116 Chapter 116: Prisoners of War

This was right after the conversation with Donorea and when I was about to return to my men. Before I reached their party, a voice called out to me.

"Colonel Tanaka, a moment, if you please."

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Turning around, I found myself face to face with Regis's regal figure.

"Your majesty."

Regis raised a hand to beckon for me to follow him. I obeyed and he took me to the same balcony where I was just accompanying Lilith.

"I'm sorry to throw this onto you so soon after we won our last battle, but I'm afraid this can't wait."

"You're giving me my next assignment already?" I asked wearily.

Regis was taken aback, but he chuckled and shook his head.

"Relax. I haven't decided where to send you and your battalion yet."

I groaned. "But you did already decide to send us on our next mission."

"Sort of," Regis admitted. "But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. You'll be fine. I have faith in you and your men. You did extremely well this time…I can't emphasize it enough. I'm really grateful to you for your timely reinforcements. Just a little push and Evelyn's Chosen would have broken through the gates of Verunhive and Mordia. We were getting our asses handed to us. Your appearance turned the tide in our favor."

"Nah…I didn't do much. It was my men who did all the work."

"You led them well…and you defeated two of Evelyn's Chosen…something Queen Scarlet, the Iron Knights and I failed to do."

Speaking of which, I didn't see the Iron Knights. Takeda and his Eight Guardians left immediately after the war, probably to heal their wounds. They were hurt pretty badly, to the extent they couldn't show up for the ceremony.

"I failed to kill them, though."

Neither Umezu Shigeo nor Kido Mayumi actually actively bullied me, so they weren't high on my target list. As long as I put them in their places, they wouldn't be showing up again to bother me. I had a feeling they were done with being Kobayashi's lackeys, but I could be mistaken.

"You didn't have to," Regis assured me. "You were up against not one, but two Evelyn's Chosen. And you were fighting by yourself."

"Uh, well…"

"Um, anyway, what did you call me here for?"

I was certain it wasn't to praise me.

Regis rested his elbows on the railing and peered into the night, his expression grave and troubled. After a few seconds, he turned to me.

"It's about the prisoners."

"…prisoners?"

"Do you remember the prisoners you captured when you saved Haemorage?"

"Ah…the Legnica 82nd Regiment and the 7th Battalion of the Marrina Marine Corps." I recalled them, all right. "And Major Kracauer. How are they doing?"

"Well…they're still all right. Physically anyway."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? Aren't we…uh, treating them well and in accordance to the Morten Convention peace treaty?"

Regis stared at me blankly. "What Morten Convention peace treaty?"

"Uh…you know, to treat all prisoners of war as humanly as possible?"

"Oh, if it's about that, yes. We're treating them well. They're quite the drain on our resources, though, especially in times of war, but I have given firm orders not to abuse them or deprive them of food and water."

"That's good. Thanks."

"Why are you thanking me?"

Good question. Why, indeed? Well, it didn't matter. I scratched my head and exhaled before folding my arms.

"Then, what about them?"

Regis looked a little restless, placing his palms on the railing and staring off into the night. He swallowed.

"We approached the human kingdoms…sent envoys of peace, asking them if they would like their prisoners back. For a truce. A few days of truce. Obviously it would be completely unreasonable to think we can end the war by using the prisoners as hostage, but a few days of nonviolence or noncombat would benefit both parties."

"Let me guess…they refused?"

"Not just that." Regis stared at me, his face grave and thunderous. "They tried to kill our envoys, and they even sent a message back."

Raising his hand, he conjured a holographic screen. A blue-tinted 3D projection beamed into the space between us. I widened my eyes when I saw it take the shape of a miniature Kobayashi Kenji, dressed in long, flowing velvet fur coat, a crown and other sorts of royal, extravagant robes. He looked more like an emperor than even Regis himself.

"Go ahead and kill all the prisoners," Kobayashi sneered, his lips curled upward in scorn. "I don't care. They're no use to me. It's their fault for getting themselves captured. Besides, as my loyal followers, they should be honored to sacrifice their lives for me…for my Empire of Humanity."

