Chapter 380
Chapter 380. Survival Strategy
After being shocked by the fact that Arthur had multiple families, I was guided to a dining establishment. Apparently, this was the wife’s family restaurant, and the specialty dish, which featured the lake’s bounty seasoned with spices and baked with grains in a flat pan, was delicious.
“Yum! This is so good! Leila, can we come here again tomorrow?”
“Of course! I love this too!”
We both stuffed ourselves.
Thus, we ended up having our meals at this place for lunch and dinner the next day. It was a shame they weren’t open for breakfast. While a multi-course meal fit for a Demon Lord is nice, hearty single-serve dishes like this are also fantastic. Honestly, I might prefer this. It feels comforting.
By the way, there were no Night Elves in this town, so we could relax.
Among the four I had taken down in the previous town, there was one who had infiltrated this town. Apparently, after I eliminated the messenger in the western part of Aulitos Lake, their routine reports stopped coming, which raised suspicion, and they fled quickly.
“Quite a keen scent they have, huh?”
As an intelligence agent, they seemed to be quite competent. It was unfortunate that they ended up in the place where I showed up to punch them.
At the warehouse run by the trading merchant where the Night Elf spy had infiltrated, the emergency food supply had been poisoned. This was a parting gift left by the spy while they were fleeing (I had them confess).
Since it was for storage, no immediate damage was done, but by next year, when they would likely replace it, there could have been many poisonings during an emergency. What a terrible thing to do!
When the trading merchant, who had been half-skeptical about hearing that the missing employee was a Night Elf spy, tested the stored food on a rat and watched it convulse and die, his face went pale.
Luckily, it wasn’t the case that the entire Cortera Trading Company had been turned into puppets, so the merchant seemed to avoid dismantling his business. Since no victims from the poison had occurred, aside from having to discard a large amount of stored food, the damage was kept to a minimum.
“Yoo-hoo! Stay well!”
“Daddy! Come back again!”
“Both of you stay healthy! See you!”
After that, a day passed without incident, and we set sail again. Arthur waved energetically from the ship, tearfully farewell to his wife and daughter.
Family bonds seemed strong… or rather, it felt like there wasn’t anything about Arthur for anyone to dislike. But only one day of family time seemed way too short…
“So… Arthur, do you have multiple wives?”
“Yeah, in different towns. Basically, I just agree when I’m proposed to, but only one per town.”
When I asked a little shyly, Arthur casually replied while lounging in a deck chair.
“There’s a limit to the number, huh?”
“If I were to accept every proposal without restraint, I wouldn’t be able to support them all…”
By the way, it seems the living expenses or child-rearing costs are shared with the Hilburn House and the local lords.
“Didn’t that lead to a proposal war?”
Even considering that Arthur was a hero, he was quite handsome, easy to talk to, had a clean vibe, and was reliable in times of need… if he said he would accept proposals, they would surely come pouring in.
“U-uh, yeah…”
Arthur looked a bit awkward.
“So during those times, I’d talk lightly with everyone and choose the one I liked best…”
That must have taken a lot of time.
“Our family line tends to awaken to the Holy attribute, but it’s not guaranteed, so it’s always like this…”
“I see…”
Increasing the odds, huh.
“For normal humans, isn’t polygamy a taboo?”
Hmm, I think it depends on the region. Nobles often have polygamous or polyandrous arrangements, but commoners tend to have the freedom to do so as long as both parties agree and it’s manageable.
Back in my hometown, monogamy was the norm. The Holy Church performs marriage ceremonies but doesn’t enforce a doctrine of monogamy. There’s just a description in the scriptures urging humans to be fruitful and multiply.
“So the Holy Church, as long as the population of humans can be maintained, seems okay with whatever.”
Well, that seems to be the case. From that perspective, it wouldn’t be strange for Arthur, descended from legendary royal blood, to practice polygamy.
“Does Arthur have many siblings?”
“Yeah, I have many! I can’t keep track of all, but there are at least 15 siblings. If you count just names, it might be even more. About half of them have awakened to the Holy attribute and become heroes and priests.”
