It appeared that Schwarzertoyel did not even feel any threat to his life from the group of undead that I brought back. He simply said that they were just a foolish boldness….
“No, I did not know that it would turn out this way either. My life is at the stake, should I not bring out all the secrets.”
Schwarzertoyel could not hide his surprise at my audacity.
“Huh! Huh! Ridiculous. Alright. Recall what you saw in your prophetic dream. I"ll be the judge of the truth of your memory.”
Schwarzertoyel was believed to have the power of concurrently seeing someone else"s memories as they were recalled. When he placed his hand on my head, I recalled the memories of what I saw in my past.
That was, the scene of the dead withered up Schwarzertoyel and the desolate nest. I even fooled myself that that was the prophetic dream. It was the moment that called for the true acting skill.
“What is this!”
Schwarzertoyel could not hide his shock after seeing my memory. That was how shocking that scene was, perhaps. Looking at the shuddering whiskers, I was sure that it wasn"t a suicide or disguised as being dead.
He did not have any intention to be dead or pretend to be dead. That was because he was shaking after seeing himself dead. I felt sure when I saw that. Even the legendary demon dragon was fearful of dying.
“Know that there is no lying in my memory. It is what I had truly seen.”
“…..Hm. It does not appear to be a touched up memory, you, b.a.s.t.a.r.d, must have truly seen it.”
He fell into a deep thought. Then nonchalantly, he spoke.
“It isn"t that I do not have a theory.”
It was hard to believe, but it seemed that there were some who might have been after Schwarzertoyel"s life. But, why? As this was news to me, I couldn"t help, but be curious.
“Who is it? Who is after your life?”
“You need not know.”
Responding coldly, he was still in his deep thought. Then Schwarzertoyel spoke nonchalantly after a long deliberation.
“Be gone. I"ll let you live. It is the payment for your prophetic dream.”
Although I was at the jaws of the dragon, I barely managed to survive. I was relieved, but I could not back away like this. As I"ve decided to con my way out, just having saved my life was not good enough.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“What"s that? Your audacity sees no limit because I"ve been just hearing you quietly! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
I did not show any fear even at the site of roaring Schwarzertoyel.
“Since you"ve decided to hear me out, would there be any loss in hearing me a bit longer? It is about how to save your life.”
“Hmm….. Alright.”
“First, the best way is to desert this Grossglockner and go into hiding. As everyone in the empire knows about your location, there is no way for you to dodge the calamity.”
Schwarzertoyel shook his head determinedly when he heard my logical proposal.
“Impossible.”
From his demeanor, I was able to guess an important fact. That was that Schwarzertoyel could not desert this mountain due to some reason.
According to the rumors, Schwarzertoyel was protecting something. However, that rumor has not been verified. No one knew the truth.
What was certain, however, was that even at the risk of losing his life Schwarzertoyel would not leave this mountain.
Then what was needed was to propose a fitting solution. The basis of a con job was to propose something that the subject could benefit from.
“Then another way is to strengthen the defense of the mountain. That is, to ascertain sufficient troops and build a large scale defense system. However, there is a problem with that. That is the fact that all the humans and demon tribes will not work on behalf of you.”
“Krrr…..”
Schwarzertoyel cringed as if I"ve touched on a sensitive subject.
“The demon tribes that live in this mountain are only those that have run from the demon kings" rules. As you know, the demon kings do not overlook those demon tribes that have escaped from their control.”
The number of the demon tribes in this mountain was small and so they were just avoiding Schwarzertoyel. If they were to bring in demon tribes to their side in earnest, the demon kings" thoughts might change.
“The human"s side wasn"t appropriate. They do not fear or trust you, the demon dragon. Although it has been many hundreds of years, they still remember how you burned and robbed the human cities. Furthermore, this mountain, although beautiful, is too barren to accommodate large human populations.”
“So, what is it that you want to say?”
“Simple. There is a fitting crowd for you.”
By now, Schwarzertoyel would have understood what I was getting at. As antic.i.p.ated, a look of absurdity came to his face.
“By any chance, are you referring to the undead?”
“Correct. If it was the undead, they would even flourish in this barren land. They would be loyal to you without getting tired. Please think about it. A flourishing, strong city of the undead! If the plains of the Grossglockner were filled with the undead, how would your enemies dare to attack you in the future?”
“Hahahaha!”
Schwarzertoyel broke out into laughter at last.
“Your ideas are absurd. Let"s a.s.sume that a city of the undead takes root here. Do you believe the empire would stay put?”
I shrugged my shoulder to his words.
“What if they have complaints? Do you think that they would come after you?”
At my unbending nonchalant att.i.tude, Schwarzertoyel closed his mouth.
“The empire is having a tough time looking out for its immediate future right now. You may be in the dark on the goings on of the world as you"ve been stuck here, but I am not. I have discrete relationships with powerful feudal lords of the empire, so I am very knowledgeable.”
Schwarzertoyel must truly be in the dark about the goings on in the empire as he could only listen without speaking.
“Currently, the empire is nothing, but a chaotic political stage for the human feudal lords and the demon kings. When they do not even know what will happen in their immediate futures, do you think that they would be concerned with a city of the undead, forming in a remote corner of the country?”
“Hmmm…..”
“Even if they do attack, what would you worry about? As the entire mountain range, itself, is a good place for defending, so setting up fortresses at important spots would be good enough to stop them. You, who are called the demon dragon, certainly have many worries.”
“I see that.”
Having understood that much, Schwarzertoyel asked about how to go about covering the enormous cost of building the fortresses and the city.
“That, too, is not too difficult.”
“You look like you"re from a n.o.ble family, are you a wealthy man?”
“No. I have nothing valuable. However…”
I pointed to the side. There was a mountain of treasures that belonged to Schwarzertoyel.
“There is plenty over there?”
“You, you crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!”
It would just hurt my mouth to explain the obsession for gold on the part of the dragon. So when I proposed to build a city, using that money, Schwarzertoyel couldn"t help hide the absurdity of it from his expression.
“I"ve heard your story! You are an insane b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“Think as you please. However, you must know this. That all your treasures would not be able to protect you!”
“Krrrrrh…..”
Well, once one decided to pull a con job, it was better to do it on a big scale. As a suitable financial supporter appeared, it wouldn"t be a bad idea to build a city of the undead in a grand fashion.
The construction of a grand city has already begun in my head.
Editor: FlawFinder