Chapter 460

That Night.

Edina's lavish bedroom.

I was sitting on the bed, watching as Harriet dried her hair.

Harriet had changed into her pajamas instead of the clothes she was wearing just a moment ago.

"Get some sleep as soon as possible. You have a lot to do tomorrow. You said you're going to the Empire."

"...Yes."

The reason Harriet and I share a bedroom is simple.

Assassination threats.

Actions of those who hate me sometimes become visible.

It doesn't happen too often, but they persistently try in different ways if I forget.

It was sometimes poisoning, sometimes a midnight attack.

There were also many times when people in the castle cooperated with them.

They were not even bought.

There were cases where people who hated me on a daily basis cooperated in assassination plans.

There were also times when Harriet and Olivia forcibly saved me from being poisoned to death.

Harriet, who was originally researching new magic or magic items, became a secretary and never left my side.

Since then, Harriet has started to check for poison in all the food and drinks I consume, and I even bought a talent called Poison Resistance with achievement points.

Physical attacks could be dealt with thanks to the warning of the senses, but only those who have experienced the horror of seeing a familiar human aiming a dagger at their throat while sleeping can understand.

Many people hate me.

Even the humans of the Edina Archipelago, whom I saved, hate me because they know that the root of all this is the Demon King.

Even after wiping out all the palace servants who had nothing to do with the Gate incident, such incidents still occurred.

All humans hated me to some extent, and I couldn't make up the entire workforce of the palace with only demons who obeyed me absolutely. The problem of discrimination and human subjugation could only cause greater backlash.

Not only me, but Harriet also suffered from attacks.

They try to kill the people around me if I don't die.

That's not all.

There were times when I fell asleep and woke up to find Antirianus tying me up and laughing outside the palace.

He asked me how it would have been if the one who came to find me was not himself, but a magician from the Empire or the Black Order.

It was also Antirianus's sadistic behavior, but the memory of that day still sends chills down my spine.

I'm only safe because the Empire and the Black Order don't know my location yet. I realized that if a magician like Antirianus tried to kill me, he could take my life at any time.

The room was not completely fortified, but it could be breached at any time.

That's why, since then, it has become a habit to seal the bedroom with numerous magical devices and barriers before going to bed while sharing the bedroom with Harriet. At first, Harriet and I felt uncomfortable sharing a bedroom, but we got used to it over time. Rumors spread that the demon king slept in the same room as his secretary every night, but Olivia surprisingly didn't get angry about it. She worried about me because she knew I was constantly under assassination threats. Harriet's ability to handle situations was better than that of the senior wizards in the council in some aspects. In most crisis situations, I handled the physical aspects while Harriet handled the magical aspects, so we spent the most time together for mutual protection. Harriet put a teleport scroll in the bedside drawer and asked if I wanted to go with her, but I declined. I lay in bed while Harriet sat with a book, and I could tell she was tired from juggling her responsibilities. I also knew that her magical achievements had been limited due to her lack of time for research. She was a researcher at heart, but she had to focus on being my secretary and bodyguard. There was so much to do that she couldn't do what she wanted. So, during the short time before I fell asleep, Harriet took the time to read her book. I think Harriet would have liked Akasha, but Akasha was gone, and all the magical achievements that had accumulated over time had disappeared into another dimension. We will never know how much magic Akasha possessed. Quiet sound of turning pages.

I hear the sound of turning pages very carefully so as not to disturb my sleep.

I look at Harriet's face as she reads a book.

"Hey, Baktong."

"Yeah."

She doesn't even look at me when I call her that now.

Actually, because of her position as a secretary, she doesn't call me that outside.

Only when we're alone, like we used to.

So why doesn't Harriet get angry?

Because she knows I can call her that at this moment.

"Thank you."

At my sudden words, Harriet looks at me with a gentle smile.

"Me too."

What is she thankful for?

She always receives, but it seems like she never gives.

I couldn't figure it out.

Harriet turned her eyes back to the book, and I closed my eyes.

* * *

-Paht!

Dozens of people appeared in the middle of the square through the warp point.

Since the warp gate was currently unavailable, wizards who could use mass teleportation had to manually move troops.

As with the situation on the Edina Islands, it was natural that those who could move through mass teleportation were all composed of only a small number of elite soldiers.

And what appeared through the warp spot now were Ellen and the direct subordinates led by Ellen.

Ellen was scheduled to be deployed to the next location immediately after completing her mission report in the imperial palace.

-Oh...

