Sorry for the delay, I will post all the bonuses tomorrow.
"Relax. You and your Eagle Mercenaries will be safe. The previous journey has also benefited my naive student, thanks to your company. As a token of appreciation, you are free to leave,"
Reji has no mercy for those who are part of his plans, such as the thugs from the Five Flowers Alliance and those nobles who hindered his control over Ilinor and are indeed rotten to the core.
However, for those unrelated, Reji still tries to resolve things in a "peaceful" manner.
Like now.
Hearing Reji's promise, the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group finally felt their hearts, which had been in their throats, settle down. Several adventurers were even on the verge of kneeling to thank Reji for his mercy.
Especially since the previous scene, where the elite of the Five Flowers Alliance were neatly slaughtered by those blade-tipped demons following behind Reji, was still vividly in their minds.
When those bloodthirsty Sword Demons submitted to Reji, the impact of that image on the Eagle adventurers was no less shocking than what Vielsia felt.
Especially since they had previously seen Reji as a savior, a hero of their own camp.
But then, this sudden reversal, from a savior to a behind-the-scenes mastermind.
Becoming the leader of the demons?
In the eyes of the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group, Reji was now completely unfathomable, and many adventurers even suspected that Reji was some kind of monster, just wearing human skin.
Thinking about this, they felt even more horrified.
"Teacher, Eagle Mercinary will always remember your kindness. Regarding tonight's events, we will not reveal anything. We just happened to escape, and we know nothing else, saw nothing else."
Other members of Eagle might be scared or nervous, but Sea Tiger as their leader, couldn't afford to be. Despite his fear and nervousness, he had to step forward and speak with Reji as their representative.
Sea Tiger knew the vast difference in power between their two groups, so he refrained from saying things like, "If you need help in the future, Eagle mercinary will fully support you."
Instead, Sea Tiger was very clever and tactful. He understood the sensitivity of Reji's identity. From the previous conversation between Reji and Vielsia, even that female student was kept in the dark, showing that Reji had no intention of flaunting his identity as the demon leader.
Sea Tiger understood the principle of being guilty by possessing a treasure.
Now that they knew Reji's identity, this secret was too hot to handle, capable of dragging them into an abyss from which they could never recover. Sea Tiger initially thought that they were done for and that the other party would not let them go.
But Reji did let them go. Sea Tiger immediately made his stance clear, and he was completely sincere. Even if Reji did not pursue them, should any member dare to betray them in the future, Sea Tiger would be the first to eliminate the betrayer.
Knowing that this was not a place to stay for long, perhaps fearing that Reji would change his mind, he immediately called his adventurers to leave quickly.
But they hadn't gone far when,
"Oh, right, wait a moment."
Reji called them to stop.
Just this sentence made all the adventurers panic again, including Sea Tiger. Fortunately, what Reji did next relieved them and even brought surprise.
Reji took out a copper badge from his chest pocket and then handed it to a Sword Demon nearby, asking the Sword Demon to deliver it.
The Sword Demon crossed its arms because it had no hands, so it used the intersection of its blade edges to respectfully hold the "copper badge," then followed Reji's command to approach Sea Tiger.
"Th-thank you."
Reji looked at the little princess by his side who showed no intention of moving.
Hearing this, the people of Eagle mercinary also stopped, as if waiting for the little princess to join them.
But then,
"No! Teacher, I, I want to stay by your side!"
Sophia made up her mind on the spot, shaking her head incessantly, and even glared at the group of adventurers not far away with her eyes, as if to urge these adventurers to hurry up and leave, not to hinder her opportunity.
The little princess's demeanor made it clear to everyone that she saw this as an adventure, a chance to show her loyalty to Reji, even giving him affectionate glances, as if offering herself to him.
Indeed, whether it was her previous plot with the Five Flowers Alliance to stage a coup, or her desire to marry the imperial envoy and bear the bloodline of the empire, it was all because she didn't want to work hard herself and wanted to rely on a stronger person to gain a higher status.
Now, with Reji revealing his identity as the "Demon King," Sophia, although not knowing what demons are, views them similarly to the undead summoned by the Five Flowers Alliance in her eyes.
Thus, she automatically sees Reji as a prince of some powerful country, exactly the kind of high-ranking individual she has always dreamed of.
What a stroke of luck!
Especially after that naive and foolish country girl chose to run away.
Sophia could hardly contain her laughter.
If I had been in Vielsia's shoes and learned that my teacher was the mastermind behind everything, even if he was the leader of an evil force, I would have been overjoyed. Evil? So what? I could become evil too. Compared to the power and authority that came with it, righteousness and evil were unimportant!
Seeing that the little princess insisted on following him, Reji didn't say anything more. He had always respected other people's choices and destinies.
In fact, if he were the righteous protagonist of the order and goodness, someone like Sophia, who clung to the protagonist's leg no matter what, would be quite clever and wise. It was like in novels, where the protagonist's team members never ended up too badly.
'Unfortunately... I don't like her personality...'
Reji shook his head.
"Pierre, how is the situation in the palace?" he asked the Sword Demon Apostle.
"Your majesty, the situation in the palace has been taken care of by Eileen. The human king of Ilinor has been controlled, and according to Leo's plan, we have kept about thirty percent of the nobles as prisoners."
"Good, let's go back and see that king." Reji didn't like bloodshed, which was one of the reasons he had temporarily left the palace. He would go back to take stock of his gains after everything was over.
"As you command, Your majesty."
Seeing Reji in action, Sophia followed closely behind him. Now, she was excited at the thought of seeing her father and the captured nobles.
She clearly considered herself a member of Reji's team, which was why she had this winner's attitude.
Except for...
Eileen?
It sounded like a woman's name.
A competitor.
Sophia made a mental note to investigate her thoroughly later and figure out how to squeeze her out of Reji's side, just like she had done with Vielsia!