Wow. Wow... the crown prince was the crown prince after all.
To be honest, it's shit.
Now I see that there was a snake sitting in my stomach. From now on, I shouldn't even go near the imperial palace.
I was dazed, feeling like a caught fish, but then I felt the harsh gaze of General Nemeseus and quickly nodded.
'Oh, be scared of that loyalty.'
Who wouldn't be scared of the first hero of the empire?
His loyalty to the Emperor and the imperial family recognized by the Emperor was very famous even within the Empire.
"Then I guess I'll just go. Actually, I came out on impulse, so it would be difficult if I stayed away for longer than this. You don't have to come out to see me off."
"Ah, yes. Goodbye..."
If the crown prince left now, won't I be left alone with that fearsome general? I glanced at the man who had been standing like a folding screen while I was talking with the crown prince.
As expected, he had a scary expression.
I swallowed dryly for a moment, naturally imagining what the atmosphere would be like after the crown prince left.
It might be better for the crown prince to remain...
"...Go..."
But how dare I hold onto the crown prince of the empire. In the end, I saw him off with tears in my eyes.
The crown prince left his seat, and only then did the sturdy man who had been standing motionlessly sit down in the prepared seat.
The expected silence came.
"..."
"..."
I couldn't breathe.
Unable to do anything, I just broke into a cold sweat and avoided his eyes that were looking directly at me. I couldn't help but feel an unpleasant feeling in his gaze.
I don't know why this person hated me so much.
No, rather than saying he hated me... I should say he loathed me.
Anyway, it was clear that this person had negative feelings towards me. This uncomfortable silence, which seemed to have gotten longer because I couldn't bring myself to speak out first, was broken after several minutes had passed.
"It's been a while since I said hello like this."
"Yes that's right. General."
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Then."
The air changed. The general's eyes also changed, as if trivial conversation was ending here.
He straightened his back. Due to the significant difference in height even when sitting, the weight of the gaze naturally changed. A low voice was heard.
"Before I tell you why I came here, just a few questions. I heard that there was only one captured Revolutionary soldier."
"That's right."
"There were three people who attacked."
"That's also true."
"Two of them died."
I felt a little uneasy...
I feel like I'm being interrogated, but for now, it's true. I tried to ignore the faint warning from my intuition and nodded.At that moment, the general's eyes shone sharply. One was reported to have died in an explosion, but the death of the other was ambiguous."
"...Uh..."
"So, I have to ask. How did he die?"
***
Nemeseus looked at Deon Hardt with sharp eyes, as if he would not miss anything.
His eyes were closer to testing how the other person would respond rather than a pure question.
In fact, the cause was somewhat predictable. He was just curious about his answer.
Deon Hardt hesitated, as if he was embarrassed. Even that was disgusting, so he narrowed his eyebrows slightly.
Nemeseus was not a narrow-minded person who hated people for no reason. There was good reason for his dislike of Deon Hardt.
Who could have seen Deon Hardt's changes in real time during the Eight Year War?
Nemeseus has been watching Deonhart since he was not in charge of a vanguard.
As such, he was one of the few people who knew the truth about Deon Hardt's extreme personality change
'You can't just say it's at the level of 'I don't like him."
His emotions were as heavy as the weight of the truth.
However, you can't hate someone who has become a hero forever.
It had been two years since the war ended, so he came here in person to see if things had gotten better.
"...Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know the details. However, from what I heard, wild dogs got to them."
Nothing had changed.
"...Is that so."
Nemeseus got up without any regrets.
Deon Hardt's mind was still at war and Nemeseus was not one to give second chances.
He solidified the soft feelings he might have had and put an end to the judgments he had been holding off on.
Deon Hardt was a dangerous person.
'I can't let a guy like this be near His Majesty.'
Is it any wonder that wild dogs exist in the front yard of Count Hardt's residence? He had to say something that made sense.
As expected, the person who killed them must have been Deon Hardt himself.
He probably used his 'personality'. He had a convenient separate personality that was always disgusting.
"I understand."
He knew he was not evil. He also knew that weakness was not a sin.
But didn't His Majesty also say that?
'Even if it is the same sin, its weight changes depending on the location, and things that are not generally sins can become sins depending on the location.'
The weakness of those who sat in positions of power became a disaster for those below them.
The person who taught this was none other than His Majesty, but how could he keep this guy by his side?
As a knight who served the Emperor as his lord, what he could do was extremely limited, so Nemeseus glared at Deon Hardt, determined to try to persuade him once again.
His eyes were shining coldly as he recited his purpose for coming here for business purposes.
***
Honestly, I was a little embarrassed.
Are you asking about the cause of death of the Revolutionary soldiers? From the Empire's point of view, weren't the Revolutionary forces not something that mattered if they died?
Besides, I didn't know how they died. Later, when I went to the prison and found that there was only one person there, I asked out of curiosity and the only answer I got was, 'The wild dogs got to them.' The look in Remember's eyes as he said those words was strange, but I didn't really pay much attention to it.
If there was only one person left to interrogate, due to the death of another Revolutionary soldier, no one would care.
That's probably why Remember didn't say anything in detail.
The general's eyebrows furrowed slightly as I looked embarrassed.
With an expression clearly showing my annoyance, I eventually forced my lips to open.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know the details. However, from what I heard, wild dogs got to them."
"...Is that so."
