Chapter 55 - There Is No Tower

The sky was clear. Dafner sighed at the snow-covered mountains he had been looking at for nearly a month.

It was cold. Breathing out white clouds, he moved cautiously. Even after he passed, the white snow remained pristine.

'I'm sick of this. I never want to come back to Erjest.'

A frozen drake's roar sounded in the distance. The mountain trembled as monsters fought over territory.

A cold place full of monsters, with shitty weather to boot. He regretted readily accepting the commission for its enormous fee. He should have known better when he heard that Hillen Cargill had failed.

'This is the only area left now.'

He had combed through the entire mountain range. That was no easy task, even for Dafner. He had to keep his senses keen every day, and resupplying was difficult. Worse still, Erjest harbored monsters that even a great hero like him could not handle.

'Especially that demon.'

A monster that had fooled even his senses. Dafner still got chills whenever he thought of that encounter.

'Fortunately, he isn't that fast. But I have to be careful. There's no telling when or where he'll appear.'

It had been an unpleasant experience, but it had helped him narrow down the search sooner than expected. The demon's tower was definitely somewhere nearby.

'A week. I'll find it and get out of these mountains within a week.'

And he would never so much as piss in Erjest's direction again.

* * *

On the Demon King's Floor, Berge sat on his throne. At his command, the tower's power activated. A hologram of the view outside the tower unfolded before him.

"He's here."

Even without Gordon's announcement, Berge could see a figure approaching the basin cautiously.

"Dafner Philiain."

It was indeed the man he had seen before.

[82459pt]

[82439pt]

[82419pt]

His demonic energy points were dropping rapidly. Perhaps the anger and attention directed at Berge had shifted to Drakson's death and the appearance of a new Demon King. He had accumulated fewer points than expected. At this rate, they would last only a little over an hour.

"I've tested the effects of the power myself, but..."

Gordon faltered uneasily.

"Will it evade that man's senses?"

"I can't be certain."

The power he had gained through the Mana Ghost was low-grade, befitting the tower's level. It might fool those of lesser ability, but he doubted it could deceive Dafner Philiain completely.

"But he won't notice anything from a passing glance at a distance..."

"Then Krutu's role will be absolutely crucial."

Dafner reached a peak with an unobstructed view of the basin. The tower stood inside it, but he would not be able to see it. Ideally, he would simply leave, but Dafner took a step toward the basin.

At that moment—

ROOOAR

Dafner stopped at the monsters' roars. A huge yeti burst out through the snow.

BOOM

A massive hand slammed into the ground. Dozens of Poil Orcs charged with savage cries. That was only the beginning. Countless monsters—yetis, frozen drakes, white wolves, twin-headed ogres, and more—attacked the Poil Orc settlement inside the basin.

It was a carefully arranged setup. On Berge's orders, Krutu had moved his village into the basin and driven the monsters there to coincide with Dafner's arrival. The ensuing battle would serve as an excellent breakwater, keeping him from approaching the tower.

"Building the tower in a basin was a stroke of Demon Emperor-level genius."

The basin itself was hidden and difficult to discover, but once someone stood above it, everything below was clearly visible. There was no need to descend.

Yet Dafner did not turn back as quickly as expected. He gazed absently over the scene. One frozen drake happened to spot him and unleashed its breath, only to collapse riddled with holes—a minor incident.

Then it happened.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Come in."

"... Are you busy?"

It was Ernyan.

"What is it?"

"Lady Kaede has woken up."

"I see. You will remain responsible for looking after her. You're both accountable."

"I stopped her."

"You should have kept her from even thinking of escaping in the first place."

"That's unreasonable."

"A Demon King is a being who can make even the unreasonable reasonable."

Ernyan's eyes narrowed.

"What's that insolent look in your eyes? Do you want me to gouge them out?"

"... No."

She averted her gaze. Then it happened to land on the hologram displayed in the center.

"Oh, Sir Dafner?"

"You know him?"

After asking, Berge gave a small chuckle at his own foolishness. Of course the Crown Princess of Hilderan would know him.

"Yes. He once asked me to teach him spirit summoning."

"Spirit summoning?"

"He had no talent for it, though. He couldn't even attune himself to a lesser spirit."

"That's a relief."

As beings composed of pure mana, spirits were quite good at detecting demonic energy, which was almost its polar opposite. He did not even want to imagine a spirit summoned by a hero and empowered by dimensional interference.

"Why? Do you want to escape?"

Ernyan's gaze remained fixed on Dafner.

"If you want to escape, you can leave now. Open the door and ask for help. You can open it, and that hero should be more than capable of taking you away."

It was true. If Dafner took Ernyan and made a determined escape, Berge had no means of catching him immediately.

"... Do you want me to leave?"

"Who knows?"

"And if I tried to leave, would you actually let me?"

Of course not. Berge did not bother answering. A curious look entered Ernyan's purple eyes.

"I'm the Dark Spirit Summoner."

"You mean my underling number one?"

"One of the Four Heavenly Kings, to be precise."

Her sheer brazenness left him so dumbfounded that a laugh escaped him.

"Where did that childish title even come from?"

"I saw it. Demon Kings always have special confidants at their side."

There were Demon Kings that childish?

"In a history book?"

"... Who knows?"

"A novel, then."

"... It was a play."

"They make plays out of that nonsense?"

