Volume 6 Chapter 8 Extermination Order
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
※Gwain’s Perspective
”Sir Gwain, Gertroud has declared war on the kingdom in the east, subjugating Occlair, Browning, Fenrir, and the Göbelf territories. He is currently attacking Lawrence’s territory. The eastern nobles are in turmoil, and many are attempting to secede from the kingdom.”
Sven reported the facts calmly and succinctly.
Gertroud, who had caused a coup in the south and fled after injuring her brother, Arbalest, had once again assembled an army. This time, he had subjugated the eastern nobles.
He had established a new country in the east called the “Demon God Emperor Nation,” and was said to be taming the beasts of the Unstable Clan – Garuda.
”Damn it! Gertroud, you completely repaid kindness with betrayal! Execute all of his blood relatives! What is this ‘Demon God Emperor’ nonsense! You are disrespecting His Majesty’s authority!”
Gertroud denied the existence of Demon Lords and proclaimed himself Demon God Emperor, denying everything about the kingdom.
Because of him, discontent was spreading among the generals—even those who had been personally appointed by His Majesty.
Rumors had reached the throne. And that was why Gwain stood here today.
”Sir Gwain, please seek His Majesty’s permission before taking action. If you execute Gertroud’s relatives without His Majesty’s consent, it will sow distrust. Even His Majesty’s power base could be shaken. Please, think carefully.”
”Damn it, Gertroud! Useless in life, yet now, in rebellion, you’ve turned into a viper!”
In fact, I had been buying Gertroud’s ability until I was sent to the south, but I thought I had seen through his ability during that incident in the south.
However, hearing about his ability during the coup d’état and this time’s eastern campaign, I have to certify him as the owner of an ability that sends chills down my spine.
I even considered the possibility that his feigned incompetence during his southern duty was a ploy to distance himself from me.
”Can’t be helped. We’ll leave the execution of Gertroud’s relatives to His Majesty’s discretion. But first, we need to smoke out the courtier who brought this matter to His Majesty’s ears. Thanks to those meddlers, His Majesty’s ears were tarnished during the last battle with the Black Dragon clan. We must consider a purge of the courtiers.”
”Hah! However, His Majesty has been strengthening his influence over the courtiers, so please hold off on any drastic personnel changes for now.”
”His Majesty?”
Since I helped Shifa, the current Demon Lord, when he was just 15 and ascending to the head of the Asura Clan, and even convinced the military’s powerful figures and rigged the Grand Eight Tournament for his selection as Demon Lord, I’ve had no constraints on my actions for the past ten years since my appointment.
However, during the last war with the Black Dragon Dukedom, he began to act independently, such as approving the extermination of the stationed forces that had invaded the Black Dragon Dukedom.
His daughter, whom he married off, tells me that “His Majesty trusts you.” But if his independent actions become too frequent, it might be easier to have Shifa take a break from government affairs and appoint Irmgarde as the acting Demon Lord instead.
If the daughter has a child, I must also start working on revising the contents of the Grand Eight Tournament to move towards hereditary succession of the Demon Lord position.
”Understood. For now, I’ll focus on tightening up the military.”
”Thank you.”
Lately, some officers from outside the Asura Clan have started to openly criticize my recent blunders, so I’m thinking of issuing an order to send these lively officers to the front lines. Let them achieve some victories and die a glorious death in battle.
What the army needs is not just brute force or intelligence, but someone who can grasp the will of the leader to become a sturdy Elite Troops.
Any soldier or officer who goes against my will as a leader is nothing but trouble with no benefit.
”Sven. Everyone from the Black Dragon Dukedom, the south, and the Demon God Emperor’s country who opposes me. Don’t slack off on gathering information. Report any suspicious movements at once.”
”Hah, we’ve managed to expand our intelligence network in the Black Dragon Dukedom and the Demon God Emperor’s country… but as for the south, no matter how many people we send, we can’t get a glimpse of Kent Blackdagger’s movements. The quality and accuracy of the information are too low.”
”Is it Milly’s doing?”
”Maybe, Lady Miriallia is using the Dream Demon Clan to hunt spies…”
Kent of the south should be kept in check by Arbalest, but Arbalest had bestowed the western garrison to a lesser-known emerging knight family called Vermillionblade. Moreover, the few Lord Noble families in the south, the two Lords of Blindia, have entrusted their young lord to Kent’s care, according to the traders.
As a result, Kent is set to become the most powerful noble family in the south.
If Arbalest were to die of illness or in battle, there would be no one left in the south to keep Kent in check, and secession from the kingdom would be inevitable.
I need to think of a way to diminish Kent’s power…
”Sven, do you have any good ideas on how to reduce Kent’s power?”
