Chapter 32 - Repaying a Favor, Dwarf Style

『The Wind Lotus, you said?』

"Yes. The Wind Lotus in Amur's magic district, and its owner, Jetoson. Remember them well."

『What's this about, all of a sudden?』

"An insolent bastard who tried to fleece me."

『... Does he have lives to spare?』

"Well, he did fleece a dwarven princess instead of me."

『... Is he even still alive?』

"Anyway, I've confirmed his talent. He's a natural at fleecing people. I intend to put him to work at the Golden Moon Trading Company. I've already paid him an advance."

『Did he take the money and agree to come?』

"If that were all, I wouldn't have contacted you or told the princess. If he refuses to come, I simply have to leave him no choice."

『... Good heavens. You told the princess.』

"Investigate him. Where he's from, how old he is, what his circumstances are. Why he opened the shop, how he acquired it, how much he owns. Every last detail."

『... I'm starting to feel sorry for him. No, perhaps I should pray he's still alive first.』

After ending his call with Granada, Berge bought Seniel powder at the Deer's Leaf.

"We have low, medium, high, and premium grades. Which would you like?"

"What's the difference?"

"The quality of the mana stones and ingredients. Together, those determine the difference in quality and effectiveness."

"All the premium-grade powder you have."

"Ten packets of premium Seniel powder. That will be ten gold."

The mana in the premium powder was incomparably purer than what he had seen at Jetoson's shop. They were practically polar opposites. He realized that what the damned bastard had sold was low grade—or the bottom end of medium grade, at the most generous estimate.

"How much are the others?"

"High grade is fifty silver, medium grade thirty, and low grade ten."

'Should I have broken his limbs myself instead of telling the princess?'

He liked the man's talent and wanted to put it to use, but the thought that he had nearly been swindled himself irritated him.

Just then, Louise appeared.

"You're still here."

"Thanks to you, I avoided being swindled. I'd like to reward you."

"What did you do to him?"

"Unfortunately, since we're in Amur, I couldn't break his limbs. Why are there so many things I have to hold back on?"

Louise smacked her lips and glared at the knight. Presumably, he had desperately intervened.

'She didn't break his limbs, even with him stopping her? She really did restrain herself, being in another country's capital.'

"Instead, I cleaned out most of his merchandise. I thought I'd share some with you."

"No need. It's all inferior goods."

"So it is. That swindling bastard didn't have a single decent thing in his shop."

Louise grumbled that perhaps she should have broken his limbs after all.

"Absolutely not!" the knight cried.

"Anyway, how about a meal together, then? I'll treat you to a magnificent feast."

"No need."

Berge had no desire to get involved with Louise. He had kidnapped Logger out of necessity, but to him, dwarven princes and princesses were shit to be avoided for their filth.

"No. I was taught that a favor must always be repaid."

"... Forcing repayment on someone who doesn't want it hardly counts as repaying a favor."

"I said I was taught to repay favors no matter what."

Louise seized his hand. She clearly wasn't going to let him go easily.

"... Very well."

Unwilling to cause trouble, Berge had no choice but to participate in this dwarven way of repaying a favor.

* * *

"Well? They said this is the most expensive and famous restaurant in Amur. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

The knight nodded vigorously.

As Louise had said, the restaurant was luxurious. The decor had an old-world elegance, and the view from the top of the twenty-story building was quite pleasant. The food was undeniably delicious, too.

'Granada's cooking is food waste compared to this.'

If he said that aloud, Granada would probably throw a fit and insist he wasn't a cook.

"You seem wealthy. Why were you hanging around such a cheap shop?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Rather than hiring someone to do it?"

"He's someone I want to find personally."

Louise smiled coldly. Berge vowed never to let Logger and the princess meet.

"Whoever he is, I pity him."

"He doesn't deserve pity."

Her resolve told Berge she would follow Logger to the ends of the continent. Judging by her actions before his regression, that was a certainty.

'What a nuisance.'

She hadn't found so much as a trace yet, but if—if she really did discover he had kidnapped Logger, there was no telling what she might do. Rather than risk that...

"Is it Logger Fridri?"

CRASH!

The princess sprang to her feet. The table overturned. The knight's sword came to rest at Berge's throat.

"How did you know?"

"I have good hearing. What's the point of hiding your face if you don't watch what you say, Louise Berft?"

"... Did I say it?"

"Your voice was a little loud. But it's somewhat suspicious that he identified you as the princess from that alone."

The knight's chilling presence pressed down on Berge.

"Who are you? Did you approach us deliberately?"

"What an amusing thing to say. Weren't you the one who dragged me here against my wishes, Princess?"

"... That's true, but..."

