Side Chapter 63: The kingdom’s dukes in turmoil

The news of the Demon King Guduranis’s resurrection and the catastrophic damage he had caused in the capital of Orbaume spread to the other duchies and the other cities and villages in the royal realm at a speed that could only be considered as sluggish to the people who were working hard towards the rebuilding and restoration of the city.

Those who had been in the city had spent the morning like any other, and a few hours later, the streets had been filled with a countless number of monsters. Dark Avalon had appeared above the royal castle, and following a fierce battle involving Vandalieu Zakkart, the Five-colored Blades, Randolf ‘the True,’ and Vandalieu’s familiars, the Demon King had been resurrected.

After the people evacuated into the shelters and some time passed, the Goddess of Love and Life Vida had declared that the Demon King had been slain by Vandalieu, and the situation had been resolved.

They had then emerged from the shelters to find that Demons who had been humans just several hours prior, an enormous flying Undead entity, monsters, and members of Vida’s races had appeared in the city and were carrying out work like distributing food, removing rubble, and policing the streets as if it was perfectly ordinary for them to do so.

With such an incident and such large changes occurring in the span of just a single day, it couldn’t be helped that the people in the capital felt the people outside the capital were working at a leisurely pace.

However, it also couldn’t be helped that aid from the people outside the capital was delayed.

People in the villages that could see Orbaume’s walls in the distance had been able to see that those walls had collapsed in places, as well as some enormous entities flying around the sky above the city, so they would have taken notice that some unimaginable event had taken place there. But those that lived too far away for Orbaume to be visible had been late to take notice… After all, the collapsed walls had been repaired within the day by none other than Vandalieu himself, using the ‘Golem Genesis’ Skill.

Of course, because Orbaume was the capital of a great nation, large numbers of peoples entered and exited its walls every day – traveling merchants, adventurers, bards, mercenaries, and such. People like these had entered the city after the incident and taken that news with them when they left.

King Corbitt and the other dukes had also sent fast horses to their own duchies to request supplies to support Orbaume’s restoration.

But it was the Churches in every region that received the information the quickest.

“The Demon King has been defeated?! I have just received a Divine Message that the Demon King Guduranis was defeated in the capital!” exclaimed those who received Divine Messages from the gods.

But the Divine Messages sent were short and fragmented, so those who received them had no way of knowing about everything that had transpired. However, there were follow-up Divine Messages saying “The Demon King was resurrected in Orbaume. The city was destroyed, but the Demon King Guduranis was defeated.” This made them certain of what they were being told… If the gods hadn’t done this, it was likely that many would have refused to believe that such outrageous events had taken place.

However, those who had received the Divine Messages – devoted individuals who were affiliated with Churches – took different actions after receiving these Divine Messages, depending on which Church they belonged to.

Many who belonged to the Churches of gods like Vida, Ricklent, Zuruwarn, Peria, and Botin praised the heroes and celebrated with other worshipers. “This is an auspicious day for the entire world! It has been a hundred thousand years since the last time, but this day should be engraved in history and celebrated!” they declared.

But many priests such as the one belonging to the Church of Elk, the Goddess of the Holy Spear, were troubled, despite being in celebration of the Demon King’s defeat. And influential people and highly capable individuals who were worshipers of Alda vanished one after another.

But in any case, leaving such problems aside… The most important thing for the Orbaume Kingdom was the policy of each duchy going forward. The ‘Demon King Slayer’ and ‘Savior’ Vandalieu had revealed the existence of the Demon Empire of Vidal and the fact that he was its emperor, so every duchy had to swiftly decide how it would interact with this empire.

The authority to decide the foreign affairs policy of the Orbaume Kingdom lay with King Corbitt and the nobles of Orbaume Central; the law stated that each duchy was not allowed to conduct its own foreign affairs with other nations.

However, Orbaume Central was currently in a state of destruction and unable to function, and one of the people who had caused this was Marquis Urgen Tercatanis, who had been serving as prime minister… one of Orbaume Central’s most influential nobles. Thus, the authority and leadership capabilities of the nobles of Orbaume Central had fallen like a rock.

