The revenge of the cat siblings had effectively ended in failure.
They must have felt deeply frustrated—not having been able to subdue Baron Kiren on their own, and instead almost being overpowered.
But aside from that, the siblings’ charges and the false accusations against the Redburn Baron had been cleared.
No one else but the King himself had heard every word of the conversation between the siblings and Baron Kiren, who had turned into a monster and died gloriously.
“So, you’re saying the Black Light fell?”
Three days after the incident.
With most of the aftermath settled, I had returned to the Special Task Force’s headquarters, where Muffin—reeking of sweat—was briefing me on what had happened.
“Y-Yes… It seems that the hole torn open in the sky was connected to the Realm of Demons.”
Muffin, now officially one of my subordinates, hesitated before speaking.
“Hmm, you’re too stiff. Why don’t you try to relax a bit?”
“…”
Muffin’s gaze sharpened, looking at me as if I were crazy.
Knowing roughly why, I sighed and asked the man occupying the corner of the Special Task Force office.
“My direct superior, aren’t you going to work?”
The King, who had been engrossed in paperwork, looked up and replied.
“Watching how my direct subordinates work is part of my duty as well.”
“And your duties as King?”
“The Administrator covers most of that. I already handled the important matters, so there’s no need to worry.”
“…Poor subordinates keep dying, though.”
The Administrator must have been overwhelmed with the internal chaos at the Royal Palace. On top of that, the Black Light incident near the Capital and the noble family’s betrayal had piled the work even higher.
Moreover, the King had just cleared the Redburn Noble Family of dishonor and forcibly placed their two scions—who had been on the wanted list—into the Special Task Force, the Royal Palace’s inspection squad. This only deepened the anxiety that spread among the nobles, contributing further to the workload.
I swear I could hear the Administrator’s wails all the way from here.
“The atmosphere around here has been tense lately. People say the King’s moving toward a total dictatorship to dismantle the nobles’ vested interests.”
The King scoffed at my remark.
“Well, they should’ve done better from the start.”
“…Owen.”
Should I take that half seriously?
After all, the King had indeed loosened the nobles’ reigns too much until now.
And the result was human collaborators with the Demon Army appearing everywhere. They can’t exactly complain openly.
Their only options are spreading conspiracy theories and manipulating public opinion.
In other kingdoms, such things would be guarded against and actively suppressed…
‘But the King of the Kingdom of Lumin must not be like that.’
Being the Swordmaster King means that the strongest knight in the kingdom is also its sovereign.
Therefore, the strongest King pays no mind to public opinion.
He must always stand firm, always be strong, and always hold the center.
The King’s steadfastness is the nation’s defense.
His strength becomes the strength and morale of the knights who protect the kingdom.
To show even a flicker of doubt toward conspiracy theories or baseless rumors is weakness.
“If extreme conspiracy theories or bizarre rumors spread, we can deal with them appropriately, right?”
“Exactly. That’s why I granted you authority to coordinate with the Special Knight Order.”
“Throughout our conversation, you’ve had plenty of chances to leave. Does staying mean you won’t leave until the very end?”
“Yes.”
I nodded roughly and looked at Muffin.
“Stay stiff. You’ll feel better if you give up.”
“…”
“Anyway, as of now, the only being capable of opening a hole from the Realm of Demons into the living world and projecting their power is still the Demon King. That means Baron Kiren was a betrayer who contracted with the Demon King.”
“That is…”
Muffin frowned deeply.
“I heard that betrayer was your uncle. Is that true?”
“…Yes.”
“That bastard was a dog.”
“…Huh?”
Muffin looked bewildered, and the King glanced at me with a curious expression.
“Why? Did I say something I shouldn’t?”
“Well… No, but even so, he’s family, and calling him a dog out loud like that?”
“I have no family.”
Muffin’s face turned pale.
“Ah…”
“And an uncle who sells out his own parents, clings to the Demon Army, and tries to kill his own nephews—is that family? Is ‘family’ such an easy word?”
“Well…”
Muffin opened his mouth but couldn’t speak, his pupils trembling wildly.
No matter what, one cannot feel sympathy or empathy for someone who tried to kill them.
“…No.”
I poured water into the cup on the table and said,
“Muffin, just so you don’t misunderstand, I’m not going to blindly curse that betrayer just because he allied with the Demon Army.”
“…Huh?”
The King also tilted his head, apparently puzzled.
I had to choose my words carefully since this was about events from my previous life.
“Let’s think about it this way. A noble family fell from grace—not because they joined the Demon Army, but simply because they lost in a noble conflict.”
Even amidst a raging war against the Demon Army, nobles who cling to their privileges exist everywhere.
“The family was thrown into the streets. Their lands were taken. Yet the fortunate thing was that, even though they became commoners, they remained decent people.”
Though reduced from nobles to commoners, they successfully adapted their lifestyle accordingly.
