51

Kingdom Archen.

A country that historically formed the main axis of the human union against the Demon King's army.

Such a role is also applied to this generation, and the person who inherited the important responsibility in the present generation was the young king who newly took the throne a year ago.

"The shield of Valkarian, the god of war, Verdia greets His Highness the King."

A gorgeously dressed man with blonde hair and impressive teardrops sits on a throne.

The heavily armored female warrior facing Argen Alencia, the king of the Argen Kingdom, knelt down in front of him and began to bow.

The dignity felt in her resolute and lofty attitude is in itself worthy of being called a heroine.

A shaman and warrior who served the god of war, she was one of Archen's most favored subjects.

"Yes, Verdia. I am also very glad to see you after a long time. If there's anything I regret, it's just that I want you to call me poor Alencia with a caring voice like before…"

"As a servant, how can you call someone you serve that way? I understand the feeling of longing for those days, but the body that leads the country today. I will carefully ask you to maintain an appearance that is not ashamed of the throne."

Despite Archen's regret, Verdia maintains a strong attitude.

As a former prince, it was unfortunate, but from the king's point of view, he was considered extremely trustworthy.

Such a posture would have served as a model for many soldiers while going through the toughest places on the battlefield.

"Anyway, both of us have our own positions to express our joy while being drenched in nostalgia…"

Archen, who stared at him with satisfaction, shook off his regret, closed his eyes quietly, and flicked his finger. Only then did a servant waiting nearby bring the prepared documents to Archen.

"Good night. I'll put off the petty chatter and get to the point from now on. Therefore… The story of the 'Battle of Defense of the Great Forest' in which you participated together with the hero you were to lead."

Archen presents the document to Verdia without reading the document.

"I have already heard the rough report. The defense battle in the Great Forest, the stronghold of the elves attacked by the demon king's army, ended successfully, and the army of Barmash, an executive of the demon king's army and the king of the orcs, was defeated and left the battlefield… News of this has reached the realm of humanity and is boosting the morale of the coalition."

As the head of the coalition of mankind, it was an achievement that could not be happier.

Even at this moment, the news of the victory of their fight spread widely, and all members of the alliance were celebrating the victory of the war she led.

"But this is only a superficial thing that will eventually be announced to the public."

Archen tore up the report containing such glory.

The servants who were watching the situation were taken aback by the sudden attitude, but Archen didn't pay attention to the torn papers and just clenched her chin indifferently.

"Let everyone except Darkan leave. What I am about to tell you is obviously top secret."

"… All right."

The servants hesitated a little, but eventually kept their mouths shut and left their seats one by one. The only thing left was a taciturn woman standing with her back leaning near the entrance to the audience room.

Unlike Verdia, who wore her heavy armor, a woman with three swords wearing light armor that revealed the curves of her body as a whole. Her face was hard to see because she was wearing her helmet, but Verdia could guess that she was glaring at him.

Is it a sense of self-possession as one of the 10 strongest players, or is it just being faithful to the position of being an Argentinian escort knight and being vigilant about oneself?

"Verdia, can you tell me the truth about what happened there with your mouth?"

Whatever it is, her allegiance to Archen is true, so there is no reason to be hostile.

Soon, Verdia continued her conversation with Archen with Darkan's gaze behind her.

"Are you all right?"

"If it's news to the public, the fact that we, the Human Union, drove out the orcs should be enough… Still, since Jim is the leader, wouldn't he need to be in touch with all the truth in order to make the right decision?"

In order to lead the people, sometimes concealment or exaggeration is necessary.

Although there may be no lies in the current report, there must be many hidden details that cannot be disclosed to the public.

"Since you always walked through the most dangerous places on the battlefield, he must have encountered things that even the soldiers who participated in the same battlefield did not know."

And the king always wants the truth.

No matter how unfavorable it is to the group, if you want to hear only good things, the vassals will rot and the nation's foundation will gradually rot and cause the collapse of the whole.

"What did you see there?"

"…"

A moment of heavy silence.

Verdia, hesitant about her answer, took a deep breath and squeezed her throat open.

"It was a scene where Barmash, the king of Orcs, was running towards another Demon King's army officer who was trying to burn the World Tree."

– Flinched.

Arhen's body trembled as he tried to listen to the report with a spare time, and his eyes turned to Darkan, who was waiting at the entrance.

The escort knight still loftyly settled there with arms crossed.