Though I don’t know how many are still alive, Arthur added.
…Arthur survived on the front lines and came back during his leave.
However, among his siblings, there are surely those who didn’t make it back—
Even so, having half of the children manifest the Holy attribute is impressive. I heard that the promising children are taken in by the Hilburn House before adulthood for training. Even if they don’t awaken the Holy attribute, if they immerse themselves in the Light Magic during miraculous training, they could still become healers.
And with more heroes and priests, the Ship Guardians, of course, and the Holy Church would also benefit. That’s why the lords are sharing the child-rearing costs.
“But due to the Demon Lord Army, those strategies are all messed up.”
That really is the problem…
“However, you’re marrying people from ordinary families instead of lord’s daughters.”
The wife before, Silvia, right? Despite her family being well-off, it was a restaurant.
Normally, a child who has a 50% chance of awakening the Holy attribute wouldn’t be overlooked by powers that be.
“Ah, that’s forbidden. Long ago, the Hilburn House used to do that kind of politically motivated marriage, but it seemed like it could lead to political influence on the Holy Church, so it’s now prohibited from the home country.”
Ah… I see. It would be a big deal if heroes and priests with lordly ideas prioritized the interests of their hometown over those of humanity.
“Well, even before that, it seems children born to relatives of lords strangely have a hard time awakening to the Holy attribute.”
With his arms crossed behind his head, Arthur spoke in a relaxed tone.
“It seems heroes don’t mesh well with worldly powers.”
…Makes sense.
“By the way… how many kids does Arthur have?”
“17.”
A lot!
“Three more are about to be born, or maybe they already have. I hope to meet them this time…”
Arthur softened his gaze as he tilted his cup of cold mint tea.
“Considering that his siblings must also be getting married, it’s hard to gauge how much the Hilburn House is contributing to the Holy Church’s numbers…”
It feels like there’s a Hilburn faction already… or maybe there’s already one that I just don’t know about.
“Wow… that means there are about ten potential heroes at this point.”
“Y-yeah… well, it seems like that.”
Arthur looked somewhat uncomfortable at my frank remark.
“…There’s also the feeling that it would be nice if the Hilburn House had more heirs, but given the current situation, I question whether becoming a hero is really… happiness for the children. There are times I think that…”
……
“If you’re returning from the front lines, Alex… you understand, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Even Arthur’s siblings aren’t all safe.
Even if they awakened to the Holy attribute, what awaited Arthur’s children would be—hell, which is the battlefield.
It would be reassuring and grateful if a hero could be added, as a hero myself, I think that way.
But I also completely understand a parent’s feelings for their child. Understand it… too well…
At least, it seemed like Arthur, casually reclining on the deck chair, was looking like that.
At that moment, he appeared not as a hero, but as a father.
And I suddenly felt a terrifying thought.
What if the exile ended, and I returned to the Demon Lord Kingdom, ten or twenty years from now—
Would I have to fight against Arthur’s children?
No.
Perhaps even before that—
“Arthur’s relatives…”
I felt my mouth dry.
“Was there anyone who was in the Deuthelos Front?”
Arthur fell silent for a moment.
“I have two brothers and one younger brother, plus several uncles and aunts—they went to reinforce Evaroti’s defenses.”
“…I see.”
“Could it be that Alex is also on-site?”
Staring into Arthur’s clear eyes, I instinctively averted my gaze.
“…No. I couldn’t participate in the defense.”
—Because I was on the attacking side.
“But… I’ve heard that the battle for Evaroti was extremely fierce.”
“Seems it genuinely was, and unfortunately, everyone didn’t return.”
Arthur spoke in an incredibly flat voice.
“After my leave, I’ll return to the front, but—I’ll probably be assigned to the northern front again.”
After a brief pause.
“I intend to take revenge for everyone.”
Arthur, looking relaxed as he lounged in the deck chair.
But the hands he’d crossed behind his head were tightly, tightly clenched.
