The Crown Prince, who was looking at the Emperor suspiciously, noticed the meat at the end of his gaze and nodded as if he understood.
"Well, I heard that people who have been on the battlefield for a long time are sensitive to the smell of blood. From now on, I'll have to ask the chef to cook the meat thoroughly."
"..."
Well, that's not the reason.
The Emperor quietly smiled at the Crown Prince, who frowned slightly, asking why he didn't tell him sooner when he must have been very uncomfortable.
The Crown Prince blinked his eyes slowly, as if he had been resting for a while. After confirming that everyone, including the Princess, had finished eating, the Emperor rang the bell on one side of the table.
The dishes on the table were cleared and dessert was served.
The Crown Prince, who was watching all the employees who finished setting up and leaving without exception, opened his mouth after checking that the door was closed.
Even so, it was impossible to bring up a heavy topic in front of the Emperor, who rarely ate, so the question that had waited until dessert time was asked.
"I heard that the Barony of Miller has fallen. The Margrave Amiable was killed in action."
This was news delivered today. Soon, even the nobles would hear it.
The Emperor nodded, frowning slightly at the tiring situation already pictured in his mind.
"It did."
"The Demon King's Army is probably still advancing toward the Capitol."
"That's also true."
"But why did you do that?"
"What?"
The Crown Prince's face was distorted in frustration.
"I'm saying, why are you acting defeated when sending more troops to stop them would be enough?"
Do you know what the Emperor did while the Margrave of Amiable was wasting his time at Miller?
The plan was to evacuate all Imperial citizens along the direct route from Miller to the Capitol. That would have been understandable, but the next thing he did was to move the nobles and soldiers who were staying on that route, so the Crown Prince had no choice but to beat his chest.
Once they know their movement route, they should concentrate our troops on the expected route. What kind of nonsense was this? It was literally like opening a road to the Capitol.
"For now... let me just say that it is for the sake of transferring the Capitol."
"... Did you say you were moving the Capitol? In this situation?"
"Most preparations have already been completed."
"No, it's not something that can be resolved in a day or two, so when..."
"Well."
The Emperor slightly raised the corners of his mouth and clenched his chin crookedly. The Prince and Princess's eyes narrowed when they noticed that he had no intention of answering, but he didn't care.
If you ask him when he started preparing, it would be more accurate to say it was from the moment Deon Hardt came to him and poured out his resentment and left.
'Of course, I was secretly preparing before that, but it was from then that it started in earnest.'
As an apology and a sign of respect for Cruel, the Emperor succeeded him and focused Deon Hardt's hatred on himself. It was easy to predict that Deon Hardt, who harbored hatred for the Emperor, would completely side with the demon realm. In reality, it was like that.
It was right for the person concerned to reap the seeds they sow.
"Don't worry, we've chosen the most suitable location considering the current situation. Of course, there is also a detached palace suitable for use as the main palace. After the situation stabilizes, we can gradually expand."
"That's why you're doing that...!"
"Although it is not as strong as Esperanes, it is a fairly strong fortress. We have moved food and can do farming inside, so in the worst case scenario, we will be able to survive even if we are surrounded on all sides."
The Princess, feeling ominous, turned her head and looked at the Emperor.
He felt a stinging gaze, but the Emperor knew well how sharp her senses were, so he did not make eye contact with the Princess and instead fixed his gaze firmly on the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince, who had been listening to him with his eyes lowered as if lost in thought, asked a question softly without raising his head.
"When are we moving?"
"Soon."
"The current Capitol will be bait to buy time."
"It will be empty when they arrive."
"Still, it would be better to station troops in the middle to take the time in case their advance speed is faster than expected."
"There were some stubborn people who refused to back down and stayed on the path. That's enough, so I don't want to make any more unnecessary sacrifices. Isn't this a situation where we need to conserve our troops more than anything else?"
"Isn't it absurd to call that a military force? What are you going to do if they come in before you can really move?"
They had a lot to worry about.
The Emperor smiled softly.
"Of course, we are also preparing for that time. There is nothing for you to worry about."
***
Tender Amiable collapsed and the Demon King's Army began to advance like crazy. It was meaningless to worry about whether to replenish the many troops lost in his last struggle, but the Demon King's Army advanced easily without a single worthy battle.
Every time we arrived, the castle was empty without a single person. The gate was locked, but it wasn't a problem because all we had to do was climb over the wall with a ladder and open it.
But.
'I feel uncomfortable.'
It's extremely uncomfortable.
Since we are heading to the Capitol, there must be strong resistance, so what on earth is their intention?
I frowned. Occasionally there were places where people remained, but even so, it wasn't that difficult to break through because it was a concept of 'remaining' rather than 'preparing'.
'A ploy? Is it a trap? Or did you give up because Tender Amiable collapsed?'
I lifted the communication stone, but all I could tell was that it was empty from here on out. Even Dvelania said they were investigating the reason, so there was no way to know.
"More than that, have you met yet, Deon?"
"Who?"
"Ah... I guess you haven't yet... Some crazy guy escaped to go to Deon."
