WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 125: Muel (3)
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White Horn had captured Archmage Lumina.
At Sacred Radiance Azbal's testimony, everyone was taken aback.
“An Apostle captured an Archmage?”
“Sir Azbal! What on earth do you mean?!”
“Explain it properly!”
Every cleric in the grand conference hall focused on Azbal.
Azbal looked a little troubled. The attention weighing on him made him uncomfortable.
“Well, about that. How should I explain it...”
As he hesitated, Director Rohagen spoke.
“I'll hear the details later. First, we deal with the crisis at hand.”
Rohagen raised a hand.
Several Holy Knights immediately rushed over and arrested the fallen Archmage.
Azbal spoke.
“That’s right. We need to stop the summoning ritual first. The catalyst for the spell formula hasn't been destroyed yet.”
Rather than listening to every little detail, they needed to handle the immediate matter first.
Now that the Archmage had been captured, the Great Saint Church would be able to stop the summoning ritual with ease.
If they stopped the ritual, none of the Kingdom's citizens would need to leave.
The Apostle had made that possible.
Everyone gathered in the hall was deeply confused by the situation, but they put their thoughts aside and began moving.
They headed straight for the center of the spell formula.
The operation to destroy the catalyst had begun.
Roughly forty minutes remained until the deadline.
* * *
The sun gradually brightened the sky.
The Royal Capital had been bustling since early dawn.
As always, everyone was moving about busily.
There was only one difference from usual.
The reason for their haste. Normally, people had been busy from dawn because of their livelihoods. Today, everyone was frantically moving because of the events of the previous night.
Once the evacuation order was lifted, residents who had set out to flee began returning to the Royal Capital one by one.
Beyond the capital's residents, countless nobles and clerics from across the Kingdom continued gathering in the capital.
An emergency Royal Conference and Council session had been called.
The area before the city gates was packed to bursting.
The inside of the Royal Capital was just as chaotic.
Priests, Holy Soldiers, Inquisitors, bishops, Holy Knights, and more. Clerics of every rank were conducting a massive operation to remove the remnants of the summoning ritual.
The Great Saint Church also formed a special task force to pursue the Apostle who had appeared the previous night.
Of course, they found no trace of the Thirteenth End anywhere.
He had already transformed into a human.
Johan was as busy as everyone else in the Royal Capital.
As soon as the sun rose, he headed to the royal palace for a private audience with King Roderic.
In a palace reception room, Roderic's eyes trembled as he looked at Johan.
Johan had not spoken a word until now.
He had simply stared at Roderic.
Roderic felt as though he were sitting on a bed of thorns.
Unable to bear the discomfort, the king spoke first.
“...Watcher of Narak, what exactly are you?”
The false Johan (Ilea) had clearly been dragged into another dimension by Lumina's magic the previous night.
The moment he vanished, the Apostle appeared before the king, and then the ritual to summon Muel began.
Absurdly enough, it had been the Apostle who stopped that disaster.
After that chain of events, Johan had come to see Roderic again.
Roderic could not make sense of any of it.
The king was nothing but a puppet.
Johan quietly watched him before slowly speaking.
“Roderic, you've still got life in your eyes?”
Roderic's aged mind and body were barely being sustained by Muel's pure white Demonic Energy.
Even now that Lumina, Muel's Contractor, had been arrested, Roderic still held Demonic Energy within him.
It would likely remain only because Lumina was still alive.
The moment Lumina died, Roderic would lose that vitality as well.
The king would have no choice but to return to being weak.
Roderic spoke.
“This vitality is mine and mine alone! Stop thinking of taking it from me again!”
The previous night, the false Johan (Ilea) had briefly extracted the Demonic Energy from Roderic's body.
The experience had been utterly horrifying for Roderic.
The king hated the thought of losing Muel's Demonic Energy more than death itself.
He did not want to become dull-witted and frail again.
Johan snickered.
“You won't be able to keep Muel's Demonic Energy anyway. The moment Lumina dies, that vitality will disappear as well.”
The interrogation of Archmage Lumina would begin soon.
As the chief culprit behind the previous night's events, she would have to pay the proper price.
She would probably lose her life after brutal torture.
Naturally, Muel's Demonic Energy would disappear as well.
Despair filled Roderic's eyes.
“No. I don't want to go back to how I was. Watcher of Narak, you can help me. Please protect Lumina!”
Johan's lips curled into a long smile.
‘He has more sense than I thought.’
The king knew exactly how he could survive.
He only had to join hands with Johan, who held the blade's handle.
If Johan, who had Count Staviana behind him, also gained the authority of the royal family, he could surely prevent Lumina's death.
“Why should I save Lumina's life?”
Roderic spoke with a desperate expression.
“We both know each other's secrets. We have both joined hands with demons. If I fall, do you think you will be safe? I will never die alone.”
