Chapter 126 - Do. Well.

『This is His Majesty's solemn command.』

"... I shall obey."

The connection ended. Hillen Cargill heaved a deep sigh.

'One hurdle after another.'

Walking the tightrope between the Demon King and the Empire was already enough to make his head burst. Now Hilderan was getting involved, too.

Generally speaking, Hilderan lending a hand was not a bad thing. It, too, was a powerful kingdom, and the assistance it offered to recover its kidnapped Crown Princess would be anything but small. Its participation would clearly improve the chances of defeating the Demon King.

'But...'

But from the perspective of Hillen Cargill, the Demon King's servant, it was also true that there was more to lose than to gain.

'They could send an envoy, but they're insisting on going through me.'

They probably intended to use his friendship with the Third Prince to make things easier, but it was also a transparent ploy to establish firmly that he was Hilderan's hero.

It was hardly a situation Hillen wanted, but unless he intended to sever ties with Hilderan completely, he could not refuse outright.

'And if Hilderan joining them really does lead to success...'

It would be one thing if everything fell neatly into place, but the Berge he knew was hardly a Demon King who let things end neatly.

If the hero's journey succeeded and Berge faced death, would he simply let Hillen go?

Honestly, he did not know.

'The best-case scenario...'

The hero's journey would succeed, and the Demon King would be beheaded before he could do anything to Hillen Cargill. But the chances of that were exceedingly slim.

'I should speak to the Third Prince first.'

In the end, he had no choice but to go with the flow for now. He decided it would be better to consult the Third Prince, with whom he was on friendly terms, rather than go straight to the emperor.

'I'm supposedly a hero who killed two Demon Kings, yet there's not a single thing I can do as I please.'

He wiped the conflicted expression from his face and went outside.

As the Hillen Cargill everyone knew.

* * *

In barely more than two weeks, the Empire displayed astonishing drive and finished organizing its search parties in no time.

It secured cooperation from Dormund, Korzen, and Horton, and the imperial search parties were dispatched to each kingdom under the leadership of imperial family members.

The speed was incredible.

"The Empire's efficiency is remarkable."

"Naturally. His Imperial Majesty is taking an interest in this affair as well. And not because of the succession."

When Hillen gave him a puzzled look, Martin whispered quietly.

"Haven't you guessed it yourself? That there's a good chance the Demon King of Hellfire isn't the culprit behind this affair."

"... Is that what you believe?"

"Of course. What dark mage would ever confess anything about the Demon King they're contracted to? It's no longer any secret that their souls are held as collateral."

"Then why...?"

"Because that isn't what matters. I don't know which Demon King dares try to use the Empire, but His Majesty finds the Demon King who still keeps his tower hidden more offensive than the one plotting schemes with his tower already exposed."

"...!"

"Hasn't it worked out well? We've used this as grounds to secure help from three kingdoms and the Heroes' Guild. The Empire will find the Tower of Hellfire."

It was an expression of confidence—no, arrogance—that once they found the tower, they could dispose of it whenever they wished.

Yet no one could say they were wrong.

And Hillen's heart pounded.

Because it felt as though they really would find the tower.

"Finding the Tower of Hellfire takes priority over everything else. We'll find the true culprit afterward."

Meanwhile, the search party continued swiftly toward the Kingdom of Korzen. Dafner Philiain joined them along the way.

"How did you persuade Dafner Philiain?"

"It wasn't Lord Dafner I persuaded, but my elder brother Floyan."

A search was different from a hero's journey.

There was no telling whether it would succeed or fail, and since its focus was on searching rather than fighting, its forces were far weaker than those of a hero's journey.

All the more so when the target was the Tower of Hellfire, which Hillen Cargill and the Kingdom of Akan had already failed to find in two separate attempts, and the search area was the Erjest Mountains, whose dangers surpassed even the description of the continent's most perilous place.

Failure was more likely than success. That was why most of the imperial family had no desire to shoulder the risk.

It was better to join once some results had been achieved. Ultimately, the contest was over who would cut off the Demon King's head.

The Third Prince was eager nonetheless because he was that desperate, and because there was much he could gain if he endured all those risks and succeeded.

The Second Prince, meanwhile, had staked a claim to a share of the reward by hiring heroes, including Dafner Philiain, and assigning them to the party, even though he had never been certain they could find the tower.

The Third Prince had no reason to refuse. He would have to share some of the credit, but with success still uncertain, he simply had to accept a ranger as outstanding as Dafner Philiain.

"I see."

Satisfied with the explanation, Hillen approached Dafner. Since they would be working together for a while anyway, there was no harm in getting to know him better.

"We meet again."

"Good to see you. But where is that gentleman?"

