“You summoned me, Your Majesty?”

Hillen bowed his head cautiously. The occupant of the throne nodded.

“It has been a while, Hillen Cargill.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You have heard about what happened in the Empire recently, I assume? What do you think would happen if something like that occurred in our kingdom?”

“That would depend on where it happened.”

“In the royal capital?”

“We would be more than capable of repelling it.”

The garrison and knightly orders defending the capital were the strongest forces in the kingdom. The Royal Knights and the Royal Guard were permanently stationed there, and the magic formations laid throughout the capital were no ordinary defenses.

“What about a less formidable major city?”

“There would be casualties, but it could certainly repel the attack.”

“And a small city?”

“If it held out until reinforcements arrived, it would have a chance, but...”

“So in the worst case, an entire city could be destroyed. And the monsters would then scatter throughout the kingdom, wreaking havoc.”

“Yes.”

“Heh heh heh. Isn't it amusing?”

The king burst into laughter.

“One Demon King—just one—keeps throwing the entire continent into turmoil.”

First, he had kidnapped Hilderan's Crown Princess. Then he had thwarted Hillen Cargill's hero's journey and made headlines by hiding his tower.

He had abducted an imperial princess and repelled Akan's search party. He had planted dark mages in Habstrain with dreams of overthrowing the Empire, and even after a hero's journey involving no fewer than four Stars had begun, his tower remained nowhere to be found.

And now, in the midst of all that, an attack on the Empire.

“Don't you think we are letting a single Demon King push us around far too much?”

“Yes.”

“I can no longer let this slide. No longer.”

Demon Kings had coexisted with humans. That coexistence rested entirely on humanity's confidence in its own superiority.

But the new Demon King called Hellfire had shattered all of that. He had reawakened the fear humans had forgotten and branded the true nature of a Demon King into their minds.

“The Empire has sent an envoy.”

“An envoy...?”

“To establish a coalition army. No, perhaps ‘coalition army’ is too grand a name. Still, it is the most fitting term.”

After muttering to himself, the king answered again.

“They proposed that we join forces temporarily, solely to kill the Demon King of Hellfire.”

“...!”

Similar conversations were taking place in every kingdom across the continent.

* * *

“Are you really going to be all right?”

『I'll be fine.』

“The Empire has sent envoys all across the continent. The newspapers are running huge breaking-news headlines day after day, and anger toward the Demon Kings is rising everywhere.”

Naturally, their foremost target was the Demon King of Hellfire, Berge Deias.

『Their anger will be directed at Erjest. But I'm no longer there.』

“That's a relief, if so, but...”

『What will Hilderan do?』

“For now, we've settled on taking part.”

Regardless of Ernyan's desire not to oppose the Demon King, the people, the nobles, and the king wanted to escape their fear of the unknown.

No one wanted to live with the possibility that monsters might one day fall from the sky.

『You would be better off not participating. If it can't be avoided, commit as little strength as possible.』

“... Are you confident?”

『Yes.』

Even Berge could not be certain of victory. But he was at least confident he would not be defeated. He was also confident he could inflict a painful defeat on them at least once.

If he managed that, he would gather demonic energy points on an entirely different scale from anything before.

『I have a favor to ask.』

“Go ahead.”

『Public opinion of me must be rather poor right now.』

“If you were here, you would be declared a public enemy and killed on the spot.”

『Could you spread some of that hostility to the other Demon Kings?』

“You want to divert some of the attacks aimed at you, my lord?”

『Yes.』

“That shouldn't be particularly difficult.”

The Demon King of Hellfire had caused the monster-dropping incident. Naturally, most of the anger was directed at him.

But people did not regard this as a problem confined to Hellfire alone. They were all Demon Kings. When one caused trouble, the other four inevitably had to bear the consequences alongside him.

“Not as many as those calling for your death, but quite a few people are insisting that the other Demon Kings should be slain as well.”

That sentiment was all the stronger because of the recent kidnapping of Berft's princess and craftsmen, committed by the Demon King of Carnal Desire (or so it was believed).

The Demon Kings' activities had been making humans uneasy. Berge had delivered the decisive blow to their peace of mind.

Demon Kings were weeds. Even if slain, they would descend again. They would never disappear.

Over the past century, humans had learned that a reasonable compromise preserved peace better than a constant succession of new Demon Kings.

Yet people were still insisting that every Demon King should be killed, such was the shock of this incident. They wanted to kill them all first and put them firmly in their place—to prove that humans still held the upper hand and regain their sense of security.

『No, there's no need to direct it at all of them. I don't want that, either.』

He did not care about Ugar, but Berge did not want Ernyan to suffer because of him.

