”

Deon scowled, seemingly annoyed by the Demon King’s words and actions, and roughly pushed away the hand still resting on his forehead.

“This isn’t a fever, it’s just my normal body temperature.”

“…Yeah, since it doesn’t seem to go any lower, I suppose ‘normal’ body temperature isn’t entirely inaccurate.”

Of course, it’s definitely not a ‘normal’ temperature.

Deon twisted his lips into a wry smile at the added comment.

“How can you say things like that when you’re one of the main reasons for it in the first place?”

The fever is caused by stress. And you, standing right in front of me, are the biggest source of that stress.

His voice sharpened as he continued.

“Just look at recent events.”

“If you’re talking about Dan’s situation, he acted on his own accord. I didn’t have a hand in it.”

“If Dan hadn’t volunteered to take the blame then, you would have suggested sacrificing him, wouldn’t you?”

The Demon King simply watched Deon in silence, implicitly agreeing with the slightly choked, clipped words.

He wasn’t about to deny it, so he just kept quiet for now… But why was this coming up now? The next words quickly answered that question.

“So, I’m not talking about ‘Dan’s situation’ specifically, but about your habit of shielding me.”

“…Aha.”

The Demon King always shielded Deon Hart. Deon knew this better than anyone.

‘The reason’s obvious, isn’t it?’

It’s for his own ends, of course. He shields me for his own purposes, and ruthlessly discards anything that isn’t ‘Deon Hart’ in the process. How could I possibly be happy about that?

It was horrifying to think he’d discard people around me so readily, regardless of my feelings, depending on the situation. Yet, this absolute protection was undeniably comforting.

“You probably knew the effect your actions were having on me, didn’t you?”

Deon glared at the Demon King.

The perceptive Demon King must have known it was causing Deon Hart considerable stress.

“And yet, he shields me, heals me, takes care of me.”

The bastard, my enemy, worried about my well-being. Not just keeping me alive, but also tending to my mental state. Shielding me when I messed up, healing me when I was injured, trying to make me sleep when I resisted, and even teaching me hobbies.

It wasn’t just simple stress; it was truly driving me insane.

“…Well, it’s beside the point now.”

…

His sudden outburst, followed by an equally swift return to composure.

…Now I understood the source of that unsettling feeling. As he accepted these twisted, almost love-hate emotions, the Demon King gave a quiet smile.

Deon Hart hadn’t actually recovered properly…

“Glass shards, jagged and sharp, are more painful than glass ground to dust.”

…

“You said you wanted to hold a legion commanders’ meeting right away? If that’s what you want.”

“Be my guest.”