Chapter 139 - Currents Surrounding the Tower

Aman Katrash.

The deputy head of the Golden Moon Trading Company and the Demon King's dark knight was a fairly capable merchant. He had originally been a knight, but after his aura core was destroyed, he had no choice but to take up trade. Fortunately, he had quite an aptitude for it.

But his business was no ordinary commerce. Procuring supplies for the Demon King, an enemy of humanity—that was the Golden Moon Trading Company's highest priority. Of course, only a very few people within the company knew that.

"... This is far too much. There are so many rare materials, too. I don't know whether we can obtain them all."

For once, the man who always handled business with such confidence looked troubled. The list of materials handed to him by the elf acting on the Demon King's orders was that extensive.

"Are you short of money?"

"I can't say for certain, but..."

The hundred thousand gold the Demon King had invested had grown considerably through the efforts of his father and the company's merchants. But with various ventures underway, they did not have much actual cash on hand. Now that the money had been incorporated into the company's funds, he also had to consider the executives' opinions.

Besides, the supplies the Demon King wanted were rare and expensive. More than a few would cost whatever their sellers chose to ask.

"If we buy all of this right now, it will destabilize the company."

And that was not all. They could hardly announce where they had sold the supplies offered to the Demon King. There would be plenty of opposition to purchases that put the company's future at stake. Even if he managed to persuade the executives to buy them, would they simply accept it with an "Oh, I see" when he subsequently told them everything had vanished?

Aman wielded nearly full authority in place of his aging, half-retired father, but the company did not belong to him alone.

"As long as payment is made in full, the executives won't have any grounds to object, will they?"

"Well, that is true."

Ultimately, they were in business to make money. Merchants would accept disappearing goods as long as the appropriate payment came in. That would not eliminate every problem, but there was no denying it would resolve a substantial portion of them.

"What about mana cannons?"

"Mana cannons?"

"I imagine you have some idea what the supplies delivered to the tower through the company are used for."

"Of course."

That dwarf on the first floor. Aman had experienced the many mana cannons he had made firsthand.

"You don't mean those mana cannons...?"

"My lord has said he is willing to offer them as payment for the materials."

"Oh...!"

That was not bad. No, it was perfect. Alongside golems, mana cannons represented the pinnacle of magical engineering. Their destructive power made them strategic weapons coveted by every nation's military. Yet many lacked the ability to produce their own, so there was no shortage of potential buyers.

"But if they're dwarven-made mana cannons, the Kingdom of Berft won't sit idly by."

If they concluded that dwarven goods had been exported, they would immediately launch an investigation and take action by any means necessary. That was how the dwarves handled strategic supplies.

"Don't worry. My lord said he would lower the cannons' quality slightly. They'll be reasonably good by the standards of human-made cannons. No better than that."

"Then that will do nicely!"

"I'll report your answer to my lord, then."

The elf departed. Watching her retreating back, Aman sank into thought for a moment. He had answered excitedly at the mention of mana cannons, but he had meant every word.

'The executives will go wild over mana cannons.'

Shortly after he became a dark knight, the company had received an investment and begun dealing in military supplies. As relations between the Demon Kings and humans deteriorated, that business was gradually paying off. And mana cannons were the finest military supplies of all.

Still...

'Selling off his mana cannons must mean the situation is that desperate, doesn't it?'

As a merchant, he kept a close eye on information. No, even those who were not merchants knew how things stood. The Jespine Empire and the Kingdom of Hilderan were thirsting for revenge against the Tower of Hellfire. Dafner Philiain was dead, and the tower's location had finally been exposed.

Anyone could predict that a hero's journey was coming. The Demon King had probably made this decision to respond to it.

'I don't know what he's planning, but for now, all I can do is follow his orders faithfully.'

Having contracted with the Demon King, he could not betray him. Though he resented the destruction of his aura core, his gratitude for the help that had saved his failing company and revived his family was greater.

Now the Demon King was making a demanding request, but he was also giving Aman some room to breathe. Aman therefore decided simply to let things take their course. He would do his utmost to help the Demon King, but if the Demon King died, he would forget his existence entirely and live as an ordinary human.

'Still, obtaining all of this is going to be quite a headache...'

He would have to start by finding out where the necessary resources were, check the distribution networks, and persuade the executives.

'I can persuade the executives.'

The Demon King had promised to send a few mana cannons as samples soon. Using those should make it relatively easy. The executives were not so incompetent that they would pass up the chance to deal in strategic weapons like mana cannons.

'I need to find the right person for the job.'

Someone who would travel the entire continent to obtain what the Demon King wanted. Some items were rare enough to require legwork and personal visits to auction houses. All while spending as little money as possible.

