Between Negotiation and Plunder (3)
Several days had passed.
In the meantime, dozens of carrier pigeons launched from the royal capital of the Camilan royal family had flown to several neighboring countries, and each arrived at their destinations.
The Dwarf Alliance, located in the southern part of the kingdom, was among them.
"O Lord of the Great Mountain Range and all the mines, an urgent message has arrived from the kingdom."
"An urgent message?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Hmm, what could be so urgent."
The Leader of the Dwarf Alliance, Corgidus II, whose beard was braided, set down the cask he had been drinking from. He received the report from his adjutant and unfolded it, his eyes widening.
"....... What? The kingdom has officially established diplomatic relations with the demons of the Abandoned Land?"
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe it.
For a moment, he wondered if something was wrong with his sight.
Was his nonexistent dyslexia suddenly flaring up?
A sharp doubt struck him hard.
But no.
He read it twice, three times, over and over, but the content did not change. What he was reading was correct.
Which meant this was…
***
"The kingdom's king, that shrewd and rather plump human, has he already gone senile?"
"That doesn't seem to be the case, Chieftain."
"Really? I can't explain this unless it's senility..."
"Though humans have lifespans incomparably short compared to us elves, even so, the king is still too young to have lost his mind."
"Hmm. I suppose so. This is… surprising."
The Everglow Forest of the Eastern Mountain Range.
There, the elven chieftain Myune furrowed her beautiful nose. She bit into a fresh broccoli stalk, crunching thoughtfully.
"Could it be that the king has had his mind overtaken by some wicked magic or sorcery?"
"That has not been confirmed. However—"
".... However?"
"A group of demons from the Abandoned Land achieved great merit during the statue rampage incident, and thanks to that, a rare atmosphere of goodwill developed between the demons and the royal family."
"Really? That makes it even stranger..."
Chieftain Myune pondered.
The demons of the Abandoned Land were beings not to be associated with. Starved to the point they devoured each other, and when their numbers swelled, they would launch massive invasions on the outside world periodically.
Pure harm and nothing more.
That was the true nature of the Abandoned Lands.
"......."
Crunch! Crunch crunch!
The deeper her thoughts grew, the faster the chieftain chewed her broccoli.
'I can't make sense of this.'
Has some change occurred?
Or was this the beginning of a new scheme?
She couldn't tell yet.
So...
Chieftain Myune made up her mind.
***
"...I should go and see for myself at least once."
A low voice echoed in a dark room.
A man cloaked in a black robe, the Archmage of the Western Magic Federation, Giovani, whispered. He narrowed his eyes and skimmed over the report he had just received once more.
'Official diplomatic relations with the Abandoned Land, huh.'
Archmage Giovani's mind grew tangled. The kingdom had not merely formed a truce but had established official diplomatic ties with the Abandoned Land.
What did that mean?
It meant that the demon race of the Abandoned Land had officially debuted on the international diplomatic stage. It also meant they now constituted a new pillar in the balance of power carefully arranged by the great powers.
"What is the king planning, I wonder."
It was such a groundbreaking decision.
So unprecedented a situation.
He was bewildered.
'Surely… he's not planning to ride the demons of the Abandoned Land into a war, is he?'
It was possible.
If so, they would need to prepare.
No, before that…
"Tsk… is it morning already? I should draw the curtains first."
Shwaak!
Archmage Giovani pulled aside the heavy curtains that had kept his office dim. Bright sunlight poured in. In that light, he cheerfully threw off the gloomy robe that had covered his head.
And he thought,
Yes, on cold winter nights, the best way to save on heating costs was to thoroughly block the drafts by the window with thick curtains and wrap oneself snugly in a heavy robe.
***
"Phew. This is the best. Exhilarating. Always beautiful and magnificent."
Thoom! Thoooom!
Heavy, earth-shaking rumbles.
Amid them, Kim Jangcheol smiled happily. He looked upward.
Marching alongside the group was a colossal figure, the statue of the Archangel, standing 63.5 meters tall and weighing 1,200 tons.
But the statue was not bare.
It bore a specially crafted, gigantic carrier frame. On the frame rested an enormous load of supplies and gold bars to boot.
"Hehe, hehehe."
Normally, moving all that?
It would have taken at least a hundred of the largest wagons. Maybe even that wouldn't have been enough.
But now?
The statue was single-handedly carrying all the supplies of the group and the royal army corps!
"But, my Lord? Is it really alright for us to leave the capital like this?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I mean His Majesty the King."
Zephyros, walking alongside, asked.
"It seemed like His Majesty wanted you to stay in the capital a bit longer..."
That was true.
It had happened just earlier.
Was it this morning?
They had gone to see the king.
They had said they would be leaving the capital to return to the Abandoned Land today.
And the king?
He had nearly looked ready to cry.
He had protested, saying how could they possibly leave without even a proper marching ceremony. What was so urgent that they had to depart already?
Had they eaten breakfast?
Had they skipped dinner last night?
Today's weather seemed a bit cloudy—was it really okay to travel? He had checked the day's fortune, and it hadn't looked good. His dreams last night had been unsettling, which was a bad omen.
So could they please stay just a little longer?
He would arrange another marching ceremony.
Couldn't they just wait until then before departing?
He had practically clung to their sleeves.
"......."
Oh dear.
