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Chapter 21
Even after the decisive battle, Kyle and the human army continued to press forward. During the previous confrontation, they had suffered many casualties and deceased like Lord Foken and others, but as they had also reaped great results in the previous fight, they decided to continue pressing on to the Demon Lord’s castle. However, the path to the town near the Demon Lord’s castle, where they could declare humanfolk’s victory, ended up mostly without any major incident. According to intel from Yuriga, the side of the black-winged one had already collapsed, as more and more deserters showed up. From there, Luiza declared they were welcome back under her wing and their crimes forgiven, so only a small number of foes were left to overcome.
And then finally, Kyle and his forces reached the Demon Lord’s castle. However, this very castle had been destroyed two years ago, with its remains being used as a hideout, but it looked deserted and without a soul in sight. For that reason, they could easily make their way to the castle where they ran into the final resistance of the demons. Not many stayed behind to fight for what they believed in, some who just loved fighting or simply couldn’t take a defeat from humanfolk. Many even simply looked for a worthy place to die, but all of them were ready to fight to the death.
As a result, their resistance was a lot fiercer than what you’d imagine, but since humanfolk wanted to end this quickly, they poured all their forces into this battle. As a result, they suffered many injuries and wounds, but they pushed back on the demons and achieved victory for humanfolk. All that was left was the one standing at the apex of the demon army—the Demon Lord. And so, the human army surrounded the castle from every single corner.
They were an enemy of at least 100,000 people, but they didn’t want to blindly rush in, so they instead chose a small advance squad. Chosen as its leader was Kyle, accompanied by several dozen people, gathering in front of what could be believed as the audience room.
Compared to last time, it’s like a difference between heaven and earth.
Kyle stood at the front, feeling emotional. When he last challenged the Demon Lord, they were at best ten people. And all of them were in bad shape, mentally and physically, it made Kyle wonder how he even managed to squeeze out a draw back then. But this time, things were different. Sadly, Seran, Lieze, and the others were not with him, but he still had the strongest of humanfolk by his side.
“So this is where the Demon Lord is hiding…How peculiaaar.”
Although there was a faint glimmer of tension in Basques’ voice, she still showed joy at being able to fight someone strong.
“To think the day would come where I face the Demon Lord…” said Rifuaro with a dull expression, wondering just how he’d gotten himself into his mess.
“Do arrows even work on that guy?” Ruktera asked with an uncertain voice, probably to ease the mood a bit.
They had other soldiers waiting, too, so if anybody got injured, they would be able to switch them out if need be. They weren’t saving up either, willing to draw this out over several days as long as they could finish the Demon Lord. And since Kyle fought him once before, he should be able to give out orders. Even so, there was no telling how many injured they would have to deal with, not to forget the casualties, but Kyle knew that it was his duty to lessen their number as much as possible. And with his determination forged, he swung open the thick door with both hands. At the same time as the door opened, all the soldiers behind him came rushing in. Kyle then pulled his sword, and—
“We’re here for you, Demon Lord!”
He was ready to slice at his opponent, but what ended up greeting them was something none of them had expected.
“Huh?”
The throne room was completely empty. No presence was found inside. They even looked for any secret spots or escape routes, but found nothing. They looked throughout the whole town as well but to no avail.
“…Did he run away?”
Someone’s mutter made it clear to the rest of the group that the Demon Lord had run away.
And like this, the war between humans and demons came to an end. Or rather, there was no other conclusion than this. They couldn’t strike down the Demon Lord as he had run away, and the demons knew that the battle had been lost now that their commanders were defeated. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it all, though. Amongst humanfolk, discussions began if they wanted to continue this war or not. The pro-war faction argued that it would only be a matter of time until the demons would attack again, And with so many casualties on their end, they wanted to rot out the demons so the same would never happen again. However, that brought another problem with it.
Even if they were to attack…What would they take as a target? As they had overtaken the Demon Lord’s castle, they wondered just where to head next. That said, demons don’t have towns or anything the like, such as humans do, so they couldn’t find any other location and decided to return instead. Even if they went for the town of Homirou, which was under Luiza’s rule, only a few people knew about this, and Kyle wouldn’t just blurt that out. And although they could stay behind to look for a place to attack, that would take time. The smaller countries couldn’t sustain this kind of lifestyle much longer, so many wanted this war to just be over.
And what pushed the party wishing to negotiate the most was the fact that the demons saved them during that dire battle. Of course, some argued that this resulted from their own actions. However, if not for their help, humanfolk might have been in a much more troublesome situation. Sharidan and Rifuaro both wanted to continue the war but understood that they couldn’t cross this line. The final deciding factor was that the biggest country Galgan didn’t wish to continue the battle. Neither did Zilgus, for that matter. In response to that, several regions and locations were handed over to the possession of humanfolk.
