“…Then, where is the real Demon King?”
“Who knows? The management of Greater Demons is left entirely to Furcas, and he only appears once every few hundred years.”
“Are you serious… Why didn’t that Goddess tell me any of this…?”
“Hm?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
Complaints inadvertently spilled from my mouth.
Switching my train of thought, I remembered my original purpose.
“I don’t know if this is directly related to the Demon King, but… there’s something I want to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s about the mysterious group calling themselves Helheim.”
“…Hmm.”
After a moment of hesitation, Kaguya spoke.
“They are [someone boasting about the resurrection of the Demon King].”
“Is that all…?”
“The King of Griffil four generations ago—Giltums—is involved. That is all I can say.”
“—Giltums… you say…?”
Giltums-El-Griffil.
The Crown Prince at the time who summoned us as Heroes.
A good-for-nothing prince who yearned for heroic tales.
“He is the very person who erased the name of the Corpse King from history and propagated that he himself was the one who subjugated the Demon King.”
[Now, my servants. Lend your strength to this Giltums. It is the beginning of a new era of heroic epics!]
When I saw that man declaring such things the moment we were summoned, and when I learned he was the summoner and the Crown Prince of the country…
What would you think?
I thought:
—I drew the short straw.
“Ho, Corpse King. You know Giltums?”
“In a way. He’s the absolute worst kind of person I’ve ever met.”
“Kuku, there is no mistaking that.”
I remember him being hated by my classmates like a snake or a scorpion.
He would turn any male student he didn’t like into a punching bag and add any female student he liked to his harem.
Anyone else was just his servant. He worked them to the bone.
Having awakened to a troublesome ability like [Blessing of Death], I was his perfect prey.
Despite needing to kill demons or living things to grow, I was no different from a normal human who had just been summoned and had no power.
It would take a considerable amount of time before someone like me, who struggled to kill even a single hostile creature, could demonstrate the true power of my ability.
[I have no need for incompetence among my servants.]
The most incompetent one sure talked big.
With those words, I was made the outlet for his stress.
There were people I disliked among my classmates too. There were those I had never even spoken to.
But we united by making Giltums our common enemy.
Looking back, if he hadn’t been there, my feelings toward my classmates might have been different.
If my classmates hadn’t helped me grow my ability, I naturally would have died somewhere along the way.
However, I have no grudge against the Holy Kingdom of Griffil itself.
The people around Giltums were all excellent individuals, and when they learned of his atrocities, they protected us with everything they had.
That’s why we didn’t lose sight of the goal to subjugate the Demon King, but…
The man who followed us around as the summoner, never went to the front lines, and ran away before anyone else when things got dangerous.
And on top of that, he usurped the credit… my boiling resentment is beyond measure.
Giltums-El-Griffil. The cause of everything, the root of all evil.
And this time, he’s got his hand in the pot again.
“I see—this is convenient.”
“…Oops, have I stepped on a tiger’s tail?”
I could feel my own mouth twisting.
Kaguya, who glared at me and twisted her face in genuine distaste, was still an exquisite beauty.
“Thanks, Kaguya. Because of you, I have one more reason to crush the fake Helheim.”
“I-I’m telling you now, I have nothing to do with it, so do not point that hostility at me!”
“I know. Don’t be so scared.”
“You’re asking for the impossible…”
Kaguya, appearing a bit put off, cleared her throat to regain her composure.
“It is good to be enthusiastic, but Giltums has been dead for over a hundred years… I do not think you will have the chance to settle your personal grudge.”
“Even so, I can grind his footsteps into dust. This is an unexpected stroke of luck.”
“…Then, I have nothing more to say. Feel free to run wild.”
“You don’t even have to tell me.”
Well, this brings me one step closer to the true nature of my goal.
Moreover, it was something that strengthened my sense of purpose.
For my classmates… no, let’s stop with the excuses.
This is purely my personal grudge.
The fake Helheim that Giltums is involved in. I’ll blow it away without a trace.
It’s unclear how a fool like him rose as a Hero or the methods he used to claim the credit as his own, but I wonder if the fake Helheim is involved in that.
Anyway, I’m fired up.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“So, Corpse King. What will you do now?”
Now… how should I answer this…?
No, there’s still something I want to ask. Considering I need to find out about the nightmare incident currently spreading in the Sleepless Country, it’s best to answer honestly here.
