Chapter 116
Chapter 116
“Lord Cassis, is this really okay?”
“What can we do if it’s not?”
“That’s true…”
Roen kept fidgeting, clearly anxious.
But I really liked Cassis’s idea.
I never thought Cassis would come up with such a bold plan.
“I like it. I never expected Lord Cassis to personally choose such a radical approach.”
Cassis’s proposed method was simple. And equally radical.
Focus defense efforts only on animal-type demonic beasts that can be neutralized, and withdraw all defenses against humanoid ones.
If they failed to mount an initial defense against the demonic beasts attacking from Mashuf Village, those creatures would escape into the outside world.
And outside were the imperial knights and the imperial army.
Whether they could subdue such powerful demonic beasts without killing them was questionable. I’m not sure.
After all, subduing is much harder than eliminating.
Cassis mentioned he’d click his tongue every time he took down one or two. The beasts he captured were caged, but the noise from inside was so brutal, I couldn’t get any real sleep.
I looked at Cassis, wondering how he chose such a radical method, and he responded as if it was nothing special.
“Is it radical?”
“Of course it is!”
“Oh my, if I had enough power, I would have just done as I pleased.”
“…How?”
Isn’t Cassis already doing as he pleases?
“I’d just do whatever I want. Whether they’re humanoid demonic beasts or not, it’s my judgment that matters.”
“…Really?”
“To begin with, I’m not an imperial knight. Since I’m here to provide support out of goodwill, I don’t need to follow imperial decrees.”
How cool!
That’s my master.
Anyway, Luwin’s knights abandoned their defense against humanoid demonic beasts as of yesterday evening.
The reason officially given was that ordinary knights couldn’t subdue powerful demonic beasts without inflicting injuries.
And from above, they intentionally drove the demonic beasts out of the village, preferably toward where the imperial knights were stationed.
Of course, this situation was only privately shared with Count Adela. Count Adela only requested that the direction be adjusted to prevent his territory’s residents from getting hurt.
“Count Adela must have a lot on his mind.”
“He already requested that I find his son as soon as possible.”
Roen shook his head.
“Since we’re searching for Count Adela’s eldest son, all we can do is hope for good news soon.”
There were two reasons why we deliberately exploited the loopholes in the imperial decree.
First, we couldn’t be certain when we would find the count’s eldest son.
Second, even if we found the eldest son, the imperial court would likely not permit the elimination of humanoid demonic beasts.
“Because now it’s been proven that humanoid demonic beasts were living people before they died. In other words, if they claim they’re not dead, they’re alive, they can be restored to their original state, we’ll have nothing we can do.”
That’s right.
I checked some newspapers sent from Jedo, and such mischief had already begun.
For instance, there was an interview with a supposed survivor from Mashuf village.
<…My son is not dead! He’s alive. Although he seems to have lost his will after being attacked by a demonic beast, he’s definitely alive! He’s alive and moving!>
It was reasonable that such statements would emerge.
In fact, when I first heard that Mashuf village residents had been discovered as demonic beasts, this was my biggest concern.
If Cassis eliminated demonic beasts that were originally from Mashuf village, the imperial court in Jedo would undoubtedly hold this against us.
For now, the Emperor was using Count Adela’s eldest son as a pretext to block us.
“According to Count Adela’s investigation… there was no person with this name in Mashuf village.”
Hearing such news made the Emperor’s intentions even clearer.
For this reason, Cassis wanted to create a situation where even the imperial knights couldn’t hold out without eliminating demonic beasts.
And so, after repeating these stagnant days for a week now…
Despite protests from the imperial knights demanding proper defenses, we completely ignored them internally.
What could they do? It’s not like the Emperor would rush from Jedo to the northeast immediately.
During this time, one piece of news we desperately hoped for arrived.
I entered the chaotic barracks. People were so busy they didn’t even notice me coming in.
On the large table was a map of the Jenoria Mountains, with markings indicating areas where new demonic beasts had started to be discovered.
“A letter has arrived from Count Adela!”
“What is it?”
Roen barely raised his head to ask.
I grinned as I held up the letter stamped with Count Adela’s seal.
“It says the imperial knights eliminated those who were once Count Adela’s knights.”
