The Demon King Who Draws

Chapter 86

“Is that so? Now that I hear it, it does seem that way.”

Amon supported my speculation.

“So, it’s not just that the witches were pushed to the brink and divided, but in fact, it was the witch hunters who aimed for Eckelart’s resurrection, not the witches?”

“That’s what I’m guessing.”

“Hmm… can you gather more information?”

“It’ll be difficult. We can’t even infiltrate the outpost… and we don’t know who’s behind this plan. On top of that, we’re running out of time.”

“Running out of time?”

I explained to Amon about the witch hunters’ all-out offensive.

“Then… we won’t be able to stop Eckelart’s resurrection. There’s nothing we can do in such a short time.”

– You might think all of this happened by coincidence… but it’s not.

It was something Leon had told me.

“Now that I think about it, Leon… he said something like that.”

“What did he say…?”

After hearing about the conversation I had with Leon, she scratched her cheek.

“So, this has been prepared for quite a long time. The sudden offensive by the witch hunters, and the consensus among the witches that Eckelart must be resurrected.”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Do you now understand why Leon told you not to get involved in this?”

“It’s because I can’t clearly identify who my enemy is.”

That’s still true.

Exterminating the Witch Council for Enis’s revenge? It’s not worth it. Moreover…

‘The Witch Council is already collapsing on its own. In that case…’

It doesn’t sit right to target the witch hunters, their opposing force.

‘Too little has been revealed. I can’t get involved in a war based on mere suspicion.’

“Perhaps Leon has seen the situation more clearly.”

“…”

“If we hadn’t gotten involved in this from the start, all this would have been needless worry. We could have just survived in the wasteland regardless. But… that’s the culprit’s thinking.”

I agreed as well.

If I don’t even know why something is happening in my own backyard, then I’m no longer the master of that house.

And as for Leon…

‘How did Leon know in advance about what was going to happen in this wasteland?’

Another thing.

Judging by how Leon said he couldn’t get involved, it’s hard to believe that the flow of events in the wasteland was according to Leon’s will.

In other words, something is happening in the wasteland, Leon knows about it, but he can’t intervene. Furthermore, I don’t even have enough information to guess his identity or situation.

‘Why is everything so full of mysteries?’

So far, I’ve easily overlooked things as long as I had mana stones.

‘Once this is over, I need to hear everything from Leon.’

Amon glanced at me and asked.

“So, in that sense, do you know the Lord’s decision?”

“…I do.”

After the all-out offensive, the master of the wasteland would be decided.

“After the offensive ends, we’ll make our move.”

* * *

In a few days, the witch hunters would advance north and sweep away the witches. If a miracle occurred, there might be mutual destruction, but otherwise, the war would end with an overwhelming victory for the witch hunters.

‘But… something seems off.’

There’s something about this war.

I need to figure it out before I can decide how to act.

‘I hate being manipulated.’

After experiencing the hellish autumn war, I became even more aware of the power of information.

If I had known that the rotten root would collapse, I could have protected most of my familiars and mana stones.

If I had known that Pio was actually the dark merchant Memphir, some of those I lost that day might still be by my side.

‘Therefore…’

I intended to find the one hiding among the witch hunters, the one pulling the strings.

“Bill.”

“I’m ready.”

“Ipos.”

“Y-yes…”

The three of us would infiltrate the outpost, and that should be enough.

Just in case, I had Ipos change most of her skill set. Since it was unlikely that we’d face many enemies at once, we focused on abilities that would help with stealth and close combat.

‘Well, given Ipos’s strength, she’s still formidable against multiple opponents.’

Whoooosh…

The snowstorm was fierce.

Especially near the frontlines, where local skirmishes were ongoing, the snow was so heavy that visibility was almost nonexistent.

‘At least Corning is around, that’s a relief.’

Thanks to her, who tirelessly provided updates on the battlefield regardless of the weather, the battlefield wasn’t unfamiliar to me.

“Find her! The witch went this way!”

Sometimes when I heard things like that, I’d hide in the snow and let the hunters pass by.

Grrrr…

“Yop.”

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

The beasts of the snowy plains were crushed by Ipos’s delicate fist.

“Yawn…”

Ipos seemed comfortable in the bitter cold, yawning as she followed along.

‘She seems relaxed.’

While I was occasionally dazed by the cold seeping into my bones, Ipos was busy rolling around in the snow.

“Ipos.”

Whenever I called her, she would always hesitate a bit, roll her eyes, and then slowly respond.

“…Yes.”

“Your response is always delayed. Is there a reason?”

“Well…”

– Ugh, this frustrating demon! She’s worried she might have done something wrong! Ipos is really timid!

Instead of Ipos, the soul of the snow rabbit answered.

“Is that true?”

“Y-yes…”

“I see.”

Thus, I learned something new about her.

“There’s no need to be scared. However, it would be better if communication were more smooth than before.”

“Okay.”

Ipos always seemed tense in front of me. Well, in fact, she was nervous in front of everyone….

‘But wait, she seemed more lively when the snow leopard and bear were around, didn’t she?’

So, would it be possible to summon them more often in her daily life?

When I subtly asked about it, her answer was,

“Well… no, no. The bear is always angry….”

– Ipos is closest to me and the fox! Our personalities are the most similar.

– Though she’s even more shy than we are…

Even the fox chimed in to explain why it wasn’t a good idea.

