Ch.4444. Reaction

Imperial Palace.

Since the pursuit squad departed, this place had been constantly enveloped in tension.

A pursuit squad had been dispatched to capture the Hero’s party—the protectors of humanity and adversaries of the Demon Lord.

With no similar precedent, the Empire’s leadership was in a state of extreme tension.

Especially Lord Necker, the Minister of Justice, had been practically living in the Imperial Palace.

It wasn’t just because of his hatred for the Hero, but largely because he had moved his residence quite far from the palace after his investment failure. Though he received a carriage for commuting through the Imperial family’s consideration, his commute time had indeed become much longer.

However, he was working harder than before. He was even interfering in areas outside his own duties.

“…Your Majesty. We’ve secretly reinforced troops in four territories near the border. Operations in the border region might provoke the Demon Lord’s army.”

“What about the Goddess’s wrath? Aren’t there records of countries that harmed the Hero suffering the Goddess’s curse, resulting in poor harvests and floods?”

The Emperor expressed this concern while holding his forehead.

It might seem ridiculous to worry about the Goddess’s wrath before even receiving reports of the Hero’s capture, but it wasn’t an unfounded concern. After all, the Goddess was responsible for summoning Heroes from another world.

“Your Majesty. I apologize, but that was an exceptional case. 230 years ago, the Kingdom of Ether, a powerful nation at the time, tried to harm the Hero by luring him into a trap. Since then, there haven’t been any critical issues in the relationship between humanity and Heroes.”

The Minister of Justice responded with a deathly pale complexion.

“Yes, that’s right. Rather than internal discord within the Hero’s party… But will the Goddess understand our political decision?”

“Considering the atrocities committed by Gwon Heejin, I believe the Goddess will accept it. And honestly speaking…”

How resentful I am of the Goddess who summoned such a Hero claiming he was our savior.

These were words the Minister of Justice swallowed without daring to speak them.

The Minister was fundamentally a cold person. However, even for someone like him, cursing the Goddess was something he hesitated to do.

The Emperor looked at the Minister with an expression that said, “I understand your feelings.”

“Lord Necker. You shouldn’t blame yourself. Judging by the Hero’s actions, it’s likely he cleverly deceived even the Goddess.”

“Haha… I hope that’s the case, Your Majesty.”

“It’s good to see you smile.”

The Emperor wasn’t originally an informal person. Even now, after the Prince had been ruined and departed for the Papal State, his authority remained intact. After all, only the Emperor could reduce a prince who handled hundreds of millions to a beggar overnight.

However, perhaps due to anxiously waiting for the pursuit squad’s success alongside his ministers, the Emperor had temporarily become a more approachable ruler.

“Your Majesty. If you retire to your chambers, we will handle…”

“No, I’ll wait here.”

The Emperor seemed to believe that the Empire’s fate depended on the pursuit squad’s success or failure.

And the Minister of Justice fully sympathized with the Emperor’s impatience.

‘If the arrest is delayed, who knows what might happen.’

The Cordana Exchange was unusual.

Recently, the Minister had secretly placed a mage with a communication crystal in the exchange’s reception room to listen to the voices from the scene.

Not because he had lingering attachments to Cordana, but because he was actually hearing warning signals.

Even now, the number of commoners entering and exiting the exchange was increasing.

Today, they even caused the market price to shift to a strong steady trend. Though it still closed at 26 million.

“Although their losses themselves aren’t significant, people are appearing who abandon their livelihoods to wait for hours at the exchange, aiming for short-term profits.”

“…”

“There was even someone trying to set up a street stall in front of the exchange. Of course, we prevented that by mobilizing the guards.”

“Hmm. Such things are happening.”

The Emperor pressed his forehead, saying he had a headache.

In normal circumstances, if the Emperor showed signs of pain, people would shout “Your Majesty!” from all directions and call for a priest, but now no one paid attention. After all, whether minister, emperor, or chamberlain, everyone was suffering from headaches.

“Sigh. What should we do about this?”

Everyone knew that the belated market participation of commoners who handle actual economic activities would not benefit the Empire’s future.

“We need to guide commoners to lose interest. We’re already using the intelligence department for public opinion campaigns, but more active operations…”

“It’s not the time yet. First, we need to secure the Hero. What if he escapes and causes trouble? Though I’m not wise enough to make accurate predictions, I know that a great calamity would occur.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“We must wait until we hear news of his capture.”

After giving this stern instruction, the Emperor closed his eyes. The Minister of Justice, the Palace Minister, and others also remained silent.

Thus, anxious time passed.

Fortunately, before the Empire’s leadership could develop stress-induced hair loss and indigestion, the communication crystal emitted a brilliant light.

The person attempting communication was Border Inspector Erick Wellesley, and the recipient was Minister of Justice Lord Necker.

