Surprise After the Fight - Part 1

Two days had already passed since the defeat of the Demon Queen. Given our injuries, we decided to rest in the nearest town to the demon territory, which took up an entire day before we set out once more—this time toward the capital of Beaufort to deliver our report on the situation, something I was not particularly excited about.

I hate dealing with the nobility, but I had no other choice. I was the only one who could keep up with them and see beyond appearances to devise countermeasures or point out what had gone wrong in our plan.

“How are you feeling?”

“Quite irritated, thank you for asking…” I replied to Garrik, who accompanied me due to his status as the Hero.

Meanwhile, Tyra remained at the inn where we were staying, still resting as she waited for us to return, and Aurelia had gone to the city’s church to attend to some matters. How fortunate they were not to have to deal with this.

We stood in one of the hallways of the Duke of Beaufort’s mansion, waiting for everything to be prepared for the meeting. Sooner rather than later, a messenger stepped out of the chamber where we would be gathering with the nobles.

“Everything is ready. You may enter.”

Following his indication, Garrik and I stepped inside. It was a rather spacious hall with an enormous circular table surrounded by many chairs, each occupied by someone important from the territory of Beaufort or even from neighboring lands.

Present were figures such as the Duke of Beaufort and the counts of his territory, as well as others like the Duke of Chastelain and the Duke of Graulhet, who had also assembled after being affected by the demonic army.

“With your permission,” I said as I entered and offered a bow. No matter how much I despised dealing with nobles, I had to remain respectful.

Everyone in the room looked at us with curiosity and a certain tension, for the matter to be discussed was the outcome of our encounter with the Demon Queen—a topic of the highest priority for all humanity. The only one whose gaze differed was the Duke of Chastelain, who averted his eyes the moment they met mine.

Without wasting much time, the messenger guided us to our seats and then left the hall after bowing, leaving us alone to officially begin the meeting.

The Duke of Beaufort, acting as the representative on this occasion, stood to open the discussion. Unlike his demeanor at the celebration days earlier, this time his bearing was serious and formal, befitting what one would expect of a noble of his rank.

“Today we gather for something of vital importance not only to our country, but to the entire world: the battle against the Demon Queen,” he explained before yielding the floor to me.

At that moment, every gaze turned toward me, expectant of how the battle had truly ended. Officially, it was known that we had won, but the exact circumstances were not, and that was precisely why we were here.

Having so many nobles staring at me with such intense scrutiny was unsettling, bringing back memories of my childhood. But Garrik encouraged me with his usual radiant smile, nodding reassuringly.

“As you are surely already aware, despite the difficulties we faced, the battle against the queen concluded in our victory. However, it was not a complete one.”

My words caused the expressions of the nobles to grow more tense and rigid; I could sense that some were worried, while others seemed to be silently judging us.

“We emerged victorious without casualties or lasting damage. However, given our condition after the battle, the Demon Queen took advantage of the situation to escape. Her current whereabouts are unknown.”

It was then that the hall—until now silent except for my voice—began to fill with murmurs and whispered exchanges among the assembled nobles. A few minutes of hushed discussion and exchanged glances passed before one of the counts of Beaufort’s territory rose from his seat to speak.

“How could you allow her to escape?! If you truly defeated her, why not kill her?!”

“It was not that simple. It is true that we defeated her, but we were also left in a deplorable state, barely able to walk without succumbing to our wounds. We no longer had the strength to strike her down.”

It was not entirely a lie. Aside from myself—who still had the opportunity to bring her down—everyone else was already exhausted or incapable of delivering the final blow.

Looking back on everything in retrospect, the battle had truly been brutal. Our coordination had made all the difference, but had we failed at any critical moment, we would undoubtedly have died.

The rebuttals from most of the nobles present—more specifically, the counts—followed one after another. They questioned us with remarks such as “You should have equipped yourselves better,” or “You should have brought more men,” but I managed to address each and every one of them in a way that left them no choice but to fall silent.

However, there was one point that stirred genuine debate within the chamber.

