Chapter 20 - Volume 3 (2/2)

Ο

—……

Ο

The soldiers all held their breaths. They did not dare meet the commander’s gaze.

People would fear the general who had mercilessly slaughtered the hunting dogs which she had raised so preciously, they would fear the silent general whose face was expressionless during the entire slaughter, and they would also fear the fact that that sort of general was merely a 16-year-old girl. They would especially dread the intentions behind the general who had gone out of her way to slaughter her pets, which she had treated with care, on the day the army was departing. While glancing at the decapitated heads of the dogs rolling around, the captains rubbed their own necks.

Laura De Farnese spoke.

“Advance.”

The troops obeyed.

Ο

♦

Ο

Farnese turned the dead hunting dogs into dried meat. It was a week’s distance from here to the location where the other Demon Lords planned to gather their armies. For one week, Farnese chewed on the jerky made of dog meat and drove away soldiers with her gaze.

On one of the days, a river was not entirely frozen so we had set up camp at a ferry service to rest. There was a small village located next to the ferry service. I issued a military command and forbade them from pillaging.

Around the afternoon, three soldiers were caught. They were criminals that had surreptitiously trespassed onto private property to steal from and rape the women and children. At the time I had heard the report, I was enjoying tea in a back room with Farnese and Lapis on both my sides. The tea warmed my insides. Lowering my teacup, I gazed at Farnese.

“Since you are the general, you decide the punishment.”

“I wish to execute them.”

“Execution, huh?”

After taking a slight glance at Lapis, I turned back to Farnese.

“Is execution not excessive?”

“They are people who have disobeyed the military command. Additionally, they are also the first offenders. This punishment will decide how retribution will be carried out within the army from now on. This young lady wishes to handle this with severity.”

Lapis broke into the conversation and asked quietly.

“What method of execution will you carry out?”

“In order to establish an upright regulation within the military, their heads must be severed and put on display. This young lady shall behead them.”

Lapis asked again.

“How?”

“……”

“I asked how you planned to do it, miss.”

“What do you mean by how? Is it not over once their heads are on display?”

“How pathetic.”

Farnese’s shoulders twitched because of Lapis’ admonishing words. After the day Lapis had vowed that she would become the mother, she frequently scolded and affronted Farnese ever since. Lapis purposely behaved cruelly like Farnese’s biological father, who had trampled on her childhood, had done. Farnese had trouble dealing with the Lapis who behaved like this.

“The people are like weeds. They will stand back up no matter how many times they are trampled. Among those weeds, hired soldiers are the most tenacious. The soldiers will not lower themselves just because the heads of three rapists have been cut off. However, that is if you do not certainly implant fear into them beforehand.”

“Then what does this young lady……”

“Think of that on your own. Is the object attached to the miss’ shoulders not a head but a tin bucket? Why are you unable to think on your own and coming to me for help?”

“……”

“If you are truly the general, then there is no need to confide in me or his highness. Previously, you relied on his highness in order to buy the soldiers’ fears, and you are now trying to purchase the soldiers’ dread by confiding in me. You will one day have to repay the debt that you have borrowed from his highness and myself, and the name of that price will be nothing less than your incompetence. If one were to count the number of times you had borrowed the hands of others from here and there, then the amount of competence which you lack will surely be immense. Miss, I do not wish for the misfortune of the debt you had piled up due to your own lack of skill, being repaid by his highness instead.”

Farnese became silent.

I did not get in between these two. If I were to interfere now, then Lapis would be ashamed and Farnese would feel humiliated. In order to allow my two vassals to exchange with one another and, in their own way, establish a distance, I stayed silent.

After contemplating for a long period of time, Farnese muttered.

“This young lady will personally take the sword and cut down the criminals to……”

Slap

Farnese lowered her head.

The cheek which was hit had become red.

Lapis spoke.

“Answer again.”

“……I do not know. Miss Lazuli. This young lady does not have the faintest idea.”

Lapis struck the other party’s cheek with more power than before. Farnese cowered. She became miserable like a crinkled wrap of aluminum.

