novelraw Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62. The Seven Archdemons (3)
Dark circles under his eyes.
A gaunt face.
A body that had become as thin as it could be.
Even his coughing wouldn't stop.
“Cough. Cough. Lately, what is wrong with my body?”
Dekal, looking dizzy, grabbed his forehead with one hand and staggered.
He even ended up vomiting blood.
Phlegm had suddenly boiled up, and he had coughed up a mouthful of blood.
It was the typical appearance of someone addicted to the Devil's Wine, but, Dekal was completely unaware of this fact.
The Devil's Wine was a specialty of the Durani Empire, rarely seen in the northern regions.
Just then.
A light appeared in the magic crystal ball, and the face of a subordinate appeared.
But for some reason, he had the face of a Demon, his original form.
Dekal frowned and became angry.
“What do you think you're doing! I went through the trouble of turning you into a human, and you can't even stand it for a moment!”
“Th-that's not it. The magic was suddenly broken.”
“What did you say?”
He had certainly cast transformation magic on each and every one of them properly.
Hadn't he not only changed their appearance but also transferred the memories of the dead humans intact?
But the subordinate was flustered, saying that not only him but all the demons had returned to their original forms.
“Nonsense! Unless you voluntarily willed to break it, it's a magic that no one but me can undo!”
“I also have no idea why this happened.”
Dekal looked down at his own hands with a face of disbelief.
His skin was cracked, and not a single muscle was properly visible.
His fingers, once stronger than anyone's, were cracked like dried-up tree branches.
‘Did this happen because I cast the magic while transformed into a human?’
It felt as if all the plans he had painstakingly built, all his manipulations, had crumbled like a sandcastle.
“Was the transformation undone after you captured the castle?”
“Th-that is······.”
“Why can't you speak!”
“The magic was broken before we even reached Tournai Castle, so the humans scattered, and we couldn't stay here either, so we are in the middle of retreating.”
“You crazy bastards!!”
As the veins on Dekal's neck bulged, the subordinate, sweating profusely, asked back.
“Wh-what should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do! Gather the soldiers again and bring me the Benedict King's head! I put an army of three hundred thousand in your hands, and you can't even do that simple thing!!”
Was it because he had gotten overly excited while in poor health?
Dekal fainted right after saying those words.
“L-Lord Dekal!”
His subordinate kept calling his name, but Dekal showed no sign of waking up.
The shock was so great that his mouth was filled with foam.
***
Alboin was dreaming.
It was a battlefield. There, he was bleeding and laughing.
The many soldiers who tried to face him had fallen, and he swung his sword as if possessed.
But something was strange.
“There’s no feel to it at all.”
At that moment, a strong light flashed, and his vision went white.
“······Was I unconscious?”
He staggered, struggling to get up, but his legs wouldn't hold his strength.
Giving up on standing, he looked around and saw an unfamiliar magic crystal ball placed in the center.
Next to it, Chancellor Clapo lay fallen.
“Ch-Chancellor!”
Alboin, mistakenly thinking that someone had infiltrated this place and tried to assassinate him and the chancellor, hurriedly called for people.
“Is anyone there! There is an intruder! Where is Liam!”
Then, a few maids came out from behind.
Their faces were filled with fear.
“What is the meaning of this? Tell me the truth at once!”
Alboin thought the maids knew about the mastermind behind this incident, but the truth was different.
“What did you say? I ordered an invasion of the Benedict Kingdom? Who do you think you are speaking to, to tell such lies!”
“N-no, Your Majesty. It was definitely an order you gave yourself.”
What was this all about?
Alboin was utterly dumbfounded, but there was no falsehood in their eyes.
“Where is Liam?”
“He went to battle as the commander-in-chief, but he is now a prisoner of the Benedict Kingdom.”
“A prisoner?”
“Yes. He is being held in Frank's Barony.”
Alboin stroked his head as if he had a headache, then pointed at the chancellor and asked.
“Why is the chancellor collapsed over there? Is he still alive?”
One of the maids scurried to the chancellor's side and nodded.
“Yes. He is still breathing.”
“There wasn't an attack by someone?”
“Not at all. There were strict orders not to let anyone near. However.”
“However?”
The maid hesitated for a moment before saying this.
“He has been drinking a lot of alcohol recently, and I believe that may be the cause of his current state.”
“Alcohol? Wasn't the chancellor a man who didn't even touch alcohol?”
“We are not sure either. Perhaps he was under a lot of stress, but recently he has been drinking day in and day out.”
“This won't do. Immediately summon the highest-ranking priest!”
Looking at the chancellor's current state, it seemed much wiser to call a priest rather than a doctor.
It wouldn't be too late to call a doctor after his body had recovered to some extent.
Alboin ordered the maid to bring a pen and paper, then put as much strength as he could into his weakened hand and began to write a letter.
Alboin wrote one letter to the Benedict King.
And then he wrote a letter with the same content to Baron Frank and handed it to the maid.
“Deliver this letter at once, and at the same time, withdraw the soldiers. This is a crucial matter on which the fate of the country hangs!”
What on earth had happened?
It seemed that the chancellor had started to change from a certain day, and then he began to lose his memory.
“By any chance, what is today's date?”
“It is December 24th, 5281, by the continental standard calendar, Your Majesty.”
“Wh-what did you say! December 24th?”
The last date he clearly remembered was September 17th, 5281.
It was his friend Liam's birthday, a day he could never forget even if he tried.
Just as Alboin frowned and complained of a headache.
“Uwaaaaaah!!”
A sudden scream was heard, and not long after, a maid entered.
“What is it?”
“Th-the Chancellor······.”
“What about the chancellor?”
“He passed away during treatment.”
“······?!”