And although duchies were forbidden by law from conducting independent foreign relations with other countries, that was only on paper. If they wanted to, there were any number of loopholes for them to do so… Up until this point, it had been thought that the only foreign nations on the Bahn Gaia continent were the Amid Empire and its vassal states, which had been the Orbaume Kingdom’s enemy since the nation’s foundation. On top of that, the Sauron Duchy was the only one that shared a border with the Amid Empire. Thus, it was simply that nobody had bothered to take the risk of using such loopholes.

And forces of the Demon Empire of Vidal had already entered the Orbaume Kingdom; they were already digging into it. The slum district of the capital had recovered quickly after being rebuilt as Zakkart District. This was welcome news, but the capital was supposed to be the most well-protected from foreign nations, and yet, a large location in the capital now belonged to a foreign nation. From the perspective of those governing the Orbaume Kingdom, it was a cause for concern.

There were also numerous Undead and members of Vida’s races of Rank 13 and greater stationed in the capital. Once they realized that this was a true fact, the dukes and the nobles that served them all understood that it was impossible to do anything about the Demon Empire of Vidal even with lawful means, never mind military might. And they also understood that the nobles of Orbaume Central, who could not do anything in this situation, were not of any use.

If the Demon Empire of Vidal were a normal nation – in other words, a nation made up of people, like the Amid Empire and the Orbaume Kingdom – the dukes would have thought to curry favor with it.

They might have sent messengers, praised the accomplishments of Vandalieu and his companions, cooperated with the restoration projects, hosted parties, and built connections by meeting important people face-to-face. They might have suggested opening embassies in each other’s capitals and carrying out political marriages in order to maintain friendly ties. This would foster interactions and understanding between the people of their duchies and the people of Vandalieu’s nation.

And when the time was ripe, they would aim for a suitable relationship, taking the strength of the nations into account. Given the difference in strength between the Demon Empire of Vidal and each duchy, many dukes would wish for their duchies to become vassal states – or even take it one step further and become a part of the Demon Empire entirely.

No matter how pleasant and friendly Vandalieu was, it was simply terrifying to manage a relationship with a neighboring nation that was so much more powerful that it could conquer the other duchies in a single day if he ordered it. Even if the current relationship with the Demon Empire of Vidal were maintained for another thousand years, the dukes couldn’t trust their great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren to never make a mistake.

Urgen Tercatanis had previously been known to be a sharp, capable prime minister, though he had also been a little on the conservative side. He had always known that there was no guarantee that one of his descendants wouldn’t one day become possessed with ambitions that were beyond their capabilities.

However, the Demon Empire of Vidal was no ordinary nation. Leaving aside the fact that its emperor was a Dhampir boy, it was a great empire whose society was very far from what those from human societies would consider normal. Its citizens included members of all of Vida’s races, including those that were considered dangerous such as Majin and Vampires, as well as monsters such as Undead and Demons.

The capital of the Demon Empire of Vidal lay in the southern region of the Bahn Gaia continent, separated from the rest of the continent by the Boundary Mountain Range, and fearsome nations that were mentioned in legends, such as the Noble Orc Kingdom and the Majin Kingdom, were its vassal states. It also held land in the Demon Continent, whose existence had been confirmed by the Storm of Tyranny who had previously been S-class adventurers in the Amid Empire, as well as the Demon King’s Continent, which had been ruled by the Demon King a hundred thousand years ago.

This incredibly difficult-to-believe information had traveled from Orbaume via fast horses and magic. Every duke was hesitant; their policies were divided and they were forced to respond with caution equivalent to slapping the floor of a stone bridge to ensure that it didn’t collapse. Because although the worship of Vida was not forbidden in the Orbaume Kingdom, the influence of those who worshiped Vida varied greatly between duchies. And even those who worshiped Vida didn’t necessarily accept monsters such as Undead and Demons.

There was a great difference in the degree to which Vida was worshiped between human society and the Demon Empire of Vidal.

