Evade The Hero and Flee!

Chapter 276 

31. It is most fun to watch fights (1) 

“Swin!” 

“You’re safe!”

Heroes who looked familiar were hugging the hero and shedding tears.

It was quite an unpleasant sight to see muscular men hugging each other and bawling.

– Is it making you feel bad?

– Isn’t it touching rather than unpleasant?  

– I know everything anyway.

According to what the world knows, the hero lured out the newly appeared Demon King and went missing in place of the other heroes, but the truth was different.

There is a saying that life is a comedy when seen from afar, but a tragedy when seen up close. Just like that saying, the sight of the hero who tried to run away and the other heroes who didn’t know that fact was a tragedy up close but a comedy from afar.

And of course, it was a laughably silly sight to me watching from afar.  

– To those heroes it’s a touching return, but to me it looks like a deserter being dragged back.

– Hmmm….. That’s an accurate assessment.

I think I mostly make accurate assessments.

– You’re free to think whatever you want.

Based on the free will even the metal bat acknowledged, I looked at my former disciple moving around freely.

“Roughly join them.”

“I understand.”

Looking satisfied at my former disciple moving around with a face that looked like a screw was missing somewhere.

Perhaps because he had been a hero in the past, he had commanding abilities that did not seem out of place for his name, Mercenary King.

– Commanding abilities befitting my disciple. If they don’t listen, he beats them all down.

– Rules exist in society originally. For mercenaries, the rule is power.

More so than evil organizations, the mercenary world was about power.

For evil organizations, there were many things to consider, but mercenaries only worried about how much money they could earn well.

And the way to earn money well was by carrying out dangerous missions. 

About 90% of those missions were solved with power, so power was authority.

– In that sense, my disciple has the qualifications to be called the Mercenary King. 

In the Empire, one could become a dog or cow or Swordmaster, but compared to the world average, a Swordmaster was an overwhelmingly strong being.

There was only about one Swordmaster per kingdom, or some kingdoms had none at all, so Swordmasters were rare talents.

If the world found out that such a talent was active as a mercenary, every country on the continent would jump into a business war.

At the minimum they would offer a Count title, or if lucky, marriage to royalty as compensation. 

That was how big of an asset a Swordmaster was, and to mercenaries who understood the logic of power well, they were the standard for being treated like kings!

Of course now he became a slave, no, a member to save the world, but still.

– Just say slave.

– I would never acknowledge such an outdated existence as a slave!

Still, he had been born in the age of liberal democracy. 

After that the world genre changed to modern fantasy, so outdated systems like slavery were revived, but Korea itself remained the same. The Hell Joseon system was already perfect, so there was no need to create an additional slave system when there were already so many legal slaves!

– You shouldn’t call people by such an unpleasant name as slave.

– I see. When translated from master language it means treating them like a slave but not calling them a slave!

Having spied on me for so long, metal bat understood the Naran language quickly as expected. With this level, she has the qualifications to get a Naran language level 1 certificate.

– That’s not a certificate I feel happy about at all?  

Then don’t.

“Thank you. Really, thank you.”

“Huh?”

While talking with the metal bat, a hero suddenly grabbed my hand and started shedding big tears.  

He was a muscular male hero.

“Why so suddenly….”

I wouldn’t mind if it was a woman, but a man looking at me with such hot gazes was not a good sign…

– You still haven’t given up on marriage huh.

– Still?

While the good years have already passed, I still have the capacity to make a new mom for my daughter.

I heard that in fantasy worlds like this, age differences of 20-30 years could be covered!

“I heard that you saved the hero.” 

“Thank you.”

“Hope has been regained thanks to the Sage’s efforts.”

“Uh, um…?”

I glared at the hero but he kept avoiding my gaze.  

That bastard… he slacked off!!

“It’s fine. As a master and a member to save the world, it was something I obviously had to do.”  

Adding that it was possible thanks to Shuttle’s help. As a result, the heroes surrounded Shuttle to convey their thanks.

While Shuttle was bewildered by the heroes suddenly rushing forth shedding hot tears, it couldn’t be helped. Being born a villain, just seeing heroes makes me feel sick. 

The saint who was educated to accompany heroes would handle this better than me, a villain offspring.   

People all have areas they are good at, and it is efficient to work in those areas.