Roderic believed Johan was subordinate to the Apostle.
His guess was wrong, but Johan saw no reason to correct him.
Johan snickered.
“Fool. Our situations are completely different. It comes down to whether there is evidence. Lumina will speak your name, but what about me? Will Lumina truly speak of me?”
In truth, Johan had nothing to do with this incident.
Even if Lumina mentioned Johan, there was no evidence tying him to it.
King Roderic was different.
Muel's Demonic Energy clearly flowed within his body.
No matter how refined it was, its nature would inevitably be exposed if the Great Saint Church investigated him closely.
“Y-You will have to take some risks too.”
Johan shrugged.
“Well, risks I can easily bear.”
“But...”
Johan clicked his tongue and cut him off.
“Roderic, you witless king. This is not the time to make threats. You should bow your head and ask for negotiations. I hold the blade's handle. Do you think your threats will work on me?”
Roderic swallowed hard.
“N-Negotiations. Yes, negotiations. Let us help each other. First, save Lumina's life.”
“And what can you give me in return?”
The king's eyes rolled as he thought.
After a moment, he spoke.
“From now on, the royal family will support House Myatro at every turn.”
It was not a bad offer.
If Johan, backed by the Count's power, also gained the royal family's authority, he would become truly unstoppable.
No one in the Kingdom would be able to resist him.
Johan spoke with an indifferent expression.
“It doesn't tempt me much. Why not be more generous?”
Johan intended to strip the king bare with this opportunity.
“Then state what you want.”
Johan pretended to consider it.
In truth, he had already decided.
After drawing it out for a moment, he spoke.
“Rather than simple support, why don't you become my servant outright?”
The king's face hardened.
He stared blankly at Johan, then suddenly slammed the armrest of his chair.
“Do you truly have no basic decency at all?!”
Johan had shown the king no respect. Ever since finding his weakness, he had continually spoken down to him.
Now, he wanted to use him as a slave.
No ruler in history had ever treated a king of a nation that way.
At the very least, they would show the minimum courtesy.
Johan was different.
He did not even think of the king as a king.
Johan spoke calmly.
“If you don't want to, it can't be helped. Roderic, lose that vitality and waste away until you die. Posterity will remember you not only as incompetent, but as an apostate who bargained with a demon.”
Roderic was cornered.
If he did not join hands with Johan, he could not protect Lumina.
Roderic had no choice.
He had to become Johan's slave.
Yet he could not readily agree.
It was because of the pride of a royal, born as the most noble and having lived more privileged than anyone.
Roderic trembled as he glared at Johan.
His eyes brimmed with tears.
The king was deeply humiliated.
“...One day, I will repay this humiliation.”
Johan snickered and rose from his seat.
“I'll give you time, so think it over carefully. Your deadline is the Royal Conference this evening.”
At that meeting, all initial decisions concerning the previous night's events would be made.
Johan also intended to decide how to proceed based on the meeting's outcome.
Roderic spoke in a hoarse, desperate voice.
“O-Our conversation isn't over yet. Where are you going?”
Johan gave a mocking laugh.
“Unlike you, I have many people to meet. Send a messenger once you have made up your mind.”
He immediately left the reception room.
King Roderic convulsed as he watched Johan walk away.
* * *
Count Staviana headed for the capital as soon as he heard the news.
The matter was so urgent that he did not even take a carriage.
He rode with several knights.
The Count reached the Royal Capital in exactly ten hours.
The moment he arrived, he headed for the Myatro baron's residence.
Every gaze in the Royal Capital followed in his wake.
Whispers rose from all around.
“He is meeting the Baron before even seeking an audience with His Majesty.”
“There must truly be something between His Excellency and the Watcher.”
The Count did not even glance at them.
Ignoring every greeting offered to him, he went to meet Johan.
The Count entered the study of the baron's residence.
Johan gave him a brief look, then turned his attention back to an unfamiliar letter.
The Count spoke first.
“You have caused quite a stir. Was all of this your work?”
The Royal Capital was in an uproar.
As far as the Count was concerned, Johan was the only person capable of planning something like this.
Johan murmured with a blank expression.
“...Well, that is not quite right. Calling me the mastermind would be inaccurate. I am a victim as well.”
It was rather difficult to explain.
The Count slightly furrowed his brow.
“What are you talking about? Explain it so I can understand.”
Johan merely looked at the letter in silence.
“Hmm.”
When he let out a low sound, the Count sighed and stepped closer.
“What have you been examining so closely all this time?”
Johan casually held out the letter to the Count.
――――I accept all your terms.
The royal seal was stamped at the bottom.
The Count tilted his head, and Johan snickered.
“The king has become my slave. Count, on top of your power, I now have the king's authority behind me as well.”
The Count silently looked at the letter before speaking without expression.
“...Then the day I see Yeriyan has drawn much closer.”
Johan nodded.
“That is so.”
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