Chapter 82 - A Demon King Is Still a King

“I'm delighted. To think I'd meet someone so famous in person! To be honest, I did ask, but I wasn't expecting much.”

The prince laughed cheerfully.

“I'm famous?”

“During one of Lady Roselle's experiments, some mana escaped outside. Every mage in the tower noticed its purity and began asking who it belonged to.”

Word had spread in an instant.

“My sister was quite taken with it, too. So I asked Lady Roselle for it several times, but Lady Roselle was adamant.”

“Elf heart.”

Lavinia, who had been listening quietly, pointed at Granada's heart.

“Hot.”

“That's right. My sister said she could sense a little of that energy in you as well, Granada. That was what reminded me, actually—that you'd been in Tarta with someone named Pale.”

'Then, when we first met...'

Was that what she'd meant by hot?

'A little of my lord's power resides in me?'

He had, of course, spent time with the Demon King in his Pale guise. The mana was so intensely pure that Granada had sometimes unwittingly slipped into meditation beside him and practiced his mana cultivation technique.

But it was only mana. It should have dissipated quickly.

'Did a little residue remain?'

If she had detected it, Lavinia's ability to sense energy was astonishingly developed.

'Then is that why she's being friendly?'

It was only a hunch, but it seemed likely.

“Good to meet you. I'm Pale.”

“... Wow.”

And that hunch became certainty when Granada saw the look in Lavinia's eyes as she gazed at Berge, who had activated the Phoenix's mana.

* * *

“Show His Highness proper respect!”

The knight barked at him. Berge frowned at the underlying hostility.

'What did I say again?'

He'd arrived and been shown in. Then, when they exchanged greetings, he'd said he was pleased to meet them.

'I hadn't considered this part.'

He had met many royals both before and after his regression. But not once had he bothered to observe etiquette with them.

Because he was a Demon King.

Because a Demon King was what he was.

But right now, he wasn't Berge the Demon King. He was Pale the human.

When meeting royalty, he had to show a reasonable degree of respect, even if they weren't the rulers of his own country.

“...”

The problem was that he loathed the very idea.

'You expect me to speak deferentially to some human brat barely twenty years old?'

He couldn't do it. His pride as a Demon King would never allow it.

“You're the one who should show me respect, you idiotic knight.”

“What?”

Before the knight could do more than repeat the word in disbelief, Berge reached out.

CRUNCH

“Ghuk...!”

“You bastard!”

Caught by the throat, the knight dangled in the air and flailed. The other knights shouted and drew their weapons.

Auras of every color flew toward Berge. At the same instant, mana burst outward from him, creating a repelling force.

It wasn't enough to drive the knights back or deal any serious damage. But it was enough.

“Stop.”

Cain raised a hand. The knights hesitated.

“Who are you?”

“Someone whose position deserves respect, just as yours does.”

“Are you royalty?”

Berge didn't answer. He simply looked steadily at Cain.

Silence fell. The atmosphere grew heavy.

“Hot.”

Lavinia walked into the space between them. She looked up at Berge with a bright, innocent smile.

“What is it?”

“Very hot.”

“Hot?”

“Fire. Here.”

Her fingertip pointed toward his lower abdomen, precisely where his second heart lay and the Phoenix's mana slumbered.

“Amazing.”

“Y-Your Highness!”

“This way, please!”

The knights panicked. Cain gave a helpless laugh.

Thanks to her, however, the tension eased somewhat.

“Well, I apologize for our knight's rudeness. Would you be willing to show him mercy? He looks as though he's about to die.”

“Very well.”

The deathly pale knight rolled on the ground, coughing. The other knights helped him up and pulled him back toward them.

“It was my mistake to invite you here and then offend you without knowing enough about you, Pale. I apologize.”

“I accept.”

“Please, come inside.”

A temporary table had been set up in a small garden. The two royals, Berge, and Granada took their seats.

“Since you don't wish to say which country's royal family you belong to, I won't press you. There are plenty of royals with circumstances of their own.”

“Thank you. I'll apologize for my rudeness as well.”

“I gratefully accept.”

Just then, a maid brought tea and refreshments. Cain took a sip of tea and spoke.

“First, thank you for accepting my invitation. When Granada mentioned knowing you, I asked on the off chance, but I never expected you to agree so readily.”

“Building good relations with the royal family of the Kingdom of Akan can hardly hurt me.”

“Indeed.”

Cain's eyes sparkled.

He had picked up on two things in Berge's remark: his motives weren't entirely innocent, and whatever his purpose, he was at least open to a relationship with Cain.

“I wanted to meet you because I sensed your mana.”

“I heard. Everyone in the mage tower learned about the mana I gave Roselle Charnt, didn't they?”

“I'd never seen mana so pure outside of spirits. At first, I thought it belonged to a fire spirit. You can imagine my surprise when Lady Roselle told me it was yours.”

Cain was a knight, not a mage, but mages weren't the only ones who wanted pure mana.

“I'm dying to know how you obtained mana like that, but asking would be rude, wouldn't it?”

“It would.”

“Haha, I thought I'd try asking anyway.”

At that moment, Lavinia, who had been listening quietly, held out a hand.

“Give mana.”

She really was a crazy bitch.

“Why should I?”

“Want.”

“You want it? No.”

“Roselle.”

“Roselle Charnt paid a fair price for the mana. It was a trade.”

“I trade too.”

“If it's a trade, I have no reason to refuse. What can you give me?”

