Chapter 93 - Warning

Hillen Cargill left for the northern snowfields with Granada and the Red Hawk raiding party. Time had passed, and the Harmony of Towers, scheduled for a month later, was drawing near.

But Berge wondered whether the Harmony of Towers could actually be held. Vivian Blunt had shut herself away in her tower after spouting that nonsense, and Reina Sordein was currently at war with the White Eagles, leaving her in no position to leave her tower.

「I gave it some thought. Would it be right for the four of us to hold the Harmony of Towers without Lady Reina, or should we postpone it?」

“Didn't you say it was only natural to postpone it if circumstances demanded it?”

「I did, but the humans' recent movements are troubling. Both what Lady Vivian did and Lady Reina's situation. I thought we needed to gather and discuss countermeasures.」

That was true.

“I hear a raiding party attacked Vivian's tower?”

「Yes. Still, perhaps because no princess was actually abducted, they stopped at a moderate level.」

Failing to abduct the princess had been her misfortune, but in a sense, it had also been her good fortune.

'No, that bitch probably sees it as nothing but misfortune.'

Vivian believed that if she had succeeded, she would have escaped this wretched dimension safely. In any case, thanks to her, the humans were now in an uproar, like a disturbed hornets' nest.

“Your conclusion?”

「A gathering that began with five must remain five to the end. I believe it would be wrong to hold the Harmony of Towers without Lady Reina, who has consistently worked so hard for it.」

In short, the Harmony of Towers would be postponed.

'I'd hoped we could hold it, if possible.'

Even though Berge had regressed, the Arain of the present had changed considerably from the past he knew. The little breeze he had stirred up was growing, becoming a great storm. There would be a considerable difference between the past he knew and the present the other Demon Kings knew.

'As long as it isn't at my tower, that is.'

「That brings me to another matter. Though it won't be the Harmony of Towers, I would like to arrange a separate meeting with you, Lord Berge.」

“With me?”

「We agreed to cooperate, but we haven't actually done anything together, have we? There is something I would like to discuss with you concerning that.」

“Something to discuss?”

「I don't believe this is a conversation to have over a communication orb.」

Jason was smiling on the other side of the communication orb, as always. Berge searched his memories for what Jason might want to say, but nothing in particular came to mind.

Before Berge's regression, Jason had done little of note around this time. Except that, a little later, he had lent Reina Sordein an enormous amount of demonic energy and used that debt to make her almost his puppet.

'Just because I don't know about it doesn't mean he really did nothing.'

He hadn't known in the past. Berge had been arrogant, dogmatic, and self-centered. He had taken no interest in what Jason was doing or how he was going about conquering Arain.

He hadn't even known why Jason was called the Demon King of Lies, or what race the bastard belonged to. He simply hadn't considered those things important back then.

But that was no longer the case. Jason was definitely doing something, and his methods were neither ordinary nor orthodox. If Berge continued on his current course, Jason was the one he was most likely to clash with. Finding out Jason's direction and purpose was essential.

“Very well.”

「Would you prefer that I visit you, or would you like to come here?」

“I'll come.”

Like a general marching onto the battlefield, Berge steeled himself for battle.

* * *

The Tower of Lies looked just as it had on his previous visit. It was extravagantly splendid, with an extraordinarily large population of demonic creatures and demons.

Succubi guided him to the top of the tower. He sat at Jason's round table and waited for him.

“It's been a while.”

“It has indeed, Lord Berge.”

“You have more demonic creatures now?”

“Thanks to you, Lord Berge. Ah, would you care for a cup of tea?”

“Gladly.”

A succubus maid brought tea, along with a few light refreshments.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”

“Must we be in such a hurry?”

He smiled, removed the steeped tea leaves, and stirred lightly with a teaspoon.

“To tell you the truth, I thought you wouldn't last very long, Lord Berge.”

Despite that sudden verbal thrust, Berge asked calmly, “Why?”

“I keep an ear out for news from the Demon Realm, too. It requires a great deal of demonic energy, but I consider it necessary.”

