The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 131

Leaving the party hall.

The nobles of the Northeast Alliance were at Baron Conrad’s mansion. They were very angry, and their anger was growing.

“Such arrogance!”

“That fellow, once called Dimitri’s simpleton, seems to think he’s better than everyone else just because he’s become known in the capital.”

“Indeed. Do you remember what he said at the end? He’ll see it through to the end. He is very disrespectful. Everyone, we must not let this go. If we give in like this, people will think the Northeast Alliance is weak.”

Everyone felt the same way.

They wanted revenge, but it wouldn’t be easy.

“So, does anyone have any ideas?”

It was Baron Conrad speaking. He was the person who had been most humiliated, and his face was still red with shame.

“Baron Lawrence and his followers are on Roman’s side,” Conrad continued. “This is a fight we can’t win. Is that why none of you helped when I was bowing my head? Frankly, I’m starting to doubt the point of the Northeast Alliance. To be blunt, the Dimitri family is too strong, and they have Roman Dimitri, who defeated Butler. We can’t beat them in a normal fight.”

Baron Conrad, who had seemed so confident before, now sounded negative. His heart pounded whenever he thought about bowing in front of everyone.

The nobles of the Alliance were silent.

They had let out their anger, but they didn’t have a solution.

Since Barco fell, we have no way to stop Dimitri.

Dimitri was too powerful. Recently, they had even prepared for war against the Castro family, showing they were stronger than anyone else in the Northeast area.

Fighting them would cause a lot of damage. They wanted to fight, but they knew it wouldn’t be easy, so the nobles were careful about what they said.

Then, one noble spoke carefully.

“…What if we contact the central government?”

“Are you saying we should use the central government to pressure Dimitri?”

“Yes. After Barco fell, we tried hard to make connections with the central government. Now is the time to use them. We might not be able to ask for much because we don’t have a strong relationship yet, but we can keep this problem between the Dimitri family and the Northeast Alliance. If we stop Dimitri’s supporters, like the Lawrence family, from getting involved, Dimitri will be outnumbered, no matter how strong he is.”

They weren’t planning to start a war.

They wanted to create a situation where the Northeast Alliance had a clear advantage, and then negotiate for an apology.

It was the best they could do. They didn’t want to back down.

Since they had to do something, Baron Conrad was eager to act.

“Then I’ll contact them right away.”

The communication was connected.

Baron Conrad spoke for the group, seeing the noble on the screen who they had bribed many times to build a relationship.

“Count Fabius, I need a favor.”

“[Tell me. It’s a request from Baron Conrad, so of course, I have to grant it.]”

“Thank you so much. We recently had a disagreement with the Dimitri family. Roman Dimitri publicly humiliated me because of it. Count Fabius, could you use the power of the central government to pressure the Dimitri family just once…?”

Click.

The communication was cut off. The screen went black, and Baron Conrad, looking worried, told the soldier, “Connect the communication! Hurry, or Count Fabius might get angry!”

“Yes, sir!” The soldier moved quickly.

The communication was tried again. As Count Fabius’s face appeared, Baron Conrad tried to apologize for the unstable connection.

However, Count Fabius interrupted him.

“[Haa. You really have no sense.]”

Conrad was speechless. Count Fabius, who had looked at him warmly before, now looked at him with contempt, as if he were looking at an insect.

“[Do you live in the countryside with your ears blocked? What? Pressure Roman Dimitri? Get lost, you fools. Marquis Benedict values Roman Dimitri. He’s trying to make Roman his son-in-law, and you’re talking about using the central government to pressure Dimitri. I thought being connected to the Northeast would help me get closer to the Dimitri family, but what kind of fools are you?]”

Conrad’s mind went blank. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing.

“[Listen carefully. The Castro family and the Dimitri family recently fought, right? Do you know what the central government decided? Castro couldn’t understand the situation, so Marquis Benedict demoted the Castro family, who was a close friend. Do you understand now? Stop acting crazy and figure out how to please Roman Dimitri to survive.]”

Those were his last words.

Thud.

The communication was cut off. The Northeast Alliance was speechless.

They had spent money and time trying to become close to Count Fabius, but now it was all gone.

