Chapter 8
The pact with Duke marked the completion of all the contracts.
And thus, Rex's personal guard was formed.
There were countless opinions regarding its name.
“What should we call it?”
“How about the SS Guard? It stands for Super Soldier Guard.”
“How about Black Hand? It means that we would gladly soil our hands with filth for Lord Rex.”
“By combining ‘newly reborn (Yeni)’ and ‘soldiers (Çeri),’ I think Yeniçeri ("Yeniçeri) would be a good name.”
“In the north where I lived, there is a word called опри́ч. It means to expel. I suggest Oprichniki, meaning dogs that will expel Sir Rex's enemies.”
A truly wide variety of opinions emerged.
[Stop it.]
“All rejected.”
Everything fell through due to opposition from Rex and Duke.
Still, they managed to salvage one thing.
“How about Jormungand?”
Duke adopted the proposal from a dwarf from the northwestern region of the continent.
The dwarf who had proposed the adopted name was granted the honor of giving a speech as its representative.
“The world abandoned us.”
Everyone gathered here was, like Rex, someone abandoned by this world.
The reasons and ways they had been abandoned varied, but they all agreed that this world was wrong.
“The heroes called the world's hope hunted us instead and sold us for money. Just because we were demi-humans! Then we will gladly make ourselves into monsters.”
They had experienced the hypocrisy of those called heroes.
Therefore, they would no longer claim to represent this world's goodness.
“Someday, we will devour the heroes hailed as hope! For our lord alone!”
""For our lord!!""
And so, Rex's personal guard came to be named the ‘Jormungand Knights.’
[What about··· my opinion?]
Ignoring Rex, who looked ready to die from the pressure.
***
Although the Jormungand Knights' name had been decided, the knights did not immediately leave the research city.
Moving a hundred people required a corresponding amount of preparation.
They needed to stay for about a day in this city they did not even want to look at.
[I'm going to bed first···]
After spending an extremely eventful day and becoming mentally exhausted, Rex trudged toward the city's finest lodgings.
(The fact that he specifically told them never, ever to follow him was an added bonus.)
While Rex slept in a good bed for the first time in ages, the knights' platoon leaders gathered in another building.
“It seems everyone is here.”
In the dark building, lit by flickering lanterns, the gnome elder moderating the secret meeting stroked his snow-white beard and nodded.
There were three platoons in total.
Accordingly, three platoon leaders had come to the meeting room.
During the previous battle, those who had displayed exceptional strength had naturally become platoon leaders.
“Lord Duke. Thank you for joining us at this late hour.”
Although he was not a platoon leader, Duke, the commander of these knights, naturally attended as well.
Duke nodded at the moderator to indicate that he should begin the meeting.
“Then, regarding the reason I called you all here···”
The gnome elder began the meeting by spreading a map across the table.
The Karognar Domain.
That was the name of the domain they were currently in.
The elder pointed to what was supposedly the domain's capital—though he was not sure whether that was the right term—and spoke.
“This is where the lord lives.”
The platoon leaders and Duke nodded.
The gnome glared at the point he had indicated and spoke.
“I have always believed that humans possess the potential to become good. And I believe that a society that prevents them from cultivating that good nature is a wrong society.”
Duke nodded, but the platoon leaders did not nod yet.
As though they possessed beliefs of their own.
The gnome watched the platoon leaders' expressions and continued explaining.
“The one who rules this domain's society is the lord. But the society ruled by that person is evil. What does that mean?”
“That the lord is evil?”
At the elf platoon leader's answer, the gnome nodded.
“Exactly. And as I said earlier, humans possess good potential. Yet the lord is evil. What does that imply?”
“It means the lord is a beast's spawn.”
A pale, handsome middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes answered listlessly, his skin as pale as if he had cyanosis.
The gnome smiled with his eyes, satisfied by that answer.
“Then what should we do with that lord?”
“Overthrow him. We must pull down the person who created this warped morality so that individuals can create a new morality.”
A gentleman with a magnificent beard smiled, baring his fangs.
The gnome's smile blossomed as he clasped his hands together.
Only then did the three platoon leaders relax their rigid expressions and nod.