“Oh my…”
Roen, with a tired face that didn’t look the least bit sorry, pretended to be sympathetic. Soon, he spoke with the brightest face I had seen in Adela.
“That’s good. Evidence?”
“The count said he recorded everything.”
Cassis suddenly appeared behind the excited-looking Roen.
“Please inform the count to forward the relevant information to Isolini Blende.”
“What business does my sister have in this?”
“Isolini has a newspaper.”
Since when did Isolini inherit a newspaper?
Roen seemed as puzzled as I was.
Cassis looked at both of us but didn’t bother to provide additional explanations.
However, he did explain why the evidence needed to be sent to the newspaper.
“We’re preparing in advance to prevent different stories from emerging later.”
“Oh, the imperial knights eliminated humanoid demonic beasts?”
“Yes. But the approach needs to be a bit different.”
It was to prevent the imperial court from later saying, “Our knights never did such a thing! It’s Luwin’s slander!”
“The article will… be written to explain the situation, describing how there was an attack by humanoid demonic beasts, how the imperial knights successfully defended against it, which knight eliminated which demonic beast, and so on.”
“…My sister would probably approach it by questioning why humanoid demonic beasts shouldn’t be captured.”
“That would be even better. It means House Blende is openly supporting our side.”
But Cassis added that there was no need to go that far.
“Other newspapers might criticize us, asking what Luwin is doing, but what’s important is that the imperial knights are eliminating humanoid demonic beasts. That should be enough.”
We asked Count Adela to forward the relevant information to House Blende, and the very next day, an article on the matter was written.
Starting from that, various newspapers in Jedo began covering the demonic beasts in the northeast, in the Jenoria Mountains.
As Cassis had said, there was criticism of Luwin, as well as praise for the imperial knights who were proudly advancing even in that distant land.
I proudly laid out the relevant articles in the strategy barracks.
“Articles covering this content are increasing.”
“That’s good. Isolini Blende seems to be doing well.”
At first, the imperial court’s response seemed to insist that an imperial decree was still an imperial decree. However, not long after, they fell silent again after numerous casualties were caused by humanoid demonic beasts that appeared on the outskirts of Jedo.
“Demonic beasts have appeared in Jedo too. It seems there are quite a few casualties.”
The majority of demonic beasts encountered in Jedo were of the animal variety. This marked the first appearance of humanoid types since the incident at Duke Hellis’s estate.
That might be why there were so many casualties.
“If the victims in Jedo wake up again as demonic beasts like they do here, it could become a serious problem.”
“Indeed.”
The excitement we all felt about things turning in our favor was short-lived, and the barracks sank into gloom again with the troubling news.
“Anyway, to make progress, it would be better to find the eldest son as soon as possible.”
* * *
“Lord Cassis, we have news that Count Adela’s eldest son has been found!”
Count Adela’s eldest son was discovered about three days later.
As everyone had expected, the person we were looking for appeared in the form of a demonic beast.
Normally, we wouldn’t take action until demonic beasts attacked us, but this time we decided to take the initiative.
Roen seemed quite excited about the possibility of leaving this wretched Mashuf village.
“Good luck!”
While Luwin’s knights went to capture Count Adela’s eldest son, I delivered the news that the count had desperately been waiting for.
So…
“Your son will be captured alive as per the imperial decree.”
-…
“And from then on, humanoid demonic beasts will be eliminated without distinction from animal-type demonic beasts.”
Complete eradication might not be possible, but we planned to eliminate them to a certain extent.
For now, my goal is… to take Cassis back to Jedo.
Will Grand Duke Luwin be returning to Jedo?
“That’s a matter for my master to decide.”
I see. I understand.
Count Adela said he would make preparations and then ended the communication.
[Will Cassis be able to return right away?]
[With so many demonic beasts around.]
“I’m not sure. Returning is the right choice. After all, the goal wasn’t to completely wrap up the situation here, but to bring it under control.”
[Will the Emperor approve?]
“If he doesn’t approve, we’ll have to make the Emperor summon Cassis to Jedo.”
After all, being bound to Count Adela’s territory by imperial decree was a temporary issue, one that would be resolved the moment the count’s eldest son was found.
That was the reason we maintained close ties with Jedo to begin with.
So I chose to wait patiently for them, and began making plans to return to Jedo.
