The next morning, I went to the royal castle first thing in the morning. I was surprised when I entered the castle. There are battle scars everywhere. It’s amazing that so many battles have taken place… but it’s also amazing that you can barely see them beyond the walls of the castle.
I don’t know who’s in charge, but they’ve got some serious information control and leadership skills.
I’m going through my usual routine at a bit of a snail’s pace and entering the Dauphin’s office. I wonder if His Highness has any plans for the rest of the day. I bow as usual.
Werner van Zierfeldt, I’m here.
“Welcome, Lord Werner. And well done.”
I’m surprised your first word was a compliment. I’m sorry.
I’m sorry, sir. But I’m not the only one who’s done this.
It’s not about Finoy. It’s about Aleya.
I can’t help but make a curious face at the unexpected remark. I asked him what he meant by the expression on his face, and he explained.
“First of all, he is to be commended for protecting the family of Mazel the Brave.”
I’m sorry.
“And I vaguely remember when Mazel’s sister was almost abducted. The damage would have been much worse if you hadn’t sent the family back to King’s Landing first so I could hear more of her story when I interviewed her.”
“Was there that much to talk about?”
Lily said she remembered the words “prime” and “resurrection” when she was almost swallowed by the thing. She didn’t know what the word “elemental” meant. Maybe she’s got her brother’s good memory.
And the sorcerer-king reported that the black gem had a mesmerizing weirdness about it. There’s also the suspicion that Lord Pickler, who’s been investigating the matter full-time, has been acting strangely.
And one of the black jewels supposed to be in King’s Landing was recovered in Urrea. We don’t know if the other one’s safe. The Dauphin seems to have gathered all this information and come up with one answer.
“Perhaps that black gem is the soul of the demon tribe. Since it’s called an elemental, it’s safe to assume that the black gem can take over or control the bodies of its victims. And since one of them was taken out, we can assume that at least one of them has already been enchanted.”
“I see…”
“And it also helped me with Sir Mungold’s investigation of Mungold. I did some research based on Sir’s information and found out that the hooded man who had been in contact with Mangold was Pückler, so it all connected.”
I have to agree. And now I know why the three Demon Generals came back in the game. They’re the type of enemy that’ll come back if you don’t destroy the core… Hmm?
I’m a little creeped out. If the Three Generals have come back in the form of taking over our bodies, then was it Dreax’s core that Lily was about to be eaten by in the village of Aarea?
If that had happened then Finoy or somewhere else would have been attacked by Dreax who’d taken her sister’s body or Mazel might have ended up putting the sword to her sister’s body… you’ve got to be kidding me…. I’m still in a cold sweat thinking about what would’ve happened if we hadn’t made it in time.
The dangers of the Black Jewel need to be explained, so we’ll tell Mazel, but we don’t need to tell Miss Lily. I’ll keep quiet.
But still… Whose bodies were the three generals who were resurrected in the game and appeared at the end? Maybe it was the Dauphin or the Knight Commander who were supposed to have been killed in the stampede. What if they weren’t actually dead but prisoners of war?
If I’m right, the story might have started to change if the demons didn’t destroy the knights and the kingdom army was defeated. It’s a scary thought.
Which raises another question. The attack on King’s Landing. Let’s say the demons had already taken over by the time Lord Pickler met me. That’s before Laura joined the heroes’ party.
The black jewel didn’t appear in the game, but if the kingdom had investigated the place where the demon tribe who controlled the demon runaway was, someone other than Mazel might have picked it up. If that’s the case, it means that the demons had actually entered the Royal City early in the game.
I thought the Four Heavenly Kings’ destruction of King’s Landing was only an attack from the outside, but the demons might have been rampaging inside the castle as well. But if that’s the case, the question arises as to why.
In the game I thought it was just a convenient scenario for Mazel’s ascension to the throne, but if the demons were thinking of attacking so early, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had another purpose. If they had another purpose, what would it be?
I almost think about it, but then I consciously banish the question. This is not the time. We’re still talking about the Dauphin.
“We’ve also been able to sort out the suspicious characters in King’s Landing by carefully tracking down those who have been in contact with Pückler. The castle was mostly cleared yesterday with the help of the guards and the Knights.”
Is there a problem?
“Pyxrar, or rather the one who took over Pyxrar’s body, who called himself the Wizard Getherius, has probably escaped. It’s a pity that someone got ahead of us in the struggle for achievement before the siege was complete.”