"Which gentleman?"

"His name was... Pale, if I remember correctly. The red-haired man..."

"You mean Master Pale?"

"Yes, him. Isn't he another member of Red Hawk?"

"No. He's simply someone who assists me independently."

"I see."

Hillen changed the subject to keep the conversation from continuing toward Berge.

"Come to think of it, we only discussed my experiences back then. I didn't know at the time that you had also been searching for the tower. If I had, I would have had plenty of questions for you as well."

After failing to find the tower in the past, Dafner Philiain had visited Hillen Cargill, who had also failed.

Hillen had cooperated with him as much as possible then, but had heard little of Dafner's own experience in return.

"Well, I can still tell you about it now, if you'd like."

"Please do."

With Hillen's assent, Dafner pulled a map from inside his clothes. It depicted Erjest, charted through his own travels.

"Starting here, I can confidently say I explored almost the entire area."

He pointed to various parts of the mountain range. With superhuman patience, Hillen kept his expression from cracking.

'... He checked where the tower is?'

Because Dafner's finger had passed directly over the exact spot where the tower stood.

"And you didn't find the tower in any of these places?"

"That's correct, at least so far."

'The tower is definitely here. Yet he couldn't find it?'

That made no sense. For it to make sense...

'The Demon King has something he's keeping hidden.'

Could he conceal the tower itself?

Hillen had never seen or heard of such a tower.

The Empire and the Demon King.

The scales in Hillen's wavering heart tipped a little toward the Demon King.

Their conversation continued.

* * *

After all the twists and turns, they were back in Hortonwork.

Of all the Kingdom of Korzen's cities, it was the closest to Erjest. Naturally, anyone intending to climb the mountains had to gather there.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Belof Korzen, captain of the White Weasels and the Kingdom of Korzen's representative in charge."

The White Weasels were one of the ranger units the Kingdom of Korzen took pride in.

Based in Hortonwork and several other northern cities, these scouts explored Erjest and drove back monsters.

Korzen had chosen the best possible people to find the tower.

"I didn't expect to meet Korzen's Second Prince here."

"Finding the Demon King's tower is something we must accomplish. Naturally, I should take part."

And that was not all. There was a knightly order, two mage corps, and two more ranger units aside from the Brown Weasels.

The elite force, numbering three hundred, plainly showed just how eager they, too, were to find the Tower of Hellfire.

Their determination soon turned into action.

Just three days.

After a brief rest in Hortonwork to recover from their travels, the allied search party headed straight into Erjest.

* * *

Searches began simultaneously from three kingdoms.

Berge could not know what was happening in all three places. But Hortonwork, at least, was an exception.

Hillen Cargill and Red Hawk, who were part of its search party, worked for him.

And Berge decided to devote more attention to the Hortonwork party than to any other.

It was the closest to the tower, and his target, Martin Jespine, was there.

"The Third Prince has arrived in Hortonwork."

The force was considerable.

There were three hundred royal troops from Korzen, plus another three hundred from the Empire. Among them were fifty heroes, including Dafner Philiain.

Considering that they were all specialized troops such as knights, rangers, and mages rather than ordinary soldiers, they were more dangerous than the Akan search party Cain had led before.

"Wouldn't Master Dafner's presence actually work in our favor? He already came all the way here, confirmed there was nothing, and left."

"That would be the best-case scenario."

People rarely searched the same place twice. But they could not afford to let their guard down.

"There are two things we need to do."

One was to hinder the search party so it could not approach the tower.

The other was to separate the Third Prince from the group and have him meet Kaede.

"That's easy."

The dwarf snorted.

"Shoot them all with the mana cannons, and they'll scatter in panic. Princes? Nobles? Those ranks mean nothing under a hail of cannon fire! They'll be too busy saving their own skins! Human nature will show itself, and they'll all scatter!"

"Rejected."

The Third Prince was not weak, but neither was he overwhelmingly strong. Faced with the firepower of hundreds of mana cannons, his entrails were more likely to leave his body than he was to leave the group.

"An avalanche! We cause an avalanche."

Ernyan shouted.

"We've caused plenty of avalanches already. Unless they're idiots, they've probably made preparations of their own."

Akan had, in fact, countered the avalanches splendidly.

"Then we just make it bigger and more spectacular than they can prepare for."

As she folded her arms, four elves stood in attendance behind her. The water spirits they summoned struck the same pose.

"I'll show you the power of the Dark Spirit Summoner."

"If the avalanche is too big, it'll be no different from the mana cannons."

"We can use spirits to find the Third Prince buried in the snow more quickly."

"Not bad."

He decided to keep Ernyan's method in mind for now.

Then another princess raised her hand.