“I don't completely agree with your ideology, but a considerable portion of it aligns with mine. I like the goal··· very much.”
“Hmm··· I thought you were an idealist spouting senile nonsense, but you're practical. I agree.”
“There is room for some discussion regarding the logic, but there is no room for disagreement about the conclusion.”
The opinions of the three platoon leaders and the gnome elder aligned.
Before long, all four gazes turned toward Duke.
Under their collective gaze, Duke thought,
‘Hmm··· What should I do···’
He realized that his subordinates had already gone berserk.
Normally, it would be right to stop them here.
But···
‘We're going to occupy this domain anyway.’
This domain was the starting point of the empire.
And when he thought about it, even if Duke tried to stop them, the lord would provide them with a reason to occupy the domain on his own.
Why would that timid Rex usurp this domain? It would all be the lord's fault.
‘Stopping them probably wouldn't accomplish much.’
They were going to take it anyway, and this was a story of misunderstandings···
‘Let's just go all out.’
Rex would set everything right on his own anyway.
With that irresponsible conclusion, Duke cleared his throat.
“My sword cannot create happiness.”
“Lord Duke?”
“Commander?”
“Sir?”
“But if it is a matter of protecting the happiness created by our lord, I will protect it even if it becomes a kingdom.”
““!!!!””
The atmosphere in the meeting room heated up.
Feeling an inexplicable bond with them, Duke pointed toward the domain's capital.
“From this place, Lord Rex's blessing will begin.”
“Ho ho.”
“A blessing. Yes, there is no expression more fitting than that. Far more fitting than something like the World Tree.”
“I don't believe in blessings or such fanciful notions··· But just this once, I would like to believe.”
“For the last human to establish proper values, there must be something to serve as a standard.”
Nod.
The five people gathered in the meeting room nodded.
Under the flickering lantern in the dark room, Duke presented their first objective.
“Lord Rex will soon send you throughout the domain. Until then, wait for the right moment and hone your swords.”
“”Yes!””
The platoon leaders and the gnome elder shouted quietly.
Duke's black eyes gazed beyond the flickering lantern at the map of the domain.
***
It was a somewhat late morning.
“Yaaawn. Did everyone s··· sleep well? ···sir?”
Rex left the lodgings while stretching and asked the knights that question.
Every test subject nodded at him in unison.
All but the platoon leaders had been able to sleep in proper beds for the first time in ages.
And they had even indulged in the luxury of sleeping late without being forcibly awakened.
By contrast, the platoon leaders who had held a secret meeting all night···
“Good morning, Lord Rex.”
“My condition is optimal, Your Excellency.”
“Your Excellency Rex. It is a splendid morning.”
They were in far better condition than the other members who had slept.
Their eyes were even sparkling, like boys who had recovered their dreams.
“?”
Rex was puzzled by the change that had appeared in them overnight, but only for a moment; he soon dismissed it as nothing important.
“Lord Rex.”
Duke quietly spoke to him from his side.
“It is about time we got moving.”
Rex nodded.
He opened an interface—or perhaps fireflies—above the heads of the entire order and sent a message.
[The First Platoon will head east from here]
[The Second Platoon will head south from here]
[The Third Platoon will head west from here]
Rex was now quite comfortable using casual speech even in his messages.
He gave the knights their first mission.
[Duke and I are heading to the capital. We need to find someone there.]
[According to the doctor's and guildmaster's records, my friend seems to have been sold there.]
[I'll search the capital first, but if they move from there, I'll contact you.]
[Understand?]
The platoon leaders nodded.
‘Hmm. A friend, is it? They won't be able to access the records through normal means···’
‘As expected··· there is only one way.’
‘Hehe. What an appropriate trial.’
The platoon leaders interpreted Rex's words somewhat differently from what he had intended, but they were not far off in the broad strokes.
Duke could read their intentions from the platoon leaders' eyes.
‘These bastards··· They're planning a slave liberation movement.’
He understood, but he had no intention of stopping them.
They would have to look at the slave traders' ledgers to find A's route anyway,
and there was no way the slave traders would willingly show them those records,
so beating them down was an entirely reasonable course of action.
‘This is Rex's fault for not telling them how to find A.’