However, the gaze that should have been directed at Verdia was directed at herself.

I mean, she was also quite surprised.

A warrior who was considered to be superior to the 10 strongest players like himself or Verdia in terms of single combat strength, but to show hostility towards an officer belonging to the same faction as none other than himself.

"… Elves and Orcs have historically maintained a long hostile relationship."

Archen frowns and manages the confusion.

Soon, he directly expressed his doubts to Verdia.

"However, the current report can be interpreted as if the orcs came with an army to protect the elves…"

"No, it won't be."

Verdia immediately shook her head at Archen's words.

"Actually, the Orc Corps was hostile to the Elves and the Human Union. The only thing they were aiming for was to stop another executive from doing what he was trying to do… Right now, it is judged that way."

"… I know that the officers of the Demon King's Army don't see each other well, but I never imagined that such a fight would be fought in front of mankind, not in their territory."

It wasn't very improbable.

In the first place, the purpose of the Demon King is to bring an end to this world.

In fact, sticking to him means the same as agreeing to the end, but in reality, there are not many people who really want the end among those who belong to the demon king's army.

Because they have antipathy towards mankind, in order to take advantage of the war, or because they have nowhere to go…

Of course, there are many cases where they move for their own interests rather than loyalty, so if they get in the way, they easily betray even their allies.

"That kind of relationship has intensified to the point where it even spreads in front of humanity…"

From the first report, things take a strange turn.

Sensing this, Arhen quietly asked Verdia.

"Who was the executive?"

"Succubus Queen Garbonya. She infiltrated the Great Forest to set her world tree ablaze by directing the humans she possessed in a near-suicidal operation."

"… All possessed humans must have practically died."

"It is unavoidable. The succubus queen of this generation only sees people as expendable to her."

A succubus is a being with a unique structure among demons that feeds on the spirits of other races.

As a result, there are cases where they try to form friendly relations with those who periodically produce spirits, but the succubus queen of this generation tended to regard humans as insignificant to the point of being blatant.

People are overflowing anyway, but they treat people's lives recklessly just because there's no need to save them.

"Do you know why she wants to burn the World Tree?"

"I do not know."

"Then why is Barmash against her?"

"I don't know that either. We only found out that the two cadres were hostile when they clashed in front of the World Tree, and after that fight, both of them disappeared."

It is understandable that there is no information even though it is an important matter, but it can not be helped.

Unlike the Demons, the Human Union is based on solidarity, but in other words, it has no choice but to have a closed tendency to those outside the group.

All we can know is what is revealed only on the surface during the war.

Since it is impossible to infiltrate due to the nature of human beings who are far apart from members of the Demon King's Army, it was unavoidable that information about the Demon King's Army was sorely lacking.

"As for the future, the World Tree was successfully saved, and the Orcs retreated from the Great Forest as soon as the Succubus Queen disappeared. In the first place, our purpose was to protect the Great Forest, so we didn't bother to pursue them…"

"I didn't?"

"… It wasn't until after they retreated that we learned that an elf was missing in this fight."

One elf…

Overall, it's a minor thing.

Of course, human life is precious, but the scale of what she suffered in the past was small, but it is safe to say that it was a 'part of the war' between two executives and a coalition that included the 10 major powers of the continent.

Even so, it's not a victim of power, but it's a person who is talking about it.

"If he went missing, was he kidnapped?"

However, Archen didn't let it slip away.

Because she is sincere in everything she does, nothing she says is meaningless.

"Yes, we guess so too. That her succubus queen or barmash gun, kidnapped her and took her near the end of her fight."

Either way it won't look good. Whether she is hypnotized and degraded, or reduced to being the seed of the orcs.

"Who is that one?"

"…"

Heavy silence.

As a result, Archen's expression gradually began to change to a warm color.

"… No way."

"Yes. This is the person you are thinking of."

Only then did Verdia take off her own helmet and reveal her bare face.

What was revealed was the charisma and seriousness of the eyes, but the weight was so heavy that it could not be compared to before.

"The missing elf is Melia. An archer who assisted the former hero a century ago, and was recognized for his feat and was selected to assist the current hero… Just like Darkan and I, he is called one of the 10 strongest men of the Human Union. It's a character."

One of the three pillars that will sustain hope is lost in the battle of the great forest.

The fact that she was missing would have devastating consequences for the balance of her taut wires.