“You did not know from the very beginning. Despite that, you made up a response and hoped that it would coincidentally be the answer. If you were to confess from the start that you did not know, then you would not have been hit, and if you were to have maintained the attitude of trying to figure out the answer until the very end, then the occasion of you being hit would have been non-existent during this time as well. Your dishonesty represents your petty self-pride and your lack of effort represents your incompetence. With what face is a person who is both petty and incompetent sitting here comfortably? Leave immediately.”

Farnese was chased out of the room.

In the room where only Lapis and I remained, it became silent.

“……”

“……”

We poured each other tea. We observed the sight of milky-white steam rising up from our teacups.

Even if more tea were to pile on top of itself, the tea remained transparent and did not become cloudy. Tea with a slight tint of color was more transparent than plain water with absolutely no color. Transparency was obvious in something that started off with no color, but for something to have color and be transparent enough to see the bottom of at the same time, was both clean and divine. We desired to educate Farnese like this tea. Lapis and I did not consider the act of turning Farnese into plain water or leaving her as so, as education. We regarded the process of cutting, grinding, brewing the tea leaves, and then finally pouring the brew into the teacup, to be education. If I bestowed color to our daughter and Lapis brewed her, then Farnese would naturally bear a fragrance and emit it on her own. It was an artificiality that processed nature, and it was an artificiality that uncovered nature as well. We did not treat someone who had their thirst for authority castrated and tossed away as an adult, and we did not respect a child who did not know how to handle their authority. We were cold people.

After raising the cup before me and placing it on my lips, the tea was already cool. While drinking that cold tea, the two of us spoke to one another in a low voice.

“How would your highness have dealt with the rapists?”

“Mm. The main point of this issue is providing the fear of punishment to the soldiers. The more distinct the punishment is will make it stronger, and the more obscure the dread is will make it more powerful. It must be clear-cut on one side while giving a feeling of uncertainty on the other. That is the best solution.”

Lapis nodded.

“A logical response.”

“If it were me, then I would have castrated the genitals of the criminals and pierced a hole in the spot where their genitals once were. After that, I would bring an untamed orc or goblin and make them violate that hole. With this, the point becomes clear that rapists will receive rape in return, and the soldiers will feel fear by the aspect of a hole being created by force and having said hole be violated. Therefore, the troops will feel the dread of penalty all the way to the inside of their skulls.”

Lapis nodded her head once more.

“That is remarkable. Except, it would be more outstanding if you were to also carve their eyes out and insert their testicles into those empty sockets. That way, you could include the metaphor which warns them to not commit a crime while blinded by lust.”

“A splendid idea.”

It was my turn to nod this time.

“Since the metaphor envelops the distinctiveness and obscurity, the penalty will be even more apparent. Furthermore, you won’t be throwing away the severed testicles, and will be recycling them instead, so that makes it more beautiful.”

It was a tacit understanding. The two of us had no reason to not love each other. I understood that the term ‘a match made in heaven’ was not an exaggeration after having met Lapis.

“With how much points does your highness assume the miss will solve this task?”

“I wonder. I feel like she will narrowly fill 30 points.”

“Your highness is generous. This one is predicting 20 points. This one still does not understand why your highness has such a favorable opinion of the miss. Whether she truly does have talent or not, this one is unable to judge it as so.”

“She does indeed have an ignorant side to her……”

I smiled bitterly.

Regardless, our assessment was purely limited to the domain of politics. The realm of tactics was something entirely different. Our aptitude for the art of war was either completely non-existent or incredibly minimal. Even Lapis should have slightly realized by now that Farnese was a genius in regards to tactics.

“A terrifying monster lives over the mountains and in the land of humans. Farnese is the sword to defeat that monster.”

“……Puzzles are not this one’s specialty. A monster? Just what kind of person is he for your highness to refer to him as a monster?”

“No.”

I gulped down the rest of my tea.

“That is incorrect. It is a she.”

The ringleader to exterminate the Demon Lords within 30 years.

In this world lied a girl who would hire a humble sword wielding farmer from a slash-and-burn village, and then proceed to send that villager out as the vanguard of war with the title of ‘hero’. In this world lied a girl who would crush enemies who persisted, dust away enemies who yielded, and pull back enemies who fled and tossed them aside. If there was a cruel person who did not change one’s manners after killing nobles or feel sympathy after slaughtering their own subjects, then there was also an empress who would annihilate all of the Demon Lords and establish a united empire.

