Chapter 57 - Negotiation

Something like this had happened before his regression.

Back then, Berge had been like a speeding carriage, full of self-righteousness and arrogance, faith in and reverence for the Guide.

He had kidnapped dozens of princesses. Countless cries of resentment became demonic energy. He drained the vitality of the heroes and humans who came to his tower.

One virtuous cycle after another. Mistaking it all for the result of his own greatness, he made a disastrous move he never should have made.

The kidnapping of the Jespine Empire's Crown Prince.

The empire was thrown into turmoil, and the continent rose up. The empire's vast army and the Heroes' Guild united as one and stormed his tower.

He weathered the first attack or two. But the humans never gave up, and he grew increasingly exhausted and worn down. It was during that time that he happened to meet the Demon King of another tower.

["Tsk, tsk. I told you not to touch the empire's princesses, but you wouldn't listen. No matter how impressive you are, Arain is completely different from other dimensions, you know? You should have etched your seniors' advice into your bones."]

["Look at me. I kidnapped a bitch who's a princess but gets no attention from anyone, and life couldn't be easier. That so-called king doesn't care, so only a few weak heroes show up now and then. I doubt you know how sweet that is."]

It was a weakness no Demon King should ever admit aloud.

At the time, Berge had scoffed at such a Demon King.

["You wear the guise of a Demon King and feel no shame, it seems. I wonder how someone like you even completed the Demon King Military Academy."]

But now he knew. Berge had been wrong, and the bastard had been right.

The Demon King Ugar Belbek had understood Arain more accurately than anyone else.

The princess he had mentioned then was Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess—the one Berge had originally intended to kidnap, said to be too sickly even for a political marriage.

"... Ugar kidnapped that princess again?"

『... Again? What do you mean?』

"Nothing."

Strictly speaking, it wasn't "again." But to Berge, it was.

After his regression, Berge had taken a different path. History had changed with his actions. So why was Ugar following the same course as before?

'Could the future already be set...?'

He forced away the ominous thought that crossed his mind. If that were true, Drakson wouldn't have died.

"Exactly when and where?"

『Last night, at the villa where the Thirteenth Princess had gone to recuperate.』

Yesterday would have been exactly three days after Ugar said he wanted to buy demonic energy.

『But judging by your surprise, this wasn't something you agreed on?』

"There's no need to probe, Hillen. You must already have some idea."

『My apologies if I overstepped. I happened to hear that the Demon Kings interact with one another.』

Happened to hear, his ass.

"End the call."

『Yes, my lord.』

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

No sooner had the connection ended than someone knocked on the door. He knew who it was, so he didn't ask.

"Come in."

Ernyan cautiously peeked inside.

"..."

"What is it?"

"... May I sit down for a moment?"

"Sit."

She sat across from him. Silence hung between them for a moment.

"I don't like dragging things out."

"... I know it's rude, but I heard what was said earlier."

Earlier, was it?

Until just now, he had been touring the first floor, inspecting Logger's creations. About halfway around, Gordon had come rushing down, out of breath, and shouted, ["My lord! Demon King Ugar has kidnapped Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess!"]

Then Berge had returned to his office and contacted Hillen Cargill.

He and Logger hadn't been the only ones on the first floor. Ernyan had been there too. Had she heard? Of course she had. In fact, it would have been harder not to hear.

"Is it true that Elena was kidnapped?"

"If that's the Thirteenth Princess's name."

"It is. Officially, the Thirteenth Princess is Elena."

"Officially?"

"Ah."

Ernyan closed her mouth. She wasn't her usual self. She was strangely agitated and unsettled. There was no need to search for the cause.

"You're worried, I take it?"

"She can barely move about. If she's kidnapped by a Demon King and subjected to something terrible..."

"And?"

"..."

"Why are you telling me this?"

She bit her lip.

She knew how absurd it was to say such things to a Demon King.

But...

"Please help me."

Ernyan said it anyway.

"Did I hear you correctly?"

"You did. Please save Elena."

"I'm a Demon King."

"I'm a princess."

"And the Thirteenth Princess was kidnapped by a Demon King."

"If she's going to be kidnapped by a Demon King anyway, please be the one to kidnap her, my lord."

This conversation felt familiar somehow.

'Was it back then?'

When Hillen Cargill's hero's journey began and Berge was cornered.

To survive, he had asked Ernyan to side with him and stop the hero.

She had done so, and he had weathered the crisis more easily than expected. It was fair to say he owed her a great debt.

But that didn't mean he had to repay her in kind. He had paid her with elixirs. Even if he hadn't, he wasn't such a kindhearted Demon King that he would repay every favor.

"You're going about this the wrong way."

"I'll tell you about every secret fund belonging to the kingdom's nobles that I know of."

"Now that is rather tempting."

Though now merely a kingdom at the southern tip of the continent, Hilderan had once been a great empire that ruled the continent.

Didn't they say a rich man's wealth lasted three years even after his ruin? Though nothing compared to its imperial days, Hilderan was still a powerful nation.

And these were its nobles' secret funds.

He might get his hands on even more gold than Jason had paid him for his demonic energy.

But he didn't immediately nod.

"Not enough."

"What do you want?"

"I can't trust you."

"Have I broken any of my promises so far?"

She hadn't. She had kept every promise she'd made. She had faithfully helped Berge.

But that wasn't reason enough to trust her. Ernyan was hiding something. Until it came to light, he could never trust her.

'No.'

