Chapter 461

Ellen cannot stay in the imperial capital for long. She needs to be immediately redeployed to the field after completing the minimum tasks, due to the situation of the empire and her own will. After a brief conversation with Berthus, Ellen headed to the Spring Palace as usual. Charlotte de Gradia, who had turned into a demon due to the soul of the demon king, was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees and staring out the window. Ellen could only read sadness and regret in Charlotte's red, vertically split pupils. Ellen slowly approached Charlotte and sat by the bed, gently embracing her. She spoke words of comfort, hoping to ease Charlotte's guilt. Ellen could do something, save people, but Charlotte could not even show herself to the crowd, so she could do nothing but stay in the Spring Palace. Ellen spoke of destroying all the warp gates on the continent and gradually eliminating all the monsters, so that everyone could find their homes and live as they used to. It would take a long time, but if they kept going, everything could return to the way it was before. Ellen bit her lips, thinking of the many things she was ignoring with her words. "We... can we be forgiven...?" Ellen's voice trembled as she asked Bertholdt and the world for forgiveness. She wanted to be forgiven, but knew she couldn't be. Charlotte cried as Ellen comforted her, speaking of destroying warp gates and eliminating monsters to restore the world to its former state. However, Ellen was ignoring many harsh truths with her words. She couldn't turn away from Charlotte, even though she knew she couldn't improve her condition. Ellen had spent days in brutal battles and returned to the Spring Palace, where she found Charlotte unchanged. She spoke of the situation improving, but it was only a slight improvement from the worst. The temple, once a place for nurturing talent, had become a military base for training soldiers. The temple now recruited those who showed even a little talent for combat among the refugees. Even those who were selected were mostly inexperienced and died on the battlefield. Ellen knew that even those she had saved would die like mercenaries. The temple, once a cradle of talent, was now raising moths. The fact that none of Ellen's classmates had died yet was a relief, but it was terrible that she had to express it that way. And the fact that she had to use the word "yet" made Ellen feel creepy. It was night, and there was still some time before the next mission. Ellen flipped her hood to avoid being recognized by people. She felt afraid of being recognized, not tired of fame. While walking down the street, she felt someone looking at her from behind, but when she turned around, no one was there. Later, someone told her that Ellen was in the city, so she waited near the palace entrance and saw Ellen's face, which was colder and more tired than before. The narrator wanted to talk to her, but knew they were no longer the same people they were before. The temple, once a place for nurturing talent, has become a military base for training soldiers. The temple now recruits those who show even a little talent for combat among the refugees, but even those who are selected are mostly inexperienced and die on the battlefield. "I could see hope in the faces of those talking about Ellen. Hatred and anger towards the demon king. A being that turns those negative emotions into hope. A hero. In the midst of depression, anger, and hatred in the Huangdo Gradium, Ellen was a presence that gave people at least a glimmer of hope. As always with those consumed by fear and hatred, they produced stories and rumors. 'The demon king has returned to Darkland and is gathering monsters at the gate...' 'The monsters roaming the continent are nothing compared to the demon king's army...' 'No matter how much of a hero you are...' Among the crowds in Huangdo, it seemed like the moderate view was that I was the one commanding the monsters at the gate and leading them to reconstruction. Darkland? I had never even visited there to absorb the forces of the changing demons. 'Even though you, the hero, have two relics, the demon king also has two...' 'If the hero Ellen Arthorius had succumbed to the demon king's scheme... it's scary to imagine.' 'But the hero already revealed the demon king's true identity. The hero knows everything. They're not someone who falls for the demon king's tricks.' It was rumored that I had infiltrated the temple to recruit the hero Ellen Arthorius. What are crowds? They snack on words they imagine and eventually start to believe them. Fake truths with no source disappear and no one knows who started spreading them. I was the ruler of the reconstructed, strongest Darkland in history. They imagine, fear, and hate as they please. There is no such country. Beyond your gaze, in the far southern sea of Edina Island, there is a country with humans and demons, not monsters at the gate. When I think about it, reality is even harder to believe. The demon king lives with humans. If I wasn't the demon king but one of them, I would have told the person spouting such nonsense to shut up. Among all the nonsense, the common phrase was that I could command and control the monsters at the gate. It seemed natural to imagine that if I caused this situation, the demon king could control the monsters at the gate. If it were possible and I truly hated humanity, why didn't I invade Huangdo and wipe them all out? If someone were to suggest such an opinion, another false rumor would be created to refute it, so the truth is always meaningless. And the false rumors weren't just targeting me. 'Isn't the emperor being controlled by the princess?' 'Yeah, otherwise there's no reason to keep the princess alive.' 'Even if the princess is important, it's suspicious that they're keeping her hidden if she's not cursed by the demon king.' 'If the princess is fine, they should at least show her face, but they haven't even done that.' It was even said that the reason the empire didn't execute Charlotte was because the emperor was being controlled by the princess." "Oh, but if that were really true, the hero wouldn't just sit still...."

"Well, that's true, but...."

In the end, Ellen was the one who put a stop to this problem.

People believe in the omnipotence and omniscience of the demon king, but because of that, they also believe in Ellen's omnipotence and omniscience as an opponent.

If the princess really had fallen, why would Ellen, her guardian knight, just sit still?

That's why the talk and atmosphere of the need to execute the princess were maintaining a precarious balance without reaching any extremes.

"The princess may be like that, but what about the three enemies...."

"Those damn bitches...."

Liana de Grants.

Olivia Lanche.

Harriet de Sainte-Anne.

The three students who fled with me from the temple, who were called enemies of humanity, betrayers of mankind.

Perhaps, because they were human, they were even more symbols of hatred than me.

* * *

Refugee camps exist in both Edina Island and Huangdo, but Edina Island has no worries about monsters, so indiscriminate expansion is possible in all territories.

Huangdo cannot do that.

They cannot expand residential areas recklessly, and even if they do, they cannot defend them. They never know when monsters roaming the continent will attack.

That's why the empire does not intervene in the expansion of refugee camps, but people continue to pour in.

As I entered the vast refugee camp with shabby makeshift houses, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of joy.

After arriving in Huangdo, I went to Eleris's store, and a few days later, I saw a group of beggars living under the Bronze Gate Bridge.

Beggars who lived in shabby makeshift houses, scattered around, emitting the smell of alcohol.

The Rotary Club.

The landscape of the past where those who have now died used to live, spread out to the horizon.

The vast land of beggars that spreads out as soon as you cross the border of Huangdo City.

That was the reality of the great and brilliant Gradius Empire capital, Gradium.

The shabby makeshift houses were not soundproof or windproof, and they were not even built to standard, so the people lying down were clearly visible.

The smell of filth and something rotting, and insects including flies hitting their faces.

Edina's refugee camp was not in a good situation either, but it was not as terrible as this.

I approached, thinking there might be a group cafeteria or something where they could eat, but there was nothing like that.

It was smoke from burning corpses.

Is there an epidemic outbreak? Even so, it couldn't be so serious since there are priests who have measures against diseases.

Did they just starve to death?

Children with small and furtive movements were playing near the smoke of burning corpses.

Even in this situation, the innocent laughter of children contrasted with the miserable scene of people burning corpses next to them.

It was not hell, but rather, it felt like seeing the scenery of a life that had been forcibly adapted to hell. "I decided not to have such thoughts. If only I wasn't here. If only I didn't exist. I couldn't help but reflexively have such thoughts. '... ' Huangdo Gradium was hell."