The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 117

[Aaaagh! Aaaagh! We have to run away!]

Bermeil III jumped off Tia’s shoulder at high speed.

Since the human was about to do something strange, he was planning to run away to the forest immediately.

However, Raelle was a little faster.

He grabbed the back of Bermeil III’s neck, who was trying to escape.

“Don’t worry. The Demon King’s body has dozens of restraints, so it won’t be dangerous unless something goes wrong.”

[I’m really going to die! I can feel an ominous energy!]

Of course, Raelle admitted that he could feel an ominous energy from the Demon King, but the more that happened, the more he needed Bermeil III’s help.

If he was a spirit that could read souls, he would be able to read the essence of the Demon King.

“Raelle, are you going to take Bermeil III to the Demon King?”

“Yes. I thought it would be helpful if he could read the Demon King’s soul.”

“You’re smarter than I thought. Spirits are sensitive to souls, so it’s a good idea.”

Bestia wagged her tail and nodded.

Raelle was more intelligent than she thought.

“Come to think of it, Lady Tia, weren’t you holed up in the lair to study the Demon King? Were there any results?”

Raelle turned his head towards the dragon, who was standing still on one side.

“No, there wasn’t anything special. It was an obvious conclusion that the Demon King was artificially created by the Empire.”

Tia said regretfully.

Embarrassingly, while holed up in the lair, Tia studied Raelle’s body more than the Demon King.

“… Yes? What did you say?”

Raelle’s eyes widened at Tia’s words.

The Demon King was artificially created by the Empire?

What kind of nonsense was that?

“It’s obvious. When the Demon King’s seal weakens, her presence also weakens, and when the seal strengthens, the demonic energy also strengthens. That means the seal itself constitutes the existence of the Demon King.”

“…”

Raelle frowned at Tia’s words.

Certainly, her words were persuasive.

A seal is a technique to suppress the power of a specific being.

If the seal weakened, the power of the sealed being should leak out, but it wasn’t a normal seal that her presence weakened every time the seal weakened.

‘The Demon King is an artificial being…?’

The strongest scourge that turned the peaceful Empire into a sea of fire.

The worst villain who caused more casualties than the final boss.

Raelle couldn’t help but frown at the fact that the Empire created such a monster.

No, was such a thing even possible in the first place?

“The Demon King is a monster created from the malice of humans. Can such a thing be created artificially?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly. But, is there any creature that knows humans better than humans?”

“…”

Raelle couldn’t deny Tia’s words.

There was no race that could stir up human malice as well as humans.

‘If the Demon King is an artificial being… why did the Empire create such a monster?’

Why did they create such a monster, and what happened that caused the Demon King to go berserk?

Raelle frowned, recalling the Demon King’s face.

*

Raelle didn’t waste time on pointless worries.

There was a way to get more information about the Demon King, so there was no need to rack his brains without even trying.

[I’m going to die. I’m going to die if I go down there…. ]

“I told you, you’re not going to die… No, you’re a spirit, aren’t you? Why are you so frivolous?”

He didn’t feel like this when they first met.

How did it turn out like this? Could this be Reina’s influence too?

Swish.

Raelle looked at the mint chocolate in his hand.

Gent had bought it in the capital and was wondering whether to bring it to the Demon King, but Raelle brought it instead.

[I don’t want to! I don’t want to go down there!]

“Shut up.”

Raelle held Bermeil III, who was still fussing, in his arms and went down to the underground prison.

The prison, made of a mixture of ten thousand year iron and adamantium [an extremely hard mythical metal], still had an unpleasant chill flowing out.

Squeak-.

When Raelle opened the door, there was a rattling sound from the other side of the prison.

It was the sound of restraints that he hadn’t heard in a long time.

“You’re finally back, Raelle.”

Numerous prayers of the Order were written on the wall.

Raelle looked at the girl in the prison between them.

The Demon King, with horns on her head, was looking at Raelle with pure eyes.

“…It’s been a while.”

Raelle went to the front of the prison and made eye contact with the Demon King.

She seemed happy to see Raelle after a long time, and she stared at Raelle with her eyes wide open.

“Raelle, I don’t know how bored I was while you were gone. Did you bring the mint chocolate?”

“Of course, I brought it.”

Raelle threw the mint chocolate through the bars of the prison.

Chomp- Chomp-

The Demon King began to eat the mint chocolate with a bright smile, and seeing that made him feel strange.

Raelle couldn’t understand that the Empire and the Order had created a monster that could destroy the Empire.

“Hey, fox, do you feel anything?”

Raelle whispered to Bermeil III, who was clinging to his back.

[Ugh, ugh… I feel something.]

Bermeil III hugged Raelle’s back and trembled.

The unidentified energy emanating from the Demon King made even the spirit Bermeil III afraid.

However, a spirit was a spirit.

Bermeil III quickly grasped the Demon King’s identity.

[Ah, I remember! The Order! I smell the Gaia Order that humans love!]

“… What?”

[It was hidden in a scary scent, so I didn’t notice it right away, but it’s certain. The Demon King is definitely from the Order!]

“From the Gaia Order?”

Did that make sense?

The Demon King, a collection of human malice, was from the Gaia Order?

‘I’m sure everyone who was related to the Demon King was executed.’

Then what is the Demon King’s identity?

Raelle thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind.

‘Damn it, is this right? Is this the world….’

Raelle let out a hollow laugh.

The countries on the continent were all messed up, and the Kamen Empire was in chaos itself. Now even the Order was acting up.

