Chapter 120: The Longest 15 Minutes (5)

ΟΟΟ

“……This is definitely not a pleasant sight to see.”

My tongue moved on its own. My mind was still in shock, but my tongue wasn’t raised to be docile and do nothing in these sorts of situations.

“I am uncertain, but it seems that man was a slave merchant. A man who captures others and sells them. Being kind to such an individual would instead be alienating the people. It is surprising to see the saintess, who acts for the people, side with a slave merchant.”

That’s right. Good job, my tongue!

It’d be foolish to question the authenticity of that video. I’m not sure what sort of method she used to link a fake name like Lolita to me, but the fact that she’s coming forward with it so boldly must mean she has a method to verify this……. Wait.

How’d she know Lolita was me?

I was thorough when it came to using my fake name. I did reveal my actual name to Laura, but I never mentioned that I was Dantalian to Jack. But how……? She knew it was me simply because we looked the same? That was impossible. I was basically an unknown Demon Lord with nothing to my name. There’s no way she could’ve looked into this. And yet, how did she…….

…….

Paimon.

‘So it was you?’

My mind was able to escape from a state of paralysis. The bolts in my head began to turn faster than ever before. That’s right, Lapis told me earlier that Paimon had been gathering information on me.

Jack Aland. His father was definitely a wealthy figure within the Kingdom of Sardinia. He was most likely using his resources to figure out what sort of person Lolita was.

Paimon and Jack’s father, they used their respective resources to gather information on me……which led to their information line coming in contact. Is this what happened?

Paimon believes that I had spread the Black Death. She must have found out that I had disguised myself as a herbalist. I had used the black herbs as bait to appease groups like the mercenary guild and cause a fire throughout the city……. From Paimon’s perspective, she must have seen me as some guy who was acting recklessly with his black herbs after causing the Black Death. What a fool!

“Of course, the fact that you cruelly tortured a young man is also important, but there is a bigger issue. It is the fact that you are the culprit behind the Black Death.”

“Ha.”

Fine. With this attack of yours, I now understand what you’re trying to do, Saintess Gracia.

She intends to blame the Black Death on me after displaying to the world how cruel of a Demon Lord I am. Do you also intend to use the proof that Paimon had gathered until now? Damn, how great. This is quite the one, two combo.

No. Nothing good would come from allowing her to talk about the Black Death for a long period of time. The truth doesn’t matter to the public!

Simply being put under suspicion about causing the Black Death is enough to put me at a disadvantage. The people are the ones who have suffered the most because of the Black Death. If I end up receiving their ire……. I have to deny that video…….

But how?

‘Let’s say that it was fabricated.’

No, I can’t. What would happen if I requested for the artifact to be verified? I’m completely ignorant when it comes to magic. There might be some sort of magical procedure to verify whether the artifact is real or fake. No, there definitely is. She wouldn’t be this confident if there wasn’t. If I attack her sloppily and receive a counterattack instead, then I would truly lose my standing.

‘I could back out and say that wasn’t me.’

I could claim that the person in the video isn’t me but someone pretending to be me. Polymorphing exists in this world. It should be more than possible for someone to pretend to be me. Even if there is a spell that can verify the authenticity of the artifact, there shouldn’t be a spell that can discern whether the individual in the video is real or fake.

‘No, that won’t work!’

I’d be making a grand accusation of saying that the human army had resorted to using a polymorph spell to frame me of all people. They aimed specifically for me when they couldn’t have known that I would come out as the representative speaker?

Paimon definitely leaked this information to the human army. However, there is no way for me to prove this here! The reasoning would be farfetched. It’d be forced reasoning even if I know the truth……. Damn it, how could such an irrational situation occur!?

“We know that you, Dantalian, were the first to discover the curative properties of the black herbs. According to this ledger…….”

While I was busy maintaining my calm demeanor on the outside but thinking desperately for an idea on the inside, Saintess Gracia continued all on her own.

Everything she brought up was stuff that I expected. She mentioned the Keuncuska Firm and other obvious points.

Hah. Paimon is a longtime customer of the Keuncuska Firm. She must have connections inside the firm. With those connections, she got her hands on things like ledgers and handed them over to the humans……. That woman is seriously resolved to……no. Let’s think about Paimon later. I don’t have enough mindpower at the moment to worry about her as well.

‘Let’s say that ledger is fake.’

No, it’d be the same as before! The name Dantalian is clearly handwritten on the ledger that is currently being magically displayed. The ledger was about the black herb farm that I had contracted the Keuncuska Firm to make. It’d be impossible to forge a document of this degree shortly after the start of my speech.

If I claim that it was forged, then……’We did not know that you were going to be the representative, but are you saying that we went through this much effort simply to frame you, a Rank 71 Demon Lord?’. Is there a way to insist anyway? I could say that it was forged by magic……. No, wouldn’t they also have a way to confirm whether the documents were created by magic?

What should I do?

It’d be easy to keep denying the matter regarding the Black Death. I could be stubborn and say that they had forged all of this evidence and that these accusations were ridiculous, but how would the people react after seeing all of this evidence? Would they believe me? Me, the person whom they had watched only a moment ago brutally torture Jack Aland?

Or would they believe the saintess?

The answer is obvious. They would naturally trust the saintess’ words! Damn it, Jack Aland!

“You created the Black Death. The fact that you knew about the cure before the disease had started to spread and the fact that you even went as far as to commission herbalist guilds to gather the cure beforehand make this clear-cut. If you are not the culprit behind the Black Death, then how did you know what the cure would be for a disease that did not exist yet?”

“…….”

“You created this disease and used it to make personal gains. Even now, the people of the continent are dying because of the Black Death……. You sacrificed the continent for the sake of your own personal gains!” 

