Chapter 148 - My Knight

"Take him away."

"Yes."

The elves carried the unconscious Logger away.

"... You brought the princess along, too. Is she the last of the Four Heavenly Kings?"

"I thought you didn't like being the Dark Knight?"

"I still don't. It's just..."

Kaede simply couldn't forget Ernyan's earnest expression as she begged her to make sure the Four Heavenly Kings were assembled in her stead.

"It's just what?"

"Nothing. But you've abducted a rather dangerous princess."

"You know Louise Berft?"

"I know she's one of the worst troublemakers in the Kingdom of Berft. I heard she was confined over the incident in Tarta."

"I'll let you in on a little secret. Louise Berft personally split the Ormus prince's skull in Tarta."

"... What?"

Kaede's composure cracked.

"... They clearly said a Demon King did it."

"That's the official story."

"How do you know that, my lord...?"

"I watched from an excellent vantage point. Well, it was self-defense, in a manner of speaking. The Second Prince of Ormus tried to abduct Louise Berft first."

"Was he planning to detain her using the Demon King as an excuse, then bargain with the Kingdom of Berft?"

"Probably?"

Only then did Kaede nod in understanding.

"Still, it's remarkable that she wasn't found out."

"There wasn't a single survivor from Ormus. The dwarf took care of them all herself."

"Then why is Master Logger reacting so strongly?"

"Before I abducted him, Logger was making a weapon for Louise Berft."

"I understand."

"Well, would you like to handle her?"

"What do you mean?"

"As an imperial princess who was captured first, don't you want to instill some discipline in the newcomer? With that sort, it's easier to put them firmly in their place right at the start. You're her senior here, after all."

Louise wasn't going to settle down over something that simple, but now that he'd abducted her, he had to make her behave somehow. Assigning someone to deal with her was one good approach.

"Couldn't you just keep her frozen?"

"Only frost demons can do that. I'm talented at melting and burning things, but I can't freeze them."

Besides, that hardly seemed like something one princess should say about another.

"It's not as though the statue can hear us, is it?"

"True."

Berge chuckled. Kaede had changed quite a bit since she'd first arrived. Probably Ernyan's influence.

"So, what's your answer?"

"... Discipline, seniority... Those things don't particularly interest me."

CLICK

Kaede's expression hardened as she grasped her sword's hilt.

"I am a knight. Give me an order, and I will simply obey."

Without a word, Berge signaled to the elves, who had returned after taking Logger to the second floor. Soon, all the frozen craftsmen had been cleared away.

Berge conjured a small flame and tossed it. It engulfed what had been Louise, sending up steam as heat clashed with cold.

And from within it—

"Wh-what...!"

Louise Berft regained consciousness.

Her mind was still in the detached palace's garden, at the moment she'd been fighting the demon who had deceived her. The surroundings, transformed in an instant, left her confused.

But she recognized reality. There, in the distance, stood the demon who had abducted her.

"You did this!"

Was this an illusion? Or had she been abducted?

It didn't matter. She just had to kill him.

Her short legs propelled her swiftly off the ground. Her enormous axe descended vertically as though to split the world apart.

CLANG!

The powerful recoil drove her two steps back. Flying shards of aura scratched her body.

But the demon hadn't moved an inch. A woman stood in front of him—a knight in finely forged armor, radiating a sharp presence.

"And who the hell are you?"

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Louise Berft. This is our first meeting in person."

"I asked who you were. No, it doesn't matter. If you're guarding a demon, you're just another demon any—"

"Kaede Jespine. Ninth Princess of the Jespine Empire."

"... An imperial princess?"

Louise's brow twitched.

"... The princess abducted by the Demon King of Hellfire?"

"Correct."

"Then where are we?"

"The Tower of Hellfire."

"Then who's that bastard?"

"He is not 'that bastard.' He is my lord, the Demon King of Hellfire. Please mind your words and conduct."

So she had been abducted by a Demon King.

It was a novel experience; she'd never imagined anyone would abduct her. Yet the abduction itself hardly mattered in the present situation.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"Why is an imperial princess like you protecting that Demon King bastard?"

The abduction? Giving him every possible benefit of the doubt, she could suppose a Demon King had gone completely mad and acted out of desperation. The Demon King of Carnal Desire had indeed done just that.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't picture an imperial princess serving a Demon King.

Perhaps she was dreaming. Perhaps she'd been abducted by the Demon King of Carnal Desire and was wandering through a succubus's dream world.

Yes, that was more plausible. That bitch would be itching for revenge after having her tail cut off.

"Everyone has their own circumstan—ah."

Kaede closed her mouth.

'To think I'd ever say that.'

It was the answer Ernyan had given when Kaede asked why she served the Demon King. Now she could roughly imagine how Ernyan must have felt. Louise Berft was probably much like Kaede had been then.

Judging by her own experience, the surest approach was...

'To drive home exactly what position she's in.'

