Chapter 101: Ch 100: Starting a War
w"Ehm, after investigating what is going on here, I-We have concluded that this should be declared an emergency. People nearby need to be evacuated and the Temple will take control of the situation to bring the corruption under control."
Cardinal Flux, Council Representative Clark, and Grand Master Margret were the three main heads of influential factions called in for emergency help.
The reason he had called for these three and no one else was because Kael wanted to keep what was happening here from reaching too many ears.
He did not trust these three people either. But they were easier to keep an eye on compared to the head of the Merchant Association or the Information Guild.
Moreover, these people (except Grand Master Margret) had an active interest in preventing the spread of corruption for their own agendas.
"Hmm, why not let me experiment on it while you try to contain the corruption? It’s not every day that you see such marvelous specimens. I can find out a lot..."
"Don’t you dare, you madwoman. Who knows what you might do. You might even ’accidentally’ leak the corruption to study what it does-"
"Tsk, do I look that irresponsible in your eyes? Have they truly become so rotten that they can’t even see my sincerity? Let me show you my sincerity-"
Kael left the two to fight and, in the meantime, he turned to look at Council Representative Clark. The young man looked terrified and he dared not take a single step toward the corrupted garden.
That fear was genuine, so it ruled out any possibility of this being a Council scheme.
For now, there was no way to know what was happening, so after collaborating on a multi-layered seal, Kael decided to head back home.
He would need to inform the others about what had happened and tell them that they needed to be careful.
...
Things only got worse after the first sign of corruption. It did not take long for news of demonic attacks to begin spreading all around the country.
There had always been demonic attacks on human territory, so it seemed like nothing new. But what was new was the scale of these attacks.
"Teacher, what are you looking at?"
Seraphina asked as she saw Kael reading the paper first thing in the morning. She had made rapid progress in her lessons by now and could read much better. But she was still not at Kael’s speed.
Kael put the paper down with a sigh and decided that these kids needed to know what was going on.
Leon, especially, needed to keep up with the news of recent happenings so that he could better prepare himself for the future.
"There have been too many sightings of demons in the past few days. The conflict is starting to deepen. It won’t be long before a war breaks out."
Kael pointed out, causing Seraphina to gasp.
"A war! Isn’t that...bad? Is there no way to make peace with demons?"
She asked and Iris snorted at her question.
"Demons are not unreasonable, but they are too proud and hot-headed to bow their heads to anyone. They would rather die than surrender to a human."
Iris must have had her fair share of demon opponents for her to be so confident. But she had not said anything wrong.
Most demons Kael had known had died due to their pride getting the better of them. The only exception to this had been Lyra, but that was because she had been influenced by Leon. So she could not be held to normal demon standards.
"Kael, let’s assume that a war is inevitable. Then, should I prepare to participate in it? As the hero, it is my duty to ensure that peace is maintained, right?"
Leon asked and Kael felt a headache coming on.
He knew that the Temple would push for Leon to fight in the war, just as they had during his last life. But that left a bitter taste in Kael’s mouth.
Leon was too young to go to war at the moment.
The last time Leon went to this war too young, something in him broke. And he had been older than he currently was.
’I cannot allow Leon to get dragged into this mess. I hope those fools have enough sense not to send him out. I would much rather be sent to war.’
Kael was not a masochist and he did not like war either. But the reason he wanted to be chosen for it was simple—it would be much less troublesome for him.
He was certain he was powerful enough to the point where he could end it...if nothing big were to happen.
"A war will likely not break out anytime soon, and even if it did, a kid like you won’t be drafted. So take it easy for now."
Kael assured Leon, but the look in Leon’s eyes made him nervous.
Leon was looking at him in a way that told Kael that the younger knew what he was planning. Thankfully, Kael was not planning anything...for now.
__________
"S-Spare me! Please, spare me! You have no idea who I am, right? If you kill me, then things will become difficult to handle. I-I am a Baron of the demon world-"
Cold hands grabbed the demon’s face before injecting corruption into that body.
The Demon Baron cried out in pain as corruption started to spread through its body and then his mind was gone.
Instead of a civilized demon, a madman stood in front of Lumi and he attacked her. But she stopped him using her bonds.
Sigh
"So this was another failure, huh? I should have expected this to happen. Oh well! You are of no use to me, so I can send you back now."
Unfortunately, even a demon noble seemed to be no different from a normal demon when it came to corruption. And now she needed another specimen to experiment on.
As for the demons she had infected, the news of demon experimentation had started to spread in the demon kingdom and agitation had begun to spread. The atmosphere was starting to get worse and worse.
"Darn it! Why is this happening! The others are starting to question what we are doing."
"And for this to happen when we managed to get rid of that foolish queen! Is this her doing?"
"We don’t have a choice now. Tell that Kristain Han that we will take his offer. We will declare the war that he wants. But in exchange, he must find out who is causing this mess and stop them."
And just like that, the fuse of the war had been lit.

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