I have to end this topic as soon as possible.

……All right. I’ll go on a personal attack again. I’ll reveal Saintess Gracia’s dark secrets in full detail and use the opportunity provided by her shock to cover this matter up. Doubt towards me will unfortunately remain, but I can still turn this situation around…….

It was at that moment.

“What an absurd accusation to make.”

Someone approached my side. It was the culprit behind this mess, Paimon.

“You…….”

I nearly cursed at her out loud. Don’t tell me she’s planning to use this chance to corner me and side with the saintess. It would truly be the end of me if she does!

The impact created by a Demon Lord pegging another Demon Lord as the culprit would unquestionably be massive. However, if you do this, Paimon, you’ll forever become the Plains Faction’s enemy……. Do you intend to corner me while bearing this risk?

That would be foolish, Paimon! Think about the Mountain Faction’s future! You’re the leader of the biggest faction within the Demon Lord army! Even if you bear a grudge towards me for ruining your plans, if you destroy your great faction because of some personal emotions, then you would go beyond being a foolish ruler and become an incompetent ruler. Please think rationally!

It was unknown whether Paimon noticed my gaze or not as she spoke.

“Everything you have brought forward was fabricated.”

The words that came out of her mouth were completely unexpected.

Even the saintess was surprised as her eyes opened wide. I was the same. According to the circumstances, I was certain that Paimon and the saintess had made a secret agreement. Paimon would provide the documents and make me the representative speaker while the saintess would use the prepared documents to bury me. Was this not it?

“……Fabricated? Are you saying that all of this evidence was fabricated?”

“Yes. Everything. It does not make sense if you think about it rationally as well. How could a single person create a plague that could shatter the entire continent?”

Paimon chuckled.

“Furthermore, Dantalian here is a Rank 71 Demon Lord. He is the weakest among us Demon Lords. If someone like him were able to create a disease as disastrous as the Black Death by himself, then the continent would have fallen into our hands a long time ago. I am Rank 9 Demon Lord Paimon. I declare here and now that Dantalian does not possess such an ability.”

“…….”

Saintess Gracia glared at Paimon. This isn’t as you promised. That was what her eyes were saying.

Paimon was simply smiling confidently. I couldn’t grasp what was going through Paimon’s mind. It felt like she was covering for me, but there was a high chance that this could be a ruse. We’re enemies, after all.

The saintess spoke.

“……A Demon Lord is supporting a Demon Lord. There is no reason for us to believe in your words. In the first place, you claimed that these are fake, but how could they be?”

“First things first, the video of Dantalian torturing a human is fake. Do you have any proof that the person in the video is truly Dantalian?”

The saintess snorted.

“Their voices and appearances are the same. There is no room for doubt.”

“A polymorph spell was most likely used. There is a spell that allows you to disguise yourself perfectly as another person. As a 7 Circle elementalist, I, too, am capable of this.”

Paimon lightly waved her hand. Once she recited a spell that was about 3 sentences long, a red light surrounded her. Once the light was gone, Saintess Gracia was standing where Paimon once was.

“Like this, it is possible to completely copy another person’s image.”

Paimon smiled with Gracia’s face. She waved her hand once more to lift her spell.

“There are many mages in the human world who are capable of this as well. Would you like to hear my theory? You people utilized a mage and prepared an actor and disguised him with Dantalian’s face. You then went to a forest and put on a performance. This is the truth.”

“Then that would mean we must have known you would make Dantalian your representative speaker a long time ago!”

Saintess Gracia shouted.

“Do you intend to declare that finding actors, preparing this spell, and recording this―that this entire process is something that can be done within a short period of time!? It has not even been an hour since that man has revealed himself. Did we prepare all of these ledgers, this magic artifact, and documents in only an hour?”

She jeered.

“You Demon Lords really impress me. I understand very well how unreasonable Demon Lords are.”

The exact arguments I had predicted came out. That’s right. This wouldn’t make sense.

I can’t acknowledge her evidence as the truth. This is obvious. However, I can’t refute the evidence as being fake either. The evidence they have is much too elaborate and sizable to claim that they could have created it all on the spot.

It was a dead end. It couldn’t be denied or accepted. We could only force our justification forward. I’m not sure why Paimon is trying to help me now, but it would be incredibly difficult to defeat Gracia’s logic.

I turned to look at Paimon. What do you intend to do? This is the trap that you dug. Don’t expect me to weep in tears and thank you even if you decide to help me now.

……Oh, is that it? Does she plan to evade suspicion by pretending to help me here? What a ridiculous plan. Do you think Barbatos and I would forgive you? How foolish.

Paimon slowly opened her mouth.

“I do not know what you are talking about, but you naturally started to fabricate all of this a long time ago.”

“Hah. Do you think we have the ability to predict the future? Are you saying that we predicted that Dantalian would come out as the representative of the Demon Lord army? How laughable.”

“Of course, you do not possess the ability to predict the future.”

Paimon smiled.

“But you did know beforehand that Dantalian would come out as the representative speaker. This is because I, Rank 9 Paimon, gave you this information in secret.”

My mouth fell open.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Hm, I really am curious to see how this turn of events will influence this war. The war in the LN didn’t even get to start properly cause they promptly retreated. In any case, I mentioned this in a Patreon post, but I will most likely do a character poll at the end of this section. Although I still haven’t decided whether I’ll do it when the Patreon chapters finish this segment or when the chapters here reach the end of the segment. There might be some big moments at the end of this segment that could influence who you vote for, after all. We’ll have to wait and see.

On another note, it’s Lunar New Years so the next release will take a bit. I have to visit relatives and do family stuff.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.