Chapter 181:…………………………………..
[S Public Funds]
Life was something that could be understood yet still remain mysterious.
Once, I even went so far as to file for divorce because I wanted to remove the surname “Cassius” that followed the name Idel—but now, here I was, voluntarily calling myself Cassius.
Yet this was absolutely necessary if we wanted to escape safely from the realm of demons.
Outside, monsters swarmed.
At any moment, the main gate could be smashed by the monsters’ body slams. To return safely to the empire, we needed additional forces—there was no avoiding it.
“It’s fine. Shadow will remain incapacitated for about an hour from now.”
If Terrence had properly followed the instructions I had given him earlier, there was no need to worry too much.
For now, the priority was to bring the Demon King over to our side.
The worst-case scenario would be Gaius turning against us and wielding that overwhelming power.
Looking down, it seemed Terrence had started fighting the remaining monsters together with Luci, without a moment’s rest.
I clenched my sweaty palms.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the fate of the three of us rested entirely in my hands.
“…Wh-what?!”
The first person to react to my declaration of being Cassius was Liena.
She stared at me with her mouth agape, completely stunned.
Perhaps because Liena had only been the one to surprise me recently, seeing her like this felt refreshingly novel.
“Oh? You claim to be the heir of Cassius?”
The Demon King, who had introduced himself as Gaius, slowly scanned me and muttered to himself.
“Idel Cassius, huh? So the descendants of Cassius carry his name on their backs as they live.”
“His name? Carry it on their backs?”
It sounded as if there had been a separate person named Cassius.
Then perhaps the Cassius family had taken their ancestor’s name as their family name.
And maybe this person has a close relationship with that Cassius.
Gaius… Cassius. The names sounded similar, didn’t they?
In any case, I needed to be recognized as the heir of Cassius here and now. So I lifted my head high and affirmed Gaius’s question.
“Yes, I am the heir of Lord Cassius.”
Whether my assumption about the existence of Cassius was correct or not, Gaius didn’t seem suspicious of my claim.
“Good. And do you have a way to prove it?”
“The proof is this orb at the tip of your staff, Lord Gaius. Only the heir would carry the family heirloom around, wouldn’t they?”
From a short distance away, Liena let out a deflating sigh.
It seemed utterly absurd to her that I was boldly claiming to be Cassius without batting an eyelash.
I am Cassius. I am Cassius.
I repeated it in my mind like self-hypnosis as I desperately explained how I had awakened Gaius.
“The truth is, I was kidnapped by that woman over there, but in that moment of crisis, I saw your statue, Lord Gaius, and it felt like fate that if I inserted this heirloom into the staff, something would happen…”
On and on.
“Stop lying!”
Liena couldn’t take it anymore and interjected.
“You hated Cassius so much, yet you go so far as to lie that you’re Cassius just to leave me? Do you hate me that much?”
I whispered beside Gaius.
“That’s all a lie. Why would I hate my own family, Cassius? I love Cassius dearly.”
Amused by the current situation, Gaius tilted his chin and asked Liena.
“I see. Do you have anything to add?”
“…I’m talking to my friend right now.”
Liena couldn’t hide her annoyance as she shifted her gaze from me to Gaius.
“No matter if you’re the Demon King or whatever, if you serve an evil god, shouldn’t you naturally cooperate with me?”
Despite Liena’s commanding tone, Gaius didn’t flinch.
“That’s for me to decide.”
“You mean even a demon can defy an apostle of an evil god?”
“Do all humans obey Goddess Miela without exception?”
“What?”
“You don’t seem to know. Even demons, and even the beasts fighting below under your command, have their own will. They judge and think for themselves.”
He tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Listen, my apostle of the gods. The reason they obey you is because they decided on their own to do so. They aren’t puppets without thought. I am the same.”
“….”
“Don’t you know that? Well, then again, gods have never really chosen apostles wisely. I don’t know their reasoning, though.”
Gaius let out a faint sigh, looking at Liena, who seemed to have never heard this before.
Indeed, even I noticed over the past few days that Liena paid little attention to the monsters serving as her subordinates.
As proof, Shadow—her right-hand—was moving unusually slowly, yet she hadn’t noticed at all.
Even though she noticed my changes so quickly.
If Liena had paid even half the attention to Shadow that she had to me, Terrence might not have succeeded today.
