"Even though we say that, we don't have a concrete plan on how we should go about it."
Tony Mowbray, the marquis who presided over this distant northwestern province – known as Middlesbrough, leaned back in his seat, looking severe. He was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with greying hair and a handsome, dignified face. He cocked his head to the side as he observed me.
"Aren't you from Lancashire? A big supporter of Blackburn?"
"Uh, you know me?"
"I've seen you before," he admitted. He folded his hands in his lap and lowered his head. "I'm sorry about what happened to your hometown. It was a tragedy, what happened a few years ago. I do not know how the demons managed to get past the fortress at the northwest."
"It's not your fault," I assured him. The Middlesbrough province was located in the northeast, on the opposite side of Northwestern Lancashire. "You did what you could."
"Not enough, apparently." Mowbray sighed. "And now I still can't do anything for the kingdom despite it falling apart internally. We have to root out the corruption, but…there is little we can do."
"From what we gathered, the Hero and his Supreme Priestess wife have gone missing." Chris Redfield sipped from a cup of tea. "Duke Bradley had fallen in combat and his province of Bravia is now in demonic hands. We managed to eliminate Miranda Miller herself. And Rafaela here tells us that Yvonne and her hunter tribe have been annihilated."
"You've been busy, haven't you?" Wilson Willard laughed as he watched me. I shrugged.
"I received news that the Possessed have been attacking cities and towns in the southern provinces, so I brought my mercenary regiment down here to fight them off."
"That's incredible." Rose Gardenia was gaping at us. "I heard that one of the Abysmal Rulers, Luciela of the South, was here in the southern provinces, along with an army of Possessed. How did you defeat them?"
"Magic and strategy," Eleanor replied, calmly sipping her own tea. "It was not an easy battle, I'll give you that."
"Still a pretty impressive result," Lance Turner said, his eyes wide in awe. "Even the entire Mage Corps wouldn't be able to defeat that many Possessed, especially an army that's being led by an Abysmal Ruler."
"We were lucky," I replied with a shrug. "And I am blessed to have such skilled and capable subordinates under my command."
"It was all thanks to your leadership, my lord," Larson said.
"Yeah, well, my leadership would be useless if you guys weren't so incredible."
"Seems like you trust each other a lot." Mowbray nodded in approval. I remembered that he was a veteran commander who had fought on the frontlines for a long time. Since his province was on the northeastern borders, he had to deal with many incursions from the demonic legions. Consequently, he possessed one of the most experienced armies in the Havan Kingdom.
Unfortunately, being posted to such a remote region showed how out of favor he was with the royal family and other higher-ranked nobles. On one hand, being entrusted with the northeastern border was a great honor, but it was an onerous task assigned only to those nobles the rulers in the capital wanted out of the way. Much like the daimyos who were sent to rule over the Satsuma and Choshu domains by Tokugawa Ieyasu during the beginning of the Edo period, after he had just barely won the Battle of Sekigahara and assumed the title of Shogun.
I frowned. There were no such domains or historical figures, at least not in this world, so why did I somehow have memories pertaining them?
Shaking my head to clear the irrelevant thoughts, I tried to return to the present topic. I cleared my throat and continued.
"In any case, the strongest Hero party is whittled down. With this, only Alan Assam is left, right? But from what I know, he's not involved in governing any provinces, earning a promotion to nobility, or performing any sort of research."
If anything, I couldn't find any information regarding Alan whatsoever. It was almost as if he had completely vanished from this world shortly after the defeat of the previous Demonic Emperor, Viledoofus. Nobody knew where he went or what he was doing right now.
There were rumors, though, but I hadn't really gotten any confirmation on how true they were.
"That's right. Alan Assam."
Mowbray sighed and leaned back in his seat, bearing a grave expression. He clasped his fingers and scowled.
"I do not know if this is related, but there have been several cases of nobles being assassinated. Duke Bryce Wayne is the most prominent. His castle was raided and all his staff were massacred in a single night. Of the duke himself…"
"He vanished, didn't he?" Chris asked. "Most people say he's most likely dead."
"That is the most likely possibility, yes." Mowbray nodded.
"There's more," Wilson said. "We heard that the League of Shadows might be involved."
"The League of Shadows?" Rose echoed, looking unsure. "The organization of assassins?"
"That's right." I thought for a bit. "Isn't their leader Ralph Da Ghoul?"
"Seems like it, though there are rumors that he has taken ill and is slowly retiring. That's where your old friend, Alan, comes in." Mowbray fixed me with an unreadable stare. "They say that Alan Assam is slated to take over as the next leader of the League of Shadows."
"Well, he is part of the strongest Hero party who defeated the previous Demonic Emperor, after all." Lance sighed. "That in itself brings a lot of credibility to his position. I don't think any of the other assassins would be able to lay claim to such a massive amount of prestige."
"But if he's going around killing nobles, wouldn't the royal family object to it?" Stella frowned in disbelief. Mowbray nodded.
"Of course. But it's the League of Shadows we are talking about here. The most secretive and dangerous organization in the Havan Kingdom, perhaps even the world. Even if the royal family accuses them, there's nothing they can do. We don't even know how to find them, where their base is, or who are in the League of Shadows, other than Ralph Da Ghoul and Alan Assam."
