Chapter 136 - Brought Upon Himself

“Move them?”

Lavinia Akan, the princess who controlled the monsters on the second floor, tilted her head.

“Why?”

“Humans are coming.”

“Heroes?”

“Yes.”

“Akan too?”

“No. Hilderan, not Akan.”

“Then me?”

“Of course I have no intention of sending you back.”

“Good.”

Lavinia Akan sighed with relief.

“Do you like the tower?”

“Yes. Monsters.”

“True, even in the Kingdom of Akan, opportunities to encounter so many different monsters must be rare.”

“Yes.”

There were even some powerful snowfield monsters that humans rarely encountered. To Lavinia, this place must have been a treasure trove.

“You haven't even started making chimeras yet, have you?”

“No. Golems.”

Even with a golem controller and dwarf craftsmen, they had to build them using demonic energy rather than mana, which meant reworking everything from the foundations up. They were only making progress at all thanks to Lavinia's familiarity with demonic energy, and still needed a great deal of time.

“Pick out a few weaker monsters and spread them around the first and second floors. You don't need many. Just enough to put on a show.”

“For show?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Lavinia Akan readily agreed and left.

'That settles things for now, then.'

Preparations to receive Hilderan were coming along smoothly. All that remained was deciding how to place Ernyan Hilderan on a lower floor.

Fortunately, she herself readily supplied the solution.

“Build a small prison and put it in a corner of the first or second floor. I'll stay inside.”

Some suitable magical engravings on the bars would be nice.

“That would make it more convincing, wouldn't it?”

“And after that?”

“I'll have to be unconscious. With Lady Nairuniel's help, I can enter a state of suspended animation.”

She explained that lowering her body temperature would allow her to enter a kind of hibernation.

“That chatterbox of a spirit is more useful than I thought.”

- This is where you're supposed to call me versatile.

Nairuniel popped out and glared at him.

“If I look as pale and exhausted as possible, the heroes won't be able to proceed to the next floor, will they? They're coming to rescue me, so my life takes priority.”

“Just set the stage, and Hillen will handle the rest.”

He was an old hand at that sort of thing.

“Yes.”

“Are there nobles who will support you when you return?”

“Why... Are you really going to make me queen?”

“I do not lie.”

“Hmm. Quite a few, actually.”

The problem was that there were too many.

Ernyan's position as crown princess was simply that secure. She so overwhelmingly surpassed the other royals spoken of as alternatives that this was the result.

“Of course, most of them support me out of their own ambition, rather than purely for my sake.”

“What human isn't like that?”

“That's true enough.”

Ernyan nodded.

“That doesn't mean there are no problems at all, though.”

“The owner of the vault we robbed last time?”

“Yes. Duke Heinz.”

House Heinz, a ducal house descended from Hilderan's royal family, could be called the kingdom's foremost noble house.

That was not simply because of its size, power, or the number of its followers. Duke Heinz was the previous king's son and the current king's younger brother.

A royal passed over in the succession, but also a meritorious supporter who had helped his elder brother—the First Prince, now king—eliminate his political rivals and ascend the throne.

At present, the king trusted him quite deeply as well.

“Duke Heinz constantly reassured Father by implying he had no interest in the throne.”

“From what you're saying, that doesn't seem true.”

“It isn't. He's thoroughly rotten inside.”

Ernyan possessed an exceptional talent for reading people's thoughts and emotions. It was almost an indescribable supernatural ability, and she had sensed Duke Heinz's sinister intentions.

“So if anyone gets in your way, it'll definitely be him?”

“Probably.”

“Then the first thing to do is oust him.”

“You know I looked into a few things when we went to rescue Elena, don't you?”

“I do. You were the one who told Kaede that the Empire's Eighth Prince had died. Was there something else?”

“That's when I discovered a very small obstacle had appeared.”

In truth, Ernyan Hilderan's succession to the throne was exceedingly simple.

The king had already set the entire stage, and the nobles were dancing upon it. It would have been stranger if she did not become sovereign. Given time, she would naturally ascend to the position of Hilderan's queen.

“An obstacle?”

“Yes. I was kidnapped, remember?”

But a tiny crack had appeared.

Ten years could change even mountains and rivers. That did not mean nothing changed in a single year—especially when it came to humans.

“I thought kidnapping wasn't considered particularly serious in Arain.”

It was not that it wasn't serious. People had simply grown so accustomed to it that they let it pass as long as the captive was safely rescued.

“But you held out so well over the past year, my lord. Above all...”

“I kept the tower well hidden?”