"I'm trying to help. I've met Logger Fridri."

"What? When? Where!"

"Two months ago, in Ormus."

"Logger went to Ormus? That backwater?"

"I travel around the continent looking for magical ingredients. I happened to see him in Tarta, Ormus's rainforest city."

"How can we believe that?"

The knight gave him a doubtful look. He suspected Berge had approached them deliberately.

"Believe me or not. It makes no difference to me."

Berge took something from inside his clothes: a necklace. Logger had originally worn it, but Berge had removed it to put shackles on him when they went to obtain the Mana Ghost, and had yet to return it.

"This is...!"

"It's definitely Logger's! It was the first piece he ever made. It has no effect, but he always wore it like a lucky charm."

Both dwarves recognized it.

'So that's what it was?'

No wonder he had cried and made such a fuss when told to hand it over. Well, a few blows had quieted him down.

"Where did you find this?"

"Didn't I tell you? Tarta."

"Logger would never take this necklace off... Don't tell me..."

"He's not dead. It broke off during a monster attack, and he lost it. I merely picked it up."

"There are signs it was snapped."

Those were the marks Berge had left when he forcibly snapped it because Logger refused to let go.

"Thank you!"

The princess grabbed Berge's hand.

"Thanks to you, I finally have a lead. I'm in your debt again. How can I repay you...?"

"Ridiculous."

He caught the sword in his bare hand.

SCREEECH!

The sword bent with a grotesque noise.

"You hold a blade to someone's throat and talk about repaying favors?"

How dare they hold a blade to his throat? These fucking midgets.

"Uh...?"

"... Good heavens."

Louise and the knight stared in stupefaction.

"Today has taught me just how ill-mannered dwarves are."

Berge rose. Louise hurriedly caught hold of him.

"Wait. I'll apologize for this."

"No need. I never want to have anything to do with dwarves again."

"Given my station, my knight was overly cautious. So many people approach me with ulterior motives."

"Am I supposed to make allowances for your problems?"

"Of course not."

She forced a small token into his hand.

"This marks you as my benefactor. Bring it to our kingdom, and the finest artisans will make you the finest equipment."

"... This looks useful. I'll accept it."

Berge disappeared.

"... The sword?"

"It's bent beyond use. To do this so easily to an alloy blade..."

Dwarven alloys had the greatest resilience and strength on the continent.

"He simply crumpled a master-crafted weapon without even using mana?"

"What will you do? It could be a trap."

"The necklace was real, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then we go. Trap or whatever the hell it is, there's a good chance he's really there. I won't be satisfied until I beat the bastard senseless."

Louise's eyes flashed.

"Contact my father and request reinforcements."

"Yes."

They had no idea that Berge had chosen Ormus, roughly half of whose territory was covered in jungle, because it was the domain of Drakson, the Beast Demon King. In short, he was passing the bomb to someone else.

* * *

"... Failed?"

"Without even seeing the Demon King's tower?"

"Hillen Cargill?"

Humans were social animals that formed groups. With heroes abounding throughout the dimension, it was only natural that they too would gather and band together.

To protect their interests, share information, and fight Demon Kings more effectively, the heroes established a guild. Thus the Heroes' Guild was born.

An organization akin to the Demon Kings' natural enemy. Now, hundreds of years later, it could even toy with them. That organization was thrown into an uproar.

This was different from when Watton Collo and some of the expedition members had descended the mountain. They had thought the search would simply take a little longer because it was the Erjest Mountains. No one had expected that faith to be rewarded with complete failure.

"They say the tower was nowhere to be found."

"Impossible..."

"Hundreds of years have passed since the first Demon King descended. Dozens have come since then. In all those centuries, not a single one has hidden his tower."

"Isn't that precisely why we've gathered again?"

Reconvening the elders' council after only a few weeks was far from common.

"We cannot underestimate this Demon King."

"Hillen Cargill is a tenacious hero. He must have combed every inch of those mountains for weeks. If he couldn't find it, the Demon King clearly made a deliberate effort to hide it."

"Even so, surely a Demon King wouldn't..."

"The outcome speaks for itself!"

"Quiet, all of you."

At the words of the man seated at the head of the table, the elders fell silent.

"The new Demon King is undoubtedly someone to watch closely. Before we discuss him, the news we've been waiting for has arrived."

"They've replied?"

A mana stone in the center of the conference room projected a hologram.

"Name: Berge Deias."

"He primarily uses flames, and his physical capabilities rank among the highest of all demons."

"Of particular note, he insulted the Demon Realm's Guide and is known as a blockhead even there."

One elder frowned.

"Is that all? Nothing about his race or exactly what sort of creature he is? Which demons he brought, how many demonic creatures he has, or the layout of his tower?"

