Chapter 58 - Where Have I Seen That Face?

To survive, all the Demon Kings of Arain introduced variations within the bounds permitted by the Guide. Reina Sordein, the Demon King of Bitter Cold, for instance, placed princes and princesses she had turned into ice statues on the lower floors, allowing heroes to leave after climbing only partway up.

Ugar Belbek, the Adamant Demon King, took a different approach: kidnapping princes and princesses who would cause as little trouble as possible. He stopped any rising flames from spreading into a major fire.

Of course, Demon Kings considered it a virtue to kidnap princes and princesses higher in the line of succession, but that was not expressly stated in the Guide. To Ugar, a virtue that was not even part of the Guide mattered less than his own survival.

"... What do you mean by that?"

Still, it was hardly something to be proud of. Such behavior was unbecoming of a Demon King, so Ugar began by denying it.

"There's no need to be ashamed. The Guide may work well in other dimensions, but this place is different, isn't it?"

"Do not insult the Guide."

"You're the one twisting the Guide instead of following it to the letter, and you want to make me the scumbag?"

Berge extended a finger.

"Well, considering your circumstances, I'll mercifully let it slide this once. But you still haven't answered me."

"Am I supposed to humor such absurd nonsense?"

"Absurd nonsense, you say."

Those words told Berge what was bothering him. By nonsense, Ugar did not mean that he would never resort to such a loophole. He meant that Berge could not possibly know who those people were. That was only natural. Berge was a greenhorn Demon King who had descended barely a year ago.

"Gaina's Third Prince, the Seventh Princess of the Principality of Belos in the Traparta Union, and Machiel's Fourth Prince. All of them are royals who meet your ideal conditions. They've been pushed out of the succession and attract little attention, or their countries simply lack the resources to rescue them if they're kidnapped."

"You expect me to believe that? Where's your proof?"

"Proof. Yes, proof is important. But do you really need it?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Hadn't you already considered them as possibilities? You're merely being more cautious because you aren't certain, aren't you?"

"... How did you know that?"

Because all three royals he had mentioned had already been kidnapped by Ugar before. They had caused minor problems, but compared with kidnapping other royals, those amounted to little more than a passing breeze.

"Does how I know matter more than the fact that I'll confirm your assumptions?"

"How do I know whether that's confirmation or a lie? Isn't the assumption that you bear me any goodwill flawed to begin with?"

"Why couldn't I bear you goodwill? Have we had some kind of bad blood?"

"We aren't exactly on good terms, either."

"We can build a relationship starting now."

"Are those words fit to come out of a Demon King's mouth?"

"A certain Demon King I know is so scared of humans that he only picks on weaklings, putting that huge body to shame. And you're taking issue with a little talk?"

"You son of a bitch. Do you really want to fight me?"

"Sit down. You're hurting my neck."

Ugar radiated killing intent, but eventually sat back down. Timid as he was, he would never break the rules to vent his anger unless he was driven right to the edge.

"Let's amend the contract."

"The contract?"

"The Demon Realm contract."

Berge took the contract from Ugar's hand.

"... Before that, I'll hear your condition."

Ugar answered in a slightly more subdued voice.

So a Demon King was still a Demon King, after all. Before the regression, Ugar had seemed like nothing but an idiot, but he was more worthy of the title than Berge had thought. Then again, he had survived and completed the Demon King Military Academy, where the Demon Realm's most renowned demons flocked to compete. It made no sense to think he lacked ability.

Perhaps that merely showed how arrogant and contemptuous Berge had been before the regression. Or perhaps Ugar really was an idiot and only acted like this occasionally.

"Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess. Hand her over."

Ugar scowled.

"Stop joking and give me a real condition."

"That is my real condition."

"You really want the Thirteenth Princess?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how absurd that demand is?"

When Demon Kings kidnapped princes or princesses, they spread the word. Even if they did not, they made sure there were at least witnesses. Guide or no Guide, that was essential. The purpose of abducting royalty was to obtain demonic energy. Witnesses spread the news and made it clear whom humans should direct their anger toward.

Naturally, Ugar had done the same. He had not made a spectacle of the kidnapping in front of everyone, but he had left the princess's guards alive. Word had spread, and the Adamant Demon King's abduction of Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess had become an established fact.

"I know. Don't worry. I'm not asking for her in my capacity as a Demon King."

But what if heroes came to the tower to rescue the princess, only to find she was not there? What if, by some chance, they discovered that royal in another tower?

It was hardly a major issue, of course. The heroes would get angry, curse the Demon King, and leave it at that. But Demon Kings were different. Beyond rules or the Guide, this was a matter of personal pride. Any Demon King revered in the Demon Realm had at least one point of pride on which they could not compromise. Had their positions been reversed, Berge would naturally have unleashed a torrent of curses, too.

