WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 46: My Messiah
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[South Korea Has Made an Irreversible Choice.]
[The New G-rank Hunter South Korea Is So Proud of Is the Mad Sovereign.]
[Testimony from SR-rank Takahashi Kenchi of Japan's Top Hunter Guild: Earth's Fate Now Hangs by a Thread.]
“How could this happen?”
Deputy Director Choi Hyunju was horrified.
At the same time, she finally understood the source of the irritation, frustration, and anxiety that had been eating away at her.
‘I was afraid someone might recognize him!’
Ryu Jai's downfall?
Taiwan's protests?
They could brush those aside.
But a vague fear that Kim Junyong's true identity might be exposed had been creeping up on her, adding to her stress.
“Damn it!”
She shouldn't have sent the Adviser to the Asian Hunter Alliance's inauguration ceremony. She should have stopped him, whatever it took.
The Mad Sovereign had first appeared around year fifty.
After that, his clashes with the Allied Forces had gradually become more frequent, and his infamy had grown.
In other words, to returnees who had spent fifty years or less in Belheim, the Mad Sovereign was little more than a figure from a history book.
Nearly ninety percent of the ten million returnees fell into that category. They had never seen or even heard of the Mad Sovereign.
The problem was the returnees who had spent at least fifty years there.
They might have encountered the Mad Sovereign in Belheim.
It was a very small possibility.
‘Up to year eighty should be fine.’
From year fifty to year eighty, the Mad Sovereign had fought the Allied Forces relentlessly. Many returnees had died during that period. It had truly been a dark age that had broken the Allied Forces' strength.
‘It's after year eighty that's the problem.’
Year eighty.
The Mad Sovereign's sudden change of sides.
That was when the Mad Sovereign, a demon realm lord, had begun fighting relentlessly against the Demon King's Army.
Belheim had suddenly become a three-way battlefield between the Allied Forces, the Mad Sovereign, and the Demon King's Army.
Around then, the Allied Forces had begun to see the Mad Sovereign as a force that wouldn't strike back unless provoked.
It had taken thirty years to realize that.
‘Actually, returnees from after year eighty, like me, are fine.’
They knew how truly terrifying and cold the Mad Sovereign was. But they made up less than 0.1 percent of all returnees.
Most had died before year eighty.
In particular, roughly ten percent had died between years fifty and eighty.
‘Didn't the Mad Sovereign's forces kill about half of them?’
To those people, the Mad Sovereign was an enemy they wanted revenge on.
And now Kim Junyong was being exposed as the Mad Sovereign?
“Damn it.”
He had far too many enemies.
Returnees from after year eighty were better.
By then, the Mad Sovereign had established himself as a new third power. The three-way conflict between the Allied Forces, the Demon King's Army, and the Mad Sovereign's forces had become firmly established.
In particular, the bitter conflict and fighting between the Demon King's Army and the Mad Sovereign had given the Allied Forces some time to regroup.
People had come to recognize the Mad Sovereign as more than a mere demon realm lord. They saw him as an equal to the Allied Forces' “Emperor” or the Demon King's Army's “Demon King.”
Some within the Allied Forces had even begun to revere and follow him.
‘The bastards who died after year eighty will know to watch themselves.’
They knew how frightening he was.
They knew better than to stir up a hornet's nest.
The real problem was the ones caught in between, who had died between years fifty and eighty. She feared their ignorant thirst for revenge. They would bear grudges without knowing how terrifying the Mad Sovereign truly was.
“Takahashi Kenchi! That goddamn bastard!”
One of Japan's leading hunters.
Hardbank's leading hunter.
A returnee from year eighty-eight.
“That bastard should know better! What does he think he's doing?”
And judging by his tone, he was certain.
Was he out of his mind?
Was this bastard a Japanese spy?
‘No, does he hate the Mad Sovereign so much that he wants revenge no matter what happens to his own country?’
That was at least a plausible explanation.
Whatever the case, this was dangerous.
Takahashi Kenchi was calling for the Mad Sovereign's elimination.
He was preaching about the danger the Mad Sovereign posed, arguing that everyone should join forces to eliminate him before he became humanity's enemy.
There were madmen, and then there was this bastard.
No, only someone out of their mind would dare target the Mad Sovereign.
