Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord - Volume 6 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Hidden Boss (Right Side) Examines the Hero’s Documents

We were in the Royal Capital of Valschein in the basement of the Royal Palace. The first king was in the Kingdom of Twilight, where my deceased left half was. We had come to the forbidden archives, hoping to find something that would help us rescue Left Yumiella.

Even after reading the entries in the black notebook, we still couldn’t figure out what it was. There was no record of it being there in the first place, so the owner and the time period it was from were both a mystery. The natural conclusion would be that it had somehow slipped into the archives, but it was unclear who would’ve brought it and how they would’ve infiltrated the palace to get in here.

After reading the entries, all we could deduce was that they had likely been written by a young woman. All we could do was tilt our heads in confusion. Eleanora was the only one fervently reading through the entries.

“I can really relate to this person! I wonder what became of their romance...”

The owner seemingly had unrequited feelings for someone, so I could see why their thoughts would resonate with Eleanora, who was a professional when it came to one-sided feelings that would never go anywhere.

It was decided that an audit would be done on the archive catalog at a later date, so Ronald kept the notebook for now.

We’d taken a bit of a detour after finding the mysterious object, but we could now get back to what we’d come here for.

It was said that back when the land was in a state of warring, the first king of Valschein founded the kingdom and brought peace to the world...but I had no idea what he was really like as a person. I asked Ronald if there were any documents that could give insight on his personality, and he carefully pulled out a stack of papers.

“I think these will tell you what kind of person the first king was.”

With gloved hands, Patrick accepted the papers, which had yellowed with age. Since I couldn’t move the left half of my body, Patrick flipped through the pages as I read the text. Though the writing seemed to be scribbled, it was quite legible.

“Is this...a diary?”

“Yup. They’re written by a close advisor of the first king. I was shocked the first time I read them.”

“Is there that much of a difference from what you knew?”

“Yeah. The first king was much more”—Ronald hesitated before he continued—“awful than I’d thought.”

◆◆◆

Month: X Day: Y

I’ve always thought that it was terrible, but the way the king carries himself is truly awful.

The battles he’s been instigating have calmed for now, and in my previous entry I wrote that we could finally settle down and focus on our internal administration. Well, it’s true when they say that your biggest enemy is someone close to you.

This afternoon, we received an urgent report about an armed group causing a commotion. They could have been thieves, and there was a good chance they were the remnants of our opponent’s army. The king had conveniently just set out to that same area with a handful of soldiers after hearing that our enemy’s surviving troops were possibly hiding out there.

It wouldn’t be right for the king to have won all his actual battles only to die in a fight that was a chance occurrence.

After reporting this to the lieutenant, he immediately left with a vanguard unit. Depending on the number of opponent forces, a rearguard unit could be needed as well.

The king was running around, trying to build a formation with his troops, when the lieutenant found him and brought him back.

We were only able to enjoy the king’s safe return for a moment. The group that we’d received a report on were actually members of the king’s faction. The king fumed that whoever reported the group was a scoundrel, but I didn’t see a need to punish a subject who had just made a mistake.

When the orderly troops from the lieutenant’s unit brought the king back, all I could see was a bandit being arrested by the army. He had stubble and was clad in simple armor that prioritized mobility. He had a machete-like sword that was suited for chopping. He was yelling as he spoke, and he had an excessive laugh that sounded like someone going, “Gah hah hah!”

Each aspect of him on its own was unbelievable behavior for someone who’d become the leader of a large kingdom. He seemed like a thief or a mercenary—at best, he was the chief of a barbarian tribe.

It was quite pathetic for our king to be like this.

When I thanked the lieutenant for the unnecessary work he had to do, he gave me a small smile and said he was just glad that the king was safe. It doesn’t feel right that the lieutenant, who is incredibly loyal, is hated for being cold and cruel.

Month: Q Day: S

I’ve always thought it was terrible, but the king’s lack of intelligence is truly awful.

The negotiations that have been going on for quite some time are finally showing results, and tomorrow we will finally be able to meet Lord Ashbatten face-to-face. It’s clear to anyone that the results of our meeting tomorrow will greatly sway the future of the Kingdom of Valschein, but...the king doesn’t seem to understand anything.

The Kingdom of Valschein expanded its territory with tremendous momentum, which left the Ashbattens highly guarded towards us. Naturally, we have no intention of invading the Ashbatten land, which could turn into a complete fortress where every citizen is a soldier at any moment.

