Chapter 10 - A Useful Princess

Berge personally saw to it that Granada became a member of the Red Hawk Mercenary Company. Though bound by a contract, he was, for the moment, a trustworthy subordinate, and Berge was pleased to have him infiltrating human society.

'This is only the beginning.'

With his support, Granada and the Red Hawk Mercenary Company would flourish. The company's growth would be Granada's growth, and the elf would become a dagger for the future—a poisoned blade to stab humans and heroes in the back.

'That's one thing taken care of.'

When Berge descended upon Arain, he had envisioned three main approaches to conquering the dimension.

Become the mastermind behind the scenes.

Grow stronger himself.

Strengthen his tower and territory.

Strengthening the tower and territory required demonic energy points alone, so that was out of the question for now. Reducing dimensional interference, however, did not necessarily require those points.

'Elixirs.'

Herbs or medicinal pills packed with the dimension's mana. Though its nature differed from demonic energy, the tower could convert mana into demonic energy. The resulting energy was less pure than that obtained from emotions or demonic energy points, but at least it was better than nothing.

'I'll have to do some legwork.'

The farther Berge ventured from the tower, which suppressed dimensional interference to some extent, the greater the burden he had to bear. The newly erected tower's reach was extremely limited, so finding elixirs in the vast snowy mountains would be no easy task. Even so, he had to do it. He could not leave everything to Granada.

'Granada is only support, in the end. If I'm weak, none of this means anything.'

However hard he tried to stop them, heroes would eventually come knocking at the tower's door. Someone would have to face them. And Berge desperately wanted that someone to be him.

With his own hands.

With his own strength.

He wanted to crush those vermin's throats himself. He wanted to roar at the bastards who had mocked and killed him that he had returned.

It was then that he stopped.

"..."

His steps toward the city's north gate came to an abrupt halt.

A sinister gaze stealthily pricked the back of his neck.

Someone was following him. Watching him.

Who?

Who dared watch him?

Berge started walking again. Slowly, yet swiftly, he slipped into a deserted alley.

'Did he notice?'

The shadow trailing Berge hesitated. The alley, buried in darkness, felt like a dragon's maw. Instinct sounded a warning.

'He's definitely spotted me. I'll retreat for now and wait for another chance...'

"I can hear those gears grinding in your skull."

"...!"

Cold killing intent sent a chill down the shadow's spine. He gritted his teeth.

SWISH!

Bestial claws sliced through the air. At the same time, muscles bulged all over his body, tearing through his clothes. The instant he realized his attack had missed, he launched himself away. Part of the roof broke under the impact.

"A beastman."

Watching the demon rapidly flee, Berge snapped his fingers.

WHOOSH!

Black flames shot forward in a straight line.

"Ghh...!"

The beastman contorted his muscles, forcing his body to twist in midair. But the flames changed course as though alive and engulfed him.

Caught in the blaze, the beastman released his demonic energy in a single burst. It would leave traces, but he had no time to worry about that now. The energy shook off the remaining flames.

But...

"I'll commend you for how you got rid of the flames. You're fairly clever for a beast."

That brief opening had given Berge time to get ahead of him.

BOOOM!

A huge hand clamped around the beastman's throat. They smashed through the roof and five floors before crashing into the ground. The beastman writhed in agony.

'H-how? Even a Demon King should be weakened by dimensional interference...!'

He, by contrast, had descended upon Arain long ago and recovered a fair portion of his original strength. How, then, could the gap between them be so overwhelming?

"W-why are you doing this?"

"Don't worry. I won't ask who you are. It's rather obvious, isn't it?"

"I was only passing by!"

"And I was simply in a bad mood. You dared to glare at a Demon King and try to flee, ruining my mood. Isn't that reason enough to punish you?"

"That's absurd!"

CRACK!

The grip around his throat tightened. His eyes became bloodshot.

"So? It's not absurd when you have the strength to enforce it."

"I-if you do this, Lord Drakson will..."

"If you meant to hide it, you should have kept it hidden to the end. Have even your brains turned into those of beasts?"

Not that it would have made any difference.

"I'll let you live for now."

As foul as his mood was, antagonizing Drakson right now would be unwise.

The pressure on his throat eased. Just as the beastman sighed in relief, both his arms snapped.

"Aaaaargh!"

"But that doesn't mean you get off without paying a price. Go tell Drakson this: I am not a debtor who borrowed money from you, so there is no reason for you to take such an interest in me."

He carelessly tossed the limp beastman somewhere out of public view. Then Berge crossed the city wall and headed into the mountains.

'He's more direct than I expected.'

It had probably been nothing more than surveillance, but it left a foul taste in his mouth. And now he was certain of one thing: whatever he did, Drakson, at least, would interfere.

'I need to reduce dimensional interference as quickly as possible.'

Combat between Demon Kings was forbidden, but there were always loopholes. He could not be sure Drakson would refrain from exploiting them. In such circumstances, personal strength was ultimately the only thing he could rely on.

His eyes turned cold.

* * *

The Erjest Mountains were immense and sprawling. No other mountains on the continent rivaled their height or treacherous terrain, so humans and other intelligent beings dared not even consider setting foot there.

