Her explanation ended with what they had told the Blue Roses—that they were just barely holding off the invasion. She probably wasn’t very happy to be telling another country, especially one ruled by an undead, that the Sacred Kingdom was on the verge of collapse.
“I see, I see. So what is the plan now?”
“Well, we have a favor to ask of you, Your Majesty. We heard that the adventurer called Momon is serving your country. If we could borrow that warrior who fought on equal footing against Jaldabaoth, we would have nothing to fear. We humbly request that you dispatch the warrior, Momon, to the Sacred Kingdom.”
The red flames in the King of Darkness’s eyes went out for a moment and then came back.
“Just as I thought. I’ll give you the answer I prepared ahead of time: impossible.”
“Why do you say that, Your Majesty?”
“I’m afraid it’s to do with my nation’s shame… He plays a critical role in keeping the peace here. It’s thanks to him that my people are able to live here without fear.”
“But, Your Majesty, don’t you have an undead army?”
“Hoh-hoh-hoh,” the king chuckled softly. “You from the Sacred Kingdom seem to find my undead army trustworthy. Then shall I lend you my troops instead of Momon? I believe you saw the undead I control—they’re all hardy warriors. I’m sure they could easily annihilate the subhumans.”
Remedios wasn’t sure what to say.
Could she imagine herself leading an undead army back to the Sacred Kingdom? No, she would never imagine that. Leading an undead army was the last thing a paladin would do.
Certainly, an undead army came with lots of benefits. Undead didn’t require food or much of anything at all—you could even have them stand by in the middle of a primeval forest indefinitely without having to worry about resupply. They were truly the ideal soldiers.
But the idea of accepting an army of life-hating enemies of all living things was, above all, frightening. Calling a foreign nation’s army to one’s own country was anxiety inducing to begin with. It was eminently possible that they could just stick around and occupy the place once all the original problems were solved.
“Th-that would be…”
The King of Darkness chuckled at how shaken Remedios was. “Exactly, Lady Custodio. We have people who think like you do in our nation as well. People involved in growing crops, cultivating the land, and security are gradually learning to accept undead, but unfortunately, the city people aren’t keen on getting too close to them, so I haven’t managed to get the populace to accept them yet. Of course, they seem more open to the idea than when I first took power here, but it’ll probably require a little more time. Momon lends an ear to their insecurities and takes care of a lot of issues for me. If I sent him away now, there’s no telling how the people’s dissatisfaction would explode.”
“Then what if we paladins stayed behind instead of Momon to encourage people to trust the undead? It’s widely known that undead are the enemy of paladins. So I imagine it would be effective for us to announce that we trust those beneath Your Majesty.”
“Mmph… That’s a proposal worth considering.”
After some intense thought, the King of Darkness’s face moved slightly to look at his hand that wasn’t holding his staff. “…Hmm. The part that doesn’t work is that you’re from a foreign country. If someone has been through good times and bad with you, you can trust them, but if some strangers showed up suddenly and said undead could be trusted, would you believe them? I don’t think you would work as a substitute for that adamantite adventurer who has made such a name for himself in our city.”
He was exactly right.
They couldn’t argue with logic. It was especially impossible for Remedios, who was the emotional type to begin with.
She had fallen silent when the King of Darkness suddenly said, “Okay. By the way, this is a change of subject, but I wanted to ask about some people who didn’t appear in your report, Lady Custodio. I heard from Momon that Jaldabaoth had quite powerful maids with him. You haven’t seen them in the Sacred Kingdom, have you?”
“No, we haven’t. We heard about them for the first time from the Blue Roses in Re-Estize.”
“I see… So perhaps that means he uses them as his last resort? Or are they lurking in some other location?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“…You said the south of your country was still all right, but have you been in close contact with them?”
“To some extent.”
“So none of his subordinates have infiltrated there yet? Maybe I’m being paranoid, but…”
The King of Darkness looked up at the ceiling.
“You think someone under Jaldabaoth may have already snuck into the south, Your Majesty?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but I just wonder why, if he has such powerful pawns, he doesn’t put them into play… You remember how I said at the beginning of this conversation that we should speak our minds? So I’ll ask you straight: What is the Sacred Kingdom able to reward us for our assistance?”
It was a natural question to ask. Utterly normal. But it was extremely difficult to answer.
“Our country’s friendship, trust, and respect.”
The King of Darkness smirked at Remedios’s reply.
But if asked if Remedios was in the wrong, Neia couldn’t say that was the case. At times, paladins went into battle risking their lives for that much. For example, taking on a request from a poor village that couldn’t afford to compensate and fighting off a mob of subhumans was something a model paladin would do.
“That’s a very paladin thing to say. I had a friend who may have been called to action by those words, but not me, unfortunately. I said no flowery speeches. Can you offer me any actual benefit?”
Does the King of Darkness consider Sir Momon his friend? Is that why he talks about him so
