Chapter 460
That night.
King Edina’s bedroom.
I was sitting on the bed watching Harriet drying her hair.
Harriet was now in her pajamas instead of the clothes she had been wearing a moment ago.
“Go to bed sooner rather than later. You have a lot of work to do tomorrow. He said he would go to the Empire.”
“… … It should be.”
If nothing else, Harriet and I have been sharing a bedroom since about six months ago.
There are two beds in the devil’s bedroom. I use one, and Harriet uses the bed a little further away from mine.
There is one reason why we share a bedroom out of nowhere.
assassination threat.
The actions of those who hate me are also visible.
It doesn’t happen too often, but if it’s forgettable, it’s persistently tried in a different way.
It was poisoning, and it was also an attack in the middle of the night.
There were many times when people in the castle were collaborators.
They are not bought either.
In some cases, people who normally hated me only cooperated with the assassination plan.
There was also a time when Harriet and Olivia forcibly saved someone who was about to die from eating deadly poison.
Originally, Harriet, who was researching new magic research or magic items, took on the role of a scribe and never left my side for a moment.
After that, Harriet began to check everything I ate and drank for poison, and I even bought the talent Poison Resistance with achievement points.
I was able to cope with the physical attack with the warning of the feeling, but only those who have experienced it know the horror of seeing the face of a person I know with a dagger pointed at my breath while asleep.
A lot of people hate me.
Even the humans I saved from the Edina Archipelago hate me because they know that the devil is the source of all this.
Such things happened even after replacing all the royal servants with those who had nothing to lose in the gate incident.
All humans hate me to some extent, and that’s why it couldn’t be made up of only demons who absolutely obey my words. Because the issue of discrimination and subordination of mankind was bound to evoke a greater backlash.
It wasn’t just me, it was Harriet who suffered from the attack as well.
I’m not going to die, so I’m trying to kill the people around me.
Was there such a thing?
There was one time when I woke up and saw Antirianus giggling at me outside the palace with me tied up.
What do you think it would have been like if the one who came to you now was not you, but a wizard from the Empire or the Black Order?
It was also Antirianus’ bad taste, but the memory of that day still chilled the back of my neck.
I’m safe because the Empire and the Black Order still don’t know where I am. I realized that if an Antirianus-class wizard tried to kill me, he could take my life at any time.
It’s not completely undefended, but it could be destroyed at any time.
That’s why, since then, it’s been a habit to share a bedroom with Harriet and to sleep after putting countless magical devices and barriers on the bedroom before going to sleep.
At first, both Harriet and I were in a weird mood and tossed and turned, but in the end, time is a medicine and we were used to these things.
I couldn’t help it that there were rumors that the demon king was in the same bedroom with the scribe every day.
Olivia was unexpectedly not angry with him.
He was rather concerned about me because he knew I was suffering that much from assassination threats.
anyway.
In effect, I began to be known for being in a conjugal relationship with Harriet, but I couldn’t help that part.
Actually… … .
Now I have to say that I feel like there is something very different from that.
In fact, in some respects, Harriet is better at coping with situations than the Archmage of the Senate.
In most crises, I do the physical countermeasures, and Harriet does the magical countermeasures, so Harriet and I naturally complement each other, so we spent the most time together to protect each other.
Harriet, with her hair dried, sat down on her bed, placing a scrollbook on the bedside chest of drawers.
“I put the teleport scroll. There are more than 20 of them, so you can use them whenever you are in a hurry.”
“okay.”
“Shall I go with you too?”
Harriet, her hair loose, stares at me.
“No, I don’t think I’ll go and look good. what to go alone There will be no danger.”
It will be disguised as Sarkegar’s ring anyway, so there is no way it will be discovered.
It’s not that he doesn’t know the circumstances, and the sights he’ll see in the empire won’t be a good sight for anyone to see. I thought I would go quietly alone and come back quietly.
I lay down on the bed, and Harriet, sitting with her back on the bed, opened the book between her knees, opened the middle page, and began to read.
A soft, yellow, magical light illuminated the book Harriet was reading.
“Do you always sleep when I grow up?”
