Chapter 510: Seeds of Malice

Rogard Empire

The Imperial Capital, Gallia.

This city that once boosted its prosperity, had become a shadow of its former glory after the defeat in the war, but it was now gradually regaining its former appearance – being reborn as a city of diversity.

The city, once inhabited only by humans, had now become a hub for airship traffic and was overflowing with a diverse range of humanoid races. All of this led to the city enjoying a booming economy.

Although each country had its own agenda, the Rogard Empire was not an object of exploitation, but a place to create a balance of power among nations and to generate profits, and it was being rapidly developed.

Cities other than Gallia were not even battlegrounds in the first place, so they did not suffer from any but economic damage, and the decline in national power was minimal.

Moreover, those who conspired or violated the law were arrested without mercy and punished severely, even if they were on the side of the victorious nations.

This was a result of the policies and ideology of the former emperor, Shendra, which emphasized reason, which had penetrated into the ideals of his people, and added to that was the power of the current emperor, Yuki.

The current emperor, Yuki, was an existence that no one could ignore among the people of each country.

In terms of political power, he possessed almost none.

He had no financial power, and although he held the title of emperor, everyone, including himself, understood that it was merely an official title with no real authority.

Despite this, his influence was nevertheless recognized as one of the most powerful in the world.

The reason for this was obviously – his strength.

He was basically overpowered.

Not only was he a powerful [Demon Lord], but the same could be said for the monsters under his control. Because of these factors, the Kings of each country were always concerned about Yuki, the Demon Emperor's movements.

Whenever he was told this, Yuki would smile bitterly, as if to say, "No, you people are just overestimating me…"

However, there was almost no one who could match Yuki's strength, so all those in power believed that they should never antagonize him.

Even if it were not from the perspective of Demons, those who were powerful were always revered.

Even if they were dealing with a mysterious Demon Lord who had suddenly emerged from the scene, they would have a certain amount of respect for him as long as he was not too violent.

Therefore, there was a lot of opinion not wanting to reject Yuki, the Demon Emperor, who was supposed to be only a ruler on paper, to ruin their country, and because Yuki declared, "If you try to ruin my country, I will judge you as an enemy," the people of each country also tightened up on their own people to not try and interfere with Rogard Empire. To those people, that war was not over yet.

Of course, the scars of war still lingered, and the memories of the defeat were still vivid in the minds of the people.

Problems kept piling up, and one in particular was public safety.

The booming economy brought a sudden influx of people, and because of this, in addition to the [Human Supremacists] who caused the riot, numerous criminal organizations, secret societies, and countless other undesirables crawled into the country and became active at once.

Originally, those who organized the [underworld] that existed in the Rogard Empire had not been so vicious as to be called [Public Enemy], and they were judged to have a certain degree of moderation, so they were not actively arrested.

This was because the successive emperors had established a system whereby violent criminals could be caught within a week by using the [Map] function of the dungeon, and criminal organizations were eliminated immediately if they crossed the line.

The same was true for criminal organizations coming in from the outside, which had been thoroughly shut out…but now that the country had opened up, they came crawling in one after the other.

The reason was that, even though it was a defeated nation, the Rogard Empire was still one of the top powers on the continent, and if they could establish roots here, they would be able to make enormous profits.

King Finar implemented serious countermeasures, causing malicious organizations to be destroyed one after another, and the unstable security of the past period started to disappear…. However, the situation still continued to be what one might call a war of attrition.

And in some places, the negative effects of the situation were still evident.

"Gehehehe, hey, wait, lady."

"You're here at this hour. Are you inviting us to play with you? Let us play with you, okay?"

Night.

In the entertainment district of the imperial city of Gallia, a pair of drunken men were involved with a human woman on the street.

The men were demons.

The woman tried to run away, but the men stood in her way as if they were playing with her, grinning vulgarly.

"…let me through."

"Don't say that. We're far better to play with than a bunch of wimpy humans, you know?"

"Yes, yes, you'll like it. So don't look so grim. You're going to love it."

The demons grinned and laughed, one of them forcibly pulled the woman towards him, then a passing human man grabbed the demon's arm.

"Why don't you guys leave it at that?"

"Ah? What?"

"Oh, you think you're so cool, don't you?"

One of the duo was shouting, and the other laughed like an idiot with a breath that reeked of alcohol.

Seeing their reaction, the human man calmly spoke up.

"I'm sure that they have been strictly enforcing a law regarding the quarrels between different races. I don't know who you are but try to act funny in a drunken stupor, and you might get yourself eliminated."

"Shut up, why don't you try it, b*ch!"

The demon whose arm had been grabbed by the human man seemed to be in a rage and tried to force his arm free. However, after failing to do so, he punched the human man.

A dull sound of flesh hitting flesh, and a small scream was heard by the surrounding people who were watching the situation.

The human man who was hit by the demon endured to keep his balance and not fall down, while still calmly looking at the demons, and then said.

"Did you just hit me? Here in the entertainment district where there are so many people? What do you think you have done? Your actions are now in the public eye. Do you still want to continue to act like fools in the presence of so many witnesses?"

They must have sensed that they were in the wrong.

The guy who hit him was still yelling in rage, but the other guy seemed to have sobered up, and after observing the situation, he forcibly pulled his drunken partner along and left the place.

Those who had been watching the exchange cheered and applauded, and the involved woman bowed her head to the human man before leaving.

The man walked down the alley at night.

Watching the lights leaking from the stores and the joyful hustle and bustle of the city.

Forgetting the hardships and pains of daily life, he immersed himself in a moment of enjoyment and refreshed his spirit.

This place was on the opposite of the alley of the previous encounter, filled with chilly air, which was like a border between a dream and reality.

The human man thought, 'He (Yuki) doesn't understand.'

He knew that the new regime was not trying to mess up the country, but thought that they were not governing it well.

Currently, soldiers and officials stationed in other countries as a part of embassies who have committed abuse and were deemed unacceptable were immediately removed and transferred to a different position, and if they have been proven to have committed crimes, they would be punished severely.

At first, the man did not intend to intervene, but thought that it would be a little troublesome later if he didn't. After all, if something bad did happen, there would probably be a complaint submitted to the administration which would then seriously investigate the earlier dispute. All of this would further increase the current system's goodwill, which he didn't want to see happen.

Presently, the judiciary has continued to work decently and without corruption.

The judiciary had been highly evaluated, and he heard that business opportunities have more than doubled since the change to the new system, and which brought new job opportunities as well.

So it would be understandable if some people were satisfied with the current situation where they have sufficient daily income.

'…They never understood the viewpoint of human supremacy.'

Human supremacists had never really thought that humans were particularly superior. Some had simply become too obsessed with their delusion… and he felt uncomfortable when those under the new rule complained about such people who were outspoken about their obsessions.

The people under the new rule only thought that what went into the minds of human supremacists was to degrade other races.

'However…..'

Still…

The situation in which the national government was now in the hands of another race must, as the Human Supremacists said, have to be overcome.

While it might be good for other races to rise in the Rogard Empire, the real power of the country itself must be in the hands of the people of this country.

It would be out of the question to do so through violence or exclusive ideology, but some way or other, the center of the nation must be regained.

Otherwise, this country could not move forward.

"Changing the system… will not be an easy road."

He muttered and chuckled.

But the eyes of the man were lit up with a will.

-The man did not know.

He did not know who was watching him from the shadows.

That there were those who wanted to take advantage of the man's influence.

The seeds of malice existed everywhere, and in any form.