I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. Chapter 140

I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.

Chapter 140

Yan slightly turned his eyes away, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Yan recalled his last moments with Elijah.

-If you want to go to the Redfield Duke’s family, I’ll let you go.

-But if you’re saying you’ll be swayed under a fragrant woman’s skirt, I won’t let you go.

-I’ll propose again. Become my adopted son.

-And succeed me in governing the Friedrich Border.

-This is my last proposal, so choose your answer carefully.

Yan clenched his fist and met Elijah’s eyes again.

Although uncomfortable due to their past, now was not the time to dwell on old history.

Yan spoke.

“Margrave Friedrich.”

“The Hero is more noble, so there’s no need to call me ‘Your Lordship’. Please feel free to call me Margrave or Sir Elijah.”

“… I’ll call you Margrave.”

“So, why have you come without even wiping the blood off your armor to confront me?”

Elijah raised his great sword.

With that, the head of the man bound in front of him flew off.

The White Knights, unable to tolerate Margrave’s rudeness, stepped forward.

“My Lord Margrave! The Hero is someone to be respected…!”

Swish!

Elijah glared at the White Knight who stepped forward with blood on his face.

The White Knight was instantly frozen by that gaze and couldn’t open his mouth.

“Don’t you dare speak to me presumptuously. I am the commander of the allied forces, appointed by His Imperial Majesty and all the monarchs of the allied nations. How dare you, of any safety, speak to me?”

Swish!

Elijah slashed again, and blood flowed down to Yan’s feet.

“Speak only when I grant you the right to speak. Right now, only those two can speak to me first. Understand?”

As the White Knight’s face reddened and tried to step forward to argue, Yan spoke to him.

“Stay still. I’ll handle this myself.”

The White Knight eventually retreated.

Yan took one step closer to Elijah and spoke.

“I have one question. Are you aware of the current situation in the demon realm continent?”

“If I, as the commander, didn’t know that, I’d be a fool.”

“What kind of situation do you think it is?”

“Why don’t you tell me first, Hero. What did you see in the demon realm?”

“I saw rebel soldiers committing plunder and atrocities while carrying the allied forces’ flag.”

The reason for the blood on Yan and Mitchell’s armor was simple.

While riding a train, they were ambushed by rebels, causing the train to overturn, and they fought with the rebels for a long time.

As a result, 300 soldiers who were riding the train died, 3 White Knight squadron members died, and 2 Red Wing Knight squadron members died.

Critically, Rose had nearly been seriously injured.

Yan suppressed his rising anger with respect for Elijah, his former lord, and continued speaking.

“Why has the demon realm situation become so terrible? What on earth happened…!”

“What happened?”

Elijah glared at Yan.

“Something did happen. Wasn’t it something everyone knew would happen to the demon realm?”

Swish!

Elijah beheaded another man again.

“Breaking the promise made to soldiers that they would be sent home after the war, not even completely eliminating the demon races, and leaving me with the long border that cuts vertically through the demon realm.”

Swish!

“Did you really not think such things would happen?”

Elijah took a step closer to Yan.

“I clearly warned that if you want to maintain this front line, you would need more than double the troops and more than five times the military supplies. However, military supplies have instead decreased to one-tenth of the level, and knights and mages have left the front line. How can you maintain this front? Isn’t that right, Lord Mitchell?”

Mitchell took a step closer to Elijah.

“Isn’t that because of the corrupt soldiers eating away at the headquarters’ interior? We certainly fulfilled the requirements.”

“Corrupt soldiers. Well said.”

Elijah grabbed the hair of one man and showed his face to Mitchell.

“You know this man, don’t you? He’s your cousin.”

“…Why is he here?”

“Why do you think? Because he’s the corrupt soldier who embezzled the military supplies you mentioned.”

Elijah shook the man’s hair.

“Uuuugh! Uuuugh!”

The man shed tears and sent a pleading look to Mitchell.

“This man embezzled food meant to be returned to the allied forces soldiers. Enough to feed an entire battalion for a month. That food was shipped back to the Eileen River and returned to the military supply company he operates. Lord Mitchell, I ask you: did you truly not know about this?”

Mitchell didn’t even want to look at his foolish cousin’s face.

However, as long as this fool bears the Redfield name, he can’t let him be easily killed.

This was a matter of family honor.

“The Redfield family will thoroughly investigate whether this is true or not. So please hand him over to me.”

“Are you giving me an order?”

“…I’m making a request.”

“How can I spare someone who has deceived the commander’s eyes?”

Crack!

Elijah immediately broke the man’s neck.

“Think about my dignity as well.”

The Red Wing Knights stepped forward as if they were about to draw their swords at any moment.

“Do not step forward.”

“But…!”

“I said, do not step forward.”

Warned by Mitchell, the Red Wing Knights eventually closed their mouths and stepped back.

Right now, Mitchell was the most angry of anyone.

“My Lord. Are you saying all these men have deceived the commander’s eyes?”

“That’s right.”

“Then we have no choice but to report to the Emperor about the Margrave’s capabilities. How can an army be managed when there are so many corrupt soldiers?”

“It seems you’ve forgotten that your uncle is also here?”

“My Lord!”

“How dare you raise your voice before me!”

The momentum emanating from Elijah’s body was as strong as that of the Demon King.

“I clearly said that battle fatigue would rapidly increase, making it impossible to maintain the front lines for long. However, because of some politicians desperate to mine magic stones as quickly as possible, this inefficient front line was born.”

Elijah beheaded another criminal with his great sword.

Blood splattered on Mitchell’s armor.

“But as a loyal subject to the Emperor, I followed his orders for a year. Look. Didn’t everything happen exactly as I said?”

“Weren’t you just standing by and watching?”