"Then what?"

"Put Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess on a lower floor rather than at the top. Make it unnecessary to climb all the way up."

"Like Reina Sordein?"

"Like Reina Sordein."

"And then?"

"There is no 'then.' I'll handle the rest. That's all you need to do."

"When the hell did you start colluding with the Heroes' Guild?"

"I never did."

"Don't give me that bullshit. Do you take me for a fool?"

"Even if it were true, why should I tell you?"

"So it seems your claim to being the top graduate wasn't a lie."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Amend the contract."

Berge added several clauses to the contract. At a glance from Ugar, the servants cleared away the broken debris and brought in a new table.

"The conditions are as I said earlier. Besides the three royals I mentioned, I'll tell you about two more. And if kidnapping them causes more than a reasonable amount of trouble, I'll give you one million demonic energy points."

"Not bad."

"Of course it isn't. They're people you were going to kidnap anyway, and even if things go wrong, you'll earn something extra."

"Hmph. You were the one who offered."

"In return, place Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess on the third floor or below."

"Why the third floor or below specifically?"

"If you want the demonic creatures you spent all those points on to die, you can put her higher up. It's no loss to me."

"... I'll do it."

They finalized the contract by signing in their own blood and injecting demonic energy into it. The contract turned to ash and was absorbed into Ugar's and Berge's bodies.

"This has been a productive meeting."

Berge rose from his seat.

"When do you intend to come?"

"Well, I can't be certain, but I'll try to make sure it takes no longer than a month at the latest."

"If it takes longer, I'll consider it a breach of contract."

"Idiot. Nothing of the sort was written in the contract."

With a derisive snort, Berge opened a rift back to his tower.

"Let's meet again someday."

If they could.

"Quit talking shit and get lost."

Berge vanished.

"... Someone who's only been here a year couldn't possibly have colluded with the Guild."

But perhaps it was possible with someone acting as an intermediary.

"Jason, then."

Ugar scratched his gleaming head.

"... There's no time for this. I need to strengthen the tower."

Before whatever had killed Drakson reached its sinister hand toward him, too.

Ugar hurriedly opened the tower's information window. Perhaps because he had kidnapped a new princess and prince, the demonic energy rising in real time was quite satisfying.

* * *

CREAK

The tower door opened. Berge, stripped of his demonic energy, stood beside a disguised Ernyan.

"Will you be all right, my lord?"

"There won't be a problem."

"... After everything you've shown us, I trust you, but please be careful."

"I will."

Leaving Gordon's worries behind, the two departed the tower.

"Thank you for going along with my unreasonable request."

"So you realize it was unreasonable?"

"Yes."

Ernyan summoned a wind spirit. The wind it raised made her body lighter.

"Honestly, I never thought I'd be able to leave the tower before a hero rescued me."

"If you're thinking of escaping, you'd better give up. That thing around your neck will neatly slice off your unnecessary head."

Around Ernyan's neck hung a collar identical to the one Logger had once worn. It was a magical device used to restrain prisoners.

"I'm not. I asked you to do this for Elena, but my own life matters to me, too."

"How would Hilderan react if they learned I held both you and the Thirteenth Princess captive?"

"It would be no different. Father doesn't know what kind of girl Elena is."

"You said he completely neglected her?"

"Yes. In Father's eyes, Elena is a failure."

"Even so, if what you say is true, she has potential. Is there any need to lose interest in her entirely?"

"He has me."

"I see."

Indeed, if one compared a mana cannon that would perform well if repaired, but might not be repairable at all, with an already top-of-the-line cannon of the highest quality, the latter was the obvious choice.

"Where are we going first?"

"Felsen in the Kingdom of Akan. The place I told you about before."

"And then?"

"Haitun, in Akan. The next place is in Akan, too."

"They're clustered together, aren't they?"

"Akan and Traparta are wealthy and have well-developed commerce, so nobles prefer them as places to keep secret funds."

Not bad, if it saved him some bothersome effort.

From Hortonwork, they traveled directly to Felsen through a teleportation circle. They stopped in front of a large house in the residential district within the inner walls.

"Here?"

"Yes. There are ten guards and five maids and servants maintaining the mansion. There's also a hidden vault underground."

The wind spirit returned from scouting the mansion and settled on Ernyan's shoulder.

"How skilled are they?"

"No one noticed the spirit."

"Pathetic."

"Felsen is a major city, after all."

Akan's cities were particularly famous for their excellent public security. That was thanks to the magical equipment they operated, but those devices could not detect a concealed Demon King.

- A Demon King and a princess stealing together. Now that's a rare sight.

"Lady Nairuniel, please..."

