Chapter 416: The Peace That Wasn’t Peace
The Holy Sword’s storm was truly something else.
The beam fired from Meri’s Genital Shield had sliced cleanly through Imugilaim’s body, and I dashed forward in a single stride to scoop up Imugilaim’s head.
"Yesss!"
I immediately split the circular head in half. Not even with the seax; I tore it apart with my bare hands. From the head, split left and right, a massive lump popped out.
"Good lord, it’s freaking huge."
It looked like a high-grade magic stone on the outside, but its size was enormous, as if seven average high-grade stones had been fused together. Even if it technically counted as a single stone, it undoubtedly contained mana equivalent to seven high-grade stones.
Whoosh.
Struck by the Holy Sword’s attack and stripped of its magic stone, Imugilaim’s shell began losing its luster. Its surface grew increasingly dry and brittle, losing its firmness like rotting fruit.
Shreee, SHREEEK!!
Slime dragons shrieked as they burst out from inside the body. Sensing the death of their mother, they scrambled out and charged toward us in search of new prey.
Thud, thud-thud!!
Virginium Shields began layering around us in concentric rings. The slime dragons slammed headfirst into the shields, disintegrating on impact, leaving nothing but small magic stones on the ground.
"The Holy Sword is incredible."
"It’s the power of divine energy. The trade-off is that the mid-grade magic stones take a bit of damage."
"That’s fine. We’ve already farmed plenty of mid-grade stones, and given their original size, they’re basically low-grade anyway."
Nearly all the creatures bursting out of Imugilaim’s body were barely 3-star in size. Even if the divine power burned the magic stones along with them, it hardly mattered now that the high-grade stone was in hand.
’And it’s not like Meri isn’t gaining experience either.’
Every time a slime dragon smashed its head against the Genital Shield, Meri’s experience ticked up little by little.
"Ah, so this is what they call auto-farming."
The system was notifying me that her level was rising in real time, and if we simply waited it out, it would amount to perfectly automated hunting. I sat on the ground and waited for time to pass until the unconscious Lune came to.
"Let’s just sit here and let time do its work."
"Sure. But Dad, a bit of a tricky situation has come up."
"Tricky?"
"The Leo Marquisate..."
"...."
Shortly after.
The Virginium Shield rotated into a hemisphere and swept the entire cavern clean with a laser of divine power.
***
Late at night.
The knight order led by Marquis Leo arrived before the gates of Raspica Castle.
Starting with the Stone Golem blocking the castle gate, the elves standing guard along the walls with bows drawn were clear proof of whose hands the Barony had fallen into.
Flutter.
Marquis Leo stepped forward, waving a white flag. Without a single weapon, without even armor, he was doing everything in his power to convey his reason for coming to Raspica.
"What brings you here?"
A single elf leaped down from the wall and stood before Marquis Leo. Though the dark night made it hard to see clearly, the Marquis recognized her identity the moment he noticed the elf’s enormous chest.
The elf who had visited the Marquisate. The formidable figure who had stood behind Nifela like a bodyguard.
"I’ve come to deliver a letter."
"A letter?"
Having dismounted, Marquis Leo bowed at the waist with a courteous posture and produced a parchment from inside his coat.
"Please deliver this to Lady Nifela."
"To the 2nd Elder? ...May I review it first?"
"Of course."
The elf opened the parchment and scanned its contents. Her eyes went wide.
"...Are you serious about this?"
"Absolutely."
"Marquis Gotdaihal Leo pledges that neither side shall engage in hostilities until his death... You’re proposing a non-aggression pact."
"I am. And I am Gotdaihal."
The elf held the parchment and fell deep into thought for a long while. The Marquis briefly closed his eyes to maintain his composure in the face of her overwhelming figure.
"This is beyond what Nifela can handle on her own. Then again, maybe that works out."
"...?"
Was she someone of considerable rank? Or had the elves’ hierarchy changed after they joined the Demon King’s Army? The Marquis felt a twinge of discomfort and puzzlement at the elf’s casual attitude toward Nifela, who was, after all, the 2nd Elder.
"Forgive my saying so."
He could tolerate the rest, but this the Marquis could not let slide.
"I don’t know what kind of elf you are, but Lady Nifela has been the 2nd Elder of the elves for a very long time. I ask that you show her proper respect."
"...Ah, so this is what they call being a stickler. That thing."
The elf smirked and dropped her stiff tone. The Marquis’s fists clenched involuntarily.
"Elf or not..."
"What if I outrank Nifela by far?"
"...Pardon?"
"Well, I’m not wearing a crown, so I can see why it’s not obvious. Here, let me show you."
Rustle, rustle.
The elf unfastened the buttons of her white dress shirt from the bottom up and spread it open. Below her toned abs, clearly visible even in the dark of night, was a silver stigmata.
"...!!"
Goosebumps broke out across Marquis Leo’s skin. The elf grinned and covered the stigmata again.
"Pleasure to meet you. ...I’m no good at the formal stuff, so I’ll just talk how I normally do. I’m Luna. The Elf Queen. So, I take it you’re curious why you’d want a non-aggression pact with the Demon King’s Army? And maybe also curious how to appease the wrath of the furious Elf Queen."
"...."
Outmaneuvered from the very start. Marquis Leo quickly gathered his wits and began laying out his case.
***
"A peace envoy?"
"Yes. Surprisingly, he’s come to propose a non-aggression pact."
Gotdaihal’s letter, received by Luna, had been relayed to me through the portal.
Just as I’d been mulling over how to deal with the second basement floor, the non-aggression proposal plunged me into the happiest dilemma I’d had in a while.
"Hmm, so basically he’s saying let’s not fight each other until he kicks the bucket."