The holographic display then winked out. I gaped at the now empty space, scarcely able to believe what I had just heard.

I knew Kobayashi was a bastard, but that was just…insane. The guy was really insane. He didn't care about anybody. To him, his "loyal followers" were mere expendable pawns in a gamee, pieces he could use and then freely discard once they were of no use to him. Not only did he not care about their lives and welfare, he was going to squeeze every drop of usefulness out of them until they were dry, and then throw them away.

"There you have it." Regis looked as if he wanted to plunge his fist into the hologram and rip Kobayashi's throat out. "Even their own ruler has less concern for their lives and welfare than us, the enemy. So we're stuck with two massive human regiments, having to feed and shelter them until the war is over or the reigning emperor is changed."

"Oh, gosh…"

I felt as if a headache was building inside my head. Massaging my temples, I also turned to stare at the night sky. This was just ridiculous.

At the same time, I understood Regis's concerns. Morten's resources were already stretched because of war. Helsfort couldn't afford to keep these soldiers as prisoners indefinitely. We had to either release them or kill them.

The former was not an option because Regis himself didn't want his soldiers back. The latter was just too drastic.

"That's not just the problem. They learned of it…my wardens, frustrated at the diversion of resources, uh…'accidentally' let slip to them the news. Not just that. They also know that their previous kings and queens…the royal families of their respective nations…have been murdered and wiped out by the current Emperor of Humanity. And that the princesses of those royal families had been forcibly inducted into the Emperor's harem."

"In other words, they're not taking the news too well."

Regis nodded solemnly. "Even if we don't kill them, it's a matter of time before they descend into total despair. That said…it appears they're desperate enough to defect to Morten and conquer back their kingdoms…fighting alongside demons if necessary."

"That sounds like a plan," I joked. "Why don't we recruit them into our army and use them to conquer their home kingdoms?"

"Hmm…" Regis considered that for a few seconds, his finger on his chin. "That sounds like a brilliant idea, actually."

"Ha ha ha…huh? It is? I was only joking."

"No." Regis shook his head. "It does make perfect sense. But the logistics and administrative work will be a nightmare. I can't see myself able to easily convince the government and military to release former enemies and then use them as allies."

"Why not? I wouldn't mind having them as allies."

Regis chuckled. "You're too optimistic, Colonel Tomoyuki."

I shrugged. Perhaps it was because I was a human myself, so I felt some sort of kindred spirt with them. But I could see why any other demon commander would refuse to work with them. There was no way they would easily trust a former enemy that was trying so hard to kill them.

That said, even the most oblivious demon commanders and nobles would have noticed that there was a huge disparity between the human forces now and the human armies back then. Before, the humans were fighting for their lives, aiming only for survival. But now, after they gained the upper hand and came under the rule of the so-called Emperor of Humanity, they had transformed into fanatical, zealous devotees to Kobayashi's cause, happily throwing away their lives to commit the genocide of the demon races.

Come to think of it, Major Kracauer and his regiment, as well as the Marinna Marine Corps were captured before Kobayashi rose to his current position of Emperor. They were most likely spared from all the brainwashing and indoctrination.

"If possible, I would like to help them."

Regis raised an eyebrow at that. "You would want to help humans?"

"I was a human once," I reminded him. "But…well, just those guys in particular. I feel sorry for them. They've been abandoned by their emperor, they've been discarded by their kingdoms, and now they're left to rot in here indefinitely. I'm trying to think of a way for them to be useful to us…at the same time, I don't want to treat them like tools. I'm sure they would be frustrated at being imprisoned indefinitely as well. They'll definitely want to do something when they hear about what's going on at home. Nothing's more frustrating than listening to how everything's so screwed up in your kingdom, yet you're stuck here, unable to do anything."

"True enough," Regis admitted. "Even I feel sorry for them. And we can't keep them forever. I'm reluctant to kill them off as well…because we'll be doing the same thing as the enemy."

"What should we do then?"

