Strategy Meeting

The shock of hearing the words “servant of the God of Destruction” from Seremees-sama caused everyone’s expressions to grow grim, and silence fell over the group. The mere fact that the enemy had a divine servant drastically increased the difficulty of setting the Empire right, so it was only natural.

For a while everyone looked down as if deep in thought, and the first to break the silence was Milora-sama.

“That Deshmira again… I really hate that guy.”

Milora-sama, much like Seremees-sama, spoke with anger in her voice toward the God of Destruction.

So the God of Destruction’s name is Deshmira… It might be useful someday, so I should remember it. Though I should be careful not to say it too often. Seremees-sama probably didn’t want to hear that name.

“I don’t just hate him. I’ve been defeated by him so many times…”

“Seremees, this is going to be a battle we absolutely cannot lose.”

“Of course it is. I won’t let the tragedy from several hundred years ago repeat itself.”

The two gods nodded to each other with serious expressions, quietly burning with determination. It seemed Milora-sama also had strong feelings about the God of Destruction.

“If there’s a servant of the God of Destruction involved, then the coup strategy will change.”

“Is he among the Empire’s leadership?”

At Ann’s slightly anxious question, Seremees-sama slowly nodded and spoke.

“Yes. He goes by the name Caesar and serves as the Empire’s Chancellor’s Aide. I’d say he’s in his early thirties. He has long blond hair tied behind his back, golden eyes, a large build, and a face that clearly shows his nasty personality.”

“The Chancellor’s Aide is a servant of the God of Destruction…”

“It does make the Empire’s terrible condition easier to understand.”

“Yeah. If someone infiltrated the very center like that, even I can imagine it wouldn’t take long for the country to collapse.”

That made sense. The Chancellor’s Aide was practically in line to become the Chancellor someday. In the Kingdom, I was pretty sure only someone born into extremely high-ranking nobility could obtain that position.

—How did Caesar become the Chancellor’s Aide?

It seemed unlikely that someone born into the Empire’s high nobility would become a servant of the God of Destruction. After all, to become a servant one had to touch a divine statue, and high nobles usually didn’t have that kind of freedom.

That meant he must have infiltrated somehow. Perhaps he used curses, or maybe some other method. Either way, it must have been a long-term plan… We might also have to consider that this servant was very intelligent.

“But even if he’s the Chancellor’s Aide, can he really control the entire country like that? From what I’ve seen, when a nation collapses it’s usually because the ruler at the very top is corrupt.”

Milora-sama tilted his head curiously as he said that, and Ann and Rebecca nodded in agreement. When everyone turned their attention to Seremees-sama—she spoke about curses with a serious expression.

“It seems Caesar can freely control curses through some method. Through those curses, he is manipulating the king and the Chancellor.”

“Controlling people with curses… I’ve never heard of that. In the first place, the effects of curses should be random.”

“Yes, that part puzzles me as well. The reason I realized he was using curses was because Caesar used something like a glass sphere filled with cursed mist. He slightly cracked the sphere and filled the room with the contents. At that time, he was whispering various things to the Chancellor.”

After hearing Seremees-sama describe the cursed glass sphere, Milora-sama furrowed his brow.

“A cursed glass sphere… I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that. The servant of the God of Destruction—Caesar, was it? Maybe he developed it himself. When the curse fills a room, does it have any color?”

“It becomes so faint that it’s almost invisible. That’s probably why the victim doesn’t notice.”

“A curse that thin… that’s a first for me as well.”

Even with two gods gathered here, they had never heard of such a curse. It seemed increasingly likely that the destruction of my village was connected to it.

“Is that curse dangerous when fighting Caesar?”

At Rebecca’s question, Seremees-sama hesitated slightly before answering.

“Probably not, at least when it comes to that cursed glass sphere. From what I observed when he used it on the Chancellor, there was no immediate abnormal reaction after it was inhaled. However, it’s possible he possesses other, more dangerous curses. Do not let your guard down.”

“That makes sense… I’ll stay cautious of other curses as well.”

For now, the only thing we knew was that Caesar could manipulate curses, so it was difficult to prepare against them. If a curse attacked us, we should at least be ready to immediately dispel it with light magic.

And although I didn’t want to think about it… if it was true that Caesar had been researching curses, then the curse that destroyed my village might have been part of that research.

The thought that everyone might have died simply for the sake of some experiment… anger toward Caesar, the servant of the God of Destruction, surged within me again, and I barely suppressed it through sheer willpower.

If I ever fought Caesar, I would definitely force him to answer about the curses.

“Now then, let’s discuss the specifics of the coup day. The biggest issue will be how we deal with Caesar.”

As Seremees-sama shifted the topic, we all turned our thoughts away from curses and focused instead on the coming battle against Caesar.