330

Episode 330 I have so many questions. (2)

Raoul is from a kingdom other than Rutania.

Even the Duke's family doesn't know where he came from. He just gained the Duke's trust at some point, was given a title, and was put in charge of all the affairs of the Duke's family.

At first, the vassals who had served the duke for a long time strongly opposed him, but they disappeared without a trace.

―Your Majesty has changed since that devil-like man came to the duke's house.

People were murmuring, but there was no stopping him, who had already seized all the power. Instead, the Duke left everything up to Raoul to do as he pleased.

Raoul's knowledge of the secrets of the Forest of the Demons comes from oral tradition and various documents collected by his group.

'The Forest of Demons is an extremely dangerous place. Even if we pour all of the kingdom's power into it, it is uncertain whether the attack will be successful or not. And after that… …when 'that day' comes, we will need a lot of troops.'

So Raoul was very protective of his troops, bordering on obsession.

Of course, the staff don't know the exact reason. They just follow the direction suggested by the agency, even if they don't understand it.

In any case, Raoul spent a long time appeasing the nobles, increasing the power of the Duke's faction and reducing the power of the Prince's faction.

He was originally the Duke who had the greatest power in the kingdom. With that power on his back, everything went smoothly.

Until Giselle showed up.

'I can't believe he's that bad.'

Raoul had gone to the Marquis of Branford's banquet and met Giselle in person.

Even back then, I thought Giselle was a pretty great guy. She won the war, created a new product, and made a lot of money.

In particular, he had great courage that did not make him feel intimidated even when he was in front of him. Rather, he even showed a look of resentment in his eyes, which was surprising.

Still, I thought Harold could handle it well enough. The gap between Giselle and Harold was quite large at that time.

'That guy… … now he's defeated Harold and is called the strongest in the North.'

The things he had done were too great for it to be his own fault.

Even if you only look at the information that has been revealed, it is not enough to simply call this a genius.

It was as if… …they knew everything about themselves and moved as if they were doing so.

'That's ridiculous.'

Raoul shook his head, shaking the thought out of his mind.

'Anyway, now that he's touched the forest of demons, it's irreversible.'

When Raoul heard that Giselle had pioneered the Forest of Demons and obtained the Rune Stone, he ordered Harold to destroy Ferdium without delay.

The Forest of Demons was that important a place to Raoul.

'I didn't think anyone would mess with him… … but that little brat could do something so big. He even succeeded.'

Although it was only the beginning, Giselle's pioneering of the Forest of Demons was quite irritating to Raoul.

Harold eventually received the order and started a war using Digald, but failed.

It was probably from that time that things started to go wrong one by one and ended up in this situation.

"There's nothing I can do. I'll personally tear Fenris's darling to pieces later. Now, prepare to start the big work."

"That means… … ."

Raoul continued in a cool voice.

"Yes, it has been decided. Instead, prepare to win the civil war with as little damage as possible. And while you are preparing, try to persuade those who can be persuaded as quickly as possible."

"All right."

The staff members left with stiff expressions.

A civil war is different from a simple feud. All the lords and nobles of the kingdom are divided into two groups and fight.

The Duke didn't seem to care whether or not he was harmed by the civil war, but others did.

Even if we go to war, we must win with minimal damage. That way, we can move on to the next task.

This requires a lot of preparation. You have to put in your heart and soul to make sure you don't make a single mistake.

After the staff left, Raoul, left alone, fell into thought again.

"I still can't figure it out."

It wasn't Giselle. It was about Erhard, whom he was serving.

It was clearly himself and the group he belonged to who met the Duke in person, made him realize his mission, and led him on a new path.

Still, I couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

I was able to lead him as I wanted because I left everything up to him to figure out what to do. But the creepy look in his eyes sometimes bothered me.

When we first met, Ernhard smiled and said, "I told him the secret of the Duke's house and enlightened him on his mission.

― I really am a special person. My long-standing doubts have been somewhat resolved.

The Duke accepted his mission calmly. However, his subsequent actions were quite shocking to Raoul.

Ernhard killed his own wife and even reduced her family to ashes.

– There's a rumor going around that the Duchess has been having an affair. That's why she's so angry.

