Hagure Yuusha no Kichiku Bigaku Vol 4 Chapter 2

Brushing Past the Idea of Peace Part 1

A splendorous and majestic corridor.

The marble floors were covered by red carpets. This was Sherfield Kingdom’s city of Erdia.

Listy was currently hurriedly running down the corridor.

Around a step to the right and left beside her, Zechs and Loutier were following her closely.

“……Is this message really true?”

Listy turned her head and asked — “Yes.” Responded Loutier, who was following behind her, nodding her head.

“At that time I was away from the city dealing with official matters, so I cannot confirm the authenticity of the message; however, according to the soldiers responsible for reception and the maids, it should not be wrong.”

“It can’t be……”

Zechs muttered to himself with a tone of disbelief.

“Can it be that the report from the investigation team is true……?”

“……Tch!”

Listy bit on her lower lip tightly and sped up the pace.

—— Akatsuki had returned to Alayzard.

Listy and Zechs had gotten this report from their subordinates at three country alliance army headquarters near Galevain forest.

The investigation team captain had been quite excited. During the report, there were parts that were incoherent as if he had fallen into slight confusion.

Faced with this incredible intelligence, Listy did not know what judgment to make. According to Zechs and Loutier, people who returned to the original world from the alternative world could possibly pa.s.s through the and once again return to Alayzard. However, the news of Akatsuki returning was too sudden. It could be possible that the captain saw incorrectly, or perhaps it was an illusion created with magic. Thus Listy did not put this information into her heart. But an emergency contact that came from Sherfield changed everything. A person calling themselves as the demon race representative delivered a mail requesting to have talks with Listy.

The location specified for the talks was Sherfield’s city of Erdia. A copy with similar contents was delivered to Disdia and Aleclasta at the same time. Listy immediately contacted the two countries’ leaders to confirm that Disdia and Aleclasta had received the same letter. As for whether they should accept the request of the letter, the opinions of Sherfield, Disdia and Aleclasta differed.

Emperor Baram from Disdia seemed to think that this letter was the demon race’s trap and they should not accept the request in the letter.

Pope Volk from Aleclasta seemed to be have an att.i.tude of consent. After all, if they could reduce the amount of unnecessary killing and sacrifice, it fell in line with the holy teaching and values of Church of Richard.

As for Listy, she was stuck between two alternatives. Basically, she agreed with Aleclasta’s stand, and she did not wish to increase the casualties. However, the demon race elimination this time was from the joint forces of Disdia and Sherfield. On behalf of the dead citizens, it was the responsibility of Listy as a queen to make sure justice was served.

Therefore, towards the request of the demon race, Listy was current having a reserved att.i.tude; but the situation had changed significantly this morning. The person claiming to be the demon race representative suddenly appeared at Sherfield’s castle. This was simply a reckless act. Listy could only feel a sense of dizziness and decided to refuse the request.

—— But she did not do so.

One of the demon race representatives turned out to be Akatsuki.

“That idiot……!”

Muttering at the same time, the end of the corridor reflected upon Listy’s eyes.

The corner that was at the end of the corridor led up to the doors of the hall. Listy did not show any signs of slowing down and hurriedly extended her hand to open the heavy doors.

What was reflected in her eyes was the familiar hall, as well as the magnificent square table in the middle of the room.

And……

“——Hi, your actions were pretty fast.”

A single youth was leisurely sitting on a chair.

Listy only stopped where she was.

He was still the same as back then, whether it was his figure, or the messy shoulder——length hair and the confident look.

The familiar Ousawa Akatsuki was in front of them.

“——!”

Listy wanted to rush towards him immediately, but she suppressed her inner impulses.

Akatsuki’s return should be worth a grand celebreation. Listy had often fantasized about the reunion of Akatsuki and herself, she even thought of the things she wanted to say as well. But the current situation did not allow her to do so.

Listy carefully looked at Akatsuki and the females beside Akatsuki.

One of them was unfamiliar. From the female’s heroic and tall appearance, she should be a knight or something similar. Although Listy was very concerned about the relationship between the female and Akatsuki, it was not the time to ask for the female’s ident.i.ty.

Because there was a greater and more troublesome problem in front of them. Listy’s gaze slowly shifted to the other female. Listy El Da Sherfield recognized that female, including her appearance, name and even her ident.i.ty. Therefore, Listy’s opening question was not to question the female, but Akatsuki.

“Why……!”

A hoa.r.s.e voice filled with a tone of resentment, Listy hurriedly attempted to confirm the truth in front of her eyes.

Why is the Demon King’s daughter Myuu, whose whereabouts were unknown, beside Akatsuki.

“Why……Akatsuki!”

Listy’s stern questioning was questioning Akatsuki, but at the same time questioning herself.

The reunion that I was looking forward to between Akatsuki and I, why did it eventually come to this sort of situation?

Part 2

Inside the kingdom of Sherfield city of Erdia, representatives from various countries were currently sitting at the table located in the middle of the hall.

Sherfield’s representatives were Queen Listy, General Zechs and Elite Executive Loutier.

Aleclasta’s representatives were Pop Volk and his high priest Miranda.

The representatives for Disdia were Emperor Baram and the fourth prince Alphonse. Behind them stood a knight as bodyguard. The knight’s outfit was different from Disdia’s royal knights. It was Listy’s first time seeing this knight.

……Just who is this person?

The armor equipped with several gold decorations looked extremely thick. The full helm made it hard to peep at the expression of the knight. But judging from the knight’s stance, his strength should not be underestimated.

Based on just the point that Baram specially brought this knight with him, this knight must have received Baram’s trust.

—— Aside from that……

There were Akatsuki, Myuu and the female who was called “Haruka” from Galevain.

These 11 people were the partic.i.p.ants of this meeting.