“Sleep as much as you can.”
As if to grow up without minding it, Harriet gestured to me without even looking at me.
I’m busy too, but I’m sure Harriet must be tired too, having to coordinate my responsibilities and keeping the bedroom safe.
Honestly, I feel it too.
The fact that, at some point, Harriet’s magical achievements were stagnant.
Harriet was also doing the research she wanted whenever she had time, but her time was too limited, so she wasn’t able to make much progress.
Harriet is actually a person fit for a researcher.
However, there are no people, and even more so, there are no people I can trust, and my ability is so great that I am in charge of the role of my secretary and bodyguard.
I have so many things to do that I can’t do anything I really want to do.
So I fall asleep, and this short time before I just need to stay by his side.
During that time, Harriet finds time to read a book.
I think Harriet would have liked Akasha.
However, Akasha disappeared.
That’s why, the magical achievements that have been accumulated for a long time in Akasha have been transformed into a different world of imaginary dimensions.
How much magic did Akasha have?
now it has become obscure.
The sound of quietly turning the pages.
I listen to the turning of the pages very carefully, not wanting to disturb my sleep.
I look at Harriet’s face as she reads the book.
“It hurts.”
“huh.”
Now I don’t even look at you even if you call me ppakktong.
In fact, because the scribe has face, he is not called like this outside.
When we are alone like this, we can only say a word as they were called back then.
Is that why Harriet isn’t angry?
Because only in this moment do you know that I can call you that.
“thank you.”
At my sudden words, Harriet looks at me with a gentle smile.
“me too.”
What are you thankful for?
It seems like you always take and never give.
I never knew.
Harriet turned her eyes back to her book, and I closed them.
* * *
– Dig!
Through the warp point, dozens of people appeared in the middle of the plaza in an instant.
Since warp gates were currently unavailable, magicians who could use mass teleport now had to move troops manually for ultra-long distance movement.
Just like the situation in Edina Islands, it was natural that those who could move through mass teleport were all composed of only a few elites.
And now, what appeared through the warp spot was Ellen and her direct subordinates.
Ellen was scheduled to be put into the next branch immediately after completing her mission report in the ecliptic.
-oh… … .
-He’s a warrior… … .
Ellen Artoraus had become a celebrity enough to be called a celebrity.
In terms of the trust of the crowd, the current state of the empire was that Ellen received more support than the emperor.
So, it was natural for people to gather around Ellen like a cloud.
“Hero! Our savior!”
“Hero, where are you going this time?”
“Warrior… … . Thank you for saving me!”
Ellen has saved many people. immeasurably.
“Hero! cool!”
“Hero!”
“Hero, please look down on us… … .”
“Why doesn’t older sister come to the ecliptic often?”
Ellen was no longer unfamiliar with this sight, as it was something she had grown accustomed to.
However, Ellen was afraid of people in despair and pain projecting hope onto her.
You are the culprit behind all of this.
People believe in themselves.
He thinks everything is the devil’s fault and loves himself.
I didn’t even have to run around to save people like this.
At that time, if he had trusted Reinhardt, this would not have happened.
He didn’t save people.
It is all because of himself that everyone is in this abyss of despair, unable to wear proper clothes, and becomes nothing more than a scavenger.
“I love you, warrior!”
Ellen was afraid to see so many people looking for hope in her.
it’s all my fault
it’s my fault
Don’t like me, don’t love me, hate me.
The person who should be hated is me, not the demon king.
Ellen was occasionally seized by the urge to say such a thing.
However, he could not deliberately plunge people who find hope in him into despair.
To those who somehow endure this miserable life by hating the demon lord and believing in the hero.
I couldn’t deliberately feed the victims the despair drug of truth.
People find salvation in Ellen.
That’s why the people who infest the ecliptic don’t turn into mobs.
If Ellen says that all of this happened because of her fault, people won’t believe it, but even if they do, it’s a problem.
The moment the crowd learns that this happened because of the mistake of the hero and the empire, the empire collapses.
If the empire collapses, there will be no humanity.
“Your sister will kill the Demon King, right?”
