Chapter 426
Chapter 426
The demons who went into a runaway were originally difficult to deal with, so they gave a heartfelt consolation that it would have been the same no matter who was there, and the place they arrived on a short walk was a stone prison made hastily.
No, it seemed more accurate to call it a huge shackle or seal rather than a prison. It was because a huge magic circle had been drawn on top of it, and the rocks, which looked like they had been worked hard with magic, were entwined with rocks that were entangling the entire body of the bowed water buffalo horn like shackles.
As soon as I saw it, no matter how much he didn’t get proper treatment, he said he didn’t have an arm, but is it right that he can be locked up with something like that? It was a sight that made me think, but the key was the magic circle on the floor. I didn’t have a chance to use magic while drawing a magic circle, so I was vague, but I’ve definitely learned from my master.
I remember that it was a magic circle developed for the purpose of a kind of debuff trap that continuously interferes with the magic of the target on top of the magic circle.
It was said that it had to be prepared in advance, it took a long time to activate, and the wider the range, the less effective it was, so it was concluded that there was no way to use it in real combat right away… I never thought it would have such a useful use.
“I am Sir Eldmia Ega, who has been interrogated in the name of the Margrave of Levien with the permission of Brigadier Alt, Sir Eldmia Ega.
While immersed in such feelings, when Sir Renissa spoke to the guards guarding the buffalo horns, they opened the way without hesitation, as if they had already heard the story. Sir Lenissa stepped aside with those guards and continued with a polite gesture.
“I heard it was a personal story.”
I’ll keep my distance for a while, so at the gesture to come out after talking, I thanked him with a slight nod and then walked towards the horns of the buffalo in the middle of the magic circle. Then, the guy who had been silently staring at the floor until now opened his mouth with a slight movement of his gaze.
“You’ll be affected too, but I’m not afraid.”
“This? It’s a designated magic circle.”
What is the reason to do inefficient things to spread the power in a range type to capture the division commander level? He responded lightly and kicked the floor, and his eyebrows curled strangely.
“…You’re well-informed. You said you could fly weapons without touching them. Are you a magic knight?”
“I lived hard because the person I was dealing with seemed formidable. I naturally learned various skills.”
The face of the buffalo horn looking at me is full of fatigue. I wondered if I would have a pretty tired face since I was only able to move, but it was nothing compared to the guy who had his arm cut off and was beaten with a knife several times.
But that was all. No anger, no resentment, no ridicule.
He just looked extremely tired.
“There is something I want to ask you.”
The words that the man who opened his mouth again, exhausted from fatigue, made me unknowingly snort. After all kinds of torture, the only thing left to do is to blow all that can be blown and die, and a guy with a high possibility is asking a question.
“Aren’t you in a position to ask questions?”
“instead.”
In spite of my sarcastic remarks, he didn’t care about my reaction and continued talking.
“Instead, I will definitely answer your three questions.”
And it definitely piqued my interest. After all, my purpose was to get an answer from him.
It’s not hard to see why I would make such a suggestion in the first place, convinced that I had something to ask. Just looking at my reaction during yesterday’s battle and the situation where I had to step out again like this, it wouldn’t be difficult to infer that there was something I wanted to find out about him.
In contrast, I had no idea what he wanted to ask me. It’s not a bad suggestion by any means, but rather it is, so it’s questionable.
“That’s a strange attitude for the guy who tried to kill me?”
“It’s not that particular attitude. Once as a courtesy towards the one who defeated me, and once as a responsibility for the misfortune you suffered as a person in the position of commander of the demon king’s army. Of course, the other time is premised on you answering my question. It’s Rohan’s price.”
“So you’re saying I can ask you two questions before you go?”
“Yes. Even if you do, I will answer with all my heart.”
…It felt strange to see a guy who had been talking nonsense about things like dying for the dead until yesterday was doing this. So when I asked the question openly, even the answer that came back was profound.
“Even though I killed innocent people as the commander of the army and as a demon, winning the war, punishing those for the sake of the demon, and wiping out the only survivor with my own hands. It really did. But now I failed, I lost. Now I don’t act as a commander, I only act as a warrior.”
I’m talking seriously, but it was an idea that I couldn’t easily understand from my point of view. He seems to be someone who knows how to divide public and private affairs.
