Chapter 6 - Taking the Three Out of Thirteen

"The Kingdom of Hilderan is in an uproar."

"The bastard has some nerve."

CHOMP

Drakson took a massive bite of red meat dripping with blood.

"We told him to kidnap a princess, and he kidnapped one from Hilderan. The Crown Princess, no less. What do you think that means?"

"It proves how arrogant and foolish he is," his adjutant, Casey, concluded.

"On what grounds?"

"First, he dared insult the Guide at his Demon King Military Academy graduation. Second, he bared his teeth at you, my lord. Third, his excessive confidence kept him from properly researching Arain. He is so full of himself that he cannot see what is happening around him."

"I thought he wouldn't follow the Guide. But by kidnapping the Crown Princess, he followed it faithfully. What am I to make of that?"

He had expected Berge not to kidnap a princess at all. Even if he did, Drakson had never imagined he would follow the Guide and target the Crown Princess, first in line to the throne.

"An ordinary Demon King might do that. But this bastard called the Guide garbage. Does it make sense to you that he is following it more faithfully than anyone?"

"But he has broken its other rules. His tower stands in dangerous terrain that keeps humans away, and he chose a distant kingdom rather than one nearby."

"I can't make sense of him."

CRUNCH

Drakson irritably chewed on the now-bare chunk of bone.

"Still, I believe his desire to follow the Guide is stronger."

"Why?"

"Because he has nothing except his adjutant. He is therefore adapting to his circumstances and following the Guide as best he can."

Even newly arrived novices normally had enough resources to think they might stand a chance if they tried. Berge did not.

"Adapting to his circumstances?"

"He has no troops, so he built his tower in the Erjest Mountains to minimize conflict. But he still wants to follow the Guide, so he kidnapped the Crown Princess."

"He insulted the Guide at graduation. We mustn't forget that. But your explanation best fits his actions since arriving in Arain."

"It wouldn't make sense for him to pretend to hate the Guide while loving it more than anyone, would it?"

"Is he a lunatic?"

The Demon King and his adjutant fell silent. After a moment, the Demon King spoke again.

"Contact him first. He's done well so far, after all. Surely he deserves a little praise?"

And while they were at it, they could sound him out about what he was plotting.

* * *

I realized something was wrong because far too much demonic energy was being converted into points through the tower.

[13219pt]

...?

I rubbed my eyes. The number did not change.

Why was it so high?

It was a little much to have accumulated in just a few days after kidnapping an insignificant illegitimate princess whom even the king ignored.

"My lord. Demon King Drakson is contacting you."

"Again?"

That was when Drakson's call came.

『I contacted you to offer my congratulations. We parted on poor terms, but as your senior Demon King, I ought to give you that much recognition.』

『You claimed to hate the Guide, yet you follow it faithfully. Having a different face on the inside is one of the virtues of an excellent demon, but you have surpassed mere excellence. You had me completely fooled!』

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

『Do you intend to play innocent to the end? If that is what you wish, I won't pry.』

"Has stuffing your face with raw meat driven you insane? I'm asking what you're talking about."

『Is there really any reason to hide it so thoroughly? Well, fine. If you insist, I'll say it myself.』

『I mean that, while I dislike you personally, I admire your achievement. You did say you already had a plan, but I never imagined you would bring back Hilderan's Crown Princess.』

... Crown Princess?

『Whether this was planned or mere youthful recklessness, I wish you luck. After all, if you prosper as a Demon King, isn't that good for all of us?』

The crystal orb went dark.

"..."

And I was left speechless.

What had I just heard?

The Crown Princess? Not the thirteenth princess?

A profound sense of foreboding flashed through my mind. A chill ran down the back of my neck.

By the time I came to my senses, I was already running toward the fourth floor.

'That's impossible.'

I had taken her from the thirteenth princess's palace. There had been no one around it, befitting her reputation as an illegitimate daughter whom even the king ignored. She wasn't even a knight or a mage.

'The Crown Princess is a spirit summoner.'

Hilderan and the rest of the southern continent had not been my territory, but Hilderan's Crown Princess was quite famous: a genius spirit summoner whose extraordinary talent had allowed her to contract with spirits of no fewer than four elements at a young age.

The Kingdom of Hilderan was so insanely protective of her that no Demon King had even dared contemplate touching her.

So it was impossible.

If she were the Crown Princess, her body would have held immense mana.

If she were the Crown Princess, she would have been surrounded by guards.

If she were the Crown Princess, she wouldn't have been in the thirteenth princess's bedchamber.

As I stepped onto the fourth floor, still rationalizing it to myself, I discovered something that should not have been there.

There was a "wall."

There was a "spirit" patting an earthen wall that enclosed a corner of what should have been empty ground.

I let out a hollow laugh.

"You're here?"

With impeccable timing, a door made of earth opened. The princess emerged nonchalantly, looking somewhat bedraggled, though her beauty had lost none of its radiance.

I pushed past her and went inside.

