Chapter I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. 199
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 199
Deep underground in Roydergues, Montmesis.
Men pulled a woman from a large tank and placed her in a coffin.
Men in white priestly robes kissed the symbol of the Royder Order and made the sign of the cross.
“We will remember your dedication to humanity, Saint Revelia.”
The saint’s skin was so white it was transparent.
Messy blood vessels were drawn across that transparent canvas.
The priests of the White Tower, already hardened by experience, felt uncomfortable thinking those messy lines were traces of the pain and suffering the saint had endured.
The priests quickly disposed of Revelia’s corpse like children cleaning up a wet bed.
As planned, the saint’s body would be given funeral rites before being placed in the saints’ tomb.
Eleven cardinals watching this process clicked their tongues.
“…Of all times for a saint to die.”
“Still, she endured quite long. Perhaps because she was a former knight, she lasted 20 years.”
“Hope the next saint is also a former knight.”
Then, a knight wearing mirror-like armor brought an elegant box.
The cardinals gathered around the box.
“Did the Holy Grail react?”
“Yes, it did.”
The knight carefully opened the box.
The wooden box peeled away like a crab shell, revealing a silver Holy Grail contained in transparent glass inside.
The Grail was very plain except for the ruby embedded in its center.
The cardinals focused only on the ruby.
When they shone a torch on it, the ruby emitted light in one direction.
“Where is it pointing?”
“Southeast, sir.”
“Southeast… That’s toward Friedrich’s borderlands. Closer than expected.”
“It could be in the demon realm.”
The cardinals’ expressions twisted at the mention of the demon realm.
“…Right. People live there now too.”
“I’ll request cooperation from the Margrave.”
“Leave that to me. No one has ever stood in the way of the Royder Goddess’s servants.”
One cardinal approached the knight with a necklace that looked like an hourglass.
“Holy Grail Knight Roland. I appoint you as the chief commander of the mission to find and safely bring back the saint.”
Roland bowed his head to make it easier for the cardinal to put the necklace on him.
“Bring back the saint so she may fulfill her duty as humanity’s savior.”
Roland bowed his head, feeling the rather heavy necklace.
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
***
Building the camp in Eagle valley was completed over a week.
There had been some problems during that time.
A band of thieves consisting of deserters attacked Caesar’s soldiers, but thanks to the alarm magic laid by the mages, they were able to quickly respond and defeat them.
They were even able to fill their warehouses with the food and ammunition seized from them.
“Since it’s come to this, wouldn’t it be bad to go around eliminating these thieves? They have quite decent supplies.”
“Rather, our location could be exposed, increasing the risk of attacks from other thieves. Also, there’s no guarantee we’ll find more wealthy thieves like these.”
“True, but have you all thought about how we’ll deliver this letter to Arch Duke?”
The advisors remained silent.
Even Jerry, Caesar’s clever advisor, kept his mouth shut, suggesting there were no answers.
“This is giving me a headache.”
“I thought Queen Agatha had a method, what happened with that?”
“Ah, she suggested asking mermaids to send the letter to Homigraph. Apparently Queen Agatha has a way to call mermaids.”
“…Having mermaids deliver the letter directly could create problems.”
“Right. They might doubt the letter’s authenticity.”
Then, Gavin carefully raised his hand.
“Um… I have an idea.”
“Really?”
“Though it’s not certain… I think we can attach the letter and stock up on supplies.”
Is he finally fulfilling his role as an S-class advisor?
Caesar’s eyes sparkled.
“What is it?”
“Supply ships come to the demon realm once a month. Since the supply ship that Lady Gloria came on arrived last week, we only need to hold out about 3 more weeks until the next supply ship comes.”
“Oh, so we should board the supply ship coming in 3 weeks?”
“Yes, that’s right. While I don’t know exactly how many supply ships will come, they should be able to accommodate 2,000 people after unloading all supplies. However…”
“Elijah would know about this too.”
Caesar knew Elijah would either sink the supply ship coming in 3 weeks or try to occupy Luxhope to prevent it from even docking.