At the sight of the bearded king acting like that, Kim Jangcheol had unintentionally let out a helpless chuckle.
He shrugged toward Zephyros.
"Well, what can we do? We can't delay the schedule just because of that man. It's not like we have all the time in the world."
"Well, that's true."
Zephyros nodded as well.
His Lord was right.
But there was still something that weighed on his mind.
"Then, what about the Archbishop...?"
"Ah, he's fine too."
"Earlier, it looked like he was clinging even more desperately than the king."
"Mm, that's true."
"Yes. He ran all the way to the capital's outer gate, grabbing your sleeve and all."
"He said that if we stayed just two more days, the elders from the Holy Order would arrive, and begged if we could at least meet them before leaving. He looked like he was about to cry."
That really had happened.
But he was firmly turned down.
So firmly, the Archbishop couldn't even argue.
"It's the 10th today."
...That single, cryptic(?) line shattered all reasoning!
And so, brushing aside the king and the Archbishop's desperate appeals(?), they had departed the capital that morning.
And now, five hours later—
"Everyone, halt."
Kim Jangcheol brought the group to a stop.
At his word, Zephyros, the Four Heavenly Kings, Artanis, and the 500 royal engineers all came to a halt. So did the statue of the Archangel, which had been striding forward with the massive carrier strapped to its back.
He looked up at the statue.
"Hey, Whitey?"
[ ...? ]
The pristine white marble head of the Archangel's statue, whom he had called Whitey, lowered. The statue, Whitey, looked at Kim Jangcheol with eyes completely different from before.
[ …..... ]
Demon King Kim Jangcheol.
The one who had nullified even its self-destruction with a single overwhelming strike.
A being of such power.
It was awe-inspiring.
Worthy of reverence.
A figure to be emulated.
It wanted to obtain even a portion of that transcendent power it had briefly tasted during that moment. To become a more perfect existence.
So, without anyone telling it to, it had joined Kim Jangcheol's party and volunteered to be a porter.
To be close to Kim Jangcheol.
To observe his every action and habit.
To learn, even just a little, the secret behind his power.
Even now, it was the same.
"Whitey, you tired?"
[ ...! ]
Shake shake!
The statue, Whitey, shook its huge marble head vigorously.
Not tired at all.
This was a breeze.
Though in truth, it was quite worn out, it lied and pretended otherwise.
Because it feared Kim Jangcheol might be disappointed in it.
"Tsk. I can see you're exhausted. Put down the carrier and sit. We'll rest here today."
[ ...! ]
....Sob.
The statue, Whitey, was overwhelmed with emotion.
Such warm consideration.
Not only strong but gentle as well.
Its loyalty toward Kim Jangcheol surged like a bottle of soda after being shaken a hundred times and having its cap suddenly popped off.
Thoom! Thud, thump!
And so, once more, a deep bow of gratitude toward Kim Jangcheol!
Seeing this, the 500 engineers setting up the camp gasped in admiration.
They cast eyes full of respect toward Kim Jangcheol, the hero of the royal capital who now led them.
Of course, not everyone felt that way.
There were a few rare exceptions.
The Combat Engineering Corps commander, Forkray.
A thorough racial supremacist, the commander secretly looked at Kim Jangcheol and his party with a cold gaze.
"......"
He didn't like it.
This whole situation.
A hero of the capital?
That guy?
A mere demon?
He was just a demon from the Abandoned Land. Unlike himself, a wise and refined civilized being, that one was from a primitive race that ate each other alive, having learned nothing.
'And yet… I, who take pride in being a civilized person, have to obey orders from such a barbaric, primitive being…?'
It was beyond words.
Shameful.
No matter how many called Kim Jangcheol and his party heroes, even if the king himself treated him as a royal benefactor, even if the statue of the Archangel showed loyalty to him—
'The truth doesn't change. That guy and his party are still from a disgustingly primitive race!'
He felt nothing but dismay.
What has the world come to?
Why were people being so easily fooled by that guy, a vile, ignorant, lowly demon race?
And why, he asked himself—
Why did he have to follow the orders of such a demon, leave the comfort of the capital where his cherished family and pleasant workplace were, and go to the barren, filthy Abandoned Land?
"......."
He wanted to change this reality.
But he lacked the power.
So, he could only resort to passive resistance.
'I'll do the bare minimum of what that guy tells me.'
The Abandoned Land?
A place that could never be developed.
A land with no hope.
To claim to develop such a place was a waste of manpower and capital. It was an insult and mockery of the natural racial order.
So, he would resist.
He would sabotage things in ways that didn't show. So that the development of the Abandoned Land would fail.
In the end, he would prove that those demon lands were nothing but worthless, and that his ideology was not wrong.
'I will… absolutely…'
So he vowed.
Crack.
Commander Forkray clenched his jaw.
And so, he had no idea.
That over there, from a distance, Kim Jangcheol was staring straight at him out of the corner of his eye.
That he hadn't blinked even once in the past 190 seconds.
And that because of this, Kim Jangcheol was now thinking—
'Huh? Of all people, the Combat Engineering Corps commander, who's supposed to be the cornerstone of the development effort, is a racial supremacist? A hardcore racist?'
...Well, even better.
Kim Jangcheol smiled sweetly, having recalled a simple and effective racial-supremacy countermeasure(?).
It was a smile that was utterly wicked and cunning.
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