……If only I could……

Listy was deeply stressed inside. In fact, she had planned to, before the two countries had came, ask Akatsuki questions, understanding Akatsuki’s motives and intentions, and perhaps she would be able to help Akatsuki during the talks. However, this would have been equal to the act of betraying the other two countries. If what Baram had said was to be confirmed, that Akatsuki had secretly hid the demon king’s daughter, Listy and the others who supported Akatsuki naturally could not continue their support. Thus she could only quietly wait for Baram and Volk to arrive.

The strange thing was that after seeing Akatsuki, Baram and Volk did not reveal a startled look. Therefore Listy was sure that they had already known about the existence of the .

“—— Valkyria.”

Under Listy’s command, the quiet and calm head maid guard nodded her head silently, and together with her numerous subordinates poured tea for the guests from each country.

Akatsuki picked up the teacup and took a sip, then immediately let out a sigh filled with emotions.

“I can’t believe I would still be able to drink the tea you made by yourself, things are really unpredictable. Valkyria, ever since I stripped your maid outfit in the forest before I left, I haven’t heard of your news. How are you these days?”

Akatsuki had a smile on his face and joked around Valkyria who was standing beside him.

Amongst the commotion, Valkyria still remained calm.

“Thanks to you, it was fairly decent. I could not repay you, but I specially added poison on the edge of the cup. It is approximately five times the lethal amount.”

“Buuuuu——!”

Akatsuki suddenly spat out the tea inside his mouth. Valkyria coldly looked at Akatsuki with a trace of disgust.

“It was only a joke, but you actually spat it out. Doing such a thing during a formal diplomatic occasion, don’t you feel that it’s rude?”

“I agree……but telling a joke also depends on the occasion right?”

Although Akatsuki made a fool of himself, it also slightly eased the tension at the scene.

……Valkyria, I really admire you.

Even facing against Akatsuki, who made all females afraid at the very mention of him, Valkyria was still able to take things calmly and sometimes even made Akatsuki suffer; this maid guard should not be underestimated. Hoping that Akatsuki could hold back on his frivolous att.i.tude and make the meeting end in a peaceful atmosphere.

……It is probably difficult though.

Listy thought. Once the meeting began, a menacing Baram and a seemly calm Volk would certainly launch a harsh questioning on Akatsuki. At that time, Listy would not have the power to stop them.

What’s more, Listy was still dwelling upon the truth that Akatsuki had hidden Myuu. She did not have the confidence to remain calm.

Just when everyone’s teacup was poured to 80% full……

“First of all, thank you all for accepting our request and preparing today’s conference.”

Miranda heard this and could not help but laugh.

“Ah — the person that laughed was Miranda right? Can you please not interrupt me?”

“Sorry……”

Miranda had a pleased look while narrowing her eyes.

“Even in such a formal meeting, you still do not change your free——spirited and bold att.i.tude……”

“Yes, of course.”

Akatsuki replied.

“The people here at the scene should know what kind of person I am right? A false att.i.tude and pretentious words mean nothing to me. I am not here today to talk about topics that are important.”

“It’s okay. Today you are a representative of Galevain, your status is equivalent to us. There is naturally no need to make a useless attempt at beautiful rhetorical words and diplomatic language. Everyone here shouldn’t have any objections right?”

Volk said. As the oldest partic.i.p.ant and the Pope from Church of Richard, naturally no one objected to Volk’s proposal. After viewing the audience’s silence as agreement, Volk nodded his head with satisfaction.

“We also did not come here to listen to your flowery words — Okay, let’s begin.”

“I’m grateful, so let’s still off with the self——introduction. I am Ousawa Akatsuki, today I came here to ask a favor for all of you, so I came back all the way from my own world to Alayzard again. Afterwards, I somehow became Galevain’s representative, pleased to meet you all.”

Listening to Akatsuki, who was completely fearless, Listy could not help but have personal feelings about it.

The meeting that would decide the fate of Alayzard had entered the prologue.

Akatsuki’s preemptive remarks ignited a fire in the meeting.

“Please let me express my view first. It does not matter whether you have comments, but this meeting is completely under my control. Let’s jump directly to the topic. Galevain hopes to, with Sherfield, Disdia and Aleclasta, these three countries, form a peace agreement. From now on, it will ban everything related to hostilities including intimidation and provocation. To express your sincerity, immediately order your deployment of troops in Galevain forest border to retreat now.”

Feeling the increasingly tense atmosphere at the scene, Ousawa Miu could not help but think that the battle had just begun.

Then Miu glanced at Akatsuki beside her.

……I trust you.

Akatsuki was solely responsible for the negotiation work. Miu was only using her ident.i.ty as the demon king’s daughter to witness the progress of the meeting. Peace between humans and Galevain was still a distant dream, but in the following future, signing a peace treaty was essential. Perhaps under Akatsuki’s request, the human forces would temporarily retreat, but there were no guarantees that they would not use some excuses to start a war again. With no guarantee from a peace agreement, the citizens of Galevain would forever live in fear of battle.

……If the excuse to begin the war was me……

Miu could not help but think about that. At that time, she would have to stop the war together with Akatsuki.

Originally, she thought that Akatsuki’s arrogant statement was bound to cause an uproar from everyone at the scene, but she could not imagine that it would actually be completely quiet.

“Ah…… Akatsuki, please wait.”

A calm and elegant tone. The person who was first to break the silence was Aleclasta’s Pope Volk.

“Can you please first explain why the demon king’s daughter is with you, and why you became a representative of the demon race? Just starting off by telling us to withdraw really made me confused.”

“I think you should also understand clearly, the final battle for resisting the demon king was me singly defeating Galious. Before Galious died, he requested me to take care of his daughter; after all, his precious daughter had just become the defeated country’s princess, anybody would be worried, right? Based on humanitarianism, I obviously hope to complete Galious’ final wishes, thus I secretly took the demon king’s daughter to my own world.”

After saying to this point, Akatsuki suddenly stopped.

“Originally I thought I could go back to the peaceful days…… but who knows what kind of idiot who claimed to be a hero suddenly came over.”

Akatsuki gave a wry smile.

“—— In the end, I was forced to kill that idiot.”

“You……”

Baram’s face revealed his anger, but Akatsuki had a look showing that he didn’t care.

