Chapter 109 - Intrigue in the Empire

『I'm terribly busy. Thanks to you, my lord.』

"If you're going to complain, at least do something about that expression."

『Ah, my apologies.』

The smile vanished from Hillen Cargill's lips. Berge snorted.

The hero named Hillen Cargill was exceedingly simple. He wanted strength and power. Honor and fame. He was a greedy man who would use any means necessary to obtain them.

He had pretended to be good because it benefited him, and chosen to submit to a Demon King because doing so served his interests.

One of the things he valued was connections. Humans were social creatures. They moved through a web of interdependent relationships, and on the vast board called society, built over countless years, what a single human could accomplish was severely limited. That was why connections mattered—powerful connections who could be of use.

Cain, Fifth Prince of the Kingdom of Akan, clearly met those criteria. At the same time, his position was such that even Hillen Cargill could not simply turn up and propose establishing ties. Berge had opened that door for him. Of course he was delighted.

"And now you've planted elves in Akan's mage tower, too. You must be beside yourself with joy. Remember: they are my subordinates, not yours."

『Naturally. And am I not your servant as well, my lord? Your most faithful servant.』

"You don't mean a word of that."

『How could you say that? The day you saved my life, I realized just how precious you are to me, my lord.』

"Precious because I'm worth exploiting, you mean."

Hillen did not deny it. Nor did Berge consider it insolent. That was the relationship between a hero hailed as destined to become the greatest and a Demon King once praised as possessing the potential to become the greatest of all.

"Are you heading back to Guild headquarters now?"

『I expect so.』

"Your highest priority is taking control of the Guild from within."

『Of course.』

"Once you're there, find out who this Guildmaster fellow is."

『The Guildmaster of the Heroes' Guild disappeared quite some time ago. The council of five elders insists there is no problem, but if he has been absent this long, something must be wrong.』

"Exactly."

Berge's eyes narrowed.

"That's exactly why you need to investigate."

『A difficult request.』

Still, well...

『I intended to look into it regardless of your orders, my lord.』

Hillen smiled.

『That position is my goal, after all.』

After ending the call with Hillen, Berge recalled his promise to Reina Sordein.

'Ugar Belbek.'

What had been the basis for his confident assertion to Reina?

Berge was certain.

'Jason intervened.'

Ugar was a hedgehog. Timid despite his size, he always kept his spines raised and moved cautiously. Such a man would never make an assurance without being certain, nor would he suddenly start gathering information while hunkered down collecting princesses. Someone must have given him that certainty, and it could only have been Jason Cockmundo.

'Come to think of it, it might not have been that difficult.'

He had been startled and flustered at first, but upon reflection, perhaps it was not so remarkable. After all, Jason really had neither killed Drakson nor trespassed into his domain.

Whatever the case, finding out what had happened was important, both to fulfill his promise to Reina and for his own sake.

KNOCK, KNOCK

"Come in. Hmm?"

It was an unexpected visitor.

"My lord."

"What brings you here?"

It was Kaede.

"If you aren't busy, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sit."

She hesitantly took a seat across from him. Too lazy to serve tea, he rummaged around and found the candy Reina had given him, which he had carelessly shoved away.

"Have some."

"Ah, thank you."

"What is it?"

"... I'm sorry to ask when I haven't done anything of note for you, but may I make a request?"

"A request?"

"... I would like you to help my older brother."

"...?"

What was this supposed to mean?

"As I understand it, you have seven older brothers."

"I mean the Empire's Third Prince, Martin Jespine."

"Explain in enough detail for me to understand."

"Lady Ernyan shared some news with me a while ago."

"Ernyan?"

"Yes. That Gustav Jespine, the Eighth Prince, had died."

Now that she mentioned it, he seemed to recall hearing something of the sort. Had that been when he was preparing to abduct Elena? He had not considered it particularly important. Having suffered badly at the hands of the Empire's Crown Prince just before his death, he had no desire to become deeply entangled with the Empire.

He had abducted Kaede Jespine almost by accident, but it had certainly not been something he wanted or planned. That was as far as it would go. Such was the extent of the relationship Berge envisioned with the Jespine Empire.

"Apparently, a knight with intermediate-level aura fell off his horse and died."

"An assassination."

"I believe so as well."

"Do the people of the Empire believe that story?"

"Without evidence, what they believe doesn't matter."

