Chapter 25 - The Demon Kings

“What happened to Hillen Cargill? Is he dead?”

Her first words had been, “Hello, Gordon. This is our first time meeting in person, isn't it?”

Then she had gone straight to the point.

They had expected this question to come up once they arrived. That was why Berge had given Gordon a stern warning.

[“We never fought. Hillen Cargill is still wandering somewhere in Erjest.”]

Gordon had asked why. Was there any need to hide the capture of such a renowned hero? Wouldn't announcing the achievement improve Berge's standing among the Demon Kings?

Berge had called that shortsighted.

[“He will be the dagger I plant among them. He may have suffered a minor setback, but he will return as a hero who remains undefeated.”]

Gordon understood what he intended, and was horrified. But Berge's resolute gaze left him unable to protest.

By everything Gordon knew, it was impossible. Yet everything Berge had done so far had been like that.

And the result?

Complete success.

So Gordon chose to trust Berge. He had already decided to do so, after all.

“He isn't dead. In fact, he never even reached the tower.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

CLICK, CLICK

Between the clicks of her heels, Gordon could hear Aina's bewilderment.

“Hillen Cargill is probably still wandering around Mount Erjest.”

“How does that make sense?”

Under the Guide, it wouldn't. But now it did.

“I trust you know what Lord Berge did at the Demon King Military Academy's graduation ceremony.”

“... He insulted the Guide, didn't he?”

“It was far more than a simple insult. I heard it myself. He called it idiotic garbage, no different from carrying a hatchling's corpse into a dragon's lair.”

“... No matter how exceptional a Demon King may be, they must never dare insult the Guide.”

Gordon agreed with the faint anger in her words.

“That's exactly what I wanted to say.”

“... I can see why you had so many complaints. So he really built his tower somewhere else? Not on the highest peak?”

“Oh, he went a step further. He hid it so it would be difficult to see.”

“Impressive. Erjest is already forbidding terrain. If he hid it as well, I can understand why the heroes couldn't find it.”

She stopped walking.

“Don't be so nervous just because it's your first time. Unlike those oh-so-important Demon Kings' meeting, we adjutants are just employees here to complain about our bosses.”

“If that's the case, I'm confident I'll excel at it.”

“From what you've told me, I imagine you will.”

She turned and straightened Gordon's clothes.

“Still, he is the Demon King you serve, and nothing stays entirely secret. Don't get too vicious.”

“Of course.”

“I'm kind to everyone, by the way. Don't get the wrong idea just because I did this for you.”

“... Aren't you rather full of yourself?”

“Oh? You say that, but your heartbeat is rather loud.”

“Dark elves naturally have large hearts.”

CREAK

The door opened. It was Gordon's first adjutants' meeting.

* * *

“He never even reached the tower?”

How were they supposed to take that absurd statement?

Drakson Doldorf snorted.

Reina Sordein blinked, expressionless.

And Ugar Belbek chose to get angry.

It had been nearly a month since the expedition first began climbing the mountain. Half the group had split off, and almost as many stragglers had either become corpses or descended the mountain.

Yet Hillen Cargill himself hadn't even reached the tower?

“You expect us to believe that?!”

“You don't have to. I have no reason to beg a lump like you to believe me.”

“Who are you calling a lump?!”

His killing intent made it clear that, had they not been in a tower, had fighting between Demon Kings not been forbidden, he would have beaten Berge to death on the spot.

And under those circumstances, he could have done it. Berge, who bore the greatest dimensional interference, was weaker than anyone else here.

“One moment.”

Once again, Jason cut through that killing intent.

“From what you say, Hillen Cargill is still roaming Mount Erjest.”

“Correct.”

“Then their hero's journey is not over yet. Nor is your defense of the tower, Lord Berge.”

And yet...

“Why have you left your tower?”

“Am I not allowed?”

“Of course not.”

Jason adjusted his slipping eyeglass and continued calmly.

“A Demon King need not remain in the tower at all times. When abducting a princess or prince, laying some scheme, or attending the Harmony of Towers, as we are now, one may leave the tower.”

But...

“If a hero is targeting the tower, a Demon King must never leave it.”

A tower was only complete with its Demon King present. It operated at the Demon King's command, lent the Demon King strength, and required the Demon King's presence for all its functions to work smoothly.

“That amounts to abandoning your own tower.”

It meant committing suicide. A Demon King could not survive without a tower. Through the tower, they replenished spent demonic energy, gathered demonic energy points, and freed themselves from interference.

Could a Demon King stripped of all that truly be called a Demon King?

They were no longer a Demon King.

Just prey.

Indeed, Arain's history included Demon Kings who had lost their towers and died as playthings for heroes.