Therefore.

Ο

— Do you know how this world ends?

Ο

As the result of all the Demon Lords disappearing, all magical energy in the world will lose its current and cause it to overflow, until finally, it results in the collapse of the world. The mastermind to be the first person to open the doors to a unified continent while also being the first person to destroy the world at the same time, was currently living in this world as a young imperial princess.

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth A. E. von Habsburg.

In order to face her, Farnese was essential. If the imperial princess possessed the sword known as the hero, then I possessed the blade known as Farnese. I carefully savored the taste of the tea in my mouth.

Grow quickly, Farnese.

Hurry and mature, oh Farnese.

We are living in order to not die.

Ο

♦

Ο

One hour later, the execution was carried out.

Farnese had made a hole in the ice on top of the river. The three culprits were dropped into that hole. However, they were not submerged completely but only to the point where the water reached their chins. The miss ordered the witches to refreeze the river. The offenders’ bodies were then completely trapped in the ice water with only their heads sticking out. Farnese bent her back and met their gaze.

“They say that an old monster lurks in this river. Do well to endure.”

The faces of the culprits became deathly pale.

The fiends living in the water swam towards the men. The shadows of beasts stirring underneath the platform of ice could be seen.

The offenders screamed and flailed, and at the same time of their rigorous movement, the monsters rushed at their lower bodies and began tearing it apart.

Ο

— Please spare us!

— We apologize, oh great general! I plead you!

Ο

Little by little.

Underneath the ice water, the beasts ate away at the men’s flesh a small portion at a time. The monsters ripped the feet of the criminals with their teeth, tore the flesh on their waist, and gnawed away at their lungs. As time passed, the screaming weakened. A stillness fell over the surrounding. The thousands of soldiers who were watching the execution were silent. Only the heads of the criminals remained above the ice, while below the platform of ice, a crimson color spread out and dyed the water.

Farnese glanced down at the sight of blood spreading below her feet.

She then lifted up the heads of the culprits. Since their bodies were already completely torn apart from their heads, their heads came off from the ice with ease. Farnese examined the faces which were frozen in a pained expression and muttered like a judge who was grading the work of a 3rd rate painter.

“This is not appealing. The shape of their heads is unsatisfying.”

Farnese tossed the heads to the captains.

“Hang them up.”

The heads of the criminals were impaled onto rods and put on display in the center of the village. The word ‘Rapists’ was carved into their faces with a knife. Blood trailed down the blade mark. In the middle of that night, the cold became so severe that the blood drops froze.

The next day, the soldiers put the severed heads behind them and crossed over the sheet of ice. While stepping over the ice, the soldiers frequently glanced down below their feet. It seemed the thought of the decapitated heads was still being harbored in their minds respectively. After that day, there were no more soldiers who went against the military order.

Unbeknownst to the troops, Lapis and I made an assessment.

“See? 30 points.”

“It appears like 20 points to this one.”

Farnese only chose one option in the fear of penalty. There was no preciseness in the punishment and only obscure dread was filled to the brim. Since it was only filled with ambiguity, punishment had no form, and without a form, it was unable to exist by itself.

Farnese’s punishment could not reach as far as punitive measures. Now, the officers would only fear the Farnese who had enacted punishment. Like a child who was afraid of their parents. Whether it be a person of authority trying to manage politics with fear, or a parent attempting to break in their child with dread, these were common mistakes committed by people. It was not a surprise that a horrible parent was also a terrible person of authority. I scoffed at the individuals who tried to properly run a country when they were unable to manage their own household early on despite using the method of Confucius and Mencius.

Lapis let out a sigh.

“Your highness, this one is frustrated. At this rate, she will be unable to grasp a single thing even if 5 years were to pass.”

“What do you suggest?”

“This one shall remodel her from the root. If the miss is unable to grasp logic herself, then should we not inject reason into her ourselves?”

Lapis’ eyes were glowing coldly.

—Rote learning was born here in this moment.

Lapis educated Farnese more strongly.

In an area out the sight of the soldiers, Lapis hit and trained Farnese. Lapis did not have the tendency of complimenting the other party. Without any praise, she taught Farnese how to not lower her head, how to not stutter her words, how to not dishevel her facial expressions, how to not slouch her back, and how to not ruin her gait. Lapis spoke quietly.