And that wasn’t all. Count Fabius had mentioned a possible political marriage between Dimitri and the Benedict family.

The Northeast Alliance had been groveling just because Barco had a connection to the central government. The idea of a ‘political marriage,’ which was even bigger, filled them with despair.

“Oh dear.”

“It seems we’ve made a big mistake.”

But what could they do? They had already gone too far.

One noble, who had been pushing for revenge, spoke carefully. “Shouldn’t we apologize for Baron Conrad’s problem first? Don’t look at me like that. It’s wiser to give up our pride to survive.”

The nobles of the Northeast were like bats, instinctively looking for a way to survive.

The disagreement with the Conrad family was resolved.

The Conrad family apologized to the farmers and promised not to bother them for the rest of the contract.

“Young Master Roman, thank you so much!”

“We heard you did a lot for us. We don’t know how to thank you. From now on, we’ll do anything for you, even with our weak bodies.”

The farmers of Dimitri came to thank Roman.

What happened at the party spread quickly. Many people were watching, and the servants carrying food clearly heard Roman’s words as they came and went.

“Baron Conrad, the farmers of Dimitri that you touched are my people. They live in Dimitri, pay taxes in Dimitri, and are loyal to Dimitri. You touched them without warning.”

“My people.”

It was a touching statement. Dimitri’s loyalty became stronger, and Roman’s reputation improved every day.

As expected, the Northeast Alliance has backed down. They wanted to involve the central government in the disagreement with Dimitri, but the current central government has to side with me instead of the Northeast Alliance.

He was the balance of power. From the moment the central government turned its back on Castro, Roman knew he had gained a ‘background’ for now.

So, he was sure from the start that the disagreement with the Conrad family wouldn’t lead to war.

The Northeast Alliance is a group like bats. They get angry and argue with me, but they quickly give up their pride when things get tough. When Baron Lawrence and his followers supported me, they apologized right away. Now, they know they can’t involve the central government, so they’ve given up a lot of money and canceled the contract with the merchant guild. If I end things here, Dimitri might become more dominant in the Northeast area, but if the central government gets involved, the Northeast Alliance will probably stab me in the back.

A dangerous thing that could happen.

Nothing had changed. So, from the beginning, Roman didn’t want to end things without a clear plan.

This plan was divided into three parts.

The first part was to provoke them.

The second is to face reality.

Probably by now, Lucas, who was in charge of the information guild, would be spreading one fact throughout the Northeast area.

One fact. It was interesting news.

“I heard the Dimitri family is holding a swordsmanship competition? The prize is a lot of money, a hundred gold.”

“Hey. A hundred gold is a lot, but with Roman Dimitri there, can anyone win? Dimitri is just trying to make Roman look good. He’s a monster who defeated Butler, the second-best in the Hector Kingdom, so who can beat Roman?”

“Listen to the whole story. Roman and Commander Jonathan can’t participate. Also, the competition is divided into six groups. Six groups and six winners. Do you know what that means? The winner of each group can win a hundred gold.”

“Gasp! Really?!”

Everyone was excited.

The conditions of the competition were very attractive. If there was only one winner, the competition would be tough, but the Dimitri family divided it into six for some reason.

Only swordsmen in the Northeast area could participate. Since they were careful about who could join, the chances of winning seemed good.

If they were lucky and got into a group with weaker opponents, they could win easily.

Rumors spread. People wanted to know if it was true.

There was an official announcement, and Roman said, “The Dimitri family is preparing for the competition. The reason is simple. I fought a war with the Hector Kingdom. People only remember that I won, but I realized the world is big. So, I’m using this competition to prove ourselves. We’ve seen the world and become stronger. There will be six groups. One of my people will be in each group. If someone defeats my person and wins, I’ll give them a hundred gold and do anything they ask, within reason.”

It was a surprising story.

Someone asked if nobles could participate.

“Yes. If you can prove you’re a swordsman in the Northeast area, we won’t look at other things. The competition is in a month. I hope you prepare well and that many people try.”

With those words, Roman stopped talking about the competition.

But the Northeast area was in chaos because of what he had said.

The nobles of the Northeast Alliance, who were barely holding back their anger, clenched their fists when they heard the news.

They were sure this was the perfect chance for revenge.