“…We can’t. I told you: We just don’t have the will right now.”
“I see. That’s too bad. And you don’t feel like coming to the Nation of Darkness, either?”
“It’s not a bad idea to enter under the protection of someone as immensely powerful as you. But we can’t decide that on our own. Maybe we’ll take you up on the offer after discussing with the others.”
“Diell!”
“Dombas, I know what you want to say. But we won’t be able to defend our village on our own with this demon around. This would have been our fate either way.”
The orc called Dombas must have understood that. He bit his lip and lowered his eyes.
“I see. If you intend to come to the Nation of Darkness, you will have my full support as its king. There are many kinds of people living in my lands. I’d like for you to work together with them and live as subjects of my country.” The king’s tone had softened.
In the Sacred Kingdom, subhumans were enemies, but in the Nation of Darkness, subhumans were fellow citizens. Where does that huge difference come from? Neia realized the answer right away.
From His Majesty, huh…? Because of his immense power… It really does all come down to power…I guess…?
“All right, I’ll provide enough food to see you home. And soldiers as escorts. I imagine it’ll take a lot of time and effort to get home in your condition.”
“You’re willing to do that much for us?”
“Certainly. Sob at the generosity of the Nation of Darkness’s king and tell everyone you meet. So, Miss Baraja, could you leave the room? I’m going to perform a secret ritual that people from outside the nation shouldn’t see.”
“Understood,” said Neia, but as she was leaving, she couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely. What he said made perfect sense, but even though she understood, she found herself struggling to accept it.
From the other side of the broken door they’d propped up, the number of orc breathing noises she could hear rapidly decreased. It was as if they were leaving the room, and maybe they were.
The king had been saying that he could teleport once he knew a place, so he was probably using that power on them.
Eventually she could hardly hear anything, and when, after a little while, she heard the clacking of a single pair of footsteps, it was the King of Darkness alone who appeared before the door.
“Sorry I kept you waiting.”
“Not at all.”
The room was an empty shell. He must have used a spell that Neia couldn’t even imagine in order to teleport them all. Or maybe he had some other way, like a magic item.
“Now then, let’s meet up with Lady Custodio and find out what the plan is.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
•
After leaving the orc camp, the two asked a paladin they encountered where Remedios was. At the entrance of the building they were directed to, they found not her but Gustav.
“Oh, Your Majesty! I was just about to call you.”
Gustav was different from when they had met him last. There was life in his voice, and he was so cheerful it was as if the light of hope was overflowing from inside him. Maybe he’d come across a way to break through some part of their difficult situation? Perhaps wondering the same thing, the King of Darkness inquired.
“Did something happen? It seems like you have some good news.”
“Yes! There’s someone we’d love you to meet. Come this way, please.”
Maybe it was an influential noble or a member of the royal family?
Gustav led the King of Darkness—and Neia, for some reason—into a room.
Sitting on two of the simple wooden chairs inside were Remedios and an emaciated man.
They both rose to greet the king.
Gustav introduced the man. “This is Master Caspond, elder brother of the Holy Lady.”
Certainly, once it was pointed out, the man did resemble the profile of the second holy king engraved on the kingdom’s gold pieces. Neia’s eyes widened to learn that he had actually been imprisoned here.
“Master Caspond, this is the king of the Nation of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown, His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown. He’s assisting us.”
“Ohhh, I don’t know how to thank you, Your Majesty. Very pleased to meet you. Just as he said, I’m the brother whose clever little sister got ahead of me.”
Remedios frowned at what she perceived to be nasty remark. But it seemed she couldn’t behave normally before someone in line to succeed the Holy Lady, so all she did was lower her eyes.
“Ahhh, I see. Pleased to meet you, Master Caspond.”
The two of them looked at each other for a time.
Neia wondered what they were doing, but eventually the King of Darkness held out a hand, and Caspond took it.
Usually the superior person was the one to offer a handshake.
Common sense would say that compared to someone who was in line to be a king, an actual king, albeit of a small country, would be superior. And it would be natural to be humble before someone providing one with assistance. Neia figured the king had waited to offer his hand for a moment out of respect.
He’s so modest and broad-minded.
Neia was impressed. She saw Gustav nodding in admiration out of the corner of her eye.
“Your Majesty, apologies for meeting you in such a sorry state. I would have much rather appeared in dress appropriate to our stations…”
“You have nothing to be ashamed about. A noble’s elegance isn’t a matter of clothing. You must be exhausted after being imprisoned for so long; let’s continue the conversation sitting down.”
“That’s very considerate of you. I’ll take you up on that.”
When they released their hands, the king sat first, followed by Caspond.
“I’m just so glad you’re all right. Why did they have you locked up in this area?”
“Because I had managed to run this far! Baron Bagunen was a great help. How is he doing, Commander Custodio? After we talked last, you took him away.”
