Glen stood at a place that was a considerable distance away from Pialu. In front of him, the Denest Mountain Range’s gigantic mountain peaks stood in rows, and like the others, he had also come out using the excuse of patrolling the area. Glen didn’t appear to be in a good condition; it wasn’t that he was injured, but the way he kept tapping his foot with his arms crossed made it seem like he felt anxious about something.
Swoosh! A small shadow popped out in front of Glen and a person appeared. The person was covered head to toe in a robe, and he kneeled in front of Glen and bowed.
“What happened?” Glen’s voice was cold and revealed his current state of mind. The robed figure lowered his head even more.
“It’s just as we predicted. It seems like our comrades in charge of managing the monsters have all been taken out.”
Bam! Glen’s feet struck the robed figure. Even though he hadn’t instilled mana into his feet, a great amount of force had come out of his well-trained and honed legs. The robed figure toppled backward. He tried to get up quickly to bow to Glen again, but his movements appeared to be more awkward than before.
“What’s the cause?”
“The orders placed on the monsters seemed to have broken. The monsters also attacked our comrades who had gone to check on the situation.”
“Are they dead?”
“They didn’t think that the monsters would attack, so some…”
Bam! Glen kicked the robed figure again. Part of the robed figure’s arm dangled about, and his bone had clearly been broken. Yet, the robed figure didn’t even groan and continued kneeling on the ground.
“You dare give me such news!” Glen’s voice rang across the area. He had dispatched some of his subordinates to manage the monsters that they gathered with the One-Sided Pyramids of Lamentations. Thus, his subordinates assessed the monsters’ fighting abilities and helped maintain their strengths as much as possible.
The pyramids freed the monsters from the binds of their food-chain relationships, so they wouldn’t attack each other; but if they didn’t attack each other, they would only become weaker. Monsters also needed to eat, so it was necessary for the strong monsters to be fed with weak monsters from time to time. Those who fulfilled this job were Glen’s subordinates, and they met Glen outside the city once every couple of days and gave him information about the monsters’ fighting power. Yet, this information transmission had been cut off a couple of days ago. To find out what happened, Glen sent off more subordinates to receive this disheartening news. A part of him wanted to rip this incapable subordinate apart, but Glen squeezed out all the patience he had.
“What’s the cause?” If something happened, there was obviously a cause for it. “The only thing that can be used to give specific orders to monsters is the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. Thus, I can only think that someone with the item must have given the order to cancel the previous order.”
One of the people possessing the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls in this vicinity was Glen, but he hadn’t given the order to the monsters. Thus, that left only one culprit.
“Nick. Did that guy do this?”
“Considering the circumstances, that seems like the only logical conclusion,” the robed figure answered.
Glen furrowed his eyebrows. ‘But why?’
Nick was one of those guys who rarely changed even through many regressions. He was also someone who usually moved perfectly according to Glen’s plans. Thus, it seemed unbelievable that Nick would have removed an order placed on the monsters.
‘No, that guy shouldn’t have even known that I placed a different order on the monsters in the first place.’ Glen had ordered the monsters to follow the robed figures’ orders. Nick shouldn’t have known about this fact.
‘Damn it! Another variable!’ It was just plain exhausting now. He didn’t know who had warped his plans this time, but if he found out, he wouldn’t let them die an easy death.
‘I will give you the worst pain possible every time I regress!’ He swore to himself. However, even with this will, it didn’t solve the situation in front of him.
“The monsters are alright, I suppose?”
“Yes, sir. Since they’ve been well taken care of until now—the high-class monsters still possess their original strength. It doesn’t seem like that’ll last long since those guys would need to eat to maintain their strength and live.”
Glen thought deeply. ‘Do I have to give another order to the monsters?’
However, considering that one of his commands had been overturned, it seemed like there would be a high chance that could happen again. Furthermore, Glen had no intention of stepping forward to take full command of this situation; his role was to simply lay down the foundation for his subordinates to begin with.
‘Nick has to be the one to carry out the plan.’ Only then would Til be able to take his honorable first steps in becoming the Demon Lord of Disaster.
Besides, if Glen took full command, there was a great danger of Zich finding out about him. However, if their plans kept going amiss like this, he wouldn’t have many options left.
‘I should try meeting Nick first.’ Glen couldn’t ask Nick straight-up since even Nick didn’t know that Glen was the true culprit behind the events taking place in Pialu. However, Glen would be able to gauge Nick’s reaction to his questions.
‘Fortunately, my returning time overlaps with Nick’s this time.’ Glen commanded the robed figure, “Leave now.”
The robed figure stood up and although the injuries he received from Glen’s outbursts caused him great discomfort when moving, he didn’t groan even once and disappeared. Glen looked up to the sky. The seamlessly clear blue sky seemed to contrast his emotional distress as worries shrouded his whole mind.
Bam! Glen kicked a nearby stone out of anger.
* * *
After returning to the city, Glen reported to the commander at the city hall. He asked about Nick’s whereabouts and learned that Nick hadn’t returned yet. However, according to the schedule, Nick should definitely be coming back to Pialu today, and Glen entered a nearby store to kill time. There, Glen met someone he wasn’t pleased to see.
