episode_0034

Before the war with Descarsson, what I was most focused on was the torture of the prince.

It is certain that prisoners of war cannot be treated carelessly under original continental law, but my case was an exception.

As they were those who controlled the continental law from above, they were able to make up for a slight violation of the continental law even if the target was a prince.

“Ugh…Ugh, ah, ahhh….”

Actually, torture didn’t really suit me.

Although he was not a person who enjoyed tormenting others or putting them in pain, he felt an inexplicable feeling of disgust rising deep inside him every now and then when blood spouted out.

And no matter how much I tortured him, the way he looked at me with his bright red eyes wide open made me feel quite bad.

“Well, I don’t think you did anything wrong either. But, shouldn’t you know why you’re targeting the harpy?”

“…”

The prince looked at me with wide eyes, as if he had no intention of opening his mouth.

It wasn’t something I needed to do, but I liked doing it.

In the eyes of the priests, it was God who was directly stopping heresy, and the fact that God was himself was enough of a stimulus to them.

With war just around the corner, their loyalty and morale were important.

So, I was even carrying out the torture myself.

“Okay, you don’t have to say it right now. Just say it whenever it’s convenient.”

The voice is calm and relaxed, with the usual voice and pronunciation.

However, there should be no mercy in one’s actions.

While thinking that, I held a white dagger in my hand.

A dagger that was stuck in the center of the Holy Kingdom’s treasure trove, and could cut the target’s soul without cutting through their skin.

He cut off his skin little by little with a dagger that caused terrible pain.

He did not have overwhelming experience and skills like Caesar, or something creative like Terrasia.

However, this single tool was enough to cause enough pain to be called terrible torture.

“Uuuup!!!”

With his mouth covered, he twisted his body violently and screamed as if he was trying to say something, but he completely ignored it.

You should not receive false information, and you should not receive too little information.

And in order to obtain quality and large amounts of information to our satisfaction, we needed to instill some fear in him.

Four hours of torture without him being able to speak.

Only then did I release his mouth.

“Have you thought about saying something?”

His entire body was soaked with blood, and his eyes, which had shown open hostility, were downcast.

Yes, it was a very satisfactory result.

“Then can you explain your relationship with the harpy first?”

Only then did I hear the story about the harpy and the prince.

The Dekarson Kingdom has been a country that has made contracts with harpies since long ago, and she is said to be the child of a fairly high-ranking harpy who grew up among harpies.

Since he was bound by a contract, he had to listen to their requests once every ten years, and as a request, he went to visit her in person to rescue the currently missing harpy.

Of course, the harpy seems quite satisfied with his current life as a priest.

“You’re a noble, so you can use a favor that can only be done once every ten years with only one harpy missing?”

“…No matter what…I disappeared when I was young…”

“Then you’re not sure if it’s this kid?”

“Well, the blood is extremely rare, a… race, so…”

Is that why he tried to bring her back by personally participating in the slave auction?

Certainly, if they are of a rare race and appear to be roughly the same age, if they are the children of a high-ranking position.

The wish right, which can only be used once every ten years, was worth using.

“Hmm, so you wanted that harpy so bad.”

I roughly understood the situation.

“But, shouldn’t that request be canceled?”

However, I did not understand this much.

It would have been better to break the contract with the Harpies than to turn the evil religion into an enemy, so why did they let the war spread?

He was silent for a moment and then continued.

“A contract made in blood…can never be broken…”

A contract made in blood.

If a contract was made with blood like the one between the warrior and Abel before, it meant that the blood relatives could not be free from the contract as well.

I don’t know what’s at stake, but it probably has such significant value that it shouldn’t be violated even if it means fighting a war with evil religions.

“I can’t tell you what kind of contract it is because it’s taboo.”

A contract is made by setting taboos for each other.

That’s why I probably can’t talk about it.

The prince also weakly nodded, as if affirming those words.

“I understand.”

I said that, took a look at the half-corpse, and after asking a few more questions, I came out of the basement.

As soon as I came out, Abel asked me.

“Did you get something useful?”

Information about Harpies.

The level of troops, and the Harpy, a different race they joined later.

Some information was provided to Abel.

How will he comfortably devise strategies and move the battlefield?

“Harpyra… She is definitely a difficult opponent, but unfortunately, their mental and magical attacks will not work… No, it would be better to use her as a hostage to force a treaty.”

I left that to Abel and went into the room.

After watering the flowers I received from the World Tree in a calm atmosphere, there was nothing left to do.

The boredom and calmness I always felt still filled my arms.

“Okay, kids. Can you get me some information?”

A flower that grew from the seeds of the World Tree.

When I asked the spirits who liked being around him, they readily accepted my words.

Since they are invisible to ordinary people, they were able to obtain information and bring it to me without anyone knowing.

“Can you give me information about the royal castle of the Deskarson Kingdom far away, information about the king the people think of, and the revolutionary army?”

With those words, I bled a little with the dagger I had made myself.

Perhaps because the god’s blood was so good, the spirits licked the blood and then nodded.

Is it because it contains a lot of divine power?

It was quite amazing that even though he was an evil god, he was loved by spirits.

“Then all I have to do now is kill this boring time.”

After making a request to the spirits with an appropriate reward, I spent the time leisurely drinking tea.

As the next day dawned, the spirits brought me information.

It’s unbelievable how much information was obtained in just one day.

Since they were the spirits of the wind, they quickly informed me of their voices and every detail of their actions.

“Thank you.”

I patted the spirit’s head and came out.

As I was busy preparing for war, I quietly knocked on Rebecca’s door.

“What’s going on, Damian?”

“Aiya, let’s go back to the Holy Kingdom and organize the country for a while.”

Even though you were here, there was nothing you could do.

And I made a pact with her by some unexpected means.

It was an absolute contract for me to participate in achieving my goal, which I do not yet know exactly.

“I must not break this either, and you must not break this either.”

I received her participation, and she promised that I would not destroy the Holy Kingdom.

It was a fairly satisfactory transaction for both parties, but at the same time, I sent her to the Holy Empire ahead of the war.

According to what the spirit additionally relayed on the way, there was a strange trend seen in the Holy Empire recently.

The spirits were good at gathering information, and I used those spirits to talk to me while I was bored or to gather information.

I felt good because I had quite a lot to do these days.

‘Then I guess I’ll have to go to Abel now.’

After delivering a lot of accumulated information to Abel, he prepared for war.

Finally, when one more day had passed.

When the great sun rises beyond the mountains and strong winds blow by us.

The priests each held their weapons in their hands, wore thick armor, and walked forward while singing hymns with their mouths.

Before a great war, I stood in front of the believers.

Since their authority as a god and their faith were directed towards me, I had to stand in front of them.

In the end, it is God who shows them the way, who also believes in them and waits for them.

“Father, everything is ready.”

I could see soldiers who did not have any regrets about being called a great army.

They received not only priests from the evil religion, but also various volunteers, starting from the Holy Kingdom.

Of course, the reinforcements were obtained through half-threatening threats.

“I don’t think we all need to talk for too long. Now, let’s go.”

There was no need for a long story.

Everyone let out a long shout and stomped on the ground like an angry bull.

The dawn of war has now dawned.