Chapter 72 - Sweet Dreams

Roselle mixed the magical reagents.

POP!

A small flash erupted. Franz asked,

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"All magic comes with risks."

She set the reddened reagent aside and reached for the other ingredients.

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Her Highness the princess has gone out again."

Roselle's hand paused briefly.

"Which princess?"

"You know who I mean, don't you?"

"Our dear princess certainly keeps herself busy. How long has it even been since she was rescued from the Beast's Tower?"

She infused the reagent with mana, and it burst into flame.

"Where is she going this time?"

"Erjest, apparently."

"Does she plan to visit every last Demon King's territory? It's amazing that the Demon Kings leave her alone."

"They haven't left her alone."

"Paying the Beast to strike a deal is ridiculous too. Some fucking Demon King he was. But you're not telling me to bring her back, are you?"

"I hear His Majesty gave his permission this time. She's accompanied by knights and mages directly under the royal family."

Roselle turned her head despite herself.

"What brought that on?"

"He can't break Her Highness's stubborn streak anyway, so he's trying to make use of it."

"Aha."

She chuckled.

"He's pinning his hopes on whether our princess can find the tower?"

"Yes. But is that all right?"

"My reagent! This is because you kept talking to me!"

Roselle hastily blew on it. Her mana-infused breath extinguished the flames that had spread to the side.

"But how do you intend to use that?"

"That's what I'm researching right now."

At the tip of Franz's pointing finger stood two enormous spheres: storage orbs that changed color according to the nature of the mana within them. They gave off beautiful scarlet rays and a gentle, hot glow.

They contained Pale's mana.

"This is only the second time I've seen mana this pure."

"Wouldn't it normally be the first?"

"Spirits."

That made it all the more astonishing. How could a human's mana resemble that of spirits, which were mana itself?

"I was curious, so I looked through all sorts of things and found something in an old text about 'living creatures' with mana similar to spirits."

Roselle stroked the storage orb. She shivered lightly at the heat flowing through her hand.

She extracted a little mana and dripped it into the reagent. Flames far larger than those produced by her own mana surged upward.

"What creatures?"

"Mythical beasts."

"The mythical beasts I know are just slightly stronger animals."

"They aren't all like that. There are dragons, aren't there?"

"Those dragons only appear in texts from two thousand years ago."

"True."

"So are you saying Pale is a dragon?"

"Are you insane?"

She had considered mythical beasts, but a dragon was taking it too far.

"Dragons are the best-known mythical beasts, but they aren't the only ones, are they?"

"As I said..."

"I know. I've never seen a mythical beast like that either. And I'm not saying Pale is one in the first place."

It was simply the closest comparison she could find.

"Then what exactly do you intend to do?"

"Well, there aren't as many options as I expected."

"It is just mana, after all."

"That's the problem. Judging by how he fights, he's closer to a mage than a warrior, so his heart must be a mana heart, right? I'd love to pull it out and study it."

"That remark..."

"What?"

"Could cause a great deal of trouble. Please don't say things like that in public."

"What do you take me for, some butcher?"

Clicking her tongue, Roselle extracted more mana. She absorbed all of it and examined the state of her body.

"It's fascinating no matter how many times I see it," she murmured with her eyes closed.

"What is?"

"It blends with my mana without any resistance. There's so little that it disappears quickly, but..."

WHOOSH!

She formed the hand signs for a fireball. Nothing had changed from what she had done all her life. Yet both the fireball's size and its quality were different.

"I really want to take him apart."

"There you go again..."

"How could I make my mana like this?"

No.

"How could I make this mine?"

A greed greater than her desire for a Demon King's corpse seized her heart.

* * *

"Yes, I don't think it will be possible just yet."

『I thought as much. Finish things up properly before you return. Louise must not be abducted under any circumstances.』

"Yes."

The connection ended. Hillen, who had been watching beside him, asked,

"Was that Lord Berge?"

"Yes."

The polite speech Granada had adopted out of concern for watching eyes had now become a habit.

"An organization made up of elves. He never ceases to surprise me."

"Likewise."

"Are you all right with that, as an elf?"

"I think it's better than becoming a slave and dying miserably, at least."

"True enough."

It was not a particularly pleasant subject, so Granada changed it.

"Did the discussion go well?"