Alboin's eyes widened as if they would burst.
Incomprehensible events were happening one after another.
***
As is well known, Dekal was a demon.
The Demon Tribe was weak to holy magic.
And most healing magic was holy magic.
The healing magic performed on his already weakened body came back as an irreversible final blow.
“Uwaaaaaah!!”
Dekal let out a scream that didn't sound human.
He poured blood from every orifice and died on the spot.
However, since he hadn't undone the transformation magic himself, he died in his human form.
Currently, besides Dekal, not a single demon remained inside the Lombard royal palace.
Naturally, no one noticed the fact that he was a demon.
Alboin mourned his death and ordered a state funeral.
“He was one who did his best for our kingdom. To think he would go so vainly.”
Could Dekal have predicted he would die this way?
He was able to have a funeral without being lonely, mourned by the many Lombard people he had regarded as mere insects.
This was done while breaking the precept that no one should shed tears when a demon dies.
There is no need to elaborate on how the demon society evaluated Dekal's death.
***
Meanwhile, at that time.
Having arrived in Tournai, I first sought out the King and the Saintess.
“The Lombard army seemed to suddenly flee, and you're saying it was all your achievement?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“Haha. You alone have saved the kingdom! Truly the Hero who defeated the Demon King!”
To Charles VII, I roughly said that I had uncovered the Demon Tribe's plot and driven out the enemies.
If I had mentioned that I received help from an Archdemon, I couldn't predict how he would treat me.
But what was this?
He suddenly grabbed my hand and said this.
“As it happens, there is an empty land, and I was thinking, how about I give you that land as a reward for this incident?”
“An empty land, you say?”
“The marquisate. Moltke is already dead and gone, so how about you govern that place?”
Huh? Had there ever been a case in the past where a baron governed a marquisate?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't recall such a precedent.
I slowly shook my head and said.
“I am grateful for the consideration, but I am a mere baron. To be told to govern a marquisate is an outrageous statement, Your Majesty.”
“Then I can just raise your rank to Marquis. No. How about a Margrave, equal to a Marquis? Both your land and the marquisate are located in the outermost border regions, are they not?”
A Marquis was surprising enough, but to think he would even mention a Margrave.
A Margrave, in addition to the rights they gained over their fief, was like a king of sorts, with widely recognized military and autonomous powers to prepare for foreign invasions.
If that happened, I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of asking for permission every time I moved, and the taxes I had to offer to the kingdom would also be greatly reduced.
Because to defend against foreign invasions, it would be necessary to voluntarily strengthen the territory.
“Do not worry about the backlash from the nobles. If it weren't for you, the kingdom might have been destroyed, so who would dare to challenge this matter.”
“It is such a sudden story that I do not know what I should say.”
“Not at all. I am not unaware that the other nobles have looked down on you. If you become a Margrave on this occasion, no one will be able to ignore you.”
That was true, but this had never happened in the game.
Me, a Margrave?
Excluding Duke, it was the highest noble rank.
In PP, Frank's rank was always fixed as Baron.
‘There were no cases of him being dismissed from being a baron, but there were also no cases of him being promoted to Viscount or Count.’
There were cases of making a daughter a queen or becoming an emperor, but the story after that was no longer told.
I felt like I was hearing this auditory hallucination without realizing it.
Of course, I didn't actually hear such a sound; it was all just my imagination.
I slowly knelt and expressed my gratitude to the King.
“Until the day I die, I will pledge my loyalty to Your Majesty and the kingdom.”
“Haha. Your words alone are reassuring. By any chance, do you have any intention of taking on the position of Chief Justice as well?”
That's a bit...
If I took on the position of Chief Justice, I would have to come and live in the royal palace, and that would greatly narrow my range of movement.
This was not a very good decision, even for the sake of the world.
“I apologize, but I will accept only the sentiment.”
“It can't be helped. As a Margrave, the most important thing will be to govern the border region well. Pretend you did not hear it.”
In any case, with this, I was able to get a super-fast promotion from Baron to Margrave in one go.
I couldn't help but do a little shoulder dance.
***
As the war was not completely over, the investiture ceremony was conducted simply.
Being able to see jealousy and envy, as well as anger and fear, on the faces of the nobles looking at me was the highlight of highlights of this investiture ceremony.
‘For the time being, I won't have to be stressed because of the internal nobles.’
I smiled faintly at them and even waved my hand.
What are you all doing? The Margrave is personally waving his hand, why aren't you returning the gesture?
I left the royal palace with a bright smile and moved to the Grand Cathedral.
Because I had something to discuss with Isabel alone.
Was it thanks to having given a proper warning once?
With Anonymous no longer approaching my side, I slowly parted my lips.
“I believe Primus is the one behind this incident.”
“I had a similar thought after reading the letter from the Unseen Ones. Even if the Lombard Kingdom is a nation of war, there would be no reason for them to invade this place in this season without a declaration of war.”
“And there is one more thing I have to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“From now on, this is a story that must not be revealed to anyone.”
Isabel tilted her head and asked.
“Just what kind of story are you trying to tell, to be so serious?”
“I will tell you without beating around the bush. The reason this incident could be resolved so easily is that I joined hands with demons.”
“D-demons? You're joking, right?”
With a face of disbelief, she couldn't close her gaping mouth.
At the same time, her face turned pale, and she unconsciously made the sign of the cross.
“Are you in your right mind? They are the enemies of the Goddess!”
She glared at me with a look full of contempt.
I understood.
The ones the Goddess Cult was most wary of and hostile towards were none other than the demons.
But who was I?
My head was packed with ways to persuade her.
Who was our biggest enemy right now?
Without a doubt, it was Primus.
It would be troublesome to forget the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.