Isekai Taneuma

After the war between the Empire and the Hermes realm and the end of the popular Hermes War, the promise of refugee protection made between the border city and the Imperial Army was about to be reversed. Waltstein, who made the promise with the Adventurer Alliance, came to protest against his new commander's succession, even to the detachment of his castle.

Sir Orpheus Caligula became Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army. As the title shows, he was an imperial nobleman ruling the territory of neighbouring Orpheus and a living priest for a long time.

All priests, said to be legendary creatures, had a graceful appearance and should not have aged. However, the man in front of him had a bending back deformity, as if to override such common sense, and his whole body was covered with wounds. Her hair was also dyed white because of aging, and her face also had deep wrinkles that looked like a man of great age.

There could not have been such a priest. The impossible was in front of me.

Waltstein, feeling oppressed by the strange and unfamiliar man, did not hurt the samurai's cowardice and entered the room with a bluff.

"Excuse me."

However, the falsehood was quickly removed by a strange smell coming from inside the room. As he approached the Lord of the room, there was a strong odor, as if it had been mixed with manure and rotten flesh.

If the man in front of me had a smell that would make me wonder if he leaked even when he peed, the prediction was half correct and half off.

It can be seen that there is a strange device in front of the man, with a blindfolded monkey in the middle. That's fine, but if you look closely at the pathetic figure, the ape's skull was broken from the forehead and its brain was bare.

The smell just came from the monkey's body odor and the smell of leaked manure. A blindfolded, skull-fractured monkey leaked too much faecal urine from fear and drained all the secretions from his body. What surprised me even more was that the monkey was still alive.

As Waltstein forgets his errands and gazes at the disgusting object, the strange man who owns the room looks at him as if he were making a fool of himself.

"Isn't it unusual for a monkey to be alive? This is a cooking method called the monkey brain, transmitted from far east of my hometown. This is how you open a monkey's brain, right? Then, monkeys give out scary brain drugs, which is delicious."

"Bad hobbies....."

"How about a sip without saying so? It's not something you can eat very often."

Waltstein shook his head as he tried to look cool, hiding the whirlpool in his chest. Looking at it, the lord of the room unfortunately shrugs his shoulders.

Waltstein kept staring at the creepy man without trying to hide his grumpy expression.

"More than that, you know why I'm here!

"Yes... what are you talking about?"

"Don't fuck with me! You broke your promise and sent soldiers to the border city!

When he shouted so loudly, Caligula slapped her hand just before she realized it.

"Oh, is that so... that's out of my mind. It was Sir Hermes who did it. Sir Orpheus, I have nothing to do with this. It's about other people's countries, so it's going to be a diplomatic problem."

"You're lying! I bet you lent me a soldier. There's no way I don't know."

"Until I lent him a soldier to govern the territory. I didn't even know how he would rule the Hermes."

Waltstein stewed his business to the priests who were still trying to succumb to this period, and took a step forward as if to intimidate them.

"I asked you to take over. I want you to keep your promise to the Adventurer Alliance in your power. Otherwise, I'll stab you in the face, but this seat has to give way. If you lose credibility, you can't be a mercenary. I don't know when to betray mercenaries who don't keep their promises. What's the value of such a rattlesnake? That's why I've advised you over and over again for your future. If you make a mistake... your life will be lost."

He said that and stared at the sky of Sir Orpheus, whose back was bent.

From the side, it would only have looked like a tough soldier was beating up a tired old man. In reality, however, the tiny old man was a saint, and in the event of a sudden incident, Waltstein would be the one who would be struck by the neck.

Even if he did, he dared to show resistance. The sad determination was also conveyed to this strange priest.

Caligula sighed and said, poking at the tip of the spoon she was holding.

"... Your Excellency. Do you know? The brain doesn't feel pain. As you can see, even if I poke a monkey in the brain right now, this monkey won't show any reaction. So even if you spoon the right part of his brain, he doesn't know what he's doing. Take a look. The monkeys hardly react here, there, or there, even if they stir up or squeeze up like this."

Waltstein endured the disgust of a man stirring up a monkey's brain in front of him.

"... what's wrong with that?

