"So you let the ogre get away?"
"That I did. Considering the speed it showed during that escape, if the fight had continued as it was, we might have been the ones to fall."
In truth, it was already an even match against Nyodz.
Without my support, Nyodz might have been in real danger too.
If even Nyodz, who'd been called nothing less than a Sword Saint, could barely hold his own, then I doubted any ordinary adventurer or rank-and-file soldier would fare any better.
I reported all of this to the man before me.
The one who sat at the very apex of the Lengzand Empire—the Sword Emperor himself.
"I see. If we tried to take it down head-on, we'd only end up spreading the damage further."
"Indeed. You might manage it if you mustered every elite in the Empire, but I doubt anyone besides myself and Nyodz could be mobilized, no?"
"That's exactly right."
The Sword Emperor let out a deep, heavy sigh.
Under normal circumstances, someone might have been around to offer a word of caution, but at this moment it was just the two of us.
I'd let him have his sigh.
He'd been bottling up quite a lot, after all.
"You seem to be bearing quite a burden."
"There are too few people—inside and outside the court—whom I can trust."
"Oh? And you trust me in that regard?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes. Your interests lie solely in matters of the demonic arts; power and politics mean nothing to you. So long as I keep feeding your intellectual curiosity about the demonic path, you'll work for me without complaint."
"Ha ha ha! You've got me there!"
Not wrong, though.
"Did you have some deeper motive when you had me reassigned?"
"One reason was pressure from the Church of the Divine Word. A second was to keep you as a free-moving fighting force. And a third was to keep you out of unnecessary political messes. Something like that."
"So there really are movements afoot to do something about me?"
I'd anticipated as much, but had he really been that pressed for options?
"The Church of the Divine Word suspects you. They say the hero's rescue was too neatly orchestrated. What's the truth of the matter?"
"Well now. I was simply assigned the role of rescuing the hero. Originally, I'd intended to take him under my wing afterward and train him myself."
Perhaps it was his straightforward nature that made him such a fast learner.
Which made it all the more a shame—if only there had been more time to teach him properly, he might one day have surpassed me and reached the true depths of the demonic arts.
What a waste.
"The hero is a prince of the Analait Kingdom, and the Church of the Divine Word is involved as well. Our country cannot keep him for any extended period."
"I know that much. That's precisely why I offered to go to them and teach him directly, but those blockheads at the Church refused."
"To their eyes, anyone who might be hiding the truth cannot be trusted."
What's that—now you too?
I've done nothing wrong.
I simply followed the instructions of a certain someone.
"You have no intention of telling me the truth either, I take it?"
"Even if I told you, it wouldn't change a thing. Rest easy. I'll do nothing to make an enemy of the Empire."
"I hope that's the case."
"If you keep pulling this sort of meaningless stalling, I may just lose patience and wash my hands of the whole affair."
"Now that would be a problem."
I wasn't entirely joking, either.
If it meant any more of this cramped, uncomfortable existence, I might just as well return my title and inheritance to the Empire and retire to a quiet life in the countryside. That sounded rather appealing, actually.
"If you were to abandon the Empire now, its future would be grim indeed."
"Don't be so dramatic. My individual strength amounts to very little."
"You really ought to re-evaluate your own worth."
"I have re-evaluated—that's exactly why I've made this judgment. I've come to understand that the old me was staggeringly arrogant."
It was because I'd met that person that I was able to recognize my own inadequacy.
And to understand that there were still far greater heights to reach.
"From where I stand, I think you have more than enough ability to justify a healthy degree of arrogance."
The Sword Emperor sighed again, exaggeratedly deep.
Well, he too had his struggles stemming from his own shortcomings.
The current Sword Emperor had inherited his position on the coattails of his father.
That much was undeniable.
He bore the title of Sword Emperor, yet in actual combat he was inferior to Nyodz, nor was his political ability anything particularly outstanding.
In short, he was an ordinary man.
The previous Sword Emperor, now retired, had been truly great.
After all, he'd been the sword teacher to the previous generation's hero.
Even in retirement, he remained a swordsman who could completely overshadow Nyodz.
Having grown up in the shadow of such a towering father, this man had, by my estimation, done remarkably well for himself.
He'd been trying hard—no question. But ultimately, he simply lacked the temperament to stand at the top.
In recent years, with the Demon race staying quiet and no real wars to speak of, the nobles had begun wielding their influence from within, and the Empire was only holding together because the Sword Emperor was keeping them in check.
That, too, was only possible because the nobles could see the shadow of the previous Sword Emperor standing behind him and didn't dare overstep.
Having extraordinary parents made life hard for the children, didn't it?
Come to think of it, I'd heard his son was supposed to be quite capable. I hoped he was all right.
"By the way, how is your son?"
"
"Oh? The rumors I've heard paint him as quite the prodigy."
"I'd appreciate it if people wouldn't call another man's son a monster. But I'll let it pass—from my own eyes, he is a monster. In body, and in spirit."
He looked rather troubled.
"That boy was born blessed by the gods. But he's grown complacent with that blessing. And there's no one around with the strength to correct that complacency. If his father were here, it would be one thing, but who knows where that man even is."
"Shall I knock some sense into him?"
"I doubt it would work. The nobles I've lost touch with have surrounded him. He's overflowing with talent, but his mind is thoroughly immature. The nobles flatter him, and he grows more and more conceited with every passing day. The sad truth is that I can neither restrain him nor separate him from those nobles. Even if you tried to approach, you'd only be blocked."
"What a hassle. In that case, I'll pass."
"That would probably be best for you as well."
It sounded harsh, but raising children was the parents' responsibility, wasn't it?
I looked like I had enough on my plate already—I'd stay out of it.
"Now, to return to the matter at hand—I've decided to hand the ogre over to the Shadow Division."
"The Shadow Division?"
"Yes. They won't engage it directly. Instead, they'll lure the ogre toward Demon race territory."
"Oh ho. So you're pushing the problem onto the Demon race?"
"Exactly. I can't say whether it'll work, but it's far more practical than wastefully throwing away soldiers. Several villages have already been wiped out. We have to drive the ogre out of human territory before the damage spreads any further."
Well, a reasonable approach, all things considered.
If things went well, the ogre and the Demon race might even destroy each other, and that would be cause for celebration.
Part of me wanted to try communicating with that ogre, but given its state, that seemed impossible.
No creature that radiated that much killing intent would be one the Demon race would bother trying to negotiate with either.