Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 138

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 138

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After providing Ivan and Ruslara with further explanation about the Black Rabbit, I returned to my Office.
I immediately issued orders to the Black Rabbit: patrol the perimeter of the Village and report immediately if anything suspicious appeared. A simple task, really.
‘Normally I’d impose a time-limited summons, but… these creatures work faithfully without such coercion.’
I found it amusing that I’d gone to such lengths explaining temporary summoning to Liribel.
In any case, just as I was about to return to my duties, Emma appeared at my Office door.
“Your Highness, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Who?”
I had no scheduled appointments today. Emma hesitated for a moment before answering.
“The Countess of Adonia, Your Highness.”
“…What?”
Only two days had passed since I sent that letter. The time was far too short for anyone to travel from the Capital to Monos.
“You’re certain it’s the Countess?”
“Yes. I confirmed her face myself.”
“…Very well, show her to the Reception Room. I’ll be right there.”
I quickly changed into appropriate attire and made my way to the Reception Room.
As I opened the door, the Countess rose to greet me with formal courtesy.
“I apologize for arriving so unexpectedly.”
“Not at all. I actually needed your assistance, which is why I sent that letter. Did you receive it?”
“Of course.”
The Countess withdrew the letter from her possession and placed it on the table.
It was indeed the letter I had sent.
“I never expected it to reach you so quickly…”
“I happened to arrive near Monos just as it was being dispatched. I intercepted it along the way.”
“That was no coincidence, I presume.”
“Certainly not. Allow me to explain the reason.”
She nodded and began her account slowly.
“A week ago, I detected an unsettling atmosphere around Monos. I set out immediately to inform you of it.”
“Why not send someone instead?”
“I wanted to come myself and assess the situation directly. If my concerns proved warranted, a letter would be too slow to respond. It was while traveling here that I received your letter.”
Could the situation she was concerned about be related to the cipher I had sent?
Noticing my unspoken question, the Countess nodded and gestured toward the letter.
“I have obtained two pieces of information. First, that the Emperor is searching for a particular Demon.”
‘Asmo-rina, perhaps.’
The Emperor was pursuing Asmo-rina to gain power. This must be what she meant.
“And second… that to find this Demon, something is planned to occur in Monos.”
“What sort of thing?”
As if this were the crux of the matter, she answered with a grave expression.
“We are offering a sacrifice. To summon the Demon Clan.”
“What do you mean by….”
“Have you ever heard the legend that the Demon Clan devours human souls, Your Highness?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“I’ve heard it in fairy tales, but… it’s all fiction. Only the Deity can annihilate souls. Absorbing magical power from a soul is possible, but only in a state where the physical body has been lost.”
“In any case, it’s true that one can gain benefits from souls.”
“Yes.”
“Then what about souls consumed by resentment or hatred? Can you obtain more magical power from such souls?”
I nodded quietly.
Magical power was ultimately another form of life force. The stronger the emotion, the more concentrated the magical power that manifested in proportion.
And the emotion that most easily emerged from the soul of the dead was hatred.
‘Wait, could it be?’
Then, the first piece of information the Countess had mentioned earlier came to mind.
‘What will happen in Monos to find the Demon Clan….’
Seeing my expression and guessing my thoughts, the Countess let out a short sigh.
“Correct. The Emperor is currently attempting to summon the Demon Clan by killing the residents of Monos. He’s even planned terrible incidents to generate intense resentment and hatred.”
Only then did I understand the purpose of the Emperor’s Knights who had attempted to abduct the residents.
They had intended to kidnap residents who knew the village’s circumstances well and extract information from them.
‘To draw out anger more efficiently….’
It was absurd.
I spoke with anger in my voice.
“This makes no sense. Such an inefficient method… the magical power that can be absorbed from a single human soul is extremely trivial.”
At best, it wouldn’t even satisfy a single low-ranking Demon. The amount obtained from taking one life was far too insignificant.
“Rather than benefiting from such meager magical power, it would be better to….”
I stopped mid-sentence and closed my mouth.
I had realized it too late.
