The moment I heard that, I knew who was behind it.
'For Salvation' was truly blatant and pseudo-spurious. It seems that not only the Emperor but also the Duke is out of his mind.
I let out a squeak, not knowing whether it was a sneer or a laugh out of absurdity, and looked at the communicator in my hand.
"How long are you going to keep your mouth shut?"
"..."
"I know there is a connection. There is no one around, so please speak, Duke."
The person who gave the communicator disappeared far away, and it has been a while since he walked away from the demons.
There's a difference, but that's okay. After confirming that the quick-witted Dan quickly pretended not to exist and hid his presence, I opened my mouth again.
"Communication stone... No, someone who is not familiar with communication devices may not know that it is connected, but that does not apply to me. We know each other well, so stop pretending you don't know."
"Haha."
A light laugh was heard, as if trying to soften my harsh attitude.
"I couldn't easily open my mouth in case someone else was listening. But the reaction is too sharp."
"It's not like we can laugh and talk."
"Well, that's right."
"So what you want to say is..."
"Before that, the speed of advance was ridiculously fast. It seems like you're only getting minimal sleep. Are you eating properly?"
The conversation didn't get straight to the point and went around in circles. I frowned slightly, clearly showing my discomfort.
"I'm sure you didn't really expect me to answer."
"... Well..."
"Seeing as you even used members of the Church of Salvation to deliver the communication stone, there must be a reason, but you don't say it easily. How much longer do I have to wait here?"
"You have short patience. The topic I'm about to bring up is quite heavy, so I tried to ease the tension a little, but it seems like you aren't happy about it."
"Don't pretend to be considerate. I think you're trying to waste time, but if you make me wait any longer, I'll hang up."
As soon as those words were finished, a clear sneer came from the communicator.
My brow furrowed and Dan quietly rolled his eyes. Either that or not, a voice filled with mockery spoke softly as if muttering.
"You will regret it."
"... I'll just hang up."
"But if you want to get to the point, yes."
A sarcastic voice full of cruel pleasure reached my brain through my ears. Information came in like a hammer.
"You are targeting me and the Emperor, but you are right next to the Demon King."
"..."
"Deon Hardt. How much of the truth do you know now?"
I smiled faintly.
"How much do you think you know about me?"
"... Well. I'm not sure, but seeing as you're pointing a blade at me, I'm sure you at least know that I'm the one behind the people who targeted you and killed Cruel. Maybe you know more than that."
In the dark space, the Duke smoothly raised the corner of his mouth.
That's what he said, but personally, he thought Deon only knew 'behind the scenes'. If he knew more than that, he would have targeted the Illuster territory first, rather than advancing towards the Capitol where the Emperor was.
The Duke's sin was much greater than that of the Emperor.
"But I don't think you know everything. Otherwise, you wouldn't be casually joining the Demon King's Army and leading the way."
"..."
"Shall we briefly look at the past for the sake of truth? During the Eight Years' War, I once dragged a child from a noble family, who had been living in a mansion because he was weak, to the battlefield. He was a unique child with white hair and red eyes that made people wonder if he was actually human."
Dan realized what was going on and his eyes trembled quietly.
Completely muted astonishment passed between m and the communicator. However, I, the person involved, paid attention to the subsequent remarks without any agitation.
Red eyes, as shiny as glass, stared motionlessly at the communicator.
"I didn't particularly have any ill feelings towards that child. But aren't you curious why that is? 'Why'."
Finally, this topic came up. A question that was never answered while in the demon realm. A question was coming out of the Duke's mouth that not even the Demon King, who commanded the demons, nor the talented Commander of the 2nd Corps, Dvelania, could come up with an answer to.
But I laughed. There was no shaking of the pupils. My eyes did not smile, but only the corners of my mouth went up, and my voice calmly contained a smile.
"I was wondering what you were going to say."
"..."
"You're wrong, Duke. Totally wrong. I can't even tell how much of a fool the Duke thinks I am. I am a person who cannot dare to call myself smart, but that doesn't mean I am stupid."
Did he think I didn't know?
Now the leadership of the conversation has passed to this side, I spoke with great force as I gently strengthened the hand holding the communicator.
"In the past, under orders from His Majesty, I carried out work to eliminate the Salvation Church."
It was a somewhat unexpected remark, but the Duke would have recognized it as soon as he heard it.
"At that time, magic was used in the Salvation Church."
"..."
"It seemed like it was disguised as a spell, but a competent shaman noticed it."
And the person behind that religion was the Duke.
Dan, who was listening to the added remark, opened his eyes wide as if he belatedly realized something. Even Dan, who had never directly followed the extermination of the Salvation Church, noticed this, so what would the Duke think?
The Duke, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. A slow, slightly disappointed voice came through the communicator.
"I will admit that I am looking down at you. I also acknowledge that you may know more than I think. But. You probably didn't think I knew how to use magic just for that reason. If so, it's a disappointment. The culprit behind the Salvation Church's use of magic could be chosen countless times if one were to select a candidate..."