“Even if that means betraying the demon king’s army?”
“I won’t betray you. I’m a commander who moves with my body anyway, so I don’t know anything, and even if I do, I won’t tell you. I only made this offer to you because I know you have something you personally want to dig out of me. Otherwise, for the sake of the kingdom. Are you going to throw away the chance you took?”
“You talk as if I caught you alone from earlier.”
“It’s because of you that I came here, and because you held on, the kingdom army was able to hold me back, so I don’t think it’s wrong.”
It was the calmness I didn’t like. However, as he said, it was true that I had no intention of wasting the opportunity given to me for the sake of the kingdom, so I decided not to ask any more meaningless questions.
“Ask first.”
“Are you the devil’s champion?”
“I do not know.”
In response to the question and answer without any cool deal, the guy’s expression became more subtle once more. It seemed that I doubted whether I was sincere in my answer.
But he didn’t lie.
“…An instant answer.”
“Because I’ve been thinking about it several times. Think of it as being out of luck. I don’t know. But it’s true that Epa got help from you.”
I’ve never been specifically given such a position, and it’s never been mentioned. The saintess only responded that she would treat me roughly like that, so I don’t know yet if Epaga has made me the champion.
“…is it.”
A subtle emotion shone on the tired buffalo horns face, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. In some ways, it looked like regret, and in some ways, it looked like sadness, but it was only for a moment, and he set his expression before I could properly grasp it.
“That’s enough. What do you want to ask?”
Even though there was no guarantee that he would know the answer for sure, and there was no certainty that he would only tell the truth, he couldn’t help but feel his fingertips tremble slightly. I took a deep breath, suppressing my naturally escalating emotions, and began to ask a series of questions.
“Do you know what the reason for the raid on our village is?”
“I don’t know in detail. It was a top-secret operation even within the Demon King’s army. The only thing known is that there was an ancient demon temple there, and a unit was dispatched to retrieve the relics there.”
“Isn’t that enough to know specifically?”
“It’s equally impossible to ascertain whether it’s true or not. Since it’s the most widespread rumor, there’s an overwhelmingly high probability that it’s true. But among all the rumors… the massacre is the same.”
It is unknown what the artifact was, how the army was able to sneak into the kingdom, and so on. After answering, the buffalo horn calmly waited for the next question, but I had to take some time to recover my emotions.
It is said that the fact that there is a demon temple is a fact that I already knew through Master, but that it may have been the cause of the death of the villagers and my parents… I was a bit shocked.
This life may be more twisted than I thought.
“…then I don’t even know who led it.”
“The subject is unknown. However, a top-secret mission of that level is led by the Special Operations Command.”
“Special Operations Command? Where is it? The capital?”
“Is that the third question?”
I hesitated for a moment at the question of the water buffalo horn, but I was soon convinced. Well, since you answered that there would be a planner in the Special Operations Command to the question of ‘who led it’, you can see that it was the second question.
“Yes. Last question.”
There was a high possibility that the demons, who could be called the target anyway, were in the Special Operations Department or something, so there was no need to hesitate. The buffalo horn nodded at my confirmation and opened its mouth.
“Special Operations Command operates on the frontlines. It does not move to the rear unless the war is over.”
I felt a little depressed, but the goal became clear, so it was a very big achievement.
Thinking about it, I was a little confused, so when I turned around to go back to the inn, the buffalo horn, which had been silent as if it had said everything, opened its mouth belatedly.
“Epa said ‘sir’.”
I wanted to just ignore it and go, but seeing the attitude of not only faithfully keeping what he said but also maintaining a quiet conversation, I stopped walking and answered.
“It was.”
“Why do you use honorifics? Aren’t you resentful? He’s a demon god.”
“Because you received a lot of care and special treatment beyond what you can imagine.”
His expression twisted into question at my unaffected answer.
“Besides, what’s the point of being the god of the demons? I have no ill feelings toward the demons or Epaga-sama.”
“…The demons have no malice?”
“The only ones I show malice are the bastards who touch me.”
It was a water buffalo horn with a look of disbelief, but there was no reason to explain it at length, so I turned around and finished the conversation with an appropriate answer.
Now, in preparation for the unfinished war, I had to rest a little more and recover quickly, so I returned to my lodgings as quickly as possible after finishing my business.