"For now. But it will depend on how the king reacts. Everything rests with the Second Princess."

"I have a feeling it will work."

The king and his family doted so much on the Second Princess, born late in her parents' lives, that even other kingdoms had heard about it.

"Please don't be foolish. The king of Berft has certainly mishandled matters because of Princess Louise, but he's never gone too far."

Of course...

"This matter is serious enough to justify going too far a hundred times over, so I expect he'll cooperate unless something unusual happens."

"You just don't like me, do you?"

"Assuming Princess Louise doesn't conceal the fact that a Demon King is coming."

But Louise would keep the planned abduction secret, as Hillen had requested. Even if she told him, she had no adequate explanation for how she had learned of it.

'Well, she sounded confident. I'll trust that she has something in mind.'

Strangely, he wasn't worried.

* * *

"Ahem."

The king of Berft made his displeasure known.

His late-born daughter was crunching cookies with an innocent expression.

"You gave Hillen Cargill a detached palace?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Hillen Cargill had officially visited the royal castle as an envoy of the Heroes' Guild.

Not only was he an Argan of the Guild, but he was also a promising hero who had slain two Demon Kings, so the kingdom had extended a sincere welcome to his party.

Whatever his various purposes might be, there was no need to start off on the wrong foot.

Even when Hillen suddenly requested a private audience with Louise, the king had thought little of it.

He said he had found a lead on Logger and wanted to deliver it personally. What could the king do? Hillen's name now carried too much weight to insist that he speak in front of everyone.

But why had that conversation ended with Louise giving him the detached palace right beside the king's own?

The king had already assigned him a palace.

"Because I like him."

"..."

He should never have asked.

The words gouged at his heart, and the king ground his teeth.

"What do you like about that fellow?"

"Must I tell you?"

"Of course! What you like about him, and why! What tricks that bastard pulled on you! Tell me everything, without leaving out a single detail!"

"Why?"

"... What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Father, I am no longer a child."

"To me, you're still...!"

He forced himself to swallow the word 'child.' Louise hated it.

"... Even so, keeping an unrelated man beside you for an entire month is out of the question. As your father and the king of Berft, I forbid it."

"It is absolutely necessary."

"Why? Surely you don't really l-like..."

"No."

The king quietly sighed in relief. Louise sighed too at the sight.

"Then?"

"Because I need him."

"I'm asking why you need him."

She couldn't tell him the truth. No one but the knights who had accompanied her that day knew that Louise herself had killed Max.

"I realized how inadequate I was."

"Inadequate?"

"That day in Ormus, I couldn't protect the knights. The dwarves who went there because of me died for nothing. I don't want that to happen again."

"That is the right attitude."

But that was all.

"Our kingdom has many talented people. Some are even stronger than Hillen Cargill."

"But we have no 'hero' like Hillen Cargill."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a hero..."

"It was a demon who humiliated me that day."

"There are heroes stronger than Hillen Cargill! Roselle Charnt would be better..."

"Father."

"... Hm?"

Under her murderous gaze, the king answered uneasily.

"Roselle Charnt is a mage."

"... Yes, she is. But even so!"

"It will be a month at most. Father, please."

"..."

"We absolutely do not have the sort of relationship you're imagining."

"... Very well."

In the end, the king could only grant his daughter's request.

* * *

"You."

But his anger had not entirely subsided.

He was a father who could not win against his daughter, but he was also a king who could assert his superiority over an Argan of the Heroes' Guild.

"So it was you?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"I hear Louise gave you the detached palace right next door."

"Yes."

"Even though I assigned you a separate palace?"

"... Her Highness requested instruction."

"Yes, I know. My daughter asked you 'first,' did she?"

"Yes."

The king felt an urge to crush that smiling face. The thought of that crafty tongue manipulating his daughter made him burn with fury.

"Hillen Cargill, Argan of the Heroes' Guild."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Can a hero such as yourself afford to stay here for an entire month?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. At Her Highness's request, I could stay for two months, let alone one."

Ordinarily, that would have been unthinkable. There was so much he could accomplish in a month; why waste it merely guarding a princess?

But considering the achievement and fame he would gain a month from now, he could gladly endure it.

The king, however, took it another way.

"Because you have designs on Louise?"

"... Pardon?"

