Chapter 1614 – 1614. The Plum Blossom Sword Master Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
A week had passed since the war with the Demonic Alliance ended.
I sat at my desk in the office for the first time. The desk was divided between documents and letters. I reached for the documents first. The feel of the documents never became familiar, no matter how many times I touched them. I picked one up and skimmed through it.
It detailed the losses from the recent war, the expected profits, and so on. I checked the author of the document. It was Yuria. It seemed she needed my approval for business expansion.
‘Yuria will handle it well.’
I stamped the approval document with a firm thud. I quickly skimmed through the other documents as well. There were many documents from Melissa and Nepia. Melissa’s were mostly related to combat equipment, while Nepia’s were about the management of the mansion.
Thump, thump, thump!
Since they seemed fine after a quick glance, I stamped them all.
I finished the backlog of documents in three minutes.
‘It feels refreshing to work after a long time.’
I heard that Japanese people prefer seal approvals. Now that I’ve stamped them myself, I understand. There’s a strange sense of satisfaction to it.
‘Now that the documents are done, it’s time for this pile of letters.’
There was a stack of letters that looked like it was easily over 100.
These were carefully selected letters, mostly from high-ranking nobles, royalty from other countries, influential merchants, and the magic towers within the Demonic Alliance—people with a certain level of influence.
I opened one of the letters and began to read.
-To the savior of the continent and the great hero, Count Prukerus.
‘The first sentence is pleasing.’
But even flattery gets tiresome if you hear it too much. There were too many flowery words.
‘To summarize, they want me to save their cousin who’s in the Demonic Alliance.’
I opened the desk drawer and took out letter paper and a fountain pen. I scribbled a reply with the fountain pen.
“You stupid bastard. Can’t you even manage your own cousin? Did you perhaps support the Demonic Alliance? I’ll send someone to investigate. If there’s any evidence that you supported the Demonic Alliance… I’ll kill you and everyone down to your eighth cousin.”
A perfect reply was completed.
This would elicit one of two reactions from him. Either he would resist to the end, or he would come running with gold and treasures.
‘If the tribute isn’t good enough, I’ll have to wipe them out.’
I checked the contents of the remaining letters. Most of them were congratulating me on the victory of the war and trying to get on my good side. The letters from those who had turned their backs on me and sided with the Demonic Alliance were particularly desperate, which was amusing.
‘They’re already on the side of the Demonic Alliance. There’s no forgiving them. I’ll kill them one by one.’
And there was one particularly luxurious letter. It had the crest of the Rapelli royal family.
‘It’s a letter from Prince Aiden.’
Prince Aiden must know what’s going on.
The Demonic Alliance invaded under the pretext of Princess Eileen. But the Demonic Alliance was defeated. Princess Eileen became mine, and those who supported her are desperately hoping for my mercy.
‘The letter starts with praise for me, as expected.’
The main point was that he wanted to hold the coronation ceremony as soon as possible.
There was nothing much about Princess Eileen. It was basically saying that I could do whatever I wanted with her, whether to kill her or keep her alive.
‘A coronation ceremony. I should just tell them to handle it.’
I have to attend the coronation ceremony. That way, I can show that I am behind Prince Aiden and demonstrate my influence.
‘No. Wait a minute.’
What if I didn’t attend the coronation ceremony?
Wouldn’t the nobles reveal their true colors? They might try to manipulate Prince Aiden somehow.
‘If they know my power and influence, there wouldn’t be any crazy bastards who would do that… but a loyalty test would be fun.’
It sounds fun, so I should do it.
And that wouldn’t be an exception for Prince Aiden either.
Knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Yuria entered.
“Were you working?”
“I just finished. What brings you here?”
“I’ve obtained information from Caliberd.”
Caliberd. The representative of the Demonic Alliance.
“It took you a week? I didn’t know that old man was so tight-lipped.”
I was genuinely impressed. It was rare for anyone to withstand Yuria’s interrogation for a week. At most, they would spill everything they knew in three days. There were even those who would sell out their own families.
“I focused more on his treatment than interrogation. His condition suddenly deteriorated, perhaps due to the aftereffects of the demonic weapon. And… I confirmed that Caliberd’s demonization was progressing.”
“Demonization… you mean that old man was turning into a demon?”
“I briefly researched the demonic weapon. I can’t be certain, but its properties were similar to the Demonic Stone Gate.”
“It’s not surprising since Leosio’s influence would have reached it. Leosio. That bastard made a deal with a demon.”
The demon group Pantheon. The Demonic Stone Gate. The Demonic Alliance. Leosio.
It was all connected.
“It’s certain that Leosio made a deal with the Demon King.”
I voiced a fact I already knew. Honestly, it was so terrible that I didn’t even want to say it out loud.
‘They were supposed to be defeated separately in the original story… tsk.’
Leosio’s ultimate goal was immortality.
The Demon King was someone who had the ability to help Leosio.
From the beginning, Leosio had planned to summon the Demon King and make a deal.
