“Mmm.”
Roselle Charnt opened her eyes in a forest thick with trees, with birds flying overhead and spirits scampering about.
Or so she thought.
“... Walls? A ceiling?”
She was inside some building.
Clutching her throbbing head, Roselle replayed her last memories before she had blacked out: her magic, and the hand forcing its way through those flames. The fire had failed to harm him.
“... Pale.”
She ground her teeth. How was this possible?
She had cast that spell herself, with no fewer than seven engravings. Its blazing heat could melt anything.
And yet he had suffered not even the slightest wound.
'What the hell is he?'
For a start, he wasn't human.
Yes, that should have been obvious in hindsight. No human could possess mana that pure.
'Then...'
“What are you doing?”
A voice suddenly interrupted her.
“What am I doing? Just thinking for a moment. What about you, Princess?”
“You.”
“You came to see me? Why...me...?”
Roselle had been answering without thinking, but her expression froze. Hadn't Lavinia Akan gone missing?
She turned her head. It was no illusion. Lavinia Akan really was standing there.
“Why are you here, Princess?”
“Just because.”
“Weren't you missing?”
“Probably?”
“What are you doing now?”
“Persuading.”
“Persuading me? What on earth does that mean, Princess?”
Lavinia silently pointed. Someone was watching Roselle from that direction, though she had no idea how long he had been there.
“Ah...shit!”
She started in shock. It was Pale.
“You son of a bitch!”
She conjured flames and hurled them at him. But with a casual wave of his hand, Pale extinguished them without leaving a single ember.
“You've already experienced this. Flames dare not touch me.”
“Bullshit! Who do you think you are? A dragon?”
“Broadly speaking, you're not wrong.”
“... What?”
“No.”
Lavinia shook her head.
“Demon King.”
“... Huh?”
Their eyes met.
“A Demon King?”
“Demon King.”
Lavinia nodded.
“Wait, Princess. I'm not sure I understand.”
“Demon King.”
“You mean that man is a Demon King?”
“Yes.”
“... A Demon King?”
Roselle cautiously turned toward Pale.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly.”
He rose from his seat.
“My name is Berge Deias. I am a demonic dragon of the Demon Realm, and you call me the Demon King of Hellfire.”
From this moment on...
“I am the one who will be your liege.”
* * *
“My liege?”
“My liiiieeeege?”
A Demon King? Her liege?
It made even less sense to her than an advanced eighth- or ninth-tier spell formula.
Because it was bullshit.
“You're a Demon King, and you're saying I'm going to serve you?”
Pale—no, Berge—didn't bother to answer. Instead, he changed the aura that had felt like mana into demonic energy.
The dimensional power sleeping within Roselle reacted violently against the demonic energy bursting forth.
“Still doubt me?”
“... Impossible. B-but earlier...!”
If he were a Demon King, dimensional interference had to react to him. Yet she hadn't sensed the slightest trace of demonic energy in that basement. The interference hadn't exerted its power.
“Does that matter?”
“... No. It doesn't.”
She hurled fire at him without warning. This time, the interference reacted. But the result was no different.
“How the hell...?”
“I told you. Fire cannot harm me.”
“... What do you intend to do with me?”
“You swore an oath.”
If he gave her Carnal Desire's tail or horn, Bitter Cold's essence, and Hellfire's scales...
“That you would serve me as your liege.”
“...!”
It was an oath she had sworn as a hero. A weighty oath that, if broken, would strip her of dimensional interference and her standing as a hero.
Roselle bit her lip, but soon regained her composure.
“Fine. Go ahead, then.”
Pale being the Demon King of Hellfire was astonishing. But Carnal Desire and Bitter Cold were another matter. How could the Demon King of Hellfire possibly obtain parts from other Demon Kings...?
“So that's why? That's why you called me?”
A demon radiating sensual allure approached from afar. She was giving off demonic energy of unparalleled intensity.
Roselle knew instinctively that this demon was also a Demon King.
“You piece of shit! You already chopped my tail off and stuck it on that titan! And now you want more?”
“I am your master.”
“So what!”
“Your tail has grown back. It will grow back again.”
“It's only grown three centimeters! You're after even that? Why not carve out a flea's liver while you're at it!”
“If necessary.”
