Epher, a member of the Alliance and the only empire on the continent.
The vastest territory. The largest population. The greatest power.
If the Holy Nation was the heart, and the various kingdoms and other races were the limbs,
then Epher was the vital nation that served as the Alliance’s spine.
As befitted an empire, it had stood firm, and would continue to do so.
Yet even the Epher Empire, important as it was, had its share of problems.
“Brother. Are you in your right mind?”
“Watch your tongue, Arhen.”
“I am watching it plenty. Otherwise, I’d have asked if you’d gone insane.”
One of those problems was that the imperial family was growing increasingly divided.
“Are you actually trying to seize the crown prince’s seat with this opportunity?”
“Learn to distinguish between what you may say and what you may not.”
Wilhelm glared at his younger brother, the Third Prince Arhen.
Spouting such nonsense when he knew nothing at all.
If this bastard got beaten by Cain too, he’d probably come to his senses.
Why was it that Cain tormented only me so much?
“What the hell are you trying to do by unleashing that mad dog? The number of knight orders he’s smashed already exceeds ten!”
“He must have a reason for doing so.”
They called him a mad dog, but he did not bite without reason.
Cain was not an actual dog, after all. In any case, he was human.
He bit because they were people who needed to be bitten. Because it was acceptable to bite them.
Though, to be honest, it was questionable whether he was the same kind of human.
“A reason? Fine. Let’s say there is one. But no matter how I think about it, I can’t make sense of this part. Why is he picking only the knight orders connected to me?”
“That is…”
“The knight orders that follow you don’t seem to have any particular problems.”
That was because he did not want to be beaten by that mad dog again.
If some problem arose among the knights who followed him?
Cain would have come running to him in delight and beaten him senseless!
All he had done was give them some mental education so he could survive!
“It’s because this brother of yours manages them well.”
“Hah! You weren’t like that at the beginning of the war. What wind blew through your head?”
The reason Arhen continued to be wary and suspicious
was that Wilhelm’s personality had not originally been like this.
Arrogant. Eccentric. Someone who treated others carelessly.
A typical wastrel prince. The designated partner of the villainess.
That was the fate Wilhelm was originally meant to follow.
The First Prince had not received the position of crown prince for certain reasons.
Until a few years ago, Wilhelm had the worst reputation.
Therefore, the Third Prince Arhen had been expected to become crown prince.
In truth, Arhen was capable, and his personality was decent as well.
He had the flaw of being rather ambitious, but he had the right to be.
He had steadily worked to become crown prince himself.
“Now it looks like you want to become crown prince after all.”
So it was only right for him to be wary of his older brother, Wilhelm.
His brother had suddenly changed and become a normal person.
“I know full well that you’re close to that mad dog.”
At Arhen’s words, Wilhelm could only be dumbfounded.
I’m not close to him. I’m that bastard’s workhorse.
I’m his punching bag that he comes to beat whenever he’s bored!
“I don’t know what trick you used to draw him in, but…”
You can do it too, Arhen. My little brother.
If you get beaten for three days and nights, you’ll be able to get close to him.
Instead, you’ll have to beg for your life the whole three days.
“I have absolutely no intention of giving up the crown prince’s seat. Know that.”
Go ahead. I can’t do it. I don’t want to get beaten even after becoming emperor.
We’re the same age, of all things, so I feel like I’ll spend my whole life getting beaten.
An emperor who goes around getting beaten by a commoner. Makes me want to hang myself.
“You say it’s because the knight orders that follow me have many problems? Fine. From now on, I’ll keep an eye on the people who follow you too. And if there’s a problem, I’ll bring it up in an official setting right away. Let’s see if that mad dog does the same then.”
“Do as you please.”
Watching Arhen leave first, Wilhelm clicked his tongue.
He’s like that because he hasn’t been beaten. If he got beaten, he’d become a person…
‘…Damn it.’
To think he was having thoughts like this. Him, of all people.
I’ve been beaten so much I’ve gone mad. Wilhelm could only laugh bitterly at himself.
Meanwhile—
“…”
As he walked down the palace corridor, Arhen bit his lip.