At this rate, we’re going to end up in a never-ending staring contest where both sides are inviolable. That would be a form of peace, but there would be many concerns remaining. We would have no guarantee that Lord Ashbatten would stay cooped up in his own territory, and in the future there could be calls from Valschein for the takedown of the Ashbattens. To avoid that, it’s imperative that we build a relationship with Lord Ashbatten.

At minimum, we want an alliance with him so the kingdom will be on friendly terms with his territory. Ideally, we’d like for the Ashbattens to join the Kingdom of Valschein. Considering they would be a defensive force on our border, there would be many advantages to the Ashbatten territory becoming a part of the kingdom, even if it means we have to beg them and give them incentives in the form of taxes and material goods.

I explained all of that to the king, but it didn’t seem like he really understood.

“I’m kinda stupid, so I don’t really get it. Why don’t we just attack ’em like we always do?” These were his words. The fact that he was grouping Lord Ashbatten together with any old powerful family showed that he truly did not understand.

I was quite busy with my preparations for tomorrow, but I exercised ingenuity and explained the situation to him using dolls and performing two roles on my own.

“This Ashbatten place, was it? Let’s just attack ’em like usual.”

“No, no. There are four reasons that won’t fly, so let me explain ’em to you in order.”

“Tell me, tell me!”

I carefully and thoroughly explained the situation, but the king still seemed like he wasn’t understanding.

I’m incredibly worried for tomorrow.

Month: Q Day: T

I’ve always thought it was terrible, but the king’s attitude is truly awful.

Today was the day of our meeting. My worries from yesterday were completely warranted.

Lord Ashbatten’s castle is the embodiment of simplicity and solidity. Comfort is secondary—it is a castle with the sole priority of keeping enemies out.

They were probably completely prepared for any intruders as well. If our meeting didn’t go well, it was possible that our lives would be in danger.

Our plan was to show our sincerity and gain the Ashbattens’ trust by sending in the king himself to such a dangerous place, but...we shouldn’t have brought the king with us. Sure, we might’ve made a terrible impression on Lord Ashbatten if the king weren’t present, but that would’ve been better than that idiot being there.

Lord Ashbatten treated us graciously and welcomed us as guests, but the king’s attitude was horrible. Throughout the entire meeting, from start to finish, he shot Lord Ashbatten suspicious looks, and repeatedly said something to the effect of “Are you lying about being strong?”

Because I’d spent yesterday going on about what an incredible man Lord Ashbatten is, it seemed that I had hurt the king’s pride. In that case, I could be at fault for his attitude, but I believe the king would’ve been just as rude even if I hadn’t tried to explain who the Ashbattens were to him.

Eventually, he started blatantly challenging Lord Ashbatten with inflammatory statements like “The truth will be clear if we just fight. Take me down, if you even can.” I don’t know what I would’ve done if the lieutenant hadn’t kept him in check.

In head-to-head combat, the king would probably win. There couldn’t possibly be any individual who is stronger than the king. But Lord Ashbatten has a greatness that could make up for the difference in their levels. As the lord chuckled about how the king was an interesting young man, I, the lieutenant, and of course the king were all intimidated.

After the lieutenant brought the king outside, I apologized, ready to trade my life for his forgiveness... Perhaps he understood that we have no intention of opposing the Ashbattens. Our meeting was rescheduled for tomorrow, but it’s possible that we’ll be killed tonight. If that’s the case, this record will become my will.

Everything about the king is unbelievably awful, but he’s not actually a bad person. He has a kind heart that is pained whenever his people suffer as a result of war, but his short temper overrides it. The slightest provocation would send him into a rage and turn what could’ve been a small squabble into a full-on war.

I’m glad to have been by the side of such a... No, this might be my last will and testament. I’ll write how I truly feel.

I wish I had served someone a bit more sensible. He may be my king, but there are too many aspects about him that are just awful.

◆◆◆

“That’s what you meant when you said he was awful...?”

It was true. The first king was much more awful than I’d expected, but...I hadn’t expected him to be awful in that sort of sense. Patrick, who’d been reading the advisor’s diary beside me, was also at a loss for words.

Ronald had obviously misled us, and he flashed a smile that was awful in a completely different sense. “What do you think? He’s terrible, isn’t he?”

“He’s not a person with a terrible personality who likes to mislead people and have fun watching them be shocked.”

“Come on,” Ronald said, grinning with that plastered smile of his. I’d expected the first king to be awful in the same way that Ronald was.

