Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 230

230: Responsibility as a Human

A daytime bath was justice.

With a warm and happy feeling, I returned to Fort Litalside with Liz and Bridget, and Rebecca greeted me.

“Welcome back. Did you have fun?”

“Yes. …Thank you for your hard work.”

Rebecca’s eyes widened.

“…You noticed?”

“Half of it was a bluff. It wasn’t so much that I noticed, but that Liz and Bridget noticed your presence.”

“…I see. Two assassins. Their race…”

“Human, right?”

“Yes. They have been captured with a sleep spell and are being restrained. They have not yet been interrogated.”

“I’ll leave that to you. Please cooperate with the people of the Litalside garrison.”

“Understood. Bringit-dono, is that alright?”

“Of course.” Bridget nodded at Rebecca’s words.

She was like a different person from the one who had been soaking in the bath just a moment ago.

“Since the range of the bow has been extended with that lens, the scouts don’t get close to the other side of the wall. I had thought that they were probably hiding a skilled warrior and were trying to probe us… but to show their hand so easily.”

“They must have found a delicious prey.”

“…Don’t be so reckless.”

At Rebecca’s words, I shook my head.

“I wasn’t the one who was being reckless. In the worst-case scenario, it would have been Liz and Bridget who would have had to fight naked. …I’m sorry, for putting you in such a reckless situation.”

“We can handle it.”

“Yes. Do you think you can underestimate a supreme commander of the Demon King’s army and an assassin from the Royal Guard?”

“By that logic, you shouldn’t underestimate me, either, since I’m also a supreme commander of the Demon King’s army.”

Liz’s expression was one of exasperation.

“…Do you think you have any combat ability without a Barghest?”

“I don’t.”

I had a Barghest hidden in my robe, but there was a time lag before I could call it. Compared to the usual, where the Barghests would intercept on their own, it was a world of difference.

“…Please take a little more care of yourself.”

“Indeed.”

“I think I’m spoiling myself quite a bit.”

Even if it was half to let my guard down, to incorporate a bath with a cute girl into my work.

The two of them looked a little exasperated. They really were sisters, and even their expressions were similar.

“Bringit-sama…” A soldier, who seemed to be from the Second Army, came and called Bridget. And he looked back and forth between me and her.

“I don’t know the details, but the people here can be trusted. If there’s a problem, I’ll stop you, so please tell me.”

“Yes. I was wondering which of you to report to, the Lord of Disease… but a member of the Sixth Army has arrived. A person named Clarion…”

“Clarion? Where is she waiting?”

“Along with the one who is said to be her subordinate, we have assigned them a barracks close to the death knights, so they are there.”

“Understood, thank you. —Liz, what do you want to do? I’m going to Clarion.”

“I will go to the captured assassins. Will you be alright on your own?”

“In the fortress, yes.”

I still had a hundred Barghests in the shadows of my robe. Their noses and ears could not be deceived by an ordinary assassin, and an ordinary warrior could not stand against this number of Black Hound Barghests. I probably didn’t have to worry too much about my safety.

“Then please guide me.”

“Yes, this way.”

After bowing to Bridget and me, the soldier began to lead me.

The soldier who was guiding me stopped in front of a room and knocked on the door.

“I have brought the Lord of Disease.”

A female dark elf in a deep hood opened the door and greeted me, then knelt on one knee.

“Lord of Disease. I am Clarion.”

The reason she introduced herself each time was because she was a doppelganger.

“At ease, Clarion. —Thank you for your guidance. You are dismissed.”

“Yes.”

I was invited into the room by Clarion. It was a private room for an officer, but it was a bare room, with no decorations, and the stone walls were bare. The only furniture was a bed, a desk, and a matching chair.

“Please have a seat.”

“You too, Clarion. You can sit on the bed.”

I sat down in the offered chair, and since Clarion was still standing, I prompted her to sit on the bed.

“Thank you. …You were here.”

“Yes. The reinforcement of the Barghests is on schedule.”

“That is good news. May I expect about ten?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“I see… five, no, even one is precious.”

“There are a hundred, so we can discuss the allocation.”

“…What did you just say?”

“While the field operative units were working, I was also working hard. I took in the Barghests that were being used as guard dogs in the country, and I incorporated the wild packs into my pack. I incorporated a pack of about fifty in the Badlands, and the number increased at once.”

“Fifty…?! Is that not… a strange way to work hard?”

“I thought I had worked hard…”

“No, I am not denying that… Um… a hundred? Black Hound Barghests?”

“Yes.”

“Our master is strange.”

An exasperated voice. Her voice was different for each form, but her tone and the way she paused… it was Clarion.

“I thought you knew that.”

“…It seems I had only thought I knew.”

So, she was even stranger.

“The assassination squad will be pleased. With that many, whether you deploy them thinly and widely, or concentrate them on a single point, you will have a wide range of strategies.”

“Since we have a good number, I was thinking of doing something that we couldn’t do otherwise.” I smiled, a twisted smile.

“That is true, but… um, Lord of Disease?”

“What is it?”

“I have a bad feeling, when you smile like that, Lord of Disease.”

“I see.” I smiled brightly.

“Get used to it.”

Later, Clarion, who had heard the details, turned pale.

“Master, please… will you not reconsider?”

At Clarion’s words, I shook my head firmly.

“I believe it is necessary.”

“But. That is… that is to say that you will be using… the fact that you are human.”

“If it is necessary, then I will. I have ordered you to carry out a mission that uses your racial characteristics. …Because you can, and because it is necessary, I have ordered it. I have no intention of making an exception for myself.”

I declared, quietly.

My orders had killed people. My hands had already killed people. I could have died as an innocent human. If I had done nothing on those ramparts. I could have died, with my consciousness hazy from the mind magic, without thinking anything. And even after I had regained my consciousness, I had had the freedom to laugh at the injustice and to be killed, believing that a better world would come someday, or to throw myself off the ramparts.

But I believed that to be human, I had to resist the injustice. …Even if it meant becoming that injustice myself.

“…It is on the condition that I receive the permission of Lizlit-sama and Rebecca-sama.”

“Understood. Inform them to gather what is needed for the plan. I’m sorry, but please postpone your vacation plans.”

I’ll have to reschedule the disinformation unit’s vacation rotation later.

“Yes. I will forfeit my vacation.”

“No. Rest when you rest. …Soon, you may not be able to rest.”

The doppelgangers were irreplaceable. And they were few in number. Even setting aside all emotional reasons, there was no way I could use them up.

“Yes. …So, are you really going to proceed with this plan?”

“Of course.” I nodded.

“Who would trust a superior who does not share the same responsibility?”

“…Even if something happens to my superior, I’ll be in trouble because I’m responsible.” She had a point.

“You can trust me on that.”

“Ah, yes…”