The Logic of a Madman and the Silent Departure

As I watched Simon with a dubious expression, he let out a light sigh and grumbled.

“Sir Judas is truly soft….”

“Why say that now of all times?”

“He should have cut him off and refused flatly, but he is weak toward those who have managed to step inside his personal boundaries. Prince Raphael acts recklessly because he knows Sir Judas is like that.”

“No……. Before we talk about Sir Judas, it feels like Raphael is just completely outside the realm of common sense…….”

“Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t know Prince Raphael is a lunatic?”

Worrying for the safety of Simon’s neck, I cast a Silent Field around us.

“I get that he’s a madman now, but what exactly did he do to earn that reputation?”

I figured I’d satisfy my curiosity while I was at it.

At my proactive attitude, Simon looked momentarily exasperated before pulling up a chair. It seemed this was going to be a long story.

“Do you know how that man usually devises his strategies?”

“How does he do it?”

“He gives up the small to take the large.”

Hmm. It sounded like a standard strategy, but based on the information I had been force-fed so far, the “small” in this case was undoubtedly human lives.

“His mindset is basically: ‘What does it matter if they die once since they will just resurrect anyway?’ The kind of thinking usually reserved for people clicking abacuses in the capital, Prince Raphael does while actually standing on the battlefield.”

How can someone actually be like that? It was a mindset I couldn’t even imagine. If a player devised a strategy like that, I might understand, but an NPC… no. Perhaps I was being too sentimental. Since he’s an NPC, I suppose it makes sense that characters with these kinds of personalities are created.

“That is truly something…. But Simon, I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Then why was Judas’s fief destroyed? Shouldn’t everyone have come back to life?”

Simon shrugged.

“It is not uncommon for a foreign nation that has suffered immense losses to vent their rage by destroying the Crystals of the residents in an occupied territory.”

“Wow…….”

“I did not expect I would have to explain from this far back. Generally, when a city is occupied, they search every corner to collect and reclaim the residents’ Crystals. What they do with them afterward varies by nation, region, and commander….”

Simon continued with a reluctant face.

“The one who invaded Sir Judas’s fief was fiery and impulsive. Normally, they would have exchanged the residents’ Crystals for wealth, but that day was an exception.”

“I guess they lost their head after being toyed with by Raphael’s strategy.”

“Exactly. They fell for it hard. That person even lost their position as a commander after that battle.”

I clicked my tongue.

“Anyway, from what I know, Sir Judas lived like a wreck for about six months before crossing over to our country. His personality and impression changed so drastically in those six months that at first, I thought he was a different person.”

“What kind of person was he before?”

“He was… a bright and kind person? He liked children and was even engaged to be married…….”

I tried to imagine a Judas with a bright and kind face before erasing it from my mind. Then again, if he didn’t have a kind and bright personality, he wouldn’t have given Raphael piggyback rides or sung him lullabies…….

“But is it possible to switch countries like that during a war?”

“It is impossible for those deeply involved in the war effort. But Sir Judas was just a guard knight for a royal who was far removed from power.”

I see. I nodded. Simon leaned back comfortably in his chair.

“No matter how I think about it, Prince Raphael being included feels ominous. Even if they are family, I absolutely do not think he would consider the Crown Prince important enough to personally step forward.”

“But when I first saw him, he certainly had a mournful face.”

“Who knows what other plan he’s cooking up in that head. It could simply be that he wants to put his name on a historical event like the Demon King subjugation…. He seems meticulous yet he’s surprisingly temperamental, so I have no idea what he was thinking when he joined. It’s not like we’re close personally.”

“Judas didn’t seem to know what Raphael was thinking either,” I muttered.

Simon spoke as if stating a definitive fact.

“Who could possibly know what goes on inside a madman’s head?”

He had a point.

When I returned to the original room, it had become quiet before I knew it. Everyone else must have slipped away one by one like Simon and I had.

