Dungeon Defense (WN)

Imperial Calendar, Year 1507.

Every scholar in the world was in awe. In both the human world and the demon world.

The war started by the Crescent Alliance last year had now entered a lull period. However, humans and demons all started to engage in internal discourse the moment this lull period arrived. Why were humans and demons all fighting among each other when they should’ve been working together?

‘If either side functioned properly, then the continent would’ve probably been united by now.’

The scholars smirked cynically.

Bloody battles repeated over and over again in Frankia as both the Emperor’s faction and the Empress Dowager’s faction brought in foreign powers, while Habsburg was experiencing a territorial battle as the Plains Faction fought against Agares. In this moment where cooperation and unity were the most important things, these people were pointing their swords at each other…….

Of course, there was an extremely unjust side to this criticism.

Who would order the Emperor of Frankia to ‘sacrifice yourself for the peace of the continent’ when he had all of his authority taken from him by his mother already?

Who would tell Agares to ‘calm down for the sake of the demon world’ when she ended up like a dog chasing a chicken because Barbatos had suddenly taken all of the land for herself?

The situation was like this. Similar to the scholars who sung about the peace of the world by adhering to their own perspectives, Henry the Emperor of Frankia, Henrietta the Queen of Brittany, Demon Lord Barbatos, and Demon Lord Agares━all of these people adhered to their own perspectives as well.

While everyone is busy walking their own path, there are occasionally a minority of individuals who look around them instead of only looking ahead. This leads to them coming to a realization.

“It’s Dantalian.”

Leader Elizabeth spoke.

Elizabeth was reading a leaflet with shaded eyes. Her eyes were filled with exhaustion, but her gaze was still clear.

This was the Republican leader’s office. Only the executives of the government were allowed entry. A table, documents, and a chair. All other elaborate decorations were removed, so the room gave off a cold and empty atmosphere. Elizabeth was seated on the wooden chair.

“Pardon me?”

The female secretary who was seated nearby raised her head once she heard Elizabeth mutter those words. The secretary responded late because she had heard a rather unfamiliar name.

“My apologies, Your Excellency, but this one did not hear what you said.”

“Look at this.”

Elizabeth tossed the leaflet to the secretary. It was a rude gesture that was unlike the republic’s leader. The female secretary was taken aback by this as she clumsily received the leaflet. It was rather thin. How could something like this bother Her Excellency so much?

“This book doesn’t have a title…….”

“It has the name of the author.”

“Jean Bole? This one’s knowledge is short, so this is my first time hearing this name.”

The secretary carefully opened the leaflet. It took her twenty minutes to read all of it. Elizabeth asked her a question once she finished.

“Yuria, what do you think?”

“Yes. I personally think this is a splendid book.”

The secretary gave her honest opinion.

“Would this not be the most appropriate instrument of propaganda for the sake of spreading republicanism? Jean Bole may be a rather anonymous writer, but I believe that our republic has a lot in common with his beliefs.”

“Is that so? So you have failed to notice it.”

A corner of Elizabeth’s lips went up.

This surprised the secretary once more. Her Excellency was someone who heavily refrained from letting any negative emotions seep out. Not only had she tossed the leaflet earlier, but the smirk on Her Excellency’s face did not fit her.

Regardless of whether she noticed her secretary’s panic or not, Elizabeth continued while staring out the window.

“That was written by Demon Lord Dantalian.”

“Your Excellency, are you referring to the ‘Nightmare of Bruno’?”

“……This is my personal guess, but I am most likely correct.”

Her tone was also weaker than usual. Her Excellency would usually always be overflowing with discipline and dignity when in front of others.

“My apologies, Your Excellency, but what proof do you have to be so certain of this?”

“Not a day has gone by where I have forgotten about the ceremonial speeches.”

Elizabeth muttered in a tone that sounded like she was chewing on something painful.

“His tone, the way he moved, and the way he spoke……all of these things have been engraved into me as if I had witnessed them just a short moment ago. Every night Robert appears with Dantalian in my dreams, that Demon Lord…….”

It was more like she was telling herself these things rather than telling her secretary about them. Her complexion gradually grew darker.

“Queen Henrietta sent this leaflet to me. Henrietta probably failed to realize this as well. No, no one has. But he can’t trick me……. Aah. Dantalian. You may have fooled the entire world, but me……you can never fool me. Did you get involved in Frankia’s civil war? Do you hate mankind and wish for them to be destroyed this badly?”

Elizabeth soon began to ramble on by herself.

“There is someone who has falsified Dantalian’s status as a priest. The church……there is a high chance that Dantalian is connected to someone in the church. Or is it Paimon……there is a chance she might’ve acted as a mediator between them. I see. That’s possible……. I can feel him from each and every sentence, word, and even the empty spaces. Robert. At least don’t become like me…….”

“Your Excellency.”

The secretary gave Elizabeth a worried gaze. There was a chance that Her Excellency was behaving like this because of the exhaustion that had piled up due to the sheer amount of work she had to do recently. There was still a lot of work to be done within the New Habsburg Republic.

Elizabeth noticed the secretary’s gaze and quickly raised her head.

“Ah? Sorry. It seems I went too deep in thought.”

“It is okay. This may be presumptuous of me to ask, but are you perhaps tired, Your Excellency?”

“Tired? Me?”

The secretary nodded.

“You have been up for three days straight now. Your life cycle has gotten messed up. You need to stop and return to sleeping early and getting up early.”

“Fine, fine.”

Elizabeth waved her hand. She clearly thought it was bothersome.

