Chapter 73: Even a Great Fire Starts with a Small Spark
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In a room within the Demon Tribe Nation’s Royal Castle, the Intelligence Unit members who had fled from Kenta were reporting to Mekido, the Demon Tribe Nation King.
“I see, so you’re saying that the former Intelligence Unit woman might be hiding with Kenta Maya?”
Mekido, having received the report from the Intelligence Unit that Mona might be with Kenta, crossed his arms and began to ponder.
Meanwhile, one of Mekido’s aides was relentlessly berating the Intelligence Unit members who had returned.
“Even so, to return without landing a single blow, how shameful can you be?”
Hearing the aide’s words, the Intelligence Unit members wanted to shout, “Then you go try it!” but the other party was a member of the nation’s upper echelons.
As members of the organization’s lowest ranks, the Intelligence Unit members had no choice but to grit their teeth and endure.
At that moment.
“Then, you go and do it.”
A voice was heard.
For a moment, the Intelligence Unit members thought that one of their own had said it.
After all, it was exactly what they had been thinking in their hearts.
Who on earth? Looking around, they saw King Mekido glaring coldly at the aide who had spoken earlier.
“…Y-Your Majesty?”
“What? You think they’re pathetic, don’t you? Then you go and show them how it’s done.”
The aide’s face paled at Mekido’s words.
After all, this aide was a civil official who could use some magic but had no experience with combat.
To face Kenta, who had defeated the Demon Tribe Nation King, who was said to be the strongest in history, was nothing short of suicide.
“H-hahaha. Your Majesty is joking. There’s no way I could do that.”
“Then shut up.”
Mekido glared at the aide as he said that.
“Listen, these guys are many times stronger than you. Yet, they returned without even landing a single blow. Think about what that means.”
Mekido was said to lack political skills, but when it came to combat, he suddenly displayed sharp insight.
Now, he supported the Intelligence Unit’s decision to bring back information rather than fight needlessly in a surprise encounter, and he rebuked the aide, who was a member of the nation’s upper echelons.
The Intelligence Unit members were moved by this, and some even had tears in their eyes.
Some had questioned his qualifications as a king, but their hearts were rapidly leaning towards supporting Mekido, who listened to the opinions of those on the ground.
Mekido, however, seemed uninterested in the feelings of the Intelligence Unit members, focusing his thoughts solely on the information they had brought back.
“So, you couldn’t get any confirmation?”
“Yes. She said there was no such woman. And even if there was, she said she had no obligation to tell us.”
“…Was he always so arrogant? He seems quite different from when I fought him before.”
Mekido had crossed swords with Kenta once during the Demon Tribe Nation King’s subjugation.
At that time, he had succumbed to Kenta’s overwhelming power, but he had not spoken with the kind of arrogance that the Intelligence Unit members described.
He had heard that Kenta had been falsely accused and fled from the Human Tribe Nation, but he did not know that this had made him so jaded.
“Yes. As a member of the Intelligence Unit, I also investigated Kenta Maya, and I agree that he seems quite different from back then.”
“I see. So it’s definitely him?”
“Yes. That overwhelming Magic Power…”
The Intelligence Unit member shuddered as if remembering something.
“Just remembering it makes me shudder.”
“If a Human Tribe member can make a Demon Tribe member feel that way with Magic Power, then it must be him.”
After saying that, Mekido began to ponder again.
“That woman, she’s a former Intelligence Unit member, right? Maybe they met during the previous war and secretly became lovers.”
The Intelligence Unit members looked at each other after Mekido’s words and nodded before relaying additional information.
“Actually, that… that woman named Mona, she was a Lady-in-waiting for Princess Meileen during the previous war.”
At the Intelligence Unit member’s words, Mekido’s eyes widened, and he stood up abruptly.
“What did you say!? Why didn’t you say that sooner!?”
“I-I’m sorry!! I thought it might cause unnecessary trouble, so I…”
“That’s not ‘just so’! That’s incredibly important information!! If that woman, who was my sister’s Lady-in-waiting, might be in the residence of our enemy, Kenta Maya…”
Mekido said with a bitter expression.
“My sister might be with Kenta Maya…”
After saying that, Mekido sat back down in his chair and held his head.
“My sister was originally a traitor who cooperated with Kenta Maya to kill our father. They’ve already met. And then, they were both exiled from the country. It wouldn’t be strange if two people in similar situations met somewhere, hit it off, and started acting together.”
As he said that, Mekido glanced at the desk calendar on his work desk.
“…It’s been over two years since my sister was exiled… This is…”
The worst-case scenario that he did not want to consider flashed through Mekido’s mind.
“There might be… a child between my sister and Kenta Maya.”
Those in the office had mostly anticipated this, so they didn’t react with exaggerated surprise, but they all swallowed hard.
“The child of the Demon Tribe Nation’s Princess and the most dangerous otherworlder… If such a being really existed…”
Another aide, different from the one Mekido had just reprimanded, said carefully, and Mekido continued.
“It’s not just a spark. It’ll become an enormous fire.”
A being with both lineage and power might exist.
To Mekido, this was something he could not overlook.
“We can’t leave this as it is.”
Mekido stood up and said, looking out the window.
“Let’s go. To Kenta Maya’s place.”
Thus, the Demon Tribe Nation’s intervention with Kenta was decided.