Feeling awkward at the silence of the room in the middle of the day, I looked around and spotted Raphael and Judas. They were on the sofa, with Raphael lying down using Judas’s lap as a pillow. I expected as much from Raphael, but I didn’t know Judas would fall asleep during the day; despite the uncomfortable position, Judas was nodding off.

He did come to my room at quite a late hour last night.

Simon and I exchanged uneasy glances. Should we just leave? I might be fine, but Simon still had work to do.

‘I still have work left.’

‘I’m leaving, so you do the work.’

‘Where are you going to go when you don’t know anyone else here? Just stay here with me.’

‘I can just go find Azrael.’

Simon looked at me with desperate eyes. I doubted even someone hanging off a cliff would have eyes that desperate.

‘Please stay here with me.’

I answered with a smile.

‘If you were me, would you stay?’

……In the end, Simon hit me. I couldn’t just let that slide, so I gave him a light hit back. That small disturbance finally caused Judas to open his eyes. Simon and I froze the moment he woke up.

“…….”

Even after opening his eyes, Judas stared blankly at the head resting on his lap for a long time. Then, he calmly lifted the head and slipped out of the spot. His actions weren’t rushed, but he somehow gave off the feeling of someone denying reality.

“Pfft.”

“Bwahaha!”

Simon and I burst into laughter at the sight of Judas. Judas placed a hand on his forehead and let out a silent sigh at our laughter.

“Would you mind stopping the laughter……?”

Despite his weak voice, the sound of our laughter didn’t cease for a long while.

The Subjugation Begins

Though it was much later than expected, the day of departure finally dawned.

Despite it being a journey to save the world, there was no departure ceremony. It was a humble start, with not a single person coming to see us off.

Most citizens probably don’t even know that there is a departure for the Demon King subjugation today, let alone that the Demon King is being summoned. This is despite the sky showing such clear signs of the summoning.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed by that.

It’s not like it was a secret mission; the royals and nobles all know about it. So does it really make sense not to hold even a simple departure ceremony?

It really is too realistic and pathetic. It might be late for this, but I hated even these aspects of this game. In The Hunters, even if a mercenary group in a small village went out to hunt small mobs, all the villagers would gather to give them a send-off.

But no one else besides me seemed to care about the situation. Even Raphael was the same. Was this just the standard situation here, or was everyone just used to it?

Leaving the capital was so fast it felt almost anti-climactic, especially considering how long it took to get in.

At every warp gate, a mage was waiting to send us to the next one. After traveling through so many gates that I lost count, we finally arrived at a place where no one was waiting for us.

I habitually opened the map to check our current location.

Since it was almost a blank map, I couldn’t be certain, but we had arrived somewhere near the center of the continent. Was this the territory of another nation? It was a place where borders met ambiguously.

Hmm, is the place where the Demon King is being summoned at the exact center of the map…? I frowned while looking at the map. The map, which had been activated by my arrival, clearly revealed that our destination was somewhere in the middle of a dense forest and high mountain ranges.

No matter how I thought about it, the road ahead looked arduous. I quietly raised a middle finger toward the direction of the capital where the Crown Prince would be.

It’s lucky that it’s me; if this were a normal person, it wouldn’t be strange for them to cry and resent Azrael.

Meanwhile, the knights moved in perfect order as soon as they arrived. Levi, who was in charge of records, began documenting the location and terrain, while Simon and John checked the map, the compass, and the direction where signs of the Demon King’s summoning were appearing to confirm our path. What was Saul doing? Anyway, he was busy with something as well… and Judas began distributing standing medicine and emergency first-aid tools to each knight. I thought to myself, these aren’t necessary if you’re with me… as I silently accepted the medicine handed to me.

Health Recovery Potion (2,500 HP)….

I shook my head and looked toward Azrael. Azrael was communicating with the Holy Sword to gauge the schedule. That thing, whether it was a Holy Sword or whatever, didn’t look special at all to me, but well… if he says it has that ability, then it does.

Once everyone finished their respective tasks at the arrival point, the meeting began. Compared to the meetings held before departure, this was a “proper” meeting.