“If it's because you've heard what I did in the Demon Realm, I'm hardly surprised.”

“And on top of that, you abducted Hilderan's Crown Princess as soon as you arrived, didn't you? I'm still curious how you made it through that predicament.”

“I was lucky.”

“That is what you said before. Are you still confident the humans won't discover you?”

“That depends on what they do.”

SNAP

Jason broke a hard cookie in half.

“Do you have an adjutant?”

“I don't know what you're getting at. Is there a Demon King who doesn't?”

“Since you graduated at the top of the military academy, your adjutant must also be the training academy's top graduate. What race is he?”

“A dark elf.”

“A dark elf. Skilled in magic and intelligent, they're well suited to managing a tower. You have a fine adjutant.”

Berge set down his teacup. A strange sense of déjà vu, and irritation, swept over him. Jason was different today. This was only their second face-to-face meeting, but they had spoken many times through the communication orb.

“Why are you curious about my adjutant?”

“Your adjutant is a high-ranking demon, I presume?”

“You know that no one but a high-ranking demon would dare claim that position.”

“And you have no other high-ranking demons besides your adjutant, my lord.”

“Get to the point.”

“I've spent the past few days thinking about Lord Drakson's death.”

“And?”

“The Lord Drakson I knew wasn't above lying, but he wasn't someone who told utterly absurd lies.”

“You're saying the high-ranking demon who invaded his territory was real?”

“Yes.”

“Who was it?”

“Hmm.” Jason propped up his chin. His disingenuous gaze met Berge's.

“It could have been Lord Ugar or Lady Reina. And I am keeping in mind the possibility that it might even have been you, Lord Berge.”

“It wasn't me. My adjutant cannot leave the tower. Surely you aren't going to claim you don't know that.”

“Generally, yes. But it didn't necessarily have to be a high-ranking demon, did it?”

“What do you mean?”

“A Demon King.” He smiled.

“Who knows? Perhaps a Demon King acted personally, and in the urgency of the situation, Lord Drakson mistook them for a high-ranking demon.”

“...”

Faced with that sudden thrust of a blade, Berge exercised superhuman patience. He forced himself to answer calmly.

“A Demon King invading another Demon King's territory? That makes no sense.”

“The same goes for a high-ranking demon. And then there's Louise Berft.”

Jason wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“She was there, a princess of Berft. So was a prince named Max Ormus.”

Berge drummed his fingers on the table. “And?”

“Someone came to abduct a prince or princess, but complications arose and they failed. The resulting butterfly effect then led Lord Drakson to kill the prince. Isn't that a fairly plausible deduction?”

The problem was this.

“Lady Reina, Lord Ugar, and you, Lord Berge, all abduct royalty personally.”

“So you suspect all three of us in the end. We're back where we started.”

“Correct. But in truth, it doesn't particularly matter who the culprit is.”

“Why?”

“If that is what happened, abducting royalty is only natural for a Demon King. Even if Lord Drakson was unfortunately caught up in it, surely we cannot blame the Demon King who attempted the abduction? Unless, of course, they deliberately intended to harm Lord Drakson.”

That last addition was colder.

“That is why I prefer to leave the matter buried.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I said, whoever acted was simply doing what they ought to do. Lord Drakson was at fault for misunderstanding that and causing trouble, not anyone else.”

No. Invading someone else's territory without permission was clearly crossing a line.

“And Grand Duke Alkain would not wish for disputes between Demon Kings, either.”

He changed the subject. “Are you making good use of the hundred thousand gold I gave you?”

Berge met his eyes. Still curved in a smile, they gave him no clue what Jason was thinking. The strange sense of unease grated on his nerves.

“Very good use.”

“If it isn't rude of me, may I ask how you are spending it?”

“It is rude.”

“I see.”

Silence lingered for a while after that. Only the sounds of the two drinking tea filled the stillness. Berge was the first to break it.