People said so and took the duke's side.

It was not for nothing that the Duke, who was known for being kind and gentle, would do such a thing.

After that, the duke killed his own children.

―They tried to usurp my father's position. That is absolutely unforgivable.

People took the duke's side even then.

After that, the duke killed all his brothers, sisters, and all his collateral blood relatives. He left not a single member of the duke's family alive, regardless of age or gender.

If there was a person who had left home, he would bring them here and kill them. If there was a blood relative of that person, he would kill them too. If someone refused, he would trample on their family as well.

At this point, people could no longer take the duke's side.

There was no justification for killing even those who had left the family to join other families or collateral branches that had no power.

In this way, the Duke carried out a campaign of massacre and wiped out all his relatives and blood relatives from the world.

On that day, when he had killed his last remaining blood relative, the Duke, now alone in the world, smiled with his face covered in blood. And then he said only one word.

― Now I have finally gained a little freedom. I have broken one of the heavy chains that were binding me.

It was from then that rumors began to spread that the Duke was crazy. Even the few people who supported him were trying hard to conspire with Raoul behind his back.

But Raoul had never asked for such a thing. He had never expected the Duke to do such a thing. It would do nothing to help their cause.

But the Duke went ahead and committed murder. Then he left everything to Raoul and went into hiding.

Raoul still doesn't know why the Duke did such a thing.

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"I might be really crazy… … ."

Raoul clicked his tongue and changed his mind. It didn't matter to him whether the Duke was crazy or not. His mission was to take over the Kingdom of Lutania and the Forest of the Demons.

Raoul's gaze turned to the giant map before him.

The map didn't just show the Kingdom of Rutania. It showed every nation and independent power on the continent.

Some areas were painted with blazing black suns.

"There isn't much time left."

The same picture would soon be drawn in the latitude of this kingdom of Rutania. That was Raoul's goal.

* * *

"He went to the Demon Forest again?"

Amelia frowned after hearing Bernap's report.

Already, Jiselle has made a huge amount of money by successfully developing the Demon Forest with the money he extorted from her.

To be honest, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Jiselle is this big thanks to herself. That's why I get irritated whenever I hear about the Forest of Demons.

Bernap looked at Amelia's sharp question and said.

"Yes, according to the report sent by the spies, he led his troops to the Demon Forest a while ago."

Leipold is in the same north, so he can get information about Fenris faster than the Duke. Since Giselle also lifted the blockade on the territory, spies are swarming around the territory of Fenris.

Of course, it is still difficult to know the really important facilities or information because they are still thoroughly hidden. However, the general situation of the territory can now be grasped to some extent.

"Hmm, will it work this time too?"

"I guess so. We've already succeeded. Oh, if we had known there were such valuable resources there, we should have eaten them in advance."

Bernap thought simply.

Jiselle is good at fighting. Fenris's army is also strong. So, it is said that she can obtain valuable items again from the Forest of Demons, where she has already succeeded once.

But Amelia was different from Bernap. It wasn't that she doubted whether it would succeed, but rather the method.

'If it were that easy, the Demon Forest would have been developed long ago.'

Amelia is from the North, so she knows it well. The Forest of Demons has long been a taboo place in the North. Rumors are bad, and in reality, it is not a profitable business.

There have been several attempts to develop the Forest of Demons since ancient times. The ancestors of Ferdium did so, and the lords of other territories also joined forces to try.

Because all of that had failed, the Forest of Demons was forbidden. It was recorded in the records, so everyone knew about it.

However, Jisel, who was a mere novice, single-handedly developed such a forest. Although it was only the beginning, the northern lords had not been able to do even that much up until now.

So, Amelia couldn't help but wonder.

'How on earth did you do that? At the time, Jiselle's power wasn't overwhelmingly strong.'

No matter how poor Ferdium is, it is a territory with elite soldiers who have gained a lot of experience in the North.

Jiselle did something that couldn't be done even in such a place. It was an unbelievable thing.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't figure out how to do it, so I was so frustrated I was going crazy.

But then Bernap said something unexpected.

"Some crazy guy says he went to the Forest of Demons with Count Fenris. He says that when he drinks, and the rumors are quite interesting. He says there are some ridiculous monsters."