“Yes. Baron Bagunen’s wounds weren’t terribly serious, and they weren’t life-threatening. But the poor environment left him physically drained, so he’s in a deep sleep.”
“The priests can’t do anything with their magic? I’d love to have him lend us his wisdom.”
“The priests used up what mana they had healing the wounded, so they’re resting now. My apologies, but unless it’s urgent, we should conserve mana.”
“Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that, Commander. But he did everything he could to get me here safely, so if at all possible… You see what I mean to say, I’m sure…”
It wasn’t Remedios but Gustav who understood and bowed low.
“Now then, there’s one pressing matter I’d like to get confirmation on. Is there anyone in this region who can see through transformations or illusions?”
“Why do you ask that, Your Majesty?”
“To be on guard in case a demon is lurking among the prisoners in disguise.”
Caspond looked at Remedios. “Commander, can you answer His Majesty’s question?”
“Ah, apologies, but I’ll go ahead and answer as second-in-command. I’ve never heard of anyone with abilities like that.”
As the king was thinking with a “Hmm,” Caspond pressed Remedios.
“If His Majesty is this worried about it, it must be important. You swear to the gods you don’t know?”
The two paladins nodded, and Caspond turned to Neia. There’s no way a squire like me would know someone like that, she thought but hurried to nod as well.
“Squire Baraja, you don’t know, either, huh…? What? Don’t look so surprised—the commander told me your name. I appreciate your work attending to His Majesty.”
“Thank you!” Neia bowed, flustered.
“That’s right. She’s an excellent assistant—I wish I had a squire like this.”
“Y-you must be joking…” Her voice trembled.
“I hate to reveal my ignorance like this, but demons have the ability to transform into other people?”
“Demons are able to transform in order to corrupt people, but it’s not as if they turn into someone specific. They just change into a human. They don’t use someone’s face as a model. So if…mixed in with the prisoners…there’s someone nobody recognizes, we need to keep an eye on them.”
“So then we need the prisoners themselves to check on one another…”
“An illusion would make it a bit more complicated. With an illusion, they could change into someone specific. Right, like…” The king cast a spell, and his skull head turned into Caspond’s. “This is an illusion. But it’s a low-level one. As you can see, neither my clothes nor my voice has changed. And it’s not as if it copies your memories or thoughts. So if we have people talk to someone who knows them well, it’ll be clear right away.” The king’s white skull face returned. “There are several ways to handle clothing and voice, so the best is to have conversations and see.”
Neia realized with a start that the question he had asked the orcs earlier was a precaution against this issue.
He’s always so brilliant. It’s amazing how he manages to consider all these different things…
“I see… Well, you heard him. Get to work.”
“Please wait. We can also anticipate the appearance of a demon showing its true nature. I think you should stay near someone strong like Commander Custodio.”
“Ah, understood. I’ll make sure to operate with her around.”
Gustav bowed his head.
“Master Caspond, that was everything I wanted to confirm. If you have anything else…”
“Very well. Your Majesty, my plan is to head back south. I feel like I need to meet up with the army and bring it up here to the north to attack. I was held captive with several other nobles, so I want to hear from them and create a plan that takes into account which of them might be able to help.”
“Hmm. I don’t know the nobles of this country, so if you think that’s what we should do, then that’s probably fine… You’re not going to raid other camps to liberate more prisoners?”
“Not now. Moving through territory under Jaldabaoth’s control, we’ll stick out with too many people. Plus, it’ll slow us down. I want to avoid losing more lives as a result of trying to save people.”
“…Then what about letting the people escape to the south, and we raid the camps on our own?”
“Commander Custodio, you’re the one allowing me to sit in, but we haven’t heard your opinion.” Caspond’s voice was completely different from when he was speaking to the king.
Remedios bit back her annoyance and said, “I agree with you, brother of Her Majesty—mm, Sir Caspond. But we’ve already taken out two, including this one. There might be reprisals. What do we do about that?”
“Nothing.” Caspond shrugged. “I don’t think we can retake this territory without any deaths. There could be tens, hundreds, or even thousands dead. But we have other priorities.”
Neia saw that both Remedios and Gustav were shocked at the way he was talking about abandoning the people. Neia could only coldly feel that this was about what she expected from royalty.
“Master Caspond, you’ve changed, huh? You used to be so kindhearted when it came to the people.”
“What’s that about, Commander Custodio? Are you disappointed? Feh!” Caspond’s expression warped. His lips twisted to bare his teeth. His gaze had sharpened and filled with ridicule. “If you had experienced that hell, your personality would have changed, too. You wouldn’t be able to say such pretty things anymore. I feel sick… It seems you…haven’t heard what they did to us. You should ask someone. You’ll understand what unholy evil the demons are.”
He seemed like another person. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that something dark and murky was seeping through the expression he had forced himself to wear.
“If possible, I’d like to kill all the subhumans…” He glanced at the King of Darkness, and the king shrugged.
“After we interrogate them, you can do what you like. Although I already freed the orcs.”