“Aaaaaagh! How did I end up serving a bastard like this!”
Vivian screamed in despair.
While Roselle struggled to adjust to this theatrical scene, another demon appeared.
This one radiated a freezing chill, the polar opposite of Roselle. Her power, too, was on a Demon King's level. She was a Demon King.
“You desire my essence? I can give it to you if necessary, but your resourcefulness is remarkable. To make a hero called a Star swear such an oath.”
“No one is easier to deceive than a human convinced they're right.”
“Is that so?”
Three Demon Kings. Faced with them all, Roselle couldn't collect herself.
What on earth was happening?
Should she flee? No, her legs wouldn't move. Her body creaked as though it were broken.
'Th-the princess...?'
She frantically looked for Lavinia. But the princess was already beside the Demon Kings.
“Tail.”
“Don't touch it!”
“Grows back?”
“Even if it does, you're not getting it! You already stuck it on your goddamn chimera!”
“No?”
“Of course not, you damned bitch!”
Was the woman trading banter with the Demon King of Carnal Desire really the princess Roselle knew?
Granted, she could easily imagine Lavinia doing exactly that...
Then the Demon King of Hellfire stepped forward. Scales rose from his skin, and a single blackish-red scale dropped in front of Roselle.
“The Hellfire scale I promised.”
The Demon King of Bitter Cold detached a piece of ice that had condensed within her body.
“Small, but it is my essence.”
“No! I can't do it!”
SLICE
Vivian's tail dropped in front of Roselle as she struggled in protest. Not all of it. Perhaps half a centimeter? But it was unmistakably Carnal Desire's tail.
“Aaaaagh! My tail!”
It didn't end there.
“That should suffice for the Demon King materials.”
The Demon King of Hellfire clapped his hands.
Elves appeared carrying something. Yes, elves. They were obeying a Demon King's orders in a Demon King's tower.
“Where should we put these, my lord?”
“Set them before her.”
The elves set down what they had brought, one item after another.
“Dragon scales.”
“Dragon tendons.”
“Dragon bones.”
“Dragon blood.”
“Dragon eyes.”
Even without their explanations, anyone could tell the fierce mana contained within these things belonged to a dragon. Roselle had already received and consumed dragon blood once, making it all the more impossible to deny.
“Ah...”
Overloaded by far too much information, her brain refused to accept reality and disconnected.
THUD
Her body toppled backward like a puppet with its strings cut.
* * *
“Just like watching Vivian.”
Vivian had fainted when she first came here too, hadn't she?
“That was because you showed me a chimera with my tail dangling off it! You devil!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“But do you think this will make her your servant?”
Reina expressed some skepticism. She still retained the Demon King's mindset that humans were enemies.
“It will. A hero's power does more than simply deal heavy damage to us.”
Dimensional interference had two principal powers: a powerful suppressive force acting on beings from other dimensions, and a force that helped heroes grow.
Some believed the suppressive force mattered most, but most heroes knew that accelerated growth itself was the greater advantage.
Having potential beyond others and growing faster—nothing mattered more.
“And above all...”
Berge looked down at the unconscious Roselle.
“Anyone who could refuse Demon King and dragon materials laid out before them isn't a mage.”
Especially not the Roselle Charnt he knew.
“But before that...”
“Tail.”
“Stop it, you crazy bitch!”
“Wings?”
“Don't touch them! Not unless you want your hands cut off! Berge! Help me!”
“I'd better separate those two.”
He was grateful Lavinia didn't pursue him quite so relentlessly.
* * *
Roselle thought it had all been a dream.
Yes, surely the Demon King of Carnal Desire had shown her a sweet dream. Those materials had certainly been sweet enough.
But no.
When she opened her eyes again, the materials, Lavinia Akan, and the Demon King were all still before her.
“Now, I have fulfilled my promise, Roselle Charnt. It is your turn.”
He held out an orb.
“What's this?”
“An Armani Orb. When I take a human hero as my servant, it means they swallow this.”
“Eat it.”
Lavinia nodded beside her.
“Princess, do you even know what you're saying...!”
“She does. She's already swallowed one.”
“What?”
“Servant.”
A small finger pointed alternately at Lavinia herself and the Demon King. She meant she was already his servant.
“Impossible!”
“It's quite possible.”