“You were the ones who invited me to the Harmony of Towers.”

“Naturally, we assumed the battle was over. It has been weeks since Watton led the expedition down the mountain.”

Berge did not answer. But that was answer enough.

“Did you really build the tower somewhere other than the summit?”

Drakson abruptly interjected.

“I know perfectly well that you're a blockhead. I also know exactly what you did at that sacred graduation ceremony.”

“And?”

“But I heard that before then, you believed in the Guide more devoutly than anyone. So I thought it was merely a whim. That it was all talk.”

At least until Berge abducted the princess, he had followed it in his own way.

“Yet now you're openly defying the Guide?”

“There is no passage in the Guide that says a tower must be built on a mountain summit.”

“But there is one that says to stand proudly in a place that is moderately dangerous and easy to find. You've violated both conditions.”

The summit of Mount Erjest was extremely dangerous. Deep within the mountains lurked beings even Demon Kings could not treat lightly.

“And?”

“What?”

“The Guide is not a law that must be obeyed unconditionally. The Demon King's Guide is simply a collection of the first Demon Emperor's advice. Nowhere does it say we must follow it.”

“The tradition passed down over thousands of years is what makes it binding. Tradition is tradition because it must be upheld, and the Guide is the Guide because its principles are self-evident.”

“Exactly!”

Ugar chimed in. Berge looked at them calmly, twisting his lips.

“Then can you confidently claim that you've faithfully followed every part of the Guide?”

“At least we haven't violated it the way you have.”

“So you're not entirely without fault.”

A guide written for other dimensions could never be applied unchanged to a dimension as unusual as Arain.

If they had done that, they would not be Demon Kings. They would be former Demon Kings.

“Now, let's leave it there.”

Once again, Jason Cockmundo intervened at just the right moment. Berge found it distinctly unpleasant; it felt as though Jason had deliberately stood by and watched.

“Lord Berge is correct. I do not like seeing the Guide defied either, but we have no right to force it upon him.”

“Hmph.”

“And you still haven't answered the question. Could you tell us where Hillen Cargill is?”

“I believe I told you he was wandering around the mountain.”

“I would like to believe you, Lord Berge, but frankly, I do not think you foolish enough to leave your tower while a hero is sharpening his blade against you.”

“I said he was lost in the mountains. I never said the tower was in danger.”

“How many days?”

The voice that abruptly interrupted was cold. It belonged to the frost demon who had been sitting at one side of the table, looking bored throughout.

“At least a week.”

“The Harmony of Towers ends in a day. I do not consider it a particularly bad decision. It is efficient.”

“What about defying the Guide?”

“I believe we just finished discussing that. Ugar, are you so stupid that you must keep repeating a discussion we've already had?”

Ugar flinched under her icy gaze. Even among Demon Kings of equal rank, differences in stature existed.

“... Ahem.”

He turned away.

“Jason. Why don't you stop as well? If his tower is captured, that is a responsibility he must bear himself.”

“Of course. I was merely concerned. I respect Lord Berge's free will.”

Jason shrugged.

After a brief silence, ordinary conversation followed.

“Some of my kin have decided to descend to Arain. They will become my servants and assist me. It will cost quite a few demonic energy points, but it is worth it.”

“That isn't a bad idea. But don't reveal them too readily. Humans do not stand idly by when a Demon King grows too powerful.”

“The Jespine Empire's Ninth Princess has disappeared. I've been meaning to ask: surely that wasn't the work of anyone here?”

“I have no intention of meddling with the empire.”

“Wasn't there talk of a marriage between the Ninth Princess and the king of Ormus?”

“The Second Princess of Berft, the land of dwarves, has left her kingdom and begun wandering the continent. Is anyone here involved in that?”

“I heard Logger Fridri has disappeared.”

“That half-baked hero?”

“They say he wasn't abducted. He ran away because he didn't want to make the princess's weapon.”

“Understandable. With the Second Princess's temperament, calling her a demon would be more fitting.”

Berge did not join the Demon Kings' conversation. It was idle chatter to them, but because they were Demon Kings, it contained a wealth of news and rumors from across the continent. He sat quietly, listening and considering whether any of it might prove useful.

Cautiously, since some of it might be false information meant to deceive him.

Then he felt a piercing gaze. His eyes met those of Reina Sordein, the Demon King of Bitter Cold.

After watching him briefly, she signaled with her eyes and stood.

Berge quietly followed her.

CLICK

As the doors of the grand hall closed, the three Demon Kings who had been conversing noisily fell silent at once.

“Aren't you curious what they will discuss?”

“It's obvious.”

Drakson snorted.