And even in duchies where the worship of Vida flourished, there were also those who worshiped Alda and his subordinate gods. Making hasty moves to form friendly relations with the Demon Empire of Vidal would cause dissent within their duchies from Alda’s worshipers, and this could even cause them to radicalize and cause conflict.

There had already been an incident in the Arthaba Duchy. Priests of the Church of Alda there had gathered their followers and shouted, “If we open our nation to the den of monsters that calls itself the Demon Empire of Vidal, they will demand our men as food, our women as breeders for monsters, and our children as sacrifices for evil gods! The remains of our dead, even the smallest fragments of bone, will be turned into Undead, their souls turned to Ghosts, to be toyed with for all eternity!”

With all of this happening, the first to act was Duke Takkard Alcrem.

As if he had prepared in advance for this occasion, he gave a speech in his duchy’s capital and declared that the duchy would establish an alliance and friendly ties with the Demon Empire of Vidal. He also publicly announced the fact that the Knight of Roaring Flames Bravatiyu, one of the Five Knights of Alcrem, was still alive and had not perished during the battle to retake the former Scylla territory in the Sauron Duchy.

In other words, he confessed to his people that the duchy had already secretly formed ties with the Demon Empire of Vidal.

It wasn’t just the nobles serving Duke Alcrem and the people of his duchy that had suspected that he had formed ties with Vandalieu; many nobles and merchants outside the duchy had suspected it as well. After all, Duke Alcrem had granted the position of honorary countess to Darcia Zakkart, Vandalieu Zakkart’s mother, and it was common knowledge that he had shown them much preferential treatment since.

If he had told his people that he didn’t know anything about the Demon Empire of Vidal, nobody would have believed him.

With his quick confession of the truth, many accepted it and said to themselves, “Just as I thought,” although many were surprised to learn that Bravatiyu was actually alive and Baldiria, who had lost both arms, was actually unharmed.

The people began murmuring amongst themselves.

“I see. At the time, I thought that the blood of his women-loving father had awoken and he was trying to take Darcia-dono as his mistress after she made a name for herself and became a hero, but…”

“To think that he had already formed secret ties with the Demon Empire of Vidal back then. As expected of His Excellency.”

“I suppose that’s why he made her an honorary noble rather than a true noble. Making the mother of the emperor of another nation a true noble would cause a lot of problems down the line, after all.”

“With that being the case, the source of that cream, the transformation equipment, the artificial limbs, and the knowledge on how to use them must all come from…”

“Yes, that is probably true. And that music is undoubtedly a culture that developed in the Demon Empire of Vidal.”

“I suppose that means that the Demon Empire of Vidal isn’t just a nation of military might. It has great technology in fields like alchemy, and its culture is impressive as well.”

“More importantly, are the rumors true?! There’s going to be a concert soon with all of the performing members, including the members that have already made their debut in the Demon Empire of Vidal?!”

Although many accepted these events, some citizens felt displeasure, believing that they had been tricked. But such displeasure was suppressed by the latter half of Duke Alcrem’s speech.

“I am sure that many will criticize the fact that this has been kept a secret up until now. But I would like you to understand. I could not reveal the identity and the true strength of the ‘Savior’ Vandalieu until the Demon King Guduranis’s disciples who lurked in the center of the Orbaume Kingdom were defeated!” Duke Alcrem said.

He put all of the blame on Rikudou Hijiri, the Demon King Guduranis, and the former prime minister, Urgen Tercatanis!

When Takkard Alcrem first formed ties with Vandalieu, Rikudou Hijiri had still been alive in Origin, and Tercatanis hadn’t yet betrayed his nation.

However, not a single person in the nation would defend the mysterious evil god Dark Avalon, who had caused the resurrection of Guduranis, and Tercatanis, whose treason had caused catastrophic damage to the capital. Many of the nobles of Orbaume Central were blaming everything on the former prime minister in order to protect themselves from the backlash.

And most importantly, Vandalieu was the ‘Savior’ who had defeated Guduranis… and he had also saved Alcrem once in the past as well.

Even those who felt displeasure at the fact that everything had been kept a secret accepted it as something that couldn’t be helped.

