Chapter 14 - A Hero, Not a Prince

“Uh...”

Logger's mouth hung open, seemingly unable to close.

“You mean you're letting me go...?”

“I never said that.”

“B-but you clearly said you would show mercy...”

“I meant I would spare your life. And you're alive right now.”

“...”

Not a word of that was wrong.

Logger went deathly pale.

“Ah...”

His short legs buckled, his knees sinking into the snow. Hot tears dripped onto the cold snow.

The Demon King had known all along that Logger intended to make a show of serving as his spy before running away.

“You must be so happy you're crying.”

“... Yes, of course.”

“Get up. We have a long way to go.”

“... Yes.”

It was cold. The chill pierced even his dwarven-made fur clothes, renowned for their insulation. He couldn't help thinking that Erjest certainly lived up to its reputation.

“Um, how far are we going?”

“To the summit, of course.”

“You mean your tower is at the summit?”

Though he was a hero, Logger had recently lived in isolation while crafting the princess's weapon. As a result, he knew neither that a new Demon King had descended nor that this Demon King had kidnapped Hilderan's Crown Princess.

Still, he at least knew that Demon Kings built their towers in moderately dangerous places that humans could reach.

But the summit of Mount Erjest?

It was strange, but Logger wasn't the sort of person who could ask about it outright.

They climbed for a long time. Logger's short legs kept him from moving quickly, but fortunately, his years of smithing had given him stamina.

“Th-the monsters are getting out of our way on their own.”

“Obviously. I am a Demon King. Do you think mere monsters would dare block my path?”

“D-does that mean this entire mountain is yours...?”

Berge didn't answer. But wasn't silence supposed to mean assent?

'Really...?'

Logger caught his breath as a foreboding thought flashed through his mind like fire.

After a long climb, they reached the summit. The tower was hidden in a basin, making it difficult to find.

“Take a good look. This is where you will work for me from now on.”

“... You mean I'll work on the tower? How...?”

“You'll find out in time.”

The tower's doors opened.

Logger squeezed his eyes shut.

The demonic creatures on the first floor were supposedly relatively weak, but they were demonic creatures all the same. Logger had never seen a living one since becoming a hero—no, in his entire life—and he was afraid.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, well...”

At the Demon King's rebuke, he opened his eyes—and found himself facing an empty cavernous chamber.

“Uh... Is it supposed to be like this?”

“For now. I'll gradually fill it.”

“Oh, I see. You said you were a newly arrived Demon King. So that's why.”

Logger accepted the explanation. Whatever the reason, he was somewhat relieved that he wouldn't have to see any demonic creatures.

“Follow me.”

They ascended to the second floor, then the third. The empty floors were little different from the first. But when they reached the fourth, he was surprised for an entirely different reason.

The scenery was utterly unlike anything that belonged in a Demon King's tower.

“Spirits...?”

Spirits were frolicking inside a tower where mana was scarce.

“Oh, you're back?”

Logger was even more surprised when a human emerged from among them. No matter how he looked at it, none of this suited a Demon King's tower.

“And this is...?”

“Who?”

“This is Hilderan's princess. And this is a dwarf who will be living with you from now on. He's a hero.”

“... A princess?”

“... A hero?”

“You'll live together on the fourth floor. You'll be seeing each other for a long time, so introduce yourselves.”

The Demon King went up to the fifth floor.

Left alone, the princess and the hero faced each other in silence.

“It doesn't look like you've come to rescue me?”

“... That's correct, for now.”

“Were you kidnapped, by any chance?”

“...”

“You're not... a prince, are you?”

“...”

“... Are you really... a hero?”

“... Technically, yes.”

Logger hung his head.

He had no pride whatsoever in being a hero, yet for some reason, he felt so fucking embarrassed he could die.

* * *

“You want me to remodel the first floor?”

Just as sharing a space with the princess had gone beyond awkward and become downright suffocating, the Demon King summoned Logger.

The first order he received was hard to make sense of.

“Didn't you say you would use your skills for me? Was that a lie?”

“N-no.”

“Then I'm giving you the chance—the honor of using your paltry skills in my service.”

“So I can do whatever I like with the first floor...”

“Don't make me waste my breath repeating myself.”

'Ballistae and cannons in a Demon King's tower...?'

Ballistae and cannons instead of demonic creatures. It was a sight he couldn't possibly imagine.

'I thought he would have me make weapons or armor...'

Demons carried weapons and wore armor, too. Naturally, he'd assumed that was why he'd been brought to the tower.

But to fill the first floor with dwarven traps?

“If you're going to tell me now that you can't kill your fellow heroes, feel free.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Logger wasn't so oblivious that he couldn't sense the killing intent seeping out.

“N-no. Actually, I'd love to do it.”

His own life mattered more than some other heroes he'd never even met.

“And can you do it?”

“I am one of the finest craftsmen in the dwarven kingdom. If you wish, I will show you the very essence of dwarven craftsmanship, far beyond simple cannons or ballistae!”