‘It had been going well. Even at the beginning of the war, it was clearly visible.’
It had not been long since he revealed his ambition for the crown prince’s seat.
But in truth, Arhen had wanted to become crown prince for a very long time.
Under imperial law, members of the imperial family could only marry nobles of their own nation.
There was an exception to this as well. None other than the crown prince.
For the sake of national interest, the crown prince could be joined with someone from another country.
‘From the moment I saw her that day, my future was decided.’
The Kingdom of Kassen, which he had visited by chance when he was young.
There, he had seen a girl who was an angel itself.
Arhen had lost even his soul there.
The brief conversation they shared had been so sweet.
The girl became the boy’s future. His hope. His dream.
On the day he left the Kingdom of Kassen, Arhen swore.
That without fail, he would stand beside that girl.
With the qualification to do so. With the power to make it possible.
He would become a man who could proudly hold her in his arms!
“Estelle.”
The one he wished to meet even in his dreams. His first love and his last.
For her sake, Arhen decided to become crown prince.
Because as a prince, he was not permitted to be joined with a noble of another country.
‘I cannot allow anyone to interfere. No matter who it is.’
Even if it was the brother who shared his blood.
Even if it was that Cain, the legend of the Demon War!
Clenching his fist, Arhen strode forward.
***
“Did I tell you? Before I possessed this body, I rather liked soft tofu. There’s nowhere it doesn’t go well. Even if you just put it in ramen, the flavor comes alive.”
It was not expensive. It was easy to digest. It was protein.
In red soup. In white soup. Even just dipped in soy sauce.
His praise continued, saying there was nothing more perfect than this.
“My knight friends. Aren’t you going to answer? Am I talking to myself?”
“Guuuh…”
Unfortunately, not a single knight could speak like a person.
Their reason had already been completely paralyzed by pain and fear.
The knights’ brains conveyed only two things to their mouths.
Screams that it hurt, and begging to be spared.
“I wish there were some penalty whenever I talked about possessing a body. Like demons get stronger. Or I get weaker. Ah. I want soft tofu ramen.”
In the past, he had asked if soft tofu could somehow be developed.
What came back was an answer along the lines of, commoners should eat whatever they’re given.
He had been hurt. So he turned the person in charge into soft tofu.
The knights were the same. He made them all like soft tofu.
When he crushed them with fists and kicks, the seasoning soaked in very well.
As expected, there was nothing like soft tofu production for mental reformation.
“Mm.”
Since he had thoroughly mashed them up, healthy minds must now reside in them, right?
Like the other knight orders, should he check whether they had absorbed the seasoning properly?
“Demons!”
Like the shepherd boy announcing the arrival of wolves,
he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted with all his might.
“Demons have appeared!!”
“Huuuueeek!!”
“Demons have appeared! Demons!!”
The effect of soft tofu was remarkable!
The knights who had been mashed up sprang to their feet!
Would they rather be beaten more? Or would they rather catch demons?
At the crossroads of survival, they drew forth the correct answer!
“Demons! Find the demons! Cut down the demons!”
“Demons must die! If we want to live, we have to kill them!!”
“Everyone, prepare for battle! Exterminate all demons!”
““Exterminate them!!!””
Perfect order. Flawless movement. Knights in every sense of the word.
They formed ranks and finished preparing to charge at once.
At the knight commander’s order, every knight moved.
Correction. It was thanks to the mad dog’s special training.
“Oh. Now you finally look a bit like knights.”
Cain clapped as if satisfied.
See. You can do well, so why were you trying not to?
As expected, people need a bit of stimulation.
Just one poke in the ribs and they do fine on their own.
“Kill the demons! Where are they! Where!”
“Find them! I said find them! Find the demons!!”
“Uwaaaah!!”
He looked fondly at the knights who had turned into chimpanzees.
“Correction. The demons have been caught. Situation over.”
“S-situation over! The demons are dead!”
““The demons are deaaad!!—””
As if their souls had left them, the knights collapsed to the ground.
For at least the next year, they would work hard.
And when their expiration date passed? He could just mash them up again then.
“How many does that make now?”
The knight orders stationed in preparation for the appearance of demons.