And for all of them, this was an incredibly convenient offer. After all, receiving territory meant that they had absolutely emerged victorious. On top of that, they formed a solidified cease-fire treaty and they even called the dragons over to act as intermediaries. Breaking this treaty would make the dragons your foes, so it lessened the chance that they would try to attack again. Of course, this was a lot to offer from the demons’ side, but if they were to pull back now, the fighting would restart. That said, even with all this new territory, managing to look after everything and instate a ruling party would probably bring countless more issues with it. And so, since Zilgus was closest to the demon territory, they would offer money in return for offering it as leasehold land. Of course, it wasn’t a cost to completely scoff at, but the countries who used much of their funding for the war were in great acceptance of this, and so Princess Milena yet again demonstrated her worth. And after a few back and forths, the war between humanfolk and demons officially came to an end.
“I swear, they really got us good.”
Over at the Galgan Empire’s capital Luos, inside the imperial palace, Emperor Maizer reminisced about the results of the war with a sour expression. Standing in front of him was Minister Korodes.
“Things seemed to be going great, but they definitely pulled the rug from beneath us at the end.”
Even as he was met with Maizer’s grumblings, Korodes remained calm.
“Quite. That final offer from Zilgus definitely came out of nowhere.”
“I was trying to use that territory as leasehold land myself…It appears that they have plenty of untapped resources and even heaps of mithril lying around.”
“Oh, that is…”
Korodes eyes lit up when he heard the name of the magic metal.
“And doing trade with the demons will bring a mountain of fortunate your way. Even just the small amounts that had been going on over the past few years, so just imagine how it will be on an official level…”
“That is…quite regrettable, yes.”
It was exactly what Kyle spoke of before. If it had worked out, Galgan would have made an unfathomable profit. Plus, nobody really anticipated that they would completely rot out all of the demons. Of course, it would have been possible, but in that event, it would also bring humanfolk to the brink of ruin. There was no reason to continue the war other than emotional bias. On top of that, Galgan’s goal is to unify all of humanfolk, which was based on the idea of being able to stand their ground against the demons, so if those very demons disappeared, it would shake their foundation. So, when Maizer tried to quell the pro-war countries with money, Zilgus cut in and instead stole all the glory.
“And you’re saying Zilgus had been aware of all of this?”
“Obviously. Profiting from that territory will take time, money, and manpower. And since it was an underdeveloped area, there’s no telling if it will bear fruit anyway. So, while the other countries are unable to afford such a massive amount of money, you swoop in to offer and take it up.”
“And steal it from everyone else. Especially since they are right next to the demon territory. And seeing as they still have plenty of resources left…There was no room to argue anymore.”
“Pretty much, yeah…And obviously, we know who gave them this information.”
“Indeed. It appears as if Klaus wishes to stay with them…and we got sidelined.”
Galgan had been trying to put Klaus and his association under their wing for the longest time, but the responses weren’t exactly fruitful. This very Klaus had entered a contract with Luiza some time ago, possessing great knowledge of the territory.
“Damn him, acting like that behind the scenes…”
“He must have felt danger to himself. When I heard about what happened to Angela-sama over there, I seriously considered silencing him myself.”
During the war, Klaus’ knowledge and resources were necessary, so he received certain levels of immunity. Now that the cease-fire came into place, he probably decided to side with Zilgus.
“I swear…First the cease-fire, and now we can’t even go after Luiza, either…Everything was pointless.”
“Then will you protest it?”
“Creating a hidden deal with the demons to create convenient conditions and all that…?”
Korodes showed a wry smile. All that mattered was that they hit back twice as hard when the next chance arose.
“As long as Klaus is involved, anything we do will bite back at us.”
Doing more things that would give them trouble if it became public was not a wise idea.
“And it’s not like we came out of this empty-handed.”
The hidden goal Galgan sought to accomplish with the war was to lessen the strength and resources of the other countries. And in the worst-case scenario, all of humanfolk would have fallen to ruin, so this was more than acceptable.
“We’ve managed to recover, too. It might have taken longer than before, but our own politics are of more importance right now.”
With the sudden death of the first prince Eldorand and then the rebellion caused by the second prince Konrad, as well as the passing of Emperor Benedix, and the newest war against the demons, even a major country like Galgan would eventually crumble with all these unfortunate events weighing down on them. So, Maizer wanted to focus on cleaning up all that first.
“Yes, we should probably practice restraint for now,” Korodes had his own thoughts but mostly agreed with Maizer. “Still, this feels like the first time you’re telling me all of this.”
Korodes always felt like Maizer never truly trusted him, so hearing all those thoughts and feelings from him did throw him off a bit.
“Old hag Beadolla’s age is slowly getting to her, so we’re going to need your strength going forward.”