They had always been nobles of good character and modest spending habits.
Their children found jobs and earned money on their own.
“But after the fight, the victorious nobles feared the fallen family would rise again. So they hired assassins to wipe them out.”
Muffin frowned and asked,
“You mean there are such utterly vile scum in this world?”
“More than you’d think.”
“…”
With that blunt answer, Muffin fell silent.
I continued.
“The family head was attacked first. Then the eldest son, the wife, and the second son followed. The youngest, a girl and quite beautiful, was the only survivor. Having lost her noble status and lands, she became a target for the nobles who wanted to enslave her.”
I recalled the screams of that noble who had tried to carry out such evil.
“To avenge her family’s murder, the youngest drew a contract circle with a demon. A talented mage decided to join the Demon Army on purpose. Her bloodied rage caught not just any demon’s attention, but the Demon King’s.”
“The noble who tried to enslave her was utterly crushed—limbs broken and torn apart.”
The King wore a puzzled expression.
“That’s quite a detailed story. Is it a real case?”
“What do you think?”
“…”
The King was silent, likely pondering the implication of my words.
Ignoring him, I spoke again.
“The Demon King contracts with humans overflowing with negative emotions. In a war-torn era like this, many people harbor intense negative feelings.”
“If there are so many betrayers who contracted with the Demon King, shouldn’t incidents like this one happen often and be publicly known?”
“Logically, yes.”
But the Demon King is beyond our logic.
“The Demon King never leaves his contractees in the living world. He always takes them to his realm.”
“For what purpose?”
“Obviously, to use them in the Demon Army. Like I said, their emotions are extreme—whether greed, rage, hatred, or pleasure. Those who are unhinged and twisted join the Demon Army. We haven’t seen those bastards yet, though.”
At that moment, Muffin seemed to realize something and shuddered.
“W-Wait a moment. You don’t mean…”
I met Muffin’s eyes and answered.
“We are the Special Task Force. And the starting point of the Yongsa Party.”
Someday, we will have to enter the Realm of Demons, where the Demon King’s Castle lies.
And there, countless humans who guard the Demon King’s Castle will await us.
“Once someone joins the Demon Army, they are no longer human—they’re traitors to humanity. It’s right to see them all as bastards threatening mankind. But blind hatred only begets a chain of hatred.”
In the face of war, one cannot afford to respect the enemy.
This applies not only to the binary of human versus monster, but even on a person-to-person level.
Still, we must not lose the respect and dignity that allows us to treat others as human beings.
To lose that is to betray oneself and admit to being no better than beasts.
Reason unclouded by the madness of war is always essential.
“I’m not saying to treat them like humans. I’m saying to divide them into bastards who deserve curses, and bastards who deserve sympathy.”
“…So you’re saying both are just bastards?”
“They’re different.”
I looked Muffin directly in the eyes.
“Was your uncle a bastard worthy of sympathy?”
“…No.”
Muffin scratched the back of his head with a look of understanding.
“Ugh. Well, I get what you mean.”
The King rose from his seat.
“When I talk with you, I hear incredible stories quite often.”
“You’ll hear and experience even more, especially as we get closer to the Demon King’s Castle.”
“…Hmm.”
The King twitched his mouth and said,
“When we created the Special Task Force, the stated purpose was world peace… But it seems you were much more sincere than I thought.”
“I’ve always been serious.”
“Ha ha!”
The King opened the office door.
“I look forward to your future exploits, Owen, Special Task Force Captain.”
“Yeah. Thanks for covering that last time. It was really a role that should have been handled by the Special Knight Order.”
“Eh, I guess it was good exercise for me after a long time, too.”
Recalling the day we pulverized that bastard who contracted with the Demon King, Muffin and I exchanged satisfied smiles.
Not long after the King left his office, Elena came in.
“Captain Owen, Toruman is here to see you.”
“Already?”
Hearing that, I set down the stack of papers where I had listed 108 ways to inspect the nobles and stood up.
“Is it really the person you’re looking for?”
At the same time, Elena handed me a sheet of paper.
It was a fairly well-drawn composite sketch.
“That matches. The vibe is completely different from what I remember, though.”
Elena nodded.
“Beatrice isn’t a very common name, so we found her quickly. But it turns out she’s not in this neighborhood.”
“Where is she?”
“The Prasion Kingdom.”
A neighboring kingdom close to the Kingdom of Lumin.
“Good. Then I’ll have to make a little business trip.”
“But are you sure this is the person you’re looking for? She doesn’t seem like the schemer you described.”
I shrugged at Elena’s comment.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
The person in the composite was definitely someone I knew.
It was just…
‘The complete opposite of how she was when she was the Commander of the Demon King’s Army Corps of Scorn.’
Beatrice.
The second priority candidate for the Special Task Force’s recruitment, smiling broadly while wearing an apron and carrying a large plate piled high with bread.