“Ah right, that idiot seemed to call himself a hero from Disdia. Please, how did you actually confer the t.i.tle of a hero to that idiot? Disdia will lose their reputation.”

After a short pause……

“Especially because that idiot actually made a contract with the Black mountain’s evil dragon.”

“—— What?”

Baram could not conceal his inner surprise.

“Zahhark was really defeated by you……?”

“What a pity. A superior dimensional being’s ability is indeed strong, but using a human as a medium made it difficult to use its true abilities. According to my calculations, he wasn’t able to even use half of its power.”

Akatsuki sighed.

“Anyhow, the guy called Phil was defeated by me in the end. Once I thought that Alayzard would continue to send soldiers to pursue us, I knew that this is not the way we should go, so I decided to return to Alayzard and clearly explain everything…… Is there any problem up to now?”

At this moment……

“Why——“

A calm and cold tone caught everyone’s attention. The source of the voice was Sherfield’s young queen Listy.

Only to see her stare coldly at Akatsuki.

“……Why did you not tell everyone?”

An exceptionally polite yet extremely cold tone, as if she was talking to the enemy.

This was Listy’s, who suppressed her inner emotions and tried to be as calm as possible, as polite as possible, method to express her words. She quietly waited for Akatsuki’s response with a sharp gaze.

“If you would let everyone know that Galious had entrusted her daughter to you, everyone would be willing to help find the best solution. I really don’t understand why you wanted to make such a ridiculous decision?” Listy had missed Akatsuki more than anyone else, and her touching confession suddenly made the scene fall into silence.

However……

“The best solution……?”

Akatsuki asked Listy.

“Then I’d like to ask, what exactly is the better method?”

“This……”

Listy suddenly had a loss of words, but at the same time, she regained her normal tone.

Returning the demon king’s daughter to the demon race, there was a high chance of her being elected as the new demon king. Being under house arrest was also an excellent option, but there was no guarantee that there would not be dissatisfaction and protest from their citizens. Also, there was a chance that it might lead to the small, but bloodthirsty demon race faction defecting and starting a rebellion to take back the demon king’s daughter.

So……

“Besides bringing the demon king’s daughter to my own world and making her completely disappear with her whereabouts unknown, what other options did I have?” Akatsuki’s statement made Miu feel emotional.

……That’s right.

There was no place for Miu in Alayzard. At that time she could only just follow Akatsuki to an unknown world.

Just at this moment……

“——What do you mean there is no other option? There is at least one option that could solve the problem right?”

Baram arrogantly glared at Akatsuki.

“Just kill the demon king’s daughter, doesn’t that solve everything? Bringing the demon king’s daughter to your world is not the only option, directly killing her is the best approach. In the end you made such a foolish decision, and left a curse making this world once again be shrouded under the shadow of the demon race.”

“——!”

The value of her own existence was being denied severely. Miu’s body could not help but shudder slightly.

Even if it was within her expectations, this heartless and relentless accusation hurt Miu. But —

……Ah.

Beside her, Akatsuki gently patted Miu’s shoulders.

“So what you are saying is that your intentions for sending pursuers was for the peace of Alayzard……?”

Akatsuki coldly stared directly at Baram in front of him.

Ousawa Miu could not help but think of Disdia’s true purpose.

But Akatsuki had not yet mentioned the information obtained from Phil.

……After all, there was no conclusive evidence.

Miu was well aware of it. Impulsive questioning would only become baseless slander, and put one in a more unfavorable situation. Disdia’s main goal was to use Miu as the bait and incite the demon race to start a rebellion and create a new dispute. Afterwards, use their influence from ending the war to become the leader of Alayzard. Knowing this, they could not expose Baram’s lie on the spot, thus Akatsuki decided to approach the question from another angle.

“The king’s life is equal to the life of all citizens. If Galious dies, the demon race also surrenders. This means that the battle had ended, no matter humans or the demon race, both do not need to shed blood pointlessly.”

“Blood pointlessly……? You still dare say such a thing.”

Baram glanced at Listy with one eye.

“Did you forget? Originally when Galious attacked Sherfield’s capital Erdia, besides the princess at that time, Queen Listy, Sherfield’s royalty all died at the hands of the demon race.”

Baram sudden speech made Listy bite her lips tightly and bow her head down in silence.

The tragedy five years ago emerged in her brain.

At that time, she lost her father, her relatives, her country and even lost Leon, and was forced to face despair. Yes, this was an indisputable fact.

……But……

Just when Listy was about to raise her head and speak —

“—— With all due respect. Baram——dono, this is our country’s problem.”

Loutier protested on the sidelines, Zechs also tried not to be outdone by her.

“What Lulu said is true. That day’s pain and anger belong to us.”

Then he coldly glared at Baram:

“ — It cannot become another country’s excuse.”

Listy gave a heartfelt thanks to her two close friends for speaking for her.

The unwelcomed Baram seemed to be somewhat helpless.

“I was only trying to defend for Sherfield’s injustice. If even the home country expresses this, then I, who is part of another country, cannot say anything more.”

“……At that time, I was there.”

Akatsuki muttered. Noticing Akatsuki’s gaze, Listy could not help but think:

Those are the same eyes as her. Akatsuki must have recalled that past.

“If that is the tragedy caused by the war, we cannot and should not blame anyone. If anyone wants to take responsibility for that tragedy, it should be me who killed off Leon.”

“……Enough, Akatsuki. Don’t talk about that matter.”

Listy’s tone was extremely grim.

“I have already said it many times, the you, at that time, had no power to change anything. Leon’s death is not your fault, do not push the responsibility to yourself.”

The hall suddenly plunged into silence.

After a period of time.

“……Looks like we strayed from the point.”

Volk broke the silence.

“Akatsuki, please continue to speak. To prevent us from continuing to send pursuers, you came once again to Alayzard, this point is not hard to understand. But why have you become the demon race’s representative? The demon king Galious died at your hands, why would the demon race accept you to represent them for the talk?”

