The problem was that due to the circumstances, the Marquis was not able to subdue his opponent completely without damage.
"Cough."
Blood came out.
Without missing the opportunity, the demon rose up. The Empire's third hero caught sight of this and threw his dagger even as blood was spitting out of his mouth.
The dagger barely passed by the demon's face, as if his fingertips were shaking due to hemoptysis.
'If he was in good shape, he would definitely have been hit.'
As if the demon had sensed that fact, he retreated with a white face and quickly ran away.
The Marquis was the one who tried to catch him by going like that. He must never miss it.
With firm determination, the knight pulled out his sword and tried to chase after the demon–
"Keuk, keuk! Cough! Keheek kek!!"
"Marquis!"
Maybe he will be angry. From the Marquis' point of view, he would have wanted to chase the demon rather than take care of his own body.
But still, the Marquis' body came first.
Preparing to be severely scolded later, the knight put back the sword he had drawn and quickly approached Deon Hardt.
***
Demon sacrificed himself. The sight of him spitting out blood and telling Ben to go away...
He couldn't be stubborn even though he did that. He did as he was told and ran away, biting his lip.
'He needs treatment...'
Instead of providing treatment, it became just a burden.
It was the first time the signal was so strong. A sign of massive bleeding due to trauma, not simple hemoptysis.
He thought that's why he fell into a panic. When he came to his senses, he succeeded in escaping, which had always failed.
When he met Demon, he felt joyful at finally being able to examine the wound in person...
"Keuk, keuk! Cough! Keheek kek!!"
"Marquis!"
With a violent coughing sound, he felt the Imperial knight who was trying to chase him return to Demon.
His running speed slowed down due to his miserable feelings. No one was chasing him. Ben stopped on the spot and muttered lowly.
"Demon... you were a nobleman, after all."
He expected that he would never be of insignificant status.
"Your status on the human world is also high."
Was it to act as a spy? Since he went out in the name of carrying out the Demon King's mission, the Demon King must have known.
It was an important issue to understand, and was confidential.
Even if he were to die after finding out about this, he would have nothing to say.
So let's just think about it to this point. Ben consciously stopped his brain from calculating and understanding further.
'In the end, finding out was my fault.'
He had no desire to dig up his information, and even now that he knew some of it, he still didn't.
So...
'I don't know anything.'
Ben chose to just forget.
***
The rumor spread.
"Honorary Marquis Deon Hardt was ambushed by demons while subjugating demons. Because of that, he suffered internal injuries and lost most of what he had caught."
This changed after Deon Hardt received a medical examination from the palace doctor personally sent by the Emperor.
"Honorary Marquis Deonhart was ambushed by demons while subjugating demons. Nevertheless, he caught almost all of them without any damage, but he lost them due to the Demon King's curse."
The reactions of those who heard the rumor were varied.
Some argued that the title of 'Hero' should be taken away, asking if the title of 'Hero' was worthy of a person who was so stubborn that he missed the demon he caught due to a curse, while others argued that it was not right to take away the title since it was a curse obtained while recovering the body of the last warrior, and it was not something else. They argued that it would be better to just step away from the front line and let him recuperate.
Some people said that since at least one more person was needed to deal with the demon realm, they should choose tasks that are not immediately important, such as subjugating monsters, while others said that it would be a waste to hire someone skilled enough to take a demon's surprise attack without damage and subdue them in reverse. They even said that they couldn't leave them out there and that they should just do what they were doing. Regardless of these claims, there were also people who sighed in relief.
"It looks like he's not a vampire."
"At least it doesn't seem like he's on the side of the demon realm."
"That's right. If he were on the side of the demon realm, rather than taking the damage and trying to subdue the demons, he would have tried to kill the knight who was a witness and hide the demon away."
"I'm so glad."
They didn't have to worry any more about the loyalty Honorary Marquis Deon Hardt.
In this way, the Deon Hardt vampire theory, which had been a hot topic among some nobles, was resolved to some extent and slowly died down.
And the Emperor, who heard this news along with the rumors, sat back loosely in his chair and let out a light laugh.
"Vampire... It's absurd that the idiots who believe such rumors are the nobles of this Empire."
"..."
"Rather than that, they are demons."[1]
He supposed he'd have to call up Deon Hardt sometime soon.
***
At some point, the Emperor's hallucinations became worse. The Emperor, who had called for Deon Hardt and processed the documents until he arrived, quietly frowned as his hallucinations became more severe than before. He also took out his dagger for a moment...
"Your Majesty."
"... Why did you do that, general?"
"You were aiming at your wrist, not the back of the hand."
"..."
A giggling voice ran in his ears.
His vision, which had been obscured by hallucinations, cleared, and he belatedly saw the position in which his wrist was being aimed at. To prevent this, Nemeseus took the risk of being rude and grabbed the wrist holding the dagger.
"... It would be difficult to remain sane in this state."
"The wound on your hand is big enough."
"I know."
The Emperor obediently laid down the dagger. He watched Nemeseus pick it up and take care of it in preparation for an unexpected situation, and then leaned against the backrest as if to relax his body.
The Emperor lowered his head and covered his eyes with the back of his hand for a long time before opening his mouth as if muttering.
"Something is strange..."
"What do you mean?"
"The hallucinations. Rather than the familiar malice that comes from my imagination, there is a feeling of blatant and unfamiliar malice. Every time that happens, the surroundings become cold..."
The Emperor was a man who had clearly trained his mental powers. He skillfully found the decision he needed to make despite all the distractions.
"... Quietly call a shaman."