The first king used his political power to demote the Demon Lord, who had helped found the kingdom... That doesn’t match up with the stupid king with a bad attitude who doesn’t know how to carry himself that appears in these records.

I wasn’t going to argue that the first king wasn’t similar to a selfish tyrant, but the advisor’s diary didn’t make him seem like an oppressive dictator. Though the advisor complained, they undoubtedly revered their king.

Oh, that’s right! Patrick’s ancestors were mentioned too. Looking back on the history, I’m pretty sure their negotiations went well and Lord Ashbatten became a margrave.

“Your family’s a tribe of warriors,” I said to him.

“You’re getting off topic.”

Patrick had a look on his face that said, “It’s about my family, and also about the past, so it has nothing to do with me personally,” but when it came to one-on-one battles, it was totally possible that my Pat-Pat was the strongest of all the Ashbattens.

While we were going on a tangent, Ronald had prepared other documents for us.

“You should read these if you want to learn more about the falling out between the first king and the Demon Lord.” Ronald brought over a piece of paper that was probably a letter. He handed it to me, and I began to read, but...

“What kingdom’s language is this?”

“This is the same language that we use every day. This is a letter that the king wrote to his younger brother. The time period is around when Valschein grew to its current size.”

“Does that mean this is an older writing system?”

“There have been some slight changes over time, but the writing system hasn’t changed that much. You were able to read that diary without any issues, right?”

That’s right. This letter would’ve been written a few years after those diary entries. I was able to read the advisor’s diary with no problems, but the letter written by the first king himself was completely illegible. Does that mean it’s in a code? No, Ronald said it’s the same language we use every day... So it’s not a code, nor an unfamiliar language...

“Did he just have terrible handwriting?”

“He just had a unique way of writing...”

It seemed that on top of his other flaws, the first king also had terrible penmanship. Was his brother even able to read this? Oh, the first king’s younger brother is the guy who founded the Hillrose family duchy—in other words, he’s Ronald and Eleanora’s ancestor.

I’d forgotten that these people that I interacted with on a regular basis were from a historically famous family. I’m pretty sure that back then the Dolknesses weren’t even nobles—the head of the family was a yeoman to someone, or something like that.

A letter between the first king and the first duke sounded like it could contain some valuable information, but it was useless if I couldn’t read it. The letters were a complete mess, like if someone had written in an unstable notepad while standing, so I had to just start with the parts I could make out and infer the rest.

“I think I can make this part out,” I said. “‘Cull back’...?”

“Oh, that part says ‘call back.’”

“Call? Doesn’t it look like ‘cull’? No matter how you mess up an ‘a,’ it wouldn’t look like a ‘u.’”

“You’re correct! Technically, it says, ‘cull back.’”

Could it be that on top of horrible penmanship, the text in this is also just a mess? Can I just tear up this letter?

We’d finally gotten far enough in the letter to make out the important information. According to Ronald, there had been members of the royal family and intellectuals of the kingdom who had deciphered the contents of this letter, but because of its contents, no one created a legible transcription.

Even though we had the original text before us, Ronald began sharing with us the transcription of the text, which had only been passed down orally.

At the time of the founding of the kingdom, the Demon Lord was in charge of purging Valschein of traitors. The leader, who was brash, wild, and had plenty of heart, and his right-hand man, who was feared for being heartless—the hero and the Demon Lord were functioning well as the duo leading the new kingdom.

“I’ve heard that the first king was quite feared as well,” I said, interrupting Ronald.

“The Demon Lord was much more feared, because he was expressionless as he somberly did his work,” Patrick said, clarifying immediately.

“That’s exactly it,” Ronald said. “I’m going to continue, then.” Ronald’s explanation of the ancient text continued.

The Demon Lord had been working successfully as the cruel vice-commander of the new kingdom, but around the time that Valschein had grown to its current size, things started to change. He didn’t fit into the peaceful period.

The people of the kingdom were overly fearful of the Demon Lord, who had a sensitive, human heart that was in pain when he realized the situation he was in. He was able to endure the citizens’ fear when the kingdom was still warring because he thought it would help maintain moral order, but it was terrible to be treated the same way in a time of peace. He’d taken down enemies for the sake of his allies, but for some reason, he was hated by those very allies.

“I understand that the Demon Lord was struggling back then, but this letter is one that the first king sent to the duke, right? What does it have to do with the Demon Lord?”

“All of that was just the preamble to set things up. As the Demon Lord was facing the situation I’ve explained, the first king wrote down his thoughts and how he handled things.”

The explanation continued.

