Chapter 358 - Ruining Our Great Work

‘Why me, you dumbass?’

Oh Kang-Woo turned anxiously to look at Iris. For his plan to succeed, it was a necessity for the hero and the imperial princess, in other words, Kim Si-Hun and Iris, to maintain an amicable relationship.

‘You have to make the high elf take as much of an interest in you as possible, dammit. Do I really have to spell everything out for you?’

Kang-Woo had discovered from when Iris had seen through his Authority of Stealth that the blessing of the high elves imbued in Iris was considerably powerful. There was a high chance that the high elves would have great interest in the one that they had blessed.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

‘Even if they don’t treat her like their own child like Gaia does to her retainers...’

They would at least treat Iris better than other people. Kang-Woo felt as if the ideal hero-princess picture in his mind was falling apart.

‘I might have to... make some aggressive moves.’

Kang-Woo would have to push a little more aggressively for Iris and Si-Hun’s relationship to bloom. Iris already had feelings for Si-Hun, so it would not be difficult to do as long as Si-Hun cooperated.

“Yeah. I missed you too, Si-Hun.” Kang-Woo pushed aside his thoughts for now and patted Si-Hun’s shoulder. He had actually missed Si-Hun as well after all these weeks. “How did your interactions with the citizens go?”

“They were extremely passionate. Haha, I felt like I’d become an idol or something.” Si-Hun scratched his head in embarrassment.

Kang-Woo smirked.

‘Cute son of a bitch.’

No idol could ever compare to Si-Hun in terms of looks, so seeing him so embarrassed was rather cute. Kang-Woo patted Si-Hun’s shoulder and turned toward Iris.

“You should greet the princess as well, Si-Hun.”

“Oh,” Si-Hun exclaimed, having only just realized that he was told to form good relations with the princess. “I apologize, Your Highness. I was so distracted that I failed to see you.”

“Hoho. I-It’s alright! I already knew that you two are very close.” Iris, who had been staring blankly at the two of them, hurriedly smiled and bowed to Si-Hun.

Seeing that, Kang-Woo chuckled.

‘Well, well. You got jealous, huh?’

From Iris’s reaction, she seemed to have been saddened by the fact that Si-Hun had come to Kang-Woo before her.

‘I was a bit worried, but it seems it was needless.’

Her jealousy was good news, especially if it was to the point that she was bothered by the fact that Si-Hun had taken care of his older brother, despite them both being men. It showed the extent of Iris’s feelings for Si-Hun.

‘Should I stimulate those feelings a bit more?’

Kang-Woo approached Si-Hun and lightly hit his shoulder. “I was bored without you around, Si-Hun.”

“H-Hyung-nim...”

“I heard you were attacked a few times. Are you okay?”

“Of course.”

“Haha! Okay. I’m glad you’re unhurt, Si-Hun.”

Kang-Woo purposefully flaunted his intimacy with Si-Hun.

“Ngh...”

Like Kang-Woo had thought, Iris was biting her lip in frustration while staring at him and Si-Hun. Kang-Woo smiled widely.

‘Man, I might actually get two sisters-in-law at this rate. I’ll have to think of a way to persuade Layla later.’

“That aside, Si-Hun. I’m sorry to say this as soon as you’ve come back, but...” Kang-Woo prioritized what they needed to do first and foremost. He handed Si-Hun the documents that Douglas had sorted. “Capture everyone in these documents and bring them to me.”

“Me?” Si-Hun expressed.

Kang-Woo nodded. The people of the empire thought worse of the nobles than they did demons. To revive the nation as well as publicize Si-Hun as a hero, Si-Hun himself needed to step up to punish the nobles.

“Who are they?” asked Si-Hun.

“Nobles that sided with Fidelio.”

Si-Hun’s eyes turned menacing as soon as Fidelio was mentioned. It had been exposed while he was traveling the nation, but it had been such a massive incident that he had also heard about Fidelio’s true identity; he was the servant of Evil God Lucifer. The nobles that had sided with him likely did not know that Fidelio was a demon, but their actions had been no different from that of demons.

“... I guess I’ll have to head out right away.” Si-Hun stared at Kang-Woo in disappointment, his eyes seemingly asking Kang-Woo if he could come with him this time.

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly and shook his head; he had far more things to do.

‘Moreover...’

Kang-Woo couldn’t be bothered to. It was far too much of a hassle. He was already far too busy to spend any time with his darling, so he did not want to take on any more bothersome work.

‘The little brother is supposed to take on all the chores, Si-Hun. If you’ve got a problem, just get older than me.’

“I understand. I will punish them myself.” Si-Hun summoned his holy sword while exuding bloodlust.

Kang-Woo shook his head. “No. Bring them to me without killing them.”

“Pardon?” Si-Hun’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Iris needs to declare their execution herself in front of the people. Oh, since we have to give a speech to let the public know of every single one of their crimes, make sure to record any evidence you find with a crystal.”

“S-Sir Kang-Woo?” Iris expressed confusion this time.

Hearing that she needed to give a speech before the citizens, she looked at Kang-Woo anxiously.

“I told you that I would let you take back what’s yours.” Kang-Woo placed his hand on Iris’s shaking shoulders. “Nothing will change from before if you just leave everything to Si-Hun.”