Nemeseus paused for a moment and then lowered his head as if he had never done that before.
"All right."
It wasn't long before the shaman arrived.
She followed Nemeseus steadfastly, trembling as if she had heard the explanation, and turned pale when she saw the Emperor. It got worse as he got closer to the emperor, until he stopped and started to gag.
"Ugh...!"
"How dare–!"
"Enough."
The Emperor, who stopped Nemeseus from drawing his sword, slowly turned his eyes to the Shama.
"It looks I Jim was cursed as expected, right?"
"Yes, yes... you were cursed... but..."
"It seems like it was a curse so strong it made you feel nauseous."
"Ah... no...! I can handle the curse itself!"
"Oh?"
The shaman's nausea was not caused by the curse. If so, what was the cause?
The shaman, who made eye contact with golden eyes full of questions, hurriedly lowered her head, avoided eye contact, and stuttered as she opened her mouth.
"That is... the karma and resentment that His Majesty has carries is so great..."
"Ah, it seems you can see what I have done. Is it really that harsh?"
"How do you maintain your sanity? I dare to ask."
"How impolite."
Now Nemeseus drew his sword.
"It's okay, General. She isn't wrong?"
The Emperor smiled and waved his hand, uncrossed his legs and leaned his upper body crookedly on the armrest. A relaxed posture to relieve the other person's tension.
Nemeseus, who read the Emperor's will, also sheathed his sword and took a step back. The Emperor slowly spoke while the air was much more relaxed than before.
"Anyway, it's true that I was cursed... Is it possible to trace it back?"
"Backtracking is inherently difficult. How can we trace something that leaves no trace and can only be seen by the person who suffered it and those with special eyes?"
"I se. I was wondering who it was, but it's a shame."
It was a simple voice without any regrets.
The shaman who was watching carefully asked.
"Are you... not angry...?"
"Well... I'm sure more than half of the world hates and hates me, but isn't it funny that no one among them uses witchcraft, and it's even more funny to find them and take revenge on them? I was just curious about who would be so foolish as to curse the monarch of a country that is on the front line fighting the demon realm in these times."
"Ah, it's been quite a while since the curse took effect... but it seems you didn't know about it."
"Hmm?"
This was also unexpected.
"How long has it been?"
"It seems like it's been more than a year... but it's only recently that it started to take effect. It seems like you've been suppressing it with your mental strength."
"As for mental strength... I've certainly become quite tired recently, and perhaps because of that, my hallucinations have gotten worse."
"Hallucinations... When you look at that karma and resentment, it's would be weirder not to see any... but how on earth have you held on until now?"
The Emperor just smiled cheerfully.
In any case, his mental strength had been recognized.
'This fulfills one of the qualities of a monarch.'
Meanwhile, the shaman took out a piece of yellow paper from the luggage she was carrying and began to write something down with blood on her finger.
"I can't do anything about the karma and resentment caused by what Your Majesty did, but..."
"That's something I don't want."
"As expected, you say that. In any case, the curse on Your Majesty can be removed. Right now, I am not ready, so it is best to temporarily suppress that power. Please call me again in three days and I will make sure to prepare and remove the evil spirit."
Evil spirit?
The Emperor's eyes twitched at the first words that appeared after meeting the shaman. Was the curse the type that attached evil spirits?
"I thought it was a curse that took my life away... but it was just an evil spirit attached to me."
"When you kill, you receive in return the most precious thing of the caster himself and the most precious thing of the person who asked the caster. In most cases, it is your own life or the life of a precious person, such as a family member or lover. Since you are directly taking the other person's life, shouldn't that be the right amount to balance the scales? Therefore, the type of curse you mentioned..."
"I don't think it will ever be used. However, if the 'direct' method is the problem, then there must also be an indirect method, right?"
"The evil spirit that possessed your Majesty is an example of that indirect method."
Yellow paper with red letters stretched out.
As if it wasn't painful, the shaman bit her fingertips again every time the bleeding stopped, causing the blood to bleed and create an amulet.
Unauthorized people could not bring weapons in front of the Emperor, so that was the only way to shed blood...
"Nemeseus, give her a dagger."
"... Yes, Your Majesty."
"Oh, it's almost done, so you don't have to."
"You dare reject a favor from His Majesty's..."
"That's enough, General. Let's continue what we were talking about earlier. I don't think that was the end of the explanation."
The Emperor, who calmed Nemeseus down by tapping his fingers on the armrests of the chair, chuckled.
Nemeseus was also fun to look at. He told him to practice hiding his facial expressions, but when he ordered him to hand over the dagger, what could he do if he blatantly showed signs of distaste? He actually felt bad when the shaman refused...
He glanced at the shaman. As if she had finished making the amulet, she gathered up the scattered papers around her and continued her interrupted explanation.
"The evil spirit that has attached to Your Majesty is the kind that shakes your mind and slowly sucks your vitality. It's one of the methods commonly used against someone who really wants to die."
"Interesting."
"It's a sad and vicious way to use a dead person to harm someone. First, I will temporarily burn this talisman to suppress the evil spirit."
Using the dead to harm someone...
The Emperor waved his hand, signaling her to take care of it, and rested his chin.
After listening to that explanation, he thought he understood how he had endured for such a long time.
He couldn't believe the malice of a weak guy who used the dead without having the courage to harm him directly affected him. It was just laughable.
As he was quietly watching the shaman do the work, he heard a voice outside.
"His Majesty, the Honorary Marquis Deon Hardt has arrived."
[1] I have no clue what was trying to be covered here so I'm leaving it as is.