"It is said that they have eyes and ears everywhere," Wilson whispered. "They probably infiltrated every single organization in the Havan Kingdom."
"I wouldn't be surprised if their tendrils even extend to the Demonic Empire," Chris remarked. Larson tensed at that, but wisely remained silent. On the other hand, Eleanor nodded thoughtfully.
"I've heard similar rumors in the Demonic Empire," she said, glancing at me. "One of the Divine Generals, Sheldon Umbra…the Lord of Shadows. He operates his own clandestine network of spies and assassins within the Demonic Empire. I wouldn't be surprise if his organization has seeded agents within this League of Shadows and vice versa."
There was a tense silence for a moment, and then Rose broke it.
"Um, so what do we do?"
"Honestly, it doesn't change what we have to do," Stella said, glancing at me. "We have to eliminate corruption and restore peace."
"We have enemies both within and without." Mowbray sighed. "But I believe the enemies within are the more pressing matter at hand. After all, even the most sturdily built fortresses will still crumble to treachery."
"Speaking of which, what if I say there's a way to achieve peace with the Demonic Empire?" I asked. That caught everyone's attention (except my subordinates, who already knew of my plan).
"How?" Lance asked.
"Negotiations. I believe Bravia can serve as a concession, and there shouldn't be any problems calling for a truce. Lately, haven't the demonic incursions been a lot less frequent?"
"That is true," Mowbray confessed. "Most of them have been withdrawing deep within their own territory. I was surprised myself. But if it means less casualties and violence, I was more than happy to keep it like this."
"Maybe the demons are sick of war too," Chris murmured. Stella and I exchanged a glance at that while Eleanor giggled.
"You might be right," the strategist said cryptically.
"That would be a great help, if true." Wilson sighed. "We have enough on our hands, dealing with corrupt Hero parties and all that. I would rather not fight a war right after."
"I wish the fighting will stop," Rose agreed, reaching out to squeeze his hand.
"There are still a few incursions here and there, though." Mowbray frowned. "I believe there was a recent invasion by the Insect Legion, led by Flynn. They attacked the northwestern provinces a few days ago."
"So peace might not be an option, huh?" Lance groaned.
"Actually, about that…"
Eleanor raised a hand. Everyone turned to her.
"We have reason to believe that many of such conquests are independent activities conducted by the disparate Demonic Legions, rather than by the will of the new Demonic Emperor. The situation in the Demonic Empire is just as precarious, if not more so than in the Havan Kingdom. Not all the Demonic Legions intend to obey the Demonic Emperor, and so a few of the Divine Generals have taken it upon themselves to continue what Emperor Viledoofus started and continue the invasions. Mostly because they wish to expand their own territories and lay claim to the throne themselves. There is no better way to gain credibility for their claim to the throne than military strength."
"True," Mowbray conceded. "Though I must admit that I'm surprised that a new Demonic Emperor has appeared so quickly. I thought it would be years before a new one ascends to the throne."
"Yeah, I thought we earned a reprieve after the last war." Chris sighed. "Evidently not."
"From the demons' perspective, he probably isn't the Demonic Emperor yet. At least not to most of them." Eleanor didn't have to worry about offending me because she was speaking the truth. "He has managed to claim authority over at least one-third of the Demonic Legions, particularly the strongest ones, but that leaves two-third of the Legions. As long as he wins the throne, I don't believe the Havan Kingdom would have to worry about war."
"The new Demonic Emperor is a pacifist?" Wilson asked skeptically. Eleanor smiled.
"In essence, yes."
"That's what I heard." Stella backed her up.
"So it's in our interest to help him get the throne?" Mowbray frowned. "But how do we do that?"
"Well, for starters, we'll have to defeat the legions refusing to submit to his authority," Eleanor explained. "That will benefit both the Havan Kingdom and the Demonic Empire…these rebellious legions are mutual enemies."
Clever…Eleanor wasn't saying this out loud, but I knew she was scheming something. One effect of this was the weakening of the current Demonic Emperor. After all, a destroyed legion meant one less legion that I had authority over, thus overall decreasing my eventual military strength.
Or perhaps Eleanor was simply using this as a chance to eliminate her own enemies. After all, the vampires did hold rivalries and hostilities against several of the Demonic Legions.
Well, I knew that she couldn't be totally trusted when I accepted her help. It was just that I didn't have a choice. Right now I was far too weak and I needed all the help I could get. Also, in this world, other than a handful of people (like Stella), who exactly could I trust fully? I still remembered the bitter betrayal of the people I had once considered my comrades.
Eleanor could do whatever she wanted, as long as she didn't get in my way. But I would just keep an eye on her all the same. But I wasn't stupid. We were using each other. As long as we benefited each other mutually, then there was little point in damaging our current relationship of mutual dependence.
Latching onto what she said, I offered a suggestion.
"We can start by investigating the northeast provinces," I proposed thoughtfully. "If all goes well, we might be able to convince the Insect Legion to retreat without needing to spill any blood."
"Really?" Mowbray sounded doubtful. "I don't mean to look down on you, young man, but I hear that the Insect Legion isn't really the type to negotiate."
"Perhaps so," I said, remembering my first encounter with Flynn, the Lord of Flies. "If they don't want to listen to us, then…we'll just go on a bug hunt."