If the demons gathered their strength and attacked tomorrow, humanity would be swept away and destroyed in an instant.

‘Lucas… I miss you today of all days.’

He missed him, rolling around with women on a deserted island.

What kind of fight will that guy be fighting in the future?

‘…No. I have to do it now.’

Haa.

Raelle sighed and threw mint chocolate at the Demon King.

*

After finishing his Demon King monitoring duties.

Raelle, who had released Bermeil III, left the Special Guard.

He had heard so many side stories hidden behind the original work that his head was throbbing.

‘My butterfly effect wouldn’t have affected the Demon King’s existence… so that means they were originally like that.’

Whether it was the Empire or the Order.

It meant that they were originally shady bastards.

They artificially created the existence of the Demon King for ‘some reason’.

‘Yuri said that the Imperial Family and the Order led the sealing of the Demon King.’

They didn’t capture and seal the Demon King.

They were creating the existence of the Demon King and binding that existence with the procedure of sealing.

‘Since I didn’t stop the Demon King’s rampage in the original work… does that mean those two want something?’

He couldn’t figure out what they wanted, so he couldn’t even think from their perspective.

It wasn’t so much that there was a lack of information, but it felt like something was twisted.

“…Haa, I found out something unnecessarily huge.”

Raelle thought as he walked towards the Order.

Raelle’s head became unnecessarily complicated because he had a lot of information that others didn’t know.

‘First, meet Carlson, see the Saintess’s face. If there’s a gap, let’s do some personal investigation.’

He was also planning to entrust Beggars and the Fighting Spirit with investigating the Order.

Raelle knew the faces of the Order’s high-ranking clerics well.

Perhaps, there might be someone related to the Demon King among the faces Raelle knew.

“Raelle hyung-nim!” [Brother]

At that time, Carlson, who had come out to meet him in front of the Order, waved his hand.

“Carlson, did you skip out again because you didn’t want to pray?”

“Hehe, would I do that? Hyung-nim [Brother]. Let’s go in.”

Raelle followed Carlson into the Order’s headquarters.

The inside of the Order seemed much busier than during the Yongbongjihoe [a gathering or event], which was natural since an event inside the Order was being prepared.

“Carlson, are you going to pick a hero right after the Saintess’s inauguration ceremony?”

“There will be some gap in between. The academy graduation ceremony has to be over, and there are many things to prepare for the selection of a hero.”

“If it’s the academy graduation ceremony, there’s about a month left.”

There wasn’t much time left.

Raelle, who had learned about the Demon King, was now eager to give up the position of hero.

“The Pope is also attending the Saintess’s inauguration ceremony, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“When I think about it, I’ve never seen the Pope’s face.”

It had been over 20 years since Raelle had lived in the Empire.

In the meantime, he had seen the Emperor in person, but he had never seen the Pope.

Now that he thought about it, it was a strange thing.

“That’s what I’m saying. To be honest, I’ve never seen him either.”

“…You’ve never seen the Pope?”

“Yes. The Pope has only been talking to the Cardinals for the past 10 years. He’s been focusing on communicating with the main god, Gaia.”

“…”

Raelle frowned.

He, who had lived in medieval fantasy for over 20 years, had grasped all the stupid excuse patterns of medieval people.

And, there was a suspicious smell coming from the Pope of the Gaia Order.

‘Is the Pope also hiding something?’

Logically, there was no reason for the Pope not to show his face to the clerics and paladins.

He would know for sure if he met him in person, but he didn’t think he would emit demonic energy like the Emperor, no matter what.

Since the Gaia Order was full of divine power, demonic energy wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

‘Why are the leaders all abnormal?’

The Emperor of the Kamen Empire.

The Commander of the Kamen Knights.

The Pope of the Gaia Order.

Somehow, the heads of the organizations that Raelle had seen were all strange.

“Raelle hyung-nim [Brother]. Why does your expression look so bad?”

“Tsk, just… I remembered something annoying. Where are we going now?”

“Hmm, let’s go see the Saintess first before stopping by the Silver Cross Knights.”

“Good idea.”

Raelle shook off the worries that filled his head.

First, he was going to greet Saintess Cecilia, whom he was meeting after a long time.

‘I wonder how much Priestess Cecilia has changed. I hope she hasn’t been influenced by anything strange?’

It had been almost a few months since he had seen her face, but he wasn’t worried.

Raelle had maintained his friendship with Priestess Cecilia for a long time for this day.

Even in this frustrating reality, Raelle’s golden lifeline was strong.

Even though there were many terrible things like the Demon King and the Pope, he felt reassured just by the fact that one of the highest authorities in the Order was on his side.

“She’s over there.”

Cecilia was surrounded by clerics in one corner of the Order’s headquarters.

She seemed to exude holiness as she looked at others with a kind impression.

“Saintess! I’ve brought Sir Raelle!”

“Ah, Gaia-men [Followers of Gaia]. Could everyone wait a moment?”

At Carlson’s words, Cecilia looked this way.

Cecilia smiled at the clerics she was talking to and turned her head.

“Sir Raelle. No, should I call you Sir Raelle now? It’s been a while.”

Her smile was the same as when she was a lower priest.

Raelle was moved just by that fact.

There was still justice left in this messed up world.

“Priestess Cecilia. No, Saintess…!”

Was it his imagination that a halo was shining from Cecilia’s back?

She was the only real one in the rotten Order.

“Oh my, Sir Raelle?”

Cecilia tilted her head, looking at Raelle, whose eyes suddenly became moist.