‘His tone leaves no doubt. It's the same as what happened to me.’
He must have attended the Asian Hunter Alliance consortium, seen Kim Junyong, and realized that he was the Mad Sovereign.
That bastard Takahashi Kenchi had a sharp eye.
Even Choi Hyunju had still been unsure after meeting him face-to-face and exchanging a few words.
That was how deeply the idea of “Mad Sovereign = demon realm lord = demon” had been ingrained in them.
“Deputy Director! Shouldn't we issue some sort of statement?”
“Damn it.”
Choi Hyunju vented her frustration.
“What kind of statement?”
“W-well, first we should deny any connection between the special adviser and the Mad Sovereign...”
“No.”
They couldn't lie.
Kim Junyong was the Mad Sovereign. Denying that would be foolish.
“Then you want us to admit it?”
“Do you want more attention than North Korea is getting right now?”
“Hah. What a mess.”
They could neither confirm nor deny that he was the Mad Sovereign.
If they admitted it, they would become an international target. If they denied it, there was no telling what would happen to the relationship between South Korea and Kim Junyong.
In truth, Choi Hyunju was more concerned about the latter.
Kim Junyong's personal feelings frightened her more than the world's opinion.
“But, Deputy Director.”
“Yes?”
“Even if the special adviser is the Mad Sovereign, would that really hurt us?”
“...?”
“I mean, all of that happened in Belheim, didn't it? That world was a battlefield. We can't judge good and evil simply by whether someone killed people. After year eighty, weren't the Allied Forces and the Mad Sovereign's army effectively under an unspoken mutual nonaggression agreement?”
“Go on.”
“What I'm saying is, haven't we essentially brought home a war hero from another world? Individuals may have their grudges, but there's no reason for Earth's nations to react to international affairs in Belheim.”
“Hah...”
The deputy director let out a long sigh at the director's words.
Right. This was how an ordinary Earthling would see it.
“Director.”
“Go ahead.”
“I'm not worried about the Adviser.”
“Hm?”
“He isn't someone we need to worry about. To put it bluntly, he'd be perfectly fine even if Earth were destroyed.”
Choi Hyunju pointed at the monitor.
“I'm worried about these moths flying into the flame.”
“Oh, I know that. But wouldn't they have brought it on themselves?”
“Ha. How can you say... Director.”
Choi Hyunju's eyes sharpened.
“Y-yes?”
“Tell me. There's something you're not saying.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Ha. So you're not going to tell me?”
“W-wait. Come over here.”
The director led Choi Hyunju into a separate meeting room and spoke with great care.
“The VIP thinks a war might not be such a bad thing.”
“Ha. What did you say?”
“For goodness' sake. Keep your voice down.”
The director swallowed before explaining the president's intentions.
“When you brought Kim Junyong in as special adviser, knowing full well that he was the Mad Sovereign, what did you say?”
She had persuaded them by arguing that it was like Seoul possessing a nuclear weapon.
“The VIP latched on to that.”
“...”
An A-rank devil, an A-rank dungeon, whatever appeared, they could stop it.
Having a G-rank hunter was like possessing an enormously powerful defense system against an invasion from the Demon Realm.
But that hunter was the Mad Sovereign?
He couldn't be compared to an ordinary G-rank hunter.
An overwhelmingly powerful being who could decide a planet's fate was a citizen of Seoul.
“Right now, the VIP is secretly hoping Taiwan or Japan will take a swing at us.”
“Are you saying the president wants an excuse for war?”
“We can't provoke them first.”
“...So, right now...”
Choi Hyunju sorted through the tangle of thoughts in her head.
“You're hoping either Japan or Taiwan crosses the line?”
“To be precise, we're hoping very much that they don't, but we're also preparing for the possibility.”
“...”
“I'm telling you this so you won't stress yourself out so much.”
“You've got it wrong.”
“Hm?”
“The president's willingness to go to war... It's about showing off our power, isn't it?”
Even if another country provoked them, they weren't going to occupy its territory.
The intention was simply to punish anyone who crossed the line so thoroughly that the difference in power became clear.
South Korea would then come to dictate the order of East Asia.
“And you're expecting the special adviser to play a part in that.”
That was why South Korea was also doing its best to smooth things over. If they appeared to be deliberately using Kim Junyong, there was no telling how he would react.
