< Evade the Hero and Flee! 191 #22. Well, this is merely the beginning (6) >

“He’s here.”

From afar, a person was walking up to where we were. Actually, I should say a demon instead. The distance meant his face was not really discernible, but his attire was that of a Demon God’s temple priest.

The Demon God was basically the anchor of the entire demon race. Unless there was another me among the demon race, some random weirdo wouldn’t show up here in that attire.

“I’ve returned from my duty, your majesty.”

As I expected, the one walking up to me from afar was one of my new underlings, a priest of the Demon God’s temple.

“He refused, didn’t he?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“How foolish.”

“Yes, sire. Very foolish.”

Even though we said that, the really foolish thing would be to immediately kill yourself just because someone told you to. Just because everyone else accepted it, you should also follow along and kill yourself? What would you do if everyone was being conned?

-Master, that’s not something a swindler should be saying, you know?

-The ones getting swindled are at fault here.

Didn’t someone say this before? Deceiving others was a standard tactic in the art of war. That’s why.. who told you to get deceived in the first place!

-Oh? And who said that, master?

-A very famous war tactician.

Sun Tzu probably said that. Although.. the last half could’ve been a bit different from the original!

“You have delivered my letter as intended, I hope?”

“Yes, your majesty!”

“In that case, let’s begin.”

“Yes, sire!”

I wordlessly watched the priest bow before me and back away politely.

A king had no need to make a move. Back when I was thrown into the middle of a warzone thanks to a certain insane Imperial Princess, what was the dear emperor doing? He was having fun tracking down and beating up those who disobeyed him or tried to mess around with the military supplies!

-Uhmmm, master? This could be nothing more than my mood playing tricks on my judgement, but.. Why does it sound like the emperor was doing an excellent job? Is it really because of my mood?

-Well, sure. Mister Emperor of the Karuan Empire was top-notch when it came to taking care of his business. Not even once did our supplies run out during the war, you see.

-Even I can do that! I also never wanted to go to a warzone and just do jobs as simple as that, you know! If it was you in charge, master, why do I get the feeling that you would have siphoned off the military supplies?

-I might have back then, but I won’t do that now!

I was planning to retire empty-handed, so.. Actually, that’s not true. After handing the throne over to Belegrea, I was planning to use that as a pretext to rip her off aplenty.

At least, enough for my family and I to live on without issues even if I decide that working for a living would be too bothersome! Things like fertile farmlands, a vast expanse of empty land nearby, and even a sizeable pension paid out on time, that’s what I’m talking about!

Yup, I’ll rip that girl off for those things and end it there.

***

Kaaa-boooooom!

“Oh, nice~.”

Accompanied by a humongous explosion, a portion of the former demon king’s castle began crumbling down.

“Will this really be fine, sire? Using the secret passageway to sneak in and quickly eliminate Aggreahrt might be more advantageous for us,” said Belegrea in a composed voice.

Even though she maintained a calm face and kept her voice composed, it was still impossible for her to hide the light in her eyes. Those eyes contained so many emotions while watching the home she had spent almost all of her life in crumbling down in flames and dust clouds.

Of course, I amply understood the emotions in her heart. I, too, had to witness my farmland dyed in the ripening golden colour get burned down not too long ago, after all!

However, that was that, and this was something else.

Instead of allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement and mess up our plan, it was far better to steel your heart and minimise our losses as much as possible.

“Do you honestly think that Aggreahrt isn’t aware of that passageway?”

“My father told no one but me of the passageway’s existence, sire.”

“I see. However, do you think Aggreahrt is an idiot? You once told me that he was one of the most trusted aides of the previous demon king. As such, we should assume that he’s good enough to correctly guess what’s on your father’s mind. And truth be told, the explosions happening right now seem way more powerful than the explosive magic devices we’ve planted are capable of.”

“It can’t be..!”

“That’s right. If we tried to slip in through that secret passageway, then there’s a good chance that we might have gotten buried alive.”

Of course, I was lying. Ah, but that didn’t mean 100% of what I said was a lie. It’s just that I couldn’t predict the full firepower of all the magic explosive devices bought with all the available funds of the Demon God’s temple.

In other words, I had no idea if Aggreahrt really knew about the secret passageway and tried to bury anyone alive if they wanted to use that route.

“I-is that so..?”

However, such a lie was absolutely necessary for convincing Belegrea, a useful underling and the future ruler of the land who would diligently pay me my pension.

People label such a lie the ‘white lie’, don’t they?

-Master, as far as I know, a white lie actually benefits the one getting lied to, right? But you are the only one reaping the benefits right now, no?

-What do you mean by that! I’m about to hand over the position of the demon king to this little girl, so this benefit is all for her, you know!

Back when I wasn’t as wise as now, I allowed the metal bat to read my mind as much as she wanted. She didn’t call me out as often back then, but now that I learned a way to close my mind off, she began rubbing against my nerves the wrong way far, far too often for my liking.

-Oh? Since you know, why don’t you let me in, then?