“The reason is simple, they have no other choice.”

It was a simple elimination method.

“The demon race living in the forest knows that Galious entrusted his daughter to me, and they also followed Galious’s last wards and lived a peaceful life in the forest. What they could not imagine is that your army suddenly attacked them without any warning, causing them to be highly distressed. They also knew that humans would not trust the demon race, so they could only rely on me to convince you to withdraw your troops. To the demon race, this was their last resort.”

“Without warning, now you’re trying to blame us?”

Baram coldly spoke:

“The one who first attacked should be the demon race? Don’t you forget, our surveillance forces that were deployed at the borders of Galevain were completed annihilated by the attacks of the demon race.”

Just when he finished —

“ — We did not attack anyone!”

The owner of this voice got up from her seat.

A closer look revealed that it was the quiet Miu, who had remained silent since the beginning of the talks.

Being separated by Akatsuki’s body, Nanase Haruka looked at Miu, who stood up from her seat.

Ignoring everyone’s gaze, Miu coldly stared at Baram.

……It really is difficult to forgive.

A strategist using despicable means and attempting to destroy their race.

About the problem of how to deal with Akatsuki, Miu’s hidden truth and entering an alternative world — Haruka decided to wait till she would witness the actions of the two before making the final decision. Thus, today she was acting as a third party to observe the talks from aside. Using the information obtained before, as well as the speech provided by everyone, to a.s.sess the situation, Galevain being framed should be an indisputable truth. And Disdia’s Baram, who, from the beginning of the talks, had expressed a strong hostility to the demon race, even acting as if he was the victim, wasn’t it a method to get rid of the suspicion. As for the two other countries in the alliance, whether they comply with Disdia, this they do not know.

……If the other two countries also partic.i.p.ated in it, the situation was unfavorable to the demon race. Akatsuki believed that Sherfield, who had a shallow relationship with him, should not be involved.

But if the three countries’ leaders had came to a consensus before, humans and demon race’s peace treaty would be difficult to achieve. Akatsuki probably had thought of this point, indicated Miu to return to her seat and slowly spoke:

“About this matter of the attack, is there any conclusive evidence?”

Akatsuki attempted to refute the opposing accusation. At that time Sherfield’s red haired general spoke.

“The ones being attacked were a joint force from our country and Disdia. According to the survivors, it was the demon race’s work. Besides Disdia’s soldiers, our soldiers have also said the same thing.”

At this moment —

“—— That is only “testimony” and not “evidence”.”

Haruka immediately reb.u.t.ted, bringing the attention of everyone to herself.

……W……What am I doing……?

After seeing the despicable means used to accuse the demon race, Haruka finally could not help but speak. But once the words came out, Haruka regretted immediately. After all, she was not a resident from this world, and should not involve herself with the dispute between the demon race and the humans. However, Akatsuki took things calmly, and did not have any meaning of resentment, so Haruka was a little relieved. It seemed that her speech did not destroy Akatsuki and Miu’s plan.

Not only that, Akatsuki even winked at Haruka, motioning her to speak freely without having to think twice.

…….If that being the case……

Haruka nodded and turned to face the front. At first Haruka only wanted to witness Akatsuki and Miu’s actions and did not want to select a side, but her sense of justice did not allow the opposing side to use baseless evidence to accuse the demon race. This was what Nanase Haruka insisted upon as well as her belief.

“Pardon me for speaking frankly……Aside from the testimony from the survivors, I believe there should be no decisive evidence?”

Then Haruka said a speculation she was almost convinced was true.

“The demon race is the enemy of the humans. This belief is deeply rooted in the hearts of the humans, so naturally they would not consider other possibilities. If the injured soldiers claimed that it was the demon race, people would naturally turn their attacks towards the demon race, completely ignoring the wish to investigate for the truth. After all, the truth of the investigation is equal to protecting the enemy, protecting the demon race, and the person who proposed this idea would even be considered as a traitor of humans and a fellow helper of the demon race.”

Haruka paused for a moment.

“Is it not?”

“ — Please wait a moment.”

A skinny youth suddenly opened his mouth. This youth was none other than the Disdia’s fourth prince Alphonse, who was sitting beside Baram. As the prince of the military empire, Alphonse did not carry a sword. He was also wearing an outfit for a civil official. From his body and appearance, his strong point should not be in the battlefield, but his tone still had a touch of dignity.

…… After all, he is also royalty.

No matter how frail he is, he should still be equipped with guts.

Alphonse continued to say:

“We also hope to avoid unnecessary disputes. After a rigorous investigation, we confirmed that it was indeed the crime of the demon race.”

“On what basis?”

“According to the footprints on the battlefield, the enemy’s weapons and the magic residue, etc. These all point to the same conclusion, the demon race is related to the attack.”

“That is the truth.”

Sherfield’s high cla.s.s elves also agreed with Alphonse.

“From the traces made by weapons on the armor, it is confirmed that it is from the special curved sword that the dark elves use. And from the magic residue, we also discovered dark magic that humans cannot use.”

Haruka nodded.

“But these things could all be fake right?”

“……You mean that we forged false evidence?”

Alphonse narrowed his eyes, revealing an unfriendly gaze. Haruka gently shook her head.

“I am just asking whether there is a possibility, and did not mean to accuse anyone.”

“This……”

Loutier pondered but could not answer. Haruka took her actions as a yes.

“In short, you do not hold any conclusive evidence, only rely on a few people’s testimony and wishfully attacked.”

It was a powerful accusation. Just when Haruka felt satisfied……

“Oh — what’s the problem about it?”

A gloomy and calm voice mixed with a tint of laughter coldly rejected Haruka’s predictions.

The owner of the voice was none other than Aleclasta’s talented female — the high priest Miranda. Her eyes seemed to reflect the world’s abyss. Haruka felt that she was nearly sucked into it.

Haruka did not know her. Today was their first time meeting each other.

But……

……This person, seemed to be like……

A cold chill encroached on her forehand. Haruka suddenly sensed a familiar gaze.

