Chapter 230 : Chapter 230
Chapter 230 : Neutral Zone
A Remnant Orb did not come out from the Lust Demon's body, which had been split in half.
'So it was an alter ego after all.'
I expected it. He must be hiding somewhere even now, watching this scene. If my thoughts are correct, that bastard probably ran away as soon as he was released from the Ghost Manor.
'It seemed like he actually felt the pain, though.'
It wasn't fake acting. The screams were far too horrific to call even that a deception.
'Kuhn's absence is a shame.'
Kuhn is remaining at the barracks, treating Morgan's group. If she were here, she would have recognized what kind of sorcery it was at once.
Anyway, what was it?
'The reason that bastard faced me while deliberately enduring pain and humiliation.'
—M-Make a deal with me, Bihen Benkou!
His trembling voice is vivid in my ears. The cry was genuine, stemming from pain and desperation.
'It's fine. I gained more.'
When I spoke the information I knew, the Lust Demon was flustered, let alone denying it. It's safe to interpret his silence as affirmation.
Let's sort it out. There are four remaining Outer Ones.
First, one among them is currently sealed by the Saintess of Solari.
Second, even they have a hard time contacting the Ghost Demon, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Third, due to compatibility, I hold an overwhelming advantage over the Lust Demon, and—
Fourth, in that case, the only remaining variable is Zisair.
'The Lust Demon tried to lure me out using Zisair.'
And with a submissive attitude, as if he would capture him and offer him up.
Well, whether it's real or a trap doesn't matter. Because it must be a fact that he is close to Zisair.
'It's rather fortunate.'
It wasn't an intentional release, but the situation isn't bad.
He will look for me again sooner or later. Whether begging for his life or attempting a negotiation with a new card.
'I'm holding the leash.'
Let's wrap up that side around here for now.
I turned my gaze and scanned the surroundings that had become a mess. People who were each injured and thrown into confusion caught my eye. The most important thing right now was to sort them out.
I turned my body. Adeline was standing there.
“…….”
A gaze went back and forth briefly through the silence. It might have been an eye greeting. If asked if I'm sure, well…….
The density of the time and stories laid between us would render any greeting meaningless. The accumulated sediments were far too thick to indulge in the sentimentality of a reunion.
I forced myself to look away from Adeline's trembling pupils. Now was not the time to exchange affectionate words. Cold reason instantly severed the soft emotions that were slightly sprouting.
“Your Excellency, I have a request for you.”
Even to my own ears, my voice calling out to Adeline was excessively dry.
It seemed Adeline's shoulders trembled minutely, but I feigned ignorance and continued speaking.
“Please provide support to Pretoria.”
“If it is Pretoria…….”
Adeline trailed off. She wouldn't be unaware of the meaning behind asking for support for Pretoria, the buffer zone of the West.
“I intend to stay there myself for the time being and declare the end of the war.”
I scanned everyone in the area, including Adeline, one more time and then added.
“In the name of the Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Bihen Benkou.”
What I am proposing is not the law of the Kingdom.
'A forced peace through power.'
It is the order of the Heavenly Demon.
***
For a neutral zone, Pretoria lacks power and justification. In truth, the only thing they could lean on was the tradition passed down from their predecessors.
What must be done to turn this small, shabby Pretoria into a sanctuary for the end of the war?
First, practical supplies must back it up. If people gather, they must be fed, and to make them sheathe their swords, a matching size is required.
The next thing needed is the presence of a massive faction supporting the end of the war. Only when the overwhelming prestige stemming from an alliance with them is presupposed will the declaration of the end of the war from Pretoria be reborn from an empty cry into a substantive authority.
Conwell, who supported me without raising a single question, was the most certain answer to resolve all this thirst at once.
“It is slightly contradictory.”
Adeline, who had followed along, looked at me and said. It was right after we moved Hugin to Pretoria first as an urgent measure. Somehow, we had ended up facing each other alone outside the mansion.
“Contradictory?”
“Yes. At first, you seemed ready to force peace by simply pushing forward with power…….”
