“Um, sorry, but we don’t actually know if that letter is a forgery or...” one soldier piped up.
“This letter is quite clearly authentic,” Ellie said testily. “Now, stop wasting your breaths with all that nonsense and direct your energies toward rescuing your associates!”
“A-At once, ma’am!” the soldiers replied, all of them withering under the very palpable pressure Ellie was exuding. They scurried away like mice to attend to their new duties, and watching on, Ellie sighed under her breath. For him to show mercy to these utter barbarians highlights how very kind Blessed Lord Light is, Ellie thought. If he’d given me permission to do so, I would’ve reduced this city to cinders, along with all the people standing in our way. Well, all besides the humans, of course.
After Voros was captured and taken to the bottom level of the Abyss, Light had informed Ellie of his decision on what to do with the Demonkin Nation. Using an SR Telepathy card, Light had found out from observers assigned to surveil the royal capital that lots of soldiers had descended into madness. Because these soldiers hadn’t committed any obvious crimes, and they weren’t in possession of human slaves either, Light had ordered Ellie to save the soldiers as the Wicked Witch of the Tower.
By appearing in this guise, it’s clear to all who it was that saved them, thought Ellie. Perhaps this is a ploy to make them more receptive to my Absolute Autonomy for Humans decree. Or at least, maybe that’s his surface reasoning for doing this.
Ellie looked down at the proxy letter she was holding in her hand, which, like she had told the soldiers, really had been written by Prince Voros himself. At first, Light had considered making a copy of Voros by using a UR Double Shadow card, but he’d decided against it since that particular gacha card was too rare and valuable, and he didn’t want to use such a precious card on someone so closely—if indirectly—linked to the suffering his brother had endured. In any case, Light didn’t really want to rule over the Demonkin Nation with a look-alike puppet, so using a Double Shadow card would just have been a waste.
Now that Mr. Voros is no longer with them, the demons will fight among themselves for the throne once all this fake C furor dies down, thought Ellie. But before that happens, I’ll evacuate every human slave from this nation, and use my dragons and other high-level monsters to enforce the Absolute Autonomy decree. If the new authorities decide to violate the decree and start enslaving humans again, I’ll simply destroy this nation with my dragons. Since there will be no humans to accidentally get caught in the cross fire, I will be entirely free to make an example of them.
But that was a future consideration, and Ellie was well aware of Light’s underlying motives for his decision. The witch gazed down at the letter in her hand and smiled lovingly.
This letter and the fact that we rescued them from the fake C means we’ll easily secure control of this nation, if only temporarily, thought Ellie. Almost every single person involved in the leadership of this kingdom died in that blast, which is yet another point in our favor. What’s important is this control will only be temporary, since we have no intention whatsoever of ruling over the demonkin indefinitely. We’ll use this brief power vacuum to free the slaves and exact Blessed Lord Light’s revenge on Mr. Diablo.
During this interregnum, Light would have free rein to target Diablo, who was still part of the Demonkin Nation’s aristocracy. Light could strip Diablo of his rank, seize his domain, and grant it to whomever he pleased, even Diablo’s estranged elder brother. But if the objective was just to destroy Diablo, Light could have easily atomized his former partymate any time he wanted. But an end like that wasn’t likely to satisfy Light, so he’d sent Ellie to take control of the royal capital, and because she was the smartest person in the Abyss, she immediately identified Light’s true design.
Blessed Lord Light truly is amazing, Ellie gushed inwardly. To think he would simply take control of this nation’s seat of power with such minimal effort. He must have strategized this far in advance the moment the fake C appeared. Normally, I would be the one suggesting such an approach, but I failed to notice this pathway sooner. If I don’t get my act together, I’ll forever be a hindrance and deadweight to His Blessedness. I must concentrate on reducing Blessed Lord Light’s burden as much as I can!
Ellie stuffed the proxy letter back into her cleavage and vowed to be a much more faithful vassal to her beloved dungeon master.