“ah… … .”
A girl clings to Ellen’s arm and asks.
Devil.
The eyes of people who believe that killing the demon king will bring peace to the world.
From a child yearning for hope to the hateful eyes of an old man.
humanity’s hope.
As the spokesperson, I felt that the day would come when I would have to force myself to stand in front of Reinhardt.
That’s what Ellen was afraid of.
* * *
Central Palace Tetra.
“There is no problem with Köllen, the capital of Kernstadt. The important thing is which of the satellite cities to start with.”
“huh.”
Ellen was discussing the future after finishing the report to Bertus. Ellen stared at Bertus with a tired expression.
Even the mighty lordship only succeeded in defending a few cities, including the capital. After the Empire had recovered all of its direct territories, it now had to decide which vassals it would give full support to.
From now on, it was planned to start the restoration work of Kernstadt, which could be said to be the first imperial country.
All warp gates in Kernstadt territory were destroyed.
So all you have to do is eliminate the monsters lurking around the city.
But it’s easy to say, many soldiers, knights, and wizards were going to die while performing this task.
The current situation was to restore the empire while consuming human resources.
“What do you think?”
“Rather than restoring each city, I think it would be more appropriate to clean up the surroundings of cities that have succeeded in defense. already… … . There will be few survivors in the fallen cities. I think we can work on that gradually.”
“… … Yes, that makes sense.”
Bertus was contemplating with his arms crossed.
“Charlotte… … . how is it?”
Bertus clicked his tongue at Ellen’s question.
“… … It stays the same.”
Ellen is a hero of the Empire.
That’s why, as much as he was fed up with hearing the story of killing the demon king, he was fed up with the misunderstanding about the princess.
The princess was cursed.
The hero might be harmed, so be careful of the princess.
Ellen, who was often away from the ecliptic, tended to go see Charlotte’s condition when she returned to the ecliptic. Because Ellen is, first of all, the princess’s guardian knight.
But neither Ellen nor Bertus could open Charlotte’s closed mouth.
She couldn’t open her mouth, but Charlotte shed tears when she saw Ellen.
Charlotte was blaming herself just as Ellen was blaming herself.
The moment they saw each other, they couldn’t help but realize all of these things that happened because they couldn’t trust Reinhardt.
As if Ellen felt that everything was her fault. Charlotte, too, felt that everything was her own fault.
Even if they couldn’t talk, Ellen couldn’t help but know Charlotte’s heart every time she watched her sobbing.
In the end, the conclusion was that the majority of the crowd wanted the death of the princess right now.
“Other than that, is there anything else you need on site or anything like that?”
“As always, I need a power cartridge.”
“I guess… … . I’m not sure when the mass production system will be in place.”
Power Cartridge and Moonshine.
Just as Reinhardt had intended to make in case of a Gate incident, the Power Cartridge has now become the most important commodity on the battlefield.
Wizards who draw magic from power cartridges and use them were demonstrating enormous power on the battlefield.
Close combat students who took moonshine were rapidly improving their skills. In fact, the number of those who learned to enhance magical power was growing exponentially.
Therefore, a strange phenomenon was occurring in which the dying military power was being compensated to some extent by the speed at which the existing military power was strengthening.
It must have been made to strengthen the Demon King’s army.
The thing that Bertus regarded as such has now become the most important commodity that cannot be dispensed with.
After everything had happened, Bertus realized that the choice he should never have made was the only correct answer.
I should have let the demon king go.
Even though he knew that regret was of no use, Bertus was terribly tormented by regret.
Everyone blames themselves in this whole situation.
Charlotte to herself.
Ellen to herself.
Bertus too.
that you are responsible for all
I thought so.
“Is there anything in particular worth talking about?”
“… … .”
Ellen was silent, then something came to mind.
“I heard that there is a paradise in the south.”
“Paradise?”
“Yeah, what a strange thing again… … . It seems like belief is spreading.”
“… … okay. You probably want to believe that story.”
It’s an overly hopeless time, so strange nonsense is made.
That’s why Bertus had no choice but to regard the rumor as nonsense.
