Chapter 92 - The Relationship Between a Demon King and a Princess

"How did you persuade them?"

"Pardon?"

"I thought it would take more time. That's why I was planning to put the elves in prison."

Even with Granada as a precedent, the elves' hostility toward demons was formidable. Berge had expected it to be difficult and take much longer. He had never imagined they would swear loyalty the moment they met him.

"There was someone I knew among the elves. That made the conversation easier."

That couldn't be all there was to it. The elves had said they would never have agreed if not for Granada.

'This fellow has something going on, too...'

Well, it wasn't particularly important. As long as the World Tree stood, Granada couldn't betray him. Besides, he continued to prove his loyalty.

Berge led them up Erjest. After braving the bitter cold to reach their destination, the elves were astonished by what they found in the tower.

"... The tower is in a place like this?"

"Mana cannons? Where are the demonic creatures?"

"A dwarf hero?"

"Four princesses?"

Everything about the Demon King of Hellfire and the Tower of Hellfire was strange. He had kidnapped four princesses, yet everyone thought there were only three. The place was lined with mana cannons instead of demonic creatures and demons. A hero and princesses willingly called themselves a demon's subordinates. Everything raised questions, and the crowning absurdity was a high-ranking water spirit.

- "Welcome to the Demon King's tower, elves!"

A high-ranking spirit welcoming elves to a Demon King's tower. It was the very definition of a hideous mishmash.

'... But perhaps it won't be so bad.'

Relatively speaking, of course. Charlotte and the other thirty-two elves had imagined a thoroughly conventional Demon King's tower: a place teeming with demonic creatures, where demons barked orders and the Demon King worked them like slaves.

But this place was different. They didn't know why the hero and princesses were helping the Demon King, but their faces were full of life. There was no sign of coercion anywhere; if anything, they looked happy.

'Of course. Even for the sake of our freedom, Master Granada would never hand us over to just any Demon King.'

Their trust in Granada made them view this peculiar Demon King a little more favorably.

"So, what would you have us do?"

The tour was over. Within the ecosystem established on the tower's fourth floor, the elves awaited the Demon King's orders. Charlotte quietly raised her hand.

Elves were born with exceptional sensitivity to mana. For most, that sensitivity extended beyond mana and leaned toward spirits. Naturally, most elves were spirit summoners, while conventional mages were few.

"What sort of magic do you use?"

"Elemental magic. Primarily wind."

"Not bad. Step aside. What about the rest?"

"Some are dedicated spirit summoners, while others are warriors who use swords and bows. But all of them can summon spirits."

"Perfect."

The corners of the Demon King's mouth rose.

"Ten of you will become members of the tower. The rest will return to the continent and live as part of its society. For my sake, of course. I'll leave the choice entirely up to you. Oh, but you..."

The Demon King pointed at Charlotte.

"You're staying here. No exceptions."

"May I ask why?"

"There's a sickly patient lying on the third floor."

"You mean Princess Elena Hilderan."

"As of today, she's your pupil. Teach her magic."

"...?"

Charlotte tried to make sense of his words. But no amount of thought revealed any hidden meaning. She stammered out another question.

"S-so you're saying that, as your servant, I must teach magic to the kidnapped princess on your orders, my lord?"

"Yes."

Charlotte instinctively sought out Granada. Their eyes met.

'Is this really how it works?'

'Probably.'

Granada looked away.

* * *

"Now it finally feels like a place where demons live."

Most of its residents weren't demons, but the once-empty tower was beginning to come alive nonetheless.

A thought occurred to him. Once the golems were complete and the elves had settled in, once a balrog occupied the second floor and he had somehow filled the third floor as well...

'By then, even if I reveal the tower to the humans...'

Wouldn't it be all right?

Negative emotions such as anger, sorrow, and despair weren't the only way to gather demonic energy points. No one could deny that blood, life, and actual death far surpassed mere emotions in both quality and quantity.

That was why all Demon Kings welcomed wars between humans. And if those lives were lost within the tower, which could rightly be called a core that absorbed demonic energy points, both he and the tower could rapidly grow stronger.