Just then, a certain man came to mind.

"Is anyone outside?"

"Yes, sir."

"Go and fetch Jetoson."

"Yes, sir."

The fellow the Demon King had sent him, with that astonishingly slick tongue and salesmanship.

* * *

"So, the Heroes' Guild refused?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

While Berge was coming up with the outlandish idea of making the tower move, Hillen Cargill had left guild headquarters and returned to Hilderan for a private audience with the king.

"What exactly did you discuss?"

"The guild offered to support the heroes. But their intentions are by no means pure."

"Because of Dafner Philiain?"

"Yes."

They intended to lend a hand in slaying the Demon King to bury Dafner's death.

Ordinarily, Hillen would have gladly accepted. He would have to share the credit with the guild, but he belonged to it himself, after all. Besides, his fame had now grown too great for the likes of the guild to overshadow.

But what Hilderan's king wanted was not a hero's journey. It was a rescue party to retrieve the princess, one that barely even qualified as a raiding party.

["Those guild bastards want chess pieces to fight in their stead. I have no intention of playing along."]

["I am an Argan of the guild myself."]

["Before that, you are a subject of Hilderan."]

["Without the guild's help, I cannot rescue the princess."]

["Then reach a suitable compromise. But never give them what they want. Surely you are capable of that much."]

Hillen and the king of Hilderan had exchanged those words here in this very room. Their aims were clearly different from those of the Heroes' Guild and its chief elder.

["We cannot offer our full support unless it is a campaign. What do you intend to accomplish with a force that size?"]

["A raiding party the size of an expedition? With rescuing the Crown Princess as its sole objective?"]

["I understand Hilderan's distress over losing its Crown Princess, but we cannot provide much support for something like that."]

["I hear you will be joining Jespine's hero's journey as well. Let us discuss it again then."]

And so Hilderan's request, conveyed through Hillen, had been rejected.

The Heroes' Guild wanted to restore its honor and turn Dafner's death into a glorious martyrdom through a hero-centered journey. Hilderan wanted only to rescue its Crown Princess and then stand aside. With their positions running parallel, it was hardly surprising that they could not reach an agreement.

"Then did you gain nothing at all?"

"I brought twenty-one heroes back with me, in addition to the Red Hawk raiding party."

They had followed Hillen of their own accord, drawn by his renowned name and achievements. Indeed, they had been his reason for visiting guild headquarters in the first place. They were not especially numerous, but as people who frequented headquarters, they ranked fairly high among heroes in terms of skill. Every one of them was a considerable asset.

"I shall hire at least two hundred mercenaries for you. I will also attach the Blue Sea Knights and the Sea Dragon Mage Corps to your party, disguised as mercenaries."

"Will that be all right, Your Majesty?"

Why had it become standard practice for heroes and mercenaries to seek out a Demon King's tower? Because armies had so often been dispatched under the pretext of a hero's journey, only to stab other nations in the back.

That was why, when searching for the Tower of Hellfire, the Empire had invoked its justification, allied with the three northern kingdoms, and sent imperial family members as hostages. Only by going that far could it formally deploy troops.

"If this is discovered, Hilderan will face serious diplomatic trouble."

"You are wrong. Did you think I would simply sit and wait after Ernyan was kidnapped?"

Though he could not rescue Ernyan immediately, he had prepared for the day the tower was discovered: a secret agreement with Korzen.

"I have already settled matters with Korzen. For all the concessions I made, we can send only one knight order and one mage corps. But I believe that will suffice for you, Hillen Cargill."

"... I won't deny that they will be a great help."

"I want a more definite answer."

The king of Hilderan growled.

In truth, attaching one of the kingdom's finest knight orders and a mage corps to a raiding party bound for another country meant the king had already done his part.

Hillen considered it for a moment.

'Rescuing the princess isn't actually a problem.'

He could have gone alone. The Demon King, the princess, and the hero were all in on it. The whole game was already rigged.

But appearances mattered. Even if he was a hero who had killed two Demon Kings, how many people would believe that he had entered a Demon King's tower alone and brought back a princess? Their first suspicion would be that he was the Demon King's lackey who had betrayed humanity (which was true).

In that respect, more than forty heroes and hundreds of troops were enough to look like a proper raiding party. If such a party happened to find the princess on the first or second floor, who could object?

Something was strange? The hero was colluding with the Demon King?

No.

Once was coincidence, but twice or three times made it inevitable. If the Adamant Demon King ran his tower the same way as the Demon King of Bitter Cold, and the Demon King of Hellfire followed suit, no one would consider it strange.

'And most importantly...'