"A famous troupe that travels the continent was invited to the royal palace."

"Hilderan's royal family has peculiar tastes."

"I was ten at the time."

"But you liked it so much that you still remember it?"

"It wasn't so much that I liked it. I was just envious. Those people were free. Unlike me."

Especially the sight of the 'Giant of Hell,' who had roared with hearty laughter as he proclaimed himself one of the Four Heavenly Kings...

A faint blush touched Ernyan's face, and she deliberately looked away.

"So you think of this as another scene in a play? And you're an actress?"

"That's not it."

"Well, it doesn't matter. I don't know what you're thinking by cooperating with me, but you'd better not change your mind."

There was still much about her that seemed inscrutable, but he did not press further. Thanks to Ernyan, he had captured Hillen Cargill easily. Her contribution deserved recognition.

"... I won't."

"I can't exactly say I believe you. You and I aren't in a position to trust each other."

Ernyan nodded slightly and changed the subject.

"... It was probably my father."

"The one who sent that fellow?"

"Sir Dafner has close ties to my father. I understand he's accepted quite a few commissions from him."

"So it's Hilderan after all."

He had heard that they had tried to drag Hillen away by force after his hero's journey failed. But once that attempt was thwarted on grounds of legitimacy, they had gone quiet, and Berge had stopped paying attention. Apparently, they had not given up.

Then again, it would be strange to give up after a Crown Princess with such a promising future was kidnapped.

"... There's more and more to worry about."

Taking control of the continent through the elves, investigating Ralph Schmitz, and now Hilderan's sinister reach. He had brought these things upon himself, so there was hardly anyone else to blame.

His worries deepened. Meanwhile, after surveying the basin a little longer, Dafner turned away.

Exactly seven minutes later, the tower reappeared.

It had been a close call.

* * *

"Failed? You failed?"

"I searched everywhere within my capabilities. But I couldn't find the tower anywhere."

"Are you saying the Demon King's tower is somewhere other than Erjest?"

"I did find a demon."

"Then it is there. Were your abilities insufficient?"

"Erjest is a forbidden region teeming with monsters beyond human ability to handle. Even I cannot go everywhere."

"You call that an excuse—!"

"If I may offer some advice, if I'm not good enough, anyone else will struggle to find it. This may sound like boasting, but no one in this world is better at searching than I am."

"Ha..."

The man sighed. Dafner regarded him calmly.

"His Majesty was counting entirely on you."

"I know. I value my relationship with His Majesty as well, which is why I dropped my other commissions and came running. But I cannot accomplish something beyond my abilities."

"... Damn it. How am I supposed to report this to His Majesty? He presses me every single day."

"Wouldn't it be better to commission the Heroes' Guild? Even if they failed once, surely they'd at least respond to the kidnapping of Her Highness the Crown Princess?"

"Ah, you wouldn't know, shut away in those mountains. It came to light that the Demon Kings tried to manipulate Dormund's nobles with succubi, and the Guild is in an uproar."

"There are still Demon Kings using such outdated methods?"

"The Beast Demon King died recently. It's the Demon King who descended after that. A succubus queen, apparently."

"Don't tell me this one has hidden her tower too?"

"The tower was found on an island in the Seratin Islands. Like those of the other Demon Kings, it's in a somewhat dangerous location, but not one that's difficult to find or impossible to assault."

"That's some relief, at least."

"I wonder if we can really call it a relief. The Demon Kings are behaving differently now. It means the delicate balance is breaking down."

Since the Demon King of Lies had descended, conflict between the Demon Kings and humans had steadily diminished. After the Demon Kings of Beasts, Bitter Cold, and Adamant established themselves in turn, it had all but disappeared, leaving only one ticking bomb.

"Now there are two again. And we still know next to nothing about one of them."

"But the scales favor our side."

Whatever the situation had been in the early days, humans clearly held the upper hand over Demon Kings in present-day Arain.

"Two hero's journeys have failed. You know perfectly well that a raiding party may fall, but a hero's journey must never fail."

"But the last one succeeded, didn't it?"

"That's a relief, at least, but it wasn't led by the Heroes' Guild. That's causing even more of an uproar. And I don't know if you've heard this either..."

After a moment's hesitation, the man spoke again.

"His Majesty sent the Blue Sea Knights to seize Hillen Cargill."

"... I hadn't heard."

"You were in the Empire at the time, and we buried the matter thoroughly to prevent word from getting out."

"Because of that, relations between the Guild and the kingdom are at their worst."

"A complete mess, then."

Dafner scratched his beard.

"Where are Watton Collo and Hillen Cargill?"

"What are you planning?"

"Given my ties to Hilderan, I can't leave this commission half-finished, can I?"

"They couldn't find the tower either."

"But who knows? I might find even a small clue in the course they took."

"That's true. Then I'll leave it to you. Thanks to you, I have something to offer His Majesty to calm him down."

"Of course."

"Watton Collo is in Hessen, and Hillen Cargill is in Traparta. He's been referred to a Guild trial along with Roselle Charnt."

"Understood. I'll take my leave, then."

Dafner vanished. Silence settled as though no one had been there to begin with. Left alone, the man tipped his wineglass.

"A tower even Dafner Philiain can't find."

He chuckled.

"Your Majesty, it seems heaven has chosen me, not you."

The wine tasted sweet.