Another side
The price the Demon Lord’s Army paid to retrieve their comrade, the Undead King, had circuitously inflicted heavy losses on Isal’s camp.
“That was a national treasure ship! You said it would be alright, so I lent it to you!! Princess Anri can’t return either!! What do you intend to do about this blunder!?”
As the stout man, on the verge of spitting, berated the man facing him, the latter, a gaunt figure, responded with serpentine eyes.
“Beyond the chaos lies a dangerous zone. I believe I stated as much. They were those who died for God. With their results, you defeated a Demon Lord’s Army executive. I would like you to be satisfied with that outcome. We too have lost valuable personnel.”
There was no mutual benefit in this conversation.
There was only one thing: an ugly dispute aimed at foisting the compensation for the damages onto the other nation.
The Eclair Kingdom demanded compensation for the loss of its national treasure, while the Theocratic Nation Tris, considering the losses of the Divine Sword it dispatched along with its wielder, had no desire to compensate other countries at this point.
However, as they were, after all, allies, their connection was deeper than that with the Hanzibal Empire or other smaller nations, even in a negotiation where they hurled insults at each other.
It was common for cracks to form between nations with a single misstep.
But if maintaining the connection led to profit, then even with a barrage of insults, the national alliance, bound like chains of iron, would not waver easily.
Even though they lost a national treasure and a Divine Sword, the fact that they had eliminated one of the Demon Lord’s Army’s main forces and could proceed favorably in post-war negotiations was more important to them.
The rest was how to handle the scandal.
And where to shift the responsibility.
And which side would primarily claim the merit of having subjugated the Undead King.
The goal was simple: shift the damage and steal the credit.
They harbored no thought of the worst-case scenario: their allies being defeated in the chaos, their ship captured, their royal family taken prisoner, and Carter and the Divine Sword dissolved into the chaos.
There were no reports from spies within each nation about the Undead King’s return.
Nor were there any from nobles in anti-Demon Lord factions with hidden connections.
They were unaware that this information would greatly shake the future of the two men seated at this table, their verbal spar escalating further.
A barrier had been erected solely to allow them to raise their voices, lookouts posted, and a considerable budget invested.
“We’re in the same boat! It’s not just the Princess; we’ve also lost elite Royal Guards. Frankly, you lost only one weapon and one person, so the damage is not as severe.”
“I cannot let that slide. I cannot have you treat the Divine Soldiers sent by God so lightly.”
Only the calculations to recoup that budget raced through their minds.
With each click of a bead, a slimy, lascivious hand crept towards the other’s dark intentions, and a hand roughly slapped away that hand in defense.
If Jiro were to witness this exchange, he would have dismissed it as unproductive, futile conversation.
“First of all, you promised your country would fully support this expedition, but in the end, we provided the soldiers, the ships, and even had the Princess accompany us. This is a clear breach of contract.”
“That too is a trial from God. You should be aware of that, shouldn’t you?”
Pushing against a noren.
This futile debate, as if to see which noren would tear first from their pushing, was not new.
They had not returned even after the scheduled number of days had passed.
Information as to whether they had defeated a Demon Lord’s Army executive came only from notifications by the Temple.
There was none.
The countries, unaware that God was concealing the scandal of their failure, believing that soldiers sent by God could not possibly lose, were inching closer to ruin with each passing moment.
Those who learned the truth were eliminated.
God makes no mistakes.
This fanaticism could be said to illustrate the world’s distorted nature.
Without realizing that their premise was flawed.
Believing implicitly in the absolute of this world and counting nonexistent furs, these two were too absurd to even be called clowns.
Despite suffering immense losses, they felt no sense of crisis, devised no solutions, and only thought of compensation.
“If that’s the case, then you need to reconsider your stance on the troop dispatch the other day.”
“If you’re going to dredge that up again, then we will also consider dispatching the Saintess…”
They failed to realize that the stage itself upon which they stood was fundamentally flawed. Or rather, all who lived in this world and realized it had been buried in darkness.
Having approached God too closely, their eyes were burned by the brilliant sunlight, leaving them unable to see anything.
Only those who maintained a distance and continued to gaze at that sun could perceive it.
But, alas.
Without countries that blindly believed in God, they could not counter the Demon Lord.
Even cannon fodder, in sufficient numbers, became a force.
Without sufficient numbers, the Demon Lord could not be countered.
The fact that this alliance, even if based on calculation, ultimately led to their unity was a grim irony.
“Haa, this is truly a farce.”
Unaware that someone was recording their exchange, a man with a yawn watched the two middle-aged men desperately trying to shift the blame for the chaos’s troop deployment.
Dazzlo had effortlessly infiltrated the secret meeting place that these two had built with a large sum of money.
“Everywhere is greedy. Even though the odds of her winning are only thirty percent in this dire situation, they’re acting so casually just because they formed this large alliance. Well, I suppose I’ll have these people go to the front lines and become heroes.”
His skill in concealment magic alone was befitting the Empire’s best.
After diligently writing his report and deciding how to proceed, he had no further business here.