"what?"

Amelia tilted her head.

It was a well-known story that among the knights led by Jisel, there were mercenaries who had joined the development of the Forest of Demons.

It is said that since then, not a single one of them has left and they have all become knights of Fenris. So, there is no way that any of them have been to the Forest of Demons.

"Aren't all the mercenaries who first entered the Forest of Demons under Jisel?"

"That's why not everyone believes in him. The Fenris Knights are famous now, right? So they just think of him as a guy who tells interesting stories. I've seen him a little bit myself, and he really isn't the type of guy who would survive in the Forest of Demons."

"What is he saying?"

"He talks about how he followed me around and what kind of monsters he fought. He also curses Count Fenris a lot. It's just nonsense, nonsense. I just thought of it because it suddenly occurred to me when I was talking about the Forest of Demons."

Amelia thought about those words for a moment and then asked again.

"What is that ridiculous monster?"

"Ah… … What did they say? They said there were monsters that couldn't be attacked without light. There were hundreds of them. So they said you couldn't kill them without using mana."

"How did you catch that? Mercenaries back then probably couldn't use mana."

"Earl Fenris knew those guys were coming out and prepared the Light Scrolls. He lured them and killed them all at once. Oh, does that make sense? Where in the world are there monsters like that? Even if they really exist, there's no information about the Forest of Demons, so how could he know about it and prepare for it in advance? No, no matter how much of a made-up story it is, it's just too improbable. Hahahaha."

Bernap waved his hand and laughed. But Amelia did not laugh.

As the atmosphere grew cold, Bastet cried in despair.

Meow!

Then Bernap stopped laughing and scratched his head.

Amelia said, still looking cold and thinking deeply about something.

"Catch him."

"Huh? Why are you being such a braggart?"

"immediately."

"Yes! I understand!"

Whose orders could they disobey? The soldiers immediately moved and captured the rumored man.

The man looked extremely shabby. He smelled like rotten flesh, as if he hadn't washed properly.

"Yes, my lord."

The man on the rat statue knelt down on the floor of the main hall and bowed to Amelia, who was sitting at the head of the table.

It wasn't just because he was a lord that he was polite. There was a certain amount of sincerity in it.

As a resident of Leipold, Amelia was a grateful lord, as she frequently distributed food to each city and village, ensuring that no one went hungry.

So, the man also lived here without leaving since he came to Leipold.

Amelia frowned slightly at the sight of the man. No matter how she looked at him, he just looked like a drunk talking nonsense.

Still, she didn't send the man away right away, but asked.

"Yes, are you the mercenary who went to the Forest of Demons with Count Fenris?"

The man looked a little nervous at those words.

Actually, that was something I should have kept a secret, but whenever I got drunk, I would blurt it out without thinking.

It seems like the rumor has spread.

The man hesitated for a moment, then sighed helplessly and said.

"Yes, I have been to the Demon Forest."

Amelia, who was speaking rather calmly, asked again with an interested expression.

"Okay, what's your name?"

"My name is… … Manus."

The man was Manus, who had gone to the Forest of Demons with Jiselle, but had run away alone when they encountered the Blood Python.

Amazingly, he came out of there alive and was living in hiding in Leipold.

"What is your occupation?"

"I'm… … resting a bit now, but I was originally a mercenary."

Amelia asked Manus a few questions about his personal life and then got to the point.

"I'm a little curious about the Forest of Demons, so I'd like to hear more about what happened back then."

At those words, Manus' eyes lit up with a mean glow.

'The lord wants to hear my story now, right?'

It was something I originally wanted to keep a secret, but I've already made a few mistakes while drunk. Now that it's out, I should take advantage of this opportunity.

He usually complains a lot and likes to incite people. He is used to taking advantage of situations.

He said in a pretended serious voice, thinking that he would get a good deal from Amelia and then leave this place.

"It is not difficult to tell you, but I have a small favor to ask of you, Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"I risked my life to get this information. I would like to receive a small fee for it."

"Information fee?"

Do you dare to bargain with me under the pretext of giving me information?

A cool smile spread across Amelia's face.