He let it pass with the vague belief that, as this was a story of misunderstandings, Rex would somehow resolve such a minor problem.
Unaware of what was going on inside them, Rex continued issuing missions.
[Let's make reports every night at nine. I'll give the platoon leaders authority, so if you report to them by then, they'll organize everything and deliver the report.]
At Rex's command, one soldier—or rather, now a knight—a beastman raised his hand.
“I'm sorry. We don't know how to tell time···”
“Ah.”
Rex had been born a modern man, and even after being reincarnated, he had always had an interface to rely on, so he had never once been without a clock.
Because of that, he had naturally mentioned the time, but for the people of this world, that was a luxury.
‘There are many regions without clocks···’
The level of urban development in this world depended entirely on the administrator's whims, so some places had achieved steampunk-level development, while many others remained tribal societies.
Remembering that fact, Rex manipulated his interface settings.
And then···
“O···oooh···!”
The knights gazed happily at their wrists like primitive people who had discovered fire.
The time had begun appearing on the backs of their hands.
‘Ah, this is what they call clock magic···!’
Rex thought that to himself, then twisted his body again in self-loathing.
‘What am I, a high school student going through puberty!!’
Contrary to his thoughts, it was an ability that seemed insignificant but was more impressive than expected.
‘Numbers are appearing on the backs of our hands.’
Duke glanced at the back of his hand without showing how fascinated he was.
From what he overheard, the other knights seemed to say that the ‘spirit of the firefly’ was taking the place of the hour and minute hands on their hands.
‘Wow, damn. This is actually pretty amazing.’
It was an astonishing spell even for Duke, who had lived for two hundred years without a clock, relying only on sundials and his stomach clock.
After naturally gifting everyone a watch, the order officially dispersed.
After sending them off, Duke was granted the minimap and command abilities by Rex in his capacity as commander.
[When I'm absent or busy, Duke will give the orders.]
Duke nodded and waved his hand through the air.
‘Oh.’
He had given up on delicate manipulation like Rex's from the very beginning.
Duke decided to use only the messaging and minimap functions.
‘People get in trouble when they try to do things they can't.’
To test the messaging function, he sent a message to the platoon leaders.
[Do not forget the objective.]
[We will bear it in mind.]
[Confirmed.]
[^_-]
‘What the hell. That vampire bastard. Why is he so modern? How did he even do that?’
Duke finished testing the messaging function in shock.
***
Afterward, Duke erased the three potential troublemakers from his mind and focused on traveling with Rex.
“Let's mount up.”
Rex mounted his horse, and Duke mounted another.
Rex claimed that, as a military academy graduate, he knew how to ride as well.
‘Thank goodness.’
For Duke, who had no hobby of riding with a man in his arms, that was welcome news.
And so, the two of them headed toward the capital alone.
Not long after setting out, Rex took out the shoe A had left behind.
“A···”
All he knew was that A was the owner of this shoe and that, according to the records, A had been sold as AR-09.
[Duke. Do you think A is in the capital?]
At Rex's unexpected question, Duke shook his head.
“I'm sorry. I can't give you a definite answer either.”
It's a lie.
A was still in the capital and would remain there until Rex came to find them.
Three months should probably be more than enough.
‘Because we escaped much earlier than in the original.’
But Duke did not let that show.
He was not going to advertise that he was a reincarnator, and since this would end happily anyway, there was no reason to spoil it.
Silence flowed between the two men again.
Duke, who had usually traveled alone, did not find the silence difficult to endure, but with someone beside him, his mouth felt strangely itchy.
‘I'll preserve my character as much as possible···’
He opened his mouth, consciously trying to satisfy that itch while staying in character.
“Lord Rex. Do you perhaps have an ultimate goal for the future?”
Duke knew Rex was destined to become emperor, but he was curious how far Rex currently intended to set his sights.
Rex pondered Duke's question for a long time.
[Things happened so suddenly that I haven't thought about it.]
Although he had somehow ended up with a personal guard as well, his goal had not changed much.
A comfortable, stable, and peaceful harem life.
A staff position in a city was a realistic means of achieving that honest desire.