“A fine attitude. What else do you need?”

“That depends on how much of the first floor you want remodeled, and how.”

“All of it. I'll entrust the entire first floor to you. Make it however you like.”

“The entire first floor... Then may I draw up plans to suit it?”

“You have two days.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

The Demon King leaned in. As those pitch-black eyes suddenly drew close, Logger collapsed to the floor.

A whisper reached his ears.

“If you want to try something, go ahead. Just remember: the moment you forget this is a Demon King's tower will become the worst moment you can imagine.”

“Hic!”

The Demon King disappeared, leaving Logger behind with his wet trousers.

SNIFF*

It was miserable.

* * *

“I accepted the idea of dwarves.”

In truth, Gordon hadn't entirely come to terms with that, either. But compared to the current situation, it was a hundred—no, a thousand times better.

“But a hero?”

Heroes were enemies. They were guardians of their dimensions, tasked with stopping invasions, and obstacles that had to be eliminated to conquer those dimensions.

Arain's peculiar nature had recently led to collusion between Demon Kings and humans, but that did nothing to change the fact that they were irreconcilable foes.

“No Demon King even brings a hero into their tower!”

“Then I'll be the first.”

“Why on earth are you doing this?”

“I told you I would bring a dwarf. Must I explain the plan again?”

“But that is a hero.”

“He's also a dwarf. And a craftsman whose skill ranks among the best in his kingdom.”

“But even so...!”

“Then will you make it?”

“...”

Having silenced Gordon's complaints, Berge savored his bitter tea.

“Just think about how to procure and bring in the materials the dwarf asks for.”

“... It's simple. You'll have to go out and do the legwork yourself.”

Gordon answered curtly.

“Explain.”

“Splitting the purchases of the necessary materials among several kingdoms would prevent the worst-case scenario.”

“And what do you consider the worst case?”

“Someone discovering that you bought the materials and tracking you. And finding out what you're trying to do.”

“How do we counter that?”

“If you spread the purchases across several kingdoms, they won't know they're all yours. Human logistics follow routes, but you'll be using your storage dimension, so they won't be able to track you either.”

“Not bad. But what's with that expression?”

“Is there something wrong with my expression?”

Something wrong? Plenty.

That face was irritating enough to make him want to smash it right then.

He hadn't been like this before Berge's regression. What was the problem?

“There might be something wrong with it soon.”

“...”

At the sight of the Demon King's fist, Gordon broke into a broad smile. That was ugly in its own way.

Berge tapped the table.

'It'll be a bit of a hassle, but that would be better.'

Secrecy was the lifeblood of the dwarven traps.

An utterly unexpected trap, at an utterly unexpected moment.

Even aside from that, letting mere humans discover he was doing something and track him wasn't desirable.

“Fine. We'll do that. Bring me a plan detailing the best places to obtain each material.”

“I don't even know what's needed.”

“Is that supposed to be a question? Obviously, I mean for you to ask that hero bastard.”

“Oh.”

“Don't you want to work?”

“... That's not it.”

“Then is this your rebellious phase?”

“...”

“They said you were the top graduate of the Training Academy. Ridiculous.”

“... That's not what—”

“Enough. Once the plans are ready, I'll look into it myself. Just keep an eye on the Iasinths.”

“... Yes.”

Berge disappeared. Left alone, Gordon punched the wall.

* * *

Returning to the adjutant's quarters, Gordon sank onto the bed, fuming.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

What had just happened was indeed his fault. He'd been so distracted by the dwarf being a hero that he'd failed to think of something simple.

But if he traced it back to the original cause, that was Berge.

“I put up with building the tower on Mount Erjest.”

“I put up with hiding the tower.”

“I put up with letting the princess roam free on the fourth floor instead of putting her in a cell, and letting her decorate it however she wanted.”

“With buying mere money using precious demonic energy points.”

“With using some elf to conduct underhanded schemes.”

“I even accepted having a dwarf fill the first floor.”

He'd let it slide even when Berge violated the Guide and behaved in ways unbecoming of a demon. Because he was a Demon King, after all. Because he was the lord Gordon had to serve.

But now he'd kidnapped a hero.

And he intended to entrust the tower's entrance to that hero.

“Damn it.”

This wasn't the ideal relationship between Demon King and adjutant that he'd dreamed of.

He hadn't studied at the Demon Training Academy for ten years for this. He hadn't become its top graduate for this.

“I won't put up with any more...!”

Gordon unclenched his fists. A heavy sigh escaped him.

Still, he had to endure it.

The relationship between a Demon King and an adjutant was strictly hierarchical. And demons valued hierarchy more than any other race.

Disobedience meant death. That was the natural punishment. Under the laws of the Demon Realm, it was enforced even more strictly in a tower than in the Demon Realm itself.

“Damn it, if he weren't a Demon King, I'd really...!”

But Berge was a Demon King, and Gordon was an adjutant.

He took out his crystal ball. When he infused it with demonic energy, it glowed softly and picked up a signal.