An earthen bed, earthen furniture, even earthen chairs. This was far beyond anything the powerless thirteenth princess could have accomplished. The unmistakable traces of spirits were impossible to miss.

More absurd still...

'She's brimming with mana.'

What I hadn't sensed even when I kidnapped her and brought her to the fourth floor now made my skin prickle.

"... What are you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that question."

"The thirteenth princess..."

I glared at her.

"... You're not her."

"Of course I'm not Elena."

That brief exchange crushed my last hope. Her eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you mistook me for Elena...?"

"Your name."

"Ernyan Hilderan."

The first princess. She really was the first princess and Crown Princess who had made a name for herself as an outstanding spirit summoner in my previous life.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Because you kidnapped me."

Wrong question.

"Wasn't that the thirteenth princess's palace?"

"It was."

"Why were you there?"

"Is that a problem?"

It was. A very big problem.

"That's why I asked you whether you could handle the consequences of kidnapping me."

She certainly had. Why hadn't I asked what made her so cocky? Why hadn't I asked whether she was the thirteenth princess?

"I thought something was strange, but it was just a mistake? I suppose even Demon Kings aren't mad enough to touch a kingdom's heir."

She gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Well? Will you send me back now?"

Her effortlessly natural choice of words touched my sorest nerve.

"Nonsense."

She thought I would naturally send her back. She thought I was frightened—I, who had once brought down multiple kingdoms and achieved what no other Demon King had.

"I did intend to kidnap the thirteenth princess, but having you instead changes nothing."

How dare a lowly human...

'I'm not afraid.'

I was simply retreating for a moment. Simply lying low so I could advance ten steps.

She said nothing. But the strange look in her eyes grated on me.

"I will not send you back."

So I gave her a firm answer.

'Hilderan and Erjest are at opposite ends of the continent.'

The northern continent and the southern continent. Geography alone made bringing an army here impossible.

'Besides, the Erjest Mountains are a natural fortress.'

They were a treasure trove of monsters, still untouched by human hands. With dimensional interference weakening me, some of those creatures were beyond even my ability to face right now, and blizzards raged incessantly.

Even among heroes, how many could make the climb?

Moreover, this place was hidden inside a basin. Even if they climbed up, they couldn't find it.

And so...

"I'm a Demon King, and you're a princess. If you want to return home in one piece, you'd best stop provoking me."

"... All right."

The princess, Ernyan, acquiesced.

"But how did you fool me? I definitely couldn't sense any mana."

"... That was..."

After hesitating briefly, Ernyan fiddled with a ring and slipped it on.

At that instant, the spirits vanished. The drifting mana disappeared without a trace.

"... An artifact."

How dare it deceive my eyes, however weakened I might be.

"It's a treasure passed down through the royal family. I've heard it was an artifact used by a hero long ago."

"A hero's artifact..."

Anything capable of deceiving a Demon King's eyes, even in my weakened state, could hardly be ordinary. Greed stirred within me.

At that moment...

[Directionless emotions have found their target.]

[Anger from numerous individuals directed at Demon King Berge Deias has been detected.]

They had identified me.

The collection of demonic energy began in earnest.

* * *

In an opulent palace, the atmosphere in the great hall where dozens of nobles had gathered turned cold.

"Just..."

The king swallowed his fury.

"What were those so-called guards doing?"

He did not shout, but the anger simmering beneath his voice sent a chill through the room.

"... Our deepest apologies. The princess slipped away from her knights and went to Hyacinth Palace, and during that time..."

"So..."

The king slammed his fist into the throne. Shattered fragments littered the hall's floor.

"Are you telling me that her so-called guards didn't even notice the kingdom's Crown Princess disappearing?"

"We deserve death!"

"We deserve death!"

The knights prostrated themselves.

"If you truly wish to die, I can personally cut off your heads."

"..."

"Your Majesty, I believe we must first determine who kidnapped the princess."

"Who else could it be? A Demon King, of course."

However unexpectedly Ernyan had acted, she had still been inside the royal palace. Only Demon Kings had the ability to slip past the royal guards and royal knights and abduct a princess without a sound.

When it came to kidnapping, Demon Kings were specialists without equal.

That was why the king was sparing the royal knights, though even snapping their necks on the spot would not have satisfied him.

"But there is no reason for the Demon Kings to break the unwritten rule and kidnap Princess Ernyan..."

"That puzzles me as well. Unless those bastards have suddenly gone insane, they would never do such a thing."

"Didn't the Demon King of Lust have his head cut off by hundreds of heroes after touching the Kingdom of Akan's Crown Prince not long ago? With that example before them, they couldn't... Ah."

The minister speaking let out an exclamation. The king and nobles, considering his words, reached the same realization.

"... A new one has arrived."

"If an existing Demon King had moved, the Heroes' Guild could not possibly have missed every sign. You must be right."

"Parasites. They keep appearing, never tiring of it."

The king ground his teeth.

"I will submit a commission to the Heroes' Guild at once."

"I don't even want to think how much those money-grubbing vermin will demand."

"But surely rescuing the princess must come first?"

