Chapter 367
midnight.
After the short walk, Duke Grantz sat quietly in his office.
With the lights off in his office, he was immersed in his thoughts in the dark.
He was recalling a conversation some time ago when Owen de Getmora visited in person.
It was only when it was a very urgent matter that he came in person, and he agreed that it was such an urgent matter.
Negotiations with the demon world remnants.
‘Instead of attending the meeting in person, I put forward the condition that the entire leadership be present. They also know exactly who is at the top, so it is very likely that negotiations will break down if someone does not attend.’
‘It might be a trap, isn’t it?’
‘Instead, they also expressed their stance that they would allow any number of escorts.’
‘Is it self-confidence?’
‘I guess so. Since they slaughtered not only Lebarrier Ranche but also the most elite Paladins, it seems to mean that they can be stopped even if they attack them in reverse.’
He was recalling a meeting with Owen de Getmora a few days earlier.
‘I’ve said it many times, but holding hands with demons is crazy.’
‘I think so too, but the opinion of the majority of the command has already been unified.’
‘I don’t know what they’re thinking, I don’t know what they’re up to. There’s too much we don’t know about them to hold hands simply because they have power.’
‘I deeply agree with that opinion, Your Excellency the Duke. You won’t be able to decide everything on the spot, and the demon king won’t act rashly either. If they attack us too, it’s a handshake of handshakes.’
Talks continued to come and go about the remnants of the Demon World and the issue of holding hands with the next demon king.
However, due to the nature of the organization, where it is difficult for the top leaders to gather in one place, words are conveyed and opinions are collected through written or person-to-person exchanges.
The organization went into an uproar when they heard that the remnants of the demon world were behind the Merchant Guild Master.
I couldn’t even tell where the smell came from.
However, Owen said that when they contacted him through him, the demons had already figured out the identities of some of the leaders, and now they have figured out everyone’s identities.
‘It can’t be helped, Your Excellency the Duke.’
‘… … .’
Holding the hands of demons is a handshake among handshakes.
Even if the revolution is complete, its sincerity will be questioned from the start. Such a revolution cannot be sustained.
However, the demons already know all information about them.
If they don’t hold hands, the demons can cut them all off without lifting a finger, even if they tell the empire about the revolutionary forces.
Rather, he should be grateful for the mercy of the demons.
Rather than trying to get rid of them without touching them, they even took action to join hands and make things work together.
Die at the hands of the empire, or accompany a dangerous enemy?
You must choose one of the two.
However, the moment the demons reached out.
Duke Grantz already had a hunch that the revolution had failed.
If the uprising fails, it is of course a failure, and if it succeeds by joining hands with the enemy of mankind, it is a failure because the future cannot be guaranteed.
Wherever you go, you are bound to fail.
‘I have no choice but to… … . Is there any?’
According to Owen, many of the top leaders are welcoming this situation with open arms.
Is this really a situation where we should rejoice that our strength has increased?
Duke Grantz was feeling extremely anxious.
Has the revolution failed?
No, was it possible to succeed in the first place?
Factions are divided and quarreled inside, people from the Orbis class have conflicts with members from the non-Orbis class, and political fights are common inside, and now they have taken it for granted.
never carried out a revolution.
very old
revolutionary organization.
Could this group, which had been holding its breath without a revolution and rotting from the inside and gradually increasing in volume, be able to call it a revolution?
“… … .”
Duke Grantz left the office and walked down the hallway. After thinking about it for a long time, the conclusion was drawn anyway.
Even without your consent, the organization has already made a decision.
Being part of an organization means that there are times when you have to go along, even if the organization does things against your will.
Only this time.
– What the hell does that have to do with anything!
A sharp voice pierced the duke’s ear as he walked down the hallway amid such complicated thoughts.
I thought I had gone back to the temple, but it seemed that my daughter had returned before I knew it.
– My older sister told me not to hang out with menial things. But now it’s not enough to bring in a few kids, why don’t you bring them in and have a drinking party? If you even hear about this… … .