After a short silence, what came back was a simple answer.
The general tilted his head for a moment, as if all sorts of complicated emotions had been compressed, and then the general got up from his seat. I was able to see him as I got up and accidentally set my gaze on him.
His cold, sunken eyes.
...Why on earth?!
"I understand."
I was embarrassed by his incomprehensible attitude, but I couldn't ask because the topic had changed.
Once I closed my mouth, an extremely business-like voice followed. "His Majesty wants to take over custody the Revolutionary soldiers you captured. The goal is to identify the Revolutionary Army's stronghold and completely eradicate it."
"Yes..."
"Of course."
I'm speechless!
"You said you were the one who caught him, so you don't have to hand him over if you don't want to. So, the message was delivered through a person rather than an edict."
"...Is that so. It is an honour."
However, those words were not so meaningful that I had to cut them off.
Since it was said that the Emperor wanted me to hand him over, I was planning on handing him over without much opposition.
Why would you object to someone taking a piece of luggage that would not be of much use even if kept locked up? With this, you would be able to buy the Emperor's favor, so it was more beneficial to give it up.
Additionally, whether it was revenge or complete extermination, the chances of success will be higher if the Emperor did it than if I did it myself.
Instead of saying something that hurt my mouth, I pulled the cord in the living room.
"Bring the Revolutionary soldier."
"No. Take them to the entrance of the mansion, not here."
"Yes? All right."
The general walked to the door without any hesitation.
I noticed that it looked like everyone was trying to leave, so I carefully spoke.
"Are you leaving?"
"Because there is no reason to be here anymore."
"I will see you off to the front door."
"I know you're busy."
A clear refusal. I inwardly shrugged my shoulders and stepped back.
Well, even if I followed, there would be no conversation and only cold air would flow throughout. Moreover, considering the backlog of documents I had to process, sending off was definitely inefficient.
It would be better to take care of one more document with Remember during that time.
Ah, the documents... I felt like the stress was piling up again when I thought about it. I'm really going crazy.
"Goodbye."
"Yes."
After a dry sendoff, the general left the room.
After the door closed, I sank down into the soft sofa as if I had been waiting.
"Finally...!"
I thought I was going to suffocate to death.
If these days repeat themselves every day, I might have a nervous breakdown. No, this was definitely going to happen.
After dozing idly for a while to recover my lost mental strength, I awkwardly got up.
'I have to go and process all the documents...'
It's terrible, but there's no way to avoid it because I'd only end up with more documents.
Oh, I really don't want to do this. Should I just go to the demon realm again?
With a deep sigh, I forced myself to take steady steps.
***
The days passed again, not much different from before, except for the visit of the crown prince and General Nemeseus. I had gotten into a flow with the work.
...Well, more clearly, I was flowing.
If it hadn't been for the knock on the door while I was processing the damn documents, I would have been able to finish today.
Bang!
"Is the Count..."
"Ugh, no!!"
"Can't you let go of my hand?! You are the ones who started first!"
"Is that all you can do with that? You're such a petty knight! What kind of relationship are we having?"
"There's nothing between us!"
What is this again?
Looking at Remember's calm smile, I buried my face in my hands.
It looks like there will never be a smooth day in my life.
When I heard the voice, one side seemed to be one of the mad dogs, and the other side sounded like one of the Count's knights... It was obvious without even looking at which one was the problem.
'If I go to the imperial palace, I have to first tell them to return those things. I'm really going to tell them.'
Those murderous knights.
If it weren't for those guys, there's no way the Count's knight, who was so quiet as if he wasn't there, would come to my office.
"Come in."
"No way!"
"Excuse me."
Suddenly.
The door opened and─
Slam!
─closed.
There was a commotion again outside the door.
"What are you doing?!"
"Are you really trying to tell me? Then you're going to lie!"
"Look, okay, we were wrong, so let's move on just this once."
"The attitude of apologizing was poor."
Suddenly the door opened and a knight came in. And the person being dragged around hanging from that leg… was, of course, a member of the Lofty Knights.
Oh yeah. This situation was fully expected.
'But I didn't take this into account.'
I looked at the documents near the door that were being thrown around in a haphazard manner due to the rabid dog's struggle, and said to Remember, my hand holding the pen trembling.
"...call Sir Lien."
"All right."
In the meantime, I think I heard the name Sir Lien.
The guy who was holding the knight's leg got up and straightened out his white uniform.
"So, what happened..."
"Ah, on behalf of all the knights of the Count's residence, I dare to ask you that I cannot stay with those guys."
"!?"
Isn't that too blunt?
It seems like there was a lot of emotion in what you said before that, don't you think? Does that mean you hate them that much?
Well, I understood.
"I'm speaking on behalf of the vanguard, not the knights, but I can't stay with those guys!"
"Then get out."
"That's not possible!"
Is Lord Lien still there? I want to drag this guy out quickly. Oh, I'm a bit curious about what he did before that makes the knights say they can't stay with them. I looked at the knight again.
His name was probably Cain... right?
"Lord Cain."
"Yes, Count."
Fortunately, it seemed to be correct.
"What did they do?"
His face, which had been impressed by the fact that I remembered his name, suddenly became distorted.
When I was startled by his demon-like expression, he changed his expression and said in an angry voice that he was rude, "They ate all of the Count's knights' share of the meal."
"...Hm?"