– What area is it efficient for Master to work in?

– Me? Obviously…

In my fifties with magic power gone thanks to an evil god’s curse, what could such a person do when fighting monsters like Demon Kings?

Fighting? Impossible for the frail me.  

Commanding? There are so many better commanders than me. If I commanded carelessly and everyone died, that would be bad.

Scheming is the same.  

With so many talents gathered in the current age, how many people are there who can strategize better than me?

I was well aware that the downgrade equalization phenomenon happens around protagonists only in novels.

– Seems you can’t do anything?

– No, there’s one thing left.  

– What’s that?

– For me in my fifties, frail as I am, the one thing I can do is…

– Watch the fights.

– Huh?

For big events like this, intuition is the best!

#1 Their Circumstances: Misconceptions of a Demon King

Eyes that were closed open.  

Sensing all the evil energy in the world, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Again…?”

Tens of thousands of troops disappeared again. And instantly at that.

“Just what is….”

Was it because we pushed humans too much? 

In order to take on the risk of corruption by evil, did dragons appear into the world?

If not, this overwhelming firepower could not be explained.  

The trait of evil tainted evil troops was gaining overwhelming strength at the cost of rapidly shortening lifespans. 

It empowered them to the point where even lowly goblins could take out junior knights in one hit!

To evaporate hordes mixed with orcs, ogres, trolls etc. instantly could not be explained without a dragon’s breath.  

“It’s not dragons.”

But the other Demon King by my side, Parfasey, denied my thoughts.  

“Proof?”

“After the evil troops appeared, all dragons are waiting at the Dragon Cradle until the evil troops are subjugated per the oath sworn in the dragon language. It is not easy to break an oath like that.”

“What about someone like you?”

“I have a body that has forfeited being a dragon itself. It is not as simple for humans to become an Evil Dragon as they think. It literally means forfeiting being of the dragon race.”  

“So it doesn’t simply mean violating the race’s disciplines huh.”

“That’s right. Not violating disciplines, but forfeiting the race itself.”  

I understood well the meaning behind Parfasey’s words.  

“Then in the case of someone like you who forfeited their race?”

“There is no one else. As I said earlier, forfeiting one’s race is no simple matter. Other than ancient dragons among the strongest like me and Arcke, other dragons would be blocked by the rest of the dragons before they could even forfeit their race. And even if it were possible, why would they help humans after becoming Demon Kings like me?”

“Because they have a promise with humans?”

“No. The dragon race are all just selfish bastards. They prioritize their own interests first, then their clan, then their race. And that’s it.”  

Adding the explanation that they show favor to other races also just for their own benefit, Parfasey told about the oath.

“Of course there are things dragons have to do because of the oath of their clan. A representative place is the Karan Empire – after they inherited our bloodline we made a deal to grant one request from a being holding a Fragment of Evil in return for passing on the fragment, as long as it does not threaten the balance of the world.”

As long as it does not threaten the balance of the world.  

“That’s incredible.”

“It may seem that way from a human perspective.”  

In a sense, while it seems there are tremendous constraints, the scope of the world is wide.

As the holder of a Fragment of Evil, I now understand the scope of the world.  

“Destroying one or two kingdoms is a trivial matter.”

“Indeed.”

From the political situation of the continent, one kingdom suddenly disappearing could cause tremendous chaos. 

The surrounding kingdoms could be reorganized and the political situation of the continent completely shifted.

But from the perspective of the world, it’s an extremely insignificant level.  

From the standpoint of the intercontinental, beings of other races wouldn’t care at all about such an event, and those of the transcontinental couldn’t even recognize that something like that happened.  

What about the realm of the gods?

They probably think humans are fighting again today.

“Then what is the reason dragons fulfill the oath – is it compassion for the dying child replacing us? No. It is just the price they pay to survive as the dragon race. If not for the oath, dragons would not bother with such bothersome things.”  

“So you’re saying that if one leaves their dragon clan, the agreement with the Karan Empire is also useless?”

“Exactly. The greatest oath amongst any contract dragons have with other races is with the Karan Empire. Even that oath can be ignored if one leaves their clan, so what foolish dragon would personally step forward to fight the army of the evil god?”

“So what you’re saying is that this is not a dragon, but…”

“Elves. It must have been the High Elves making a move.”  

