239
A few dozen minutes later.
At Glenn’s instructions, Penelope Ogma, who had been nearby, immediately came to Linz Village.
“It is an honor to see you again, Glenn-nim. I hope you have been well.”
A revealing red dress and a pair of red horns rising from either side of her head.
The appearance of an unmistakably high-ranking demon made Luceria look extremely tense.
However, Penelope did not care about Luceria’s wariness and simply bowed before Glenn.
“Uh. Get up. You’ve worked hard.”
At Glenn’s words, Penelope stood up and gave him a bright smile.
“I am simply grateful for your words of encouragement, Glenn-nim. But who is this?”
“…My name is Luceria.”
“Oh my, I see. Nice to meet you. My name is Penelope Ogma. On the surface, I serve as a commander of the Demon King’s Army.”
“On the surface?”
“Yes. My true identity is Glenn-nim’s loyal subordinate.”
It felt like Penelope’s main occupation had changed while they had been apart for only a short time.
But what did it matter?
“Judging by the circumstances, are you also someone who follows Glenn-nim?”
“Yes… Um… I follow him because I respect him….”
For someone who had been soaked in the typical superiority complex of high-ranking demons, seeing her act so friendly and warmly greet Luceria was quite surprising.
“Then I think we can become good friends, Luceria.”
“Yes….”
On the other hand, Luceria looked somewhat dissatisfied and awkward.
Her perception of demons had changed, but she still seemed to think that the Demon King’s Army was a group of villains.
‘Well… The last ones she saw were Kacerto Rienze’s troops, so I can understand why.’
Anyway, leaving behind the strange meeting between a witch and a saintess, Glenn took Penelope to an inn in Linz Village.
Since Glenn had planted Penelope as a spy in the Demon King’s Army long ago, there were many things he needed to ask her about.
“First of all, I would like to apologize for daring to follow Glenn-nim’s movements.”
As soon as she sat down, Penelope placed a hand over her chest and bowed her head.
“No need. You must have had a reason to contact me that badly.”
“Ah… How can you be so merciful, Glenn-nim?”
“…So, how did you find out that I was here?”
“I heard from Rowen that Glenn-nim had entered the Demon Lands.”
“From Rowen? Did you meet her?”
“Yes. Recently, she approached me first, and I heard that she had also become Glenn-nim’s loyal subordinate, so we talked.”
The ninth-circle magic swordswoman, Rowen.
She had said that she would return to the Demon Lands with the First Legion and disappear from sight, but apparently, she had spoken with Penelope during that time.
“Then I naturally learned about Glenn-nim’s whereabouts, and after comparing the timing with the recent incident in Angrelcher and visiting several villages, I finally found Glenn-nim today.”
Penelope smiled brightly.
‘You… You’re more capable than I thought.’
She had managed to narrow down his location using the date he had left Raigle Territory and the incident in Angrelcher.
Although she acted meekly around Glenn, she truly deserved to be called the leader of the witches.
“Alright. Now I know how you got here…… But why did you suddenly come looking for me? This isn’t the date for your regular report, is it?”
At Glenn’s question, Penelope lowered her gaze slightly.
“That is… I came to apologize to Glenn-nim….”
“Apologize? Why? Did you cause some trouble?”
“Ugh… I’m sorry, Elder! I truly have no face to show you!”
All of a sudden, Penelope stood up from her chair, lowered herself, and dropped to her knees on the floor.
“W-What is it? Tell me.”
“That man Lupellos returned to the Demon King’s Castle earlier than expected.”
“Hm?”
“I’m sorry. He probably turned back while heading toward the Gaureun region because he didn’t believe what I told him.”
Glenn let out a hollow breath.
Apparently, Penelope thought that the Demon King returning to the Demon King’s Castle early was her fault.
“Uh… That probably wasn’t your fault.”
“But! I heard that because the Demon King returned early, Glenn-nim ended up in danger… Ugh! If only I had managed to influence his mind a little more, this would never have happened.”
“Uh… Well… I’m… not sure.”
Her loyalty had reached a level that could almost be called fanaticism.
Seeing Penelope blame herself, Luceria, who had been sitting beside her, also moved farther away.
“She is… a rather unusual person.”
“Yeah, well… This one has also been marked by the Demon King in several ways.”
Honestly, Glenn could understand her.
She had claimed to have information about the Demon King’s childhood enemy and had sent the Demon King running around from place to place twice.
She was probably trying to prove her usefulness to Glenn so that she could survive if the Demon King seriously decided to hunt her down.
In any case, after making the Demon King run around twice, Penelope could no longer remain a spy in the Demon King’s Army.
That was why she had come to ask Glenn to join him.
‘It’s earlier than I expected….’
Honestly, Romina, Ridenhall, and even Rowen were already part of his party, so adding Penelope would not be a bad thing at all.
‘Rather, having a witch specialized in debuffs is something I welcome.’
But was that really the best choice?
While Glenn was thinking about how to make use of Penelope, she seemed to grow anxious that Glenn might scold her, so she quickly added something.
“B-But still, I prepared a few small gifts for Glenn-nim at the risk of my life.”
“Small gifts?”
“Yes. I believe Glenn-nim will surely be pleased with this.”
With that, Penelope opened a subspace with magic.
She summoned a small object into her hand and showed it to Glenn.
It looked like a red horn.
Glenn stared at it carefully.
“…Isn’t this the horn of a high-ranking demon?”
“Yes. That’s right. More precisely, it is the horn of a man named Rivar Clarion.”
Rivar Clarion.
How could Glenn not know that name?
“Rivar Clarion….”
“Yes. He is known as the person in charge of defending the Demon King’s Castle and the commander of the Demon King’s Army’s Third Legion.”