『You're back.』

『You said your Demon King had returned. That was sooner than I expected.』

“Are all Demon Kings like this?”

Gordon vented the resentment he'd been holding back.

『You sound angry.』

『I understand. Yes, we're supposed to serve them, but sometimes Demon Kings really piss us off.』

『I'd like to hear what happened.』

“He doesn't listen to a word I say. He decides everything himself. Why keep me as an adjutant if he's going to act like this?”

『You too? My lord is the same. He listens sometimes, but mostly he does whatever he wants.』

『That's a shame. My Demon King listens to me.』

『Aina, please shut up.』

『You shut up, Cocoon. How undignified.』

The voices that had seemed to be listening to him soon began arguing among themselves.

“If he listened to even one thing I said, I wouldn't be questioning all this so much.”

『They said he was one of the greatest top graduates in the Demon King Military Academy's history. Living up to his reputation, is he?』

『Come to think of it, Gordon, you were the Demon Training Academy's top graduate too, weren't you? It's strange. We've never had a top graduate come to Arain before.』

『My Demon King is the same. I can't tell whether I'm an adjutant or Demon Number One, there to make approving noises.』

“That's exactly what I mean! If he weren't a Demon King, I'd really...!”

『Don't say that in front of him.』

『He looks like he has a temper. He'll take your head right off.』

『You'll become Gor/don. That might be quite a sight.』

“Don't say such horrible things.”

Arain had a communications network for the adjutants serving its Demon Kings.

And most of the time, a channel opened on a day when someone's superior had made them explode with rage.

* * *

The adjutants' private communications were confidential, but it was hardly strange for the exceptionally loyal among them to run to their superiors and report what they'd heard.

“I thought as much.”

Drakson chuckled as he tore into raw meat.

“I've never seen an insolent bastard dare hold his head so high in front of me. Besides, even if he was treated as a fool for insulting the Guide at graduation, until then he'd been praised as the top graduate. Of course he'd be arrogant.”

Even without being a top graduate, no one who became a Demon King was anything but proud.

That was simply the nature of demons and Demon Kings.

“What do you think?”

“About the Demon King, or the adjutant?”

“The adjutant. There's a chance he could be lying, isn't there?”

“It didn't seem that way.”

The resentment coming through the crystal ball had been genuine.

“So he brought no demons with him, summons no demonic creatures, and now we know for certain that he's on bad terms with his one and only adjutant.”

Drakson smiled with interest. Their first encounter had been so striking that he'd assumed Berge had something up his sleeve. Had it merely been bluster?

'No, there must be something.'

“What is that slave elf doing?”

Selling demonic energy for mere human money and then using that money to buy a slave was suspicious to begin with. Drakson hadn't let his guard down.

Although he'd been caught and one of his subordinates had been wrecked, the surveillance was still ongoing.

“Heading south with the Red Hawk Mercenary Company.”

“Destination?”

“We don't know that yet...”

“Won't that adjutant talk?”

“He seemed to have plenty of complaints, but he didn't actually say what Demon King Berge was doing.”

“So he's still loyal?”

It wasn't loyalty or anything of the sort. Gordon simply couldn't bring himself to tell the other adjutants that his Demon King had handed an entire floor over to a princess and brought in a hero.

“Keep talking to him and gently probe for information. Report anything unusual immediately.”

“Yes.”

“And don't take your eyes off the elf.”

“I'll keep that in mind.”

“What about the hero?”

“Hillen Cargill has left Hilderan and is currently passing through the Kingdom of Endain. The number of heroes has risen to forty, and including the mercenaries and merchants who have joined them, there are 141 people.”

“Faster than I expected. I'm almost looking forward to seeing how much more their numbers swell by the time they reach Erjest. Especially given who they're facing.”

Berge had probably thought he was making a desperate bid to live a little longer, but it had become the worst possible move.

The place was so dangerous that no ordinary riffraff dared attack. That had driven the kingdom itself to commission its greatest hero.

The fundamental problem was his abduction of Hilderan's Crown Princess, of course. That, too, had probably stemmed from his characteristic arrogance.

“Hillen Cargill.”

A true hero who had beheaded the Demon King of Lust.

“He killed Turus and absorbed his fame and power. I can't even guess how much stronger he is now.”

“He may really become the first and last hero Demon King Berge ever meets.”

“He ran wild like a reckless fool, and now he'll get what he deserves. Still, something bothers me. Shall we prod him a little more?”

“How...?”

“Those heroes like devising strategies. Gathering information and working out how to neutralize an opponent step by step.”

Drakson snapped his fingers.

“He used flames, didn't he?”

“Yes. They say he wields black flames.”

“Pass that along to the heroes discreetly. Make sure they don't discover our involvement.”

“Yes.”

The humans knew nothing about what kind of Demon King Berge was. They didn't know what preparations to make or what strategy to devise.

Under those circumstances, simply telling them that he wielded flames would certainly change the battle.

Toward a more certain defeat for Berge.

“Heh heh heh.”

Drakson smiled slyly.