Ripening (11)

While I spent each busy day thinking there was far too much work to do, the continent was growing noisy once more.

“What do you think the Empire’s intention is?”

It was a question I asked after summoning the vassals in Ing City, but everyone only remained silent, unable to bring out any meaningful answer.

“If we assume a great army of over three million is invading us, what kind of defense do you think would be necessary?”

Silence continued once again. Even if their quality was inferior to the troops that foolish Balsen was dragging along, their numbers were enormous.

Three million sounded nice when said aloud. To deal with that many, a tremendous amount of funds and effort would be consumed, and I thought the damage would inevitably grow quite large as well.

It could be called admirable in the sense that they did not think of defeat, but I wanted to avoid needless damage piling up.

At that moment, Matilda quietly asked.

“It might be different if we could know their intention, but since the Empire is not putting its intention into words, it seems difficult for anyone to predict easily.”

“I suppose so…?”

I had expected that. It was because the Empire was keeping the reason it was operating a great army secret. Although they were improvised troops, the fact that they had definitely been organized was also not something that could be taken lightly.

“Phew… If Ishtain is their objective, that is concerning too, and since we may be their objective as well, it really gives me a headache.”

After hearing my words, Hare spoke.

“I do not think they will be able to touch us easily. The Empire will not easily forget the miserable result they experienced once. And it would not be good for the army’s morale either.”

“That is correct. The point is that the Imperial Army knows it must endure tremendous losses if it faces our country. This will be the worst move for the Empire.”

Equipment and supply deliveries were important in war. But something just as important as that was “morale.”

No, in some ways, it could be even more important than the things I had mentioned.

Because once people’s hearts were broken, anything became difficult to do. So I predicted that the Empire, which would have to begin a war after taking a blow to that morale, would not challenge us recklessly, but no one knew what would happen in this world, so I looked around with concern and said.

“I really worry about when war will ever disappear. The Demonic Tribe that keeps threatening humanity at every opportunity is one thing, and the Empire that wages war under the excuse of internal stability is another…”

The fact that there was no nonaggression treaty had foretold that war could break out at any time, but I had not expected them to make such a move not long after returning the four people.

At that moment, after hearing my words, Linda spoke.

“I think it will inevitably be difficult for the Empire to target us.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it could leave a stain on national diplomacy.”

“A stain…”

At my mutter, Linda cleared her throat once with a fake cough and continued speaking.

“The Empire acknowledged our independence, and in step with that, we even completed the enthronement ceremony and formally established a dynasty. And Your Majesty ascended the throne. The whole world knows this situation. But they attack a country they acknowledged not long after?”

After catching her breath for a moment, Linda continued speaking.

“It would be no different from denying their own words. If they do not have some plausible pretext, I think it would be fair to say that what the Empire is doing now is smearing filth on its own honor.”

“Hmm… The Empire certainly did have aspects where it valued trust quite highly. So I think identifying the Imperial Army’s intention should come first.”

After Matilda added her words following Linda’s, I grew lost in thought.

“Intention…”

Just what intention did they have as they were invading?

What if they had realized something we did not know?

My head was complicated. But at that moment, Hare cautiously raised her hand.

“What is it?”

“Could they perhaps be trying to cross the fortress by using the Demon King’s disappearance as an excuse?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“According to Duke Asilbar, traces of the vanished Demon King spread across an entire certain range. In that case, I thought they might use that distance and amount of magic power as an excuse, saying she fled to our Ingrad, and try to enter the interior.”

“….What if we do not let them enter?”

“They would use it as a pretext, saying we hid the Demon King. If it were me, I think I would do that.”

Thinking about it, it was a chilling pretext. Depending on where they measured from, they could have every reason to try to enter and investigate inside our country’s fortress.

It was a transparent trick, but the point was that we would have no choice but to play along. So was there no method?

As I thought about that, a person suddenly came to mind.

“If this goes well, we may be able to stay ahead of the Empire’s move.”

“What do you mean?”

Because everyone looked at me, I grinned and explained what had just come to mind, and since everyone looked at me in surprise and told me to try doing that, I was able to finish the meeting quickly.

Since it would take roughly a little over a month for the Imperial Army to reach the area near the Ishtain Region, there was still time, and since finishing the work I had to do now came first, I immediately entered the workshop and began manufacturing the medicine that would restore a Master.

And two days later, I was able to meet Duke Asilbar again.

“When I received word that the medicine was complete, my heart trembled so much… I can only be grateful.”

“I do not think you need to be that grateful. You know that I am not handing this over for free either, do you not?”

“I know. However, what we thought we had lost… was a lifetime of effort, our present, and everyone’s future.”

It was an answer I could not find any proper reply to, so as I remained silent for a moment, I inwardly shouted “Nice” while watching Seria, who tactfully handed Duke Asilbar the bottle containing the medicine.

“Ohh… So this is…”

He said this while looking at the thirty pills contained in the potion bottle.