However, she quickly put this idea behind her.

“……What does that phrase mean? It was reasonable to make fakes?”

“Of course not. I only confirmed the part that is wishful thinking.”

Miranda answered.

“Even if there is the possibility of creating fakes, only people standing on the side of the demon race would make a fuss about fraud. Don’t you forget, the survirors’ testimony clearly stated that the attack force was the demon race. To us, just the testimony is more than sufficient. Moreover, when humans make a judgment, it more or less contains an element of wishful thinking right?” Because —

“After all, humans are creatures of emotions, Although it is necessary for government officials to suppress their own emotions, and put the country’s interest and the well——being of their citizens as their top priority, but what if you are facing this situation? Facing a situation where your citizens will most likely be killed by the demon race, can you still remain calm?”

“Mmmm……But!”

Even if she was being overwhelmed by Miranda, Haruka still refused to give up.

“That’s right…… what if our positions were swapped?”

Miranda Quenty continued her attack.

“Suppose your friend was suddenly murdered, the evidence all points to the enemy, also there are eyewitness testimony. Under this circ.u.mstance, would you still believe the enemy is innocent, ignoring the citizens’ feelings, and search for evidence everywhere?”

“…….Mmmm!”

This was going badly, Haruka thought to herself. Alphonse and Loutier’s argument was based on logic, thus Haruka could refute it using theory. However, Miranda appealed to the emotions. By adding the element of emotion into the debate, it forced Haruka to respect them. As a result, there was no doubt that it would make their opposing actions reasonable and view the attacks from the human to the demon race as legitimate actions.

“Now do you understand? As the leader of many citizens, we were forced to make this decision.”

Miranda gave a shallow smile and expressed her declaration of victory.

At this moment —

“—— Very good!”

A rude and frivolous voice resounded through the scene.

Everyone unanimously turned to look at the owner of the voice.

That was Akatsuki, who was holding his hands behind his head and was at ease.

Part 3

Noticing that everyone’s attention was focused on him, Akatsuki could not help but think:

Right now here is the main event.

……Eh?

Akatsuki suddenly took a glance at Miu.

Miu’s sorrowful face, which was staring at Akatsuki, seemed to represent that she did not understand the meaning of Akatsuki’s previous phrase. Thus Akatsuki gently smiled and motioned Miu to not worry.

“——!”

Through this, it made the sad looking Miu suddenly open up, and show full confidence towards Akatsuki. Thus Akatsuki faced the front, and saw the smiling Miranda hurriedly speak:

“——Akatsuki, do you empathize with our troubles?”

“Of course. Since you hold evidence, it can’t be helped.”

“……Everybody heard this clearly.”

Baram said it in a deep tone.

“This is a formal diplomatic talk, even if we mistakenly included emotions in our speech, it cannot be cancelled afterwards.”

“……”

Noticing that Akatsuki remained silent, Baram laughed.

“Just say what your opinion is, remaining silent will be considered as agreement.”

“...…If you say so, then there’s no helping it. Okay, so it’s this.” Akatsuki shrugged.

“What does this mean? Did you give up on the peace agreement?” Facing Listy’s suspicion, Akatsuki shook his head.

“Give up? I did not mean to say I give up……Is there anything wrong with this?”

“There is nothing wrong. Just by seeing you judge and accept that our surveillance forces were attacked by the demon race, our attacks have also gained legitimacy, so there is naturally no reason for us to retreat. Under these circ.u.mstances, do you think there is s.p.a.ce for negotiation?”

“Of course not.”

Baram replaced Akatsuki to answer Volk’s question, then he turned to face Akatsuki.

“He has already admitted that our attack to the demon race is justified revenge.”

But……

“That’s correct, I admit that.”

Akatsuki att.i.tude was still frivolous.

He announced to the crowd loudly.

“I recognize, and accept your argument that the demon race is the culprit behind the attacks on the surveillance forces.”

So—now it’s our turn.

“Galevain respects and accepts your country’s stance and judgment; after all, besides the testimony, you also hold relevant evidence. But do not be mistaken, the truth isn’t this, the demon race have never attacked the human surveillance forces. About this point, we also have relevant testimony and we reasonably suspect that the evidence you found are fakes made by the real culprit.”

“W……What did you say?”

Facing Akatsuki’s explanation, Baram could not help but reveal a surprised look, as if he did not understand the meaning behind Akatsuki’s words. So Akatsuki gave out a slight smile and loudly requested:

“Now it is your turn to respect and understand our stance. We are troubled because we were wrongly accused, and hope you will be able to immediately retreat, this is our stance.”

“Ah……”

The moment Miu understood and exclaimed——

“——That is a lie!”

Baram slammed his hands onto the table, and angrily stood up. His chair fell down behind him and created a loud sound. Under Baram’s menacing eyes, Akatsuki still had a nonchalant look.

“While we are not able to agree with your stance, we are still willing to respect it. So I will not request that you agree with us, but at least respect our stance.”

“A mere defeated country wishes to have equal footing with us? Don’t expect that if you respect our stance, we must respect your stance!”

“Huh, did you forget? Didn’t grandpa Volk just say this? “Your status is equivalent to us, there is naturally no need to make a useless attempt at beautiful rhetorical words and diplomatic language.” If our status is equal, then it is natural to ask for the same in return!”

“Ohoh, you’re really something.”

Volk, who was placed on the spot by Akatsuki, gently smiled, and stroked his long white beard.

Baram spat out.

“That was Pope Volk’s opinion, I did not promise that.”

“Then why did you not speak at that time? “If you have an opinion, speak quickly” , “Silence represents agreement”, I wonder who said these two phrases.”

“Mmmm……”

Baram was angry to the extent where his cheeks turned red. Seeing this, Miranda could not help but cover her mouth and laugh, her shoulder even shook slightly, with an overjoyed look.

However, Akatsuki did not intend to easily let go of Baram.