"I'll think about it." Regis clapped a hand on my shoulder. "This is something for me to worry about. Go get some rest…you and your men have earned it. Once I figure something out, I'll call upon you. In any case, get ready to leave in two days' time."

"Understood. We'll return to Helsfort two days later…in the morning."

"Good." Regis smiled warmly and turned to return to the hall. "I'm counting on you, Colonel."

*

And it was thus my joke became reality.

Within a few hours, we reached Helsfort well after midday. My battalion was diverted somewhere in the main camp to park their vehicles and unload their armaments, but a runner ran forward to fetch me. Apparently Regis wanted an audience.

"Tomoyuki, you're finally here."

The dark-haired Demon Lord spun around to face me when I entered the hall. I saluted, and then bowed respectfully.

"At your service, your excellency."

"Good. I've been going through some administrative matters, and as I informed Captain Kratz, we can go ahead and begin the capture of Marrina Isles."

"…uh…the one with the naval base, your majesty?"

"That's the one," Regis affirmed with a smile. "I know it's an insurmountable task, but that's exactly why I'm entrusting it to you. You're the only one with the skills and intelligence to accomplish this mission."

Regis was clearly overestimating my intelligence. Even the readers knew how stupid I was. They had been complaining in the comments how idiotic, how stupid and how retarded I was. Perhaps characters in fictional worlds had a much lower intelligence quotient than reality. Or maybe readers far divorced from the reality and being on the actual ground of making decisions and fighting found it easy to resort to armchair logic. "Why isn't he summoning his zombies!?" because my enemies had spells that could wipe out my hordes of undead, duh. "Why is he fighting in close range melee combat when he's supposed to be a mage?" because I'm not a fucking mage, and I have very few long-range spells, duh. Plus I had devoured Minamoto Kureha's Sword Saint Ability. Did readers forget that or something? Of course I would make full use of Minamoto's Sword Saint Ability because I had it. It was much better and more versatile than my two ranged spells. "Why didn't he eat the dead soldiers?" because there's way too many corpses and most of them didn't offer any advantage to being eaten, duh.

Whatever. I was stupid, readers believed I was stupid, so let's just ignore the actual logic and my reasoning, and assume that I really was stupid. People thought I was retarded when I held back against Suzuki, but I had a good reason. For one thing, I wasn't idiotic enough to show all my special abilities to the Eight Guardians of the Iron Knights in case I had to fight them later, and I was deliberately holding back so that I could watch them display their abilities and prepare a countermeasure when I inevitably fought them later.

But no, readers insisted that I was stupid for holding back, for not summoning stuff immediately at the start of the fight (oi, summoning takes time. I took about three minutes or more to summon my Titan, Matsukaze. How long do you think I'll need to summon my undead ancient dragon, which was like ten times more powerful? I was lucky I didn't need thirty minutes to summon Ryuu!), and for "forgetting" my abilities. No, I was holding back for a reason, so that my potential rivals wouldn't know all my trump cards and so that I could get a chance to see them fight.

However, readers know much better than me, right? Since they're obviously so much smarter than me, had infallible logic and strategies, and were geniuses at taking revenge. You know what, I should just stop going along with this story and let the readers dictate what happens. I had been receiving complains that the fights were dragging out too much, the story was dragging out too much, and even Dragomanpl had gotten tired of reading this long-ass story that just seemed to go on forever. Let's just end this farce once and for all.

"…Tomoyuki?"

"Sorry. Please go ahead."

I realized that Regis was waiting for me to finish ranting in my mind. He stared at me quizzically, and then continued.

"I believe in you and your battalion. If anyone can pull off destroying the naval base, it'll be you." Regis stared at me. "After our talk in Moria, I was thinking that you were right. Our next target should be the kingdoms of these prisoners that we have."

"What about the prisoners?"

"Ah…about that…I believe you should talk to them personally. They've been asking for something outrageous." Regis smiled cynically. "And you would be surprised…it has something to do with your suggestion the other night."

"Which suggestion? You know I'm full of terrible suggestions."

Regis's cryptic smile widened. "You'll see."