The best strategy was to let another country cross the line, leaving Kim Junyong with no choice but to get involved.
“This is actually classified.”
“Classified or not, go and make this perfectly clear.”
These people didn't know enough about the Mad Sovereign.
“Killing with a borrowed knife. An empire in Belheim tried that too. What do you think happened?”
This was the director of South Korea's Hunter Management Bureau.
The director couldn't possibly be ignorant of Belheim's history.
“The emperor was assassinated.”
“Yes. And that's how Belheim's two great empires became just one.”
“...”
“Do you know why I shuddered when I saw the special adviser?”
“...Because he's an Earthling? A citizen of Seoul, just like us?”
“No.”
Choi Hyunju spoke with certainty.
“Because he wanted a simple life.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“The Mad Sovereign doesn't want war!”
Choi Hyunju's eyes turned bloodshot.
“He wants peace. Don't drag him onto a battlefield. Please, just let him direct his anger at the Demon Realm and devils.”
“...”
“Go and persuade the president.”
“Whew. That won't be easy. The president is feeling extremely confident right now.”
“Tell the president to show some restraint unless getting assassinated is the goal.”
“...!”
“Whew. I've already got enough of a headache. Now a fucking war?”
That bastard of a president.
As if she'd vote for that bastard in the next election.
Choi Hyunju sighed.
Was it really so difficult to help the Mad Sovereign, Kim Junyong, adjust to life on Earth peacefully and settle into society?
Why was everyone so desperate to keep him from being an “ordinary citizen”?
“For now, let's shut this Kenchi bastard up.”
“How? We can't confirm or deny it.”
“Do we have to answer just because someone asks a question?”
“...?”
South Korea's Hunter Management Bureau would have no official position.
But they could still apply unofficial pressure.
“Let's threaten them. Report to the presidential office, then lodge a complaint with the Japanese government through unofficial channels. Ask whether they'll be fine without South Korea's help the next time an A-rank dungeon appears.”
“Ah!”
Ryu Jai's ranking had fallen.
Clearly, there was a problem with her fighting strength as well.
It seemed like a very good card to use to pressure the Japanese government.
Their dog was barking, so they would tell its owner to muzzle it.
“We won't deal directly with Hunter Kenchi of Hardbank. The moment we respond, we play right into their hands.”
All smear campaigns worked that way.
The problem wasn't whether the controversy was based on truth. It was the controversy itself.
And since Kim Junyong really was the Mad Sovereign, any response would put them at a disadvantage.
The public would only get closer and closer to the truth.
At a time like this, it would be nice if someone other than South Korea would step forward...
“Deputy Directoooor!”
“What is it now?”
It seemed that something happened every time the director and deputy director entered a meeting room for a secret conversation. An employee burst in.
“Ryu Jai has started a livestream on social media!”
“So what?”
“She's talking about the Adviser!”
“Ha!”
They were screwed.
Ryu Jai had gone home after taking a blow from Kim Junyong.
The moment she lent her support to Takahashi Kenchi's call to eliminate the Mad Sovereign...
“Fuck.”
Choi Hyunju turned pale and hurriedly took out her phone. Then she listened in bewilderment to the woman speaking with a solemn expression.
[...I'll say this again. I warn you not to slander him with false claims. Takahashi Kenchi. You are deceiving the entire world with your lies. Accusing him of being a vicious devil like the Mad Sovereign is a joke that wouldn't fool even a stray dog.]
“Huh? R-Ryu Jai is taking our side?”
“S-she is.”
The director was shocked, and so was the deputy director.
Ryu Jai... No, hadn't the Last Heroes known as the G7 never encountered the Mad Sovereign in Belheim?
[He is the Messiah who has descended from Belheim to save the world! For humanity and for my beliefs, I swear to serve him and contribute to world peace... Takahashi Kenchi, who seeks to harm world peace for his own vile purposes, may have been compromised by a devil and fallen into corruption. I will visit Japan soon and meet him to see for myself whether he has sold his soul to a devil.]
“Sh-she seems extremely angry.”
“She really does.”
Takahashi Kenchi was SR-rank.
Ryu Jai was G-rank.
Their words carried very different weight. The public opinion that had been slowly drifting toward “Could he be the Mad Sovereign?” swiftly reversed.
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