“Hmm… How should we handle this problem.”
While Caesar was lost in thought, a soldier rushed in opening the camp door.
“Urgent news!”
“What is it? More thieves?”
“No sir. This is news just received from the allied forces’ messenger led by Lord Mitchell.”
The soldier handed Gloria a note and said:
“The Steel Fortress has fallen to the rebels!”
Huh?
What kind of out-of-nowhere news is this?
***
Sith looked at the steel fortress in the rain and wind. The fortress was so tall that even ogres couldn’t jump over it in one bound, and its outer walls were too smooth for even skilled goblins to climb easily. Even if one gave up on the walls and tried to go elsewhere, the ends of the steel fortress’s outstretched arms nearly touched the coastal cliffs. Though one could try passing through the narrow gap between the coastal cliffs and fortress walls, they would certainly be annihilated by the cannons mounted on the walls. This is why it’s said the only way to attack the steel fortress is from the sky, but it’s known that even succubi and vampires fear the steadfast soldiers guarding the steel fortress and take the long way around to raid the continent. However, Sith knew a way to completely destroy this place.
“Commander, the rain and wind are cold. Let’s rest for a moment.”
“The gate will open soon. I can’t stay here alone just because it’s cold.”
The staff officer spoke carefully.
“It’s been over 6 hours since the person you sent entered the steel fortress. Could they have already failed…?”
“No, it will definitely open. It has to.”
“At least shouldn’t you eat something? Let’s go in and rest briefly. I’m worried about your health.”
Whether due to the staff’s urging or having been outside for too long, Sith felt hunger.
“Prepare the meal. I’ll eat quickly and return to my post.”
“The food is ready. I’ll have it brought in right away.”
“Then go.”
Sith entered the private tent. Inside the tent was warm with a brazier lit.
“I’ll serve your meal.”
“Send it in.”
Sith removed the raincoat and sat in the chair. The aide placed warm soup and bread that had been sitting on the brazier. Sith stared blankly at the soup and bread.
‘Pepe, when will you send word?’
The spy Sith sent was Pepe. Pepe had successfully infiltrated the steel fortress transformed as a pigeon, and would surely open the fortress gates soon. But for some reason it was taking longer than expected, causing worry and making it difficult to eat. Still, must eat. Sith would need strength to order the capture of the steel fortress. Sith lifted the spoon to take some soup.
Pause.
Sith noticed finely chopped brown mushrooms in the soup and stopped the spoon. Sith picked up a mushroom, smelled it, and showed the soup to the aide.
“Aide, where did you get these mushrooms?”
“Ah… I’m not sure about that.”
“Did other soldiers eat this piana mushroom too?”
“I’ll go check and return.”
“Alright.”
As the aide left the tent, Sith placed a hand on the sword and said:
“Piana mushrooms are fragrant enough to stimulate even a lost appetite. That makes them sufficient for masking the smell of poison, and they’re also hard to obtain. They only grow on iron trees in the Red Mountains.”
Sith looked around.
“Come out. I might not have eaten this soup, after all?”
Sure enough, a dagger infused with blue sword energy thrust in from behind Sith.
Clang!
But Sith had a shield artifact prepared for such assassination attempts. Sith immediately swung the sword. Sith felt the sensation of cutting thin cloth rather than flesh or bone. Soon the air tore and revealed a man in black clothes inside.
“Comrade.”
“You’re no comrade since betraying His Excellency.”
The doppelganger rushed at Sith. With the shield broken, only armor could protect him. Though piercing that armor with a dagger would not be easy even for a sword energy user, the doppelganger was a Steel Lion Knight who received direct sword training from Elijah. He had sufficient skill to pierce through the low-grade armor and stab a dagger into the heart. Before Sith could draw the sword, the man’s dagger touched Sith’s armor. As the doppelganger expected, the sword energy smoothly penetrated the armor. But Sith was faster in pressing the jewel attached to the pommel.
Keeng!
The doppelganger’s body suddenly stiffened.