Elijah struck the lower back of a criminal who had collapsed and fainted.

The sound of the great sword crushing the criminal’s solid spine was horrific.

“This is my final warning. Do not try to provoke me carelessly. Aren’t I barely holding back?”

Mitchell looked at the knights behind Elijah.

The Steel Lion Knights, who were Margrave Friedrich’s blade and shield, were glaring at Mitchell as if ready to battle at any moment.

Mitchell kept silent due to their courage and unwavering loyalty, which would not be intimidated even by the Hero and Mitchell.

One wrong word here might lead to a duel.

Elijah drew his great sword.

“Hero. You asked if I know about the demon realm front lines? I’ll be honest. There’s no one in the allied forces who knows more about the front lines than me. But even I cannot perfectly grasp the situation of the allied forces.”

“Every morning, I receive reports that platoons or companies have become rebels by leaving their assigned areas. Recently, this has accelerated with Orcs causing trouble at the borders.”

Elijah beheaded another soldier with his blood-stained great sword.

“These are not my soldiers. The same goes for them. My soldiers are always with me.”

Yan looked at the knights and staff officers with Elijah.

They were all people Yan knew.

True soldiers who had lived their entire lives managing the high steel fortress and blocking invasions by vampires and incubi who treat people like blood bags or playthings.

Yan recalled his teenage and twenties when he took pride in being one of them.

A painful but brilliantly shining period that made him who he is today, though now he stands on the opposite side.

Of course, he doesn’t regret leaving them.

By leaving, Yan became a Hero and could save more lives.

But sometimes he wonders.

If he had stayed with them and not become a Hero…

Could he have established standards to solve current concerns and dilemmas more clearly as a knight?

Elijah hung his great sword on the holder on his back and commanded the knights.

“Now it’s bothersome. Kill everyone.”

“Yes!”

The knights all came forward and drew their swords.

And simultaneously, they beheaded them.

Blood poured out, creating a river of blood in the garden.

“If you want to blame my wrongdoings, then submit the list of corrupt nobles who have eaten the money of these corrupt individuals at once, and punish them severely.”

Elijah said while looking into Mitchell’s right eye.

“Of course, I don’t know if you’ll have the guts to cut off those nobles’ necks.”

Elijah left the garden with those final words.

***

Elijah entered the bedroom alone.

The butler following him spoke:

“I will help you remove your armor.”

“No need. I’m going to rest for a moment and then go on reconnaissance, so come back in 30 minutes.”

“Yes.”

The butler closed the door and left.

Elijah placed the great sword on the table and headed to the window.

And he gazed at the quiet red sky behind the door.

White smoke drew pictures like a brush on the canvas made of the red sky.

How long had he been smoking?

A black pigeon approached Elijah.

Elijah took out an almond and handed it to the pigeon.

“Pepe. Did you see everything?”

“I saw it.”

Pepe said while pecking the almond with his beak.

“Wasn’t provoking the hero and Mitchell a bit crossing the line? It might just sow unnecessary antagonism.”

“Anyway, they are those who have escaped my grasp. If that’s the case, I need to clearly establish my superiority.”

“What if they dismiss you?”

“That could happen. However, the demon realm has been a region managed by the Friedrich Margrave family for over 200 years. If they dismiss me and place someone else, they will also have their difficulties.”

Pepe wiped the almonds stuck in his mouth on the floor.

“I’ll respect your judgment. What do you want to do next?”

“First, I need to align with our brother. To realize the picture our brother desires, I’ll need to gather the allied forces and clearly separate the rebel army and allied forces, making the allied forces completely mine.”

Elijah slumped into the chair by the window.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have demoted the corrupt soldiers instead of employing them… Although it was a front that would collapse anyway, I destroyed it too quickly.”

“Do you have anything to relay to Caesar?”

“I will officially support the demon race and vampires entering Eagle valley safely. But it’s difficult to send troops. That guy should handle things there himself.”

“Understood. Then I’ll tell you what the rebel army is requesting.”

Pepe took a sip of water, seemingly choking, and then spoke.

“They seem to want the devils mixed within the rebel army to be eliminated. I think we’ll need to mobilize the holy knights.”

“Location?”

“I’ve marked it on the map.”

Elijah looked at the almonds on the table.

A pigeon-like mark, should he say?

Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, since Yan and Mitchell are heated up, if I give them something to swing their swords at, they’ll calm down. Tell Sith to take good care of the rebel army side.”

“Alright.”

Pepe turned his body towards the window.

“Oh, by the way, I’m curious about one thing.”

“What?”

“How could you reach that position without ever being discovered? You don’t have psychometric abilities like Caesar, do you?”

“So you’re asking why I’m so good at acting?”

“Yes. Your swordsmanship seems to be the same as the past Elijah’s, not noticeable to Yan’s eyes… Isn’t your ability more than just the ability to create doppelgangers?”

“No, I only have the ability to create doppelgangers.”

“Then how could you live so naturally as Friedrich Margrave?”

“Looks like I’ve never told you.”

Elijah said with a chuckle.

“I’ve been living as Friedrich since before the imperial nation was born.”

“What does that mean? Don’t tell me…”

“Is it 230 years now? No. Since I’ve been ruling this region since the birth of the imperial nation, it’s been over 250 years. It’s been a long time.”

“Are you saying you’re the ancestor of the Friedrich family?”

“That’s right.”

Elijah cut off the cigar he was smoking.

“I was Friedrich from the beginning, and I will continue to be Friedrich. So, I don’t need to act.”

“Why… Why have you lived like this?”

Elijah muttered while looking at the red sky.

“At first, there was definitely a clear purpose.”

Elijah chuckled.

“But now, I’m struggling to break away from that purpose.”

TL NOTE:

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