Filled with traps the heroes would never anticipate, Berge's tower would become a demonic den that continually drew in heroes and humans.

But would that really be enough?

'No. It wouldn't.'

The more deaths the tower caused, the larger and stronger the human forces surging toward it would become. Once he truly set things in motion, those waves wouldn't stop until either Berge died or humanity was destroyed. And as that cycle repeated...

"That son of a bitch will come."

The hero with the red sword. That damned bastard who had pierced his heart and mocked him.

Could he kill him with only this much?

It was nowhere near enough.

Mana cannons inevitably had their limits. They excelled at slaughtering large numbers of weak opponents, but couldn't defeat a single powerful one. The same went for golems. And that bastard had even sliced through a balrog as though it were nothing.

To face him, Berge needed greater, more overwhelming power than he had possessed back then.

'As I thought, I must keep the tower hidden until the very last moment.'

That was the right choice. Likewise, even if the tower was discovered, he needed power in human society to obstruct their hero's journeys as much as possible.

And, as luck would have it, Berge had acquired new chess pieces. Mere pawns for now, but if they reached the other end of the board, no one knew whether they would become rooks, knights, bishops, or queens.

The elves.

He summoned Granada through the crystal ball. A short while later, Granada entered.

"You called, my lord?"

"Have the elves decided where they'll go?"

"Yes. We've selected twenty-two to return to the Golden Moon Trading Company."

"They won't all be returning to the Golden Moon Trading Company."

"Do you have something in mind?"

"If I were going to confine them to a single trading company, there would be no reason to use elves specifically."

"Then?"

"Send half of them to Akan."

"...?"

"Akan is a country that treats mages well. With outstanding magical talent, even a slave can rise in status."

There might be limits, but compared to other countries, it was a place governed by ability.

"And elves..."

"All have naturally superior mana affinity compared to humans."

"That too, but aren't all elves excellent spirit summoners? Spirit summoning is a form of magic as well."

Indeed, spirit summoning was counted among the human schools of magic. It required more innate talent than conventional magic, but magic was magic.

"Besides, you've developed a friendship with Akan's prince. That will make it easier for the elves to integrate into the kingdom."

The sudden arrival of elves might take them aback, but they wouldn't reject talented people. Especially with Hillen Cargill involved, they wouldn't mistreat them, if only out of consideration for his reputation and connections. They might, of course, face some attempts to keep them in check.

"... Surely you aren't planning to swallow Akan whole?"

"Of course not."

As if sending in a handful of elves could accomplish that.

"I'll be satisfied if even one of them becomes a reasonably influential noble in Akan."

And if they used that influence to build connections with nobles from other countries, which in turn bolstered Hillen's power or worked in concert with the connections he had already established...

"Isn't it delightful just to think about?"

They would become Berge's spies, finding the hero of the Red Sword and obstructing him.

"You truly are a frightening man, my lord."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"May I offer a piece of advice?"

"I'll gladly hear it."

"If that is your intention, Charlotte is the ideal candidate."

"Charlotte?"

"Though she cannot command spirits, she is a mage with six engravings. In other words, she's exactly the sort of talent Akan would welcome above all others."

"She's that good?"

"Charlotte cannot command spirits because she devoted herself to elemental magic instead. Her magical talent was the finest in the Maple Tribe."

"And a bitch like that got caught by humans and ended up a slave?"

"... For elves who have lived only in Elven, everything in human society must be as good as a trap."

"No need to make excuses."

Berge pondered the matter. Sending the more capable candidate to Akan was the right choice. Akan always welcomed outstanding mages. The problem was...

"That elf has to teach Elena."

That made her all the more essential to the tower. To raise Elena Hilderan into a greater mage, he needed an exceptional mage to teach her.

"Then I suppose it can't be helped."

In truth, Granada couldn't tell whether Elena was quite so gifted. She had already spent a considerable amount of time in the tower, and the mana that had been eating away at her body had diminished greatly. Still, he knew well that the Demon King never spoke nonsense.