They also assumed that the fact that Bravatiyu was alive and Baldiria was unharmed were secrets that had needed to be kept in order to defeat Guduranis. As expected of the Five Knights of Alcrem! As expected of the Knight of Roaring Flames and the Knight of a Thousand Blades! they thought, though this was far from the truth.

There was also the fact that the things advocated by the Demon Empire of Vidal were nothing extreme, which made it easier for the people to accept the truth.

Acknowledging the rights of all members of Vida’s races, including Ghouls, Vampires, and Majin. Acknowledge the rights of the Undead, Demons, and monsters who were recognized as citizens of the Demon Empire of Vidal. This was something that was being requested of them, but on the other hand, acknowledging their rights was all that was needed. It wasn’t a request to make Ghouls, Vampires, or Majin who committed crimes immune from being punished by the laws of the Alcrem Duchy like any other person.

And there was no demand for the people to stop defeating wild Undead and Demons that appeared in Dungeons and Devil’s Nests.

In other words, there wouldn’t be much change from before, with just a few exceptions. Or so the people thought with relief… There would surely be great changes in the future, but the people of Lambda, who were busy just trying to get through each day, didn’t think that far ahead.

However, from the perspective of the other dukes, Duke Alcrem was the duke who had formed ties with Vandalieu long ago. He was the first to learn the truth about Vandalieu, but by cooperating with him, he had secured his societal position and the societal positions of those around him. With that being the case, the other dukes did not consider themselves to be in the same situation as him.

As the other dukes hesitated, two other duchies acted swiftly – the Birgitt Duchy and the Farzon Duchy.

Before the foundation of the Orbaume Kingdom, the Birgitt Duchy had been ruled by a Beast-kin king, with more Beast-kin living in the nation than humans. That hadn’t changed even after King Birgitt became Duke Birgitt of the Orbaume Kingdom, and the Birgitt Duchy was known as the duchy of the Orbaume Kingdom where the Church of Vida had the greatest influence.

Duke Birgitt announced that he would support the Demon Empire of Vidal in all aspects and would aim to establish diplomatic relations and a treaty of alliance which would include commercial trade and military affairs. He made this announcement on a large scale, not only in the capital of his own duchy, but in Orbaume through his representative administrator as well.

Alda worshipers were in the minority in the Birgitt Duchy, and most of them accepted this decision, knowing that the other nation was the one ruled by the ‘Savior’ who had defeated Guduranis.

The Farzon Duchy did the exact opposite, declaring that it would close itself off from the Demon Empire of Vidal. It was also announced that the Farzon Duchy would refrain from interacting with any duchies of the Orbaume Kingdom that established diplomatic relations with the Demon Empire of Vidal.

Duke Farzon was a fervent worshiper of Alda, as indicated by his strong support of Heinz of the Five-colored Blades and the effort that he had put into exterminating the Majin and Vampire groups in his duchy. And the overwhelming majority of the Farzon Duchy’s people were worshipers of Alda as well.

Thus, it seemed that the Farzon Duchy was unable to accept the demands of the Demon Empire of Vidal.

Having heard this news, Duke Lucas Hartner reflexively thought to form an alliance with Duke Farzon to form a faction that opposed the Demon Empire of Vidal within the Orbaume Kingdom, but his daughter Katie Hartner, who was known to be an exceptionally talented girl, and his younger brother Belton Hartner who had conflicted with him in the past over the position of duke, had vehemently opposed this.

“Father! There is no meaning in an alliance with the Farzon Duchy! The Hartner Duchy and the Farzon Duchy only share a very small border!” Katie said.

“She is right, Ani-ue! And what would be the purpose of such an alliance?! You do understand that we will never defeat that nation through military might, don’t you?! If you think that we can defeat the Demon Empire by forming a faction to oppose it and gathering more allies, you are gravely mistaken!” warned Belton.

“Father, the former Scylla territory in the Sauron Duchy to the north is occupied by the Demon Empire, and we’re cut off to the south by rocky mountains. And even if it were possible to cross those mountains, it’s the Birgitt Duchy on the other side! Given the geography of our duchy, we have no choice but to form friendly relations with the Demon Empire of Vidal!”

