The Demon of the Abas Mountains and the King’s False Courage

While the majority of the monsters would likely converge on the Grand Duchy and the Ipsent territory, the Weaver territory wasn’t entirely safe either. Seeing how bright and cheerful he was only made me worry more. Perhaps detecting that concern in my expression, Lamier immediately offered an explanation.

“I didn’t join the army this time. I came as a member of Professor Eosi’s team.”

“Professor Eosi?”

“Yes. The one I mentioned before… who researches space-transfer magic.”

“Ah.”

He explained that Professor Eosi had successfully connected two locations by installing magic circles. Although there were still various limitations, it was now possible to send and receive objects or transport a small number of people.

In any case, Lamier had come to install a magic circle connecting the Visconti territory and the Ipsent territory. When he got to that part, Sigret chimed in.

“You will be able to meet Professor Eosi and his party at the dinner banquet tonight.”

So he knew all along and just didn’t tell me. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the sofa. Sigret met my gaze nonchalantly.

“By the way.”

“Yes?”

“Who gave permission to install that?”

Lamier’s smiling face froze instantly. Sigret hadn’t anticipated this reaction either; he froze mid-motion as he reached for his teacup, withdrew his hand, and placed it meekly on his lap.

“We might be under the name of the Empire… but this is my country with guaranteed autonomy, isn’t it?”

“Th-that is true.”

Lamier replied awkwardly, gently patting Nick’s back as the squirming baby leaned against his shoulder.

“You just come here without even asking me?”

“Uh, well…”

“Did Kallios—did His Majesty the Emperor—say that was okay? Did he tell you to do that?”

“Uhh…”

“Get out.”

I issued the eviction notice with a smile. A dejected Lamier handed Nick over to Sigret and left the room. I kept my smiling face fixed on Sigret. Realizing he couldn’t just brush it off this time, Sigret jumped to his feet and apologized.

“I am sorry!”

“Why do something you’ll have to apologize for?”

Sigret looked completely at a loss at my words. I stared at him for a moment before sighing and turning away.

“You get out too.”

“Your Highness, but…”

“Get out.”

Sigret stood up. Being too clever for his own good, he didn’t seem to understand why I was angry. I was tempted to leave him to figure it out on his own, but considering we had only been working together for a few months, it weighed on my mind. I called out to him just as he reached the door.

“You automatically assumed I would allow it, didn’t you?”

“That is.”

Sigret nodded.

“This monster wave is different. We don’t know what will happen. Therefore…”

“If this place falls, a magic circle needs to be in place so I can flee to safety?”

“…”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“But, Your Highness.”

“Get out.”

I had no intention of dying here. I didn’t come all this way to find a place to die; I came to properly fulfill my duties as the Grand King since the role had been thrust upon me anyway.

It was a far cry from my life in the Imperial Palace, but I was still living a life of luxury that couldn’t even be compared to that of a commoner. So I had to earn my keep.

We hold the line as long as we can, and if our current forces aren’t enough, we retreat.

All together.

I wouldn’t pull myself out just to save my own skin.

I was the king of those ‘ignorant rustics’ praying toward the lord’s castle. I was practically a god to them.

Kallios must have sent Lamier because he was worried about me. That much I understood. To him, I was a weakling who couldn’t even protect his own body. How much must it weigh on his mind that his older brother—who used to cough as if dying at a single gust of cold wind—now had to face a monster wave of unprecedented scale?

Even so, to tell me to just abandon everything and run if things look bad?

Who was the one who gave this country to me in the first place?

Who was the one who made me play the king when I had never even thought about it?

Sigret, who had been watching me with a complicated expression, bowed deeply. I didn’t acknowledge it. He quietly walked out. I covered my face with my hands and let out a long sigh.