“If you take one pill a day for a month, you will recover more effectively than what is known. The existing recipe was a method that could not help but have many failures, so I devised pills in a ‘solid’ form rather than a liquid form. You must take them steadily every day without missing a single day.”

“Remarkable… Everyone had been in a state of giving up. So depending on the medicine’s success, they were scheduled to receive it in order of merit…”

Duke Asilbar turned his head slightly and looked at the prepared medicine bottles, and I could see his eyes bend with joy.

“I thought it would not be fair if even one person’s recovery was slower. I am glad they were manufactured well.”

Duke Asilbar bowed politely and expressed his thanks. He gave off an atmosphere that was clearly different from many nobles I knew, and as I watched him immediately take out one pill and put it into his mouth right in front of me, I could tell he also had quite a bold personality.

‘Was it said that he had the greatest support within the allied forces…?’

He was Duke Asilbar, who was even called the greatest commander acknowledged by himself and others. Since his character also seemed excellent, I thought I could feel reassured if it was Duke Asilbar.

“The price I shall receive from you is something else. Will you hear it?”

“If it is something I can do, I will do anything.”

“It is not a request for you to commit injustice. I merely intend to ask you to conduct an investigation that can resolve a question.”

“An investigation… you say?”

After thinking for a moment, when I brought up that we had once tracked traces of great magic being used and rescued one human woman there, Duke Asilbar showed interest.

“Are you perhaps worried that she is the Demon King?”

“I hope she is not the Demon King. But it is too burdensome to keep carrying the suspicion. I think you have heard the news as well.”

I hoped Mia was not the Demon King, but if she was, I thought Duke Asilbar might recognize her immediately.

And if it was proven that Mia truly was the Demon King, now, when she seemed weakened, might be the right time to deal with her.

Mia might become a vassal through praiseworthy conduct, but I judged that I could not burden everyone with the risk and cause them harm.

So, first, instead of having him face Mia directly, I first asked him to examine the place where Mia had been transported by great magic.

“Why are you not having me face her first?”

“I judged that we also need preparation. If she… truly is the Demon King, then we will need countermeasures…”

At my words, Duke Asilbar nodded with a serious expression.

“First, I would like to call a painter and have you draw the Demon King’s face as you know it.”

“….Hmm. Do you intend to confirm it in advance?”

I only nodded, and Duke Asilbar said seriously that he understood.

After that, at the end of several hours of long coordination, we were able to draw a composite sketch of the Demon King, and Duke Asilbar said that the picture had been drawn well, closely resembling the Demon King’s face as he knew it, then left for the place where traces of movement magic had been used.

However, we who were left behind could not help but feel confused as we looked at the remaining picture.

“No matter how I look at it… it is not Mia, right?”

“Hmm. Unlike what we had worried about, that is fortunate, but…”

The woman drawn in the composite sketch was quite a remarkable beauty. Moreover, she had two horns on her head, and her eyes, nose, and mouth were distinct.

And the most shocking thing was her figure.

“Hmm… This unrealistic figure is even more not her.”

But after hearing me say that, all the women glanced at me.

“It seems you like figures like this.”

To be honest, I thought there were almost no men who disliked glamorous women. Moreover, if she had such beautiful looks, then even more so…

But the problem was that no matter how I looked, there was no trace of Mia’s appearance.

However, there was one part that bothered me, and that was that the Demon King had been a “Hero.” Those called Heroes came to this world while possessing something like a “special privilege,” and in the case of the Hero who had become the Demon King, she had been a “mage.”

‘I heard that magic capable of changing one’s appearance can be learned once one reaches the level of a Great Mage…’

I had also heard that Hare had lived in the human world for quite a long time by using such magic. That was why the Demon King’s appearance that we were seeing now might perhaps not be the truth.

So when I spoke about this, all the women who had been focused on the Demon King’s appearance began thinking with serious expressions.

“If Mia used magic to take on this appearance and behaved as the Demon King…?”

“…I do not think it would be impossible. If so, there is one method…”

“What is it?”

“We can send an official request for cooperation to the Apoca Kingdom.”

After hearing Hare’s words, I had no choice but to ask what she meant, and Hare explained the reason to me.

“You can consider the Apoca Kingdom to be the country that summoned all Heroes. It is not that there were no countries that summoned Heroes before that, but most of them had to be destroyed. The Demon God dealt with those places first, you see. In the case of the current Apoca Kingdom, they merely restored the Hero summoning magic circle again after long research. But now they are summoning Heroes quite flexibly.”

“Hmm… What does that have to do with an official request for cooperation…?”

“I am saying that records of all Heroes like this may remain in the Apoca Kingdom.”

“Ah… That would make sense.”

But I was reluctant. Should I say I felt needlessly hesitant?

Seeing me agonize over it again and again, Hare spoke.

“If… Mia is the woman who was called the Corrupted Hero… the Empire might try to dig into this.”

“….I suppose that is true, isn’t it?”

It was a moment when I felt stress so extreme that I wondered if I might go bald.