The city lights had long since gone out, and it was now late into the night.
In a room of a luxury apartment in the royal capital:
“Even though it’s so quiet, you’re still fighting a war, aren’t you, Yakov? It feels so strange.”
“That very quietness is what I’ve won through this war. Of course, for the sake of moments like this with you, Elly.”
Beneath the pale moonlight streaming in from the third-floor window, Colonel Yakov Schweizen of the Royal Army Intelligence whispered to his lover lying beside him. With the advantageous turn of the war against the demon kingdom of Elden, he now had more leisure time, allowing him to spend more moments like this with the one he loved.
… And the day of his “promotion” was drawing near as well.
While Schweizen was enjoying his time off, in the northernmost town of the kingdom, he had been enforcing indefinite torture on the demon kingdom’s executives and their kin. He had even acquired a new “piece” known as a Dark Healer. It wouldn’t be long before they could extract useful information, such as the number of the demon kingdom’s leaders and their military strength.
… Very soon, he could be promoted to the rank of “Colonel,” a pivotal role within the Military Intelligence Division! How fortunate it was that the war had begun. Long live the kingdom!
As Schweizen chuckled to himself, envisioning the brilliant future of his career on the ceiling above, Elly touched his arm with her warm hand.
“Yakov, are you sure everything will be okay tomorrow?”
“Hmm? Oh, you mean meeting your parents? Of course, it’ll be fine.”
Schweizen placed his hand over Elly’s.
“I’ve reserved a table at the restaurant everyone’s talking about in the capital. One with the best view.”
“Oh my…!”
“I’ll make sure to tell them properly—how I’ll make you happy.”
“Yakov…”
Elly closed her eyes softly, and Schweizen leaned in closer to her face—
—BRRRRING!
A piercing ring shattered the silence.
“… Seems like it’s the phone.”
“Dammit, why now of all times?”
… He had completed his routine report earlier. If this was an additional report due to an oversight, he would be sure to shout them down for it.
Schweizen got out of bed, walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver, and placed it against his ear and mouth.
“This is Schweizen.”
“Brigadier General Solfège speaking.”
“!”
It wasn’t a subordinate on the other end.
It was Brigadier General Yozen Solfège, the head of the Royal Army Intelligence Division.
“Your leave is over. Report to the Intelligence Division immediately.”
“… Yes, sir! At once!”
The call ended abruptly.
Schweizen stared at the receiver for a moment, cold sweat trickling down his back.
… An emergency summons with no preamble? He had a terrible feeling about this…
“Yakov? What’s wrong? Your face looks tense.”
“… Elly, I’m sorry. It’s work.”
“What? No way, it’s the middle of the night!”
“It seems something troublesome has come up. ‘The leave is over,’ they said.”
“Does that mean…?”
“… I’m sorry. We’ll have to postpone the meeting with your parents tomorrow.”
Schweizen quickly dressed and rushed out of the house.
The following afternoon.
After being forced to drive a military vehicle through the night, Schweizen arrived at the northern town, where he raised his voice in anger at the report from his subordinates stationed there.
—The escape of all demon captives.
When he was informed of the situation via the military line after the order from the brigadier general, his blood ran cold.
He had immediately issued commands to the scene and had come in person, but…
… What a disaster, for things to have reached their worst in just one night!
Of the 45 soldiers stationed at the facility that housed the demon captives, 10 were dead, and the rest were either in critical condition or severely injured.
Moreover, one of the kingdom’s 15 high-ranking priests, “Saint Lucius Satania,” had been killed.
“I gave orders last night to pursue the escaped prisoners, did I not?!”
“At that time, there was already no trace of them in the vicinity…”
“You should have used reinforcements from the military base to conduct a search right away!”
“There were many casualties within the facility who were in need of immediate rescue. Given the possibility that demons might still be hiding inside, we deemed it unwise to split the reinforcements between rescue and search parties—”
“You fool! How could you make such a reckless decision and let valuable sources of information slip away?!”
Schweizen raised his fist in frustration, but then—
It was caught. Firmly.
“That’s enough, Schweizen.”
A low voice spoke.
The man who held Schweizen’s fist while stroking his thick, white beard with his other hand was the brigadier general in charge of the town’s military base—Schweizen’s superior.
“The deployment of reinforcements was on my orders.”
“Wh—”
“I was informed that the captured demons were powerful and dangerous executives. The reinforcements were my men. With such uncertain information, and the hero units absent from this town, I couldn’t risk needlessly endangering my troops. Or,”
He shot Schweizen a sharp glare.
“Are you suggesting that you wouldn’t mind if the reinforcements died, so long as it didn’t affect your own interests?”
“No… of course not.”
Schweizen lowered his fist and bowed his head.
“I am grateful for your assistance in covering for my subordinates’ failures and for supporting the rescue efforts.”
“Hmph.”
The white-bearded brigadier general let out a disgruntled huff and said,
“Is it really only the fault of your subordinates? I have a feeling there’s more to it than that…”
“…?”
Schweizen was puzzled, but it didn’t take long to discover what that “something more” was.
—The body of the “Dark Healer” was missing from the scene.
In the torture room where the demon executives had been held, the corpse of Lieutenant Gorgon, the torturer, was found. The bodies of the guards were also present.
So, the escape must have occurred during the torture.
Yet, the Dark Healer who should have been there was nowhere to be found…
… Could it be that the Dark Healer had sided with the demons?
If so, it would mean that he was at fault for bringing the Dark Healer in… That would be a major problem.
But that seemed unlikely.
He had given Lieutenant Gorgon clear instructions on how to handle the Dark Healer. The Dark Healer shouldn’t have had the chance to fully heal the demons, and guards were supposed to be vigilant.
… If that’s the case, then it’s less likely that the Dark Healer was responsible. It’s more plausible that a surprise attack by a demon infiltrator or some accident created an opportunity, during which the Dark Healer was abducted.
“Yes, it’s not yet certain that this is all my fault…”
Two days later, Schweizen remained at the scene, continuing to investigate the cause.
There were no updates from the search team.
The cause of the escape remained undetermined.
In the midst of this, he received a call from the Intelligence Division—
From Brigadier General Yozen Solfège.
“Colonel Schweizen, you’ve really done it this time…!”
“… Excuse me?”
“The Dark Healer you brought to the facility—while investigating their clinic, we discovered some ‘incredible documents.'”
Brigadier General Solfège spoke in a low, trembling voice.
“Colonel, you may have just poisoned the kingdom with the worst kind of toxin…!”