– What are you going to do after that?
Hearing the sound of a mother-daughter argument, the duke sighed as if it were familiar.
If it weren’t for the personality that obsessively covers the bed, I wouldn’t even step foot in the house. The Duke’s daughter did not like the house, but she had a very difficult time falling asleep anywhere else.
-It might be better now, but don’t you know that all of this will leave scars on you? Will you regret it if you have to experience it yourself? Quit the temple immediately and come home! Whether it’s taking bridal lessons or calling a tutor, Mom will take care of everything.
-under. If you’re going to live like a mother after taking bridal lessons, you don’t want to have that kind of life, right?
-Gee, what now?
-If I’m going to live like my mother, I’d rather live with commoners like this. At least I don’t want to live by measuring people like my mother did.
The duke was standing in the hallway, listening to the story from afar, unable to engage in or turn away from the conversation.
This story doesn’t leak out because it’s the way the employees are thoroughly clamped down, but even if rumors don’t leak out, everyone who knows knows about it.
To the extent that the Duke of Grantz is a piece of shit.
-Are you going to run away to marry a commoner? like your father?
– Do you think so? If I run away, I’m not trying to marry a commoner, but I’m running away from my mother, right?
In response to the cool voice of the Duchess, the daughter’s sarcastic remarks grew even more chilly.
-what… … Called?
-Dad didn’t even have what he wanted. But her mother is not even happy with what she wants, so why the hell is she forcing me to live like a mother?
-Uh, what kind of mother… … . how could you say that… … .
The daughter, who had been strong since childhood, was not the kind of daughter who listened to her mother. But even though she was a duchess, she was by no means weak in character. To put it horribly, he was one of the few people the duke knew.
As the daughter grew older, the original mother-daughter conflict only got worse, but not weakened.
The daughter brings her friends to the mansion even though she knows her mother hates her. Because she knows that because of her face, she can’t openly say anything bad in front of the common people.
-Tell my friends what they can’t do anymore, openly discriminate against them, and if you look at them that way, I’ll show you that even your offspring are disappearing in a corner of the house that’s worse than where you really are, so take care of yourself.
-you you! liana! don’t stand there!
-bang!
Riana, who came out with a reddened face after violently closing the Duchess’s door, soon met eyes with the Duke, who was listening to the story in the hallway.
“… … .”
“… … .”
My daughter didn’t get angry at me for overhearing. She was just staring at the Duke. It was her eyes that could see the twisted rage.
“Daughter. Dad… … .”
“Are you on my side?”
When his daughter got ahead of him, the duke was at a loss for words.
I’m on your side
It was something he used to say often.
“Just as Mom wants me to live the way she lived, Dad wants me to live the life he couldn’t live.”
I was bound by my social status and couldn’t get what I wanted the most.
So you can live your life trying to have something like that, the Duke kept saying.
However, in the end, only the meaning of the words is different, and that, too, is coercion.
It is the same that both mom and dad are just forcing me to lead a certain life.
At Liana’s words, the Duke became miserable and had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
“I’m fed up with mom and dad treating me as the only reason a failed marriage has to stay.”
Liana wheezes past the peacock.
The duke looked at the back of his daughter leaving the duke’s house as if she were going back to the temple instead of her room, with a wry smile.
The only reason failed parents have to stay married.
From some point on, the daughter considered herself to be such a miserable result.
Is it painful on its own?
Do you know that there is only so much meaning in your life?
At some point, my daughter used to drink alone and fall asleep.
There were countless times when I saw the tear marks left in the eyes of my daughter who was asleep.
The duke watched as his daughter strode through the garden and left the duke’s house.
The winter night sky was overcast.
* * *
two days later.
Levina, a small country in the southern part of the Empire.
night time.
Duke Grantz moved for a meeting with the next demon king who stirred up the entire continent.
It is very rare that the heads of republican revolutionary organizations come together in person.
