Chapter 90

– Sleeping With the Enemy (3)
The captain had brought allies that would allow them to win the war.  The headquarters had responded by killing his subordinate, and they were being attacked by several hundred knights.   The captain gawked at the sudden turn of events.  However, Artpe wasn’t considerate of what the captain was going through.  He immediately grilled the captain.

Who do I have to make a deal with?


What do you mean a deal?  We don’t have time to idly talk about such stuff.  First, we have to resolve the misunderstanding……..

How could a man be so foolish?  Artpe didn’t hide his sneer.

It would be great if we can resolve the misunderstanding.  So….   What do you want to say to those angry knights charging towards us?  Your subordinate went to report our current situation.  Are you going to say something that is markedly different from him?

It was a mistake to call it a misunderstanding.  This was why they couldn’t resolve this so-called misunderstanding.  If the other side wanted a different answer, he would rather pose a different question.
It would be a problem that would be easy for them to read.

······.


That is why I want you to answer my question.  Who do I have to talk to amongst them?

The captain was having a hard time replying to Artpe’s words.  In the end, he was able to spit out a short phrase.

He isn’t amongst them.  He is in the barracks.


All right.  You guys wait inside the carriage.  Maetel, you should be ready for a battle just in case.


Yes!

He left Maetel in charge of the party, then Artpe took a step forward.  In a flash, he was in the midst of the charging knights.

A powerful magician?  Wartime mercenary?  You brought someone here that is spouting such nonsense!  Are you out of your mind!


If he’s a magician, he is part of Aedia’s forces!  This is obvious!  How can you fall for such an obvious lie…..  Uht!

His movement was so natural that the knights didn’t register Artpe within their midsts for a brief moment.  A brief moment was all Artpe needed to carry out what he needed to do.

I want you guys to stay here too.


Artpe lightly swung a single strand of Mana String across the floor.  All the knights fell to the floor as both their legs were cut from under them.  It didn’t matter if the knights were charging towards or away from Artpe’s party.  Several hundred knights all fell to the floor.

Koo-ha-ahhhhk!?


L…leg!  My legs!


Stay put.  If you struggle too much, you’ll cause your wounds to break open.  Naturally, it’ll make it harder for me to reattach your limbs.

At Artpe’s words, they quieted down as if they had been spooked by a ghost.  He snorted as he headed towards the barrack.  As if they knew Artpe had done something, the entrance to the barracks had reopened.  Additional troops charged out of the barrack.

Koo-ahhhhhhhk!

They suffered the same fate as the ones that came out earlier.

I just want a conversation.

[Nyaa nyaa nyaa-ah.]

No, it isn’t about my approach to the conversation.  The problem is with their manners.

Several more knights ran out, but they stopped in place when they saw the other knights rolling on the floor with their legs cut off.  Their faces had turned pale.  At this point in time, Artpe had already neutralized 30% of the allied forces of Diatan and Tiata.

H…how can this be?


I’m guessing your representative isn’t in amongst you?

No one answered Artpe’s question.  They just nodded their heads, and they opened the entrance to the barracks.  The knights had already left in large numbers, so the barracks were quite desolate.  There was a table placed at the end of the barracks, and there were several figures sitting at the head of table.  These figures remained seated.

They dare let an intruder enter this place.  It seems we’ll have to tighten discipline amongst the knights!

Suddenly, one of them stood up.  When Artpe surveyed him through his Read All Creation ability, he knew that the person was a level 230 knight.  He was a marquis of the Daiatan kingdom, and at the same time, he was the general of the army. The one that was sitting at the head of the table was…..
[Angelo Zard]
[Human]
[King]
[Level : 243]
The young king of Daitan faced Artpe as he opened his mouth.

It seems you know who I am.


Yes, you are the king. However, you are quite interesting.

Artpe was frank as he nodded his head.  However, in the next moment, he tilted his head.  Of course, the general had unsheathed his sword, and he was charging towards Artpe.  However. Artpe didn’t have a shred of interest in the man.

The head of Daiatan is supposed to have a belly full of fat instead of muscles.

Moreover, his greed had been as large as his fat belly.  This was why the hero’s party from his previous life had suffered when they crossed over to this continent.  All the countries had tried to use the conflict between the Demon King and the hero to their advantage.

You are correct.  However, there was a change not too long ago.  No, I made the change.  A good opportunity had presented itself.

A good opportunity?
Artpe tilted his head in puzzlement, but suddenly, a scene suddenly popped up inside his head.
Frate’s auction and the incident with the Kraken felt as if it had happened not too long ago.  It hadn’t just been about Diaz.  Many greedy people from many nations had crossed the ocean to come to Diaz, and they had suffered a disaster.
This was a change from his past.  When Diaz hosted the large scale Frate’s Festival, all the fat nobles had gathered in Frate, and the Lunatic Wave had completely sealed them in the city.  Maybe, the other factions used this opportunity to……

Get on your knees. How dare you speak like that to the absolute ruler of Daiatan!  Ahhhhhhhhhhht!?