“As expected.”

I witnessed the elves taking action directly.  

Weren’t they the ones who snatched away the instructor holding the last fragment?

“But for them to have such great power…”

“Haven’t you experienced it yourself?” 

“That was because they had a special tool – a branch of the World Tree.”

The sacred tree of the elves, symbol of the Goddess of Benevolent and Devotion who sealed away the evil god.  

An attack throwing branches torn from such a World Tree was fearsome enough that even I would hesitate to withstand it.

“They must have torn off a few more branches.”

“Branches of the World Tree?”

“Did you forget? It was the Goddess of Benevolent and Devotion who abandoned her own divinity to seal away the evil god. No one knows the level of devotion the World Tree created as an avatar of the Goddess may demonstrate.”  

It was a reasonable argument.  

“So we need to consider the participation of elves from now on…”

The world was still strong after all. To think there is still this much fighting power!  

“It makes me mad.”

And to think that even with this much power, they couldn’t save a single woman.  

“The world really needs to be destroyed.”  

I came to resent the world even more.

#2 Their Circumstances: Misconceptions of a Demon King (The Truth)

Swish, swish, swish. 

The sound of something passing by was continuously heard. 

It will be obvious to an experienced woodcutter. Using a high-speed saw to cut down a tree! 

In spite of this, you wouldn’t know this even if you were an experienced woodcutter.

This tree represents the World Tree, an avatar of God who saved the world! 

-It hurts… … . Please stop… … . 

It was a weak voice. 

A voice that you just want to protect.

Even though it was a pitiful voice that the villain had no choice but to stop what he was doing, the being that was sawing the tree did not stop. 

“I have to help the prince. If we kill that Demon King, the prince will come back too!”

– That’s good, but why me… Ouch!

Thud!

A huge tree branch fell to the ground.

“Ah… the World Tree…”

“Goddess.”

The other high elves watching it from below shed tears. But they couldn’t stop the sawer either.

“The goddess said. Helping the prince is saving the world! So do your best to help!”

– I know that… Ouch! 

Swish, swish.

The World Tree, who was about to speak during the brief pause of the sawing, shut its mouth again. Because the sawing started again.

“This is all for the world!”

– Ugh! Ouch!

“So please lend me your power, World Tree!”

It was in the depths of the forest where no humans or even elves could enter.

It is said that the sawing sounds stopped in the World Tree’s resting place, where only high elves could access, after a very long time had passed.

#3 Their Circumstances: Misconceptions of a Demon King (The Truth) 2

“Not here either…”

A girl frowned and looked around her.

A guard who approached her from afar hurriedly grabbed her.  

“Ah, there are still people left! It’s dangerous here! The army of the evil god will arrive soon!”

The soldier was in a hurry.  

The army of the evil god that even those heroes couldn’t overpower had invaded his city.

Although afraid, the soldier’s courage to evacuate others even as he knew he would die for his precious city was unmatched by any hero.

However, the problem was…

“I know. That’s why I came here… but I can’t find Instructor.”  

The soldier couldn’t understand the girl’s muttering.

No, before he could understand, the sinister army of the evil god appeared.

“Damn! It’s the army of the evil god! Everyone, go up to the castle walls! We start defending!”

At the urgent call of the lord, the soldier had no choice but to let go of the girl’s hand.

“Hurry and run! You still have a chance if you escape that way!”  

The soldier hurriedly ran off.

While many lords had already abandoned their territories and fled, at least this city’s lord had some conscience.  

If so, he too would do his best as a soldier and die.

What the soldier witnessed was…

“When did she…?”

Clearly, the girl who was behind him was now talking with her lord.

“Wha, what is this…?”

The lord kept nodding.

Unlike how he always talked about aristocratic manners, he was deferential towards a girl much smaller than himself to an embarrassing degree. It made the soldier wonder if he was dreaming!

“Get rid of them.”

At the girl’s curt words, 30 people suddenly appeared and exuded tremendous pressure.

And after a short while.  

“Huh?”

Seeing the army of the evil god, which clearly had over thousands before vanish, the soldier thought he must be dreaming for a moment.

“Long live the Karan Empire! Long live Princess! Long live Count Mirea!”  

Seeing his lord shout long live in an embarrassing manner towards someone far below his status, the soldier realized this was not a dream.

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