It is because the fact that people from all walks of life gather in one place for no particular reason is already somewhat suspicious.
That is why the General Assembly, where all the leaders gather, is not convened unless it is a very important agenda.
This is the first time since the Orbis class was closed last time.
The meeting place was not the ecliptic, but one of the merchant guild branches located in the southern part of the continent. The name was disguised as a gathering of investors in the southern trading business of the Merchant Guild.
There was a promise from the demon king that he could prepare any number of escort troops, but he couldn’t.
그란츠 공작은 믿을 만한 공작가 기사들과 가문 마법사를 데리고 움직일 뿐이었다. 소수지만, 이 소수만으로도 그란츠 공작은 마족 잔당들이 다른 마음을 먹는다면 맞상대할 수는 없어도 빠져나올 수는 있을 거라 생각하고 있었다.
제국 남부, 레바이나 왕국 수도 라지에른 외곽 지역에 위치한 상인길드 지부 중 하나.
지나치게 화려하고 중심가에 가까운 장소는 이목을 끌 수 있으니 오히려 한적한 장소를 골랐다. 장소를 물색한 건 당연하게도 상인길드 마스터였다.
회의실에 도착한 그란츠 공작은 미리 도착해 있는 수많은 사람을 볼 수 있었다.
귀족, 고위 관직자, 작가, 학자를 비롯해 출신과는 무관하게 다들 사회 각계각층에서 자리를 하나씩 하고 있는 이들이다.
마왕은 아직 도착하지 않았다.
그리 자주 소집되는 회의는 아니지만, 평상시였다면 화기애애까진 아니라 해도 적당한 인사 정도는 나눌 수 있었다. 하지만 지금은 아니었다.
지금은 대륙 전체를 뒤집어 놓은 마왕과의 회동을 준비하고 있다.
그것에 찬성하든 아니든 모두의 면면에 불안과 기대, 공포, 그리고 회의가 조금씩은 깃들어 있었기에 누구도 함부로 입을 열지 않았다.
회위는 여기까진 들어오지 못한다.
하지만 다들, 긴급 상황에 대비한 탈출을 위해 텔레포트 스크롤 정도는 하나씩들 챙기고 있을 게 분명했다.
시간에 맞춰 총 열일곱에 이르는 수뇌부들이 전부 모이고 난 후.
그란츠 공작은 약간 의아함을 느꼈다.
상인길드 마스터.
오웬 드 게트모라가 자리에 없었다.
그는 수뇌부는 아니지만, 혁명 세력의 자금줄을 담당하고 있는 고위 간부에 해당했다. 또한, 마왕의 하수인과 그가 직접 접촉했으니 그가 연락책으로 이 자리에 함께 있어야 했다.
그 위화감은 곧 그것이 무엇인지 곧 정체를 드러냈다.
-그워어어어어어!
In the world of humans, sounds that should not be heard begin to be heard.
“this… … . what?”
One by one, they got up and started looking out the window.
– Flash!
– Flash!
Light scatters in the clearing, and one by one, something begins to appear.
Ogre.
Oak.
Goblin.
Numerous demons, including imps, were appearing simultaneously.
Numerous demons with red demons floating in their eyes were arriving by space movement while being surrounded by light.
“They are demons!”
“I can’t believe these guys!”
He said he was going to have a meeting, but was he planning to attack?
The demons arriving via teleport began to flock to attack the Merchant Guild branch, the meeting place.
This is the outskirts of the city. There was no help from the guards, and if it was a raid of that scale, the fight would have already ended if the guards arrived as quickly as possible.
“Let’s run away!”
At someone’s cry, everyone else, as well as others, hurriedly pulled out their teleport scrolls as if they had been waiting.
There were at least a few ways to escape in case of an emergency. And it was the same for Duke Grantz.
-Charak!
However, the teleport scroll, which was supposed to send them somewhere while emitting light, did not show any reaction.
“Space travel… … . block?”
Someone muttered blankly.