They might call it disguising the troops as mercenaries, but it was ultimately a transparent charade. Since concessions had been exchanged with the Kingdom of Korzen, other nations' intelligence networks would have caught wind of it. Anyone in the know would understand that these were a hundred elite troops, not a hundred heroes.

So...

"I will bring Her Highness the Crown Princess back without fail."

If he could not perform a simple dance on a stage so perfectly prepared, he did not deserve the name Hillen Cargill.

* * *

The successful discovery of the Tower of Hellfire did more than stir up the Heroes' Guild and a handful of nations, including Hilderan. The Empire had taken the greatest initiative in dispatching the search party and held the largest stake in it.

But the Empire was rejoicing for a different reason: the sense of superiority that came from succeeding where Hilderan and Akan had failed. It was particularly delighted to have put Akan in its place. Though not officially an enemy nation, Akan challenged the Empire at every turn.

The Empire widely publicized its Third Prince's achievement, bolstering its people's pride, their sense of superiority, and their loyalty to the imperial family.

"I cannot fathom Father's intentions."

Meanwhile, the man responsible for that achievement emerged from his audience with the emperor beset by worry.

"What happened?"

"Could you give me a cup of coffee first?"

"Here you are."

Martin savored a sip. The bitter taste on his tongue calmed him a little.

"Do you remember what course the Empire's response took after the dark mage confessed who was behind him?"

"Yes."

"He says he intends to conquer the Tower of Hellfire."

"... Didn't he say the Demon King of Hellfire was unlikely to be the true mastermind, so he would keep other Demon Kings in mind? But since we couldn't leave the Tower of Hellfire undiscovered forever, he would use this opportunity to secure other nations' help."

"Yes. He did."

In fact, that had been the foundation of Martin's confidence. For all his status as an imperial prince and the power he wielded, he had no choice but to obey an imperial command. But the emperor's target had been the true enemy, not the Demon King of Hellfire. Knowing that matters would not escalate beyond a search party had allowed him to give the Demon King a measure of assurance.

At least, until very recently.

"Did he explain why he changed his mind?"

"Dafner Philiain's death. I understand. No Star hero has ever died on a mere search before, nor has any Demon King desperately tried to kill one during it. The Demon King of Hellfire differs from every Demon King before him in every respect. I understand why Father doesn't want such an unpredictable element."

But...

"But there is another mastermind trying to bring the Empire to ruin, and he still intends to slay the Demon King of Hellfire. Frankly, I oppose it."

If the Demon King of Hellfire was slain now, it would sever the lifeline Martin had been given. One might think it would allow him to cut ties with the Demon King, but he had already surrendered too much.

'The token to the imperial palace's secret vault. And Kaede is with the Demon King. He must stay alive at least until the day Kaede is released from her contract with him.'

He knew that a Demon King's servants were freed when their master died. But would a cornered Demon King simply let them go? If the Empire took the lead, would he look kindly on Kaede, an imperial princess? And would he keep quiet about the token to the imperial palace's secret vault?

No. Martin was certain the Demon King would do no such thing.

'Above all, I need his help to become emperor.'

He did not expect the Demon King to do much for him. But there would at least be areas in which he could help, and those small advantages would add up to the strength Martin needed to become emperor.

He had to stop this. If he could not stop it, he had to buy as much time as possible.

"I need to see my brother Floyan."

Martin rose from his seat.

* * *

Meanwhile, Berge had resolved to roll out the carpet for Hillen Cargill.

"Our best course is to send Ernyan back as quickly as possible, quiet Hilderan down, and begin work."

The humans must never discover even the idea of attaching legs to the tower and making it move. The work of constructing those legs would inevitably take place outside the tower.

"Do you want to send me away that badly?"

"Don't be sarcastic."

"I'm only teasing."

Ignoring Ernyan's curious smile, Berge continued.

"Ideally, we'd simply throw the doors wide open, but that would invite suspicion. So we'll put up a suitable amount of resistance—and no more than that."

"It's all for show."

"Exactly. Krutu."

"Yes, my lord."

"When they begin climbing the mountain, lure monsters into attacking them. Not too many, and none stronger than necessary."

"Yes, my lord."

"And leave cross marks and directions along the shortest route to the tower. I've already discussed this with Hillen."

"Yes, my lord."

"Also..."

He gave orders for various other necessary tasks, from his adjutant Gordon down to the lowliest Poil Orc. Every member of the tower steeled themselves for battle.

"We cannot afford to fail this time. Remember that failure means death."

"Yes, my lord!"

Every member of the tower steeled themselves for battle. The Tower of Hellfire was ready.

Except for one person.

"You want me to turn my babies, made with my own hands, into defective idiots? This is absurd!"

The dwarf ordered to downgrade his mana cannons so they could be handed over to the Golden Moon Trading Company.