“Oh? Mr. Zenard, you were here.” Zich was eating his meal.
‘Was today also the day this bastard returns?’ Since he was already in a bad mood, it was even more annoying to see Zich. However, Glen suppressed his annoyance because he needed to act like the hero of justice whenever people were looking at him. “It’s been a while, Mr. Zich.”
“If you’re planning to have a meal, why don’t you sit down here?” Zich pointed at the seat in front of him.
‘Give me a break.’ Rather than eating a meal with Zich, it was better to eat on the floor of a dirty bathroom. However, he couldn’t say these thoughts and said, “ Haha! Thank you for the offer, but aren’t you tired from your mission? I think it’ll be better if you enjoy your meal by yourself at a leisurely pace.”
Glen made a firm refusal, and he thought Zich would now withdraw. They didn’t have a good relationship in the first place, but Zich was unexpectedly persistent. “My stamina is not so low that I’ll grow tired from a bit of work. Isn’t it the same for you, Mr. Glen? I’m asking you to sit with me because I have something to tell you. So, even if it’s uncomfortable, please endure it a bit and sit.”
At Zich’s words, Glen couldn’t find a suitable excuse to refuse. He had no choice but to sit in front of Zich. The waiter approached their table to receive his order. Glen ordered one drink; it was his way of showing that he’d leave after only hearing what Zich wanted to tell him. Zich seemed to have caught onto his intentions as he didn’t say anything. Instead, he made a small nod as if he was also pleased by Glen’s actions.
“Mr. Zich, what is it that you want to tell me?” Glen’s face was still bright, and his voice was kind, but there was a firmness in his tone. Zich didn’t feel the need to break the wall between them. No, rather, he wanted to pile much thicker and bigger walls, numbering hundreds between them, so he immediately went straight to the point. “I climbed up the Denest mountain range during my mission.”
“You’ve gone through a dangerous mission.” Glen made his voice full of concern, but of course, he wasn’t concerned about Zich in the least. He merely poured insults toward Zich for doing something pointless inside his mind. “Was there really a need for you to do that? What’s important for us right now is to find Til.” Glen expressed his displeasure; he thought this amount of negativity was fine since it was a few words of disapproval towards someone who couldn’t set appropriate priorities.
“Yes, that’s true, but we haven’t been able to find Til so far, despite all our efforts. Thus, I thought that even if we don’t find Til, we would have to consider the worst-case scenario. Since we can’t just stand still when the monsters ambush Pialu, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out how the monsters have changed since you last reported about their activities. Ah, of course, I didn’t approach them closely since it was dangerous. I observed them from far away and moved out.”
“…Is that so?” Since Zich’s words had a point, Glen couldn’t express his disapproval anymore. “So, what did you find?” Glen was slightly nervous. He was worried that Zich might have found something that might hinder his plans. And to his extreme frustration, Glen’s prediction was correct.
“I saw people wearing robes.”
“Really?” Glen’s mind quickly spun. ‘What the heck did he see? Did he see them controlling the monsters? Or did he see the scouts who went to find the guys who went missing?’ Even if those guys were discovered, it didn’t pose much of a threat to Glen. However, he felt that it was necessary to fish for more information.
“I don’t know if they’re the Bellid guys, or they’re the robed figures that I’ve been chasing after, but regardless of their identity, they approached the monsters without even hiding.”
“And then?”
“Well, they got ambushed by the monsters and died. But there was one person who managed to escape.”
It seemed as if Zich saw the scouts who went to find the guys that went to complete his order, and Glen tilted his head in confusion. “They were ambushed by monsters? Perhaps, are you talking about an entirely different group? It’s hard for me to believe that any of the organizations you mentioned would die so pointlessly.”
“Yes, that’s true. That’s why I’m also confused.”
Glen had to mention a new culprit to stop Zich from narrowing down his suspects. Even though it didn’t seem very useful, he needed to use this tactic to keep confusing his enemy. Glen sighed internally, but he felt satisfied that Zich seemed to have accepted his opinion. He felt a small sense of achievement that he could trick his opponent about even a small matter like this. But this feeling only lasted for a moment.
“Yeah, now that I think about it, you’re completely right, Mr. Zenard. They’re dumb bastards who died by the monsters they controlled. How could there be such idiotic people! Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s also true,” Glen replied to Zich’s words as calmly as possible, but Zich didn’t finish yet.
“If those guys really are related to this situation, they must be more stupid than we can even imagine. The same thing can be said for the leader who’s in charge of those dumb bastards.”
“…Yes.”
“I’m definitely sure that the leader of such a group has a shady and disgusting personality. His head is not too bright either. He’s basically the epitome of an idiot–no, that’s too harsh to an idiot.”
“…”
“That bastard is probably laughing at people, thinking that he’s so smart. But you must know it too, Mr. Zenard, that the most ignorant and stupidest people are those who think they’re smarter and better than others. His underlings are probably insulting and laughing at him inside their minds, thinking that a loser would always be a loser no matter what he does.” Then, Zich laughed loudly and asked Glen, “Isn’t that right, Mr. Zenard?”
“…Yes, that’s definitely the case.”