I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. Chapter 123

I Killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.

Chapter 123

The shared dream started burning and collapsing.

“No matter how much we hate the Orcs and beastmen, helping humans doesn’t make sense. They killed our mother and compatriots.”

“And you’re telling me to help humans? And the Emperor? Have you been living with humans so long that you’ve forgotten you’re a doppelganger? You’re a demon race. So… Ack!”

Caesar slapped Agatha’s forehead.

Suddenly, the burning flower gardens stopped.

Agatha covered her forehead and spoke.

“…What are you doing?”

Caesar showed his burned sleeve.

“Are you awake now? I almost burned to death.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“And if you’re a queen, you should have a perspective that looks into the distant future. Don’t you know the saying ‘1 step back for 2 steps forward’?”

“But it’s hard to accept. If it’s difficult for me to understand, how would the other dream demons and vampires feel?”

“Well, that’s true. But you can look at it from a different perspective.”

Caesar projected a demon realm map into the air.

“We’ll take advantage of the humans’ confusion to obtain your autonomous territory.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Oh, right. I’m explaining this to them for the first time.

“You can’t stay on the shipwreck island forever. I’m thinking of giving you land in the demon realm. And with the Imperial recognition, we’ll prevent humans from attacking you.”

“The demon realm was originally our land. It sounds strange for the Imperial Kingdom to say they’re giving us land when we’re entering our hometown.”

“It’s not about the Imperial Kingdom granting you land. It’s about establishing a non-aggression treaty.”

Agatha’s inner conflict was clearly visible on her face.

“…The proposal itself isn’t bad. We can’t stay on the shipwreck island forever.”

“Can I take that as acceptance?”

“But that’s not enough. We’re in a hurry too, but not as much as they are.”

Agatha is definitely a tough negotiator.

She seems like a politician who tries to maximize her gains and knows what position to take from the other party.

“So I’ve obtained something additional.”

“What’s that?”

“Demon stone mining rights.”

“So you mean mining demon stones with our permission?”

“Exactly. It would be best if you set the price. Whether it’s gold or anything you need.”

Agatha took a sip of tea and then spoke.

“I happen to need something.”

“What?”

“People.”

Caesar felt a chill at Agatha’s emotionless expression.

The succubi and vampires aren’t simply wanting people as slaves.

The reason succubi and vampires want people is…

“The vampires, succubi, and incubi are sexually frustrated.”

“So you mean people are needed as food?”

“Yes. Vampires need human blood, and we need human essence. I’m actually finding it hard to endure.”

Yes, that’s right.

Unlike humans, they can’t survive on bread alone.

They need essence and blood to survive.

“How hard is it to endure?”

“Rumors have started inside. Whether it’s the Imperial Kingdom or the demon realm, let’s go and secretly capture humans. In fact, they haven’t consumed human blood and essence for almost half a year… In fact, it’s almost reached the limit.”

If Agatha is speaking this desperately, it must be truly urgent.

“What happens to succubi and vampires if they don’t suck blood and essence?”

Agatha said flatly,

“They become devils.”

“…What? Devils?”

“Yes. Vampires and Succubi who haven’t sucked blood and absorbed essence for a long time become devils.”

A shadow fell on Agatha’s face.

“…Some have actually transformed.”

This was something I didn’t know before.

Demon races can become devils.

Does that mean Orcs and beastmen can also become devils?

“So why weren’t devils discovered before the Demon Realm War?”

“You know, when they lacked blood or vital energy, they could fly to the iron fortress and capture and eat people.”

Indeed, this was the primary cause of the Demon Realm War.

More seriously, this is a grave problem.

If the succubi and vampires on the Shipwreck Island collectively become devils…

It would be truly horrifying.

It seems to be a more serious issue than I thought.

“So, you need humans?”

“That’s right.”

“How many?”

“…After almost starving for a year, we’ll need about one human per demon.”

“You need 1,000 people?”

“…No, the number has increased somewhat.”

“How many?”

“Around 10,000…”

“What? You need 10,000 people?”

Agatha turned her head away, looking ashamed.

“So, is this the best option… Is it possible?”

“Well…”

Caesar could not give a definitive answer.

How could anyone easily say they could provide 10,000 lives?

‘It seems like an unavoidable dilemma.’

To save Agatha and her companions, they would need to sacrifice 10,000 people’s lives.

But who would they give?

Criminals? Civilians?

Or soldiers?

For Caesar, this was an impossible question and answer to handle.

“…Okay, I understand your hardship. I’ll try to find the best solution.”

“Thank you, Caesar. And…”

Agatha opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, then closed it.

“…Never mind.”

“What is it?”

“I was just curious about the picture and purpose you’re drawing in the Demon World.”

Caesar’s intuition says this wasn’t what she originally wanted to ask.

She’s just making small talk.

If there were psychometry, he could have asked…

He decided to let it go if it wasn’t an important matter.

“What do you think humans fear most right now?”

“Losing the Demon World?”

“No.”

“Um… Rebellion?”

“Half right. The answer is division. The current imperial kingdom fears division the most. More precisely, the emperor.”

Caesar displayed a map of the entire continent beyond the Demon World map.

“The imperial kingdom’s land is so vast that there are quite a few places where the emperor’s influence doesn’t reach. Without going far, just look at Royder or Dre,  the orders influence is greater than the emperor’s.”

As Caesar’s lecture began, Agatha adjusted her posture and entered student mode.

“Then a question will arise here. If rebel forces rise in the Demon World and advance north through the Red Canyon in the northwest, who would be most afraid?”

“People here in Springfield… Is that the correct pronunciation? And people from the Royder side?”

“Correct. Then the imperial kingdom would dispatch troops to protect these people from the rebel forces and solve the problem. But what if they fail?”