"I asked whether a successful hero like you can sit around here for a month or two because you have designs on my daughter."

'What in the world?'

He had heard how terribly the king doted on the Second Princess, but he was interpreting it like this?

Witnessing firsthand what he had only heard in rumors was quite a novel experience. An incredulous laugh rose in his throat, but fortunately his expression did not crack.

"You misunderstand."

"A misunderstanding requires something that can be misunderstood."

"You're saying this isn't a misunderstanding?"

"Certainly not. It's a certainty."

These were not the eyes of a king looking at an envoy. He was glaring at a son-in-law his daughter had brought home.

"... What must I do for you to believe me?"

"Reject Louise's offer and leave the kingdom."

"That is impossible."

"Impossible?"

"I came here officially as an envoy. I cannot return empty-handed."

"I mean that I will provide the results you need."

The king clicked his tongue. He felt as though he was being drawn into something, but it was better than watching the man cling to his daughter.

"The princess would not want that."

"Are you threatening me?"

"How could I dare? I merely ask for Your Majesty's mercy."

"Hmm."

The king stifled a groan.

He had angrily browbeaten Hillen, but it was a battle he was bound to lose.

Hillen was an Argan and a Star, and Louise's request gave him a legitimate reason to stay.

The king could arbitrarily overturn it, but the consequences would not be pleasant.

Despite that, he persisted simply because he was a father with a daughter.

"... Be careful. I'll always be watching."

"What you fear will never happen."

"That is offensive in its own way. Are you saying my daughter isn't beautiful?"

"... Of course, the princess is more beautiful than anyone."

"Then you do have designs on her after all!"

"..."

Hillen endured another hour of torment before he was finally released.

"Please understand. His Majesty acts that way because he loves Louise so dearly."

"It's all right."

The kingdom's prince consoled the mentally exhausted Hillen Cargill.

"But you really don't have designs on Louise, do you?"

"..."

The king wasn't the only one who doted on the Second Princess.

* * *

Reina Sordein's proposal was quite intriguing.

At the same time, it raised questions.

'Why?'

The words 'cooperation' and 'demon' did not go together particularly well.

The Demon Kings who descended into other dimensions became especially individualistic. Since they were all pursuing the same goal of conquering a dimension, they regarded one another as rivals.

That did not mean they deliberately interfered with each other, however.

They did not cooperate, but neither did they concern themselves with one another unless malicious entanglements arose.

Thus, Reina Sordein's attempt to help her was inevitably suspicious.

'Is Reina Sordein involved?'

From Berge Deias, whom Grand Duke Alkain had instructed her to watch closely, to Reina Sordein, Ugar Belbek, and Jason Cockmundo, who had threatened her...

Vivian considered every Demon King a suspect.

Naturally. No one but a Demon King could command the high-ranking demon Drakson had spoken of right up until his death.

"There are two possibilities."

Reina Sordein was not acting alone. Ugar Belbek was with her.

That meant two Demon Kings had joined forces.

The Harmony of Towers, where Demon Kings socialized, was surprising enough, but two Demon Kings joining forces toward a single goal?

That alone was astonishing, yet it also showed how serious this matter was.

With a little exaggeration, this was tantamount to one Demon King killing another. If they wanted to clear themselves of suspicion as quickly as possible, their cooperation was understandable.

"Otherwise..."

One of them was the culprit, and they were trying to conceal it or pin the blame on someone else.

Vivian leaned slightly toward the latter.

'Offering to abduct the princess herself is suspicious to begin with.'

She was far too proactive when she could simply have passed on the information.

Vivian wondered whether she intended to abduct the princess and tamper with things to conceal information.

'The grand duke is taking a keen interest. She's probably pretending to cooperate to avoid as much suspicion as possible.'

It was a reasonable suspicion.

That was why she had rejected Reina's offer to abduct Louise Berft herself.

"Does she take me for a sucker? Every last Demon King in Arain is so insolent."

On a night when clouds obscured the full moon, Vivian Blunt spread her black wings.

She slipped cautiously into the Kingdom of Berft.

'I hope that dwarf bitch Louise has solid evidence... Grand Duke Alkain, surely you won't break your promise after deceiving me as well.'

Vivian basked in sweet dreams of returning to the Demon Realm.