"But, my lord, if you take this little grey brain cell next to you..."

As Caligula said so, she scratched the monkey's brain with a spoon, and suddenly the monkey, who had been restrained until now but looked nervous, suddenly stopped moving and lost his expression.

"As you can see, monkeys don't move. But this isn't dead. He's still alive. My heart is moving, and if I give you food, you eat it properly. So what the hell happened to him now...? He's not dead, he's dead."

"... mind?

"Yes, apparently this tiny gray brain cell is packed with animal hearts...."

As he said so, he threw the brain he had just taken into his mouth. And then chew it off and swallow it.

"But Goblin doesn't have this."

"... eh?

When Waltstein was fed up with the grotesque acts taking place in front of him, Caligula suddenly said that.

"Goblins are easy for anyone to catch, so it's easy to check their brains. Like this monkey, I broke the head of the captured goblin and took out its contents. If you're a mammal, you can't find brain cells anywhere. Perhaps even oanness, insulin mice, augers and orcs... in other words, demons don't have hearts. You think I'm sick right now, don't you? There is no such thing as disgust or repudiation that creatures should naturally feel.

What do you think would happen if those people walked through the south woods into our country? It's a mess. There is no way that our human society can defeat such things today. They don't fear death, they just think about stealing, eating, and raping. Without hesitation, they will turn humans into comforters. After that, the world of weak predators ruled by the demons will only spread. And that's not a dream story. It actually happened 300 years ago.

I saw hell in this world 300 years ago....

Yes, even though we have that experience, humankind is still not united. The number of priests who broke up with the Empire and the Warriors and were the only ones who could compete with the Demons has been greatly reduced. Hello...? Now, at this moment, what happens to us if the Demon King emerges from the south forest...? This time, mankind may perish. And I recently discovered that there were signs of the Devil's Resurrection in the South Forest.

That's why I want to speak up. The world must be one. In the first place, this is what happens because we recognize the Brave Leader and divide the country. This is our last chance when Sir Hermes falls and the Empire is one. We should drive this extra force into the brave realm… Lord Waltstein, could you help us?

"... what?

That was too abrupt a suggestion. Before that, there were signs of the Demon King's Resurrection and some words I couldn't abandon, but when I scratch them, the man in front of me now tells Waltstein to take over the Warrior's Landing.

"Whatever the reputation of the Imperial Council, it was you who defeated Sir Hermes. And there are still soldiers in the Imperial Army who speak of trust in you. If you lead it, it will be easy to kick off the brave barbarians who were fighting for peace. If you will, I would like to deposit my army with you under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army."

But Waltstein instantly shook his head without trying to hide his disgusting expression.

"What do you want to dream... of me being replaced by an empire like no other? He resigned as a general and returned to his former mercenary captain. Can we fight for them now?"

"I want you to fight for humanity, not for the Empire. You don't think the world should remain divided."

"... even so! You underestimate your opponent. If you think about the power difference between the kettle and my boyfriend, it's better that way. To tell you the truth, the Empire today has no national power to stand up to the brave. A bad poke like that could wake a sleeping lion. You don't know that!?

"Then I hope the Empire is conquered."

"What...?"

Waltstein doubted his ears. I had no idea that the lords of the five Powers, the great towns of the Empire, possessed such dangerous ideas.....

Ever since I first met him, I thought he was a creepy man. It's an incomprehensible fact that even though he is a saint, his injuries cannot be healed... even if he had dangerous thoughts, I didn't think it strange at all, but the story would change if I knew that he was not even willing to overthrow the Empire.

Why did the Emperor put such a man in his own trap...? It's like I don't know. He exhaled a long sigh and shook his head with a stunning gesture.

"... I'll make sure you didn't hear what I just said. I hope you're a loyal servant to the Emperor."

"... I see. That's a shame."

"And don't make me say it again and again. I'm not here for a job. I'm just here to complain that the benevolence I cut off as Commander of the Imperial Army will not be ruined by your successor. If you still don't change your mind...."

"If you say so?

"I'll do everything I can to get your neck. Even if it kills me."

The words exhaled longer than the calligraphy this time. And he shook his head deliberately, as Waltstein did.