“This is a formal meeting, so all the speeches “cannot be cancelled”. This phrase was your excuse that you used in the beginning in order to put me in a difficult position. Now you can’t even hold your own, it can’t be that you would pretend that you never said it right? I should hope that, the Great Disdia Emperor, would use just a dirty trick right?”

His honey tongue really made an awe-inspiring appearance.

Noticing that everybody remained silent, Akatsuki revealed a proud smile.

He then said:

“——Look, didn’t I say it already? This meeting was completely under my control.”

“……!”

Under Akatsuki’s superb conversation skills, he gave no room for reb.u.t.tal for Baram who wanted to eliminate the demon race.

However, the battle of politics was just about to begin.

“——Akatsuki-dono, please listen to me.

Alphonse suddenly spoke.

“Volk-sama did indeed mention about having the “same status”, but it should only represent only the representatives and not the relations between countries.”

“Oh……”

Although Alphonse’s eyes were filled with provocation, Akatsuki had a good impression of him.

Up till now, the developments from the peace talks, Baram’s previous careless remarks had forced his country to express disagreement with Galevain’s request, Disdia’s position and influence would also be affected. So Alphonse attempted to help his father take back the disadvantage. As a prince of his country, it was not only his responsibility but also his duty. However, Akatsuki would not be lenient because of this.

“So that is your explanation, but I believe that it should also include equality between the nations. Anyways, I respected your stances, then can you please respect mine?”

Once they accepted the opposing stances, it would mean that even if their opinions did not match, they could only interpret it by themselves. In short, Alphonse’s dissent would not have any effect. However, Alphonse readily accepted Akatsuki’s proposition.

“I see……If we accept your stance, what request do you have?”

“Immediately recall the troops that surround the forest.”

Akatsuki replied without hesitation.

“We have already accepted your stance of performing a siege, now it is your turn to show sincerity and recall your troops.”

“The cause of the attack was because our country and Sherfield’s joint forces came under attack, how would you deal with this matter? Right now both sides are sticking to their own positions, and both sides of argument are lacking evidence, and cannot accurately tell the truth. But our surveillance forces being crushed is an indisputable fact. Even if we currently do not hold real evidence, it does not deny the possibility that the demon race was involved in it.”

Alphonse’s conversational skills were also quite clever. Akatsuki spat out in his heart.

……Amazing.

The reason behind why both sides were deadlocked was because they continued to stand for their own side’s legitimate reasons.

However, Alphonse actually admitted that both sides were lacking conclusive evidence, and at the same time, Akatsuki’s opinion was only baseless speculation. Once they pulled out the emotions of both sides, it left only the truth. In reality, compared to the proposition of demon race believing they were being framed, it was clear that “Our monitoring forces have been attacked by the demon race and were completely wiped out” was more realistic.

……What should I do?

Although they could continue their stance of being misunderstood, there were many weak arguments, and sooner or later, they would be overwhelmed by the other side. Thus, Akatsuki decided to change the course.

“In order to prove that we are being framed, Galevain hopes to quickly investigate the truth of this matter. However, Galevain will not accept the truth you investigated, and at the same time, you will not accept the truth Galevain investigated. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

Alphonse nodded. Akatsuki revealed a satisfied smile.

“Why not let the Maritime Trade Country — Ayersmarina act as a fair and impartial third party, and under witness from both sides re-investigate. I personally feel that it is an appropriate method, what do you think of it?”

Only in the situation where it did not involve both sides’ interest, it could clarify the truth. Since the culprit was not Galevain, the truth was in their favor.

“……”

Alphonse considered for a moment.

“——This proposal is indeed appropriate.”

Then he quietly said:

“……I do not know what Sherfield thinks, Queen Listy?”

“Ah……That’s fine.”

After Listy expressed her agreement, Alphonse gaze shifted to the other side.

“Volk-sama, is Aleclasta also in favor of this proposal?”

“Yes, there are no objections. The truth is that the forces that were wiped out are from Sherfield and Disdia. I am generally following the friendship of our three country alliance, so I sent troops to partic.i.p.ate in retaliation. As long as your country and Sherfield accept, Aleclasta will naturally have no reasons to refuse.”

“Very well, then let’s leave it as that.”

Akatsuki revealed a satisfied smile.

“——However……Akatsuki-dono.”

Alphonse coldly spoke:

“In principle, we cannot let all the troops retreat from the forest. The alternative plan was to leave the surveillance forces, I believe there are no objections from Galevain’s side.”

“Geez, you really calculated it well.”

Akatsuki gave a wry smile.

“The amount of surveillance forces are the same as before?”

“No. Since they were able to eliminate our troops in one night, this means that we cannot underestimate the other party. To prevent the same tragedy from occurring, we must increase the amount of forces.”

Alphonse apparently tried to fight for more favorable conditions, but Akatsuki replied quickly.

“Ah…Okay, that’s fine.”

“……Do you not need to confirm the number of troops that we increased?”

Akatsuki att.i.tude was very simple, and instead made Alphonse feel a bit surprised.

Only for him to see Akatsuki smile.

“Never mind, I believe you. After all you do not wish to break the consensus both parties had managed to build right?”

“……That is true.”

At the same time he saw Alphonse gave a wry smile, Akatsuki thought to himself.

…At least we came up with a conclusion.

They at least successfully managed to remove the siege around the force. Moreover, Alphonse was a negotiation expert; if it had continued, there was no guarantee that Akatsuki would not suffer losses.

“——Otou-sama, what do you think?”

Alphonse asked for Baram’s opinion. Baram obviously did not accept this conclusion, but he could not express an objection; after all, his careless remarks made them fall under unfavorable conditions. It was thanks to Alphonse that they managed to turn the tide and barely regained their pride, so why would Baram let down his son’s efforts. Besides, this conclusion had obtained the agreement of Volk and Listy. If he was to object at this point, he would undoubtedly disgrace himself.

“……I understand, then let us do this.”

After saying this, Alphonse stared at Akatsuki as if he was seeking for Akatsuki’s consent.

Akatsuki accepted Alphonse’s gaze and quietly nodded.