“Tsk, tsk. Look at her denying reality. Pathetic for such an accomplished mage.”
“You did the same, Princess Louise.”
“Me? No way!”
“You did.”
More new faces appeared: a knight in armor, a dwarf carrying an axe, and a woman in robes.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Roselle Charnt. I am Kaede Jespine, a knight in the Demon King's service.”
“I'm Louise Berft. Though I don't know why we have to do this.”
“I'm Elena Hilderan.”
“... Jespine's Ninth Princess?”
And Berft's Second Princess and Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess as well?
They were all members of imperial and royal families reportedly abducted by the Demon King of Hellfire.
“I am now the Demon King's servant.”
“An imperial princess became a Demon King's servant? And you're a hero!”
“Is that strange?”
“Strange? It's incredibly strange!”
“Someone greater than me has become his servant. I see no reason I couldn't.”
“Someone greater?”
Kaede glanced at Berge. He nodded.
“Why did you come here?”
“For Pale's blood, of course...”
“Who told you about it?”
“... Hillen Cargill?”
“He is also the Demon King's servant.”
“...!”
“So...”
“So that goddamn bastard led me into a trap?”
Amid the murderous intent bursting forth, Kaede silently nodded.
She wondered whether this was right, but Berge had said she could sell Hillen out as much as she liked. Surely it would work out somehow.
'... Isn't this how Lady Ernyan thinks?'
Again. Kaede shook her head. Lavinia had approached unnoticed and poked Roselle's cheek.
“Calm down.”
“Princess! Are you really that Demon King bastard's servant too?”
“Yes. Treats me well.”
“Is being treated well really the issue here?”
“Yes.”
“... Haah.”
“Materials. For me?”
“You want them if I don't take them?”
“Yes.”
Roselle examined the materials before her. Hellfire's scale, Carnal Desire's tail, Bitter Cold's essence, and the dragon materials.
Every single one was precious. She wanted every single one. If she could only have them all...
“Become my servant, and all of it is yours.”
“Don't tempt me.”
“I will promise you one thing: I will not attack Akan first. I've already promised Lavinia that as well.”
“How can I trust a Demon King's promise?”
“I swear upon the great First Demon Emperor and the Guide.”
For a moment, Kaede's and Elena's eyes narrowed.
But Roselle missed their expressions.
“The First Demon Emperor and the Guide...”
Roselle lifted her head.
“You really will give me all of these?”
“And more, if you wish.”
“What will I have to do in return?”
“Nothing like what you're imagining. Think of Hillen Cargill. He's been my servant for quite some time, yet doesn't he act more like a proper hero than anyone?”
“... Ha. Yes, you're right. If I hadn't heard it directly, I could have gone to my grave never knowing.”
“Now it is time to decide. Will you break your oath and lose your dimensional power?”
Or...
“Will you keep that power and have all of this?”
“At the cost of my freedom.”
“I guarantee a certain degree of freedom.”
“What if I refuse?”
“I won't kill you. But...”
“But?”
“You'll have to spend your days in a cold prison, cut off from magic.”
“... I'll become your servant.”
Roselle swallowed the orb.
* * *
Watching Roselle fly up above the water's surface, Kaede murmured,
“You seem to be a very shrewd schemer, my lord.”
“Me?”
“Didn't you deliberately summon new demons and humans one after another to keep Lady Roselle from collecting her thoughts?”
He had. Almost as though brainwashing her into believing there was nothing wrong with becoming his servant, since so many others already had.
And it was true enough.
Other Demon Kings.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Royal princesses.
Imperial princesses.
Even heroes.
All had become a Demon King's servants. Would adding a Star really be such a problem?
“But will he be all right?”
This time, Elena asked.
“Who?”
“Lord Hillen.”
After becoming Berge's servant, Roselle Charnt had told him about the real hero's journey, gathered the materials, and left again. Only she knew whether she was headed for Akan or Hilderan.
“I told her not to touch him until the hero's journey is over, so he'll be fine.”
“I'm worried about afterward.”
“Surely she won't kill him.”
He had told her not to kill him, too.
“If we warn him beforehand, Hillen will make his own preparations.”
“I suppose so.”
Elena nodded.
“... Can you really just accept that and move on?”
Kaede's question went quietly unanswered.
