Part 4
Neia had heard of silence, but this was something else. She had been summoned to this tent, and she was surprised at how depressed the mood inside was.
The table had been specially moved here, and the Southern nobles seated around it were pale. No, the Liberation Army commanders were also in the same state.
It was a natural reaction.
Nobody could have witnessed Jaldabaoth’s overwhelming power and not been shocked — no, back then, Neia had not been that shocked. However, that was because the shock of losing the great entity known as the Sorcerer King had been even worse. That, in addition to everything she had witnessed up to this point, might have numbed her heart.
However, the Southern nobles had not experienced harsh fighting until now, so perhaps their alarm was only to be expected. They had not experienced a foe who could kill men one after the other just by walking, leaving nothing behind but hideous corpses.,
In addition, their army of nearly 100’000 had been panicked by a single demon and dissolved into a rout.
“-What’s this? What the hell is this! What do you call that, that monster!”
Count Domingues’ voice rose steadily.
In contrast, Caspond — who knew of Jaldabaoth’s overwhelming power — shrugged nonchalantly.
“That is Jaldabaoth… the real thing. I’ve told you about him before, Count Domingues.”
“I’ve never heard of the ability to kill people just by walking!”
Is that the problem,Neia jeered in her heart.
“Indeed, that is how it is. His battle with the Sorcerer King — His Majesty — was in a city, so we could not see the full extent of his might. But I’ve already told you how powerful it is. So surely an ability like that should not come as a surprise, no?”
“Even, even so!”
“-Count. I know what you want to say. Seeing is believing, is it not?”
It was the Marquis who spoke. All that could be said was that one had to hand it to him for not being as nervous as the others.
“…Still, saying that won’t help us make any progress. Should we not discuss what we need to do from now on?”
“That makes perfect sense, Marquis-sama. What should we do?” Viscount Santz asked in a rapid-fire burst of words. His attitude was understandable, given that he did not know if his present location was safe.
The Southern nobles had intended to crush a few stragglers with overwhelming force in order to become the heroes who had saved the nation. It should have been that simple. However, that was not to be. Now the hunters had become the hunted.
The Marquis had his arms folded and remained silent. Caspond replied in his place.
“We have an overwhelming advantage in fighting strength. The problem is that Jaldabaoth can overturn that advantage by himself. I would like to ask everyone present a question in my capacity as the Prince. What do you think we should do to achieve victory under these circumstances?”
After a brief silence, the Marquis replied, “there’s only one thing we can do” in a supremely confident tone.
“Prince Caspond. As you have said before, Jaldabaoth will probably retreat once we wipe out those demihumans, right? Then we have no other option but to do so.”
“Marquis-sama! Are you still going to fight!?”
“Exactly, Count Randalse. Do you think we can flee now?”
“…Marquis-sama, it would be very difficult for us all to flee, but could a small group not manage to run?”
Remedios snorted at Count Cohen’s suggestion.
“That’s a fitting answer for an incompetent who can’t even understand Calca-sama’s ideals.”
“What!?”
“What will you do after running away and escaping? Cower under a hay bale in a barn? Aren’t you a noble? Shouldn’t you say that you’ll sacrifice yourself for the people or something?”
“And you, Captain Custodio? You’re a paladin with a holy sword, but you can’t even beat a single demon!” Count Randalse bellowed.
Remedios looked like a ghost now, and her eyes seemed to glow from within as she turned to face him.
“Indeed. I can’t beat him. The only one who can fight him is that undead creature. But if it would buy some time — even if it was only to let the people live a second longer — then I would fight to the death against him! And you, what would you do?”
When a warrior who was prepared to meet death locked eyes with a noble who wanted to flee from death, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
Count Randalse looked away, and Remedios snorted mockingly at him.
“My Prince. While I would very much like to order the paladins to die, do you still have anything to say?”
“While making up your mind is very important… well, could you go? You don’t mind leaving Vice-Captain Montagnes behind, do you?”
“I see. In that case, I’ll leave the rest to you, Montagnes.”
With that, Remedios slowly walked out of the tent. The last thing she did was glance at Shizu, who was seated beside Neia.
“Everyone, I apologize on behalf of our Captain,” Gustav said as he eyed the nobles — who were going “Honestly” — before continuing, ”Still, that opinion is shared by all of us. We paladins are all ready to die as shields for the people. We hope you gentlemen, being of noble birth, are similarly determined. After all, we can’t fight if there are no commanders.”
“What!?”
Before Neia could tell who had exclaimed in surprise, Marquis Bodipo spoke up.
“That’s about enough… We aren’t planning how to die gloriously, we’re planning how to win. Am I correct, my Prince?”
“Just so, Marquis-dono. There’s not much time before Jaldabaoth takes complete control. We need to find a way to win before that.”
“-There’s no way to win, is there!? Didn’t you see that demon’s power!?” Count Granero shouted as he rose to his feet. “If he used magic or attacked or something, we might still be able to come up with some way to stop him! But all he’s doing is walking! He can turn the area around him into a hellish inferno just by walking!”
“Come to think of it… Count Granero, you know a bit about magic, right? Do you have…”
“Nothing I learned covered powers like that…”
“Is that so… then, assume there were still 10’000 demihuman enemies remaining. Could we flee from Jaldabaoth while wiping them out at the same time?”
The Marquis seemed to approve of Caspond’s proposal.
“It seems there’s no other way… While it’ll be difficult, I think it would be harder to try and defeat Jaldabaoth with our strength.”
“A moment please,” Count Cohen interrupted with a raise of his hand. “I object. Jaldabaoth might not leave even after we kill the demihumans. However, he might kill all of us as a souvenir first before he goes.”
He was right. Therefore, Caspond followed up with a perfectly reasonable question.
“So what should we do?”
“We ought to negotiate.”
Few people managed to resist the urge to laugh at Count Cohen as he delivered that suggestion with a perfectly straight face.
Count Cohen’s face turned red as the others laughed at him. Before he could continue, Caspond asked:
“Count, what kind of deal do you intend to make with that devil?”
“Ah, ah yes. For instance, maybe we could trade him something in exchange for letting us leave safely…”
“What will we give him? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just kill us and take it off our bodies? Or do you mean we should trade him something that isn’t here? What would that be?”
“A moment please, Your Highness! All I’m saying is that fighting isn’t our only option! I just meant to say that there’s a possibility we might be able to negotiate with him, that’s all!”
“Count, your way of thinking is a little, yes, a little too optimistic. For starters, who will we send to negotiate with that monster… Come to think of it, I heard that His Majesty put one of his maid demons under his control, and she turned out quite useful in retaking Kalinsha. Surely that maid demon could do something, right?”