“Ani-ue, we are dealing with someone who is served by Undead and Demons, and we don’t know what he’s thinking! But that is precisely why we cannot give up on negotiating with him! Fortunately, he is still a person! He’s not a Demon King from another world, nor a subordinate serving such a Demon King! If we patiently continue to negotiate, we can learn what it is that he wants!”

The sight of his beloved daughter and his clever but unpleasant half-brother yelling at him in anger with their faces completely red looked rather familiar to Lucas.

I suppose it runs in the family, he thought.

“N-no, but there’s the Church of Alda, you know. And I can’t ignore the will of the soldiers,” he said, sitting in the chair at his official desk.

Ordinarily, if it were only his daughter or his half-brother alone that was yelling at him, he would send them off, telling them that it was none of their concern. But he wasn’t able to do this now; this was a sign of how intensely the two of them together were arguing, and how deeply Lucas was wavering.

“I’m sure you can ignore the Church of Alda,” Katie said. “The important figures, including the head of the Church, have fled. I’ve heard that the ones that are left are those who speak loudly but have no virtue or power.”

“Katie?!” Lucas uttered in shock. “Just where did you hear that…?!”

“Ani-ue, if you truly wish to hear the opinions of the knights, you should call them to your office and listen to them one by one. Then, they will be able to speak without any pretenses,” said Belton.

“Belton, you’re a noble who serves as a civil official. What do you know about knights…” Lucas muttered, and then he let out a sigh. “Very well. I understand that an alliance with the Farzon Duchy would be meaningless, and that taking a defiant stance would be futile. But for the time being, leave. And Katie, it is good that you are getting along with your relatives, but I’m sure Uncle Belton is very busy, so try not to bother him too much.”

And with that, Katie and Belton were forced out of Lucas’s office. But it wasn’t that they were getting along well or that they had planned this together. They had met each other by coincidence today and decided to cooperate temporarily after realizing that they shared a goal – to advise Lucas to give up on the idea of forming an alliance with the Farzon Duchy.

“I’m sure Ani-ue is wondering when you and I made contact with one another,” Belton remarked. “It seems that you are a much cleverer child than you should be at your age. So, what do you say? How about joining forces with Uncle Belton?”

“No, thank you,” said Katie.

“… I am not plotting to take over your father’s position, you know?”

“I’m sure you’re not. Your aim is to have your son become the next duke, after all. But no, thank you. And your son… He is my cousin. I would also like to say ‘no, thank you’ to marrying him.”

“That is unfortunate.”

Katie was a reincarnated individual with the cheat-like ability known as ‘Urðr.’ As long as her father didn’t lose his mind, it seemed likely that she would be able to have him make the connection between the Demon Empire of Vidal and the Hartner house’s crimes against Talosheim in the past, and convince him to make those crimes public and apologize for them, telling him that it was for the sake of the Hartner Duchy.

It was troublesome, steering her father so that he didn’t choose a path to self-destruction, but thanks to the recent incident, it had become easier for the Hartner house to apologize to Vandalieu… or to be more precise, to the Titans of Talosheim. Especially significant was the fact that the influential people of the Church of Alda, who would likely have tried to stop such an apology from happening, had fled. With them gone, talks of making the apology could proceed without being impeded.

Lucas remained unaware that Vandalieu’s true identity was connected to the conspiracy he had plotted involving the cultivation villages, but it would be some time before he learned the truth and collapsed onto his knees.

Like the Farzon Duchy, many of the people of the Jahan Duchy were worshipers of Alda and held strongly conservative views, and they believed that it would be best to distance themselves from the Demon Empire of Vidal.

However, in a surprising turn of events, Duke Jahan returned to the duchy with Vandalieu Zakkart accompanying him. At the duchy’s assembly hall, in front of the nobles and wealthy merchants who had gathered there, he advocated for conducting trade with the Demon Empire of Vidal.

Many of the nobles, the people with ties to the Church, and even the merchants, opposed Hadros’s proposal. There were even some from the Jahan house who ridiculed him, saying that he had lost his mind.