“Look straight. Speak straight. Walk straight.”

Farnese learned while being hit. After being beaten for 4 days, was when Farnese was barely able to prepare a single speech. Lapis had also taught her how to properly angle her gaze, where to direct her stride, and where to stress her words. Finally, while in front of the gaze of the soldiers, Farnese gave a speech.

Ο

— Conserve your courage. Do not try to charge in courageously whenever possible. Conserve your mercy. Do not try to bestow mercy to others whenever you desire. Conserve your lust. Do not try to grab and rape a broad or lad whenever you crave it. The courage you have when fighting alongside your colleagues is not bravery. The mercy you hand to our enemies is not benevolence. The lust you release to your companion is not craving. This major general despises soldiers who act courageously when they should not, show mercy when they should not, and rape when they should not.

— This general desires for the courage of you gentlemen to be used solely for taking the necks of the enemy, for your mercy to be used solely for forgiving your colleagues, and for your lust to be used solely for taking the families of the enemy. Hold your courage, save your mercy, conserve your lust, and devote your terror and dread to this general. In return, you shall all receive the terror and dread from every foe in the world as tribute.

Ο

The soldiers cheered.

Only the soldiers cheered.

After the speech was over, Lapis gave an evaluation.

“30 points. Put in the effort to be able to improvise that level of speech from now on.”

“……”

Farnese turned to look at me. Her face was still emotionless, and yet, for some reason, a desire for redemption could be felt from her eyes.

“Lord……”

I smiled brightly.

“10 points. It was a pathetic speech. Be hit more.”

“Even your lordshiiip……”

Farnese fell to her knees on top of the snow.

Farnese was most likely unaware of the fact that in the areas where she was not, Lapis and I discussed the miss’ education methods throughout the night.

We are a bit of an excessive couple, my daughter.

Be it for a good reason or bad, Farnese was experiencing growth befitting the general of a Demon Lord.

The soldiers following Farnese were completely becoming the Demon Lord’s army.

Miss Farnese reigned over the military as the general, I took care of the army as the monarch, and Lapis supported the military camps as the adviser. Miss Farnese led the soldiers with terror at the front, I held the soldiers together with benevolence at the center, and Lapis put the soldiers at ease with thoroughness at the back, that was our state of affairs. There was no gap between the three of us. We gained merit from each other respectively and interlocked firmly like the characters 凹凸. Strategy–Personnel Administration–Logistic Command breathed together as one body.

Among these, if we were to talk about Lapis, who was handling the logistic command, she was mostly following at the very rear of our march while leading the material supplies. At the back of our army, there were not only wagons, but peddlers, panders, and prostitutes crawling around. It was Lapis’ duty to supervise and manage the rights of these people.

She was heartless.

The lover who was cold-blooded to me and cruel to Farnese was what kind of person Lapis Lazuli was. There was no chance that that kind of Lapis would take care of the peddlers generously.

By the time Farnese had executed 2 soldiers, Lapis had already beheaded 20 peddlers. Lapis did not forgive the people who disturbed the trading area. She gruesomely punished anyone who committed the conduct of scamming the soldiers. Lapis determined the severity of the punishment by the crime committed, and carried out the punitive action on the same day the verdict was decided.

Lapis’ ruling was always short.

“Slit your throat.”

“Sever your limbs.”

“Cut open your stomach and display your internal organs.”

“Be buried.”

The verdicts were easy to understand and had no room for misinterpretation.

The horrifying truth was that the method of punishment was solely execution.

Execution by beheading was somewhat on the merciful side. The breaking wheel was the second best option after beheading. The slightest bit of one’s dignity was at least preserved up to this point.

You could at least look at the corpse and say, ‘So this guy was a goblin’, or, ‘So that guy was an orc’, by identifying the shape of their body.

However, whether it be skinning alive the procurers who treated their prostitutes like slaves and stole their pay, or ripping out the internal organs of peddlers like a bunch of noodles for unfairly gaining profit from soldiers who were lacking in the head, there was no dignity here whatsoever. There were only blood red entrails.

Lapis was cold-hearted.