"I don't know. Why do you get so far into them?"

"I'm not putting anything else in. I just made a promise. As a mercenary, the only thing that must not be different is a promise to your employer. The moment we do anything against that kindness, we will be bandits. If that happens, it's over and no one will follow me anymore."

"Is that what you're saying?"

"You'll stand on your shoulders, too. There's no way I don't know."

When he said so, for the first time on this day, the creepy priest showed only a slightly serious expression. I didn't know what that word meant to make him look like that.

"So, what are you going to do, General? On the contrary, you have no reason to put that on the shoulders of the new Lord Hermes. Still, if that's what you want, I'm ready."

When Waltstein stared at him with his determined eyes, Caligula finally raised her hands just to surrender.

"... I see. I'll give you one more day."

"A day?

"Yes, for one day, I'll give you a reason to get rid of the soldiers surrounding the city. In the meantime, take as many refugees as you can and flee. That's all I can do."

"Really... thank you."

All you have to do is pull up the soldiers you lent to a man like Isaac XII... why do you keep lending them to such incompetence for so long? I thought so, but he didn't ask any more, as long as I could just pull out the terms.

Waltstein thanked the new commander before he changed his mind and tried to leave the creepy room. However, as he stood up, the servant came back with tea and confused the former commander who was just about to leave the room. When he received the tea from the bad servant in the meantime, he drank it all on the spot.

On his back, the Lord of the room called out.

"My lord... as you try to help the refugees, be responsible until they can live with peace of mind."

Waltstein wondered why the man who was supposed to have captured the refugee suddenly said that.

I'm going to do it anyway.

As if suddenly pushing me, I left the room on my own. The Servitor will follow you. Maybe it's time to make sure the intruder gets out.

Silence returned, and there was only one calligraphy in the office. No, I don't know, there was a poor monkey standing in front of him with about half his brain chipped out. There was no longer any animal-like appearance in the forest when he lived freely, and his expression, which showed no emotions, looked like a specimen.

Sometimes it twitches because the body is about to end up as a mere phenomenon. When he took out the spoon, he slowly turned his brain back and killed the monkey.

At that time, Tongton and the door of the room were knocked. It's too soon for the pursuing Servitor to return. When I came in, the door wooshed open and a man in an Imperial uniform came in. As soon as she saw the figure, Caligula said with a bitter smile.

"Hey, you were right. Your Excellency has shaken me. Ugly men don't get weird unless they wake up."

The incoming man turned his back to the owner of the room, checked that the door was properly closed, then turned to the calligraphy again, stretched out his pin and spine to show his best salute, then blew his scissors and army shoes to the back of the room.

"Oh, I see, Lord Waltstein is clean and innocent. Ever since I was a lieutenant. That's what's good about him, and that's his weakness. If he were to perish, it would be in such a noble spirit."

"I mean, right now..."

Caligula said that with an unbelievable smile, pushing the carcass of a living monkey to the side.

"Anyway, now we have all the actors. If he knew that the refugees had fled, he would say that was why he would joyfully and courageously attack the brave leader. And even if Waltstein betrays the Empire, he will try to protect the refugees. He's a good man to make enemies of, but at best we'll have him dance big."

"... is that okay?

"I don't mind. More than that, you. I apologize for the haste, but I want you to support such a XII and bring in a brave man. His land is said to contain the legacy of the first Lord Hermes. Or you can trust him to find out where he is."

"I was afraid. Your Majesty."

That said, the man in uniform showed his humble bow as if he were a nobleman to the throne. Caligula turned to the man, showing a smoldering expression.

"I am no longer your majesty. If you say that, you'll be charged with disrespect."

And the man shook his head.

"No... His Majesty the third emperor of the Roman Empire, Caligula. From the time I swore allegiance to Carl V, all I ever said was Rome. Ever since I was brought to this mysterious world, I have had nothing to live for. You there are my hopes. Now let's let the world know Rome's glory with our hands."

Caligula, struck by her straight eyes, continued to breathe of admiration.

"Well... your loyalty to your country always impresses me. Then go, General Francisco Pizarro. With your wisdom, I will bring half the world down."