Published at 30th of August 2019 10:12 pm

Chapter 14 That time they nearly assassinated me, but I forgave them after turning the tables

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It happened about one month after the Pope had submitted. I had gone to meet the king of the first kingdom in order to discuss the promotion of compulsory education, and taken the knowledgeable Suzuna with me. It appeared that this thing known as summer vacation had ended, and so I asked her when she was free and had made plans accordingly.

“Demon King!?”

The moment I heard Suzuna’s cry, my back had already been pierced by a longsword.

But, it felt like nothing. Of course, it did. It would require the same destructive force needed to end the world in order to penetrate my defenses. And aside from me, Suzuna was the only one who could output so much power.

That being said, this was most unusual. That there was someone who would attempt to assassinate me in the center of the audience room of the first kingdom’s palace. Especially as these retainers of the first kingdom would know of my powers the most.

But then, something even more surprising followed. One of the priests who had been in attendance started to cast offensive magical spells towards me. And it was quite powerful, explosive magic. If these spells were allowed to explode, it would not just hit me and Suzuna, but the king, ministers, and attendants would all be in danger.

And so I enveloped the explosive magic in a defensive spell and allowed the explosion to occur inside of it. Not only was no one in the hall hurt, but the audience room did not have as much as a scratch.

The priest who had cast the spells had already been seized by the royal guards by this point. Yet, at the same time, a loud noise made me turn around and I saw that the royal guard who had attacked me had been kicked away by Suzuna. The guard crashed into the wall and lost consciousness.

“That is most impressive. I had heard that you were skilled in martial arts, but would never have thought you capable of making such a large man fly back with a kick.”

I showered Suzuna with praise. Suzuna herself was quite tall, but her physique was feminine, she was not muscular. In terms of weight, the knight who she had kicked was surely much heavier than her. Yet she had kicked him into the air, it must have been due to her skills in martial arts, I thought.

But Suzuna’s answer was most unexpected.

“I just tested this thing where you can use magic to strengthen your body. It’s a well-known cheat used when someone transfers over to another world. So I thought I must be able to do it here, and I was.”

“What?”

I was most shocked when I heard her words. I had studied magic for three hundred and sixty years, and yet I had never even considered the possibility of using magic to enhance my body’s capabilities. There were parts of Suzuna’s story that I could not understand, but I had heard about there being fictional tales of going to other worlds and using magic. So I could assume that this was what she was talking about. It was most fascinating, this world of hers!

In spite of it being a world where all magic was lost, their imagination was astounding!!

Here, a different voice entered in.

“Demon, Demon King, forgive this insolence! I assure you, this was not my or my countries intent!! My younger brother did this all on his own!! These people will be executed, I will also offer my own life, but please, will you not have mercy on the rest!!”

The king of the first kingdom was pleading for forgiveness on his knees. I had thought that the priest who attacked me must be one of the cardinal’s who was around the Pope, but apparently, he was the younger brother of the king. Even so, this king never failed to put his own people above himself. It was a good way to live.

“Good. There is no need for any executions. I will forgive them both”

I declared magnanimously to the king. However, to this, the king looked most unbelieving and asked,

“Bu-, but Demon King, these men tried to kill you?”

And so I answered calmly.

“There is not a scratch on my body. O King, would you capture and execute a child for the crime of throwing a ball of mud at you? Indeed, it may be disrespectful, but such a lack of generosity is not fitting for a king. Likewise, the attacks from these men are no more a threat than a ball of mud to me. Leave them be.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your mercy, Demon King…”

“Stop, older brother! Demon King, I do not want your mercy! I do not care what the Pope may have said, I will never accept you! You do not obey the authority of the church, you are are an enemy of god!!”

The cardinal who seemed to be the king’s brother interjected. Hmm, I suppose he was a zealot who believed that the church was the greatest power. I saw several such people during my time at the monastery, you cannot reason with such people. And so I turned to the king and said,

“Tell the Pope this. There is a high-ranking cardinal here who seems to have forgotten that you submitted.”

The leaders of the Orthodox Church had complete authority. A cardinal who went against something that the Pope, the highest authority of the church, said, would surely be stripped of his rank and banished.

But ignoring all that, I personally thought that this cardinal had something commendable about him. After all, he could use magic. It was proof that he had abstained for at least forty years. In spite of being born among royalty, and being a high-ranking clergyman who would face many seductions, it was impressive. Though, I suppose you could say that it allowed him to become absorbed in his fanaticism instead.

With that in mind, I approached the cardinal and spoke to him.

“If you really do hate me so much, I will let you attack me as much as you like. I will take whatever you can throw at me. The Saviour himself said, ‘But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'”

This man was a sorcerer, he would have ways of making a living even if he were cast out of the church. He could even continue to target me if he wanted. And well, maybe if he decided to hole up in a mountain and study for four hundred years, he could finally pose a threat to me. Though, by then I should also be much stronger than I am now.

However, upon hearing my words, the cardinal looked up at me with an expression of shock. He began to ask.

“…Are, do you really mean it?”

“I always mean what I say. I have no intention of submitting to the church, but I have always respected the teachings of the Saviour. You too should leave the church and reevaluate your own faith.”

The cardinal heard these words and crumpled to the floor. Hmm, it seemed like he was finally ready to accept my faith. Of course, maybe he was just glum over the fact that he would be ousted from the church which he had given everything for.

“Really, you are so kind to others, Demon King.”

Suzuna said with a little exasperation, but I had no intention of changing my stance. After all, I was a ruler with total control. I was allowed to act in any manner that I liked, and so that was what I would do.

We watched the cardinal and the knight who must have been his confidante, be taken away. I decided that it was time to talk about what we were supposed to, the promotion of compulsory education and the building of schools throughout the lands. This would be discussed with the king of the first kingdom and his ministers.

The most important of all was the procuring of teachers. In fact, we were currently reorganizing the chivalric order so that public order could be maintained, and there was extra personnel. I was suggesting that those among the remaining who wished it, could become teachers. Most of the knights came from an educated class of nobles, surely some of them had the requirements to become a teacher.

Of course, there were also some among the nobility who looked down on the common people, but at the same time, knights were strictly taught to work for their king and people. So knights who were a part of the chivalric order did not hold prejudice against others, instead, they protected and cherished them. They would be a good fit for teachers.

On the matter of compulsory education, the Orthodox Church promised to cooperate, allowing a number of its low-ranking clergymen and novice monks to temporarily work as teachers. They even offered churches and monasteries to be used until the actual school buildings were complete. Well, perhaps they were afraid that if they didn’t show how useful they could be, I would go directly and ‘educate’ them myself.

And so things were moving along in the first kingdom, and even in the other countries, with small differences, compulsory education was beginning to be adopted. In the second kingdom, the Church of Scriptures were cooperating much like the Orthodox Church.

It felt very good to see the world slowly becoming a better place like this. With this sense of renewal, I think I should continue with my world domination in order to spread these changes to the whole world.

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