His Highness was mocking himself, but I’m not here for that. Gesarius? Who’s that? That’s not in the game.
The only generals I know of are Dreax, Beliulace, and the late Abadrath. There’s definitely no general by that name in the game. Wait a minute!
Before the final battle of the Demon King’s Castle, the three resurrected generals were the ones guarding the four doors on the boss map. I thought they were simply guarding the rooms between the doors. But what if they were literally the gatekeepers? Were they demon generals who guarded each of the four doors?
If the fourth general, who was cut out of the game for memory reasons or something, exists in real life, then that part makes sense for now. I’m still having a lot of questions, and my mind is a bit of a mess, but I’m putting it all off for now.
I can’t think without information, so it’s more important to have it explained to me now.
What do you mean, “probably”?
“The sorcerers, the Kingsguard and the castle guards surrounded him and I’m sure inflicted a mortal or near-fatal wound. But they disappeared beyond the walls of the castle and the black jewel has not been found. What do you think, my lord?”
“I don’t like to imagine it, but I think we should consider the fact that they can revert to human form.”
I’m with you.
it’s going to be a challenge to find one among the population of King’s Landing. And the potion won’t work against a general. I mean, in a game they’re an unavoidable boss.
I’ve never heard of such a setting in the game. Or maybe that’s just a special ability of this Gesarius guy or something. Either way, I’ve got a lot to think about.
Is there damage here?
“There have been a fair number of casualties and missing persons. We were aware of Pickler’s suspicious nature and had been on the lookout for him, but we didn’t expect a Demon General class to reveal himself and start rampaging inside the institute without question.”
I agree. If they just stormed in with no cover, it’s inevitable that some of their soldiers would get hurt. They might have been on their guard when they found out we failed to hit Finoy.
And when I asked him about the details he said that when Lord Pickler’s body swelled up from the inside it was as if it exploded. Seeing that in front of you would usually make you stop thinking. Even adventurers might be surprised.
But I see… So even knights and sorcerers can fight against bosses of the game if they’re prepared to some extent. This is also different from the game. I’m glad that I was able to confirm it again.
It occurred to me that a boss should have a few cronies around… Maybe this Gesarius guy didn’t escape and his cronies just took the black gem.
I’m not saying they planned it from the beginning, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they had some sort of insurance policy. That would lead me to believe that one of the missing persons might be a demon in disguise… but we can check that later.
I wonder why the Demon Lord came back to life… What if the Demon Lord resurrected by taking over someone’s body? We won’t think about that until later.
“Are you worried about the impact on those of us studying anti-range magic?”
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I was still working on it.”
So there was no harm done. As long as the researchers are safe, I guess we can consider it a non-issue. But if the damage was minor… we should be happy about that. If we had advanced too far the demons might’ve been warned…
Speaking of which, what did the demon general look like?
“He looked like a man and a lion combined. He moved fast and strong. But most troublesome of all, he could leap.”
Lycanthrope beastmen. I remember in the game, Immortal Undead, Reptilian Reptipos, and Giant had generals, but not Lycanthrope Lycanthrope.
Oh, that means…
“… Is the old Triots in danger?”
I’m surprised you noticed. No, you’ve already looked into that, haven’t you, sir?”
His Highness looks surprised. I just remembered that in the game there are werewolves and tiger war-tigers in the field around Triot. I think he misunderstood me, though, so maybe I misspoke.
“I’ve investigated reports of werewolves and other attacks by refugees from the Triots. If he’s alive and well, as you feared, it’s safe to assume he’s fled there to build up his forces.”
“Then the Marquis of Knaap’s lands adjacent to the Triots may be in danger first.”
“But we can’t just carelessly increase our forces in a noble family’s territory.”
It’s a problem. It’s impossible to say whether the current Lords of K’naap can defend themselves on their own. But if the royal families build defensive facilities on their own, they’ll have to decide whether to seize the area or not, and if they put troops there, they’ll have to decide who’s going to provide food and other things. It would be different if the situation were explained to them and they understood the situation and asked for help, but I don’t know if they and their vassals would be convinced of that.
The problem is that we can’t easily say whether we can or can’t afford to pay for the construction of the facilities or for the soldiers’ food. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t just throw it all on a single noble family. Noble families have many ties.