“Yes.”

They could not find the tower. They had no hope of finding it, either. That had made people begin to wonder whether Ernyan Hilderan might never return.

“Heinz again?”

“Not directly. Obest Hilderan. The Second Prince. Apart from me, he's Father's finest creation. He's also my older brother, for what that's worth.”

“Duke Heinz and Obest Hilderan joined forces?”

“Yes.”

“You did well to uncover that in such a short time.”

“I was lucky. I released spirits throughout the capital, and the two were having a secret meeting.”

“You released spirits in the capital without getting caught?”

“I know every location where detection arrays are installed.”

“They wouldn't have been careless enough to hold a secret meeting out in the open.”

“They weren't. A spirit saw them enter a private room and activate a magic array that blocked outside observation and magic. I was curious, so I sent Lady Nairuniel herself inside. It couldn't block the power of a high-ranking spirit.”

“...”

She had openly released spirits in the capital without being detected.

Should he believe that or not?

After a moment's consideration, Berge decided to believe her. She had no reason to lie about something like this.

'But if that's true, she's gone beyond merely being a summoner of high-ranking spirits...'

She was far more advanced than that.

What was this insane rate of growth?

“Then when you return...”

“They'll be very surprised, won't they? I'm rather curious to see their faces.”

“Is that all?”

The king and most of the nobles had chosen Ernyan Hilderan as the successor.

But Hilderan did not belong to the king alone, and the nobles would have turned away one by one thanks to Duke Heinz and the Second Prince's political maneuvering.

The longer her absence lasted, the greater their unease would have grown, and the greater their unease, the more would have defected.

But...

“What else would there be?”

Ernyan could not imagine it.

“That position was mine from the beginning.”

Could not imagine losing.

“I was exhausted by Father's and the nobles' pressure and expectations, and I wanted to escape. But I couldn't, until you kidnapped me, my lord. I had the power, but lacked the opportunity and courage.”

In other words...

“So I silently endured it for well over a decade. As Father's puppet, I endured what none of the other royals could.”

She had borne the expectations that should have fallen upon them, too.

She had learned spirit summoning, studied statecraft and military science, and entered high society to build connections.

She had walked the path toward the throne.

That was why Ernyan believed she was qualified.

“And I...”

Her eyes curved into crescents.

“Really hate having what's mine taken from me. I'm greedy, you see.”

Even if it was something she had briefly turned away from and fled.

That did not mean it had no owner.

* * *

Reina Sordein.

The Demon King whom humans called Bitter Cold gazed down at the snowfields outside her tower.

The pure white expanse looked the same as ever.

She rolled a bright red candy around in her mouth. Yet its sweet aroma and flavor did nothing to resolve her worries.

“Berge Deias.”

She recalled the name of the first Demon King she had joined hands with since descending upon Arain.

She liked Berge. She had allied with him to make the conquest of Arain smoother, and had shown him goodwill by giving him hundreds of monsters.

But before that goodwill could yield any reward, Berge had fallen into grave danger.

His identity had been exposed while he was attempting to use dark mages in Habstrain Gorge, and the enraged Empire had discovered the location of his hidden tower.

Although he had achieved the remarkable feat of defeating a Star hero named Dafner Philiain in the process, that was as far as it went.

With members of the imperial family threatened and the tower exposed, the Empire would certainly launch a hero's journey.

Many heroes had direct or indirect ties to the Empire. The expedition's size and strength would be more than sufficient to kill Berge.

'It has been just over a year since Berge descended.'

Because of his unexpected behavior at the graduation ceremony, he had arrived with nothing but an adjutant.

How many demonic creatures and demons could he have summoned in that short time? How much dimensional interference could he have lifted?

The hundreds of monsters she had given him as a token of their alliance would fall mercilessly beneath the heroes' blades.

That was what troubled Reina.

Should she abandon Berge, or help him?

“Helping him would be the wrong choice.”

Her adjutant Nina, whom she had told of her thoughts, opposed the idea.

“An alliance must benefit both parties. But Demon King Berge does nothing to help you, my lord. If anything, he brings you harm.”

“It simply has not borne fruit yet. Who can say he will not be useful in the future?”

“I say this because there will be no future.”

Nina was emphatic.

“The Empire is powerful. Demon King Berge cannot withstand it.”

“Which is why I am proposing to help him.”

“You must remember that the snowfields, too, are officially imperial territory. They adjoin the Empire.”

If it came to light that Reina had helped Berge Deias...

“The Empire will bring its legions to this tower.”