“Leosio and Caliberd had a one-sided relationship. Leosio unilaterally ordered Caliberd. In exchange for following Leosio’s orders, Caliberd obtained demonic weapons and lost arcane magic.”
“So Caliberd doesn’t know anything about Leosio’s location or purpose?”
“Yes. Caliberd was just being used. He was aware of that himself.”
“He must have been really greedy for the dragon’s magic and demonic weapons. What about Kyle?”
“Leosio’s Dragon Tooth Soldiers took Kyle. Caliberd doesn’t know where they took him.”
“They could have killed Kyle. But they didn’t. Why did Leosio take Kyle?”
“Isn’t it possible that Kyle’s body is the goal? The Demon King tried to create a body in the labyrinth and obtain the power of the labyrinth. That’s probably because the current Demon King doesn’t have a body or his body isn’t in a normal state.”
“His body isn’t normal…”
“We interfered with Leosio and Pantheon’s plans. Pantheon’s goal was to bring the Demon King into this world, and they failed. However, the Demon King already existed in the intermediate realm, separate from their plans. I suspect the Demon King lost his body in exchange for that.”
“Why did the Demon King go to such lengths to come to the intermediate realm?”
“The Demon King was probably the one who used Pantheon from behind. He incited the great demons. The Demon King realized that Pantheon would fail and seems to have changed his plans. It wouldn’t be strange if the Demon King had one of his many powers that allowed him to see the future.”
“A power of prophecy or a power of foresight… he probably has one of those powers. Is he trying to make Kyle’s body his own? Is there a need for that?”
“Objectively speaking, Kyle is a genius.”
“…Ah.”
That’s right.
In the original story, no one except Yuria could match his talent. It was a body that the Demon King would covet. I had forgotten that fact because he was such a useless idiot.
I imagined the Demon King taking over Kyle’s body.
‘…I don’t think I’d lose.’
Leosio and the Demon King. Where could they be?
There are two possible locations. The Sea of Evil and the Alcaillon Mountains.
I didn’t want to go to either place.
“It’s annoying to move myself… should I send people first?”
“I will recruit mercenaries. If we promise a huge reward, they will rush to take the request.”
Kuuuuuuuuuung!
I heard the sound of something huge falling. I frowned and got up from my chair.
“Another attack? The Demonic Alliance is finished, so what is it this time?”
“The impact occurred in the mansion’s garden. It’s possible that the barrier has been breached. If not…”
“It’s right in front of us, so we can just check.”
I couldn’t see the garden from the office, so I went out into the hallway. I could see the garden through the windows in the hallway.
“This is…”
A giant blue dragon, about 50 meters long, was lying in the garden. Its sturdy body was wounded in many places. Blood flowed from the wounds, pooling on the garden floor. On the dragon’s back was a familiar woman with red pigtails. She had a huge chest that didn’t match her small stature. Her chest was something beyond voluptuous.
“It’s Priscilla and Sharnel. How did Priscilla end up like this?”
“Master, we need to treat Priscilla’s wounds first. If we leave her like that, the garden will become a sea of blood.”
The elf maid Elnoa, who managed the garden, caught my eye. She looked like she was about to cry. It seemed she was distraught not because of the dragon’s wounds, but because the garden was ruined.
“What if Priscilla dies?”
“Dragons don’t die that easily. Her heart seems fine, so she’ll recover even if we leave her alone.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Yuria disappeared to get potions. I opened the window and jumped into the garden.
“Yujin! Help me! Master!”
Sharnel found me and stomped her feet. She was still on Priscilla’s back.
“Get down first. Yuria went to get potions, so she’ll recover soon.”
If we poured top-grade potions on her, even a dragon would recover.
Sharnel used magic to come down next to me. Priscilla was breathing but had her eyes closed. She seemed unconscious.
“What happened?”
“Leosio made a deal with the Demon King! Master was attacked by their combined forces! If the Demon King hadn’t suddenly interfered, we could have punished Leosio…!”
“Oh. Okay.”
“…What? Why are you reacting like that? It’s the Demon King! The Demon King appeared and attacked Master with Leosio! And do you know what’s even more shocking? The Demon King is…”
“He probably took Kyle’s body.”
“How did you know?!”
Sharnel’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear. Whether she was making a fuss or not, I was lost in thought.
The Demon King and Leosio. It would be difficult for Yuria to face them alone. At least, I had to take care of Leosio.
‘It would be ideal for Priscilla to handle it. But she’s injured like this, so there’s a limit to how much she can recover with potions. And it doesn’t look like a normal wound… How many days will it take for her to recover?’
And there was no way that Leosio and the Demon King wouldn’t have prepared anything.
Yuria came out with the maids. They poured top-grade potions on Priscilla’s wounds. It didn’t have the desired effect.
‘The wounds aren’t fully healing.’
It was also awkward to use an elixir. There were no fatal wounds that were immediately life-threatening.
‘Let’s just wait and see.’