”Sir Gwain, perhaps you should take Lord Kent’s power and make it your own instead of weakening him. Luckily, Sir Gwain has 3 adult daughters, so you could send them all to Lord Kent as concubines. Within the household, they could isolate Lady Miriallia from him and serve your purpose.”
Sven insisted that I should offer my other daughters – Ferraris, Dorianne, and Silvana – the succubus triplets I’d fathered, to Lord Kent as concubines, and that would allow me to absorb his power.
Certainly, my daughters, being succubi, can only be married to men with [Sexual Prowess]. It’s true that I’m at a loss for what to do with them – but the problem is that I’d have to be in-laws with Kent again.
That would only make the issue with Miriallia worse, and further strain my relationship with Shifa.
”That’s a problem. Sven said to watch His Majesty’s reaction, didn’t he?”
”However, if Lord Kent and you become in-laws, and you acknowledge him as the successor to Sir Arbalest, the south will be secure. With Black Dragon Dukedom as an enemy and Gertroud stirring up trouble in the east, making a move against Lord Kent now would only cause even more chaos!”
Sven is unusually emotional about pushing for Kent’s marriage.
Indeed, with Black Dragon Dukedom defeated and my former general, Gertroud, rebelling in the east, causing His Majesty to lose faith, the winds are against me now.
If I make the wrong choice, everything I’ve built could crumble.
”…I was going to bring His Majesty closer…”
I was torn.
Should I send them to His Majesty Shifa, who gained [Sexual Prowess] thanks to the [Demon Lord’s Ring], as a concubine, or should I send them to the south to win over Kent? I couldn’t decide.
”I see… then the next best course of action would be to present His Majesty Shifa with 3 of your daughters as concubines, regain His Majesty’s trust, and issue a decree for the extermination of Gertroud across the entire kingdom. Perhaps we could have Lord Kent and the Black Dragon Dukedom fight Gertroud, thus exhausting them both.”
”Hmm, are you trying to bring Gertroud’s matter to His Majesty’s attention?”
”His Majesty is already aware. It would be better not to hide it. If Sir Gwain offers his daughter as a concubine as a way of apologizing for this incident, His’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. If we meticulously plan this with Lady Irmgarde as well, the chances of success will increase.”
If we send more daughters to Shifa, the possibility of having an heir would rise, and the fractured trust could be mended.
It would be unwise to form an alliance with Kent and further strain the relationship with Shifa, so I decided to offer all my remaining daughters as concubines to His Majesty.
”Very well, my daughters will be presented as concubines to His Majesty. Sven, let’s turn this around. I’m going to meet with His Majesty.”
”Yes, sir, then we shall dedicate our full efforts to information gathering in the east.”
I left my office and headed towards Shifa’s private chambers.
* * *
”Welcome. I always appreciate your help, father-in-law. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, so I called you here to my private chambers.”
”Ah! This summons, I’m truly sorry for any trouble it may have caused.”
Shifa, seated in the chair of my private room, cast a cold gaze at me.
Recently, he seems a bit giddy after acquiring a new ear, a courtier.
I pushed Shifa as the leader of the Asura Clan and the Demon Lord not because of his family’s prestige, but due to their shaky power.During the Asura Clan leader selection, the head of the Klaushten family was considered the sure winner, but I supported Shifa, dismantling his rivals to help him secure the position, and during the Demon Lord selection, I applied pressure to ensure his ascension as well.
Originally, I could have become the leader of the Asura or the Demon Lord myself, but because my family, the Haydon house, was a low-level Noble without land, I sent in Shifa, of the distinguished Secundadi family, as my puppet to take those roles.
That puppet has begun to show will.
Though it’s extremely unpleasant for me, given the current situation where I haven’t had a child with my daughter yet, I can’t just discard him, so I’ve decided to yield this time.
”There’s no need to apologize in that way. I trust my father-in-law. However, I am worried about someone. I just want to hear the story.”
”Haha, then let me explain. A General named Gertroud, whom I had been keeping an eye on, caused a coup in the south, fled to the east, killed several Eastern lords, and declared independence from the kingdom.”
Hearing my words, Shifa’s eyes widened.
He likely hadn’t heard that much from his new ear, the courtier.
Up until now, Shifa had only been told, ‘Thanks to Your Majesty’s reign, the world is at peace,’ so he must have been unaware of how things were unfolding.
I had deliberately kept him in the dark, but this time I thought hiding the truth would only breed more distrust, so I decided to convey the full reality.
”Independence, you say? That traitor Gertroud dares to defy my authority as the Demon Lord?!”
”Ha! Independently from the kingdom, he calls himself the Demon God Emperor and has named his independent territory the Demon God Emperor Nation. He denies the current Your Majesty the Demon Lord.”