"Yes. Indeed."

Ernyan was his hope. Her overwhelming talent, far surpassing his own, and her qualities as a ruler made her a vessel large enough to hold all the kingdom's long-cherished aspirations.

Now that vessel had been stolen, and everything inside threatened to spill out. He had to recover it, whatever it took. And he had to make an example of the culprit, so no one would ever dare covet her again.

"I don't care what it costs. Trace his movements and find his tower. Then commission the Heroes' Guild to cut off his head and bring back the princess."

"As you command!"

Hilderan's couriers raced off in every direction.

* * *

"We have found traces of the new Demon King and someone believed to be the princess!"

"Their route led north! They traveled north through several kingdoms using teleportation circles!"

"Th-their destination... appears to be the Erjest Mountains. There are no witnesses beyond that point."

At first, the Kingdom of Hilderan and the Heroes' Guild had treated the matter somewhat lightly. The audacity of kidnapping the kingdom's Crown Princess had enraged them beyond endurance, but once they learned the circumstances, it seemed laughable.

The foolishness of a newly summoned novice Demon King.

He had simply acted without finding out what sort of place Arain was. Naturally, they had expected him to be easy to deal with.

"A newly summoned Demon King is pathetically weak. We'll mobilize heroes and cut off his head immediately."

But once his destination—and the presumed location of his tower—was identified as the Erjest Mountains, they ran into difficulties.

"Why?"

"Wait, someone living that far away came all the way to Hilderan?"

"His actions differ from those of other Demon Kings."

Demon Kings' towers were not right beside kingdoms, but neither were they in excessively dangerous places. Nor did Demon Kings often involve themselves with kingdoms too far away.

No one knew why, but that was normal. The people of Arain had grown accustomed to that normality.

And now a new Demon King had shattered it.

Ordinarily, they could have dismissed it as a Demon King's whim. The problem was that Hilderan and the Heroes' Guild, which had accepted its commission, had to rescue the princess.

"The Erjest Mountains?"

"You want us to enter that insane place?"

The heroes refused the commission.

With year-round blizzards and monsters inhabiting its snowy slopes, the Erjest Mountains were treacherous terrain where nine out of ten people returned as corpses. Even heroes empowered by the world had their limits.

"I want to kill a Demon King, not kill myself!"

Naturally, the princess's rescue ground to a halt.

"I will go myself. I'll lead an army and sweep those snowy mountains clean."

"Your Majesty!"

"You must not!"

"The other kingdoms will not stand idly by!"

"Then are you telling me to abandon the princess?"

"There is a suitable hero."

"Who?"

The king brightened.

"Do you remember the heroes who recently participated in slaying the Demon King of Lust?"

"Some two hundred went, and fewer than half survived, didn't they? Only three of those who faced the Demon King directly survived, I hear."

"Among them was an outstanding hero who played a crucial role in cutting off the Demon King's head. Someone you know, Your Majesty..."

"Hillen! Hillen Cargill, the man called the Hero of Hilderan!"

"Yes, precisely! He should be quite capable of climbing the mountains and returning with the Demon King's head!"

"But do you think he will accept? Considering he has yet to show himself..."

"He is obsessed with his reputation. If we send knights and put him on the spot before the people..."

"Oh?"

The king and his ministers nodded with interest.

* * *

"... Damn it."

[45228pt]

The converted demonic energy was rising steeply. It was a tremendous result, but I couldn't simply rejoice. It meant Hilderan's fury was that great—and that its response would be correspondingly decisive.

The one thing I could still rely on was Erjest, a natural fortress. The problem was heroes powerful enough to overcome even that.

"Anyone who can climb the mountains and find the tower is far beyond what I can handle at my current level."

Should I convert all the energy I'd gained into my own demonic energy?

'No, that's not a particularly good idea.'

Demonic energy converted from negative emotions could do all sorts of things in conjunction with the tower's system: reduce the dimensional interference imposed on Demon Kings and demons, be absorbed personally to increase combat power, procure demonic creatures, install all manner of magic circles and traps in the tower, or expand the tower's territory by transforming it into Demon Realm terrain.

But none of those offered a sure solution right now. The demonic energy was rising steeply, but it was still nowhere near enough to confront an entire kingdom bent on taking me down.

'I need another approach.'

Such as interfering with their movements outright and stopping them...

'That's it.'

An idea struck like lightning.

'I've already decided to become a mastermind behind the scenes anyway...'

I couldn't do it with my own hands, but couldn't I use someone else's to obstruct the heroes?

'Humans put their personal greed above everything else. And foremost among the things they crave is money.'

Humans betrayed their countries, their organizations, their brothers and sisters, even their parents.

If I could use them to drag the heroes' efforts into the mud...

"Gordon!"

"Yes, my lord."

Gordon, who had been waiting outside, entered.

"Contact Drakson immediately."

"What should I tell him?"

"Ask whether he'd like to buy Hilderan's demonic energy with human money."

Though no Demon King ever used the feature, they could transfer demonic energy to one another through their towers.