But Hadros, whom many still considered to be a worshiper of Alda, smiled calmly as he rationally explained his perspective. “It is true that the Demon Empire of Vidal goes against what is taught to us worshipers of Alda. However, I would like you to remember that Vandalieu, the emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal, defeated the Demon King Guduranis. He saved approximately five million innocent lives in Orbaume, my own life, and the lives of the knights, officials, and servants that work on the behalf of the Jahan house in Orbaume.”

The voices of criticism in the castle’s assembly hall lost their strength. The defeat of Guduranis was an accomplishment so great that even worshipers of Alda could not ignore it. And according to the tales told by the knights and merchants who had returned from Orbaume, it wasn’t that the people had been saved as a result of just Vandalieu fighting against Guduranis. Vandalieu had also actively cooperated with Duke Jahan and Duke Alcrem in order to save lives, and it could be assumed that he had fought the Demon King in order to protect the people.

“Of course, just because our lives were saved does not mean that we must obey all of his requests. The Demon King Guduranis was defeated, and it is now completely impossible for him to ever be fully resurrected. However, the threat of the Demon King fragments has not disappeared, just as the mountain range separating the Jahan Duchy from the sea continues to stand, and the summers remain short, and each winter remains as cold as the last,” Hadros continued. “However, Emperor Vandalieu will not force change upon us. I am sure there are some who don’t believe this, but I would like you to hear him out.”

Vandalieu, who had remained silent during Hadros’s speech, opened his mouth to speak. “Hello, everyone. I am Vandalieu Ark Hillwillow Solder Zakkart, the emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal. I believe you already know of the nature of our nation. However, I have not come to ask everyone – the people of the Jahan Duchy – to become like our nation. I have not come to ask you to change.”

The audience stirred in surprise and began talking amongst themselves; Vandalieu waited for them to quieten again before he continued.

“I will not criticize you for praying to Alda as you have always done and fighting dangerous Undead and Demons that spawn inside Dungeons. However, I would like you to accept our nation for what it is. And I would like you to work with us to create a better future for everyone. That’s all.”

“You’re just saying that to fool us! In the end, you intend to pressure us into becoming one of your vassal states, aren’t you?!” shouted a marquis who was a political opponent of Hadros.

It was Hadros who responded in Vandalieu’s stead. “That is wrong. It is true that with this discovery of our new neighbors, we will have changed ten years from now, or a hundred years from now. But that has always been true in the past as well. The shapes of mountains change little by little, and the amount of snow that falls differs slightly from winter to winter. There have even been two winters since I was born where there was no snow at all. The same is true of people. With each changing of generations and with the rise of every new house, change has always been demanded of us. Now is no different.”

The marquis scowled, but had no choice but to fall silent. Having been born as a Titan due to atavism, Hadros had lived for far longer and experienced far more than anyone else in this assembly hall.

“However, it would be problematic to simply leave everything up to the passage of time while knowing nothing about our neighbors. That is why I intend to hold events with the objective of conducting cultural exchange. If you wish to delve into the secrets of the Demon Empire of Vidal, I welcome you to take part in them,” Hadros concluded, bringing an end to his speech.

After returning to a waiting chamber with Hadros, Vandalieu let out a deep sigh.

“You are not used to standing in front of people?” asked Hadros.

“I stand in front of crowds frequently in the Demon Empire of Vidal, but… I still get nervous when I’m in front of people that I’m not close to,” said Vandalieu.

“You’re about the only ruler who knows the face of every single one of his citizens.”

“And my shoulders are stiff after having to tell a lie that doesn’t immediately seem like a lie.”

Vandalieu’s claim that he did not intend to immediately change the people of the Jahan Duchy had been one great lie. Hadros had brought Vandalieu, who was a Guider, to face those who served as the backbone of his duchy so that he could guide the nobles and their close aides.

And, the cultural exchange events would be V-cream and Blood Potion sales events and live performances from Kanako and the others.

The plan was for Kanako, Zadiris, and Miriam – the three Guiders – to take center stage and guide the conservative people of the Jahan Duchy at full force.

