The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life - Chapter 103

The vassals had all gathered in the conference room at the mansion of the Benedict family. They all got up as soon as they heard that the Marquis had arrived.

“How did the discussion with the Royal Family go, Lord?”

“That is why I called you people here. Everyone, sit down.”

Tak.

They all began to sit down near the table right away. As soon as Marquis Benedict confirmed they had all sat down, he said, “The negotiations with the Hector Kingdom were canceled.”

“…Are we going to war?”

“Yes. The Central Government has just declared war on Hector. Nevertheless, it isn’t as bad as you think it to be. A few moments ago, we had a message arrive from the Southern Front in the name of Roman Dmitry. There was a battle with the Hector Kingdom overnight, and his troops defeated them overwhelmingly.”

“Gasp.”

“Is that actually true?”

Everyone was shocked. Even a single victory had a lot of meaning. It meant that there was a change on the Southern Front, and because it hadn’t been captured entirely, there was a chance to turn the tide of war as well.

One of the vassals said passionately, “I am so glad! Actually, if the negotiations succeeded, the Royal Family of Cairo would have touched the wealth of the nobles. The power of Count Denver and Gregory will not be affected even if the Cairo Kingdom falls, but that isn’t the case for us.”

“You are right, but that isn’t important.”

The Marquis had not summoned all the vassals as soon as the meeting ended because of the safety of Cairo but because of Roman Dmitry.

“Even if we lose the Southern Front in the war, it won’t be a bad thing. Using that problem as an excuse, we can criticize the current Royal Family for its incompetence and strengthen the power of the Central Government as well. The problem is that Roman Dmitry won against the Hector Kingdom. His achievements are not a simple matter anymore. Even though it was such a discouraging situation, he headed toward the Fifth Defense Line, defeated all of the enemies, and took the first victory against the enemies after he made the impressive judgment that they were after the Warp Gate. And the Hector Kingdom decided to attack Roman Dmitry in the mountains to weaken him, but in reverse, he defeated them.”

When they all heard that, even their hands began to shake. Marquis Benedict knew that Roman Dmitry wasn’t an ordinary person, but this battle made him sure of it.

“What do you think those results will mean? Roman Dmitry is not just any 3-Star Aura Swordsman. He is born with the abilities of a commander that can lead a war to victory, and fortunately, that person even has patriotism for the Cairo Kingdom. He had time to escape, yet he stayed behind. And seeing how he is fighting till the end, Kronos or Valhalla don’t seem to have won him over yet. Thus, we need to win over Roman Dmitry’s heart by any means possible.”

Marquis Benedict was planning to get him on his side from the start. However, as soon as he checked the expressions of the other nobles during the meeting, he realized that the headstart he had had vanished. Roman Dmitry had such a talent that literally all nobles wanted to get him. As he remembered their gleaming eyes, he spoke strongly, “The original plan was to recruit Roman Dmitry after he had completed his military duty in the future. Nevertheless, things have changed now. Contact Roman Dmitry right away and find a way to convince him. Choose any means and methods. Use the wealth of the Benedict family if needed. If anyone can win Roman Dmitry’s loyalty, I will reward them greatly.”

“Yes!”

Even though the entire nation was in a terrible situation, they couldn’t hide their personal desires. The other nobles were no different from Marquis Benedict.

Count Denver contacted the Valhalla Empire as soon as he returned from the meeting.

“…That is what happened.”

[This is an unexpected result. When we informed Roman Dmitry of the signal of war through McKean, we intended to gain his favor and make him avoid danger, but he led the Southern Front to victory. He is truly an amazing person.]

“There was a problem with the ability we had expected him to have. It is far greater than we originally estimated. I hoped this to be a chance to prove Roman Dmitry’s abilities to the other nobles, but the absurd result of him defeating the troops of Hector has now made all nobles greedy for him. Perhaps Marquis Benedict has already made a move, and so must have Count Gregory. What do we do? We originally intended to sign him in the long term, but we do not seem to have enough time.”

The situation had become quite funny. Valhalla had let Roman know that they wanted him to come to their side as soon as they had finished the Ranking Test. Even then, they had thought that such a proposal was too much, and Roman’s growth was something they expected to happen in the future.

[The Valhalla Intelligence has identified the person who led the war for Hector is Edwin Hector, and he is called the Star of Hector. He isn’t someone who can be defeated through simple things like personal strength. Roman Dmitry is the talent that Valhalla Empire needs. Therefore, we cannot stand by and wait for the other forces to take him.]

It was like an upgrade. They were reevaluating Roman now. Roman Dmitry had a talent that provoked the thirst of Valhalla.