"Of course, we can say that up to this point. A demon may have come and used magic, or someone may have made a contract with the demon and used it. But."
The problem was when I returned to the demon realm and reported to the Demon King.
"When I returned to the Demon World and reported to the Demon King that magic had been discovered in the human world, how do you think the Demon King would react?"
"..."
"At first there was doubt and then confusion. If someone other than him dared to use magic in the human world, it would be normal to be angry, but he was just purely embarrassed and let it go."
This meant that the magic used in the human world was directly or indirectly related to the Demon King.
At first, I couldn't immediately understand what was being said and was briefly skeptical. This was not what the Demon King intended and did. In other words, it did not mean that the Demon King went directly to the human world and used magic or sent demons to order them to use magic.
What is left?
'A person who can use magic in the human world as he pleases with free will and for whom the Demon King will not express any anger about it.'
The Demon King's contractor.
So who is the contractor?
"I really didn't understand why my brother died instead of me, so I asked for an investigation to find out why. I asked the Demon King and the Commander of the 2nd Corps."
"..."
The Duke was silent, putting his arm on the armrest of the chair.
If he asked him that, he would have known right away that he was the one who dragged him into the Eight Year War.
I explained it in a way that made my mouth hurt for no reason... It happened because I took my time.
Although he did not react in any way, I continued speaking naturally, as if I had read the Duke's thoughts and responded.
"Yes, it's the Duke. So, for revenge, I asked them to investigate the Duke again."
"..."
"All kinds of information has come into my hands so that I can easily combine the Duke's weaknesses. Can this be explained if even I, who is burning with revenge, was so sick of organizing it? ...But."
Strangely enough.
"There wasn't a single piece of information about 'why' the Duke did what he did."
Maybe it was because the Demon King knew I was good at solving puzzles, but there wasn't a single common clue.
Therefore, I was able to know it in reverse.
The Demon King was involved in the 'why' information. The Demon King and the Duke were related.
"The Duke, who is behind the Church of Salvation, and the Demon King's lukewarm attitude when he found out about the magic used there. Even the Demon King who tried to hide certain information about the Duke."
"..."
"It's obvious. It looks like the two of you signed a contract."
And now, thanks to the Duke who went to great lengths to contact me and mention that fact, I was convinced.
"I guess I became a sacrifice for that contract?"
"... That's the correct answer. That's amazing."
Still, it's too humble to stop at the line of saying he's not stupid. The Duke expressed his admiration.
Among them, there were some that were easily forgotten as time passed. He never thought he would remember them and take them out and combine them appropriately.
"You are the victim of a bet. At the time, the Demon King was tired and unwilling to make a contract easily, so I needed a unique offering to attract interest."
Cruel and explicit remarks followed.
Dan, who heard that a bet was being made on the life and death of a child who was only fourteen years old, turned his head away and pretended not to have heard anything.
He probably shouldn't have listened. This was not something he could handle hearing.
Even though I answered correctly, it was only based on guesswork and I had no way to know the details, so it was clearly the truth I had never heard before, but I did not even express anger and just listened to the Duke's words in silence.
Then, at some point, the Duke was wondering whether he should say more due to the lack of response.
"The Demon King showed obvious interest and participated in the bet. I had fun throughout the betting process."
"... There's nothing more to hear."
I interrupted.
Hearing the calm voice, Dan turned his head and looked at my expression. I was clearly smiling.
"The Duke must have foreseen failure as well."
"..."
"As for the truth, it is not as shocking as I expected, and since I know the Duke's purpose, there is no need to be agitated."
The Duke's purpose was probably to cause discord by causing me, in anger, to turn my troops around and head to the Illuster territory, or to argue with or attack the Demon King.
However, I, who cared for reason, was calm.
"The priorities are clear. My revenge on the Demon King comes after I take revenge on the Duke. Also, I told you. I received a lot of information about the Duke's 'weaknesses, to the point where I could easily combine them.' I will never change the current path."
Until now, it was just a guess, and I postponed the order of revenge because I didn't know the details of how great a crime the Demon King had committed against me, but now the reason is different. There were various circumstances, including my position, that were taken into consideration, but more than anything, I heard the Duke's words and branded the Demon King as an obvious target for revenge, and had one thing in mind.
'... I'll think about this later.'
Also, in order to inflict maximum damage on the Duke, I must kill the Emperor rather than the Duke himself.
Therefore, there will be no need to go to the Illuster territory as the Duke wants.
The Duke, reading this from my resolute attitude, let out a faint sigh.
"... I can't help it."
It's a good thing he had a second move prepared just in case.
In this world where there is witchcraft that deals with magic and uses evil spirits, he almost didn't want to touch the deceased... but.
'It was already too late.'
He opened his mouth slowly.
"Don't you want your brother's head back?"
"...!"