Adeline looked back at the Pretoria mansion and lightly shrugged her shoulders.
“But seeing what you are actually doing, you are far more meticulous than I thought. It also feels like a design you laid out a long time ago.”
It wasn't a mockery. Rather, it was closer to seeing through my intentions and admiring that tenacious plan.
I answered calmly.
“To completely crush any room for rebellion, shouldn't one be thorough?”
“Do you have a specific plan in mind? Not to mention the two families, there are more than just one or two nobles involved. Even with Conwell and Theodore, there will be limits to making all of them submit with power.”
Peace established through power naturally collapses when that power weakens. It is an obvious logic.
“We must make them accept it out of self-interest, not coercion.”
Adeline tilted her head.
“What does that mean?”
“The essence of this War of the Roses is not a fight over prestige between the families. Behind the scenes, the various interests and calculations of factions, cliques, and individuals are entangled countlessly.”
The leadership of the two families trying to cover up a fatal genetic disease, the blood relatives driving ruin while buried in taboo love and a twisted sense of liberation, the Outer Ones behind the scenes who designed that chaos, and even the Mercenary King who entered the war to find clues to his lost hometown.
In this fight, overflowing fishy desires and individual stories that could not be fully covered up by the facade of a great cause were scattered chaotically.
“Not tightening them to the point of suffocation, but a loose binding enough to make them realize that conformity is more beneficial than rebellion. A process of making them convince themselves in that way is necessary.”
“…….”
“It is to make them believe that it is an order they chose themselves, not a forced submission.”
Once that illusion takes root, fear is finally replaced by an unbreakable reverence.
“That is the order I wish to build.”
Adeline, who had been staring at me, suddenly let out a small laugh.
“Your eloquence has improved more while we haven't seen each other. I could really call you a silver-tongued orator now.”
Come to think of it, Adeline was also the first person to give such a compliment to someone as uneloquent as me.
I wanted to laugh along with her at the light joke, but the corners of my mouth wouldn't rise smoothly in the end. The tangled threads I had to unravel weighed down my shoulders.
“Let's discuss the details when everyone is gathered.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The two of us looked at each other and nodded. It seemed we had said everything we absolutely had to say right now.
'……Or did we?'
A feeling that we had actually left out the most important words. While thinking about what that could be, my gaze wandered aimlessly, and a fake cough escaped because my chest felt ticklish. It also felt strangely hot.
“…….”
“…….”
Adeline was no different from me.
It was when we were both hesitating like idiots in that awkward silence.
“Ah, the two of you were here!”
The reinforcement who appeared from behind at that moment was the Lord of Pretoria. Suddenly, I was so glad to see him it brought tears to my eyes.
“Hah, my goodness. I wandered for a long while looking for the two of you. In this tiny, booger-sized mansion.”
He was talking about his own mansion as if it were someone else's. Not that it mattered.
“Is something the matter?”
“Of course there is. A little while ago, I received the details of the supplies to be provided from Her Excellency the Duke's staff.”
The Lord glanced at Adeline and then swiftly bowed his head down as if overwhelmed with awe.
“Your Excellency, no matter if it is under the pretext of stationing expenses for the Conwell army's stay, this amount is excessively large. It includes equipment maintenance fees, military provision procurement costs, and even territory development funds bundled in…….”
The Lord only slightly lifted his eyes to look at me and Adeline alternately before speaking again. His voice trembled.
“This amount is equivalent to Pretoria's three-year budget. I-I would like to ask if perhaps there is a secret order I must separately carry out behind this massive support.”
Contrary to his smooth and flexible impression, the Lord of Pretoria is a man who harbors an unexpectedly upright disposition. Even as he spoke like that, he seemed to have already resolved to refuse outright if it came with a price he could not handle.
'As expected, blood cannot be deceived.'
A unique way of conducting himself—lowering his body to the point of looking subservient, yet never breaking.
It perfectly resembled the nature of his ancestor, who started as an innkeeper in a small rural village in the distant past and ultimately received a title to build his family.