"Is that the current emperor's teaching?"

"Yes."

In some ways, he was rather like a demon. It was probably the work of the First Prince, the future Crown Prince. Back then, he had been notorious for killing numerous rivals—his own blood relatives—and claiming a throne stained with blood.

Of course, the Second Prince was also a possibility. He had merely lost to the First Prince; he, too, was a man capable of any cruelty in pursuit of his goals.

"You may already know this, but the Empire is currently plagued by covert struggles over the imperial succession."

He knew. This was the time when the First Prince, Second Prince, First Princess, and Third Prince were fighting one another tooth and nail. If he remembered correctly, the Third Prince had been the first to fall.

The First Empress came from a ducal house said to wield power second only to the emperor's, and her children were the First Prince and First Princess. The Second Empress came from a marquis's house that had amassed enormous wealth within the Empire, and her son was the Second Prince. Compared to them, the Third Prince's mother, the Third Empress, was at a considerable disadvantage in terms of backing. Naturally, her son had been eliminated first.

"So you want me to help the Third Prince?"

"Yes."

"Denied."

Berge had no desire to maintain ties with the Empire. It would take a definite advantage to overturn that resolve. It might have been different if she meant the First Prince, who was destined to become Crown Prince, or the Second Prince, who had possessed the strength to fight the First Prince to the bitter end. Establishing contact through Kaede, intervening to twist the future, and exerting influence would have been rather tempting. But the Third Prince was no different from a sinking ship.

"I'm a Demon King to begin with. Meddling in the imperial succession would be absurd, and there's nothing I could do anyway."

In another dimension, intervention would not have been impossible. He could simply brainwash a suitable royal, kill the others, and make that royal emperor. But that was impossible in Arain. Brainwashing used demonic energy, and there were heroes in the imperial palace as well.

"I am not asking for your own help, my lord."

"... Are you playing games with me?"

"Hillen Cargill. I heard that he serves as your hands and feet. At first, I didn't believe it, but after seeing the elves trust and follow you, I realized it wasn't a lie."

"So you're telling me to order Hillen to support the Third Prince?"

"Yes."

Unbelievable. Did she think Hillen could do everything?

"A hero cannot interfere in the imperial succession."

The Empire was one of the nations most averse to interference from the Heroes' Guild. It had consistently checked the growth of the Guild's power across national borders. And now an Argan of that Guild was supposed to intervene in the succession out of nowhere? This was not merely an issue concerning Hillen. The Heroes' Guild had proclaimed its neutrality. Killing two Demon Kings did not give him the right to arbitrarily break a tradition that had endured for centuries.

"I don't particularly wish for my brother to become emperor."

"Then?"

"His life. I only want my brother to survive."

"You mean a personal connection, not political support. Do you think ties to Hillen would provide him a way to survive?"

"No."

"Then?"

"But I believe they would at least improve his chances a little."

"And you think that's the best you can do?"

"... Yes."

He had a rough idea of what she was thinking.

"If I grant your request, what will you do for me?"

"I am your knight, my lord."

"For a mere five years."

"You were the one who promised five years."

"That was the price of your freedom. The price of being allowed to roam the tower instead of sitting in a cell. On top of that, I've assigned Gordon to teach you swordsmanship."

"... What do you want?"

"Money."

Berge spread his fingers.

"I bought Hillen for a hundred thousand gold. Surely an imperial prince is worth at least that much?"

"... I don't have that kind of money."

"Then this conversation is over."

In truth, he did not want to meddle with the Empire even if she paid him.

"My lord."

"First the Eighth Prince, then the nobles who follow him, and finally the Third Prince. With you gone, despite the support you had among the knights, his power base must be even weaker now."

"How do you know so much?"

"Who knows?"

Because it had happened in the future.

Only after eliminating the Third Prince had they turned their blades on one another. If he remembered correctly, Kaede Jespine had died around then as well. She had gone to slay a Demon King, only for her entire force to be wiped out.

'Come to think of it, the Demon King she went after was...'

Jason Cockmundo.

Kaede had failed, and the expedition had been annihilated. The Empire had been furious, but that was all.

'At first they shouted that they'd kill Jason, but in the end, nothing happened.'

More precisely, the Empire had never taken action.

He had thought little of it then, but now he saw more than a few suspicious details.

'Even if they were embroiled in a succession dispute, an imperial princess hadn't merely been abducted by a Demon King—she'd been killed. Yet they took no revenge.'