……Disdia’s fourth prince Alphonse.

After his three brothers died in the battle against the demon race, Alphonse had become the sole heir of Disdia.

The frail and weak Alphonse could not be like his father and brothers and storm the battle, but he was the indispensable strategist beside his father, and helped his father to deal with politics. As a prince in a military country that had never killed on the battlefield, Alphonse was called by many citizens as the , but the display he showed in the debate was extraordinary. He not only made the surveillance forces stay at the forest with a legitimate reason, he even obtained agreement from the partic.i.p.ants to increase the strength of their forces, helping his father and at the same time Disdia regain their pride.

……He sure has character.

Alphonse did not hesitate to accept the fair and impartial third party proposal to investigate the truth, which meant that Disdia did not seem to care if the truth was to be made public.

Is it because they have confidence in their own legitimacy? Or is it——

……Another conspiracy?

Not through violent coercion, but bribing with money? However, Alphonse did not seem to be that type of person. At least when he was facing Akatsuki, his eyes were extremely honest.

…Forget it.

Even if he really had little tricks, he would not be able to escape from Akatsuki. There was no need to waste his time on him.

They had managed the break through the first hurdle, but there were still more things for Akatsuki to deal with. The tension they had till now was finally resolved.

……Now they had to deal with the tension in the future.

At this moment——

“……I’m willing to accept the request of withdrawing my army and only leaving surveillance forces in the forest.”

Baram quietly said.

“But this does not represent that Disdia is willing to sign an equal peace treaty with Galevain. The demon race and Disdia’s national powers are too different, they will never be able to be equals.”

Hearing this, Akatsuki was actually secretly delighted.

One of the most important keys to the peace negotiation was to lure the militarist Disdia to say the phrase just now. He did not think that Baram would actually say it himself. Ousawa Akatsuki of course did not miss this opportunity.

“National powers are too different……What does this phrase mean?”

“Is there any more to say!”

Baram’s said with a firm tone.

“Military Strength is equal to National Power. Once war breaks out again, Disdia will be easily able to annihilate Galevain!”

“Easily? You talk big.”

Akatsuki smiled slightly.

“Listen carefully, if war breaks out again, I will be standing on Galevain’s side this time.”

Part 4

Listy heard this clearly, everyone almost gasped simultaneously.

Then it hit her, that was Akatsuki’s real purpose.

……You’re serious, Akatsuki.

Akatsuki had already been mentally prepared, even if he had to become enemies with his past comrades, he would still fight for the demon race.

“Hmmph……Don’t think that just by adding one more person, you will be able to compete with Disdia’s forces.”

Baram could not conceal his rage, but Akatsuki still had a frivolous appearance.

“Are you serious now?”

Akatsuki laughed.

“Did you carefully consider the consequences of becoming my enemy?”

“What did you say……?”

Through Akatsuki’s reminder, Baram’s face suddenly became pale.

……It looked like Baram had already noticed it.

Listy thought. Taking into the account of risk involved by making Akatsuki their enemy, Baram’s reaction was not surprising. After all, their opponent was a hero that had defeated Alayzard’s strongest demon king – Galious. There would absolutely be psychological impact on their soldiers. Even if he was called the “Rogue Hero”, countries all over the world, including Sherfield, had many Akatsuki supporters. Especially soldiers from the battlefield—Akatsuki, who had led the battle, was definitely their hero. These people had witnessed Akatsuki’s performance on the battlefield and they naturally understood Akatsuki’s combat prowess. When Galious was still alive, he had the t.i.tle of Alayzard’s strongest and undefeatable demon king, but in the end, he still lost to Akatsuki. Once the soldiers understood that they were going to fight against the invincible Akatsuki, there was bound to be panic. This was also the reason why Baram had sent his strongest a.s.sa.s.sin to defeat Akatsuki. He did not think that Phil Barnett would lose and even the Evil Dragon Zahhark would be defeated by Akatsuki. This proved that Akatsuki’s combat abilities far surpa.s.sed Baram’s imagination.

“But……If we really began to fight, victory will still belong to us.”

Baram continue to persist, but the expression on his face was very pained. However, what he said was accurate. If it was in a frontal confrontation, the chances of Disdia winning were not low. No matter how powerful Akatsuki was, he was still only a human, how could he face the hundreds of thousands of human troops? But this would already not be a military action to eliminate the demon race, and rather a devastating war filled with corpses, even if they managed to win, the damages and impact they had to face were difficult to estimate. Although Disdia’s national power was enormous, it had already been exhausted through the battles over the years against the demon king Galious, and had yet to recover completely. Thus if war did set off again, there was no guarantee that the country would not be shaken. As the ruler of Disdia, it was impossible for Baram to not understand these principles.

……And……

Listy thought. Although the odds of winning a frontal confrontation were not low, but……

……The military conflict was not everything about the war.

“As long as war starts, victory will belong to the humans? This may not be the case.”

As if he also understood this concept, Akatsuki looked around at the crowd.

“Disdia, who lost many brave and fierce princes, is only relying on the prestige of the current emperor to maintain everything. Through the symbol and absolute authority of the Pope, the religious country Aleclasta. The only survivor of royalty who became the Queen, and after taking back the capital they rose up to fight against the demon king Galious, the country Sherfield. These three countries’ leaders are irreplaceable able people. Just by defeating the “King” or taking over a “capital”, cutting down the wishes and hope of the people, everything will be settled. The most simple example is when I defeated Galious, the battle between the humans and demon race also came to an end.”

Exactly. There are many methods to win a war, it is not necessarily about just fighting with the enemy forces.

“Meaning that once the two sides fight against each other, you will not hesitate to kill me?”

Volk narrowed his eyes and stared at Akatsuki.

Only to see Akatsuki shrug.

“I don’t want to do that either. But if you are going to become my enemy, harm my comrades, then I have no other choice. This is called karma.”

However……

“Taking you guys as the hostage is also an excellent idea. Just like you had planned to take the demon king’s daughter as a hostage.”