After checking over two days, he found that half of them had arrived late.
The rest were not satisfactory either, but for now, they barely made the deadline cut.
Those who were late were subjected to mental reformation without mercy.
There were quite a few who resisted, acting like they were knights.
Even when they knew he was that Cain, their reaction was basically, so what?
He did not like how they held out, but that was fine.
They needed that kind of guts to stand proudly before demons.
There was only one problem. They had gone past the deadline.
The fact that they had arrived late after dawdling.
So what did he do? What else? He solved it for them.
From now on, if they so much as heard that demons had appeared,
he had made them come running like Pavlov’s dogs.
“If the Empire’s in this state, the kingdoms are obvious without even looking.”
Unfortunately, he could not lay hands on the knights of the kingdoms.
Because of diplomatic issues—no, that was not the reason.
‘If those things die, who’s going to clean them up?’
The Empire was not called an empire for nothing. It was stronger.
Neighboring Kassen was the only one that could barely compare.
As for the rest, their senior knights were on the level of ordinary imperial knights.
In other words, if he did things the same way as now, he would have to clean up corpses.
“What in the world am I supposed to do about this?”
He wanted to give his knight friends a little morale education.
Wouldn’t there be something like mana restraints?
If they wore those, he could beat them with less pain.
A broad smile spread across Cain’s lips.
This was it. Yes. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
He immediately took a magic circle and returned to the imperial capital.
Then he sought out Yuris, who was in charge of the special task force.
“Yuri! I have one favor to…”
At Cain’s appearance, Yuris turned around.
“What happened, Yuri?”
“Lord Cain.”
From her left shoulder to her right chest,
red blood seeped from a long wound.
“The party venue was attacked just moments ago.”
The party celebrating the formation of the Alliance lasted a total of three days.
Cain had also been there on the first day.
And on this final day, today, an incident had occurred.
“We rescued most of the key figures, but…”
“Who’s still inside the party venue?”
“Five imperial nobles, and two nobles from the Kingdom of Kassen.”
Demons were not monsters. They knew how to take hostages too.
This has become troublesome. Cain let out a sigh.
“Move! I said move at once!!”
“I’ll bring every last one of the Margrave’s knights here immediately!!”
Glancing over, he saw Prince Prinz and Margrave Evan.
Why are they acting like that? He was about to ask, then realized the reason.
“Yuri. By any chance, is Estelle among the people from the Kingdom of Kassen who failed to escape?”
“How did you know? I’m told she was evacuating others until the very end, only to be captured herself.”
“Sigh.”
No wonder the male leads were going berserk.
Right. If the heroine was captured, of course they should act like that.
“They say the Third Prince has also heard the news and is rushing here.”
“Wasn’t that guy at the party venue?”
“There is word that he met the Second Prince at the imperial palace.”
“So he left his seat, and then this happened?”
“They say he’s grinding his teeth at Lord Cain.”
At me? Not at the demons?
A bewildered expression naturally appeared on his face.
“You have been going after the Third Prince’s knights since three days ago, after all.”
“I didn’t go after them. They got caught. Why are they blaming me?”
Watching Yuris treat her wound, Cain asked,
“What are the demons saying? Why the sudden hostage situation?”
“They say they have a demand.”
“Don’t tell me they’re asking to bring me over?”
Yuris shook her head at Cain, who had grown full of expectation.
As a bonus, Cain turned into a dejected puppy.
“They say there is someone nearby who bears the destiny of a saint.”
“A saint?”
“They said they must eliminate that person before he becomes a true saint, and told us to bring him.”
“Shouldn’t they find the saint candidate themselves?”
“Indeed.”
“Those damned demon bastards.”
Clicking his tongue, Cain began taking off his clothes.
Yuris blushed and covered her eyes.
Though she did leave a gap for peeking.
“L-Lord Cain? What are you doing all of a sudden! I-I don’t mind, but!!”
“Go get me a suitable priest’s robe.”
“…Pardon?”
“From what I hear, it sounds like the demons don’t know who the one bearing the saint’s destiny is either.”
Then whether he was a real saint or a fake one, who cared?
“Let’s throw them a surprise party.”