“Well, that can’t be helped, though it is terribly unfortunate. Then again, the orcs went through the same horrors we did… Would you have turned them over to me in exchange for a Holy Sword?”
“I’m a caster, so a sword doesn’t really do much for me…”
Caspond laughed weakly in response to the king’s joke.
Remedios’s emotionless face was in stark contrast to his pale countenance.
It had sounded so much like a joke, but Caspond must have been serious.
Neia shivered. What could possibly have been done to him that he would hate even imprisoned subhumans enough to give away a royal treasure?
“So are you going to abandon this city?”
“If possible. Still, we need to heal the liberated prisoners and send a messenger to the south first. If you could stay here for at least a week, that would be much appreciated. Once we retake this land, I’ll add what reward I can to whatever Commander Custodio promised you.”
“Wonderful. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
•
One minute after the King of Darkness left the room accompanied by Neia…
“Okay,” said Caspond. “Now that he’s gone we can move on to the main topic.”
“Yes. It will be quite a challenge to protect so many people while we travel. It would be great if we could get some sort of reinforcements from the south or some wagons or something to use.”
Caspond smiled faintly at Gustav’s suggestion. “Don’t be ridiculous. Who said we were going to talk about that?”
“The main topic isn’t how to travel south?”
“I’ll be frank. I have no intention of escaping south right away. We’re going to clash with Jaldabaoth’s army here.”
“That’s too reckless!”
Remedios continued after Gustav’s exclamation. “We may have the city walls, but if we were surrounded and ran out of food, that would be the end. Only a fool would fight a siege battle without reinforcements.”
Remedios didn’t use her head much, but she could be trusted when it came to combat. Gustav nodded in agreement with her confident assertion.
“Still, we need to fight here.”
The pair’s puzzled looks made Caspond smile even more coldly as he explained.
“I heard that the King of Darkness is conserving his mana for the fight with Jaldabaoth…” Seeing Gustav nod, Caspond continued. “But that will cause problems. He’ll defeat Jaldabaoth, take the maids, and go back to his nation. But we need him to get rid of the subhumans that have flowed into our kingdom. We need to put him in a situation that forces him to help us.”
“But that would break our promise with him…”
“If he uses his magic to kill a few subhumans, fewer Sacred Kingdom subjects will have to be sacrificed. So which are you choosing, a promise to an undead or the lives of innocent subjects?”
An agonized look appeared on Gustav’s face, while Remedios replied without changing her expression at all. “The innocent subjects of the Sacred Kingdom, of course.”
“Then there you go, Commander. So we have to get him to fight. But since we made a promise, we’ll need a good reason to break it.”
“That’s why you’re going to clash with Jaldabaoth’s army?”
“Yes. More specifically, we’ll start preparing to head south, but it’ll take too long, so the army will surround us. We’ll have no choice but to ask the King of Darkness for help. What do you think?”
Remedios and Gustav exchanged a glance that said, It’s not bad, but…
“There’s one problem. Won’t having him use his magic put us at a disadvantage when it comes time for him to fight against Jaldabaoth?
”
“I’ve heard it doesn’t take that long to recover mana.”
“My sister said the same thing.” Remedios’s sister had been a priest. If it was something she said, no one could really object.
“We’ll purposely let a few subhumans escape. Then we’ll lure Jaldabaoth’s army here—before our food runs out.”
“…How many troops will show up, I wonder.”
The three of them had already exchanged information; they estimated Jaldabaoth’s troops after the earlier battle to number slightly less than a hundred thousand.
There were armies of twelve races and then another six races that weren’t as numerous for a total of eighteen.
The twelve races were…
Snakemen. A type of subhuman that had the head of a snake. Said to be a relative of lizardmen.
Armats. A race reminiscent of bipedal rats with fur like steel. Said to be a relative of kuagoa.
Caven. Like apes slightly larger than humans. Eyeless due to atrophy.
Zerun. A slimy race with upper bodies like eels that sprouted arms and lower bodies like indigo maggots. Though they seemed like grotesques, the fact that spells targeting subhumans were effective against them indicated they were actually subhumans.
Bladers. An insect-like race with swordlike blades jutting out of the backs of their hands and covered in exoskeletons like armor. Similar to the zerun, they were classified as subhumans because they were susceptible to magic targeting subhumans.
Horrunners. Subhumans with horse legs who excelled at sprinting. They had astonishing endurance and hardly required any breaks while running.
Spidan. Subhumans reminiscent of spiders with four long, thin arms and slender legs. They could make clothing out of the thread they spat up. The garments made with those threads were hard as steel.
Stone eaters. Possessed primitive weapons. Terrifyingly, they had the ability to spit rocks they ate. Those rocks could easily fly a hundred yards and had no trouble denting iron armor. But since they couldn’t launch them indefinitely, they were less formidable if one could ride out the initial attacks.
The Paladin of the Sacred Kingdom Part I Page 26