Chapter 126 How To Recognise A Fool
Rosavellt deduced the exact reason why she had been out of the loop for so long and she now knew why Alucard was so angry with her before. Was I blind? Why did it take me this long to figure out the purpose of this mission? Is it because I didn't want to figure it out? I subconsciously wanted to believe that there was no purpose and so I ignored all the signs and warnings.
Rosavellt felt angry with herself as she entered the castle wing for the maids. All the basics that saw her immediately moved out of her way out of respect and fear. She found her room and entered. The room was very cold and she felt herself relax in comfort. This room was the perfect temperature for the undead. It was the same temperature as the underworld and this was Rosavellt's best place in the entire castle. She decided to take a bath and get ready to go out and meet the army again when she suddenly saw a letter on her desk. Rosavellt narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Who put a letter here?
Rosavellt knows that only a higher-ranking demon will have the audacity to come into her room. None of the lower-ranked demons would ever dare. They would freeze just from the cold alone. That means it was someone that was of a high rank that dropped the letter here. Did someone sneak into the castle? Rosavellt thought about this as she gently went towards the letter and picked it up. She used a [Scan] spell on the letter to see if there were any traps or magic circles on it and she was a little surprised there weren't any. It was just a regular letter. Rosavellt decided to just read it and she opened it and looked at the contents. Her eyes widened in shock! The letter was from Dulla.
The letter requested a meeting between the two of them. Dulla was asking for another Truce Meeting, but this time it would be between Dulla and Rosavellt. Dulla wrote that she refuses to meet with the demon lord anymore after what he did to her in the last meeting and Rosavellt narrowed her eyes at the letter.
Who does Dulla think she is to request something like this? Shouldn't she just go home instead of doing all this nonsense? She is wasting her resources and our people are dying because of her stupid crusade. Reginald is dead and there is nothing that Dulla can do to change that. I need to put an end to this.
Rosavellt decided that she would take some members of her army and meet Dulla. There was no danger involved and Rosavellt could use this chance to finally talk to Dulla. They were once friends in the underworld, and Rosavellt understands the sort of person Dulla is. If Rosavellt talks to her then there is a high chance that Dulla would listen. Dulla has to understand that the demon lord is their king. He can do whatever he wants with us and we have no right to go against him. He has been merciful to the undead all this while because of me but I cannot keep spitting in his face like this. I won't protect this stupidity anymore. I have to send them back once and for all.
Hope rose in Rosavellt's heart and she felt like this whole thing would come to an end soon.
If I am going to speak to Dulla, would it not be sensible to also call my uncle? Rosavellt thought this with a curious expression. Rosavellt knew that Kronos will be more sensible to talk to than Dulla. Kronos can easily tell the army to go back and they will have no choice but to obey him.
......
The place where Rosavellt and Dulla were supposed to meet was a low valley that was right on the outskirts of Aradite. It was far from any of the towns so Rosavellt was sure that there won't be any surprise attacks on any of the demons. She will be able to talk to Dulla and convince her to stop this madness without involving any of the other demons.
Rosavellt arrived at the valley that night with a small platoon of three hundred soldiers behind her. She had already called her uncle earlier and she invited him to the meeting as well. Kronos was surprised when Rosavellt called him. He didn't think that she would ever contact him again after she left the underworld. Rosavellt told Kronos the basics of what was happening and she felt shocked when Kronos told her that he had no idea that there was a battle going on between the undead and the demon lord. Kronos told Rosavellt that Dulla never called him before she started the fight and that Dulla didn't ask for permission. Basically, Dulla was acting on her own as a rogue and the underworld didn't know anything about her actions. This was news to Rosavellt and she immediately commanded her uncle to come to the demon world. This was the first time that Rosavellt would use her authority to command her uncle and it surprised him. He didn't think she would do something like that.
Rosavellt was angry! She was extremely angry at Dulla! Not only was Dulla going against the demon lord, but she was also going against the undead? What sort of foolishness is that!? Why would Dull go to these sorts of lengths? Dulla was ready to go against the demon lord even if it meant she would ruin the image of the undead in the process.
When Rosavellt arrived at the valley that night, she immediately started to look out for Dulla. Rosavellt wanted to kill Dulla before sending the other soldiers back. I don't care how the undead wants to punish Dulla, she isn't leaving here above.
But Rosavellt didn't see Dulla at the meeting place. Rosavellt looked around with a scowl of annoyance and she wondered if Dulla was trying to make her angry on purpose by coming late.
Rosavellt waited for a few minutes before she finally saw a small platoon of undead coming from the other side of the valley. They were five hundred men and they were led by a red-haired man that Rosavellt recognized as Dulla's right hand. What is he doing here? And where the hell is Dulla?
