I glanced at the demon who announced my arrival without any time to stop him, and adjusted my attitude to act calm.
Let's relax.
'Hesitation is death.'
Death did not come only in front of blades. Even in a static space where not even fists, let alone blades, are exchanged, intelligent beings are able to kill someone by holding the sword of politics with the invisible hand called the tongue.
By the way you walk, your posture, speech, facial expressions, and gaze.
After completing one inspection, I entered the silent battlefield. The eyes of all the Corps Commanders who were waiting to hear my voice were focused on me like arrows.
'... There is also the Demon King.'
Is it for surveillance or simply out of interest? I bowed my head to the Demon King, who was smiling and waving at the head of the table, then turned and looked at the Corps Commanders.
A neat and calm voice came out.
"I'm sure you know the general details of the matter since we relayed it to you in advance."
The sudden change of travel route.
On one side, Idelia tried to say something, but I spoke without giving her a chance.
"The value of keeping the Duke in check has disappeared."
"..."
"The 11th Corps Commander even tied up his last piece. There is nothing to worry about now, so we can ignore him and go straight to the Capital."
So now we can move on to the efficient route.
Lirinel, who was suddenly praised, cupped her cheeks with both hands and didn't know what to do. I glanced at Idelia. She kept her mouth shut, as if convinced.
Even the most annoying opponent has expressed her understanding through silence, so now all I have to do is explain which route we will take and discuss the method.
At that time, the Demon King smiled brightly and added a word.
"So the Demon Cult has advanced into the human world?"
"For the Duke who has lost most of his troops, the most useful card left is Salvation Church. Even so, since it is a pseudo-religion, I thought it would be possible to keep it in check through the Demon Cult."
"Okay. I wondered what you were going to do by advancing without telling me, but it turned out to be more interesting than I expected."
Lirinel, who was sitting on one side of the table, flinched.
The once lively cheeks turned pale.
I quietly raised my eyes and saw the Demon King.
"Why are you looking like that? I was complimenting you."
"..."
"I'm serious. Thanks to you, every day is enjoyable. So you're saying you're going to change the travel route? Keep going."
"... Among the many routes we are currently drilling, the Paras Territory that we defeated this time is the closest to the Capital, so we will focus our drilling there."
I looked at the Demon King as if checking for allowance, and for a moment my white finger pointed at the map attached to the wall. Move steadily and draw a straight line connecting Paras Territory and the Capital.
Is it okay to go that route? At the moment when the Corps Commanders were nodding their heads in understanding, I spoke.
"However, if we follow this route, Mantium Castle will be next after Paras Territory."
"... Is there any problem with that?"
"Mantium Castle belongs to Primero Territory. It belongs to the Empire's second hero, Stigma Primero."
3rd Corps Commander Ashild lowered his raised hand as if he understood.
Although it is quite far from the Southern land where Stigma resides, Mantium Castle is clearly his property. It was obvious that if we touched that place, we would face him.
"He is the most overwhelming in battle among the heroes of the Empire. Would this be explained if a warlord formed in the South? If it happens, it will definitely be quite annoying."
Above all, I did not want to fight Stigma.
Even though he is helpless, he is still one of the few people who took good care of me, befitting the title of senior.
That's why I moved my finger and pointed to the territory next to Mantium Castle. A calm voice dominated the space.
"I want to bring down the Empire as quickly as possible. So, wouldn't it be better to slightly open the path rather than being stranded by him and wasting time?"
I spoke while feeling curious gazes toward the newly discovered territory.
"The owner of this territory is Tender Amiable. He is a Margrave."
The name of the territory seemed to have been some kind of Baron's territory, but it was not strange since nobles with the title of Earl or higher can hold multiple titles and estates at the same time.
"Of course, he is also a troublesome opponent, but he will take up less time than the 'hero'."
Because the reason for choosing an opponent was only 'time' rather than 'possibility of defeat' or 'friendship', nothing else was said about avoiding conflict with Stigma.
Instead, 1st Corps Commander Jaykar raised his hand.
"It's the territory right next door, so is there any chance that Stigma Primero will come to help?"
"Of course there is."
It can't be there.
I raised the corners of my mouth.
"That's why I plan to go myself."
At this point, I need to take a look at my senior's face.
***
Even today, the world is abuzz with stories about his junior, but should we say that the dogs are like their owners?
Stigma made a subtle expression as if he was contemplating how to react to the hot topic who had secretly visited him.
After a silence that was neither heavy nor light, a faint sigh pushed away the silence.
"... I don't know what happened to my junior's liver. What if I catch you, report you, or even kill you?"
The man in black robes sitting across from him smiled softly.
Stigma, who was looking at the only exposed mouth, straightened his back, crossed his legs, and tapped the armrest of the chair.
"It is not polite to wear a hat in front of people indoors. Take off your hood. "It's been a while, so I should at least see your face."
"..."
The hood fell back as if waiting.
The pure white hair was revealed and the red eyes seemed to reflect Stigma, but then they curved beautifully. The voice continued calmly, as if asking about the lunch menu.
"Long time no see. Senior."
"Okay..."
Came the answer like a sigh.
"It's been so... so long."
Contrary to his calm expression, mixed emotions flashed through his brown eyes.
He remembered their last conversation was in a war zone. They were separated in a dangerous situation due to the demons' trap.