[Count Denver. I will entrust you with all powers needed for the recruitment of Roman Dmitry. It is too late to wait and contact him after the war. Find a way to get to Roman Dmitry now, and make sure to bring him to Valhalla. The Kronos Empire is not hiding its ambition either. We need talented people like Roman Dmitry in order to prepare for a war with Kronos in the future.]

“Yes.”

He bowed his head.

Count Denver had done the same after Marquis Benedict, and Count Gregory was no different. The war with the Hector Kingdom wasn’t even over yet, but another war was already taking place in the Cairo Kingdom.

There was a lot going on at that time. Henry Albert didn’t even understand what he had done. His words had provoked everyone to move forward, but what he cared for was something else.

‘It became clear through the talks with the nobles. If I survive as a member of Roman Dmitry, I can make a career out of it.’

He could not forget the shocked expressions of nobles on the other side of the screen. He didn’t show any expressions, but he knew what they meant.

‘When the war is over, Roman Dmitry will enter the Central Government.’

Everyone had to return home in the end. Thus, he had to stick in a place that would matter to the Cairo Kingdom.

The problem was that Roman Dmitry’s men hated him. As he had shown such an aggressive appearance in their first meeting, there was no way they would like him.

‘Roman Dmitry is spending time alone for some reason. So, who should I show myself off to in his absence? Incidentally, I know of a person suitable for that. A loyal servant of Roman Dmitry and a person who has high rank even among Roman’s soldiers. He is a colleague who has crossed life and death with me.’

Henry smiled. He then approached a man with a smile that seemed to warm the entire world and said, “Chris. You have been through a lot. Have this.’

He held out a jerky toward Chris. It was obviously high-quality jerky he had brought with him carefully, but Chris turned his gaze as soon as he glanced at Henry’s face.

“I don’t want it.”

“Ugh, take it. It is delicious.”

“Do you think I don’t know what you are aiming for? This war has earned us merit, and if you prove that you were also there, you will also get a reward. Isn’t that why you are looking at us like a dog looking at its food? It will not work. If you really want to get what you want, be a comrade who can be depended on in this terrible war and stop trying to impress us.”

“…”

Henry bit his lip when he realized the mistake he had made. As he had shown Chris his bad side, he could never convince him in such a short time, so he just stepped back while smiling and not saying anything else.

Then, he looked at another familiar face.

‘Was his name Kevin?’

Kevin was a small boy. He initially wondered why Roman Dmitry was bringing along a child with him, but the moment he saw Kevin fight on the battlefield, all his thoughts changed. Kevin was like a ghost on the battlefield. He knew how to kill his opponents while only using simple force and other methods, and the way he moved on the battlefield was impressive to everyone. If Chris was the second-best person he could go to, Kevin was the third. He quickly made the judgment and walked over to Kevin.

“You are Kevin, right? Would you like to have some of this?”

The second son of the Albert family, a typical noble who acted like a rouge and kicked the door of the inn, was nowhere to be found.

The peace was short-lived. After a day’s rest, the Hector Kingdom instantly attacked the Front Defense Lines of the Southern Front. On the Third Defense Line, the captain, Baron Vasily, gazed at Hector’s troops swarming from afar and said, “Aide.”

“Yes.”

“According to the communication from the Royal Family, the Hector Kingdom followed Roman Dmitry’s troops and were defeated, right? What do you think? Roman Dmitry only has less than 200 troops on his side. Would that be enough to defeat so many troops? Wouldn’t it have been that the power of the Hector Kingdom was weaker than we thought?”

The Royal Family had contacted him a day ago. Roman Dmitry had achieved amazing success by defeating the enemies, so he was asked to help the man buy some time. The Cairo Kingdom had decided to go to war with Hector, so, in about ten days or so, Cairo’s main troops would arrive on the Southern Front.

Nevertheless, when he saw the Royal Family praise Roman Dmitry’s achievements like that, desires rose in Baron Vasily’s heart as well.

The aide replied, “I have the same thoughts. Isn’t the Hector Kingdom a nation that has been starving due to the recent famines? They could only have smartness on their side but no strength to support it.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

Those two had the same thoughts. They had been attacked by them not long ago. However, Baron Vasily thought they were pushed back overwhelmingly because the Magic Defenses weren’t used properly against the Flare of the enemy.

Roman Dmitry had defeated the enemy with just 200 men. For some reason, he didn’t think Roman could be that great and thought the opponent was weak.

‘I have been rotting here for three years. Maybe this is a chance heaven has bestowed upon me.’

The Hector Kingdom had divided its forces to attack Cairo. And if the defeated soldiers lost their motivation after the confrontation with Roman, then they had a chance for victory.

“Get all the troops right now. We will destroy the Hector Kingdom’s advance through a guerrilla operation.”

Even then, Baron Vasily believed that he wasn’t that different from Roman Dmitry.