"His stated justification is that it’s a decision made independently by the territory, given that he doesn’t have long to live. Of course, he’s added the caveat that since he serves under the King’s command, he’d have no choice but to comply if the King ordered him directly."
"But in that case, it’s written that he’d send an envoy in advance."
Fair and honorable.
I couldn’t help but admire this seasoned veteran who walked the righteous path.
"A man who walks such an honorable road deserves to sit at the same negotiating table as me. Very well. Until Gotdaihal... dies, we will not attack the Leo Marquisate."
"Perfect timing, actually."
"Hmm..."
Shaitan’s expression betrayed a hint of unease.
"Is there a problem, Shaitan?"
"He’s an old man past seventy. There’s no telling when he might die."
"An old man who’s survived past seventy in times like these usually lives to eighty. You don’t think he’ll keel over tomorrow, do you? Given that he rode here on horseback himself, he’s clearly still hale."
A man on death’s door wouldn’t behave like this. If an envoy who had watched us for a month was now coming as a peace emissary, I could accept that without reservation.
"To focus on one front, it’s crucial to stabilize the others as much as possible. Heh heh, this is a boon for us. Good. Let’s send our response."
"Should we include any demands from our side?"
"Hmm... Would it seem suspicious if we accepted without asking for anything?"
"There may be those who’d misread our eagerness. They might think the Demon King’s Army was so afraid of the Leo Marquisate that it leaped at the chance for peace."
"That won’t do."
The other side was the one who feared our strength and proposed peace; we certainly didn’t choose peace out of weakness. The Leo Marquisate was land we’d swallow eventually.
Just not right now; it was a place to consume after we dealt with the annoying Sagittarius front.
"We’ll build a fortress at a midpoint. Commerce will take place there."
"Commerce...?"
"Bartering for each other’s needs at a midpoint. No matter how demonic the goods, now that the Goddess Church’s prestige has fallen, there will be people willing to buy demon-made products."
Especially those closest to the flow of capital; they’d certainly understand the value of what we produced.
"Dwarf-made weapons are already selling like wildfire, aren’t they? Heh heh, then there’s no reason we can’t sell our goods too."
"In that case, as I thought...!"
"That’s right."
I tore open the crotch of Shaitan’s stockings with my fingers. A rich lavender scent tickled my nose, and Shaitan was already soaking wet inside.
"Physically occupying the Marquisate isn’t the only way to conquer it. Heh heh heh. Ah, this is what they call a culture bomb."
Along with a heartfelt gift for Marquis Gotdaihal, who had provided us with an opportunity for growth, I signed the non-aggression pact he had proposed.
***
[Shortly after, at a temporary negotiation site near Raspica.]
"Until the death of Marquis Gotdaihal Leo, the Demon King’s Army shall not trespass upon the Leo Marquisate. Likewise, House Leo shall not trespass upon the Barony occupied by the Demon King’s Army."
"What about independently operating adventurers, mercenaries, forces from other houses, and the Goddess Church’s troops? If they come in, do we kill them?"
"...The Marquisate intends to restrain them as much as possible, but if they choose to walk into danger of their own accord, there’s nothing we can do to stop them."
"Fine. Then we’ll deal ruthlessly with anyone not flying the Marquisate’s banner. ...Hm?"
In the middle of Luna and Marquis Leo’s conversation, a black demon with devil’s wings flew down from atop the castle and whispered into Luna’s ear.
"The master has approved. He says to accept the proposal as originally presented."
"Really? ...Hmm, what we discussed here was all verbal, so it shouldn’t matter much, but... Hold on. Hmm."
Luna glanced over the parchment, then handed it to Marquis Leo. The contents, written in neat handwriting, came as a fresh shock to the Marquis.
"A joint commercial district...?"
"We’ll build a facility for commerce on the border between the Barony and the Marquisate. It would function as a non-combat zone, and at the same time serve as a marketplace where humans and demons trade for what each side wants."
"Hrm..."
It was a proposal he hadn’t anticipated at all. He’d expected to discuss matters of mutual trespass and boundaries, much as he had with Luna, but the Demon King’s Army was behaving as if they’d legitimately inherited the title of Baron.
"There are humans within the Barony who have newly become citizens of the Legion. The reality is that the Demon King’s Army cannot immediately provide all the goods these humans need. If merchants from the Leo Marquisate wish to sell their wares, we are fully prepared to buy."
"...Wouldn’t the money you’d be paying with be blood money, at the end of the day?"
"Heh heh heh, blood stains a person’s hands, not the coin itself."
"...."
Marquis Leo fell into deep deliberation. The picture forming in his mind painted a vivid and terrible image of what would happen if the enemy’s insidious proposal succeeded.
The Demon King’s Army would sell materials harvested from all manner of monsters, and people would flock in to buy dungeon goods at cheap prices. Economic exchange would flourish naturally, and the Demon King’s Army would use that opening to conduct covert operations within the Marquisate from beneath the surface. Whatever methods they employed, once trade began, there would be no turning back.
"Hmm... Very well. Let’s do it."
Marquis Leo made his decision. No matter what methods they tried to infiltrate the Leo Marquisate, as long as he drew breath, the Demon King’s Army would never succeed in making designs on his territory.
"Ideally, goods obtainable from dungeons would be best. Good. We shall trade. However, do not underestimate the skills our merchants have honed over the years. The moment you take people hostage, claiming you were cheated or swindled..."
Bang!
Marquis Leo drew a dagger and slammed it into the table. Despite being past seventy, his forearms were as solid as those of a trained man in his prime.
"I will stake my life to destroy the Demon King’s Army."
"Heh heh, of course. Just please don’t forget the message our master wished to convey."
The demon smiled, scattering purple light from its eyes.
"Long live capitalism."
Shortly after.
For the first time in human history, a human power signed a non-aggression pact with a legion of the Demon King’s Army.