Because of her old age, she also didn’t participate in the war, but she might not be able to participate in official affairs in the future, either.
“It’s an honor. I will do everything I can to prove my worth. But more importantly, what are we going to do regarding that individual Kyle? He had proven himself incredibly valuable during the war, but he also knows too much,” said Korodes, practically testing Maizer immediately.
In reality, Kyle knew even more than Klaus. Be it the exchanges with the demons or how he resolved the civil war.
“Leave him be. As long as we don’t aggravate him, he won’t be our enemy.”
“Isn’t that just because you personally like him?”
“Of course, I think he’s a great guy. But do you really think my personal feelings would get in the way of my duties as the Emperor?” Maizer said and glared at Korodes.
Despite serving Maizer now, Korodes still swore his absolute allegiance to the best Emperor, as the late Benedix wished.
“And think about it,we can’t kill him. He’s befriended Zilgus, Taihon, the elves in Evenro, the dragons, and even the demons. Do you want all of them to become our enemy?”
“That does sound like a nightmare…and definitely possible. But that is why we cannot ignore him. I say we keep our tabs on him at all times.”
“I will leave that to you. It’s best to know what he’s up to. We might be able to use that, too… And we’re not letting them get a headstart next time.”
Kyle would probably get involved with more affairs in the future, so Maizer decided to obstruct his plans at the best possible timing, all the while grinning like a king.
“Then I would like to proceed with the commerce between the demons and the development of the new territory,” said Milena with a delighted tone as she said in the royal palace of Zilgus’ royal capital, Malad.
The reactions from the three individuals who surrounded her varied greatly.
“Yes, this will definitely bring great profit to Zilgus. If these records are to be believed, that is…”
Contrary to Milena’s smile, her aide Ninos still didn’t seem very convinced and she made that very clear.
“Yes. My words might just all be fake reports,” answered Klaus.
Despite dealing with the individual who stood at the summit of what could be considered humanfolk’s economy, Ninos showed no restraint whatsoever. These documents they were working through contained information regarding the territory under Zilgus’ hands, speaking of resources, vegetation, and other crucial intel. Although it would cost a lot ot get the place up to speed, the profits were nothing to scoff at, and Ninos judged that it was too good to be true.
“My apologies, I’m just trying to be careful…”
“Yes, of course. However, I will prove that these profits are possible, so rest assured,” said Klaus, reassuring that he didn’t mind.
He was, after all, indebted to Zilgus.
“That said, many issues remain at hand. We have to raise the trust and reliance of humanfolk toward the demons as quickly as possible.”
Just like Ninos, Kirlen seemed a bit dubious of how this could be realistically achieved. Many had been harmed either physically or mentally by this war, and although the demons surrendered, their popularity in the country was at rock bottom.
“…I understand how you two feel, and I can admit that it’s partially on the level of a bet. But if we don’t take risks, we won’t be able to fight back against Galgan,” said Milena to push her own argument.
The war against the demons was already a thing of the past, as more in-fighting amongst countries had begun to reveal itself. For that reason, Milena wanted to take this territory from Galgan no matter what.
“And for that reason, I would like to meet Luiza-sama shortly. I’d like to thank her for saving us, after all.”
That line not only surprised Ninos and Kirlen but also Klaus.
“Of course, I know that doing so right away would be impossible. It might be in ten, or even twenty years…”
But if you don’t think that far ahead, you won’t be able to guarantee that your country continues to prosper.
“I’m sure the Empire will continue to pour strength and stability into their own country over the next ten years. This just means that we have to overwrite that,” Milena said with conviction, to which Ninos and Kirlen nodded.
“And of course, there is one person who is already well-versed with the demons. And we cannot leave him to his own accord, either.”
Of course, they knew exactly who she was referring to, considering she was in such a great mood.
“I hear he’s going to try and live his life outside the public eye. However, when we need him, I will get him involved once more,” said Klaus while agreeing.
He seemed dead-set on not letting Kyle escape.
“As for our base of commerce, I believe Rimarze would be perfect. The money we poured into that place would be a waste just rotting away.”
With the war over, Rimarze had lost its use as a military facility, and most soldiers had already returned to their homes, meaning that fewer people lived there. At this rate, it would turn into a ruin to never be used again. However, in terms of geographical position, it was closest to the demon territory, making it perfect for a commerce center.
“Yes, and once his hometown is once again involved, he won’t be able to disregard it.”
The princess and businessman smiled at each other, as Ninos and Kirlen just looked at each other, sending Kyle their sympathy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I just felt a chill…” Kyle answered Lieze’s concern.
“Did you catch a cold now that you ran out of work?”
“No, I didn’t…”
Kyle could only ponder about what gave him this shiver.
CClaw Translations 