A shield platoon of royal guards escorted us from the throne room to the dungeons in the castle. Unlike the usual, cliché dungeons made out of cold gray stone, the prison under the Helsfortian castle was bright and well renovated. There were clean facilities, proper lighting and amneities, and the prisoners were given their privacy and personal, albeit tiny, rooms.

"You should meet the human leader," Regis told me before he opened the door to what seemed like an interrogation room. I glanced at him, puzzled, and then stepped inside.

Major Kracauer was sitting inside, behind a table. He was dressed not in his Legnica corps uniform but the orange jumpsuit that was issued to all prisoners. I noticed that he wasn't handcuffed or chained.

They were allowing him some freedom.

"Major Tanaka!"

"It's Colonel now," Regis told him. Kracauer's eyes widened and he nodded.

"Congratulations are in order, Colonel Tanaka."

"Nah, don't worry about it." I felt embarrassed over the formality. "Um, Major Kracauer, it's been a while. How are you doing?"

"Pretty well, considering the circumstances." Then the middle-aged veteran fell into a glum silence. "My men…and I heard about the news…about what happened to our kingdoms. Both Legnica and Marrina."

"I'm sorry." I bowed my head. "I wasn't able to stop Kobayashi from killing his majesty King Leric, nor was I able to save her highness Princess Merly."

"No, no, no!" Kracauer waved his hands frantically. "It's not your responsibility or obligation to do that! It's just that…we…we couldn't believe it."

"Neither can I."

Kracauer was squeezing his fingers so tightly that they whitened. He glared at the table, downcast and solemn. Gritting his teeth, he ground out every word.

"I know we're supposed to be grateful to Hero-sama…to Kobayashi-sama for defeating the Demon Lord and saving our kingdoms. But that man…has become a monster. He has committed atrocities, forced our kingdoms into a war we didn't want, refused peace and rebuilding, and continued to sacrifice countless lives for some genocidal cause. And now he did something unforgivable. Not only did he murder my liege…the king I pledged eternal loyalty to…he had the gall to ursurp the throne, force her highness Princess Merly into marriage, and then proclaim himself Emperor of Humanity. Even if the rest of the world accepts it, I will not stand for it. Neither will my men. We cannot allow him to rule over Legnica like this!"

"I understand." I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "But the only way to stop him is to defeat him and his armies…and bring him to justice."

Preferably by killing him. I was so going to kill Kobayashi, no matter what. Screw bringing him to trial or making him answer for his crimes. I was going to nuke him into oblivion and scatter his ashes so that he would never exist in this universe ever again.

Killing him was bringing him to justice. According to my sense of justice, of course.

"Yes…and I would like to make a request."

Kracauer raised his head determinedly and clenched his fingers tightly.

"We can't…just sit in here and wait. We've heard how he has thrown us away and told you to kill us. We've heard of all the unforgivable atrocities he pulled…how he killed every single human royal family and ursurped their thrones to rule over all the human kingdoms as the Emperor. And how he's expending soldiers' lives carelessly and recklessly just to pursue his goal of genocide. We can't just do nothing. We want to stop him. We want to fight him. We want to reclaim our kingdoms and take back our homes from him. We want to liberate our people from his tyranny."

I exhaled wearily. "I hate to break it to you, but that will be difficult. I'm not sure if your people even want to be liberated. They've been brainwashed and indoctrinated into Kobayashi's fanatical slaves, zealously loyal to him."

"We've heard. And we'll find a way to break that spell." Kracauer looked at me, his eyes grave and imploring. "I hope…you have a way to destroy whatever foul enchantments he cast to bewitch our people."

"I'm afraid I don't…" I closed my eyes and considered briefly. "But perhaps Aoyama-kun or any of the Iron Knights will. I'll have to approach them for help."

Breaking spells and curses…that sounded more like Aoyama Aoi's kind of thing. As a witch doctor, he was more familiar with curses and enchantments, and possibly how to break them. I would need to contact him and the Iron Knights later.

"I'll count on you for that. Also…I know this is unreasonable, but…we wish to fight too."

"That's what I told you," Regis muttered. I nodded.

