400 Years Old Virgin Demon King - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

That time they nearly assassinated me, but I forgave them after turning the tables

It happened about one month after the Pope had submitted . I had gone to meet the king of the first kingdom in order to discuss the promotion of compulsory education, and taken the knowledgeable Suzuna with me . It appeared that this thing known as summer vacation had ended, and so I asked her when she was free and had made plans accordingly .

“Demon King!?”

The moment I heard Suzuna’s cry, my back had already been pierced by a longsword .

But, it felt like nothing . Of course, it did . It would require the same destructive force needed to end the world in order to penetrate my defenses . And aside from me, Suzuna was the only one who could output so much power .

That being said, this was most unusual . That there was someone who would attempt to assassinate me in the center of the audience room of the first kingdom’s palace . Especially as these retainers of the first kingdom would know of my powers the most .

But then, something even more surprising followed . One of the priests who had been in attendance started to cast offensive magical spells towards me . And it was quite powerful,  explosive magic . If these spells were allowed to explode, it would not just hit me and Suzuna, but the king, ministers, and attendants would all be in danger .

And so I enveloped the explosive magic in a defensive spell and allowed the explosion to occur inside of it . Not only was no one in the hall hurt, but the audience room did not have as much as a scratch .

The priest who had cast the spells had already been seized by the royal guards by this point . Yet, at the same time, a loud noise made me turn around and I saw that the royal guard who had attacked me had been kicked away by Suzuna . The guard crashed into the wall and lost consciousness .

“That is most impressive . I had heard that you were skilled in martial arts, but would never have thought you capable of making such a large man fly back with a kick . ”

I showered Suzuna with praise . Suzuna herself was quite tall, but her physique was feminine, she was not muscular . In terms of weight, the knight who she had kicked was surely much heavier than her . Yet she had kicked him into the air, it must have been due to her skills in martial arts, I thought .

But Suzuna’s answer was most unexpected .

“I just tested this thing where you can use magic to strengthen your body . It’s a well-known cheat used when someone transfers over to another world . So I thought I must be able to do it here, and I was . ”

“What?”

I was most shocked when I heard her words . I had studied magic for three hundred and sixty years, and yet I had never even considered the possibility of using magic to enhance my body’s capabilities . There were parts of Suzuna’s story that I could not understand, but I had heard about there being fictional tales of going to other worlds and using magic . So I could assume that this was what she was talking about . It was most fascinating, this world of hers!

In spite of it being a world where all magic was lost, their imagination was astounding!!

Here, a different voice entered in .

“Demon, Demon King, forgive this insolence! I assure you, this was not my or my countries intent!! My younger brother did this all on his own!! These people will be executed, I will also offer my own life, but please, will you not have mercy on the rest!!”

The king of the first kingdom was pleading for forgiveness on his knees . I had thought that the priest who attacked me must be one of the cardinal’s who was around the Pope, but apparently, he was the younger brother of the king . Even so, this king never failed to put his own people above himself . It was a good way to live .

“Good . There is no need for any executions . I will forgive them both”

I declared magnanimously to the king . However, to this, the king looked most unbelieving and asked,

“Bu-, but Demon King, these men tried to kill you?”

And so I answered calmly .

“There is not a scratch on my body . O King, would you capture and execute a child for the crime of throwing a ball of mud at you? Indeed, it may be disrespectful, but such a lack of generosity is not fitting for a king . Likewise, the attacks from these men are no more a threat than a ball of mud to me . Leave them be . ”

“Ah, yes . Thank you for your mercy, Demon King…”

“Stop, older brother! Demon King, I do not want your mercy! I do not care what the Pope may have said, I will never accept you! You do not obey the authority of the church, you are are an enemy of god!!”

The cardinal who seemed to be the king’s brother interjected . Hmm, I suppose he was a zealot who believed that the church was the greatest power . I saw several such people during my time at the monastery, you cannot reason with such people . And so I turned to the king and said,

“Tell the Pope this . There is a high-ranking cardinal here who seems to have forgotten that you submitted . ”

The leaders of the Orthodox Church had complete authority . A cardinal who went against something that the Pope, the highest authority of the church, said, would surely be stripped of his rank and banished .

But ignoring all that, I personally thought that this cardinal had something commendable about him . After all, he could use magic . It was proof that he had abstained for at least forty years . In spite of being born among royalty, and being a high-ranking clergyman who would face many seductions, it was impressive . Though, I suppose you could say that it allowed him to become absorbed in his fanaticism instead .

With that in mind, I approached the cardinal and spoke to him .

“If you really do hate me so much, I will let you attack me as much as you like . I will take whatever you can throw at me . The Saviour himself said, ‘But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also . '”

This man was a sorcerer, he would have ways of making a living even if he were cast out of the church . He could even continue to target me if he wanted . And well, maybe if he decided to hole up in a mountain and study for four hundred years, he could finally pose a threat to me . Though, by then I should also be much stronger than I am now .

However, upon hearing my words, the cardinal looked up at me with an expression of shock . He began to ask .

“…Are, do you really mean it?”

“I always mean what I say . I have no intention of submitting to the church, but I have always respected the teachings of the Saviour . You too should leave the church and reevaluate your own faith . ”

The cardinal heard these words and crumpled to the floor . Hmm, it seemed like he was finally ready to accept my faith . Of course, maybe he was just glum over the fact that he would be ousted from the church which he had given everything for .

“Really, you are so kind to others, Demon King . ”

Suzuna said with a little exasperation, but I had no intention of changing my stance . After all, I was a ruler with total control . I was allowed to act in any manner that I liked, and so that was what I would do .

We watched the cardinal and the knight who must have been his confidante, be taken away . I decided that it was time to talk about what we were supposed to, the promotion of compulsory education and the building of schools throughout the lands . This would be discussed with the king of the first kingdom and his ministers .

The most important of all was the procuring of teachers . In fact, we were currently reorganizing the chivalric order so that public order could be maintained, and there was extra personnel . I was suggesting that those among the remaining who wished it, could become teachers . Most of the knights came from an educated class of nobles, surely some of them had the requirements to become a teacher .

Of course, there were also some among the nobility who looked down on the common people, but at the same time, knights were strictly taught to work for their king and people . So knights who were a part of the chivalric order did not hold prejudice against others, instead, they protected and cherished them . They would be a good fit for teachers .

On the matter of compulsory education, the Orthodox Church promised to cooperate, allowing a number of its low-ranking clergymen and novice monks to temporarily work as teachers . They even offered churches and monasteries to be used until the actual school buildings were complete . Well, perhaps they were afraid that if they didn’t show how useful they could be, I would go directly and ‘educate’ them myself .

And so things were moving along in the first kingdom, and even in the other countries, with small differences, compulsory education was beginning to be adopted . In the second kingdom, the Church of Scriptures were cooperating much like the Orthodox Church .

It felt very good to see the world slowly becoming a better place like this . With this sense of renewal, I think I should continue with my world domination in order to spread these changes to the whole world .