Chapter 516
At the Airfield (1)
The incident at the planned stadium site was hushed up so that no one would carelessly mention it.
After a thorough investigation, I converted the carcass of the monster into DP and made it disappear, and the craftsmen immediately began repairing the broken parts, completing the repairs in less than three days by working through the nights.
But well, even after all the clean-up… it was not like there had never been any incident.
These things would naturally spread, no matter how much people shut their mouths.
And there were too many people involved in this case, so it was only a matter of time before people started talking about this incident.
In fact, it seemed that the rumors themselves were already circulating, and I saw the state officials in all parts of the country in a flurry of activity.
I couldn’t just enjoy myself and let this matter escalate, so I went home and told my family what was going on, and then I came back to the Rogard Empire and kept on working.
It was getting a little troublesome.
It was never my nature to be a ruler. I was an ordinary Demon Lord, I guess I was far from an ordinary human.
That’s why – recently, I’ve been thinking about something.
It wasn’t something I could do on my own, so I would have to consult the Demon King and others many times….
Just as I was thinking about this, a report came to me.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King Finar has arrived.”
“! He’s here!”
I immediately left the place and flew alone to the airfield.
I arrived at my destination in less than 10 minutes and saw an airship that had just landed, with people and baggage being unloaded one after another, and maintenance work beginning.
Then, there was a group of people near the airship.
The Demon King Finar was there.
“Demon King!”
“Oh, Yuki. You came all the way here, huh?”
“Ah, things are going a little strange. I know you’re busy, as well.”
Actually, this guy must be very busy right now.
Since even I have been forced to do all this ruler work, imagine how busy the other rulers would be at this moment.
“That’s right. There is one problem after another. Currently, I want the masterminds of this incident to be exposed as soon as they’re caught.” (Finar)
The Demon King Finar said this with a somewhat tired look on his face.
He had his usual smile on his face, but even there, there was a sense of resignation in it.
“You haven’t slept much, have you?” (Yuki)
“I’m already busy to begin with, and now this. So I’m working a lot, and my wife has been looking really scary lately despite the smile on her face. Of course, she knows it’s something I have to do, so she doesn’t complain, and she’s verbally concerned about me, but the truth is in her eyes. You can see it in her eyes, trying to appeal to me.”
Apparently, Finar was doing well with his wife.
“I’m glad to see you’re starting to successfully get yourself chained.”
“It’s troubling. What’s annoying is that I don’t even think that situation is bad.”
Finar shrugged his shoulders and I laughed at him.
“However, it is nice, right? Having a family.”
“…Yes, it is. It’s often confusing, but yeah. I can understand that comfort, now that I’m in it.”
–And so, after a series of light greetings, Finar turned serious.
“Let’s get down to business. I’ve heard the gist of it…. The culprit could even be pointed at you.”
“…Because of the monster appearing out of nowhere, huh?”
The Demon King Finar nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. After all, a powerful monster suddenly appeared. When I first heard that, I honestly thought of you, as well.”
“…I guess that can’t be helped.”
I have been known to tame and manipulate monsters.
Not many people would be able to do that with a monster that was powerful beyond a certain level.
I was the one who defeated those monsters which suddenly appeared… but if a rumor were to spread about the appearance of monsters, even if I dealt with them every time, it wouldn’t do much to erase the bad rumors.
I think there could be any number of ways to put a negative spin on it, such as that I had done something wrong and my subordinates had rebelled against me.
Moreover, I knew that those monsters were spawned by the power of a Demon Lord.
I was keeping this information to myself, to be frank. Though I planned to tell Finar more about it later.
“I don’t have a turtle, let alone a sea serpent among my pets.”
In the case of the sea serpent, the closest to resembling it would have been Orochi.
Even if one of those monsters resembled my pets, I still have the superior one in comparison… or rather it would even be rude to compare them.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re dealing with, our enemies simply have to spread rumors. If those rumors associate Yuki with those monsters popping out of nowhere, people will naturally assume they’re under your command as well. Besides, you and your pet Fenrir have been going to many places recently, haven’t you? In other words, the impression is spreading that Yuki, the Demon Emperor, is associated with monsters.”
Rir was my partner in a different sense from my wives.
I wouldn’t want him to be lumped in with those monsters… but I guess people outside our family couldn’t tell and would only think that he was a [Powerful Monster].
“Let’s move on to talking about how to deal with the situation. The first thing we need to do is repaint the rumors. You can’t try to calm these things so poorly. Counterbalance them by spreading a close, but different rumor. People love conspiracies and stuff like that.”
“…Indeed. If a different kind of rumor were to spread out, the validity of the previous rumors would naturally drop.”
“In parallel with that, let’s start investigating the dagger you said you found. If there is an object, there is always information attached to it. We’ll need a dedicated investigation team.”
“That would be great. Yeah, my guys at Rogard Empire seem to also be making a lot of progress on that, so they might have some useful information.”
“Okay, I’ll ask them. Well, I’m going to be busy again, Yuki. I’m sorry, but can you please help me out with something?”
“Sure.”
With these words, we were about to leave the airfield.
It was then that a strong sense of crisis hit my senses.
Before I could think, my body moved.
With the primordial magical water, I created a wall of water to cover all those in my vicinity.
The Demon King looked at me strangely, but before he could open his mouth, a corner of the airfield exploded.