“And what of the demons in custody? Why keep them alive?” one of the counts asked, referring to the pillars of the demonic army.

“We needed to extract as many answers from them as possible, or at least that was the plan; obtain information about the queen and then devise a strategy to fight her. But none of them spoke.”

Despite every effort to make them talk, none of them said anything useful. According to the report we received from the knights before departing to face the queen, Karver remained completely silent despite all attempts to interrogate him; Zell, the second pillar of the army, merely laughed at every effort to make him speak while maintaining his composure and dignity as if he were a noble; Grim, the third pillar, muttered seemingly nonsensical things while ignoring anyone who tried to extract information from her; and finally, Lux, the fourth pillar, was the most aggressive—biting and attempting to escape at every opportunity, which was why she was being held in an even more secure chamber with hardly any visitors.

“And you already know the queen, do you not? You know quite enough about her by now, so… why not kill them?”

The count’s suggestion piqued the interest of much of the room. It made sense that, once their original purpose had been lost, there would be no obstacle to ending their lives. After all, they were only demons, were they not?

That was the way practically all of humanity thought. Everyone was exhausted and terrified by the war—and, by extension, by demons. They had reached such a state of panic and unrest that they would not hesitate for a single moment to take a demon’s life if given the chance, regardless of whether that demon had done anything or not.

They did not see them as individuals with whom one might reason or even reach an agreement, but merely as monsters that had to be eliminated.

If they were to discover that I had let the Demon Queen escape of my own volition, it was almost certain they would imprison me for life—at best.

And yet, it was precisely because of that hatred and such a simplistic perception that they overlooked so many things.

“We cannot,” I stated firmly. “If the queen remains at large, then it is likely she will attempt to recover her generals. We can use them as bait to capture her. Furthermore, if matters spiral out of control, we can use them as leverage in negotiations.”

Objectively, this was the best option we had. If we were to kill them outright, we would lose a key piece that might prove useful at some point—not to mention that nothing guaranteed the queen would not launch a ruthless assault if she learned that the pillars of her army had been executed.

My explanation seemed to satisfy the vast majority of the counts present, except for the one who had originally proposed the idea, who still appeared rather agitated.

“But—!”

Thud!

He was interrupted by the sound of the Duke of Graulhet’s cane striking the floor, drawing everyone’s attention. He wore a broad smile, perhaps in an effort to ease the tension.

“Now, now! It is unfortunate that the queen escaped, but the heroes know what they are doing. There is no doubt that, even with this setback, they will continue to safeguard our security.”

After his words, the atmosphere in the room gradually began to relax, influenced by the duke’s reassuring tone.

“Since we are all gathered here, what do you say we turn to a more cheerful topic? We must celebrate the fact that you defeated the queen!”

“Oh! That is an excellent idea!” the Duke of Beaufort replied. “Let us discuss the preparations and the budget!”

Just like that, he shed his serious demeanor and once again became the relaxed man we had met at the celebration a few days prior. It was difficult to believe that both facets belonged to the same person.

In the end, it was concluded that both the counts and the dukes would keep watch over their respective territories for any clues or traces that might lead us to the Demon Queen. With that settled, Garrik and I took our leave, thus concluding the report on the situation.

“Aaaah…”

“You did well, Kris. To be honest, I thought you were going to strangle one of the counts at any moment,” Garrik joked.

“I was tempted… In any case, let us head back to the inn. Once we are all together, we will bring the girls up to speed on what was discussed.”

“Sure! Although…”

“Is something wrong?”

“…Do you remember that I told you I wanted your help with something important before we fought the Demon Queen?”

Ah. I had forgotten with everything else on my mind. I remembered that Garrik had seemed unusually serious and resolute that day.

“Yes, I remember. Tell me, what do you need?”

Garrik fell silent for a few moments, likely uncertain whether or not to make his request. It was strange to see him like that. He had always been the voice of experience and initiative thanks to the memories of his previous life. Seeing him so hesitant made me think this was something truly complicated.

What could be so important that it had him this nervous?

“Kris… I need you to help me win a woman’s heart.”

“…What?”