“Hmm…”
“S-so what do you say? I—I—I think I can be useful to you. Heh-heh. What a fool I was to make an enemy out of an undead king. So I was hoping I could get a chance to make up for that mistake… Heh-heh. You won’t regret it!” Buser got down on his knees, clasped his hands together, and begged for mercy.
Neia didn’t feel sorry for him at all. No, it made perfect sense to her; that was the posture an enemy should take before the King of Darkness’s true form. And she also had a vivid recollection of what the naga she met in the Nation of Darkness said: A wise man throws himself at his feet and begs for mercy.
What would happen to someone who didn’t immediately throw himself at his feet?
“I see… I like people who recognize their mistakes and try to fix them.”
“S-so then?!” Buser beamed. But his joy was taken away a moment later.
“But I think Pestonia and Nigredo would object to making you my subordinate. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything as wasteful as only taking your skull. I’ll do my best to find a use for every part.
“Now die,” he said, lifting a bony finger.
“Ngh! N-n-noooo! I don’t wanna die yet! Wait! Please! I beg you! Don’t kill me! I-I’m pretty valuable! I’m valuable enough to make you happy! Really! Believe me!”
“All living things die. The only difference is whether it happens sooner or later.”
“No! Don’t look at me with those eyes! D-don’t kill me!”
Buser stood, turned tail, and began to run.
So a living thing can run this fast when death is near? Neia thought in an unconcerned way with wide eyes.
But the King of Darkness’s magic was faster.
“How stupid. Death.”
Nothing happened. There was no huge explosion, no fantastical lightning.
But Buser dropped to the ground with a thud. That was all.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t get any useful intel, but oh well… I guess we’re finished here. Any objections, Miss Baraja?”
“N-n-no, Your Majesty, you’re not mistaken.”
“No? Then…let’s call the paladins and tell them we killed this subhuman leader. But, hmm…this is actually kind of bad…”
4
Taking the city and freeing the people was accomplished easily with the King of Darkness’s powers.
The attacking paladins and subjects hardly took any damage, and although some of the prisoners sadly lost their lives in the confusion, that number was surprisingly small.
Surely the King of Darkness was the only one who could have achieved these results. To the point that it even occurred to them that if they would have entrusted the job to him from the start, not a single person would have died.
People were thrilled to be liberated; some shed tears at receiving a bowl of soup. The streets were filled with smiles as Neia and the king walked along.
Though they had heard their liberator was the King of Darkness, it probably couldn’t be helped that when they actually saw him, there was surprise, confusion, and an urge to avoid looking at him.
That said, it wasn’t about whether Neia could accept it or not. If the king was offended, she probably would have done something, but he didn’t seem to care. On the contrary, Neia felt that doing something might be disrespectful.
She called after him as he walked ahead of her.
“Your Majesty, where are you going?”
The king was looking was down at his hands, so he answered without turning around. “To that large building at the center of town. If that’s the enemy HQ, we need to investigate right away. The paladins are busy liberating the captured people, distributing food, healing wounds, imprisoning subhumans, and so on.”
Neia cocked her head. “It’s such a huge building. You don’t think they’ve searched it already?”
The one who took the city was definitely the King of Darkness, but the detail work after the fact was being done by knights and militia members. She figured they would have already checked the building he was headed for.
The king stopped in his tracks and stared at Neia. Then he shrugged and set off walking again. “Oh, right. I actually have a subordinate standing by warning them not to approach. So I don’t think they’ve examined it.”
“Huh? But that’s not what you said—”
“Miss Baraja. I’ve told you a lot of things so far, but once in a while, you need to try thinking on your own. For instance, what do you suppose is the reason I should investigate as our representative?”
“Ah—yes, Your Majesty!”
He looked back down at his hands. He was carrying the items that Buser had been equipped with. As they walked, he was appraising them to see how enchanted they were.
From what he had gathered, the sword was Sand Shooter; the armor, Turtle Shell; the shield, Lanza’s Merits; the horn caps, Unhesitating Charge; the rings, Ring of Second Eye and Ring of Sprinting; and the cape, Cape of Protection.
His necklace, among other items, also appeared to be enchanted, and though the king said their powers weren’t much, he seemed happy.
Lowering her eyes from his back to the ground, Neia did as told and tried thinking about why he would insist on searching the building himself. But no compelling reasons jumped out at her.
But she figured if she bothered him now for the answer, he would get annoyed. She respected the king and was scared of getting cast aside for being useless.
As she was racking her brain, the building in question came into view.
Two undead—high wraiths—stood before the entrance.
When the King of Darkness approached, the pair opened the way to let him and Neia through.
“This…appears to be the residence of this city’s ruler.”
Neia didn’t know which noble was in charge, but she could guess it was someone who was at least a baron but not higher than count.
“Yes. I haven’t let any undead inside, either. We are the first. There might be subhumans who haven’t been incapacitated yet, so be careful.”
“What?! But Your Majesty, that’s—!”
She wasn’t sure if she should tell him to