“Crazy….”
So Penelope had killed Rivar while escaping from the Demon King’s Castle.
“You killed Rivar?”
“Yes. There was a chance I could have died if I made even one mistake, but I succeeded in eliminating him by using all of my stakes.”
Red Stakes.
They were deadly poisons that gnawed away at the victim’s soul and body until they eventually disappeared completely.
They were one of the masterpieces created through Penelope’s unique potential ability, Black Workshop, which could produce various consumable items as long as she had the necessary materials.
“You used all of them?”
“It must have been around ten. I remember stabbing about five of them into his back while he was letting his guard down.”
“Whoa….”
She had driven no less than ten Red Stakes into Rivar.
Just one of those stakes could cause a person to suffer and eventually die.
With ten of them inside him, even someone as tough as Rivar would die before a high-ranking mage could do anything.
‘That must have been insanely painful.’
“…Did I perhaps do something unnecessary?”
As Glenn’s expression became complicated, Penelope anxiously watched his reaction.
“No, you didn’t. You did well.”
Eliminating Rivar Clarion, Kacerto’s most loyal subordinate, was an enormous advantage.
“You did well, but….”
Even though she had done it to save her own life, Glenn had never imagined that Penelope would actually carry out a plan that could have gotten her killed.
Her desperate decision was simply too absurd and unexpected.
Glenn quietly looked into Penelope’s anxious eyes.
Then he shrugged.
In any case, eliminating the commander of the Demon King’s Army’s Third Legion was a gain, not a loss.
“No. You did well. Get up.”
“Thank you, Glenn-nim.”
“For what? I’m the one who should be thanking you for risking your life and making such a contribution. For now, you won’t be able to return to the Demon King’s Army anyway, so let’s move together for a while.”
Penelope’s face immediately brightened.
“R-Really?!”
“Is there any reason for me to lie?”
She had once been an enemy who threatened Glenn and the Wordsworth Territory.
But she had already proven her loyalty to him several times.
He could not rely on her as firmly as he did on Romina or Ridenhall yet, but she had at least earned the right to stay by his side.
“Of course, depending on your abilities, we might have to part ways for a while.”
“Ah! Thank you, Glenn-nim! I, Penelope Ogma, will wash away my past mistakes and become Glenn-nim’s true loyal subordinate!”
Judging by the look in Penelope’s eyes, she seemed ready to give Glenn everything she had.
Just how much did this woman consider him to be her golden lifeline?
At this point, Glenn even wondered if she had switched sides from the Demon King to Glenn so that she could secure herself an important position.
Of course, if that were the case, she would probably work even harder, so he did not really care.
‘I have no intention of using her without giving her anything in return, either.’
As long as Penelope did not do anything irritating, she would surely receive an appropriate reward for her loyalty someday.
“Anyway, let’s work well together. Ah, but there’s something I want to ask you.”
Penelope immediately answered with a motivated look in her eyes, confidently saying that she would tell him anything she knew.
Glenn immediately asked her about Kacerto Rienze, the commander of the Demon King’s Army’s Second Legion.
“If we want to end this war, it would be better to eliminate Kacerto.”
“I agree. I personally dislike him as well, and he lost several hundred years’ worth of research materials, so there’s no telling what he might do.”
A serious gleam appeared in Penelope’s red, snake-like eyes as she accelerated her thoughts.
“No… He may already be doing something.”
At those words, a sharp light appeared in Glenn and Luceria’s eyes as well.
“Do you know something?”
“Yes. This is the last piece of information I obtained before leaving the Demon King’s Castle. I heard that Kacerto Rienze headed toward the Northern Front instead of returning to the Demon King’s Castle.”
“To the Northern Front?”
“Yes. Strange, isn’t it? Normally, after something like this happened to the Demon King’s Army, he should have returned as the commander to deal with the situation.”
As Penelope said, the supreme leader of the Demon King’s Army was Demon King Lupellos Ban Zausreze.
But that was only in name.
In reality, the person responsible for commanding and managing the army was not Lupellos, but Kacerto Rienze.
‘But he didn’t stay in Angrelcher, nor did he return to the Demon King’s Castle, and instead headed straight for the Northern Front?’
That was not normal behavior.
“So, you don’t know exactly why he’s going to the Northern Front?”
“No. I’m sorry. I had to leave the Demon King’s Castle in a hurry after hearing that the Demon King had returned….”
“No. It’s fine. That’s enough. We can find out the details after meeting him, so there’s no need to know everything right now.”
What Glenn needed at the moment was Kacerto Rienze’s location.
His purpose and what he was preparing did not matter.
“Hmm, so Glenn-nim plans to go to the Northern Front. But we don’t know what he might be plotting.”
“I don’t care.”
Glenn smiled faintly.
“I just need to get there before Kacerto does.”
“Yes…? But considering the distance from here to the Northern Front, even if it is Glenn-nim….”
Penelope’s voice trailed off, and her expression became quite dark.
The two had encountered each other many times in the original story, so she probably knew Kacerto’s terror better than anyone.
But—
“Did you really think I was going to chase him by simply running there like an idiot? I said that because I obviously have a way to get there first.”
Despite Penelope’s concern, Glenn maintained his confident smile.
“Yes…? What do you mean…?”
“I know very well that if Kacerto Rienze properly prepares for battle, he can be just as troublesome as the Demon King.”
Rather, Glenn curled up the corners of his lips and met Penelope’s gaze, completely wiping away the anxiety in her red eyes.
“But now that I know where he is going next, that won’t happen even if I have to die and come back to life.”
The Northern Front, where the fighting was already in full swing.
The place where Glenn’s homeland, the Wordsworth Territory, stretched across the land.
That very place would become Kacerto Rienze’s grave.