Artpe had been a bit surprised at the new information, and the general sensed an opening.  He closed the short distance.
However, he couldn’t even swing his sword against Artpe.  He couldn’t lay a finger on Artpe.  As soon as Artpe entered the barracks, he had laid a trap with his Mana Strings.  The general was tied up by the Mana Strings.

Do you mind if I kill him?

[Nyaa nyaa?]

······I’d prefer it if you refrained from killing him.

The king answered him.  It was admirable.  The king was trying to maintain an unperturbed expression, but he couldn’t hide the fact that one side of his smile had curled down.  It was to be expected.  The king hadn’t stopped his general in an attempt to get a gauge of Artpe’s powers.  However, the general was neutralized too easily.  He couldn’t bring out even a little bit of Artpe’s true skill.

All right.  I’ll go easy on him.  However, I’ll take money as recompense for his insolence.


Koo-hahk!

When Artpe flicked his finger, the Mana String around the general started to unwound quickly.  However, this had the effect of flinging the general towards the direction he came from.  He fell to the floor after hitting the wall of the barracks.

Well, is anyone else going to stop me from speaking?


Let’s speak.

The king had no other answer he was allowed to say.  The king came to the same conclusion as the captain, who had fought Artpe earlier.  Since he couldn’t control Artpe, he would try his best to stand on the same side as him.  It seemed the king wasn’t only high in level.  He wasn’t a dunce, with no brains at all.
Artpe let out a bright smile as he spoke.

My offer is simple.  I’ll help you crush Aedia.  As recompense, I want you guys to fulfill my request.


The allied forces of Daitan and Tiata is already strong enough to vie for supremacy against Aedia.  So why should I hire you as a mercenary?


There is the risk and the opportunity cost.  If you hire me, you won’t have to sacrifice your soldiers, and it will consume much less time.  I promise you that I’ll have this wrapped up in a week.  You’ve seen me use my abilities, so you know what I’m saying isn’t impossible.


I want to say one week sounds impossible.  However…   I cannot fathom the extent of your abilities, so I’ll have to trust in your words.

The king agonized over his decision.  For Artpe, it was enough that the king hadn’t immediately rejected his words.  Artpe was satisfied with his answer, so he continued to speak.

In return, you’ll have to agree to my small request.  My request won’t be burdensome if you aren’t being too greedy.


If so, I would have to hear what this request is first.

Mmmm. He was acceptable.  As a ruler of a nation,  He was quite splendid  If he was like the ignorant kings from the old hero’s tales, he would have gotten angry already.  The kings from the old stories wouldn’t have wanted to get their hand dirty, so they would have shouted at their soldiers to ‘Catch that damn fool!’ or some phrase like that.  However, the king wasn’t the problem right now.  It was someone else.

We no longer have to hear more from him, sir Zard.  He possesses an obscene amount of magical energy.  I’m sure he is with Aedia!


How can you say that, sir Eritard.  If he was with Aedia, this war would have ended by now.  He wouldn’t go through all this trouble to talk with me.  That is the biggest proof that he isn’t with Aedia.


King of Daitan!


Stop it.  Let’s hear him out first.

A man had been sitting on the opposite side of the general.  He spoke to the king of Daitan as an equal, so his identity was easy to discern.
Artpe turned to look at him.

Duke of Tiatia?


Ha.  That’s right.  I am Duke Eritard.  I am from the Dukedom of Tiata.

He hadn’t suspected it before when he entered the barracks, but both the rulers of Daitan and Tiata was present inside.  He was thankful, since he didn’t have to travel to the Dukedom of Tiata.  He asked his questions as he had such thoughts.

I said I’m going to win the war for you guys, so why are you trying to undercut that deal?  Are you really his ally?


You are powerful!  What do you gain for allying with us!


What is it you want?


We want independence for our Dukedom!

It was at that moment.  Artpe followed up by shouting his own words after him!

However, that is a feint!  My true goal is the Forest of Eternity!


That’s right! Soon we will······ What!?

The Duke nodded his head vigorously in agreement, but soon, his face stiffened.  In a flash, question marks and exclamation points popped up inside his head.  One didn’t need to see inside his head to know what he was thinking.

······Forest of Eternity? What is the meaning of this?


Uh.  It is nothing, sir Zard.  I just became so agitated that I agreed with his ridiculous words….


You spoke your real intention.  So what’s going to happen within the Forest of Eternity in the near future?  ······are you going to use the magic spell you prepared with Aedia over the years?