Knowing this won’t change much immediately.
“For now, once the auction in the Sleepless Country is over, I’m thinking of heading toward the area closer to the Empire where Helheim is said to be running wild. Even if I get closer to their identity, their goal of ‘Demon King Resurrection’ is vague. Their methods and the scale of their organization are also unknown. It wouldn’t be good to provoke them and cause unexpected damage.”
I suppose I have to be prepared for some damage for the sake of the goal, but continuing to involve uninvolved people isn’t good for my mental health.
From here on, it’ll be the phase of gathering the fake Helheim’s hate onto the [Corpse King].
After listening to my explanation, Kaguya’s expression showed a glimpse of surprise rather than just understanding.
“Corpse King… you have more humanity than I thought. To have the capacity to consider others despite being such a strong individual… quite unexpected.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got plenty of kindness. So, while we’re on the subject of kindness, there’s one more thing I want you to tell me.”
Without much pause, Kaguya tilted her slender, beautiful chin. “Go ahead.”
“At this point, I shall answer what I can. This connection is an invaluable treasure. I would dearly love to bury it in the soil of my country.”
“Don’t say scary things… Well, I think this is a conversation that will benefit you too. After all, it’s about the nightmare incident everyone’s talking about.”
Nightmares. The moment I mentioned the name, the look in Kaguya’s eyes changed.
She shifted instantly from a beautiful princess enjoying a hobby to a ruler.
“Ho. Why do you ask that?”
“A benefactor of mine is troubled because of those nightmares. They aren’t a direct victim, but I was asked if I could do something about it.”
“What do you want to know?”
Seeing her move forward with the conversation quite eagerly, it seemed Kaguya was also utterly troubled by this matter.
“There are many things I want to ask… but first, do you have any leads?”
“Leads, you say?”
“For example, an existence that holds malice toward this country.”
I nodded firmly in response to the Ruinous Beauty, who tilted her head pointedly.
Limited to the Sleepless Country, but not the whole country—it only shows nightmares to people born in this land.
The range of effect is vast, but the target is limited. If there is a caster, their skill level is incredibly high. Nine times out of ten, it’s a Greater Demon… or so I’d like to say, but I can’t be certain.
That’s why I wanted to ask for the personal opinion of Kaguya, who is also of the Demon race.
Whether she understood my intention or not, she fell into deep thought. When she opened her eyes again, she began to speak.
“The Demon race factions I mentioned earlier. I did not submit to Bael and continue to revere the True Demon King as my sovereign. However, the Fake Demon King faction… I shall call them the Bael faction for convenience… they are moving to absorb us.”
“You mean they told you to defect?”
“Precisely. Their ‘final warning’ visited me a short while ago. Considering the attitude of that individual when I rejected them, if they were to do something to this country where I reign as King… would that not make them a sufficient suspect?”
I was caught off guard by the appearance of a suspect far more concrete than I had imagined. But I immediately noticed that Kaguya’s expression wasn’t great.
Something doesn’t sit right. The beauty’s face spoke volumes.
“However, I had been receiving reports of people suffering from the same nightmare even before that individual appeared before me. That man—the 70th-ranked Greater Demon, Seere, known as [The Porter]. His rank is Lord… well, he is an individual skilled in magic, but the magic he uses is [Space-Time Magic]. However, if you examine the overview of the nightmares troubling the Sleepless Country, you can see it is something close to a curse. He shouldn’t have the power to do anything about curses.”
“…I see. You don’t know the connection, but he isn’t the one actually exercising the curse?”
“Likely.”
In that case… I still don’t see the truth behind the curse.
“No, but would a Greater Demon visit Kaguya of this country at exactly this timing? It could be a coincidence. But, approaching Kaguya recently when the curse has started affecting many people… could it be, for example—that the preparations for blackmail are complete?”
When I voiced a possibility—any possibility—Kaguya gave an unexpectedly positive reaction.
“I have considered that as well. Instead of casting the curse directly, he assists the one trying to curse. If that is the case, [Space-Time Magic] is the perfect ability. He can transport objects that emit the necessary negative mana, even from afar.”
I see, I thought, hitting my knee.
And I realized that she hadn’t just been idling during her country’s crisis, and I couldn’t help but be impressed that there were decent folks among the Demons.
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