CH 136

Translator: Nisarah

Editor:Fleeting

♦

The Demon General, Gezarius, looked at the corpse of his subordinate with extreme displeasure on his face.

The loss of one subordinate wasn’t something that could shake off the Demon General. The problem was that this subordinate died within Gezarius’s own territory.

“Those bastards, again!!!”

In Gezarius’s hand was a small wooden board carved with a crest. From Puckler’s memory, Gezarius knew that this was the crest of Zeavert House. The wooden board was found near the corpse of his subordinate.

Recently, the frequency of attacks toward the werewolves and weretigers in Gezarius’s territory, Triot, had been increasing.

Near the corpses of the werewolves or weretigers whose magic stones had been robbed, there was always this wooden board. That was why Gezarius knew exactly who was behind these attacks.

“How dare you!!!”

In a fit of rage, Gezarius kicked the corpse, sending it flying and hitting the tree. Doing such a thing would not make Welner die or anything, but Gezarius simply had nowhere else to vent his anger.

Welner did not know this, but Gezarius’s chief of staff, who infiltrated the capital as a noble, had been struck down by the Knights of Bain Kingdom.

The loss of both the mage and the chief of staff would make the attack of the demon army more monotonous in the future.

Suddenly, Gezarius’s subordinates sniffed the air, and Gezarius, who also seemed to have noticed that someone had come, clicked his tongue in annoyance. Gezarius knew his clothes had been ripped because he had inadvertently turned into his real form in a fit of anger.

“Bring me the replacement.”

After saying so, Gezarius returned to his human form and donned the uncomfortable human clothes. The demons around him also turned into their human form.

The clothes that Gezarius and the demons were wearing didn’t look good, as they had been taken away from corpses. However, wearing these clothes did make them seem more like they were fugitives.

“The human body is as uncomfortable as always.”

“That is true, sir.”

Although Gezarius commented like this, he was not looking for a response, so he ignored his subordinate’s reply.

Gezarius and his men, who had transformed into humans, moved in the direction where the smell came from. After all, they didn’t want the werewolves’ corpses to be seen by the new arrival.

After he saw the owner of that smell, Gezarius called out to him, “So it’s you.”

“M..Mangold-sama. Ho..how do you do?” (Man)

“Skip the greeting. Is that Zeavert brat in the fort?” (Mangold aka Gezarius)

“Y…Yes.” (Man)

This man was wearing better clothes compared to when he came to him right after he was exiled from Anheim. It seemed like he was telling the truth when he said that he had a helper in Anheim. While thinking like that, Mangold (aka Gezarius) laughed.

“T…This might be a chance for us to attack Anheim first.” (Man)

“Didn’t that brat plan to cross the river and attack us from the rear if we did that?” (Gezarius)

“T..That brat has certainly said so, but if we open the door of Anheim from inside…” (Man)

“I don’t have any expectation that you guys will be able to do something like that.” (Gezarius)

This man and his cronies told some useful information about the fort.

“A fort that only has solid pillars but wooden planks as walls will be easily destroyed by the demons.” (Gezarius)

“A..About that, have you truly succeeded in forming a cooperative relationship with the demon army, Mangold-sama?” (Man)

“You don’t have to worry about that.” (Gezarius)

Mangold smiled and raised his hand. Then, werewolves appeared, causing man to let out a small shriek.

“As you can see, I have successfully borrowed the power of the demon army.” (Gezarius)

“A… as expected of Mangold-sama.” (Man)

“Once I have that brat’s head, the people of Anheim will change their thoughts. Until then, you must remain hidden in the town.” (Gezarius)

“As you wish. When the time comes, I hope that Mangold-sama can reward my devotion.”

“Of course. You don’t need to worry about that.”

This was why humans were easy to deal with, Mangold coldly thought to himself. Well, after killing that Zeavert brat, all humans in Anheim would become his food. On the surface, Mangold kept smiling.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Y…Yes, sir.”

***

“…Well, that’s probably how the current situation in the demon army is.”

“So that is why you did that?”

“Yup.”

The construction of the fort took ten days even with Anheim town’s full support, minimal requirements and all materials ready at hand.

It was currently the afternoon of the twentieth day since Welner made the fort into the command center. Inside one of the rooms in the fort, Welner shrugged his shoulders as he was talking with his subordinate. This was around the same time as when Mangold was talking with the criminals who had been exiled.

Inside, Welner thought that things happened later than he expected. Neurath and Schunzel exchanged glances with each other after hearing Welner’s words. Then, with an indescribable expression on his face, Holzdeppe opened his mouth.