They had not even pretended to. It was a matter directly tied to imperial prestige. That could not have happened without some sort of agreement.

'Could the connection Jason secured have been the Empire?'

The sudden question felt like a bone lodged in his throat.

'Jason has ties to the Empire. If so...'

One thought led to another, expanding until they reached a single conclusion.

'He might have been involved in my death...?'

Perhaps that was a leap. But considering what had happened with Vivian, it was not entirely impossible.

'No. No, that's not it.'

Belatedly, Berge realized how that incident had been buried. A much greater event had swept everything away like a wave: the death of the Jespine Empire's Second Prince.

After the Third Prince's disappearance, the intensifying dispute had escalated into a full-fledged struggle, to the point that a civil war breaking out at any moment would have been unsurprising. Amid all that, the Second Prince had died in an absurdly abrupt fashion.

'The cause back then was probably...'

A heart attack. That had probably involved the First Prince as well. It had been a separate matter from Jason.

But once suspicion had taken root, it was not easily dispelled.

'It may have nothing to do with me, but the idea that Jason has ties to the Empire isn't completely far-fetched.'

Jason had connections among humans. That much was certain. Could he use the Third Prince to investigate them now that this opportunity had arisen? To discover whether those connections really were with the Empire.

And if he strengthened the Third Prince and drove the conflict further toward civil war, might he weaken the Empire?

'It's dangerous.'

One wrong step could bring ruin. But he could accomplish nothing without taking risks.

"I've changed my mind."

"Pardon?"

"I'll grant your request."

Berge gave a chilling smile.

* * *

Vivian Blunt. Known to humans as Carnal Desire, she was striving to escape her isolated life.

Her attempt to abduct Louise Berft had failed, and heroes had come to her tower and left it in ruins. She had not lifted any dimensional interference. Neither she nor her tower had survived because of her prowess or some hidden resource. It was humiliating mercy. Mercy from mere humans had saved her.

"How dare they do this to me...!"

The immediate cause had been the heroes and humans who visited her tower. But beneath the surface, this was by no means a matter of humans alone. Jason Cockmundo had warned Vivian several times.

Stay put. Don't cause trouble.

But Vivian had not listened, and this was the result. Could it really be a coincidence? No. There had been a clue in Jason's words.

'He has some sort of connection to the humans.'

It was surely more than merely planting dark mages or dark knights among them. He had made a deal, or reached a compromise, with humans in their right minds.

She wanted to shout at him, ask whether he had any pride as a Demon King, but...

'I can understand why. This place is an absolute shithole.'

There were over four thousand heroes. Every city of any decent size invariably had one or two. As a Demon King, she could conceal herself to some extent, but whenever she sent out her servants, they were caught and killed or driven back.

As a succubus, she could hardly be called strong compared to other demons, even as a Demon King. It was a trait of her race; naturally, her specialty was manipulating humans and sowing chaos in the world. Yet that avenue had been blocked from the very beginning. A succubus who could not seduce humans was only half a succubus. No—not even half. She was an empty husk.

'What should I do?'

She no longer thought about finding Drakson's killer. Survival came first. She had to stay alive somehow and wait for another day.

Ironically, she found her answer in Jason, the very one who had driven her to the brink.

'Jason reached a compromise with the humans.'

Whatever form it took, there was no doubt they had some point of contact.

Which meant...

'The humans here sometimes see Demon Kings as people they can bargain with?'

Had she heard such bullshit in the Demon Realm, she would have snorted. Not anymore. In Arain, where humans had spent a thousand years defeating Demon Kings and grown accustomed to them, the hierarchy had been reversed. Here, it was possible.

'Humans. Humans are the answer.'

A compromise with humans. But how?

'How else?'

Ultimately, there was only one method for a succubus Demon King.

She rose from her throne.

"Heina."

"Yes, my lady."

"I'll be away for a while. Take good care of the tower."

"Are you going to abduct a royal?"

"No. Not abduction."

She headed down the stairs. Her adjutant, Heina, hurried after her.

"Then?"

"Seduction."

She had never imagined she would be seducing mere humans even after becoming a Demon King, but...

"I need to take the powerful figures of these islands into my embrace."

If ordinary succubi could not do it, she would simply act herself. The Demon King who had retired from active duty spread her wings of seduction.