-It's the hero...

Ellen Artaurus was a celebrity to the point where the word "famous" was not enough.

In terms of the people's trust, Ellen had more support than the emperor in the current situation of the empire.

So it was natural that people crowded around Ellen like clouds.

"Hero! Our savior!"

"Hero, where are you going this time?"

"Hero... thank you for saving us!"

Ellen saved many people. Countless.

"Hero, you're awesome!"

"Hero!"

"Hero, please take care of us..."

"Why doesn't Nuna come to the imperial palace often?"

Ellen was so used to this scene that it didn't feel strange anymore.

But Ellen was afraid of people projecting hope onto her in despair and pain.

She was the culprit of all this.

People believe in her.

Blaming everything on the demon king and loving her.

She didn't need to run around to save people like this.

If she had trusted Reinhardt at that time, this wouldn't have happened.

She didn't save people.

Everyone became like this, unable to even wear proper clothes, and were no different from beggars, all because of her.

"I love you, hero!"

Ellen was afraid of the sight of countless people finding hope in her.

It's all my fault.

It's my mistake.

They shouldn't like me, love me, or hate me.

The one who should be hated is not the demon king, but me.

Ellen was occasionally seized by the urge to say such things.

But she couldn't deliberately plunge people who found hope in her into despair. To those who endure this miserable life by hating the demon king and trusting the hero, Ellen cannot deliberately feed them the despair of truth. People seek salvation from Ellen, so the people in the empire do not turn into bandits. If the crowd knows that this situation happened because of the mistake of the hero and the empire, the empire will collapse. If the empire collapses, there will be no humanity. "Will my sister kill the demon king?" A girl asks Ellen, clinging to her arm. The hope-filled eyes of those who believe that killing the demon king will bring peace to the world, from children seeking hope to the hatred-mixed eyes of the elderly. As a representative of humanity's hope, Ellen was afraid that someday she would have to stand in front of Reinhardt by force. * * * Tetrarch of the Central Palace. "There's no problem with the capital, Cologne. The important thing is where to start restoring the satellite cities." "Yeah." Ellen was discussing future plans with Berthus after finishing her report. Even the powerful imperial army only succeeded in defending a few cities, including the capital. After restoring all the direct rule, the empire had to decide which other imperial countries to support. From now on, they were planning to start the restoration work of Kernstadt, which could be called the first imperial country. All the warp gates in Kernstadt's territory were destroyed. So all they had to do was remove the monsters hiding in the city. But it wasn't easy, as many soldiers, knights, and wizards would die while performing this task. The current situation was that they were restoring the empire by consuming human resources. "What do you think?" "I think it's better to start cleaning up the outskirts of the cities that have succeeded in defense rather than restoring each city one by one. There are hardly any survivors in the collapsed cities, so we can do that later." "Yeah, that makes sense." Berthus was thinking with his arms crossed. "What about Charlotte?" Ellen asked. Berthus hesitated to answer. "She's the same." Ellen is the hero of the empire. Therefore, she was just as tired of hearing the story of killing the demon king as she was tired of the misunderstanding about the princess. The princess was cursed. Be careful of the princess because the hero might get hurt. Ellen often went to see Charlotte's condition when she returned to the empire like this because she was the princess's guardian knight. But like Berthus, Ellen couldn't open Charlotte's closed mouth. She couldn't open her mouth, but Charlotte cried when she saw Ellen. They both realized the situation that happened because they didn't trust Reinhardt when they looked at each other. Ellen blamed herself for everything, and Charlotte also blamed herself for everything. Even though they couldn't talk, Ellen could understand Charlotte's heart every time she watched her cry. In the end, the majority of the people were hoping for the princess's death. "Is there anything else needed on the scene?" "Always, but we need power cartridges." Power cartridges and Moonshine were intended to prepare for the gate incident by Reinhardt and were now the most important material on the battlefield. The soldiers who used the power from the cartridges were showing tremendous power on the battlefield. The close combat students who took Moonshine were rapidly improving their skills. Therefore, a strange phenomenon was occurring where the number of soldiers dying was being compensated for by the increase in strength of the existing soldiers. It was something that was probably made to strengthen the demon king's military power. The thing that Berthus thought was something that should never have been done was now the most important material that could not be missing. Everyone blamed themselves for everything that happened, including Charlotte, Ellen, and Berthus. Ellen heard a rumor that there was a paradise in the south. Berthus could only consider it a false rumor because of the excessively desperate times.