Therefore——

“Consider it carefully. If there really is no room for negotiation and no room for peace talks, this castle’s hall may instantly turn into a battlefield.”

The scene was suddenly enveloped in cold atmosphere.

But——

“Oh no, Akatsuki……How can you randomly scare people?”

Miranda’s smile warmed up the atmosphere of the scene.

“These talks were requested by you. If you were to cause trouble in the middle of the talks, you would only agitate the feelings that human have on the demon race. I believe that it should not be the ending that you, who wish for peace, hope for?”

“Haha, looks like I can’t hide it from you.”

Akatsuki slightly smiled.

“However……Akatsuki.”

Volk interfered from the sidelines:

“You seem to place a deep hope on the peace treaty between the demon race and the humans, but what about the feelings of the people?”

After all……

“Humans and demon race have a history of conflict, and it flows deeply. Up till now, both sides are still in the situation of mutual hostility. How could they forgive and forget about the past and peacefully live together?” Listy expressed agreement in her heart. Unless they obtained the support from their people, the peace treaty was only just a formality. However, Akatsuki shook his head as if he was not worried about this point.

“A peace treaty is different than an alliance. It will not force demon race and humans to live together. It simply is a non-aggression agreement in order to avoid the reoccurrence of similar conflict.”

“……Non-aggression? Meaning that we will live in peace by not interfering with each other?”

Listy asked and Akatsuki simply said “Yes” and nodded.

“The demon race only wishes to live their lives in peace. If both sides do not approach each other, then naturally conflicts will not arise. There has never been a similar agreement in the past between the humans and the demon race. The people from both sides were living in fear of a war erupting any moment. But once the peace treaty is signed, at least there will be a protection formally, which will also effectively eliminate the fears within the people’s hearts.”

The scene fell into silence. Everybody was considering the feasibility of a peace treaty in their hearts.

……It was not unreasonable.

Listy thought. As long as they both do not interfere with each other, peace between the two sides is not impossible.

At this moment……

“Ah, so that was what it is……This consideration indeed makes sense.”

Volk muttered and expressed his support.

“What? Pope Volk!”

A shocked Baram stared at Volk.

“Don’t tell me you actually believe in his nonsense?”

“Nonsense? It may not be. The long war has just ended, and there is no one that hopes for a war to start again. Truthfully, the battle has continued for too long, it is to the extent that there are some children that have never known what peace is. Since returning to our calm and peaceful lives is the hopes of people, a non-aggression agreement is a viable option……Queen Listy, what do you think?”

“……Yes, our country is also tired of the atmosphere caused by the war.”

The attack this time was caused by our country’s military, the militia stayed within the country to help out with post-war reconstruction work. Listy understood the people hated war, thus she decided to make this decision. If it can completely eliminate war, then everything is good.

And……

……As a result, they will not have to fight against Akatsuki.

“Right now only Disdia has not expressed their opinions, how is it?”

Alphonse replaced Baram to answer Pope’s question.

“Akatsuki-dono’s proposal is indeed attractive, but there are still two problems.”

“Ah……Then please say it.”

Under Volk’s indication, Alphonse nodded.

“First is the attack on our surveillance forces. If it was really the work of the demon race, Disdia will once again take action against Galevain, and at that time, the so-called peace treaty will be gone.”

“That is justifiable, after all the premise of the peace treaty was that the attacks on the surveillance forces were unrelated to the demon race. Akatsuki, you should have no objections?”

“Yes, that is natural.”

Akatsuki nodded, then Alphonse continued to speak:

“The following is the second problem. Besides that the matter about our surveillance forces being unrelated to the demon race, there is also the premise where Akatsuki must show strength capable of resisting against us. After all, Akatsuki-dono has only given a one-sided statement. At the same time, we have no confirm the legitimacy of the empty talk. In order to prove the legitimacy of the peace treaty, I would wish for Akatsuki-dono to prove his strength.”

“Ohoh……Really you.”

Volk narrowed his eyes, laughing very happily.

“Akatsuki, what do you say? Is Alphonse’s request reasonable?”

“I have no opinions about it, I am always ready to take on the challenge.”

Akatsuki replied.

“——However, how should I prove my strength?”

“About this……As long as you are able to win over our current strongest fighting forces, it should be okay. This should be the most direct and easiest way of proving your strength.”

“That is also true. But can you tell me who do you refer to as your “strongest fighting force”?

“Is there any need to say it?”

After Alphonse said this, Listy could clearly see that a cruel smile appeared on his face.

……Could it be?

Listy, who suddenly understood, intended to stop Alphonse from continuing; however, it was unfortunately a step too late.

She saw Alphonse remain calm and composed while saying:

“——Queen Listy, General Zech and Elite Executive Loutier, would you three please go?”

Listy unconsciously bit her lower lips. Zechs and Loutier’s expression was also pale. It seems that the two had also spotted Alphonse’s trap.

She could not allow him to continue to spout out a great deal of nonsense, so Listy attempted the change the topic.

“Alphonse-dono, it is generous how highly you think of us, but we three are not the strongest forces that you speak of, this is just a baseless conjecture. It seems like you have other plans?”

“You consider too much. I do not have any other plans, and the statement about the strongest forces isn’t baseless conjecture. In the past, the three of you have fought together with Akatsuki-dono, and were cla.s.sified as Great Heroes that saved Alayzard. It is rumored that everyone’s strength is on par with Akatsuki-dono. So our current strongest forces will naturally belong to none other than you three.”

“This……But……”

The situation was rapidly deteriorating. She was quickly trying to think of a plan. Under these dire circ.u.mstances, Listy turned and glanced at Loutier, only to discover that she was sweating a lot, as if she also could not think of a strategy.

……What should we do?

If the three of us win, it proves that Akatsuki’s strength was not strong enough to cause fear, and a battle between the humans and the demon race may erupt any moment.

What if the three of us lose?

……The world would believe that the peace treaty was built based on our defeat.

Although residents of Alayzard hate war, the majority of the humans do not wish to coexist peacefu