They didn’t intend to force the people to stop worshiping Alda. They would simply guide the people to worship Vida instead of Alda on their own. Thus, strictly speaking, Vandalieu hadn’t actually lied, but…

“Sorry about this. As duke, I should be the one doing something about my own people. How embarrassing it is that I have to ask you, the ruler of another nation, and your fiancées, to travel here,” Hadros said. “Some of the people of the Church of Alda and several of the Seven Mountain Generals have gone missing, so that might make it easier, but… I don’t think we should be calling it fortunate.”

Numerous worshipers of Alda had also fled from the Jahan Duchy – presumably following instructions in Divine Messages sent by Alda, the God of Law and Fate.

The influence of the Church of Alda had decreased now that the worshipers devoted enough to receive Divine Messages had fled, and the resistance put up by the Church of Alda in the Jahan Duchy and the Alcrem Duchy had weakened. Things were less troublesome as a result, but…

“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” said Vandalieu. “Kanako is excited about having a chance to gain new fans, too. But I have to correct you on one point – Miriam isn’t one of my fiancées.”

It seemed to Vandalieu that Miriam was closer to Arthur, in fact.

“And besides, the surveying of the Dungeon is finished, and since my connection to my split entities has gained unlimited range, my searching of the Demon Continent and the Demon King’s Continent can continue at the same time,” Vandalieu said.

“I’m grateful for your kindness,” said Hadros.

Hadros Jahan was a precious friend to Vandalieu, just like Miriam and Arthur. Such friends of Vandalieu didn’t worship him as a god; they revered and respected him, but they treated him as a friend.

These were precious friends who didn’t insist on building statues and Churches dedicated to him.

“By the way, what are you searching for on those legendary continents?” Hadros asked.

“Zerno’s remains, at Deeana’s request,” said Vandalieu.

“If I recall, she is the ‘Moon Giant’ spoken of in mythological tales? The younger sister of Talos, the ‘Sun Giant.’ And you are searching for the remains of the ‘Colossus god’… I wouldn’t expect anything less from you,” Hadros murmured.

“Yes. I haven’t been told why I should be searching for his remains, but… Please excuse me. Elizabeth-sama seems to be calling for my aid, so I have to go,” said Vandalieu.

“Very well. Let us leave the meeting to organize the events for later,” said Hadros, waving goodbye.

Through a teleportation gate created by Gufadgarn, Vandalieu returned to Silkie Zakkart Mansion in Orbaume.

There, he found a well-dressed man kneeling on the ground in front of Elizabeth, looking like he might lick her shoes at any moment.

“… A degenerate?” Vandalieu asked.

“Vandalieu, please do something about this guy. He’s a bit too much for me to handle,” said Elizabeth.

“He doesn’t look so strong that you wouldn’t be able to defeat him, Elizabeth-sama. He must be quite the masterful degenerate,” Vandalieu said.

This degenerate – or rather, this man – had gotten past the defenses of Silkie and the Undead in the garden to try and lick Elizabeth’s shoes. Thinking that it would be best not to let his guard down, Vandalieu extended his tongue to stick it in the man’s ear and subdue him.

But his target was not Elizabeth’s shoes. Having taken notice of Vandalieu, he immediately turned and dove onto his knees once more with his head down, as if wanting to lick his shoes instead.

“Your Majesty, Emperor Vandalieu Ark Hillwillow Solder Zakkart! How fortunate I am to have the opportunity to meet you! I beg of you, please have mercy on the Sauron house and the people of the Sauron Duchy!” he pleaded.

“This is Veedal Sauron. He’s one of my surviving half-brothers, who acts as something like an ambassador of the Sauron house and lives in their mansion in Orbaume,” Elizabeth explained.

This reminded Vandalieu of who this degenerate was… He had remembered his face through ‘Perfect Record Technique,’ but because the man’s face had been facing the floor the entire time, only the back of his head was visible.

And at the same time that this was happening, Duke Rudel Sauron was on the verge of insanity after having read a letter sent by Veedal… a letter that insisted that he hand the position of duke over to Elizabeth and beg for his life.