“Report, Inspector.”

To this instruction, Erick Wellesley responded with a “Yes” and gave a concise report.

“We have arrested the Hero and his harem. All five are alive, disarmed, and bound… And we’ve rendered the Hero incapacitated.”

“I apologize for the delayed report. After capturing the Hero, we needed to leave the border area as quickly as possible.”

“We will meet you in the capital within four days. And on the way back, we will conduct interrogations of the Hero.”

After this brief report, a momentary silence fell over the room.

There were no sudden cheers breaking this silence. There was no scene of the Emperor and ministers embracing each other enthusiastically and shouting hurrah.

Their ranks were too high for such behavior, and there was still much to handle.

They merely expressed their relief in their own ways.

“…That’s fortunate. Delay the public announcement until just before the Hero arrives. But we can’t just delay it.”

“I will spread it gradually, Your Majesty. That way, we can reduce the shockwave. I’ll also try to somehow prevent additional influx of commoner investors.”

While the Emperor and other ministers were murmuring, the Minister of Justice quietly rose and left the office.

In fact, he hadn’t been eating properly for the past few days.

Whenever he tried to swallow proper food, acid reflux would rise and his lower abdomen would feel constricted, making it impossible to chew even a piece of bread. So he had been surviving on rice porridge.

At the moment when that terrible tension was suddenly released.

He felt his face grow cold as the blood drained from it, while something seemed to well up in his chest.

The Minister of Justice barely managed to move his trembling legs to the balcony, where he finally let out a foolish sound, “Hehyahya.”

Followed by a sigh of relief.

“…Phew, phew.”

Would he look too ridiculous if someone saw him?

Though he knew this, the Minister of Justice had no time to worry about appearances.

What came to his mind were the faces of his wife, who had been trying to reduce expenses lately, and his child, who hadn’t asked for pocket money at all.

He also recalled the face of his father-in-law who had come up to the capital and looked glumly at his incompetent son-in-law before saying, “I heard they created a relief fund with the money confiscated from the Prince,” requesting his help. He had mentioned that his territory was struggling due to poor harvests this year.

Why were his family members coming to mind when the Hero’s capture wouldn’t bring back the money he had lost?

‘I don’t know either.’

The Minister of Justice sniffled and smiled foolishly.

This was also an embarrassing sight, but he didn’t care. When news of the Hero’s capture spread, there would be many others sniffling like him.

After wiping his eyes, the Minister of Justice returned to the meeting hall. There was too much to do.

He needed to prepare for the impact that the Hero’s transport would have on the Cordana market.

Common sense would suggest that Cordana should meet its end along with the Hero’s downfall, but Cordana wasn’t a world explained by common sense.

When only nobles were investing, calculations made some sense, but now the number of holders had increased. To the point where it was difficult to forcibly halt trading.

He needed to do everything possible to reduce the impending shock.

***

…While warmth was finally returning to the Imperial Palace.

In the border forest where the pursuit squad and the Hero’s party had departed, Beast King Leoneo was looking down at the corpses of his kin.

An extremely robust build even for a lizardman, armor made from dragon fangs, and the immense fighting spirit he naturally exuded just by standing still.

Despite his imposing figure, his slitted eyes were filled with sorrow.

‘Filthy bastards.’

He had been at the Demon Lord’s castle for a while, but as soon as he heard news of a battle at the border, he flew here like a madman.

He even rode a wyvern provided by the Demon Lord’s castle for swift movement, but unfortunately, by the time he arrived, everything was over.

How could such a trial befall them again, just months after losing hundreds of his kin at the border command?

He felt like starting an all-out war at this point.

It wasn’t simply due to vengeance.

He had just received information that “The Hero seems to have been captured for doing bad things and becoming hated.” This was extracted from a villager from the village where the Hero had been hiding. The humans living at the border had an intermediary nature, so when promised they wouldn’t be killed, they readily confessed.

If not now, when would be the time to strike? The Beast King immediately contacted the Demon Lord’s castle (he could use magic too) to urge action.

However, the Demon Lord’s chief of staff only told him to wait for now.

The Beast King protested indignantly but soon had to close his mouth.

“Actually, by the Emperor’s order, we’ve resumed intelligence activities against the Empire a few weeks ago. He seems interested in what’s happening in the Empire and today’s events. Perhaps there’s a way to strike without using much force.”

This was why.

News that the Demon Lord, who had been content just ruling the Demonic Land saying that war would never end anyway, had finally turned his attention to humanity.

Still unsatisfactory but it was a progressive attitude. At least it meant he would do something.

‘We’ll see.’

The Beast King suppressed his anger while sadly looking down at the miserable corpses of his kin. Though he promised himself future action, there was no way to contain his immediate sorrow.