“I finally managed to retire my nanny, but it seems that my secretary has become my new nanny and is tormenting me. Yulia, sleeping fitfully has been a norm for me since I was 12 years old. Do you think you’ll be able to fix it now after all this time?”

“Your Excellency is not even 20 years old yet. Your time as a woman has yet to begin.”

“A woman? I’m surprised to hear that a life as a woman has been set aside just for me.”

Elizabeth chuckled.

“If you perhaps have the crazy idea of making me marry someone, then give up on it now. I am already married to this nation.”

“Haa. You were even born as the most beautiful woman in the world, too…….”

The secretary pressed her hand against her forehead. She had a headache. People say that nothing is worse than working for someone who is crazy about their work, and Her Excellency Elizabeth was the perfect example of this.

“There is something I have been curious about for a while now. What sort of man would have to appear for Your Excellency to even consider them as a partner?”

“Mm. A man who can bed me, is it?”

Elizabeth fiddled with her side bang as she spoke.

“At the very least, shouldn’t he be capable of bringing me the heads of every single Demon Lord? I would more than gladly give my virginity to such a capable man.”

“Aren’t you just saying that you’ll never get married!?”

“It’s a joke. Mmm.”

Elizabeth stretched.

“Well, I will most likely enter a political marriage one day. I will more than gladly get married if an adequate partner appears. However, it is too soon to waste my strongest card. I am the supreme commander of a single nation. This value will not diminish even if I were to become 20 or 30 years old.”

“You sure are confident…….”

The secretary who had long passed her age for marriage grumbled a complaint.

“If you think it is unfair, then how about being the supreme commander yourself?”

“My apologies, but I do not want to get executed for treason. Your Excellency, please go rest for a bit.”

Fine fine, Elizabeth uttered as she got up. She was pushed from behind by her secretary into the bed that was prepared in the room next to the office. It really had been three days since she last slept.

However, 20 minutes hadn’t even passed before Elizabeth shot up from her bed.

There was sweat on her forehead. Elizabeth breathed heavily as she covered her face with her hands. A groan that couldn’t be held back seeped out from between her fingers.

“……Sorry, Robert. I’m sorry……your sister……this sister of yours, Robert…….”

How many months have passed since then?

Ever since the day Dantalian taunted her on Bruno Plains, Elizabeth has never been able to sleep longer than 2 hours. She would always get tormented by nightmares the moment she slept. It was already like this in the past, but it became worse recently.

Originally,

A man was supposed to appear and save her in the future. He was supposed to cut down all of the Demon Lords on the continent and devote his entire being to the Queen. Elizabeth was then supposed to be comforted by this man and stop suffering from her nightmares.

However, everything changed because of a single person. She was no longer the Imperial Princess or the Queen. She was now the leader of a republic nation. The man who was supposed to give her salvation was already on a different path.

“……Dantalian.”

Her eyes glowed sharply between her fingers.

“At least not like me, never……never……”

Elizabeth continued to mutter ambiguous words. She continued to repeat these words over and over again before she tired herself out and fell back asleep. She would then wake up again 30 minutes later. The same thing happened over and over again for 2 hours in this place of rest where no one else was allowed to enter.

* * *

I returned to my Demon Lord Castle after the negotiations came to an end.

The diplomatic battle ended somewhat successfully. I helped the Plains Faction win and put a collar on Gamigin. It wasn’t a perfect victory, but it should be fine to say that it was half a success. No, a perfect victory doesn’t exist anyway. In that regard, I succeeded.

There was something I realized as well.

Generally, my chances of defeat increased the more I stepped into the limelight while my chances of victory increased the more I hid in the shadows.

“Jeez, I’m not some sort of tactician who can fight on par with heroes. I should just hide and rest in an alcove like an old man.”

To put it simply, I figured out my place.

Queen Henrietta and Demon Lord Agares are tactical nukes. Despite this, I lost to the former and won against the latter. If you look at war from a tactical perspective, there are way too many variables. Especially here since things like auras exist.

“I understand it perfectly now. I’m going to keep my hands out of tactics from now on! You won’t see me stand on a battlefield holding a baton anymore.”

“A wise decision.”

Lapis responded as she received my coat.

“There are many things you have to take care of aside from war. It would be more efficient to leave military matters to Miss Laura. I recommend not leaving your Demon Lord Castle from now on.”

“I would love that, but the world doesn’t always revolve the way you want it to.”

Hoo, I let out a sigh.

“So? Were there any problems while I was gone?”

“Everything has been proceeding as planned. However,”

Lapis furrowed her brows ever so slightly.

“As expected, the villages are the problem. It appears that they are struggling to adjust to the new laws.”

“I see. Why is that? Is the trial system not working properly?”

“The villagers are putting in an effort.”

Was she saying that new beginnings always have rough voyages?

I stretched. Uah, work after work.

“I guess it’s obvious. Leave it to me. I’ll take care of this within 3 days.”

“……Your Highness seems to be overflowing with enthusiasm despite having just returned from the demon world.”

Lapis sounded surprised.

I grinned.

“I’ll get to it after I rest today. I worked rather hard, you know? Referentially, the saints say that you shouldn’t leave work that can be done tomorrow on the you of today.”

“…….”

Lapis let out a small sigh. Why am I not surprised? That was the mood she was giving off.

What? You’re making me sad. I really am living earnestly and sincerely, you know?

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Elizabeth. You can’t help but sort of feel bad for her. She’s probably one of the characters suffering the most because of Dantalian.

On another note, I’ve been sort of distracted lately and forgot to upload this chapter yesterday. I’ve still been translating properly. I’ve just been forgetful about uploading it. It’s probably because of FFXIV but let’s not think about that :^)

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter. It’ll probably be sooner.

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