‘If one person is insufficient, then simply offer more people as sacrifices.’
And the cipher written in the orders.
[Minimum 1,000.]
The population of Monos was approximately two thousand.
If half of them, a thousand or more, were offered as sacrifices….
“Good heavens.”
Only then did I comprehend what the Emperor was planning.
To draw forth vast magical power through the sacrifice of at least a thousand lives. And what he intended to summon with that power was Asmo-rina.
I was left speechless by such brutal thinking.
Of course, if that much magical power accumulated, it would be enough to draw a Demon. Not only Asmo-rina, but all Demons in the Empire would take interest.
The desire to absorb powerful magical power and evolve oneself was, for the Demon Clan, something akin to instinct.
‘Moreover, Asmo-rina is currently fatigued from battle. She was attacked by the Emperor and then by Gregory. If she sensed magical power in such a state….’
The probability of her coming to Monos for recovery was high.
And if she encountered the Emperor again, this time she would surely be captured by him.
This plan had to be stopped at any cost.
‘To do that, I need to know exactly what they’re trying to accomplish.’
“…Countess, can you decipher other parts of the command?”
“I can infer them. I’ve been investigating beforehand.”
The Countess pointed at the command written in the letter with her finger and continued.
“The execution date is the full moon—so we have roughly three days left. The sacrifices number at least 1,000. That means more than half of Monos’s population is the target….”
“What does this number 4 mean?”
“It’s simple. The four cardinal directions.”
“…I see.”
It wasn’t a number at all, but a representation of direction.
With a slight shift in perspective, the cipher’s meaning became crystal clear.
After finishing her interpretation, she withdrew a small book from her bosom. It was a scripture recorded in ancient Imperial language.
“And the Sun God Order has long passed down a miracle based on the four cardinal directions. It’s called the ‘Total Celestial Technique’….”
Simply put, it was a form of sorcery where dozens of believers at four cardinal points each offered prayers to invoke a miracle. And once their prayers were complete, the believers took their own lives.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“This sorcery can be applied to magical power as well. Holy power and magical power differ only in form—their essence is the same.”
Drawing holy power from a soul brimming with faith, or extracting magical power from a soul twisted by hatred.
In the end, their fundamental nature was no different.
‘For such sorcery to have been passed down… they must have performed this barbaric ritual more than once or twice.’
It was strange. The Sun God I knew was neither cruel nor negligent enough to permit such sorcery.
Seeing me lost in thought, the Countess spoke carefully.
“At first, I thought it was unfounded worry. I believed that even the Emperor wouldn’t commit such a massacre. But when I heard that the Emperor’s elite forces were preparing to deploy, I had no choice but to come verify it myself.”
“Elite forces, you say….”
“A military organization called the Emperor’s right arm. They’re called the Golden Hand, I’ve heard.”
After Black Hand comes Golden Hand. The naming conventions of this world’s people were uniformly childish.
“In other words, such elite forces are coming to massacre the residents of my Direct Dominion.”
I leaned back against the sofa and exhaled deeply.
I’d wondered why the Emperor had been quiet lately—so he was plotting something like this.
‘Come to think of it, even the Main Sect approved our business far too easily. Could they have received instructions from the Emperor not to interfere?’
The more people gathered, the easier it became to orchestrate tragedy.
‘He granted me the Direct Dominion as if bestowing a reward, and now he intends to use my residents as bait to summon the Demon Clan.’
Another hollow laugh escaped me.
‘If Ivan and the Countess hadn’t noticed this plan….’
Everything I’d built would crumble, and the people who trusted me would be sacrificed without knowing anything.
Even that child who smiled as they handed me the brooch.
“…Let’s do it.”
“Pardon?”
To the Countess, who was sending me a worried gaze, I smiled quietly.
“Let’s wage war. So the Emperor never dares to covet this Direct Dominion again.”
‘But Emperor, you chose your opponent poorly.’
The Emperor was surely confident in his victory.
But I harbored the same certainty.
‘I’ll make you realize you’ve chosen the worst possible battlefield.’
Victory will be mine.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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