"That's correct."

"Are those damned bastards trying to end our cooperation like this?"

"We've indulged them so much they clearly take us for suckers. We must teach them a lesson!"

"We should select heroes and begin a hero's journey immediately!"

The elders seethed. But the man shook his head, his arms folded.

"No. Even Demon Kings cannot visit another Demon King's tower at will. And the new Demon King only descended recently. Unless he tells them himself, it's natural that they wouldn't know."

"Ah, true... He's caused so much trouble in such a short time that I overlooked that."

Outside the Harmony of Towers, Demon Kings very rarely had an opportunity to see one another's towers. It was generally accepted that they did not invite each other to private visits, no matter how close they were.

"Then we cannot learn about his tower right away."

"Apparently not."

The elders clicked their tongues in frustration. An entirely unexpected foe had arrived, and they could learn nothing about him.

"Why not mobilize every hero and finish him off early?"

"They sent something else along with this brief account: 'He looks down on the Guide. He behaves like neither a Demon King nor a demon. Keep that in mind.'"

An interesting one had descended. The man smiled unpleasantly.

"That means..."

"A Demon King who doesn't follow the Guide?"

It was a worst-case scenario they had never imagined: an unpredictable outlier whose appearance rendered all the established methods of the Heroes' Guild worthless. The edifice built upon the blood and experience of countless heroes was now likely to collapse.

"Isn't he already doing that?"

"But he kidnapped a princess. Even an imperial princess this time."

"He won't disregard everything. Ultimately, the Demon Realm's Guide exists for their efficiency. But we must bear in mind that he may twist any part he finds disadvantageous."

"Good heavens."

Why had heroes begun to take Demon Kings so lightly? Their numbers were part of it, but they had also learned the true nature of the Guide that demons held sacred—and used it against them.

"Who the hell is this bastard to disregard the Guide? Have those creatures in the Demon Realm gone mad, making someone like him a Demon King?"

"We have no way of knowing that."

"Perhaps..."

An elder stifled a groan.

"Perhaps?"

"Perhaps the Demon Realm is trying to bring this state of affairs to an end."

"Go on."

"It's been hundreds of years since Demon Kings began descending into our dimension. We didn't know before, but now it's clear that they are the Demon Realm's vanguard commanders, isn't it?"

The man nodded.

"After those vanguard commanders have failed dozens of times, wouldn't the demons try to change things if they had any brains? This Berge Deias is their first attempt."

"... Plausible."

"Seen in that light, they may have used the Harmony of Towers as an excuse while deliberately withholding information."

"But they didn't seem favorably disposed toward Berge Deias."

"It's a new approach even in the Demon Realm, so they may dislike it. But they're following orders from above for now."

"It's possible."

"Demons would certainly be capable of that..."

One by one, the elders nodded.

"Wouldn't it be best to crush him at the outset, so they never try this again?"

"No."

The man habitually licked his lips.

"We will leave him alone."

"... You mean to stand by and watch?"

"Isn't this a fine opportunity?"

The corners of his mouth lifted.

"The continent has grown far too accustomed to Demon Kings. As the damage they cause diminishes, the nations grow stronger by the day. Perhaps that's why some insolent fools claim the Heroes' Guild is unnecessary."

It was hardly a secret. The long peace had led more and more people to resent the Heroes' Guild, which wielded immense power while belonging to no nation.

"They've forgotten who lets them rest easy, who keeps the continent from being destroyed, who spared them from becoming the Demon Kings' slaves. And now they have the gall to insist they'll manage the heroes themselves."

They didn't know their place. The elders trembled at his faint killing intent.

"Wouldn't it be good if a new embodiment of absolute evil named Berge Deias awakened the entire continent to the danger? Reminded them that this peace is not true peace at all?"

"You are quite right."

"Jespine's arrogance in particular has gone beyond all bounds."

It was no secret that immediately after the Ninth Princess's kidnapping, Jespine's envoy had thrown the Heroes' Guild into turmoil.

"To behave like that just because they paid a little money..."

"They need to realize whom they owe their peace to."

"Then it's settled. We'll make a suitable show of action and observe how matters unfold."

The decision was made.

* * *

Logger was torn. Should he take it apart or not?

He had already finished repairing all the mana cannons. By refining the mana stones further and adding more, he had increased their firepower at a slight cost to durability. The next heroes probably wouldn't get through as easily as Hillen Cargill had.

He had completed every order the Demon King had given him. Surely he could do something for himself now?

'Technically, this is mine. Doesn't that mean I own it?'

Logger drooled as he examined the Mana Ghost, now fully integrated with the tower.

