Chapter 188 - To the Land of Demons

A dark meeting room.

Within it, where they could not even make out one another's identities, the only information that could be known was that everyone here was a Demon Follower.

“Rumors about Dopplers have spread across the entire continent.”

The person who broached the subject spoke in a displeased voice.

Doppler.

It was not a simple doppelganger that imitated a human, but an infiltration type that actually became that person.

Dopplers had been deployed for ten years, and until their identities were exposed, no one had noticed.

Those who clumsily insisted they were stand-ins had their heads lopped off instead when the person proved the physical traits only they possessed.

“Do you have nothing to say as the one in overall charge?”

Someone brought up responsibility, drawing everyone's attention.

The man seated in the position of overall commander had excessively pale skin.

“What would I have to say?”

“Unexpected actions have occurred several times now, so should there not be some kind of response to them?”

At that, the pale man gave a small laugh.

“Unexpected actions? How disappointing of you to say that. I already knew.”

“You knew?”

An uneasy current flowed through the dark room.

It seemed there might have been a misunderstanding, but the man continued.

“Yes, including the fact that Regent Ferda would discover the Doppler and attempt to devise a strategy based on that.”

“Does that mean... it would not be wrong to say you stood by and watched?”

The follower challenged him in an accusatory tone.

The pale man tilted his head and asked him,

“Did you not decide to swear loyalty for Godwin's sake? For someone like that, you are getting quite indignant over something so trivial.”

“I do not care what happens to this continent. I am someone who follows Godwin, after all. But I did not cooperate in this so that even the achievements we have built up until now could be reduced to nothing.”

“Is that so?”

The pale man raised his hand.

Then the speaker's arm twisted in an instant.

BANG!

CRACK!

“Gaaah!”

His hand twisted under a weak shockwave, and the bones shattered.

The pain of severed nerves rang out in a thunderous scream.

He was Gokma, a mage who used magic that distorted space.

Gokma instantly moved in front of the man and raised a dagger.

No, it was not a dagger.

If one had ever set foot in a kitchen, one would have called it a kitchen knife.

SHUNK!

Gokma drove the kitchen knife into his remaining arm.

“Gaaaaah!”

He slowly moved the knife that had sunk in deep.

The uneven blade, not properly sharpened, tore along the grain of the flesh.

“Aaaaaaagh!!!”

Only his agonized screams rang on without end.

For five minutes, merciless violence continued, and then Gokma spoke again.

“Do you have something to say?”

“P-please spare me...”

“Why are you trying to live? You will die eventually anyway, so would it not be better to die sooner?”

“Please...”

The man, broken by pain, begged Gokma.

As if bored, Gokma pulled out the kitchen knife and threw him away.

He turned his head toward the meeting room.

“Do you think everyone here is any different?”

The bloodstained kitchen knife pointed at them.

“Even if you boast that you follow our father's void and that you do not fear something like death, in the end, when you stand before death, you will tuck your tails. Do you know why I am so certain?”

“...”

“Because all of you are losers who fled here in terror because you were afraid of your current lives.”

“...”

“You defeated little pig bastards ate everything you wanted up to now, and now that you are being slaughtered, you are whining about why you were not told the date. It is so ridiculous I can hardly believe it.”

At Gokma's words, the hall fell silent as if frozen.

Gokma wiped the blood spattered on his face with his finger.

Seated at the table, he said,

“I will make this clear right here and now. I also knew that Regent Ferda was prepared to take the blame in the Empire in order to sort out the Demons. And it is also true that I did not inform the Joseph Faust double we had infiltrated in advance.”

He began wiping his kitchen knife on the clothes of the man sitting beside him.

“Although the existence known as Dopplers has been exposed, what is the Empire's situation now? They have begun to suspect the identities of nobles and priests, and they are in chaos. To calm that chaos, they are turning it toward foreign powers. It will not simply be Demon Followers who die. Capable loyal subjects will also be swept up in the aftermath and die.”

“... I see.”

“I understand.”

It was extreme, but not an incomprehensible plan.

Now that the foundation of the once-solid Empire was shaking, there was enough opportunity.

“Before you return to the void, enjoy yourselves and play as much as you like. When you become just like the Demons, then you will realize how worthless the joys you knew were.”

Gokma waved his hand dismissively, and the secret council was thus dissolved.

And so, only he remained alone in that dark space.

“Do you trust them?”

No, a man who had been standing still in the darkness came forward and asked.

Gokma gave a faint laugh.

“What would I gain by trusting those things? Did you not just see?”

“Yes, they cannot be trusted.”

“Still, I do trust that their fear is worthless.”