I was furious with Sigret too. If he intended to tell me to abandon the people and only care about myself… he shouldn’t have shown them to me. He was the one who told me that there were people who believed I was their savior and reached out just to touch the hem of my clothes, and he was the one who made me meet them. Why on earth did he think I tolerated his arrogant attitude when he acted as if he were teaching me that ‘nobles aren’t the only humans’? That clever idiot.

I suppressed my mounting irritation. This all happened because I was lacking. If only I possessed even a fraction of the martial prowess that Kallios—no, ‘His Majesty Kaian’—had, things would be different.

All my energy drained away. I stared blankly at the ceiling before closing my eyes.

The atmosphere at the dinner banquet attended by Professor Eosi’s team was… a complete mess. I felt a bit sorry for the mages who were walking on eggshells around me with stiff faces, but I didn’t feel like easing the tension.

“Your Highness.”

Lamier called me cautiously. I picked up a piece of bread from the table.

“About… that green-eyed child.”

Perhaps thrilled that I, who had been ignoring everyone throughout the meal, finally looked at him, Lamier’s face brightened instantly before turning serious again.

“We have that rumor in our territory too.”

I tore the bread into pieces. Because it was loaded with butter, my hands became greasy. Unfolding a napkin to wipe them, I offered a simple “Yeah.”

“I wasn’t allowed to go outside by myself until I was seven years old either. They terrified me, saying a demon would snatch me away. Well, I sneaked out anyway, though.”

“Any casualties?”

“None that I know of…”

I pondered for a moment before asking about the green eyes. Just as there was a significance to the red of the Arnebsh family, there seemed to be a reason why the ‘demon’ only targeted green-eyed children. Lamier thought it over deeply before beginning, “That is.” I completely withdrew my hands from the table, no longer having an appetite.

“May I speak with you privately?”

I scanned the dinner table. Looking at the uncomfortable mages, I stood up from my seat.

“Enjoy the rest of your meal. Lamier, you too… finish eating before you come.”

I figured I’d thrown enough of a tantrum and left to let them eat in peace, but Lamier insisted on following me out. When I looked at him with a questioning glance, he offered a blatant lie, “I’m already full!” even though he had only taken a few spoonfuls of soup. I could just feed him some snacks back in my room. Without pressing further, I returned to my quarters.

“Speak.”

Lamier took a seat on the sofa, watching my reaction carefully.

“Could that demon… be looking for the energy of a dragon?”

“The energy of a dragon?”

“Yes. Um, Your Highness. Do you happen to know the legend of the Abas Mountains?”

First a demon, and now a dragon and a legend. I shook my head.

“They say the Abas Mountains are where the Water Dragon, Lord Abas, laid down after protecting this continent from evil things.”

In the ancient past, during a time when the demon race ran rampant. The Water Dragon Abas descended upon the earth, slaughtered the demons, and sealed the gate connecting to the demon realm. Thanks to him, the continent regained peace, but Abas, having exhausted all his strength, could not return to his own world and had to lay his body down on this land. His body became a part of the continent he had protected.

Lamier went on for quite a while with the story. Nodding at appropriate intervals, I thought to myself: It was a Black Dragon last time, and now it’s time to get entangled with a Water Dragon…

“Green eyes are common, but a ‘green-eyed child’ born in a place bordering the Abas Mountains sometimes possesses a special trait.”

Lamier hesitated, clasping his hands together.

“They occasionally have a talent for magic, especially water-attribute magic.”

“The blessing of the Water Dragon.”

“It’s… nothing like that! The only ones who received a dragon’s blessing are the Arnebsh Imperial Family.”

Lamier quickly defended. Through his reaction, I understood why Abas was only known as the name of a mountain range. To exalt the greatness of the Imperial Family and the Dragon God, they had erased the existence and achievements of other dragons. Just as Capre had erased Arjen’s name.

“Is there no other story?”

At my question, Lamier thought for a moment before speaking.

“There is a tale that the Demon Realm Gate sealed by the Water Dragon still remains deep within the mountains.”