Only faint traces remained of what he had once created. Its power source had changed to demonic energy, and its very structure had transformed dramatically. He wanted to understand the principles behind it—how it had become a component of the tower, how it could conceal the tower. He wanted to dismantle it completely and examine everything.

"Yes, that's right. This isn't the tower. It's an artifact I made. Of course, I can't exactly call it entirely mine anymore, but surely I can take just a little of it apart?"

Breathing heavily, he slowly searched for his tools. Should he hammer it to test its durability first? No, that might break it. So first he should undo the screws and dismantle it completely...

"Are you going to take that apart?"

"... Eek!"

Logger collapsed onto his backside. The tools slipped from his hands and flew through the air. A wind spirit gently caught them.

"Why are you so startled?"

"Please stop suddenly appearing behind me!"

"Were you going to take it apart?"

"... No, I wasn't."

Logger discreetly put down his hammer.

"What brings you here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit? With the relationship we have?"

"We don't have any relationship."

"We're fellow kidnapping victims. Out of all the people in the world, very few are kidnapped by a Demon King. And what are the odds of meeting and freely chatting like this?"

"... What are you trying to say?"

Logger found this illustrious princess difficult to deal with. Her playful expression reminded him of a mischievous child whose next move was impossible to predict.

"Would you like a cookie?"

"Yes."

Still, cookies mixed with magical herbs were always welcome. The princess crunched into a cookie herself.

"How is the new princess?"

"She's not docile. But she isn't wild, either."

"You mean she's somewhere in between?"

"I mean she does nothing but swing her sword all day."

"... What is that supposed to mean?"

"For the first three days, she quietly did nothing but sleep. I think she was adjusting. Dogs don't come out of their cages at first when they're in a new environment, do they?"

"Is an imperial princess an animal now?"

"As long as the meaning gets across, isn't that enough?"

"... I suppose so."

Logger wasn't a dwarf who particularly valued etiquette, either. Especially after what Princess Louise had put him through, he wasn't exactly fond of royal or imperial princesses.

"For the next two days, she polished her weapons and armor all day."

"Come to think of it, she was wearing a knight's armor when she arrived."

"And now she's swinging her sword."

"... Right now?"

"The smell of sweat is overwhelming. I'd like to get a little closer to her, but she does nothing except eat and exercise, so there's no chance to speak to her."

"So that's why you came down here?"

"I thought I'd get along with another princess, but it's difficult."

Ernyan grumbled softly. In this empty tower, a new person was a breath of life in her monotonous days.

"Still, it's nice to have more people here."

It was unfortunate that this new source of liveliness had no interest in her and simply went about her own business, but just feeling another person's vitality was pleasant.

"She probably doesn't feel that way herself."

From what he had heard, the imperial princess was also a hero who had come to join Hillen Cargill and hunt the Demon King...

'It looks to me like she's building her strength to escape the tower.'

He didn't know whether that would let her escape. Still, she was a hero, so the possibility wasn't entirely nonexistent.

"Would you like another?"

"Yes. Thank you."

'If she's going to train, I wish she'd damage the tower a little. Then wouldn't the Demon King have me repair it? I could take it apart with permission...'

Entertaining these silly thoughts, he busily chewed his cookie. Its sweet yet bitter flavor was exquisite.

* * *

"... What?"

『The Wind Lotus in the capital, Amur. Its owner, Jetoson. You're to consider how to ruin him without any complications.』

"The Demon King's orders?"

『Yes. As you know, I'm rather busy. Unlike someone else.』

"Shut up."

Snickering came through the crystal ball. Gordon barely suppressed the urge to tear that mouth apart.

『Anyway, I've already put in a request with the Information Guild, so I'll let you know whenever I learn anything.』

The connection abruptly cut off.

"What? I'm sitting around doing nothing?"

What angered Gordon even more was that it wasn't wrong.

Ordinarily, a Demon King's adjutant was both the tower's administrator and an adviser. The adjutant ran the tower on the Demon King's behalf and offered counsel to keep the Demon King from going astray.

But there was practically nothing to manage in the tower, and the Demon King knew more about Arain than he did. He was heading in a completely different direction from the Guide Gordon had studied, which made offering advice difficult in the first place.

Even when the heroes had come, he had accomplished less than the kidnapped princess. That was a humiliation in its own right.

And so Gordon had been left adrift. Gordon Dairik, the genius who had graduated at the top of his class at demon school, had become an unnecessary presence in the tower.

"Fine."

Gordon ground his teeth.

"No matter what it takes, I'll ruin this son of a bitch. I'll prove that I'm indispensable!"

Jetoson of the Wind Lotus. Gordon etched that name deep into his mind.