Berge wrapped an arm around Ernyan's waist and slipped into the darkness. Physical contact was necessary to suppress her presence completely as well.

"Which way?"

"Left. From here, right, then right again. At the end of the corridor, there's a passage hidden behind the wall."

"How do we open it?"

"The decorative suit of armor in front is the key. Move it aside and press the floor directly underneath. That should activate the mechanism."

RUMBLE

A faint noise sounded. Fortunately, no one was nearby. Stairs led down into darkness.

"There are no traps."

"I thought as much."

After a long descent, an enormous vault came into view. It filled an entire wall and had been treated with all manner of magic.

"This is..."

"Blood is the medium."

"It's sturdy."

But not impossible to break.

"If you break it, an alarm will go off. A message will also be sent to the vault's owner."

"It doesn't matter. We can flee immediately."

"That's true."

WHOOSH

The Phoenix's flames surged fiercely.

- I don't like those flames. They remind me of those ill-mannered fire spirits.

BOOM!

The shock wave from the shattering magic circles swallowed Nairuniel's grumbling. Amid the remains of the completely melted vault door, an immense quantity of gold came into view.

Berge crammed it all into his storage dimension and snatched up Ernyan. The knights who arrived too late stared in horror.

"Good heavens! The vault's been robbed!"

"Contact His Excellency immediately!"

* * *

With two more stops in Felsen and three in Haitun, the pair reaped an enormous haul.

"These funds were secretly siphoned away, and they're in another country, so the owners won't be able to search openly. Unless you turn yourself in, my lord, there shouldn't be any trouble."

'I doubt they'd catch me even if they did search openly.'

Ordinarily, when demons caused trouble, they invariably left traces of demonic energy. That made it easier for humans to identify the culprit as a demon and respond more efficiently. It was why the Demon Kings' range of activity kept shrinking.

But Berge had escaped that restriction.

'I'm becoming truly curious about this creature called a Phoenix.'

It was not perfect, of course. For now, the power was insignificant compared with his might as a Demon King, and using it felt awkward, like wearing ill-fitting clothes. But that could not diminish the extraordinary nature of the Phoenix, which had transformed a demon's very nature simply by being absorbed.

"Stop."

Trouble arose in the last city, just as they were leaving after robbing another vault.

WHOOSH

Five arrows sliced through the air, blocking Berge and Ernyan's path. Someone jumped down from a rooftop.

"What were you doing in that house?"

"..."

"Why do you want to know?"

Berge did not answer. Ernyan spoke in his stead.

"Why don't you take those robes off first? You don't look like the caretakers of this mansion."

"We have no reason to tell you that."

"Oh, you'll have to. I've been following you because you looked suspicious. I was wondering why you were sneaking around the city in concealment. Now I know, you thieving bastards."

The hero Dafner Philiain snorted.

He had discovered the thieves by chance. In a city he had visited to buy magical arrows, he had detected some highly skilled concealment. Moving around a city while hiding one's presence was strange. He had followed his instincts, and sure enough, they were right. Unless someone had something to hide, there was no reason to sneak around a city.

'Is it because of Ernyan?'

Berge frowned.

Even Dafner Philiain should not have been able to detect his concealment so easily. The only possible cause was the burden accompanying him, unfamiliar with such techniques.

"Don't fight."

"Will you be all right? That's Dafner Philiain... And we're outside the tower."

"Spirit summoners are rare. If you reveal your power, it'll be easy to identify you."

"All right."

"What are you whispering about? Hand over everything you stole, now. Then I'll turn you over to the city watch without hurting you."

"What nonsense."

"What?"

"No woodcutter gives up the timber he's felled."

"That depends on the tree. If you cut down one you shouldn't, you deserve punishment. That's how the world works."

"I'm not particularly fond of how things work, or guides, for that matter."

Berge unleashed the flames he had been gathering in secret all at once. A huge pillar of fire swallowed the mansion's garden.

"Did you think I hadn't noticed?"

Dafner slashed with his dagger, parting the flames. He squeezed through the opening and fired his bow.

WHOOSH

Ten aura arrows raced toward his enemy.

Had they hit? No. The enemy's presence grew faint.

Dafner sprinted, sprang off the wall, and climbed onto a rooftop. Far away, he could see two dots rapidly shrinking into the distance.

He silently drew his bowstring. Steadying his breathing, he calmly loosed an arrow. A streak of light tore through space.

CLANG

A hit. The man staggered. But that was all. The stumbling thieves soon vanished. By the time Dafner reached the spot a moment too late, nothing remained.

"They dared escape right in front of me."

Dafner ground his teeth.

"... I'll remember this mana."

Mana of unparalleled heat and purity.

"But haven't I seen that face somewhere...?"

Tilting his head, he stepped on a single drop of blood that had fallen to the ground.