"Why'd you stop talking?"

"Are more words necessary? Imperial princess or not, I am now my lord's knight. If you wish to kill him and leave the tower, you need only defeat me."

"A Demon King's knight? What the hell is—"

Louise hastily raised her axe. A keen blade sliced through the space between them and struck its side.

"With a good sword and axe at hand, do we really need to talk?"

"... An imperial princess resorts to cowardly shit like this?"

"Right now, I am the Dark Knight. And as the Dark Knight, I stand in your way."

So she would have to give it her all.

Berge noticed the faint upward curve of Kaede's lips.

'Come to think of it...'

Wasn't this practically her first real fight against an equal since coming to the tower?

For some reason, she looked quite excited.

* * *

People commonly described Kaede Jespine as the finest swordswoman in the imperial family.

Being the best merely among royals might sound like being a big fish in a small pond, but one had to remember that these were no ordinary royals. They belonged to the Jespine Empire, the greatest and strongest nation on the continent.

Not only did they consume all manner of elixirs from childhood, but the finest talents gathered from across the continent taught them.

And that wasn't all. What they ultimately learned were the imperial family's secret arts. Their teachings, teachers, and foundations were all exceptional. Being at the forefront of such people was no simple distinction.

After coming to the Demon King's tower, Kaede had advanced another step. In the extreme conditions of its mana-starved environment, her fine control of aura had grown more precise and faster.

She had also witnessed the summoning of a high-ranking spirit at close quarters, something most would scarcely see once in a lifetime. The pure spirit mana she'd absorbed then had greatly helped her take that next step.

That was why Kaede was strong.

CLANG!

Golden aura dances. A sword strike with a conqueror's might bears down on the axe.

Louise retreats. The impact she cannot dissipate shakes her body.

'What is this...?'

In that brief instant, Kaede moves again, hurtling through space like a bullet. Strength augmented by speed becomes overwhelming violence in its own right.

CLANG!

Both feet dig into the ground. The pain of twisting muscles and screaming bones erupts into a cry.

"You fucking bitch!"

Louise tightens her grip on the axe. Shaking her body, she struggles to disperse the reverberating impact, then swings the axe wide.

A powerful gust rises with a whoosh. Kaede steps back, and Louise resets her stance.

This time, she charges first.

She swings her axe. Its brown aura is fierce enough to sever space itself.

Twisting her body, she narrowly avoids a golden flash aimed at her blind spot. The shallow cut across her skin is the price she pays to bring her axe squarely against her opponent.

CLANG!

But the sword that should have been elsewhere has already returned to its original position. Instead of cleaving flesh and bone, the axe collides with it.

In this collision of strength against strength, a fully head-on contest, Kaede retreats two steps.

Oh?

Louise smiles for the first time.

Yes. When I do this properly, there's no way I'll lose in strength.

The dwarf's compact, solid muscles stand out even more. Determined not to surrender her newfound momentum, she pursues the retreating Kaede.

A secret technique of Berft's royal family traces brown arcs, raging like a storm and pulverizing everything.

I'll grind her down just like this.

Watching that twisted smile, Kaede honed her senses even further.

The whirling onslaught of the axe was death that would take everything with a single lapse. Yet that was all it was.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Her sword moved. It struck the axe, then deflected it.

Once was coincidence, twice inevitability, and three times skill. Continued beyond that, it became a disparity.

It didn't take long for Louise's smile to vanish. The force in her axe grew greater, and the ground shattered by its aftermath grew more devastated, but she could not hurt Kaede.

And so, at last—

CLANG!

The axe flew from its owner's hands. The webbing of Louise's hand tore and reddened with blood. Heated by their fierce exchange, the sword blade plunged into the ground right beside the fallen Louise.

"It's over."

Kaede calmly declared Louise's defeat.

* * *

CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

"Excellent."

Berge's applause echoed across the now-quiet first floor.

'Impressive.'

In truth, Kaede hadn't existed in the future before his regression. She had died in the Tower of Lies, never getting to spread her wings. That was why he hadn't expected her to perform this well.

'She can overwhelm Louise, who'll rank among the very best despite not being a hero?'

It hadn't quite been an overwhelming victory. But what did that matter? She had maintained the advantage throughout, and when she was outmatched in strength, she'd exploited an opening instead and ended it in a flash.

'And she's an imperial princess, too.'

One closely tied to the Third Prince, who had a chance of succeeding to the throne, at that.

Her value was positively dazzling.

"Well done."

"Thank you."

"Now, Louise Berft."

Berge squatted down to meet the eyes of Louise, sprawled across the floor.

"What do you intend to do now?"

"..."

"You've been abducted to a Demon King's tower and defeated by my knight. You have two choices."

"Choices?"

"Resist violently and be thrown into prison with your limbs bound, rotting until someone rescues you, or become my servant and serve me."

"You're completely fucking insane, aren't you?"