Stigma was taking time and the rest of the troops, including Deon, were retreating.
'Then, Senior...!'
'Do I look so weak that you should worry about me?'
'... Still, be careful.'
He heard the second most beautiful thing.
'Okay. See you later.'
This was the first situation he'd encountered since then.
Officially, it was an enemy situation. Stigma suppressed the sigh that was about to burst out again and swallowed it.
"It was a good attempt to use the guild, but the chances were too small. What would have happened if I had noticed and brought it in and didn't know it was a disaster?"
Deon just laughed.
He separated the Mad Dogs who were making a fuss about following him and entered Stigma's area using the guild. And, as the representative of the merchant, he requested to meet Stigma in person for a transaction, but if Stigma had not remembered that the merchant had a record of obtaining a permit in the name of Deon Hart, he would have gone back without him seeing even seeing a shadow, let alone a private meeting.
But Deon was sure he would remember and recall.
'Because he was always so focused on me that I could even notice the detailed changes in his expression.'
Stigma saw Deon's smooth smile and straightened his posture.
"The bird I haven't seen has changed a lot."
"Thanks to you, Senior."
"The look in your eyes has changed."
He stretched out his hand as if tracing a face.
He looked straight into the dull, dead red eyes and smoothed out the corners of his eyes. Deon didn't reject it, but he couldn't stop his eyelid from reflexively closing at the unfamiliar touch.
"I liked those eyes better before."
"... So."
Deon, who was quietly listening, smiled brightly.
"Do you hate me now?"
"... No way."
Stigma smiled as he withdrew his hand.
"As long as my junior is 'Junior'."
So, as long as he calls him 'Senior'.
"I will never dislike you, Junior."
"... Senior, what are your standards for juniors?"
"Well. First of all, it's important not to mess with my territory. If my territory is attacked, I have no choice but to fight back."
"... I have no intention of touching Mantium Castle."
"That's a good thing."
It seemed like it would be so.
Stigma gently opened his eyes and spoke in a whisper.
"If not Mantium Castle, you're planning to go through the Barony of Miller, right? The land belonging to the Margrave Amiable."
"..."
"The reason you took the risk to meet me in person is probably because of the possibility that I could go to help."
He knew it all from the beginning. Deon raised his hand and touched the corner of his mouth at the sharp point.
He had no intention of hiding it in the first place, so there was no problem. Before the short pause could be recognized as silence, he nodded his head in the affirmative.
"I don't want to fight with you, Senior."
"It's a common thing."
"Then..."
"But it's not something that can be decided solely on my own."
Stigma arched his eyebrows as if he was sorry.
"I have honor and purpose to protect. For that to happen, as a noble of the Empire, I must faithfully follow His Majesty's orders."
"..."
He understood what it meant.
If the Demon King's army attacked Miller's territory, the Emperor will order support. If that happens...
Stigma gently raised the corners of his mouth towards Deon, who was frowning slightly.
"I can't guarantee that I won't go to help. First of all, as a noble of the Empire, I will definitely provide support to Miller's territory to block the Demon King's army."
"... All right."
It was not that he had grand ambitions to protect humanity from the demon world. It was not about being loyal to the Emperor.
For Deon, Stigma was an opponent he could avoid fighting if he did well.
He stood up while touching his mouth.
"I hope we can meet in a peaceful atmosphere next time."
"Me too."
He calmly greeted him, turned around, and was about to walk towards the door when Stigma let out a short exclamation of "Ah," as if something had occurred to him.
"It's not good for you to rely on medicine, Junior."
"..."
Stigma sighed slowly as he watched the back of him walk away as if nothing had happened, even though he had stopped for a moment.
Did he think that he didn't know? The eyes, the shadows under the eyes, the complexion, even the hand habit of touching the corners of the mouth, all of this told him about the situation.
He didn't know why he turned to the demon world, but he didn't think it was completely voluntary. If he had really killed Cruel Hardt and escaped to the demon world as rumored, he would have shown a look of relief rather than living like he could not die like he did now.
'Now that I think about it, there have been many assassination attempts.'
Was that somehow related to this?
If he had known this would happen, he would have dug deep into the background instead of just ignoring it.
Now that there was no chance to catch the assassin targeting his junior, Stigma sat there for a while, regretting it inwardly.
***
According to the rules, we would have had to kill Stigma Primero, who was the biggest obstacle. But instead of finding a way to kill him, I came up with another way.
As I said, if we did well, this was an opponent we could avoid fighting. After digging through my memories for a bit, the solution came to mind easily.
'In the outdoor garden outside the terrace during a hunting competition in the past.'
Stigma argued with the Margrave of Amiable about the treatment of the Barbai people.
Stigma was for eradication and the Margrave of Amiable was in a conciliatory position. In the end, I pushed ahead with Stigma's opinion.
After that, although I only heard it through rumors, I heard that Stigma himself took up swords with his knights and set out to exterminate the Barbai tribe.
'But it wasn't completely successful.'
The Barbai people are people who make good use of the geographical features of the South. As they are specialized in guerrilla warfare, their skill at extricating themselves was considerable, and as a result, some of them survived and escaped. They were said to be still hiding somewhere in the Southern forests and making a living by occasionally raiding nearby villages.
'Maybe he's burning with revenge?'
If they provoked him just a little bit, it wouldn't be a problem for him to go on a rampage again.