The red-haired man had a blank look on his face and he stood directly opposite Rosavellt. Rosavellt noticed that the man was trying to stand like her equal. Is this meant to be a joke? First, Dulla calls a meeting with the demon lord and pretends to be his equal, and now Dulla is sending a mere S-class to meet with me and he thinks he is my equal!? Has Dulla finally gone mad!?
"Rosavellt -"
"Shut up,"
The red-haired man almost swallowed his tongue as Rosavellt cut him off sharply! She had a hard look on her face and she was not smiling even a little! There was great tension in the air and he had to swallow nervously. Rosavellt spoke while looking down at him.
"Where is Dulla? Is she not the one that called this meeting? If she does not show up to a meeting that she called, then what is the reason for even calling it in the first place?"
The red-haired man waited to make sure that Rosavellt was done talking. He might be Dulla's right hand, but he was also aware of how dangerous Rosavellt was. Rosavellt was a direct servant of the demon lord as well as an SSS-class. He has to make sure he chooses his words wisely.
"Rosavellt, I think you will be interested in hearing what I have to say. Won't you listen to me for a moment?"
The man had a small smile and he looked Rosavellt right in the eyes. Rosavellt narrowed her eyes at him, but her own curiosity got the better of her and she told him to talk. She wanted to hear what exactly Dulla had in mind by setting up this meeting.
The red-haired man cleared his throat.
"Dulla has sent me in her place, not because she does not respect you, but instead because she wishes to spare you from the trouble that will be coming soon. We have all seen how you fought with us for the last month. Whenever you were going against an army of undead, you tried your best not to attack us mindlessly and you spared as many of us as possible. We are now sure that you are still one of us. Even if you are trapped as a servant to the demon lord, you are first and foremost, an undead. "
As the man spoke, Rosavellt's face showed more and more confusion. Her features twisted into a look of utter confusion and she couldn't even believe the things entering her ears. What sort of joke am I playing a part in? Did Dulla really send this clown to confront me? And she dared to tell him to say these things to me? When have I ever told them that I wanted to spare them? Is it because of the demon lord's orders? He told me to prioritize containment instead of eradication.
Wait... Did he know something like this would happen? Did he make his plan with something like this in mind?
Rosavellt finally understood just how much she has been overlooking. But that was not the end. The man said something about trouble, didn't he? Rosavellt gave him the hardest look he has ever received in his life! One-third of the army behind the man flinched simultaneously as they all saw the fury on her face! At that moment, she looked like a true demon.
"What. Did. You. Do?"
Her voice was a low growl that made the red-haired man take in a shallow breath. He could feel his legs shake and he knew that she was not happy! He had to get her back before she started assuming we are doing something wrong! We are only doing this to free her! If we can achieve this initial goal, then we can start the revolution!
"We know that you still love all the undead! We have recognized your undying loyalty to us and so we decided to call you here and spare you from the trouble that will come at the Capital! Dulla has charged on Hampshire and we will have the demon capital within the night! Without the capital, the demon lord will be confined to his castle and we can call in reinforcement to finally help us get rid of him! We can finally get revenge for your brother!"
Silence. There was nothing but silence in the valley. Rosavellt was staring at the red-haired man but it didn't look like she was seeing him at all. She was looking right through him. Her hands were slack by her side and it looked like she was made of stone!
The silence lasted for more than a minute before the man tried to speak again.
"Rosa -"
Slash!
Squelch!!
The army behind the man all tensed as they suddenly saw the red-haired man split into two right down the middle! His hand was still in the air as he tried to gesticulate for his speech before his body peeled apart and fell to the sides. No one saw her move, but everyone knew that it was Rosavellt that killed him. The blood on her sword and the empty look in her eyes told them that she was not happy! They all started to go into formation! They didn't know what went wrong, but that doesn't mean they would be careless against someone like Rosavellt! Did she become angry because it wasn't Dulla that came to see her?
Rosavellt's mouth was moving, but none of them could hear what she was saying. When she spoke up enough to be heard, the army shivered at her empty tone.
"Fools. Why are they always fools? I was meant to protect you fools. I was meant to make sure that the demon lord does not kill all of you and wipe you off the face of Rivalle. That was my one mission. And I tried my hardest, didn't I try? Didn't I speak up for you when I was with the demon lord? Didn't I give you a preference over the other races? Is this how you repay my sacrifice? Ah... Now I get it. I was going about it all wrong. I wasn't doing it properly. I now understand that out of all of you, I was the greatest fool,"