In the end, not much had changed.
After all, Liena had always treated most of the people she brainwashed with her blessing as tools.
After a short pause, she frowned and broke the silence.
“Anyway, this means you’re willing to resist me in order to help Idel?”
Gaius slowly closed his eyes at her question.
“…About a thousand years ago, our demon race worshiped gods but was defeated by humans and vanished into history. That’s about as much worship as we could give, I suppose.”
He slammed his staff hard against the stone floor.
“This remaining life and power will be used for me and the descendants of my son, Cassius.”
The connection between Gaius and the Cassius family was made clear.
So he carries the bloodline of the royal demon line.
No wonder Liena’s goddess blessings hadn’t been very effective.
Liena seemed to contemplate for a moment.
Squinting as if gauging Gaius’s strength, she finally spoke.
“Well, either way, you have no reason to fall for me. Because I am the true Cassius.”
“Hmm, you are?”
“Yes. I am Liena Cassius. And the person beside you is not Cassius.”
I couldn’t stay silent either.
“No. I am Cassius.”
Looking at it calmly, it was absurd.
People who were once Cassius were now claiming they weren’t, and vice versa.
“Lord Gaius, who brought the heirloom? I am the one who awakened you with that orb.”
When I proclaimed the reason I must be Cassius, Liena retorted fiercely.
“I can even recite Cassius’s family tree. I learned it as a child. The first head was Longinus, then Marcus, then Yu, Junius, and Bru…”
To speed up, I recited the Cassius family tree in place of Liena, who had slowed down trying to recall old memories.
“Brutus, Quintus, Servilius, Caepio, Julius, Antonio, Lepidus…”
Liena’s eyes went wide.
Too bad, but if you memorized the family tree as a child, I had enjoyed your childhood scene in the novel version.
If I only use the original source, I can always recall your clear voice reciting the family tree.
“Now, now, calm down, both of you.”
Gaius intervened, stopping our competition.
“I’ve heard both of your claims of being descendants of Cassius. But there’s something strange.”
The Demon King smiled teasingly.
“Neither of you shows any trace of demonic energy. Even with diluted blood, it’s impossible to disappear entirely in a thousand years.”
Both Liena and I were left speechless.
I never imagined Gaius could have such an ability.
If that’s the case, why didn’t he just say it from the start?
I glanced subtly at the massive demon, twice my size.
Chances are he had been keeping silent just for his amusement while we squabbled.
Being an ancestor of the Cassius family, perhaps his personality wasn’t entirely gentle.
“And, since this story happened after I fell asleep, I don’t know much about the family tree. But there is a good way.”
“A good way?”
Gaius answered as if it were simple.
“I’ll ask the descendants directly. If I sharpen my senses, I can feel some of their energies.”
“But they’re far away. Even if you can sense it, how…?”
“What’s the problem? I’ll ask the head of the family directly. Wait a moment.”
Before I could finish, Gaius was enveloped in black mist and disappeared.
Is this… teleportation magic?
He moves such a distance without using a warp gate?
No, even moving a living being with magic was against all the magical principles I knew.
But he was the Demon King.
Since magic had originally been exclusive to demons and monsters, and humans had learned it later, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that a demon king’s magic would surpass human magic.
The more important question is who will be recognized as the descendant of Cassius.
If it’s the head of Cassius, then that would be Duke Cassius.
Thinking of him made me uneasy.
Would he side with Liena?
Though he had felt sorry for me, he didn’t seem to have fully detached from Liena.
If he were swayed by affection and Gave Liena’s identity to Gaius, it would be a disaster.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
Does Gaius even know that the head of the family is Duke Cassius? If he doesn’t know the family tree, how would he know the head?
Perhaps my assumption was wrong.
The “head” Gaius mentioned might not refer to the family leader, but simply the person he intended to ask as a representative descendant.
Then who would that be? I tried to think as if I were Gaius.
Hmm, just the eldest perhaps?
It was a preconceived notion, but the eldest would likely be the wisest and most knowledgeable.
Wait, the eldest in the Cassius family…
At that moment, Gaius reappeared.
“Apologies. It took longer than expected.”
He began with an apology.
“When I appeared before the representative, he suddenly called me a demon, demanded I leave, caused a commotion, and even fainted. It was quite troublesome.”
Ah, so it was you, Old Roland!