Anger stuck to Shifa’s pale, refined face.
”You foolish fool! I am the Demon Lord of the True Demon Kingdom! To deny my authority! To deny 5 thousand years of the kingdom’s history! That person named Gertroud denies the first Demon Lord Orphée Bleu-sama! I cannot allow this!”
”Ha I thought so. I’ve captured his relatives. I leave their punishment to Your Majesty.”
”At once, behead them and display their heads in the royal capital’s square!”
”Understood. I will have their heads taken immediately. I sincerely apologize for this incident. I am completely filled with regret for troubling Your Majesty with such matters.”
I lowered my head so low it nearly scraped the floor.
It had been a long time since I bowed this low, but this was a moment to endure.
”No, my father-in-law bears no blame. Please do not worry.”
”No, that will not do. To express my apologies, I wish for my daughters, Ferraris, Dorianne, Silvana to serve as Your Majesty’s concubines.”
A sigh escaped from Shifa.
I had heard that her relationship with Irmgarde, whom I sent as the official wife, was good, but they had not been blessed with children, and the courtiers had inquired about appointing a concubine.
”You wish to have your other daughters as my concubines? I wonder what Irmgarde will say…”
”I have received approval from Irmgarde. She also said she wishes to serve Your along with her sisters, so may I ask you to accept the matter of the concubines?”
Upon hearing that Irmgarde had given her approval, Shifa nodded happily.
”If Irmgarde has approved, then there is no barrier for me to decline the proposal. I would be grateful to have my father-in-law’s daughters take care of me.”
”Then, please tell them to come tonight. Use them as you see fit.”
My daughters are known as famous beauty sisters even in the Royal Capital, and when Shifa learned that all of them would come to me, the harsh expression on her face vanished, and she had a rather giddy expression.
”I have agreed to the maidservant matter. I leave Gertroud’s matter to my father-in-law. I want his head. I expect it, father-in-law.”
Shifa had lost interest in Gertroud and his attention had shifted to the new concubine who was likely coming tonight.
I was sure I had regained Shifa’s trust.
With this, I thought I had been given free rein regarding Gertroud’s punishment.
”Hmph! For Your Majesty, for the True Demon Kingdom, I shall subjugate the traitor Gertroud!”
I declared that and after taking my leave from Shifa, I left her private chambers.
* * *
Upon returning to my office, Sven was standing silently behind me.
”Stop it, I’ve warned him many times! I’ll kill him someday! I’m incredibly angry right now. Thanks to Gertroud, I felt the coldness of the floor on my forehead again for the first time in a while.”
”Sir Gwain, even you need patience at times. When Sir Gwain obtains ultimate power, I will gladly be beheaded.”
Sven quickly leaped back and knelt before me, bowing his head.
”How did it go?”
”Your has entrusted me with full authority over Gertroud’s punishment. In exchange for my 3 daughters! Well, they weren’t much use anyway, so it worked out.”
”That’s excellent. Then let us issue a Gertroud extermination order throughout the kingdom. We will urge all local lords, the True Demon Dukedom, the Black Dragon Dukedom, and the Southern Margrave to join the extermination army. We should also add that those who refuse to participate will be considered Gertroud sympathizers.”
Recently, the kingdom’s army is in the process of reconstruction after the battle with the Black Dragon Dukedom, but this time, the main forces will be the armies of various lords, along with the Black Dragon, True Demon, and the southern army taking the forefront.
Moreover, those who refuse this subjugation order will be deemed rebels against the Demon Lord, gaining a justification for their extermination.
Given the Demon Lord’s decree, there seems to be no reason for the Black Dragon army or the southern army to refuse participation.
Rather, if they refuse, they would be considered to have withdrawn from the kingdom, so they will likely be forced to participate.
”Kent and the black snake woman cannot refuse to participate. I guess I’ll make them work hard crushing Gertroud’s army. Gertroud has been of some use before dying, at least.”
”Indeed. Then I will immediately announce it across the land. What scale of subjugation forces should we prepare?”
”Hmm, I intend to have about 5 thousand newly organized troops led by Lord Rosenkreuz. It seems young officers are rumored to say he is more competent than Gertroud. He’s only 17, but I promoted him to General in this personnel change.”
”Lord Rosenkreuz, huh? That family had a brother who criticized Sir Gwain, right? The current head is the younger brother, Lord Charl, if I recall? I’ve heard he is competent as a warrior, but General at 17?”
Sven seems to know about Charl as well.
After all, as the head of a noble family associated with my faction, it seems he has done some investigation.
Unlike his deceased brother, Charl has come closer to me, becoming part of the faction.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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