The first king had come up with a solution for the Demon Lord’s situation. The Demon Lord was to temporarily disappear from the public eye. The king would move him to an old, isolated castle far from the Royal Capital and wait until his terrible reputation had faded.

The king had figured that it would be a good opportunity for the Demon Lord to rest, since he was both physically and emotionally exhausted. He had also thought that being in a remote area wouldn’t be a struggle for the Demon Lord, since he wasn’t much of a people person.

The king had wanted the Demon Lord to eventually return to the Royal Capital at which time the king would give him an important position in his court.

“That’s the general gist of it, though his phrasing and word choice are a lot rougher around the edges.” With that, Ronald concluded his explanation of the letter’s contents.

I hadn’t known that the first king had had such intentions. I’d been told by the Demon Lord himself that he was sent away because the king felt that he was in his way. Maybe the Demon Lord just misunderstood what was going on.

Oh, right, the saintess! The Demon Lord said he resented the first king for stealing the woman he loved. What Ronald just told us makes it sound like there was just a misunderstanding in an otherwise positive relationship, but there were probably some romantic troubles as well.

“Is everything in that letter true?”

“If the contents are manufactured, then there’s no way to tell, but I don’t think it’s all exactly the truth because there’s probably some bias in the writer’s perspective.” Ronald easily admitted to the uncertainty towards the truthfulness of the letter’s contents. I was surprised, and Ronald admitted to yet another thing. “I’m not trying to cover for the first king or anything like that.”

“I know. We’re the ones who came to you to learn about him in the first place.”

“This letter probably doesn’t perfectly reflect the truth, but I do think it’s pretty accurate, which is why I showed it to you. I hope you’ll have a little faith in my choices.”

There was no way to tell if the king was actually going to call the Demon Lord back to the Royal Capital, but if we were to believe this, he had clearly stated to his younger brother, who founded the Hillrose duchy, that he was going to eventually have him return. Perhaps that was enough to make it more reliable information than any diary or history book.

Which parts were true, and which were lies? There was no doubt that the version of the story I’d heard from the Demon Lord had some of his own biased perspective in it as well. If we could just speak to the hero and Demon Lord themselves, we could probably get to the truth of the situation, but an opportunity like that would never come in my lifetime.

I’m still interested in that one topic, though.

“Is there any information about the first king and Demon Lord being romantic rivals?”

“Who knows,” Ronald said.

“There aren’t any?”

“Even if I were to have some witness statements from people back then about their romantic entanglements, would you trust them?” Ronald showed no signs of trying to even look for any documents.

That’s fair. I don’t think I’d trust them, whether they came from the involved parties themselves or from a third party. Information about which people are dating and who likes who are usually pretty wrong... I guess I’m good on this romantic rival topic, I thought as I shook my head. Ronald then pulled out another document he’d prepared.

“I think this is the last one. It’s something the first king wrote towards the end of his life.” Ronald then handed me a properly bound book. He opened it up to show us the contents, but the pages were much too crisp and clean. This probably wasn’t the original, but a copy.

Scanning through the text, it looked like it was written for someone. First was the diary that had sprinkles of personal complaints, which was followed by a letter from one individual to another... This third document was different from those two.

Seeing this book, Eleanora, who’d been wandering around the archive as if she were bored, finally spoke up. “I’ve seen that book before!”

I think you’re mistaken, Eleanora. It was surely her first time coming here, and there was no way Ronald would bring this document out, let alone put it somewhere his younger sister could see. I’d expected Ronald to correct her and move on, but he surprisingly nodded in agreement.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you have. This used to be in the possession of the Hillrose family. It used to be passed down within the family, but it was moved here.”

“I’ve definitely seen it before!” Eleanora repeated.

“Which room did you see it in? I believe Father said not to go into the room where it was stored.”

Eleanora fell silent for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve seen that book before...”

Setting aside whether or not Eleanora had explored the room that was off-limits, this book had historically been the Hillroses’ property. Since the Hillrose family duchy was no longer, they’d probably had it moved.

To summarize, the Hillrose family duchy had originally been established to support the royal family. The older brother was the king, while the younger was a duke—it wasn’t uncommon to appoint trusted people into high positions to help run the kingdom.

Though Valschein was currently stable, when the kingdom was first founded, things were quite rocky. The administration was pretty much established, but right before they had an official ceremony to celebrate the founding of the kingdom, the Demon Lord, consumed by anger and resentment, manipulated a horde of beasts into attacking Valschein. The first king was incredibly skilled when it came to battle if nothing else, so he was able to suppress the horde of monsters and seal away the Demon Lord.