Teleport scroll does not activate.
However, a barrier that blocks space movement is not something that can be constructed in a short time.
However, it is clear that there is a barrier now.
“it’s okay. If the escorts you brought are enough, you can endure this much. If you break through the breakthrough and get out of the range of the space movement barrier, you should be able to move enough.”
The escort troops brought were the elite of the elite, if not many.
-bang! Kwak!
The knights and wizards who had already jumped out of the sudden attack started responding to the demons whose eyes were stained red.
Although the number of demons is large, it is not difficult to stop them.
The demons made a mistake in their judgment. It is impossible to slaughter all the leaders of the revolutionary forces to this extent.
However, Duke Grantz felt a sense of incongruity.
Space Magic Barrier.
The eyes of the demons dyed red.
without even focus.
-Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaa!
-thud! cooong!
They just blindly clenched their weapons and wielded them.
‘Brainwashing… … ?’
I couldn’t erase the thought that those demons had been subjected to some kind of magical treatment.
Naturally, the escort troops they brought were not foolish enough to be hit by their wielding weapons.
The demons who attacked are only slaughtered without even getting a scratch.
“How did you see us?”
Following the raid, the top leaders were uttering dumbfounded voices as they watched the demons being slaughtered overwhelmingly.
Not all idiots.
It’s nice to win.
Everyone knows this is too flimsy for a raid.
and.
Duke Grantz was soon able to find out who the real enemy was, among the pouring demons.
People in black were brandishing swords in the dark.
“article… … ?”
Someone’s sword was dyed blue.
Aura Blade.
It is the proof of a sword master.
A group of sword masters, who are called a powerful asymmetric force with just one person, begin to crush their escort troops.
“The demons say that… … ?”
“no.”
Duke Grantz muttered blankly as he watched the escorts cut off in an instant.
“It can’t be a demon, right? … .”
Space movement was blocked, and a number of veteran knights along with the demons slaughter everyone like autumn leaves.
Duke Granz was able to find a familiar face among the black-clad people.
“Saviolin Tana… … .”
The leader of Chanapell was there.
* * *
The escort forces were annihilated in an instant.
The demons who were attacking collapsed on the spot when the escort troops were annihilated. like empty shells.
– Jerking away
Everyone could hear the sound of footsteps walking into the meeting room.
Without being able to escape, those dressed in black appeared in the conference room one by one.
They were so terrible that even though they carried out the massacre, there was not a single drop of blood on their clothes.
No one escaped.
Everyone here knows Saviolin Tana’s face.
Captain Chanapell, with a calm expression, looked around the conference room and sat down, occupying one of the empty seats.
“Do you think the Empire didn’t know of your existence?”
She just said so calmly.
It wasn’t that the demons betrayed them.
A place where a space movement blocking barrier is constructed.
The person who arranges the meeting place.
The person who persuaded everyone to gather here.
“Owen… … . You drove us here.”
Owen de Getmora.
Everyone belatedly realized that he was just lying from beginning to end.
Then, what was the attack of the demons?
Duke Grantz gritted his teeth and stared at Saviolin Tana.
“Certainly, they are trying to disguise themselves as the demons’ actions… … !”
The leadership is here, but the revolutionary forces themselves are everywhere.
Even if the leadership dies, the will to revolution itself does not die.
“Yes, from this point on, your organization will come under the management of the Empire. The merchant guild master will be the head of the next revolutionary organization.”
Duke Grantz did not know who came up with the bizarre idea of a governmental revolutionary force.
“Inside the organization, all of you will be treated as dead after the negotiations break down while discussing cooperation with the demon forces here. Of course, externally, it will be treated as death by an unexpected attack.”
Saviolin Tana said as if she could explain this much to those who are about to die.
and.
She glanced at the knights of Chanafell, who were no longer knights today, but became killers.
“Kill them all. The body and the cause of death must be manipulated, so do not leave any trauma.”
With that cold declaration, lives began to end one by one.