If there was a single mistake on the directory then someone would, without a doubt, die on that day. Even if the numbers matched the list, as a person whose previous job was a merchant, she noticed the deception and made certain to kill the one responsible. It was impossible to fool Lapis who used to be a peasant that had risen up to be an executive in the Keuncuska Firm.

Since the soldiers at the front were afraid of General Farnese, and the suppliers at the back were terrified of Lapis’ punishments, both the front and rear of our forces were tranquil.

The voices of people disregarding Miss Farnese by claiming that she was a human harlot, disappeared. And the scornful words which spoke ill of Lapis by calling her a vulgar half-breed peasant had also vanished.

All I had to do was stay idle.

Even if I messed around, the march of my army progressed with no issue.

While our journey went on for a week, the captains uttered in surprise that it was the first time in their lives to experience such an easy march. Normally, an army would lose energy the further they went and their aim would weaken, but his highness’ army gathered strength the more we walked and our goal became clearer, so they were able to understand what the term Royal Grace truly meant because of this, was what the captains stated.

I, who was actually comfortably doing nothing, nodded my head in response. All I had to do was give their wages on time, occasionally punish the ones who embezzled the money, and the soldiers would cry out, ‘Hooray for his highness Demon Lord!’, on their own. Farnese and Lapis were the ones’ doing the hard work, but I had the monopoly of all the praises.

Referentially, this is the method of winning in life.

Bonjour—.

And like that, a week past.

An open field was spread out before us.

With a ‘clang, clang’, the sound of a frozen brook being broken resonated. Soldiers were holding tools and pounding on the ice. Past the men, a countless amount of tents were lined up.

The stream flowed for a distance before our vision of it was blocked by tents. It continued flowing while in its hidden state and came out in a whimsical place somewhere else to continue flowing. At every spot the brook came out, 10 goblins were attached and were smashing away at the ice. This scenery extended out all the way to the horizon.

Farnese examined the horizon with her eyes.

“Approximately a massive army of 60,000……”

The dark blue skin of orcs, the green wrinkled skin of goblins, and the sturdy gray skin of trolls crowded the military encampment. It was swarming with color. All kinds of miscellaneous things were mixed together and squirming around like an ant’s nest. Those fellows had set up their own world over there.

It was a world that I didn’t really want to squeeze into. I wished to decline politely. I was a bit too young to accept something that was being crowded, being swarmed, and squirming as beautiful.

“Would it truly be 60,000? Those goblins over there are not wearing clothes so they are most likely servants and not troops. This is worrying……”

“What are you concerned about, lord?”

“Since they have freely mixed the soldiers who fight with the servants who aid, there is no possibility that their military discipline will be stern. I fear that the number of soldiers may appear many, but that, in truth, their worth does not match their quantity.”

While staring at the lineup of the Demon Lord Allied Forces, which had gathered here to suppress the humans, Farnese spoke. It seemed she was overwhelmed by the number of tents covering the field.

“But is it still not a grand spectacle?”

“Quite.”

I nodded.

“This magnificent view is indeed grand.”

Ο

2nd month and 12th day.

We arrived at the promised field.

Ο

Ο

Ο

TL Note: I swear if someone says they’re dropping the series cause of the dog scene.

Anyway, I should clear something up that isn’t distinctly explained. Some people might think that the dog killing wouldn’t possibly have that much of an impact on the troops because of how quick it was, but if you pay attention to the time frame, Laura was in possession of the dogs for about a full month. The Walpurgis Night from the previous chapter ended on Dec 7th. If this chapter started right after that was over, then Laura got rid of the irraionality in the troops by Jan 7th, 30 days after. She then went into obtaining fear, which was getting the dogs, and the dispatch day was Feb 5th, 7 days before they arrived at the field. So in my opinion, 1 month seems like a decent amount of time. But that could just be me. And besides, you can just be optimistic if you want, and say those dogs were really old, so they were going to be put down soon anyway. That way, it’d mean that Farnese gave them a cause before they met their fate. What a kind girl… (Dantalian will most likely laugh at this optimism)

Before ending this TL note, here’s a note for some of the readers who seem to always be confused. Don’t skim Dungeon Defense. A lot of the things that people ask or criticize the story about is answered if you read the story properly. So yeah. Stop rushing through.