“…Would the imperial kingdom die?”

“No, it would divide.”

Agatha’s eyes sparkled.

“So what you’re really aiming for…”

“Yes. This is the picture I’m targeting.”

Caesar tore apart the imperial kingdom map floating in the air by province.

“The imperial kingdom could govern each province through the emperor’s powerful authority and legitimacy. But how can people believe and follow an emperor who can’t even properly stop a rebel force charging with guns and swords?”

“So you mean division?”

“Yes. This is exactly what I’m aiming for.”

“But how will you prevent it?”

“Absolutely impossible to prevent. The imperial nation is currently sitting on a mountain of debt. They lack absolutely everything, resources, capital, and manpower to wage war. Once the rebel forces sweep through the interior of the imperial nation and gather bandits to gradually expand their size, they won’t be able to stop them.”

Agatha looked at the map for a moment before speaking.

“But what about the soldiers stationed on the Demon World front and Friedrich, the border Margrave?”

“That’s the problem. If the imperial nation is divided by rebel forces, they’ll no longer be able to care about the Demon World front. Then the front, completely isolated, will become impossible to restore. The beast-people and Orcs will probably occupy the entire Demon World.”

Agatha let out a deep sigh, more complicated than expected.

“If we screw over humans, the Orcs and beast-people will strut around in the Demon World, but if we help humans, your plan for imperial kingdom division will be delayed?”

“Something like that. But if you are deployed to the Demon World, the story changes quite a bit.”

Caesar expanded the Demon World front again.

“What I’m aiming for is to officially secure an autonomous region through negotiations with humans who fear the division of the imperial kingdom. And you could directly punish the Orcs and beast-people with your own hands.”

Agatha’s drooping tail slowly rose.

“Not bad. Then I can solve my problem by draining vital energy and blood from the Orcs and beast-people.”

“What? Aren’t you only supposed to eat humans?”

“It just needs to be a high-intelligence life form comparable to humans. Until now, under the Demon King, we lived bound as fellow demon tribes and brothers, so we didn’t drain vital energy from other demon tribes, but now the situation is different, right?”

This could solve the problem more easily than expected.

From the imperial kingdom perspective, pushing the vampires and succubi who despise the Orcs and beast-people would greatly help maintain the Demon World front, and Agatha’s group could take revenge, isn’t this a win-win?

The bad blood between Agatha and humans… Well, that’s something to think about later.

If he delivers this information to the Arch Duke, he might be able to draw help more easily than expected.

“Then we won’t need to bring 1,000 people?”

“Of course, if things go well. Then what can we obtain in terms of magic stone mining rights?”

“Let’s think about that slowly. We haven’t even obtained the autonomous region yet, and you haven’t acquired the magic stone mines.”

“Right. It’s a bit premature to demand things we don’t even have yet.”

Caesar thought for a moment before speaking.

“But I wish we had one more means to accurately grasp the current Demon World situation.”

“Why? You have information from the imperial kingdom.”

“We can’t guarantee that information is accurate, and collecting information from only one side can create errors. I want to obtain an additional information collection route…”

“Hmm… If it’s something like that, I think we can get it surprisingly easily.”

“What? How?”

Agatha snapped her fingers.

Then a white Pegasus appeared beside her.

“Pepe is here. He’s been staying in the Demon World for several months, so he might know more information than expected.”

Why on earth had I forgotten about him?

“Is there a way to call Pepe into the shared dream?”

Agatha shook her head.

“It’s impossible to call Pepe. I didn’t use magic on him.”

“Then how do we contact him?”

“There’s the black pigeon.”

Right.

That guy was also around.

“But I’ve been curious from before, what exactly is this black pigeon that can use body division techniques and how does it find us?”

“I don’t know. I’ve heard it’s one type of gargoyle.”

“A pigeon is a gargoyle? Then does it also use psychometry?”

“Maybe? But since the black pigeon doesn’t talk much, I’m not sure if it really uses psychometry or not. I don’t even know how long it has existed.”

I had just thought it was one of the convenient types of magic, but the black pigeon was actually a gargoyle.

I’ll ask about the details later.

“Anyway, I’ll try to contact Pepe. It’ll take less time if I send the pigeon from my side.”

“Got it. Contact me later.”

Agatha stood up.

Seemed like she was going to close Caesar’s eyes as usual.

“I’m always grateful to you, Caesar. Both today and before.”

“If you’re grateful, prepare a lot of elixirs.”

“I’m already preparing diligently. I’ll give them to you when we meet. But…”

Agatha trailed off.

“Why?”

“What do you want to do with your life going forward?”

“What do you mean. I’ll go to the demon realm now.”

“That’s not what I mean. How is someone as perceptive as you not understanding?”

Agatha’s cheeks slightly reddened.

“When we completely establish ourselves in the autonomous region, do you want to live with us? You’d be lonely living alone on the continent.”

I understand what Agatha means.

I know even without using psychometry.

Though I’m slightly suspicious if this is because Agatha is a succubus.

Is Agatha’s apparent sincerity genuine?

I’m scared.

“I have many things to do.”

“You’re not human. You’re an eternal demon and a doppelganger. Caesar.”

Agatha’s hand caressed Caesar’s cheek.

“Where you should be is ultimately by our side. You know that if your identity is revealed to humans, the first to betray you will be those who were closest to you.”

Agatha is perceptive.

At the same time, she has a talent for forcibly extracting the worries and conflicts Caesar had deeply hidden and avoided.

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Caesar. Because you’re someone more considerate than anyone else.”

Caesar found it hard to respond to Agatha’s words.

Agatha’s hand slowly rose to close Caesar’s eyes.

“Sweet dreams, Caesar.”

Caesar did not dream that night.