Humans feared the unknown, and they were beings who inevitably yielded to terror.

Since they had cooperated with Demons, they had already crossed a river from which there was no return.

If there was a way to survive, it was only to be even more loyal to the Demons.

“Then is the plan still intact?”

“It is.”

“Even with Ferda, that variable, running wild?”

Ferda Valdrova.

Now that the identity of Dopplers, for whom secrecy was important, had been exposed, people would keep Dopplers in mind.

It would no longer be easy to deploy them recklessly.

“I hear he blew off Elder Cypress's arm.”

“That elder is not an elf so careless that he would let his guard down. Ferda did excellent work.”

“It is not excellent. It is dangerous.”

That was something he agreed with completely.

Even so, it was not a problem for Gokma.

“There is no need to respond.”

“Why?”

“He will become our king.”

“You mean he will become the Demon King?”

The hulking black figure reacted as if he did not quite understand.

Looking at that reaction, Gokma asked,

“Have you never seen the Demon King?”

“I have not.”

The land once called the east, and the Demon King's castle at its end.

Except for the Demons created in the early days, few had seen the Demon King's face.

In any case, what mattered was not the Demon King, but their father, Godwin, so the Demon King's existence was only something special to humans.

“That fellow decided to become the Demon King after the wife he loved died.”

“How trivial.”

“To us, it is very trivial. But that emotion ultimately made him into an existence that even we, called the baleful stars, could not surpass.”

Gokma smiled faintly.

“I believe in that power. The despair that love brings, I mean.”

“It will be impossible for now.”

“Yes, impossible for now.”

Gokma looked down at the map on the table.

“Opportunity will come to us someday. So we simply have to do what we must, slowly.”

“So what are you planning to do from now on?”

“They say demons extend their hands to desperate humans.”

Gokma stabbed one point on the map of the Serdes Continent with his kitchen knife.

It was a place that had recently been locked in a tense standoff with the Arken Kingdom.

[Heinkel Kingdom]

“Let us take it before the demons make the first move.”

Valdrova Castle.

“This is the copy of the journal you requested earlier.”

After spending several days interpreting and transcribing it, Rize handed the copy to Ferda.

“Is this the only one?”

“I delivered the same contents to Lady Eri, no, Lady Erica.”

Eri and Erica.

He seemed to be confused because he was still not used to the names of the master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower and the far eastern branch manager of the adventurer's guild.

“You worked hard. I will read it carefully.”

“Y-yes...”

Among the journal's contents, Ferda first checked the section with the list of names.

[Project: Encroachment Participant List]

'There are quite a lot.'

It listed not only high-ranking nobles but also nameless commoners, specifying exactly where they were.

Ferda was looking for just one name.

But, as expected, it was not there.

'Waldemar Gold is not a Demon.'

Some imperial nobles appeared here and there, but they were not people who could deal a blow to Waldemar.

There was no justification to raid him or corner him.

His interest quickly cooled.

As Ferda continued reading the list, he thought,

'What should I do with these bastards...?'

It would feel satisfying to deal with them outright, but if he did, he would only leave the Demons a hole to escape through.

The most ideal picture was when a rat bit into the bait and returned to its own den.

Only then could he burn every rat in the rat hole.

While Ferda was thinking of a plan for that, Rize suddenly entered his field of vision again.

His hesitant movements.

Even a child of three could tell he still had something to say.

“Um...”

“Yes.”

“What should I do now?”

Rize asked with a serious face.

“When you ask what you should do...”

“I have far too many questions. I wonder why I can read the characters of that elf named Linne, and I do not know whether Father knew this fact, or why he did not tell me.”

“...”

“So I thought about it a little. The more I thought, the more I found only possibilities I did not want to consider.”

Rize's face was full of guilt.

“The most likely reason I can read those unique characters is simply that I inherited that blood.”

The dark elf Linne's bloodline.

The possibility that he was her daughter, no, her son.

“Is that so?”

“Yes...”

“Then why do you look so full of guilt?”

“Because... the person who may be my mother killed so many lives, and because I lost the things she had experimented on... I wondered whether I even have the right to walk with my head held high. Besides...”

Rize could not bring himself to continue, but Ferda knew.

Linne had betrayed her people and run out of the World Tree.

Though it had been under the Great Chieftain's orders, Rize had also ultimately turned his back on his people and left.

Rize was afraid that he was walking the same path as her.

“Your blood may be connected, but in the end, you are strangers. There is no guarantee that you will walk the same path as the dark elf Linne.”

“Thank you for saying that, but that does not mean I can live pretending not to know.”

Rize took a deep breath.

Ferda wondered if his earnest nature was holding him back, but what rose on his face, which had been weighed down by a burden, was resolve.