"Oh, you know you have to go to the northern snowfields, don't you?"

"Yes, I've heard. Another Demon King's tower..."

Granada let out a disgruntled groan.

"Reina is no pushover, so you'd best be careful. Though I'm sure you and the Red Hawk will survive like cockroaches, as always."

"... Please leave me out of the cockroach comparison."

"It's a compliment. You'll have to put that cockroach-like quality to good use this time."

"Is it that serious?"

"Reina is out for blood."

"Then isn't there a chance we'll fail?"

"There could be."

"And you gave permission anyway?"

"Because Hillen Cargill wants to go."

"... Don't tell me."

Granada's face twisted grotesquely.

"Are you sending him knowing he'll fail? Because you want him to fail?"

"I told Hillen it would be better not to go. He still wanted to, and he must bear responsibility for his own failure. That's all there is to it."

"So when whales fight, it's the shrimp whose backs get broken."

"Damn it," Granada swore.

"Hillen isn't a whale."

An unusually large pufferfish, perhaps.

* * *

"I contacted Prince Cain, and fortunately, the conversation went well."

Granada departed with twenty-two elves. Berge personally escorted them to the outskirts of Erjest. Granada would stop by Akan to drop off the elves, then return directly to the Heroes' Guild. After that, he would head to the northern snowfields to tumble about in the snow and fight Reina.

Eleven elves remained, including Charlotte. She met Elena for the first time as her magic tutor.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess. I am Charlotte of the Maple Tribe."

"It's lovely to meet you."

Ernyan hadn't lied. She had said Elena possessed exceptional magical talent—talent that could easily have surpassed her own if not for Elena's frail body. Within just a few hours, Charlotte understood what she meant.

"Why on earth have you never learned magic before now? Akan must be blind! To leave someone like you without magical instruction all this time!"

"It's because my body is frail. Mana overload."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's all right."

Unlike humans, elves didn't put up walls. They shared their knowledge and regarded the opportunity to teach gifted individuals as an honor. Charlotte was no different. Though she wasn't pleased that her pupil was a human rather than a fellow elf, she found herself captivated by talent greater than any she had ever witnessed.

She wanted to polish the rough stone that was Elena with her own hands. She wanted to fashion her into a beautiful jewel and proclaim to the whole world that, inadequate though she was, she had played a part in shaping it.

"I may be an inadequate elf, but I will teach you everything I know, Princess!"

While an elf and a princess enthusiastically pursued magic on the third floor, another princess was meeting the elves on the fourth.

"Welcome. I'm the Dark Spirit Summoner in charge of the fourth floor."

"... Pardon? Dark?"

"And you'll be defending the fourth floor alongside me."

"Here..."

The elves' expressions were relatively bright. Hearing that they were going to a Demon King's tower, they had imagined a hell filled with demonic creatures and demons. Yet there wasn't a single demonic creature, and the only demons were the Demon King and a dark elf.

And that wasn't all. On the first floor was a dwarf hero; on the second, a princess who was both a knight and a hero; on the third, a sickly-looking princess. And here on the fourth, there were spirits everywhere.

Could this even be called a Demon King's tower?

Having arrived expecting the very worst, they found it welcome news that they were to serve a human princess—and a spirit summoner capable of summoning a high-ranking spirit, at that.

"We will do our utmost to serve you."

"You don't really have to serve me. You and I are all the Demon King's subordinates, working together to defend the tower."

"Yes."

"Um, may I ask one question?"

An elf raised a hand.

"Of course. Ask anything."

"... Are you truly a princess?"

"I am. Ernyan Hilderan, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hilderan."

"The one who was kidnapped?"

"I didn't walk in here of my own accord."

"... I know it's hardly my place to ask, having agreed to serve a Demon King myself, but why do you serve him?"

"I'm not really serving him."

"... Then?"

"If I had to define it..."

Ernyan hummed, stroking her chin.

"A bilateral contractual relationship?"

The Demon King had kidnapped her because he needed her, and she was cooperating because it suited her own needs. So that was probably accurate, wasn't it?