“That bitch never said it outright, but she occasionally voiced dissatisfaction with the Guide. An outright blockhead and a closet rebel. Birds of a feather—they'll get along splendidly.”

“I don't like either of them.”

Drakson and Ugar ground their teeth.

Jason merely watched the doors through which the pair had disappeared, his expression intrigued.

* * *

“What are you doing?”

TAP, TAP

At the light tapping on his shoulder, Logger looked back.

The princess wore her usual innocent expression, her eyes full of curiosity.

“Repairing the broken mana cannons.”

“Not running away?”

“What do you mean?”

Logger stopped working.

“There's no one here right now, is there?”

Neither the Demon King nor Gordon was currently in the tower. There were no troops or measures to prevent their escape.

'No, there are a few.'

The elf called Granada. And the natural barrier of Erjest.

But was fear of those things alone keeping him from escaping?

Logger asked himself.

No.

“I'm staying because I can't escape.”

More precisely, he couldn't leave.

Thanks to the Demon King, Logger no longer had a welcoming home. The workshop where he had always worked with such passion was no longer his.

'Princess Louise.'

Logger knew her well.

He had sensed that her anger was directed at him, that her obsession had begun.

She was probably searching the entire city by now. If she failed to find him there, she would roam the entire kingdom—even the entire continent—to get what she wanted.

If she caught him...

Logger shuddered as goosebumps rose unbidden. He didn't even want to imagine it.

Of course, he wasn't staying only because of unpleasant circumstances. He had become enthralled by this strange building granted to a Demon King: the tower.

He felt a little sorry for the heroes who had fallen victim to his mana cannons and those who would in the future, but why should he care? Ultimately, the most important person in anyone's life was oneself.

“Then why aren't you running away, Your Highness?”

To Logger, the princess was the stranger one. Unlike him, she was under no coercion. Yet she was voluntarily cooperating with the Demon King.

She had proclaimed herself the Demon King's subordinate and lured the hero who had come to rescue her into a trap.

“Because I'm not confident I can descend Mount Erjest alone.”

Logger knew that wasn't the reason. Even so, he didn't press her. Something about this princess made him uneasy.

“I see.”

Rather than continuing the conversation, he returned to his repairs.

This time, she poked his cheek.

“... What are you doing?”

“It's a gift.”

It wasn't a finger. It felt warm and smelled sweet. It was a cookie dotted with chocolate chunks.

“I just baked it.”

“In this empty tower?”

When Logger first arrived, the tower had contained nothing. At most, there had been basic furnishings on the fifth floor.

The Demon King hadn't ordered him to make anything to remedy that, either. He had merely told him to prioritize the mana cannons.

“I shaped the earth into an oven and put a fire spirit inside.”

“Aha.”

Of course, something like that would be easy for a spirit summoner who commanded all four elements.

That aside, he had to acknowledge the sheer nerve it took to bake cookies so serenely after being abducted.

Logger had been feeling peckish anyway, so he bit into the cookie.

CRUNCH

It was just crisp enough and just sweet enough.

“How is it?”

“Delicious.”

Even without her bright eyes brimming with anticipation, it was a genuinely delicious cookie.

“Huh...?”

He noticed something unusual after perhaps his fifth chew.

“... What did you do to this cookie?”

“I put a tiny bit of Alloze into the dough.”

The princess smiled.

“... Isn't that an elixir?”

“Actually, I consumed a lot of elixirs back in the kingdom. Much of them is still left in my body, so fully assimilating a new one was difficult. I thought I'd try using it this way instead.”

Alloze. Logger knew it was what the princess had received from the Demon King in exchange for opposing the hero.

And she was giving it to him?

Though it was only a portion, it was an extraordinarily pure magical herb grown within the natural fortress of Erjest. The interference dwelling within Logger as a hero was greedily absorbing its pure mana, leaving not even the slightest trace.

It was a miraculous opportunity.

All the more so because Logger was so insignificant as a hero.

“It's a gift so we can get along from now on. Do you like it?”

“The problem is that I like it far too much. But why go out of your way for me...?”

“Do I need a reason? You, Granada, and I will be seeing one another for quite a long time, after all.”

If that was her reason, he almost wanted to bow in gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“Do you think Granada will like them too?”

“He'll go even crazier for them than I did.”

“I thought so.”

She disappeared with quick little steps. From the way she took the stairs down to the basement, she appeared to be heading to Granada.

'What a generous princess.'

No matter how many elixirs one had, one always wanted more. Giving them to someone else was not something just anyone could do.

Logger's fondness for Ernyan grew a little.

'But why...does it feel like I've accepted an ominous bribe?'

For some reason, a chill ran down his spine.