Of course, with things having come to this, some harm would be unavoidable. Still, he had to minimize it.

“Then what?”

『Direct everything at Jason. At Lies, in other words.』

“Lies?”

『Manipulate public opinion through the newspapers humans love to read.』

『Say that the Demon King of Lies is behind the Demon King of Hellfire. Or that Hellfire began running wild after the recent Harmony of Towers. Ask how a Demon King who descended less than two years ago could possibly throw hundreds of high-level monsters into the Empire.』

“I understand what you mean. So Demon Kings don't all get along, either.”

『All living beings are the same in that regard.』

“Oh, and I think it would sound more credible if we mixed in a few statements from Hillen or Granada.”

『Hillen?』

“Hillen and his raiding party rescued me themselves, didn't they? We could emphasize again that I was being kept on a lower floor, as with the Demon King of Bitter Cold and the Adamant Demon King, and frame it as, ‘Demon Kings like those rarely act rashly.’ Something along those lines?”

『A very pleasing piece of propaganda.』

“Then this earns me one favor, right?”

『... What?』

“I used up every favor I had to get you to ask me to be your partner. Of course, if you keep asking me to be your partner, I won't mind.”

『...』

Berge cut off the call.

“... You're awfully shy.”

As Ernyan spoke, a faint blush colored her cheeks.

- Still denying it?

- Even after that?

The water spirit passed through the crystal ball and thrust her face close.

“Lady Nairuniel, are you aware of how overwhelming your face can be?”

Her rebuke went unheard by the water spirit, whose imagination had already taken flight.

- Stop denying reality! This is real!

- A Demon King and a Crown Princess...!

- I knew my eyes hadn't deceived me!

- Those rotten-fish-eyed spirit bastards! They called it my ridiculous fantasy? This is reality, you sons of bitches!

“...”

Ernyan went outside, leaving Nairuniel roaring with both fists clenched toward the sky.

* * *

Berge hurried to the Golden Moon Trading Company.

Its headquarters had none of its former vitality. The guards at the main gate looked listless, and the once-bustling interior was eerily quiet.

“... Master Pale.”

Aman greeted him with a miserable expression, the dark circles under his eyes reaching all the way to his mouth.

“What a shitshow.”

“... Yes. With most of the investments withdrawn, we've lost not only our cash reserves but had to close down most of our ongoing ventures as well. And we had to watch helplessly as those Black Toad bastards took our craftsmen...”

Aman kept rambling. The bad news came so endlessly that it was a wonder Golden Moon was still clinging to life at all.

“Part of it is that Hilderan and Hillen haven't withdrawn their investments yet, but the biggest reason is this.”

Aman handed him a letter. It bore the seal of an eagle with two pairs of wings.

“What's this?”

“An official letter from House Aincheil.”

Its contents were simple. They were aware of all the allegations made by the Black Toad Trading Company, wished to pay the required compensation on Golden Moon's behalf, and wanted to invest.

“So it worked out.”

“Was this your doing after all, my lord?”

“Yes. I got Martin to act.”

“Martin... the Third Prince? My God, is the Third Prince your servant as well?”

“Don't jump to conclusions. Nothing of the sort. We merely made a deal.”

“... Even so.”

The Third Prince was following a Demon King. Aman's jaw remained hanging open.

“I don't see how Hillen or Ernyan is any less impressive than he is.”

“O-of course not, but the prestige of the Empire...”

He had also grown accustomed to Hillen and Ernyan after seeing them for so long.

“Anyway, that means things are more or less resolved.”

“Yes. Once the investment comes in, things will pick up again. We can restart the ventures we suspended, and with the Third Prince giving us wings, we'll be even...!”

“Then is there nothing left in the company?”

“Oh, no, that's not the case. Most of the merchants haven't left, and we've kept most of the goods and supplies in our warehouses. We were about to have to sell everything for next to nothing, but fortunately, funds from House Aincheil arrived just in time...”

“Really...?”

Berge's lips curved into a smile. An uneasy feeling made Aman rub the back of his neck.

This did not bode well.

“Um, Master Pale...?”

“Let's go.”

“What? Where...?”

“The warehouses.”

The warehouses at Golden Moon's headquarters were large. Until the dispute with Black Toad began, the company had been steadily expanding.

There were dozens upon dozens of large warehouses, expanded several times over. More than half of them held vast quantities of raw materials.

“Did Golden Moon always deal in these as well?”

“We established connections with suppliers while fulfilling your requests, my lord. Since we would be receiving mana cannons regularly and running workshops anyway, I thought we'd continue to need these materials, so I kept trading with them.”

Had the trouble never arisen, most of it would have gone to the workshops or been processed and sold elsewhere.