That would be entirely different from a mere hero's journey.

The Empire could easily field an army numbering well over a hundred thousand. Naturally, it could not deploy all of them, since it needed to defend its borders, but there was no denying how difficult that wave would be to stop.

“Most of the snowfields now fall within my domain. The majority of their monsters have become my servants.”

Their numbers approached ten thousand.

This was the strength she had quietly cultivated over more than eighty years. An army created with the time she had bought by recognizing Arain's circumstances and even discarding her pride as a Demon King.

“... Even so, it would not be enough.”

Reina's voice grew quieter toward the end.

Had her opponent been an ordinary kingdom rather than the Empire, she could have destroyed it instead. But the Empire was the greatest, most powerful nation on the continent.

“Perhaps if you had another hundred years to prepare. For now, it is impossible.”

That was how powerful the Empire was. Reina thought that, at present, even the combined might of all five Demon Kings might barely suffice.

'This is different from other dimensions.'

Sending dark mages or servants to incite internal strife and make enemies wear down one another's forces was a Demon King's most basic—and most effective—strategy.

But in Arain, thousands of heroes had shut off that approach, inevitably making the disparity in strength all the greater.

“Then would it not suffice to leave no evidence of my involvement?”

“Ultimately, the only way you can help is to dispatch demons, my lord. Monsters would merely increase the numbers without providing much assistance.”

“True.”

“But aren't all the demons serving you frost demons?”

“... They are.”

“Anyone would know it was you, wouldn't they?”

“Could they not assume they are Berge's servants?”

“What epithet have the humans given Demon King Berge?”

“... Hellfire.”

High-ranking frost demons in the Tower of Hellfire? Anyone would find that suspicious.

Even if they really were servants Berge had summoned himself, the result would be the same. Humans were more bound by prejudice than one might expect.

In the end, Reina had no choice but to give up. Regrettable as it was, all she could do was hope Berge endured through his own strength.

“And there is something I must tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Demon King Jason has been waiting for some time.”

“For me?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you only telling me now?”

“I told you earlier, but you seem to have been too deep in thought to hear.”

“... Is that so?”

Reina cleared her throat awkwardly and rose.

“Let us go.”

* * *

“Again, why are you asking me that?”

Reina's expression hardened.

Cold frost settled over her surroundings in response to her anger.

『Please do not take offense. I am merely asking out of concern, so that I may offer some advice.』

“I asked why you are inquiring about my relationship with Berge.”

『Because I fear you may help him, Lady Reina.』

“What business is it of yours whether I help Berge or not?”

『As I said, I am concerned. However well Lord Berge has done until now, he has made the mistake of provoking the Empire's wrath.』

『It has only been a year since his descent. Even if he has amassed more demonic energy than ordinary Demon Kings, stopping a determined Empire will not be easy.』

『That would remain true even with your help, Lady Reina.』

“I am not particularly fond of your roundabout way of speaking.”

『I mean that if you help Lord Berge out of personal affection, you too will be in danger.』

『Your opponent is the Empire. Surely you know its strength better than anyone, Lady Reina?』

“Jason Cockmundo. To think you would concern yourself with me. Is this the first time since about ten years after I descended upon Arain?”

『You have managed perfectly well on your own since then, Lady Reina.』

“I am grateful for what you did then, so I shall answer. As you say, I know the Empire well. Thus, I do not intend to help Berge.”

『That is a relief.』

“You seem to wish for Berge's death.”

『You misunderstand. The crisis Lord Berge now faces is merely one he brought upon himself. I offered advice, just as I once did for you and Lord Ugar, but this is how things ended up.』

“That sounds to me as though you are displeased.”

『I still hope for Lord Berge's safety. It is difficult to find someone with whom I get along so well. But I do not wish his mistakes to bring harm upon others, either.』

『If I must choose between Lord Berge, whom I have known for a little over a year, and you and Lord Ugar, whom I have known for decades, surely my priorities are obvious?』

Reina smiled.

His words were polished, but she knew his motives were by no means so pure.

Still, she did not challenge him, and the rest of their conversation was unremarkable.

The connection ended. On the other side of the communication orb, Jason Cockmundo sat in the Tower of Lies, staring at the now-empty orb.

“... So their relationship still isn't that close.”

The corners of Jason's mouth lifted.

Given Reina's tendency to trust someone to the very end once she placed her faith in them, she would have tried to help Berge no matter what if their relationship had progressed rapidly.

“Lord Berge. Please do not resent me too much.”

You brought all of this upon yourself.