“So after thinking it over in my own way, I would like to join the expedition led by Lady Erica.”

“The expedition?”

Rize nodded.

“Yes. No matter how much dark elves are treated as heretics, their roots are ultimately the same.”

Color returned to Rize's face.

“And I have admired them for a long time. There is an elf among the expedition members, is there not?”

“Beinhof. He was a forest elf famous as a master archer.”

“Yes. I am not very good with a bow, but... I can use magic, so through this, I want to try doing the things I could not do while inside the World Tree!”

Looking at him, he seemed less like a spirited man and more like a girl brimming with a sense of adventure.

It was to the point that concern came first by reflex.

“What kind of magic do you use?”

“I cannot use flashy offensive magic like Lady Eri... How should I explain this...?”

“If you show me directly, I will judge for myself.”

“Ah, yes!”

Rize quietly drew runes and performed magic.

Watching the magic he laid out, Ferda was certain.

“You mainly handle healing and protection.”

“I learned it because I have helped sick people for a long time. Is it really that shabby?”

Shabby?

'He is a talent people would be desperate to bring along.'

Priests who went adventuring under the pretext of pilgrimage were common.

Most of them were around the 2nd or 3rd Circle and could barely manage healing, and once they reached the 4th Circle, it was about time for them to settle down.

The 5th Circle went without saying.

Unless one made a huge donation to the Order, one could not even dream of using high-level personnel.

In human terms, he had the ability of a mid-level 4th Circle priest.

'On top of that, he also has affinity with spirits.'

Elves tended to have stronger communion and affinity than other races.

However, it was only stronger, and among them, only someone truly outstanding could befriend the rough and terrifying Nightmare of the World Tree.

'It is not simply that they are close. He controls them.'

He himself did not realize it, but if one had knowledge of magic, that could be called control.

Rize was controlling the spirits.

'That means this elf's mind is that flexible.'

Being flexible meant not breaking.

It was the element most necessary in an expedition.

In an expedition, ability was important, but so was the composure not to yield in any situation.

That composure could not remain the same for a hundred or ten thousand years.

One needed somewhere to lean for a time, and becoming that deep-rooted pillar one could lean on had to be Rize's role.

“I think it would be fine, but the final decision will be made by Tower Master Erica, so I cannot interfere.”

“Is that so? Do you think Lady Erica will dislike me?”

The conflict between the high elves and Iorga weighed on Rize's mind.

To Ferda, it was a needless worry.

“She would let it pass even if you called them children of water lizards to her face.”

“Gasp. How could I say something so awful...?”

Rize's face turned deathly pale, and he flailed about in confusion.

Leaving him like that, Ferda also sank into thought.

'The Land of Demons...'

Beyond the far east's boundary line.

Originally, Ferda's role would have been to watch from behind and provide support.

That would have been more comfortable for both Erica and Ferda.

'Beyond that boundary, there is something that can eliminate my unease.'

The Great Chieftain had said that the Demon King's mana flowed through Ferda.

The Demon King had loved someone, and by losing that love, his existence was perfected.

Ferda was no different.

Ferda already knew how terrifying an emotion could be when a truly insignificant snowball rolled down and formed a massive boulder.

'She loves this continent.'

He could not leave another wound on her, when she loved this continent.

Therefore, even if such sorrow came, he needed a way not to hurt her.

That was why Ferda also decided to join that expedition.

Valdrova was preparing to go outside.

She was even more nervous than she usually was when getting ready.

Yesterday, while she was working at the construction site, hornless Erica had approached and said this.

["Tomorrow, I plan to give a briefing as a member of the Land of Demons expedition. Please clear your schedule and attend."]

The Land of Demons expedition.

The excitement and anxiety of being able to meet new people as an armor knight constricted her chest.

She knew why she was feeling this way.

However, she did not want to think about it right now.

She deliberately ignored that emotion and forced her expression into something lively.

“Luri, I am going out for a bit, all right?”

“Take care.”

The words sounded dry, but her expression was not.

That displeased-looking expression.

It seemed to be saying, Why do you not preserve the dignity of a king, and why are you going out after getting swept up in such human games?

In the past, Valdrova would have been very conscious of her reaction, but now she was different.

'I should buy something tasty on the way back.'

Whenever she brought something back, Luri always scolded her, saying, “Are you trying to win me over with a bribe like this?” but she always ate it deliciously and wagged her tail hard.

To Valdrova, Luri was nothing less than an adorable Chihuahua.

'Nothing bad will happen.'

Let us not be needlessly afraid of something new.

Repeating that sentence in her head, Valdrova stepped outside the front gate.