“Haa, honestly, if they had defeated a Demon Lord’s Army executive, the response would be different. In the end, they failed due to acting independently, which is really troublesome. Haa, I have to visit two more places tonight… Haa, won’t someone take my place?”
Dazzlo left the scene without a sound, leaving the men still yelling and cursing each other behind.
Although the attic room should have been protected by a barrier, the barrier parted as if it were an automatic door, creating a path for Dazzlo to pass.
Without a sound, the man with dead eyes moved above the heads of the still noisy men.
Then, leaning out of a window, Dazzlo confirmed his surroundings before quickly climbing onto the roof and setting off for another location.
“Ah, hello, Princess Anri?”
“Yes, I can hear you. What were the results?”
“Only bad news, but is that alright?”
“I expected as much, so there’s no problem.”
Extinguishing his presence and sound with concealment magic under the cloudy sky, Dazzlo, using body reinforcement to leap from roof to roof, contacted his employer, Princess Anri.
“Well then, to be direct, it was blatant. There was no room for doubt. They were intent on being hailed as heroes despite causing losses. Without any remorse, claiming they did the right thing. Honestly, it was hard to hold back my laughter.”
His movements were swift, yet his words were cheerful.
Princess Anri’s reply to Dazzlo’s deliberately exaggerated report was:
“Is that so? Then please proceed to the next location. My prediction is that you will find yourself in a meeting requiring even more effort to suppress your laughter.”
“Ee, does that mean a terribly boring time awaits?”
“Oh, but you just reported having fun a moment ago.”
“No, well, that was out of desperation, or rather, I’ve been working nonstop lately, so it was a form of resistance, I guess.”
“I’ve arranged for three days of leave starting in three days. You’ll even get half a day off.”
“Hooray, my first day off in ten! Was the last one also only half a day? Or is that just my imagination?”
She dismissed his complaint with a fleeting remark, urging him back to work.
With that, Dazzlo kicked off the roof, a hint of tears welling up.
He leaped, his body airborne, but with magic, he landed on the next roof without a sound.
“I haven’t received any days off for about twenty days, you know?”
“Wow, I’m so happy to get some time off.”
Hearing that the brains of the anti-Demon Lord Allied Forces were working tirelessly, his steps seemed to become even lighter, his speed accelerating towards his next destination.
Perhaps it was his intuition whispering that if he delved any deeper, his own leave would vanish.
“So, Princess Anri, what do you think of that rumor?”
“If you’re referring to the Undead King’s return, it’s likely true. The Temple’s trump card has been defeated; although we outnumber them, our win rate has further decreased. However, that’s not what you want to ask, is it?”
Changing the subject, Princess Anri engaged with Dazzlo’s topic after a sigh from beyond the telepathic call.
“Yes, yes. I heard that the Demon Lord had contact with the national representatives of the Hero’s world. And that they were going to implement countermeasures against the Hero Summoning magic because of it.”
The Undead King’s return was already old news.
More troublesome was the widely circulating rumor that Hero Summoning, capable of replenishing forces in emergencies, had been sealed.
Because the information came from a source with a relatively high degree of accuracy, it was no laughing matter for Dazzlo.
“It’s unlikely to be completely sealed. There are always loopholes, but they probably won’t be able to summon heroes as they did before.”
“Ugh, does that mean we can’t rely on the Trians’ forces anymore?”
“We are already at the stage of scouting for heroes locally, so the Demon Lord’s Army’s interference should have had a certain effect. Since that has failed, it will be difficult to rely on heroes as a fighting force in the future.”
“…Does that mean we’re screwed?”
“There’s still a possibility of finding a way out. If we remain complacent and do nothing, the only future awaiting us is being trampled by the fully prepared Demon Lord’s Army.”
“So, we should fight while we can?”
“Thanks to a certain dreamer, we have more work to do, so we need to fight even harder.”
Moreover, his direct superior, the Princess, had fully affirmed this.
The word “exile” flashed through Dazzlo’s mind.
“Princess, is there no way for peace?”
“To achieve that, we would have to massacre some rather dull-witted individuals first, or we’d end up with a dagger in our back, ending our lives. Are you prepared for that, Dazzlo?”
“No, I’m not. I just wanted to live a leisurely life studying, but before I knew it, I was running errands for you, Princess.”
But he knew he wouldn’t. His selfish and eccentric employer, however, was, in her own way, devoted to her country. Or rather, she would give her all to protect her own place.
In that case, it would be better for Dazzlo if she found a way to end the war, but there were too many obstacles.
Above all.
Being caught in a conflict between gods, humans must challenge the Demon Race.
In this world, where such a situation had become commonplace, establishing peace with the Demon Race was taboo.
However, for the two who understood the immeasurable value of such peace and knew it held more potential than winning a war, it was a headache why they had to do such foolish things.
“It’s regrettable. You’ll be working for me for another ten years.”
“The value of ten years for an Elf like you is different from ten years for me.”
But there was no time to lament.
For the damages wrought by fools must be compensated by the wise.
Dazzlo sped towards his destination.
Today’s quote:
A value system that doesn’t consider damage as damage is dangerous.
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“Pandora Pandemic Panic” – The box of Pandora has been opened again, but we are fighting back with various things from our secret base!
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