“How fortunate.”

“Pardon?”

“I'll be taking all of this.”

“What? No, wait a moment. You can't!”

“Why not?”

“Obviously, you can't just seize the company's property at will.”

“Since when have I cared about that? And I'll keep supplying mana cannons. I brought a few with me today, too.”

“No, that's not the issue. House Aincheil examined our books when they invested. If goods suddenly disappear, there will definitely be problems...”

“That's precisely why I'm taking them now.”

“What?”

“House Aincheil will be watching us more closely from now on, won't they?”

“Yes.”

“It's my company, but even I'll have trouble taking things as I please.”

“... Yes.”

“So I'm taking them now, before their grip is secure.”

“... Uh.”

Aman looked bewildered.

“But, um, if you take them now, I'll be the one in trouble...”

“That...”

THUD!

Fifty mana cannons piled up in the empty warehouse.

'When did he do that?'

This warehouse had definitely been full of steel, hadn't it?

“...is your problem to solve. Use these to smooth things over.”

“M-Master Pale!”

Ignoring Aman's anguished cry, Berge headed for the next warehouse.

* * *

Pure white snow poured down.

“We'll camp in that cave tonight.”

Balaf Dislord led the expedition into the cave. It was quite spacious and warm inside.

The expedition members went about lighting fires and setting up camp with practiced ease.

“Lord Balaf.”

Watton Collo offered him a piece of jerky.

“Thank you.”

The meat was tender for jerky, and not bad at all.

“Um...”

“Speak.”

“... Will we be able to find the Demon King's tower?”

“Are you worried?”

“It's already been almost two months. Is the tower really here...?”

“The tower is here. He has simply played some trick that we have yet to see through.”

“But doesn't that make it even stranger?”

“Even I cannot do everything.”

“But...”

“I understand that you're tired. We are human, after all. But before we are humans, we are heroes. If we give up so easily just because we cannot find the tower, who will slay the Demon King?”

“...”

Just then, Balaf Dislord felt a faint vibration inside his clothes.

“Excuse me a moment.”

“Yes.”

He headed deeper into the cave. It was deeper and broader than he had expected. Only after walking for some time, until he could no longer even sense the other heroes, did he take out his communication orb.

“What is it?”

『A problem has arisen. Berge Deias attacked the Empire.』

“The Empire?”

Balaf gave an incredulous laugh.

“Unbelievable. What an insolent bastard. Does he think he has the leisure to do something else with me right on his doorstep?”

『A coalition will be formed. Why not return for now and cooperate with them?』

“You want me to return?”

Again?

Balaf's face twisted.

“I will not tolerate two failures. I will not return until I have achieved something meaningful.”

『You must not let pride ruin this. The Demon King of Hellfire is different from the other Demon Kings.』

“Do not give me orders, Jason Cockmundo. We are merely partners.”

『It is not an order. I am saying this because the situation has changed.』

“The situation is the same. In the end, all we need to do is cut that fucking bastard's head off, isn't it?”

『This is not something to approach so emotionally—』

Balaf Dislord cut off the call without waiting for a reply.

He slowly turned his head.

Something stirred in the darkness. A golden body rose into the air.

- You appear to have finished your conversation.

The voice resonated through his body.

It belonged to a born predator. The pressure bearing down on every inch of him was the innate power of a supremely arrogant and noble creature.

- Are you a hero?

“And if I am?”

Yet Balaf answered calmly.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

A tremendous rumble shook the cave.

- A lowly creature dares intrude upon my home and still shows such insolence.

- Those will be your last words, I presume?

“... I came looking for the Demon King's tower, and found something truly strange instead.”

- ... Has your terror driven you mad?

“This is perfect timing.”

Balaf's lips curled upward. Thick killing intent welled up around him. There was not a trace of fear on his face.

“I was so irritated that I needed something to take it out on. And here you are, sticking your stinking snout in at just the right moment.”

- What is an insolent human like you babbling about?

The enormous creature slowly rose. The intimidating aura that naturally emanated from it pressed down on Balaf.

It was a supremely arrogant creature, but one with every right to its arrogance.

It was the hidden ruler of Erjest.

- I shall make you regret your recklessness, you insignificant worm.

- Do you dare believe that gaining a little of the dimension's power makes you a match for my greatness?

“Yes, that's more like it. I'm in a really foul mood right now.”

He discarded the sword he was holding and reached into the air.

Space split open, and a sword settled into his hand.

- Th-that is...?

“So you recognize it.”

Balaf Dislord kicked off the ground. The distance between them closed rapidly.

“I'll strip off your scales one by one with the bones of your own kind.”

- You wretch! How dare you!

────!

The sword scattered blood.