Could he trust her even if she confessed? He couldn't be sure. Humans weren't a particularly trustworthy race.

"That and trust are separate matters."

"You want to know why I don't try to leave the tower."

"I won't deny it."

After a moment's hesitation, Ernyan spoke.

"Do you know a spell called Child of the World Tree?"

* * *

"Welcome."

A rugged, rocky mountain came into view. Wind blew between the rocks.

"I am Cocoon, Lord Ugar's adjutant."

"A titan?"

"Yes."

Berge frowned at the figure towering over four meters tall. Having to tilt his head back to look up was irritating.

"Where's Ugar?"

"He is waiting inside."

CREEEAK

The tower doors opened.

'Nine floors.'

The tower that had reached eleven floors just before Berge's death was now stagnating, still short of double digits.

The moment he looked around inside, he noticed something strange.

"Quite a lot, aren't there?"

"Yes."

The tower was filled almost to capacity with monsters.

Was summoning demonic creatures the reason Ugar had suddenly wanted to buy demonic energy points?

It wasn't limited to the first floor. All the way up to the ninth and highest floor, Berge kept feeling that there were far too many demonic creatures.

The tower felt cramped because it hadn't been sufficiently upgraded.

"My lord, I have brought Demon King Berge."

"I've been waiting."

Seated on his throne, Ugar tapped the hovering hologram. He purchased a Demon Realm contract and stepped down from the throne.

"Check it."

The terms were exactly as they had discussed. Berge infused it with demonic energy to sign.

"Cocoon."

"Yes."

"Bring him the gold."

Cocoon brought a bulging pouch. Berge placed it in his storage dimension.

"I hear you've kidnapped another princess?"

"Yes."

"A princess of Hilderan, I heard."

"Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess, to be precise. So sickly she can't even be married off politically. The king doesn't care about her either, so there's no great trouble..."

Ah.

"Come to think of it, I'm curious. Will you call this unbecoming of a Demon King, or praise me for finding a loophole in the Guide?"

"Well..."

Berge tapped his fingers against the table.

"If I had to choose, the latter."

"Unexpected."

"Unexpected?"

"I thought you merely disliked the Guide, but were otherwise the very model of an arrogant demon."

"Why?"

"I hear you challenged His Grace the Grand Duke and Drakson?"

"A demon doesn't back away from a fight brought to him."

"But your opponent was His Grace the Grand Duke."

"So after taking a blow, you meekly obey out of fear? You're awfully timid for your size."

"Don't insult me. Obeying one's superiors is only natural."

Ugar growled.

"On my way up, I noticed you've filled the tower with far too many demonic creatures. Buying demonic energy from me, suddenly kidnapping a princess..."

"Pursuing demonic energy is what a Demon King should do. What of it?"

"You're afraid."

"...!"

"Aren't you afraid the heroes will cut your head off like Drakson's and turn you into U/ga/r?"

"I am Ugar, a Demon King! Do you think some mere human heroes can do anything to me?!"

Ugar slammed his fist down on the desk. With a crash, broken fragments flew everywhere.

His thick killing intent raced across the entire floor like a runaway horse.

It was a display of majesty befitting a Demon King. Yet why did he seem like a frightened dog?

History had changed. So had the future.

It was all because of Berge's regression.

As he resolved to walk a different path and followed through, both the relationships between Demon Kings and the humans' reactions had changed.

He had forged ties with Lies and Bitter Cold, with whom he had previously had none.

The Beast, who had lived on without trouble and raised his tower to sixteen floors, had died.

On top of that, the newly descended bitch Vivian had made trouble, full of arrogance about herself like any typical Demon King.

The humans were furious, and tensions between humans and Demon Kings had mounted.

Then how would this bald coward react now that the Beast, his companion and support, was dead?

It was simple.

Exactly as he was doing now.

He would get scared in advance and overreact.

"And yet you're trying to buy demonic energy from me, and after keeping quiet all this time, you're kidnapping new princesses. I hear you've taken not just Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess, but Hessen's Eighth Prince as well?"

"What of it? As I said, it's natural for a Demon King to crave demonic energy."

"And filling your tower with demonic creatures?"

"Is it strange for a tower to contain demonic creatures?"

"It is when there are more than you need."

"What are you trying to say? Get to the point."

"Hmm."

The corners of Berge's mouth rose.

"I'm saying you look like a scared little rat, Ugar."

"...!"

"A pitiful little rat desperately struggling to survive, with no lifeline coming down to save it."

"You son of a bitch...!"

Ugar rose from his seat. His bulk, over five meters tall, was imposing in itself.

Berge calmly folded his arms.

"You seem to look down on me because you graduated top of your class at the academy, but I've already been a Demon King for decades. Someone like you..."

"You leave all those many princes and princesses alone and only ever kidnap the ones at the bottom of the order, don't you? The ones their kingdoms can't quite ignore, but don't need to worry too much about either."

"... How did you know that?"

"You work hard. Picking such borderline cases requires advance research and consideration of every circumstance and condition."

It sounded simple, but it was anything but. The relationships between princes and princesses, compromises with their kingdoms—there were far more than one or two things to consider.

It was impressive in itself that the ignorant, simple-minded Ugar was doing such a thing. His desire to live must have been that strong.

"If you want..."

At that point, Berge slowly cast out the bait.

"I could tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"About every prince and princess I know who meets your requirements."

"...!"

"In return, I have one condition of my own."

He smiled. Ugar's eyes wavered.