Naturally, monsters began claiming the vacant territory, and the mana of that inhospitable environment gradually became purer. Plants absorbed nature's mana as they grew, becoming magical herbs. Animals ate those herbs and became magical beasts.

One human mage had described the Erjest Mountains as:

『A Treasure Trove of Elixirs』

One guarded, however, by treacherous terrain and countless monsters.

If he was not going to use demonic energy points right away, this was a relatively easy way to reduce the interference. The problem was that the elixirs, too, were difficult to find.

"The farther you go from the tower, the stronger the interference becomes. The worse the mountain weather, the weaker the tower's influence. It's dangerous."

Gordon's objections were valid. In a place like Erjest, a blizzard was not merely a natural disaster, but a storm made of mana. Just as fire struggled to burn in the rain, the chaos of mana would diminish the tower's effectiveness.

It was a mistake to assume monsters would never attack a Demon King. Unless they had been thoroughly subjugated, they merely avoided him out of intimidation. If he showed even the slightest weakness, they would tear into the back of his neck without hesitation.

"Above all, there is no guarantee you'll find anything. The mountains are enormous."

"That is a problem, but if I keep looking, I'll find something eventually. At least it's far better than doing nothing."

"That's true, but..."

It was then that they heard a knock.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

The door opened a crack. A tiny face peeked through the narrow gap.

"Um... Are you busy?"

"What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering..."

At that moment, a spirit rose above her face, making its presence known.

"..."

Berge and Gordon both exclaimed at once. Unexpectedly, the answer had been close at hand all along: a spirit, more sensitive to mana than anyone.

* * *

"I'm really looking forward to this."

The princess smiled, rather incongruously given her circumstances.

"I was a little—no, quite a bit?—bored."

Even if it had taken someone else's help, shedding the burden she had so desperately longed to escape made her happy. Being kidnapped without having anything done to her was fortunate. But after weeks of doing nothing in a place with nothing in it, delight had turned to boredom, and gratitude to curiosity.

As a princess, she had heard rumors herself.

'They say the Beast Demon King throws the princesses he kidnaps into animal cages.'

Things like that.

Or, 'The Demon King of Bitter Cold turns all the princes into ice statues.'

Or even, 'The Demon King of Lies gives kidnapped princes and princesses the finest treatment.'

To Demon Kings, princes and princesses were bait to lure heroes and valuable hostages for negotiation. Whether through kindness or cruelty, they supposedly did whatever they could to gain an advantage. Yet this Demon King had never once laid a hand on her. In fact, he had not even visited.

Naturally, she grew curious, but soon put that curiosity aside.

'He's still a Demon King, after all...'

She thought she should simply be grateful if he left her alone.

But for someone who had lived every day crushed under excessive work and expectations, the endless time suddenly at her disposal was a torment in itself. She wanted to do something, anything, but she was still very much a hostage.

'I think it would be all right to decorate this place however I like.'

What caught her eye was the empty fourth floor. She wanted to turn that hollow space into a playground where her spirits could frolic.

She boldly knocked on his door. It was madness, but she could no longer endure the prolonged boredom. She was so nervous her heart felt ready to burst. Yet the result was something she had never imagined.

"Fasten your collar tightly."

She bundled herself in the thick fur clothing he handed her. He had bought it on his recent trip to a nearby city.

"Please make sure you keep your promise."

"To let you decorate the fourth floor however you like? Find me elixirs, and you may do as you please."

When he first heard her request, Berge thought she had gone mad.

'Even if I've given you plenty of freedom, you want to decorate a Demon King's tower?'

A mere human?

But instead of rebuking her, he accepted. He could not afford to develop the tower itself for some time anyway. Besides, he wanted something from her, so it was better to make a bargain that gave them both what they wanted.

The tower's door opened. It was Ernyan's first glimpse of the outside in weeks. The cold air and drifting snow stung, but felt refreshing. Her water spirit cheered. Her fire spirit shrank and hid inside her clothes.

"I'm probably the first person ever to stroll around the upper reaches of the Erjest Mountains."

"I don't care. Listen carefully, princess. What you need to do is..."

"Ernyan."

"...?"

"Please call me Ernyan. We'll be seeing each other for a while, so wouldn't that be nicer?"

Berge's face twisted. Had he given her so much freedom that she had lost her mind?

"You seem to keep forgetting your position... If you'd like to move into a prison cell, I can easily arrange that."

"..."

She did not answer. The faint killing intent drained the color from her face. Berge withdrew it and strode out of the tower.

"Your task is simple. Use your spirits to find places where mana is concentrated."

Magical herbs needed special locations with dense concentrations of mana to form. Finding a broad area would be relatively easier than finding a particular tiny plant.

"All right."

Ernyan sent her water and wind spirits flying off.

"I found one."

"...?"

* * *

Meanwhile, as Berge searched for magical herbs with Ernyan, a message arrived from Granada.

『This news comes from the Information Guild.』

『Thirty-two heroes, including the hero Hillen Cargill, have departed from Hilderan's royal capital and begun heading north.』

『They are expected to follow the pattern of a typical hero's journey, and their forces are therefore expected to continue growing.』

Gordon bit his lip.

"I'd hoped they would be delayed as long as possible..."

At last, the heroes had begun to move.