After a moment's thought, Lavinia reached into her storage dimension. When she pulled her hand out again, it held a bright red scale.

“Scale.”

“From a red drake? I don't particularly need it.”

“Horn?”

“Same answer.”

She took out something else. A beating heart.

To think a princess carried things like this around. It was no different from her room.

“A werewolf's heart?”

“Yes.”

“What would I even use that for?”

“Chimera?”

“Don't assume I'm like you.”

“I make.”

“You'll give me a chimera you make yourself?”

“Yes. Horn, heart, scale.”

“You'll make one for me using those three things.”

That was rather tempting. It wasn't so much that Berge coveted a chimera itself. After hearing Ernyan explain the significance of chimeras, he had come to want to study them, too.

Especially if it was a chimera personally made by Lavinia Akan, reputed to be the best at creating them.

But the prince's gaze gave him pause about accepting one outright. Not many humans openly admitted to liking chimeras.

“Sister, not many people like chimeras.”

“Don't like?”

“Of course they don't.”

Cain added a remark for Berge.

“If those don't appeal to you, I could contact our homeland and offer you gold coins or whatever treasures you desire.”

“Rather generous for mere mana.”

“It isn't mere mana. I doubt there's a mage in Akan who hasn't fallen in love with it.”

“Money, then. How do you know how much I'll ask for?”

“I don't, of course. But I am a prince, after all. I have a little authority.”

Berge was tempted. All the more so because he knew there was no such thing as having too much money.

“Very well.”

So he didn't refuse.

“I'd like all of it: money, treasures, and a chimera.”

The Demon King made no attempt to hide his greed.

“I'm delighted you're willing.”

“How much did you have in mind?”

“I intend to accommodate your wishes as much as possible. Why don't we discuss that properly in private later?”

'Planning to get your money's worth out of me?'

Berge gave a dry laugh. Of course. Human royals were hardly the sort to make a deal at a loss.

“Anytime.”

But the same was true of Berge.

The one concern was Roselle Charnt growing stronger through his mana.

In that case, couldn't he simply avoid making an enemy of her in the first place?

'What if I use this opportunity to build ties with Akan?'

If his Pale identity became someone on friendly terms with Akan...

And if he could influence Akan that way? His options would expand even further.

“Kind.”

“Don't talk nonsense.”

After Lavinia's bullshit, Berge changed the subject.

“By the way, I heard you're searching for the Demon King's tower.”

“Yes. There are a few concerns, so we're making thorough preparations. Oh, would you perhaps be willing to join us?”

From what Cain had seen, Pale's combat prowess was extraordinary. In terrain as treacherous as Erjest, every person counted, and a powerful fighter was even better.

“That would be difficult. It isn't what I came here for.”

“Ah, I've overstepped. My apologies.”

“What preparations are you making, though?”

“I'm sorry about that as well, but I can't tell you unless you join us.”

“That won't make me join.”

“Hmm. I thought that might win you over, but it seems it won't be so easy.”

Their conversation continued for quite some time. As the sun began to set, Cain brought the meeting to a close.

“Shall we leave it there for today? I hope you'll join us for dinner later.”

“I'll accept your invitation.”

“Excellent. Please escort our guests to the detached residence.”

Berge and Granada left with a knight.

“Contact our homeland and investigate this royal named Pale. Since we don't know which country he's from, you'll have to look into every nation.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Cain's eyes gleamed sharply.

* * *

Berge and Granada reached the detached residence assigned to them. After making sure no one was nearby, Granada released the breath he'd been holding.

“I was so nervous I thought I'd die.”

“Anyone would think you were the one doing the talking.”

“Of course I wasn't, but how on earth do you understand what the princess is saying?”

“You can't understand that? You're supposed to be an elf. Are your language comprehension skills that poor?”

“Now, that's a little unfair.”

If you gathered a hundred humans and asked them, wouldn't more say they couldn't understand her than that they could?

“You're not human. You're an elf.”

“... You really leave me nothing to say.”

Granada clicked his tongue and changed the subject.

“Oh, come to think of it, were you royalty?”

“A Demon King is still a king.”

“Ah, I've always wondered about that. Are Demon Kings really royalty in the Demon Realm?”

“Of course not. We're simply vanguard commanders. In human terms, you could consider us military officers.”

“Then why call yourselves Demon Kings?”

“Because it frightens humans. 'A Demon King from the Demon Realm has invaded' has more impact than 'An officer from the Demon Realm has intruded,' doesn't it?”

“Is that really all there is to it?”

“For something so trivial, it works remarkably well.”

“True...”

“Besides, humans were the first to call us Demon Kings. Thousands of years ago, we saw the humans of one dimension trembling in terror and crying out about Demon Kings, so we adopted the title.”

Well, even that no longer meant anything in Arain.

“There's one good thing about becoming a Demon King's subordinate. I've finally answered the question I was most curious about. So you're not royalty either, my lord?”

“Demon Kings are the very best demons, handpicked from the Demon Realm. In strength, at least, we're no different from kings.”

In other words, he was quite capable of tearing apart that mouth curling up in an insolent smirk.

“... Can't I even make a joke?”

“You and I aren't on joking terms.”

“... Tch.”

Granada lowered the corners of his mouth, which had lifted into a smirk.

“Anyway, what are these preparations they're making?”

“I don't know. They won't tell me either.”

“Why go that far?”

“How would I know what those high and mighty people are thinking? They started preparing after learning that monsters attack at night, though, so I imagine it's something related to that.”

“Hmm.”

Then perhaps he could attack during the day?