······!

At Artpe’s continued interrogation, the Duke’s face turned white.  If it was a simple lie, there was no reason why a ruler of a nation would be flustered by such words.

H….how….  That······.

However, Artpe’s words struck home.  It was information no outsider should have known, yet he was speaking it out loud.  It would have been strange if he hadn’t reacted at all.  However, Artpe’s words continued to pour out.

I know it all.  Yes, you were probably the one that made the move on Daitan.   You told the king of Daitan that you were pursuing your independence.  It’s a likely story, so Daitain joined forces with you to attack Aedia…..   However, your true intentions has nothing to do with independence.  You intentionally started a war, so there would be a gap in the border defense.   The Elves would take this opportunity to attack the Dukedom.  You want to to induce this scenario…….  You want to gain an excuse that you can use to ‘justify’ your actions.

In his past life, a calamity had occurred within the Forest of Eternity.  The Elves wanted to regain complete freedom from the Dukedom of Tiata and Aedia.  The Elves would use the war as an opportunity to assemble their forces.  However, Aedia and the Dukedom of Tiata pounced on this opportunity as if they had expected the Elves to act that way.  They brought their plan to fruition. In short order, they took complete control of the World Tree.
At the time, Aedia had received a lot of help from the hero, and the hero had trusted Aedia completely.  This was why the feeling of betrayal had been enormous.  In the end, she chose to fight with the Elves against Aedia.
This was the first incident where the hero had pointed her sword against a human organization…..  A single hero had brought down a kingdom with a rich history.  Every nation became afraid of the hero, and they refused to assist the hero.  It was the worst result for the hero.
After that incident, the hero’s fights became difficult.  If the magician hadn’t joined her party, the hero’s adventure would have come to an end.
However, events wouldn’t turn out like that this time around.

······sir Eritard?


N…no….  It isn’t like that, sir Zard!

Artpe had already a completely understanding of what happened in his past life.  Of course, there was a possibility that events would head towards the same path as his previous life.  However, his conversation and contract with Mycenae was proof that things wouldn’t head towards that direction.

You had no intentions of attacking Aedia in the first place.  Didn’t Tiata draw you into this?


······you are right on that account.  I rose to seat of power by causing a rebellion.  I needed to divert the hate and resentment towards me to an outside source.  Sir Eritard’s offer was like a timely rain within a drought.


That is why you retracted your suspicion and hesitancy.  You took up his offer.


Shut up!

The Duke of Tiata realized Artpe had taken control of the narrative.  He yelled out as he stood up.  He looked as if he wanted to rip Artpe’s lips in pieces, but unfortunately, he was much weaker even when compared to the king of Daitan.  He was trash compared to them.  The only thing he could do was make faces and shout in frustration.
The king of Daitan watched the Duke of Tiata, who couldn’t keep himself in control from the frustration he felt. On the other side, there was Artpe.  He possessed power, and he had an attitude that said, ‘the powerful do not need to lie.’  Artpe’s words held more sway.

I don’t know or care about the Forest of Eternity.  I do know the Elves live there, but that is the extent of my knowledge.  So what you are saying is…..  The goal of the Dukedom of Tiata isn’t their independence.  You think their true aim lies within the Forest of Eternity.


You should think about why that man is so flustered.  Why would he react so negatively to a powerful being that would end the war quickly?

A beginning of a smile on Artpe’s lips deepened.  He extended one hand, and he subdued the Duke of Tiata with his Mana Strings.  The Duke became immobile.

That bastard just wants to keep the ‘war’ going as long as possible.  I’ve spell it out the situation to this extent, so you probably have a good idea of what is going on now.


······.

As he traveled in the carriage, he had done more than just carve the Demite.  He killed Aedia’s magicians.  He attempted to persuade Regina, and he played with his party members.  Moreover, he had gathered information on the road, town and city.  He assessed what was going on in the war.
In the end, he came to a single conclusion.  The war had been going on for five months, yet both sides were being passive.  On top of that, the damage caused by the war had been minimal.

Oh, most sublime magician.  Let me ask you this.

The king of Daitan, Angelo Zard, asked him a question.

Do you have the ability to lead my kingdom to victory without the help of Tiata?


Will you believe me no matter what my answer is?


That······.

Artpe snorted as he spoke.

Just follow me.  I’ll let you see the truth with your own eyes.

The king of Daitan was embarrassed to admit, but he was a bit intimidated by Artpe’s forceful words.   Still, he had a presence of mind to realize that he had to answer the question presented to him by Artpe.

······all right.  Whatever you ask will less than the costs that will be incurred by Aedia.  I will put my trust in you.  I will follow you.


Deal.

Artpe grinned.
It was the moment when the outcome of the war was decided.