'A clever and tough survival method of staying alive among the strong.'
Pretoria's sole asset.
“A secret order you must carry out, you say.”
Adeline laughed lightly.
“That's quite a disturbing imagination for a greeting of gratitude toward goodwill.”
“A-Ah! If it was unpleasant to hear, please forgive—”
“No. I understand. Let's just call it a cultural difference between the East and the West.”
The Lord blinked. He looked as if it was hard to accept, but he dared not raise an objection.
Adeline continued speaking immediately.
“But to add one thing—”
“Yes, please speak.”
“This support is entirely for Sir Bihen's prestige and face. It means there should be absolutely no restrictions or inconveniences in Sir Bihen's activities here.”
I had only received a promise of support, and hadn't inquired into the specific amount or the list of supplies. Since it could have been rather discourteous, all I did was watch her exchange a few words with Henry.
“I understand very well, Your Excellency.”
The Lord looked between me and Adeline alternately and made a strange expression. He looked as if he was clicking his tongue in amazement. As for me, I still couldn't even fathom just how much an amount comparable to Pretoria's 3-year budget was.
'Well, she must have taken care of it well enough on her own.'
It was then.
CRASH—!
Right in front, something plummeted onto the ground at the entrance of the tree-lined street, completely smashing the area. It was a fierce momentum, like a meteor plunging down from the sky.
“Heueeek!”
The Lord fell backwards ungracefully. As the thick cloud of dirt and dust cleared, the silhouette of a woman standing at its center was revealed.
“……Linda?”
Adeline's brow furrowed sharply. Covered in dust, Linda breathed heavily and silently stared in our direction.
More accurately, she was scanning me and Adeline alternately.
“Hiik! M-My flowerbed……!”
The Lord groaned while clutching his head. At Linda's feet, a carefully cultivated flowerbed had been crushed beyond recognition.
“Linda, what on earth is the meaning of this? I certainly entrusted you with the escort and command of the main unit.”
“Sorry, Sister.”
The apology was swift, without any unnecessary words. Yet, the glare piercing through me was still as fierce as ever.
It was a bloody atmosphere for a reunion after a long time, but still, as a man, I had to offer a basic greeting.
“It's been a while, Linda. Have you been well—”
“Sir Bihen. I have something I'm really curious about.”
Suddenly? It was a moment when my head tilted on its own.
CLICK— CLACK— CLICK—
Neat footsteps ringing out from somewhere. This time it was from inside the mansion. While the direction was abrupt, the person who appeared was even more so.
“Kuhn?”
“Young Master, I have just now returned.”
I stared blankly behind Kuhn as she approached me. I get that you arrived, but why are you appearing from the inside?
STEP.
Kuhn naturally took the spot next to me and stood there. Even as she spoke to me, she stood at an angle and scanned Adeline and Linda alternately.
“Ah, please forgive my discourtesy. It's not Young Master but Cult Leader, I just made a slip of the tongue…….”
Of course, something like that didn't matter anyway. I didn't care about it in the first place.
However, I couldn't understand why the thorough woman, who would normally never make a mistake, would show an opening by bothering to correct a title she didn't even need to fix.
“W-Was it true……?”
Suddenly, Linda began to tear up. It was even before I could ask what was wrong.
“I'm asking if it's true that you became a father!”
“……What kind of nonsense is that? Me, a father?”
I scratched my cheek in bewilderment, but I felt astonished gazes from both sides. It was Adeline and the Lord of Pretoria. The Lord, in particular, was even covering his mouth.
“Bihen! Bihen!”
Inside again. Kendrick was running out in a flurry.
“C-Comrade Hugin woke up!”
My eyes widened. I was about to leave the spot immediately, but something was getting in the way, and when I looked, Kuhn had linked her arm with mine at some point. Having no time to say anything, I shook her off and spoke quickly.
“First, you tell these two about our journey so far. Don't say anything useless and just relay the facts exactly as they are.”
Kuhn bowed her head politely.
“Yes, Cult Leader.”