“You keep going off on tangents. Why did you ask to see me? Surely it wasn't to irritate me?”

“Of course not. Didn't we promise to cooperate? This is so we can help each other.”

“Help?”

“There will be a war.”

“A war?”

“Well, not a particularly large one. A major mineral deposit will be discovered in the Philerium Mountains, and the southern alliance and the Empire will fight for their respective interests. A fair amount of blood will be spilled.”

“And you're offering it to me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Didn't I tell you? Cooperation. I will help you, Lord Berge, and I hope you will help me as well. For that to happen, I would like you to establish yourself more firmly.”

Was this the carrot and the stick? Feeling as though he were being trained, Berge bit down on his lip.

“If you don't want it...”

“No, I'll take it.”

“A wise choice.”

Their conversation afterward was like a melon with its flesh scooped out. Neither useful nor pleasant.

After some time, Berge rose from his seat. He opened space and created a portal to his tower.

“Farewell. I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Likewise.”

“Ah.” Jason clapped his hands.

“There was something else I wanted to ask...” He shrugged. “I've forgotten.”

“What a pathetic little game.”

Berge growled and stepped the rest of the way through the spatial rift. Space closed behind him.

CRUNCH

Jason chewed a cookie. The sweet chocolate flavor was quite good.

PTUI

He spat out the cookie. Sweets really weren't to his taste.

“Just where are you spending all those demonic energy points you've earned...?”

Summoning demonic creatures left records. Through Grand Duke Alkain, Jason had confirmed that no demonic creatures or demons whatsoever had been summoned to Berge's tower. Having abducted three princesses and even repelled a hero's journey, Berge ought to have plenty of demonic energy.

Jason leaned back in his chair.

“Since you seem unwilling to answer, I'll hold back for now. And restrain my desire to visit your tower, too.”

Just what lay inside that tower on Erjest? He was intensely curious.

* * *

“... Did he figure it out?”

He had. Though he'd called it conjecture, though he'd brought the other Demon Kings in as afterthoughts instead of singling Berge out, Jason had come close to the truth. He had realized that Berge had invaded Drakson's territory.

Even so, he had said he wanted to bury the matter. Then he had dangled the carrot of war before Berge.

“He hasn't figured out everything.”

Perhaps, just as he'd said himself, he thought it amounted to someone going to capture royalty and running into trouble. No, that had to be it.

If he'd known Berge had personally climbed the tower and helped kill Drakson, he couldn't have spoken so blithely of burying it. He was casually declaring that, although Berge had invaded the territory, he would let it slide because the harm hadn't been intentional.

'So this is...'

A warning. A chill ran down the back of his neck.

He had known for some time that Jason was setting up some grand scheme. Jason hadn't liked Berge's moves on his chessboard. So he'd quietly called Berge over to tell him to behave and simply swallow whatever Jason fed him.

'That fucking bastard. Who does he think he's dealing with...!'

Berge ground his teeth. After regressing, he'd never imagined he would find himself subjected to something like this. But he didn't bare his teeth as he had immediately after his regression.

'He only knows fragments.'

He didn't know Berge had made Hillen Cargill his utterly obedient agent, or that the same was true of Granada and the elves. He didn't know that mana cannons and princesses guarded the tower instead of demonic creatures. Nor did he know that, having gained the Phoenix's power, Berge could travel the continent quite naturally, unlike other demons. He knew none of it.

'Judging by his bringing up the money...'

Perhaps he knew about the Golden Moon Trading Company. But he couldn't possibly imagine an Armani Orb embedded in Hillen Cargill's brain. He would assume Berge was merely playing at being a mastermind behind the scenes.

Berge had to build his strength in that blind spot.

“In any case...” He clicked his tongue.

“If you're going to offer me a carrot, at least make it something I don't know about.”

Unfortunately, he already knew about this carrot. It was a little earlier than before, of course. Originally, it hadn't happened until several years later.

“Jason must have pulled something.”

Or perhaps it had been a war the bastard deliberately instigated from the start.