Louise snorted.

"I don't know how you talked that dim-witted bitch into it, but you think I'd serve someone like you, too?"

"If you don't, you'll rot in the dungeon for the rest of your life."

"What a joke. You think the Kingdom of Berft will sit idle? You're finished."

"Am I?"

Berge silently handed her a sheet of paper.

"You may be a delinquent princess, but you're still a dwarf. Surely you can at least read that?"

"... Holy shit. You've completely lost it."

Louise burst into laughter. It was a blueprint—a blueprint depicting something absurd, something impossible.

"I'll use that to leave my original location. Then the heroes coming to rescue you will come up empty-handed. Forever. Naturally, you'll remain imprisoned, too."

"You really think this is possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, if you weren't an idiot, you wouldn't have abducted me. Listen carefully. This is a golem! One over twenty meters tall!"

"And?"

"Even the Kingdom of Berft, with the most advanced magical engineering, can only manage ten meters so far. And a demon who doesn't know the first thing about magical engineering wants to do what? Build a golem over twenty meters tall?"

"Of course, as a Demon King, I don't know the first thing about magical engineering. But I'm not the one building it. Dwarves like you are."

"... Dwarves?"

"The designer's name is written in the corner of that blueprint, isn't it?"

'Logger Fridri.'

"... Logger?"

"How do you think I know about Logger?"

"... Logger is here?"

"I abducted him. And along with you, I abducted forty-nine dwarven craftsmen from the royal workshop. But that's not all. Look around."

Not far from where Kaede and Louise had fought, piles of materials filled the space.

"That's only the tip of the iceberg. More materials will arrive soon, and all of them will go into the golem."

"E-even so, building the golem is impossible."

"The most important part of a golem is its core. Ultimately, you're stuck at a mere ten meters because you can't make the core, aren't you?"

"Yes. The core is the culmination of magical engineering. Even with the entire kingdom working on it, ten meters is all we can manage. What do you think a mere fifty dwarves will change?"

The royal workshop's craftsmen and Logger were hardly 'mere' dwarves, but as far as making a core went, she had a point. If it could be done so quickly, the Kingdom of Berft's golems should already have exceeded several dozen meters.

But...

"When did I say I'd make a core? Is a core included in that blueprint?"

Louise examined the blueprint again. It wasn't. There was nothing about a core anywhere.

"What is this...?"

"This tower itself is the core. It will provide the power on its own, so there's no need to make one."

"There's no way that's possible..."

"The supernatural powers of the Demon Realm are the greatest in the universe. We're nothing like dwarves who hole up in a single dimension and boast that they're the best."

"..."

"At least Logger thought it had potential. You know his skill better than anyone, don't you? Didn't you whine incessantly for him to make you a weapon?"

"..."

Louise didn't answer. But anyone could see she was desperately turning it over in her head, considering the possibility.

"If you're imprisoned for life, you won't get to swing that axe you love. Forget the axe—you won't get any exercise at all."

"M-my gains!"

"What are you talking about now?"

Clicking his tongue, Berge decided it was time to offer her a carrot. He held up all ten fingers.

"Ten years."

"What?"

"If you become my servant, I'll work you for exactly ten years and then release you. Isn't a little hardship followed by freedom better than rotting in prison your entire life?"

"Liar! Why would I believe a Demon King's bullshit?"

"I swear on the great first Demon Emperor and the Guide, which I cherish as dearly as my life."

"The first Demon Emperor and the Guide...?"

"You know how precious those two things are to us demons, and how they symbolize trust, don't you?"

"..."

Silence settled over them. A long while passed before Louise finally forced out her words.

"One more thing."

"What?"

"Logger. Let me do whatever I want with Logger. That despicable bastard..."

"You mustn't seriously injure or kill him. Oh, or interfere with construction."

"Fine."

"But there's a price."

"A price?"

"Eat this while you listen. If you resist, the orb will break, so try anything foolish only if you want to go to prison and rot there for life."

Berge handed her an Armani Orb.

"Persuade the forty-nine craftsmen I abducted along with you yourself."

With a princess on hand, there was no reason for him to persuade them personally. Especially when that princess was a brutish delinquent who cracked skulls first whenever people refused to listen.

"... All right."

Grimacing at the foreign sensation of the Armani Orb dissolving and being absorbed, Louise nodded.

* * *

"My lord."

"Hmm?"

"Do the first Demon Emperor and the Guide mean so little to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's what Lady Ernyan told me, what just happened with Master Logger, and now Louise Berft."

Kaede's eyes narrowed.

"Surely you didn't make your promise to me without meaning a word of it, too...?"

"Of course not. You're my precious knight. I have no intention of breaking a promise to my knight."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really, truly?"

"... Would you like some chocolate?"

"... Thank you."

The sweet chocolate went into Kaede's mouth. Her mood brightened.

"... I'll believe you for now."

"That's my knight!"