However, considering that his classmates had betrayed him and the mayor probably had as well, he could consider becoming an official out of the question.
Everything had moved so quickly that he had not had time to think about it until now, but only after gaining some breathing room did he begin revising his goals.
‘Hmm··· Should I become a mercenary?’
The first thing that came to mind was using his personal guard like mercenaries to earn money and fame.
And at the end of that···
‘Once my achievements are recognized after serving as a mercenary captain, I could obtain a city.’
After finishing his thoughts, Rex spoke again.
[At the very least, I want to create a place where all of you can live without worry.]
Rex intended to take responsibility at least to the extent that people were following him.
There was confidence behind his words that, with his abilities, he could obtain a city.
Duke unconsciously smiled faintly at his words.
‘Even when he doesn't want to, if someone makes him do it, he takes responsibility.’
That was Rex's charm.
Materialistic, cowardly, timid, and always muttering about retiring···
On the surface, he seemed utterly unreliable, but whenever he was made to do something, he took responsibility for it.
‘It's because he understands the weight of responsibility too well to want to bear it.’
In other words, he was the best possible person to have as a superior.
With a faint smile on his face, Duke repeated Rex's words.
“A place like a utopia?”
[No···]
- Not anything that grand.
Rex was about to type that, but he wanted to seem profound, so he answered with a stylish phrase instead.
[Attempts to create a utopia eventually turn into hell.]
Duke responded with admiration.
‘Heheh.’
Rex was embarrassed and pleased by himself.
[I don't even need a domain. All I need is one prosperous city where we can have a comfortable place to rest together.]
Hearing that, Duke nodded.
‘That city will become the capital of the empire.’
At that moment, Rex's sudden denial spiral began operating without context.
It was a phenomenon commonly called the delusion engine of timid loners.
‘Wait. Doesn't Duke hate the empire?’
Rex's delusions chained together.
Duke hated the empire.
Therefore, if Rex showed even the slightest sign of trying to revive the empire···
‘Eeeek!’
Rex fell into a panic inside his own delusions and babbled out an excuse.
“I'm not thinking about an empire at all!!”
Killing intent suddenly poured from Duke at that sentence.
Neigh!
The horses carrying Rex and Duke panicked and began bucking wildly.
Duke came to his senses, immediately dismounted, and knelt.
“I'm sorry, Lord Rex!”
It had lasted only a brief instant of about 0.2 seconds, but that was enough time for Rex to feel as though his heart had dropped into his stomach.
Rex stared blankly at the crown of Duke's head, unable even to type a message.
Then, realizing that he was still alive, he helped Duke to his feet.
[I'm sorry. I wasn't considerate enough.]
‘I never thought he'd react to the word ‘empire.’’
It had happened before Rex was born, and the records had not been properly preserved, so he did not know much, but he had heard that the empire's tyranny had been severe.
When the Thirteen Heaven-Defiers destroyed the empire, everyone except the imperial family, feudal lords, and nobles had cheered.
Rex could not even begin to imagine how much the knight currently bowing before him hated that empire.
The knight kept apologizing to Rex.
“Lord Rex. I'm sorry.”
[It hasn't been long since you swore loyalty. We'll adjust to each other gradually.]
“Thank you for your generosity!”
Duke climbed back onto his horse after regaining his composure.
In the meantime, Rex secretly wiped away a cold sweat.
‘I'm obviously the lord, so why am I the one gauging his mood?’
Power is status, after all.
Lamenting his own weakness, Rex set his horse moving again.
*
Meanwhile, Duke also wiped away a cold sweat.
‘Whew, my heart nearly stopped.’
He had reacted to the phrase ‘I'm not thinking about the empire at all.’
It sounded like a declaration that the Bitcoin he had devoted his life to would never even be listed.
It had been so shocking that, for a moment, he could not control his killing intent.
But after thinking about it during that brief moment, he realized that the empire would not be created because Rex wanted it anyway.
It would be something Rex was half pushed into creating.
Therefore, there was no reason to have a fit over that sentence already.
‘Whew, two hundred years is the problem.’
Duke now understood why Bitcoin investors were so sensitive.
And so, the two men resumed their journey.
Their relationship was still somewhat awkward.