Iris’s image of witch had considerably disappeared after the reveal of Fidelio’s true identity, but there was no way that the people of the empire would amicably view a princess that had been controlled by a demon. Her reputation as a witch had simply been replaced by that of an incompetent princess.

‘I need to show them that Iris is punishing the nobles personally.’

Only then would the people praise and acknowledge her.

“I-I’ll do my best!”

“No, that’s not enough. You have to do well. Anyone can do their best.”

“Urgh...” Iris lowered her head in dejection.

Kang-Woo chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you write your speech and teach you how to present it.”

Kang-Woo had done it many times while he had ruled over Hell as the Demon King. He was very knowledgeable in grabbing people’s attention.

“Okay!” Iris answered energetically.

“I’ll leave it to you then, Si-Hun.”

“I understand, hyung-nim.” Si-Hun bowed and turned around.

Kang-Woo felt a little guilty as he looked at the back of his little brother, who was leaving for business as soon as he came back.

“At least take a break for today,” Kang-Woo suggested.

“I cannot. There’s a chance that some of these nobles are associated with Lucifer. I am not feeling unwell in the slightest, so I will head out immediately.”

“Uhh, mm. Got it.”

“Thank you for worrying about me, hyung-nim.”

“...”

Kang-Woo grew even more guilty.

‘Ngh. Well, it can’t be helped. He says that he’s fine. I didn’t force him in any way. Yup, yup.’

“In that case, let us move on.” Kang-Woo handed Douglas the remaining pile of documents. It was the list of nobles that had no direct relations with Fidelio. “Please pick out the nobles that had conducted wrongdoings unrelated to Fidelio.”

“Mm. This is more complicated. Understood.” Douglas nodded and began to sort through the documents. “Marquess Berocca. He runs a large slave market in the northeastern region of the empire. He had no relation with Fidelio because he was so far out along the border, but he is known for his evil conduct.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about him. He’s already dead.”

“Dead? Ohh... During the party venue incident?”

“Yes.”

Douglas nodded in understanding and continued to sort through the documents. “Mm, but the nobles with no direct relations with Fidelio are difficult to charge with sins. After all, not many are completely free of sin.”

Douglas picked out a few more while groaning. Kang-Woo picked up the pile and handed it to Iris.

“Princess Iris,” Kang-Woo called respectfully.

“Ah, yes!”

“Please read through these documents and decide how you will deal with the nobles.”

“I understand.” Iris nodded. And then... “Death, death, death.”

She held up the golden seal that symbolized the authority of the imperial family and stamped it on every single document without hesitation. Kang-Woo’s mouth fell open.

‘What the... I told you to decide after reading through them, young lady.’

Kang-Woo was about to say something, but sighed while shaking his head. He could not bring himself to say anything since he himself had been the one to make Iris this way.

“Wha...” muttered Douglas all of a sudden, so silently that no one but Kang-Woo could have heard it.

Douglas looked down at a single document, and then took it out of the pile to stuff in his pocket.

Grab.

“Wait.” Kang-Woo’s eyes narrowed after grabbing Douglas’s wrist. “What was that just now, Douglas?”

“Oh, y-you see...” Douglas broke into a cold sweat.

“You’re not trying to pardon a noble just because you have personal ties with them, are you?”

“N-Not at all! I simply sorted it elsewhere because their action wasn’t enough to be considered evil toward the people!!” Douglas shouted.

“Then why did you put it in your pocket?”

“W-Well...”

Douglas’s eyes quivered. Kang-Woo took the document out of Douglas’s pocket.

“Baron Lisanagi,” Kang-Woo read.

Like Douglas had said, the noble was only using the powers vested in him. No, his territory was so small that he did not have much power in the first place, so it certainly was ambiguous to sort him as evil.

“Why did you take him out of the pile, Douglas?” Kang-Woo glared at him while emitting bloodlust.

Douglas trembled, being faced head-on with the bloodlust of the Demon King.

He stuttered, “B-Baron L-Lisanagi is... a phenomenal p-porn artist.” He gulped.

“... Pardon?”

‘A phenomenal what artist?’

“He draws excellent porn... H-He is like a god in our industry! H-He mustn’t be sentenced to death!”

“...”

Kang-Woo remained silent, and his eyes flared up.

“For a reason like that...”

‘For a stupidly pathetic reason like that...’

The floor of the imperial palace that he was standing on cracked like a spider web with him at the epicenter.

“... You’re trying to ruin our great work?!” Kang-Woo expressed rage as he slammed his fist down on the table.

“Is your brain down in your groin?! You’re thinking about porn in this situation? Hah! You should be embarrassed!”

“M-My apologies.” Douglas lowered his head.

Kang-Woo turned away from Douglas in exasperation.

‘What the hell is he thinking?’

He had not expected Douglas, whom he had trusted, to stab him in the back like this.

‘If only I wasn’t helped by him in the past...’

Kang-Woo would not have left Douglas be. He turned around while quelling the rage within him.

“I will go get some water.”

He felt he would be unable to handle his boiling blood from spread throughout his body if he stayed here any longer. Kang-Woo opened the office door.

“... Sir Kang-Woo.”

Just then, Iris approached him. She put her hand in his left breast pocket and took out a document that had been neatly folded and placed in there before anyone had realized it. It was the documents containing Baron Lisanagi’s personal details.

“You forgot to leave the document here,” said Iris.

“...”

‘Oh.’