"..."
A little bit of the conversation that followed. Even though I got caught, I just ignored it and moved on with a bad feeling.
"Deon, I can see the castle over there."
"... Oh, already."
Before we knew it, we had arrived at the territory where the current Hardt family head was staying. I looked up at the familiar castle walls.
I have never been there in person because I am weak and cannot travel long distances, but I remember seeing it in pictures. The only thing I saw was the family home where I lived, and I was fascinated by the beautiful villa drawn in detail.
I slowly opened my mouth, fiddling with the corner of my mouth.
"... The head of the Hardt family is staying here?"
"Yes, they say they are not running away and are staying here at the villa."
"That's really surprising."
What was the name of this territory? While thinking meaningless thoughts, I walked slowly.
People's eyes, startled by my sudden move forward alone, follow me. Dan, with his hand on the sword at his waist as if on guard, hurriedly approached the side.
"Master, if you take the risk of going out alone..."
"... I've thought about it before, but it seems like items with magic engraved on them can be used even in the human world."
Ed, the adjutant and deputy commander, was in charge of processing documents at the Demon King's Castle and delivering important news within the demon realm.
Realizing the absence of the all-powerful man once again, I looked back at the unknown general of the demon realm who had followed him instead.
"Are there any items with teleportation magic engraved on them?"
"Sorry. There is a limit to the magic an object can accept. Although magic stones are mainly used because they absorb magic the best, they also have limitations. That's why we can only engrave small magic for daily convenience. Teleportation is a high-level magic that is far beyond its scope."
"I see."
Well, I thought so. Since I didn't have high expectations in the first place, I nodded calmly and took off again.
"Even though the head of the family is staying, I can't see anyone on the castle wall..."
"It could be a trap, Master, so step back..."
"Well. Rather than a trap, I'd rather bet that a small number of troops are guarding the villa where the head of the family is located."
"Then, just like before, we can climb over the castle wall with a ladder and open the door. But where are you going?"
"I thought I'd try opening the door myself this time."
"... Yes?"
Instead of answering the questions that came back, I ordered the demons to stand by and continued on my way. Dan followed me, but I only glanced at him and did not separate him. I reached there before I knew it and placed my hand on the brick next to the sturdy castle gate.
'Second row from the bottom right of the voice gate.'
The orthodox Hardt family, which had a long history, taught its successors the secret passages to all the Hardt territory's homes and mansions from generation to generation.
Not to 'descendants', but only to 'successors'.
It was probably to protect the succession in the fight for the position of head of the family. Those aiming for the position of head of the family will usually be brothers or similar relatives.
Nevertheless, my father and older brother did not kick out the younger son who was snooping around the place of education. Instead, they pretended not to know and brought out another chair and proceeded with the class indifferently.
'At the time, I thought they left me alone because I was a weak guy who wasn't worth guarding against...'
My breath was suffocating as if a stone had been placed on my chest. I didn't show anything and moved along the wall, counting the second row of bricks.
A throbbing pain continued in my chest as if a part of a rock had broken off and lodged itself in my heart.
'They believed in me.'
They believed in me. No, beyond believing, they wanted to protect me. Therefore, they broke the rules and taught the secret passage to their second son, who was not the successor. The child who was confident that he had learned things on his own, not because someone had taught him, suddenly became an adult and looked back on the past with a broader perspective and realized.
My learning was possible because of their tacit permission.
'...'
I gritted my teeth quietly.
I was now used to suppressing my emotions. I suppressed the murderous intent rising towards myself and pulled out the 98th brick. It was heavier than I expected so I had to get Dan's help, but it wasn't a problem.
Dan's eyes widened slightly as the brick fell out and the hidden device was revealed.
As I pulled the lever of the device, despite having to swallow the exclamation that was about to come out, Dan couldn't help but let out his exclamation.
"Wow..."
The floor opened without a sound, as if to prove that it was a secret passage in case of an emergency. There wasn't a single shaking like that. A staircase quietly appeared before my eyes, and a black passageway appeared beneath it. I passed by Dan, who was fascinated, and traced the wall of the staircase, saying a word.
"Put the brick in its place."
"Ah, yes."
Dan quickly pushes the brick into place and entered the passage. I, who had been groping the wall until then, pressed down hard as if I had found something.
The entrance to the passage closed as quietly as it had opened. In the darkness where there was not a single light, I fumbled for a place where the altar might be, and then grabbed the other person's sleeve and spoke.
"Let's go."
Dan looked down at his sleeve being pulled forward in silence.
A light voice came out as if breaking the heavy tension.
"If I had known this would happen, I would have brought a torch."
"I know the way, why bother?"
"It's better than walking in the dark where you can't see anything at all. ... More than that, this secret passage is not the only one in this territory, so how could you know the geography by heart?"
"That's because I memorized the secret passages to all of Hardt's territories and mansions. The first thing the successors do when they begin succession classes is to memorize the secret passage."
"Master would not have been the successor..."
Dan, who had astutely sensed my mood, closed his mouth.