"Chimeras. Destruction. Kill all."

"I told you we can't kill them all."

"Not prince."

"Kill everyone except the prince?"

Lavinia nodded.

"There's one enormous flaw in that plan."

"One?"

"You haven't even made any proper chimeras yet."

"...!"

They had not even finished the golems. Naturally, the chimeras, which had been pushed down the priority list, could not possibly be ready.

"And let me tell you in advance: we mustn't inflict too much damage on them."

Perhaps he was being complacent, but he had to consider what would happen if they persuaded the Third Prince.

A greater failure would only weaken Martin's standing.

"Monsters."

"We will use monsters to attack them."

Even now, Krutu and the Poil Orcs were outside, hard at work locating monster colonies and territories.

"Then Cher?"

"You want to use Cher to capture him?"

"Yes. Fast."

"That's even more out of the question."

Cher was a chimera practically synonymous with Lavinia Akan. If Cher appeared, it would expose Lavinia's presence here.

That could lead to the worst possible outcome: Akan joining the hero's journey rather than merely searching for a runaway princess.

Relations between the Jespine Empire and the Kingdom of Akan were poor, but humans sometimes united against an external enemy—a Demon King.

"Separate just the Third Prince while keeping their losses low. That's difficult."

Ernyan let out a groan.

"My lord."

Then Elena, who had been listening quietly, raised her hand.

"... Um."

"What is it?"

"Couldn't you simply do it yourself, my lord?"

"Me?"

"He's an imperial prince, after all. There wouldn't be anything strange about you kidnapping him, would there?"

"Unfortunately, not this time."

Normally, it might have been possible.

But Dafner Philiain was there now—the hero most sensitive to demonic energy. In fact, he had detected Berge's demonic energy even when Berge exposed only the tiniest amount.

"Besides, he's met me as Pale, too. That means he knows my energy."

Infiltrating as Pale would be a problem, and so would infiltrating as the Demon King.

"There's an even bigger problem. Not only Dafner, but Hillen would have to notice me as well."

No one had been able to detect Bairif in Habstrain Gorge. Hillen Cargill had not actually noticed him either, but he had claimed that, as a hero who had killed two Demon Kings, his ability to sense presences surpassed that of other heroes.

In other words, what he had done to provide a convincing explanation then had now become a noose around his neck.

"Then what about using magic?"

"You haven't even learned proper magic yet."

"Not me. My teacher, Charlotte. She's a mage with six engravings."

"That would be difficult."

Kaede voiced her objection.

"The Empire may revere knights more than mages, but its magical forces are by no means weak. The mage corps accompanying my brother this time is the Platinum Shield Mage Corps. Above all else, they specialize in protection."

Every member was a mage with four engravings, and their commander had six.

It was a force powerful enough to make one say that the Empire certainly lived up to its name.

"That won't work, then."

Then Lavinia spoke again.

"Just all."

"Cause an avalanche first, send in the monsters, then kidnap the Third Prince? Not separately, but all at once?"

"No."

"Include the mana cannons, too? Because if what Kaede says is true, they'll be able to protect the Third Prince?"

"Yes."

Lavinia nodded vigorously.

"... How in the world do you understand those few words?"

"You can't understand that? It's simple."

"It isn't simple at all."

"For someone who calls himself a dark elf, your language interpretation skills are lacking."

"Doesn't the fact that you have to use language interpretation skills strike you as strange?"

Berge ignored Gordon's grumbling.

'Not bad.'

He had found no answer because he was considering each option separately. If they unleashed everything like a storm, surely a crack would appear?

'And if there's still no opening after all that, I can simply refrain from acting...'

Good.

"Then that's what we'll do."

"Good?"

"Yes, it's a good idea. Well done."

Lavinia held out her hand.

"Demon King."

"Do you think it's easy to obtain material from a Demon King's body?"

Lavinia gazed steadily at Berge.

He barely held back the curse that threatened to escape his lips.

On reflection, giving her tiny things in exchange for continuing to put her to work would be a profitable deal.

Lavinia's usefulness was immense, after all.

"If this goes well, I'll give you a piece of a scale."

"Scale?"

Berge released demonic energy. Black scales rose from skin that had looked little different from a human's.

"Wow...!"

She reached out. At that instant, the scales turned back into human skin.

"Give."

Like a golden goblin that had lost a treasure right before its eyes, she looked ready to cry.

"I believe I said I'd give it to you if this goes well."

Lavinia's gaze swept over everyone present.

She folded her arms and put on the sternest expression she could manage.

"Do. Well."

Each word enunciated with deliberate precision.

She pointed her fingers at her eyes, then turned them toward the gathering.

She was watching.