Makai Hongi

Chapter 134

○ Town of Elstabia – Farneze

The message was from the royal castle.

Adjutant Atrasushia had sent it to Farneze.

But the mansion garden was filled with Demon King Tralzard’s soldiers.

Farneze felt that it was not the best place to listen to the report, and so she met the messenger in her study

“So, what is it?”

The messenger must have been in a rush, as he was out of breath.

After a few moments spent calming down, he began to speak.

“There are several reports. First, I will tell you about the situation in the neighboring countries.”

That was enough to make Farneze feel a sense of foreboding.

The messenger sucked in a deep breath and stood up straight.

“First, concerning Lesser Demon King Lubanga, who was in an alliance with Lesser Demon King Rous, they are now in a state of war. Lubanga seems to have invaded them. This signals the immediate end of their alliance. However, according to our most recent information, Lesser Demon King Rous has fallen. Essentially, the country has collapsed. Lesser Demon King Lubanga seems to have swallowed up Rous’s country, making him a Lesser Demon King who rules two countries.”

“What?”

But it seemed like just a moment ago that Lesser Demon Rous was attacking this country.

He had split his army into multiple corps and they were marching towards the royal capital.

General Dardaroth had fought back, and Farneze herself had supported them as a reinforcement.

It was only after dealing with it, that she had returned to this town… And now the enemy country itself had fallen?

Not only that, but it was their ally, Lubanga, who was responsible.

Farneze wanted to shout at the messenger and ask for more details.

But this was her mansion.

And she had visitors from abroad. It was best to avoid doing anything that would attract attention.

And so she thought quietly.

Rous’s invasion of this country would mean that his own country would be poorly guarded.

He had been in alliance with Lubanga, and until recently, they were at war with two other countries. So Rous’s armies would have been shrinking already.

And yet he had sent some of them out to invade this country.

Then there was this dramatic betrayal.

It was likely that Lubanga had been targeting Rous all along.

Sweet words were whispered, and Rous was pushed into thinking invading this country was a good idea.

It annoyed Farneze greatly. Lesser Demon King Melvis’s country had been used as bait.

“So, Lesser Demon King Rous is dead, and Lubanga now rules those lands.”

The messenger nodded.

“I will continue my report. This happened at the same time, and concerns Lesser Demon King Nacti, who was in an alliance with Lesser Demon King Kurulu. They too are in a state of war, and Lesser Demon King Kurulu’s whereabouts are currently unknown. Even now, they are conducting a search for him in his lands. If he is not found soon, the country will either be split up or absorbed by Nacti completely.”

Now, he was talking about Kurulu and Nacti.

Both of them were also in an alliance. And while Kurulu’s army was busy invading this country, Nacti had broken their alliance and attacked.

The two situations were eerily similar.

In other words, Lubanga and Nacti knew what the other was going to do.

“Lubanga and Nacti were supposed to be at war. When did they join forces?”

In any case, Rous and Kurulu had not been able to discover it in time. And now they were gone.

This country was the same.

They were desperately trying to fight the invasion of Rous and Kurulu’s armies.

And so no one knew what was happening until the very end.

Farneze suddenly remembered something.

When Rous and Kurulu had attacked, she had assumed that their allies would soon follow. However, there had never been any news of that.

Yes, it must have all been planned from the beginning.

And now, this country was neighbor to two larger and more dangerous countries.

“Allow me to continue. It seems that Lesser Demon King Leninoth and Lesser Demon King Fara have signed an anti-war pact.”

“I had been considering that possibility. Both countries are dominant in this area. If they clashed now, even the victor would be weakened considerably. They will likely not fight again until it is impossible for them to expand.”

“Because of this, Lesser Demon King Leninoth has started to move his army to the south.”

“The south. That means either our country or Kurulu’s… No, what was formerly Nacti’s country?”

“We do not know for sure yet. But judging by the scale of the army, we think he might be targeting us. And while it hasn’t been confirmed yet, soldiers have been sighted near Rous and Kurulu’s borders.”

“So the four countries have turned into two large countries. And they will both attack us now, along with Leninoth. That is not something that we can deal with.”

If Leninoth attacked while they were still warring with the other two countries, there would be nothing they could do to resist.

“…This situation… I’m not sure what can be done.”

She wished that she had not listened to the messenger at all. Farneze could not help but feel regret.

General Tulart could no longer leave the northern border, and General Dardaroth was still dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Once that was done, he would have to return to his town and reorganize.

And while the war with Rous and Kurulu was over, both countries had been destroyed by someone else, and the tension was much the same as before.

Atrasushia was requesting Farneze’s return to the castle as if they were at their limit.

Even Farneze felt that she could not stay in her town any longer.

And so she set out for the castle immediately.

But there was much to think about, such as how to use Tralzard’s soldiers and how they would move in the future.

Farneze’s brain was hardly able to process everything that was happening.

When she arrived at the castle, Felicia was waiting for her, and they had a long, long discussion.

And so the troubles surrounding Lesser Demon King Melvis’s country showed no signs of ending any time soon.