The Demon Sovereign (15)

The war had long departed from the realm of prediction.

If it was within their grasp, they would have at least tried, but no matter how much Freugne looked, this was simply beyond her calculations.

As the soldiers rushed towards the Demon Capital shouting “Waaah!” only to retreat shouting “Waaah!” again, Freugne slightly reduced the frequency of her future updates.

In any case, even if she depleted her mental energy for visions, they were likely to be overturned the next day.

She had also realized that blindly following the future she saw did not necessarily lead to good results, so it was better to simply reference the future and get an extra hour of sweet sleep instead.

So as she was happily anticipating how much turmoil she had caused in the capital would twist the Demon Sovereign’s intestines, at that very moment:

“A letter, sir, with a few telegrams mixed in, addressed to Mr. Edan.”

“Ah, I’ll receive those on his behalf.”

“May I ask your relationship with the recipient? I need to note it down……”

“In that case, girlfriend… wouldn’t be quite right, since we’re not officially family.”

“Pardon? Pardon me.”

“Ah, um. Then how about live-in partner for now…? You arrived just a bit too late.”

“……?”

As always, feedback arrived.

After filtering out the personal requests and spam addressed to Edan, Freugne’s eyes widened as she scanned the letters.

Unlike her usual impassioned claims about how hard she had worked and how much credit she deserved later, there were only two concise lines written inside:

[The Demon Sovereign is missing.]

[We don’t know what happened since it wasn’t our doing. It’s real.]

Whatever the reason was for not staging a coup within the Demons until now, despite wavering on whether to do it, it was undoubtedly because they clearly foresaw a future where the Demon Sovereign would separate their bones and flesh if they tried now while unprepared.

But he had fled, that Demon Sovereign who still had the capacity for internal purges.

Freugne and Edan wracked their brains from the morning, grasping the letter, but could not reach a clear conclusion as to what kind of scheme this was.

And for a while, this big news rolled around as the sole hot topic in the council, with a slight delay.

“Is this a credible source? Or is there a possibility they are speaking falsehoods?”

“Since it came from someone you know as well, you need not worry too much about its credibility.”

“Why would the Demons even have a reason to lie in the first place? If they wanted to deceive us, they should have made it somewhat believable. Rather, coming out like this makes it more credible, doesn’t it?”

“And for them, this is bad news, if anything. Just think about it! What would our morale be like if we suddenly announced our commander had fled?”

After a brief fact-checking period to ensure it was not a ruse to induce complacency, the conclusion reached was that it was the truth.

The council then proceeded to draft a declaration calling for a ceasefire.

However, before that, there was still one unanswered question that even a filibuster could not resolve.

“So where is the Demon Sovereign?”

“Is that important now?”

“Of course it’s important! Although their abilities are veiled, those Demon folk might be capable of taking on an entire division alone. And who knows, they might already be in this city-“

“If you’re going to make assumptions, at least make sensible ones!”

“He probably just went to find a place to take refuge in the rear. It’s not too strange, considering he had many political enemies.”

“He’s quite old, too. Surely such an elderly man wouldn’t infiltrate the enemy camp alone? It’s not like he’s some legendary warrior.”

“Of course, we would need to find him to hold him accountable. I understand. But wouldn’t it be much easier to find him after a ceasefire, rather than during the war? And if we do it now, we might be able to extract even more by exploiting this weakness!”

Such minor opposition was thus buried.

And within two days, Glasgow and Belfast had sent ceasefire proposals to the Demons.

It was still during the cool summer mornings, barely half a year after the war had begun.

Even for the Demons, this was an unexpected event.

Of course, if they had known, they would have been the first to rock the boat, demanding concessions or threatening violence to stop it.

It was not out of any particular loyalty to him, but simply because someone had to stamp their seal and take responsibility.

“Why, why has it come to this?”

“……”

“Is there no one who knows where His Majesty has gone? Truly?”