A kingdom ruled by the hero that sealed away the Demon Lord—the king had obtained the ultimate legend for how the kingdom came to be, and he couldn’t not use it. Though, in reality, the Kingdom of Valschein was ready to fall apart at any moment.

“Was that because the first king was only skilled at fighting and nothing else?”

“That would be the natural conclusion to draw, but whoever wrote this didn’t think so.”

Oh, right. He suddenly just started explaining things so I didn’t think about it, but who wrote this book?

I continued reading. The author had deduced that the reason the kingdom was so unstable was because the Demon Lord was gone. There were more powerful noble families who were unhappy with the king than in the past. They’d first thought that the desires they’d been suppressing during the state of war were now exploding since things were peaceful, but they had been wrong.

When things were going smoothly, the powerful families all directed their dissatisfaction towards the Demon Lord, who was austere and couldn’t take a joke. The king would then, though haphazardly, come up with a compromise and make both parties accept the terms. The Demon Lord aided the king as his second-in-command by using fear behind the scenes. It was unclear whether the Demon Lord was doing this intentionally, but it was quite effective.

However, whoever wrote this text wasn’t able to use fear quite as well, so instead of having the people’s complaints directed at them, they decided to become a vehicle for those feelings. They would oppose the royal family on purpose and gather all the rebellious actors of the kingdom, making sure to keep them at an appropriate level of happiness. Finally, once their despicable desires had piled up to the brim, they were going to get rid of all these rebellious actors, along with themselves.

“Was this written by...?”

“It’s exactly who you’re thinking.”

I remembered hearing this story somewhere. This was written by the first Duke of Hillrose to outline the role of the Hillrose family. The Hillroses had stored, made copies, and passed down this book, and the successive dukes each fulfilled their duties.

That role had been continuously executed throughout generations, and as a result, Eleanora’s father carried out the final job, which led to the duchy finally ending.

I stood there in awe at the Hillrose family while Ronald, who could’ve been the head of said family, spoke in an unconcerned manner.

“Well, the Hillroses don’t really matter right now.”

“I wouldn’t say they don’t matter.”

“Aren’t you here for information about the first king? It’s fine. My father managed to get out of it with his life anyway.”

You’re not wrong, but... I was a bit unhappy that Eleanora had a blank look on her face as she listened, which made it hard to tell if she was understanding what we were discussing or not, but I kept reading until we reached the information relevant to the hero.

To summarize once more, the king had been quite concerned with the fact that he’d lost the Demon Lord and that he’d unintentionally pushed someone into the role of a convenient target for the sake of the kingdom. Then, after the final battle, he’d ended up sealing away the Demon Lord. Those who hated the Demon Lord stopped the king’s letter from reaching him, which left the two to battle without a chance to clear up their misunderstandings.

Towards the end of the king’s life, after hearing the role that the first Duke of Hillrose had established for himself, the king had been filled with even more regret.

He had thought that he wasn’t fit to be king—that he didn’t have the skills to rule over a kingdom, and that caused those around him to struggle. He had thought that if he had been a better ruler, the Demon Lord wouldn’t have been feared and isolated. The first king had felt that it was because he wasn’t fit to be king that his friend turned into a being known as the Demon Lord.

On top of everything, his own brother was about to go down a similar path as the Demon Lord. Everything was because he wasn’t a skilled enough ruler. If he had been a perfect regal king, he thought he would’ve been able to lead the Kingdom of Valschein without sacrificing everything.

The first king wanted to start over with the founding of the kingdom. If not, he wanted to at least make it so that he’d never established this kingdom. With such regrets in his heart, the sickly king deliriously mumbled those thoughts.

“Because of the sort of man my older brother is, I established the Hillrose duchy. I beg my descendants reading this—there is no need to force yourself to carry out the role of this family, but if you want to support the king of your generation, I hope you will carry on my wishes.”

With that, the text in the book concluded.

The first Duke of Hillrose’s determination was incredible, but even more than that, I was shocked by the first king’s regrets. The king was a barbarian who lacked both intelligence and proper behavior, contrary to my earlier impression of him. That very barbarian hadn’t wanted his relationship with the Demon Lord to collapse, but he’d ended up becoming the hero. That hero died, his heart full of regret for the people who were sacrificed to establish his kingdom.

My impression of the king had changed several times in this short period of time. The one thing that stayed consistent about every version of him was that he was never very kingly.