– Who dares say I’m angry!

“Eek…”

– The bear’s awake, run away!

– Hide!

The rabbit and fox acted like they were hiding from the bear.

– “Huuuk… Huuuk… I’m sleepy.”

The bear flopped down and disappeared back into Ipos’ body.

– “Kuhuhuhuu…”

The last farewell was nothing but a boisterous snore.

“Did… you see that?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Ipos mumbled awkwardly.

“Still, Mr. Bear… is kind. He gets angry for my sake.”

That was the power Ipos possessed.

A frozen soul acting on her behalf.

However, not all souls were like that.

The souls embedded in the five rings on her left hand… were distinctly different from Ipos’ other souls.

‘Someday, I’ll be able to see those too.’

As she pondered this while walking through the snowfield, Bill spoke.

“That over there is the forward base.”

It had taken about a day and a half to reach here. Given that there hadn’t been any changes on the front line, Corning’s information about the general offensive not starting yet seemed accurate.

* * *

“Is it an injured person?”

“Not severely injured, but it looks like they collapsed from exhaustion. Is there any place they can rest?”

“Well… we’re out of spare beds, but we’ll figure something out…”

“In that case, we’ll find a suitable spot to lay them down for now!”

“Hmm… Alright. With the general offensive approaching, there should be some space opening up soon. Keep checking back for an available bed.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two of them, carrying the injured person on a stretcher, left the hastily built wooden building and moved on.

Swoosh…

The injured person slightly lifted the blanket, making eye contact with the people carrying her.

“…Ipos.”

“Gasp…”

She hurriedly covered her face with the blanket again.

Yes… the two witch hunters who had brought the injured person to the forward base were me and Bill, and the injured person was Ipos.

There was no need to ask Ipos to act in detail. Even normal conversations were a challenge for her, so pretending to be an injured person was close to impossible.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone here.”

Creeeak—

They entered an appropriate building and assessed the situation. It appeared to be one of the barracks, given the scattered belongings of the soldiers.

“It’s because of the all-out war. It seems everyone has gone to the front line.”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Now… what do we do?”

What do you think…

“We need to find out who pushed the witch hunters from behind.”

It wouldn’t be that difficult.

‘A mere soldier wouldn’t be able to exert such influence… It must be someone at least of officer rank or higher.’

The chain of command for the witch hunters would be easy to uncover by finding and interrogating the right person. Though the person being interrogated would probably be asleep until the general offensive began.

We quickly found a suitable target outside and began the interrogation. Naturally, they resisted, and naturally, they were punished.

“Ugh… Most of them are on the front lines now.”

The top leader was called the commander or field commander. Beneath them were four unit commanders.

During the operations meetings, the four unit commanders and a scribe would be present.

Here, I already found a clue.

“Who is the most recent unit commander to join?”

“I’m not exactly sure… but it would be Commander Melton. He joined about… four years ago.”

“Four years, huh…”

Considering that the unit commander who had been a witch hunter the longest had been doing it for over ten years, this one was not likely the culprit.

“Are there any unit commanders left in the base?”

“Two of them… Sir Gawain and Sir Creta. Please… don’t kill me…”

Gulp…

“Ugh… Wh-what are you making me drink…”

Bill made the soldier drink a liquid mixed with a drug he had brought, causing him to lose consciousness.

“This is something Lord Amon approved. He said the soldier would sleep for two days straight. No need to worry about him waking up in the middle. However, there is a side effect of possible insomnia afterward.”

The reason for not killing him was that it would be more of a hassle.

After all, once the general offensive began, it wouldn’t matter at all.

“Now… it’s my turn to step in.”

“Find out about Gawain and Creta.”

“What will you do, Lord Faust?”

“I’ll look through the records left by the scribe.”

“…That sounds like a good plan.”

Finding the scribe wasn’t difficult. During this time of localized battles, there weren’t many people leisurely staying indoors.

There was no need to kill or interrogate him. All I needed were the records from the operations meetings.

‘Found it, the meeting minutes.’

While the scribe was momentarily away, Ipos swiftly snatched the minutes from the study and brought them to me.

“Is this… the right one?”

“…Well done.”

I patted Ipos’ head, and once again, she shyly avoided my gaze.

Without dragging it out, I began to examine the minutes, starting with the most recent ones.

The minutes were thicker than expected, with detailed records of who said what in each meeting.

‘I might not be able to get all the information I want before the scribe notices.’

– “There’s no issue with the Soul Stone, is there?”

The term “Soul Stone” appeared for the first time. Judging by the flow of the conversation in the meeting, it seemed the Soul Stone was an artifact that could be used to seal Eckelart again if he were to resurrect.

However, the flow of the conversation was peculiar. It seemed that only one person knew the details about the Soul Stone.

‘Where did they get something like this?’

Come to think of it, Karl Kurso had also managed to obtain and carry around a treasure called the Stone of Atonement… so perhaps it’s not that strange.

Flip…

Flap-flap-!

The speed at which I turned the pages gradually increased. It was inevitable since there wasn’t much valuable information in the middle sections as the plan was already underway.

– “Are you saying that you lost the key held by the Blue Witch?”

– “That’s what I’ve heard.”

Someone obsessed with the Blue Witch’s key.

Flap-flap…

Flip-flip-flip-flap…

The starting point.

It must be him, no doubt.

Everything began here.

– “Do you know about Eckelart?”