“Kidnapped? No, no matter what, he is not someone who would be easily harmed by others.”

“Ugh, perhaps His Majesty was greatly disappointed in us.”

Considering the events of the past few weeks, this was a somewhat plausible hypothesis.

Those who had been noisy were gone, leaving a void, and Demons who had gone unnoticed like side characters suddenly emerged like ninjas from somewhere.

And as if a pot might boil over, they vied with each other to offer all sorts of advice.

‘I have an amazing strategy, Your Majesty. If you grant me three hundred soldiers, I can easily surround the two thousand humans outside.’

‘There is no need to heed that fool’s words, Your Majesty. Leave it to us. We are well aware of Your Majesty’s hard work, but it is time for a transfusion of young blood.’

Half of them were still of the type that failed to grasp the situation and looked around for scraps to scavenge.

But the other half essentially told him to take full responsibility for the war and roll around in the back room.

The Demon Sovereign nodded calmly, acknowledging their points, even as he separated their scalps and hair. It was understandable.

Great power inevitably comes with a great price.

It’s a cliché for a devil to offer to grant any wish in exchange for one’s soul. This did not arise without reason.

If one borrows power, one must know that a tremendous debt awaits afterward. A debt that is clearly unpayable.

However, those who engage in such unfair deals are invariably delinquent borrowers, incurring debts they know they cannot repay from the outset because they have no future prospects.

“So you’re suggesting we just surrender the capital? That can’t be right.”

“To be honest, it’s true that you couldn’t fight well, but isn’t it strange to place all the blame solely on His Majesty?”

“In extremely dire situations, extreme measures are necessary – it is the way of the world. No, without such methods, there is no way to turn the tide!”

This was the logic put forth by the Demon Sovereign. Whether it was borrowed power or whatnot, they were on the verge of death, so what was there to hesitate about?

And it did have an effect. The humans were not only not advancing into the capital but even retreating bit by bit.

And once the effect was achieved, it was time to collect the price.

To prevent the sight of human flags fluttering over the Demon Capital, he had sacrificed his authority and power to drive the humans back from the capital.

He had sacrificed his remaining life for a fleeting moment. A Demon Sovereign without power was merely a powerful mage.

Strictly speaking, even the qualifier ‘merely powerful’ fell short when describing him as a mage, but what use was it if he lost the most crucial element of power?

It was a painful loss. It was not strange for him to thrash about a bit.

But no one had expected him to abscond before the receipt was issued.

And of course, a mafia game with not only political lives but physical lives at stake began immediately.

“That bastard was the one who attended to His Majesty most closely! He must know the answer!”

“I, I was busy last night overseeing the detention of dissidents. There are witnesses!”

“Mere observation is also a fault. In the end, it means you failed in your duty, so take responsibility! I cannot be held responsible, even in death.”

“Do you really think you lot are any different?!”

If I was not the mafia, then the one sitting next to me had to be the mafia. Whether it was a hit or a miss, it did not really matter as long as they could evade responsibility.

Evidence of being involved in the Demon Sovereign’s disappearance? They could just detain someone first and find it eventually, or it would somehow be ‘discovered’ and brought to light from somewhere else.

And no matter how hard one tried to cover the sky with one’s palm, it could never be fully obscured.

“Something seems off about the atmosphere……”

“I heard His Majesty’s speech has been canceled. Did something happen?”

“Ah, didn’t you know? Don’t tell others about this. My friend is related to the Demon Capital, and I overheard something-“

Even if they kept their mouths shut now, the aftermath would only grow worse if it leaked out later.

And the fact that the humans were the ones proposing a ceasefire first meant that information was already leaking from the inside like a dripping faucet in winter, so what was the point of hiding it any further?

“I-Is it true? That His Majesty has disappeared?!”

“Yes, well. That’s what happened.”

“Ugh……”

The Demon citizens who had been waiting for bad news over their morning meals fainted from the extra edition and the accompanying spike in blood sugar.