‘Stuck!’
The doppelganger twisted his body to break free of the stick. But Sith’s sword reached his heart faster.
Thuck!
Sith’s sword pierced through the doppelganger’s heart and emerged from his back.
“Ugh!”
The doppelganger fell to his knees. Sith whispered in the falling doppelganger’s ear:
“If you’re going to use telepathy, you’d better give up.”
The doppelganger raised a trembling hand, using all his strength to try to break Sith’s neck. But though he tried to use aura to strangle Sith’s neck, no strength came. Sith lightly knocked away his hand.
“This blade was made by melting anti-wizard material. You won’t be able to use aura or psychic powers.”
“…Why, why betray His Excellency? His Excellency… To you… Kugh!”
Sith twisted the sword.
“Because I promised my soldiers I would take them home.”
Just then, the aide hurriedly entered through the tent curtain.
“Commander! Urge…!”
The aide immediately drew his sword.
“Commander! Step back!”
“It’s done. More importantly, lend me your sword.”
Sith took the aide’s sword and looked down at the kneeling doppelganger with the sword still embedded.
“Go ahead and wait. I’ll follow soon.”
Sith cut off the doppelganger’s head. Sith handed the bloodied sword back to the aide and said:
“More importantly, it’s noisy outside. What happened?”
“Th-that is, the fortress gates have opened! The Chief of Staff said to bring you quickly!”
So Pepe finally opened the gates. Sith pulled the sword from the doppelganger’s heart. Then went outside the tent holding the bloodied sword. Staff officers who had rushed over surrounded Sith. Sith raised the bloodied sword and shouted:
“Beat the drums! Everyone advance!”
3 hours later.
News spread widely that Sith had captured the steel fortress. It was the first such incident since the steel fortress’s creation.
***
As soon as Agatha heard the news about Elijah, she looked at Caesar in disbelief.
“He was betrayed by his own doppelganger and lost the Steel Fortress? How could that meticulous guy make such a mistake?”
“He probably never expected his doppelganger to have different thoughts. Or maybe he was too greedy.”
“Can’t he just get rid of the doppelganger? Or replace it with another one? Wouldn’t that solve the problem easily?”
“If it were that easy, Elijah would have solved it already. And things in this world don’t always work out so logically. Even someone as great as him can make mistakes.”
Raven swallowed the fruit she was chewing and said:
“Then Elijah won’t have any capacity to target Luxhope. He’ll be too busy trying to reclaim the Steel Fortress.”
“Probably. Thanks to that, we can breathe easier.”
To think that Sith would stab Elijah in the heart.
It was such an unexpected gain that he was dumbfounded.
Until now, Caesar had to work himself to death to gain anything, but he never dreamed he’d receive good news like this without doing anything.
“Elijah won’t be able to pay attention to the demon realm anymore. Since his beloved Friedrich region is being violated.”
“But will that friend Sith be okay? I don’t think Elijah will leave him alone.”
Sith is Elijah’s doppelganger.
Of course, if he was completely separated from Elijah like Sangun or Polius, Elijah couldn’t reduce him to ashes, but if not, he’s as good as dead.
Elijah could erase Sith from existence with just a thought.
“He’ll probably die. Sith must have switched to the Steel Fortress knowing that would happen.”
“Why would he do such a thing? Isn’t he afraid of dying?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Sith is famous only in the Valent Saga.
He’s the one who initiates the empire’s division by occupying the Friedrich borderlands and establishing the Friedrich Kingdom.
Caesar couldn’t know if ‘Lord Sith’ was the same ‘Sith’ he had met.
It could have been Elijah transformed into ‘Sith’s appearance.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Caesar recalled the last image of Sith in his memory.
Unlike a doppelganger, he had quite a nice smile.
-I’ll buy you a drink later
Caesar poured pocket whiskey into his teacup bitterly.
“…I’m pretty sure he promised to buy me a drink later.”
Caesar downed all the liquor in the teacup.
He had received something much bigger than a drink.
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