This seems like something I need to look into further… Unfortunately, Lamier said that was all he knew. Since it was an event from the ancient past and the Imperial Family had intentionally erased it, there was no way detailed records would remain.

Well, it was already impressive that he had gathered this much information. I tapped the seat next to me. When I stroked the head of Lamier, who eagerly scrambled closer, a faint smile spread across his face.

“Was I of some help?”

“Extremely.”

“What about your anger?”

“It wasn’t directed at you.”

Lamier’s shoulders slumped.

“Are you still upset?”

“Shall we talk about something else?”

Darting his eyes around, Lamier’s expression brightened instantly as he began to chatter away. He told me he had recently reached the 4th circle, that he had met Sierra, and that Isaac had desperately wanted to come along, and I responded to each story one by one.

The scouting party returned. Only two out of the five groups made it back. And even they weren’t whole. Looking at the three battered knights and a single severed leg that had lost its owner, my stomach churned violently. It wasn’t because of the foul stench of blood reeking from them.

“Demons… the demon race has appeared.”

The knight who had lost an arm, who was in the best condition among them, reported. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them.

“Professor Eosi.”

“Yes.”

“How long will it take to install the magic circle?”

“We need to allow at least a week.”

“It doesn’t need to be sophisticated enough for people to pass through. It just needs to be able to send letters. Even then?”

“In that case, two days will suffice.”

I jerked my chin toward Sigret. Sigret led Professor Eosi and the mages out of the room. I stared at the Knight Commander, whose eyes were bloodshot and wide with rage. He was staring solely at the ownerless leg.

“Whose is it?”

The Knight Commander replied through clenched teeth.

“It is my son’s.”

The demons and the monster army were only two days away. It was an urgent situation… but I couldn’t just leave a man who had lost his mind after losing his son. He was the sole Sword Master of the Visconti territory. Demons could not be fought unless one was a Sword Master.

Dmn it. Dmn it all.

I rubbed my face hard with my hands.

“Go and hold his funeral.”

“…”

“Mourn him… until your heart is satisfied.”

The Knight Commander staggered forward and cradled his son’s leg. I watched his retreating back before turning away. Ah… what should I do? I felt incredibly sick to my stomach. I felt like throwing up. Walking over to the window, I threw it open. The wind carried the scent of winter. Below the castle, people were still gathered, praying. In the distance, the snow-covered mountains were visible. I bit my tongue, suppressing the rising urge to dry heave.

Properly fulfilling my duties as a king, my *ss. Staving them off to the best of our ability and retreating together, my *ss. I sent fifteen men and lost eleven. It was a large number, but compared to what we would lose in the future, it was nothing. From now on, I would have to send even more people to their deaths. The reality of that fact finally sank in.

“Your Highness.”

The Knight Commander called out to me. I kept my gaze fixed out the window.

“I will do my mourning after everything is over.”

I was terrified. I regretted it. I was going crazy. It gave me goosebumps. What kind of glory was I seeking when I came all the way here? I was just an ordinary office worker in my past life, and since coming to this world, I had lived a life completely sheltered. I don’t know what kind of capability I thought I had to go strutting around claiming I’d be a decent king. Just because everyone praised me, followed me, and elevated me, a nobody like me actually thought, f*ck, I thought I was actually somebody, that I was something special, I must have lost my mind, truly… Clenching my trembling fists, I forced myself to inhale deeply before slowly letting it out.

I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them.

“Continue the report.”

At my command, the knight relayed what he had seen and heard. The report, laced with coughing and gasping, pierced my ears. A horde of over ten thousand monsters. The demons were driving them down like a flock of sheep. The number of demons confirmed by the scouting party was five. He said they had toyed with the scouting party, ripping off their limbs one by one. Like a child playing with bugs.

It was a good thing… I hadn’t installed the magic circle. If it had been there, I would have fled immediately. I pressed my fists firmly against my closed eyes before letting go. I unclenched my fists. They were still trembling. Clasping them together to hide the shaking, I looked at the people waiting for my orders.