"Um, okay. I wouldn't mind…in fact, it would be great if I had your help." I glanced at Regis, and then turned back to Kracauer. "If I recall, one of the regiments under our custody is the Marrina Marine Corps. Since our next target is the Marrina Isles, it would benefit us greatly to have some inside help. Do you think you can talk to their commander and get him to cooperate?"

"Oh, we have already discussed this." Kracauer smiled grimly. "All of us are ready to defect over to the demonic side and help invade our kingdoms to reclaim our people, if necessary. I know it's impossible, but we want to directly help in liberating our kingdoms from the so-called Emperor of Humanity. It doesn't sit well with us to just do nothing and rely on other people to do all the fighting for us."

I took a deep breath and tilted my head slightly to consider the option. I glanced at Regis, who seemed to be waiting for my response.

The sly bastard was beaming.

"If you're willing to take the risk and trust these humans, then I'll entrust them to you."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah." Regis confirmed with a nod. "I've to say, this is a highly unorthodox method, though. None of the other demon commanders are willing to trust humans. You're probably the only one who would welcome them…that said, I don't know about your men. You'll have to persuade them to work alongside humans."

"We're aware that you can't trust us, and we don't blame you for it." Kracauer sounded weary and resigned. "You're right to suspect us. I would do the same thing if our positions are reversed."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've an idea about that."

"You do?" Kracauer asked, astonished. Regis merely grinned wickedly.

"As expected of Colonel Tomoyuki."

"Well…so…you really can give me the human soldiers?"

"I can." Regis drummed his fingers on the table. "I wrangled with the ministry of defense and threatened a few nobles, but in the end I managed to convince them that we don't have the resources to maintain the prisoners' welfare indefinitely, and that this is the best way to release them. If Kobayashi doesn't want them back, then we'll just use them to take back their kingdoms."

He then turned to gaze at Kracauer.

"As long as you remember this favor you owe us…and never bare your fangs at Morten again, then we have a deal."

"Deal," Kracauer agreed immediately. There wasn't even a moment's hesitation in his answer. "Kobayashi is the greatest threat right now. We'll never forgive him for corrupting the human kingdoms and taking power for himself."

"There you have it." Regis returned to me. "You have the human regiments at your disposal. They'll be incorporated into your battalion…but since you have one battalion-sized human force and one entire regiment – your battalion will now become an actual brigade…no, a regiment-sized force. Complete this mission successfully, and I'll make your regiment permanent."

"We'll be happy to pledge our forces to you if you help us liberate our kingdoms," Kracauer promised. "I'm not sure how much my word is worth, but…I'll do my best to uphold this promise."

"Sounds good to me." I turned to him. "Let the Marrina Marines know…our next mission is in the Marrina Isles. We'll be taking the Marrina naval base."

"…huh?"

Kracauer's jaw dropped at that. From the way he turned frightfully pale, I could tell what he thought of the chances of success for this mission.

"Yeah. I was the one who assigned him this mission, especially since I anticipated that he'll be making use of these guys."

Regis looked proud of himself. Kracauer switched his gaze from me to the Demon Lord, his dignified composure completely lost.

"That's…that's insane! The Marrina naval base is the most fortified and strongest naval positions in Restia! We'll never be able to break them! We'll get utterly destroyed by their armada of battleships and cruisers!"

"And that's why we need your insider knowledge." I offered a hand to the stunned Kracauer. Beside me, Regis chuckled. That cunning fox had already anticipated everything. Well, I would just have to play into his hands then. "If there's anyone who knows how to conquer the naval base from the inside out, it'll be the Marrina Marines."

Kracauer closed his mouth and swallowed, thinking for a moment. And then he finally nodded, steeling his resolve.

"I understand. I'll talk to them."

Then he smiled.

"But if we pull this off…we'll make history. You will make history, Colonel. That impregnable naval base has never fallen in all of Restia's history, not even during humanity's darkest ages. But if it's you, then maybe…"

His eyes flared in hope.

"…we just might be able to reclaim our kingdoms from the Tyrant…"