“But when did you think about that, sir?”

“It’s been on the back of my mind since Sir Puckler’s corpse was found.”

That was Welner’s answer, but his real thought was different. The truth was, ever since Welner thought of the possibility of the Demon Generals using the body of the Crown Prince and the Knight Captains to resurrect themselves, Welner began to have doubts.

If the power that the Demon Generals could harness in their human forms was affected by the human body they had taken over, Welner doubted Gezarius would be content with taking over the body of a slum’s resident. Perhaps the Demon Generals had been keeping the body of the missing Mangold.

Currently, the core of Dreax and Beliulace were kept in the capital, so it was easy to imagine which Demon General could possibly use Mangold’s body.

It would be great if Welner’s prediction wasn’t right, but if it was right, Anheim might end up in a civil war. Mangold was, after all, the son of the former lord of Anheim. That was why Welner had made his plan with an assumption that the demon general was using Mangold’s body.

The reason why he had spread the drawing of Mangold’s face to the town and exiled those criminals to Triot was all for this plan.

It was unlikely that the Gezarius would once again infiltrate Anheim by disguising as human. After what had happened in the capital, even Gezarius would think that the humans had found a way to discover the disguised demons.

On the other hand, Welner also did not think that Gezarius was so stupid that he would not try to find any information. Rather, since Gezarius had Puckler’s memory, Welner thought it was natural that Gezarius would know the power of information.

The reason why Welner punished the Pledgers who were dissatisfied with him with only a fine or reprimand was that Welner was sure that some of those pledgers would have connection with the exiled criminals.

If the exiled criminals encountered Mangold outside of the town, Welner knew that the criminals would sell the information of the fact that ‘the legitimate heir of the former lord has returned’ to the nobles who were dissatisfied with him.

Even if all of Welner’s predictions were wrong, it wouldn’t hurt him in the slightest other than just some waste of time and effort. If Gezarius was stupid enough to ignore the power of information, he would be easier to deal with.

The fact that Welner’s prediction was right was something that he and his subordinates would realize later.

“Anyway, let’s decide which plan to use. Eickstedt’s plan or my plan.”

Welner said with an expression as if he was having fun. Seeing that, Neurath and the other smiled bitterly.

Eickstedt’s plan and Welner’s plan both had their own advantages. Surprisingly, Eickstedt’s plan was more aggressive, but it also showed Eickstedt’s knowledge of Triot’s terrain. It even contained measures against the enemy’s sudden counterattack.

However, the method he used to decide which plan to use was quite unique.

“Oh, it’s odd. Then we will use my plan.”

“Did you really need to decide it with dice?”

“I don’t want the enemy to notice any peculiarity of either my and Sir Eickstedt’s plan.”

Welner pretended to not notice the fact that his subordinates glanced at him as if saying, ‘Didn’t you just want to use dice’. Well, it couldn’t be helped that his subordinates thought something like that, since of all things he used dice.

The two plans were quite different from each other, and both of them were good. Using dice would add randomness.

“The mercenaries that went to attack Triot should return today. Once Sir Gekke has returned, tell Sir Holzdeppe…”

“Your Excellency. Pardon my intrusion.”

When Welner was about to give his order, Eickstedt, who was treated as a guest, entered the room with a serious expression. Welner immediately knew that something had happened.

“What is it?”

“A messenger from Sir Kesten in Anheim has arrived. According to the message, the criminals who have been exiled to the Triot seem to be hiding in Anheim. They do not appear to carry any weapons.”

“I see.”

Welner’s reaction was simple, but both Neurath and Schunzel looked at each other, then asked, “Are they here under the order of the Demon Generals?”

“Quite possible. In the first place, the fact they didn’t get attacked by demons after being exiled to Triot is already suspicious.”

Everyone nodded. Welner then continued his words.

“We have to proceed with the arrangement after Sir Gekke has returned. Sir Eickstedt, you go to the second fort and meet up with the troops stationed there. Confirm if the preparation has completed and the goods are ready.”

“As you wish.”

“Sir Holzdeppe, please check the wooden board. Neurath and Schunzel, you both also prepare. Things will begin soon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Since the opponents looked down on humans, they wouldn’t mind being hit by the full power of Welner’s army. Welner ordered for the defense to be strengthened, and he sent a messenger to Anheim.

The battle in the second fort, which was a prelude for Anheim’s offensive, would begin in 2 days.