The Demon King Crosses the Border
"Satin… what's happened to your body?"
The Demon King sighed and sank down against a rock — a rock that sat precisely on the border of the Demon Continent.
"I'm shaking."
He cautiously stretched out a foot. His toes crossed the line.
"So this is what it feels like."
For the first time in his life, he was stepping onto human soil.
"In place of Magi, it'll be Mana, I suppose. I won't be able to use my power properly. To shove my subordinates onto a land like this… even I have to admit I was a tyrant."
There was a reason the demon world and the human world had long held back from open war. Neither side found the other's land particularly appealing. Conquer it — and then what? You couldn't even live there properly. Still, battles had broken out, and every few decades the slaughter resumed. Always it was the demon side that struck first. So of course the humans would send a Hero party. Looked at that way, it wasn't hard to understand.
Why, then, was the Queen so greedy for human territory? They could be perfectly happy living only in the demon world.
The Demon King lifted his head and gazed beyond the forest. Somewhere out there, Satin would be waiting. She looked exactly like her mother, and her personality was the spitting image of his own. His utterly precious daughter. Satin, a treasure more dear than his own life. What devil of a man had dared to abduct her? Just wait until I catch you. I'll cast you into a pit of terror worse than death itself.
The Queen's voice still clung to his ear.
As long as our daughter is held captive, conquering the human realm and making them slaves is a dream we cannot even entertain. You must find her. Do not even think of returning until you do.
If they had never attacked the humans in the first place, none of this would have happened. The Demon King shook his head. No. He must not resent the Queen. She was the one who had made the demon world strong, elevated the dignity of their people, and — above all — seated him upon the throne of the Demon King.
Still… this was a little frightening.
He glanced down at his own attire. The appearance of a human, more or less. The clothes of a merchant who traded along the frontiers, or so he'd been told. He ran a hand over his mouth. Having every last whisker shaved off left him feeling strangely empty.
Do we really need to go this far?
We do.
Not every man with a beard is the Demon King, you know.
Without one, you'll be a little safer. If you want to hide your identity, you start by shaving the hair.
In the entire history of Demon Kings, not one had ever been shaved clean. Naturally, even the demons he had met while crossing the Demon Continent had failed to recognize him.
Wait — is that the Demon King?
No way. He doesn't have a beard. How can a Demon King without a beard be a Demon King?
But the face looks similar…
Have you ever seen His Majesty without hair on his face? No? Then shut your snout.
He had barely managed to restrain the urge to shout that the Demon King was standing right there. Even with his Magi concealed, the sheer audacity of failing to recognize him…
Well then. What now?
He already knew more than enough about the human world. Becoming Demon King required that much schooling as a matter of course. Humans were, first and foremost, mad for money. Demons were the same. Human men were all ready to die for women. Demons were the same.
"…"
There was, uncomfortably, a great deal of common ground.
The Demon King rose to his feet. Where to go? The first lead was obvious: the alchemist. He had vanished before the party ever reached the Demon King's Castle, and there had to be a reason. If that reason was Satin's abduction, everything fit.
Damn humans. Stealing my precious daughter and holding her hostage. Humiliating me before the Queen. Shaving off my beard. And now forcing me, for the first time in my life, to set foot alone on this filthy human soil. I will never forgive this.
The Demon King clenched his jaw and stepped fully onto the land of men.
No matter how I turned it over, the numbers refused to add up.
The Demon King was dead?
I stared out the office window, past the sky that lay in the direction of the demon world. I could not for a moment believe William had accomplished such a thing alone. Had Helena, Liris, and Bella somehow preserved their virginity after all? Had that been what allowed them to help William cut off the Demon King's head? Which would mean that nothing had happened inside that tent that night.
Impossible.
Hero William had already been broken long before they ever crossed into the Demon Continent. At every village they passed, he had picked out the virgins and summoned them to his rooms. I should have stopped him. I hadn't. I had hoped that venting his lust on them might at least spare his companions. I'm sorry. I regret it still. If the sacrifice of a few dozen is what it takes to save ten million lives — if you must close your eyes to their misfortune — can you bear it? The weight of that vicious self-reproach?
I shook my head and read the documents Chief Butler Percival had brought me.
Let all subjects rejoice. Hero William has successfully subdued the Demon King's Castle and returned unharmed, together with Saintess Helena, Mage Liris, and Princess Bella of the Tasar Kingdom.
And another sheet.
Count Juin Marcus is hereby summoned. Lord Marcus shall present himself at the Imperial Palace at once and prove his innocence. Should his explanation prove insufficient, he must acknowledge the crime of treason and take his own life.
So William's return, at least, appeared certain. The problem was the Demon King's head he had brought as proof. There would be no bracelet on it, that much was sure. The world still did not know. The Demon King had melted his bracelet down and forged it into the Queen's crown — and with that, melted her heart. Quite the proposal. Of course, it was a fake. The real one I had smuggled out and hung around Satin's neck.
The presence or absence of the bracelet was the first thing to press. Every ancient text in the Imperial archives attested that the Demon King always wore his bracelet. To go to all the trouble of capturing the Demon King and then leave that behind — was that a story that made any sense?
I would corner them with that, then expose what they truly were. Call in the Inquisitors, reveal the loss of their virginity, denounce the Hero's corruption, and charge them with fabricating evidence to conceal their failure. That would settle the matter. Claiming they had only acted after the subjugation would be useless. My amulet would prove otherwise.
I drew the amulet from my pocket. Turning the winding key set the sound playing.
"Anyone who's leaving, leave! We don't have time, so the four of us will do it together. Fuck it — let's play. Virgin party starts now!"
Unmistakably William's voice.
I would have to enter the Imperial Palace eventually regardless. Transferring ownership of the Magic Tower required the proper groundwork. I simply hadn't expected to see William's face in the process. A spectacular show was about to unfold. I was almost looking forward to it.
"Um…"
Satin stood in front of the bathroom, watching me. That hesitant posture of hers looked freshly endearing.
"The bathwater will get cold. Please come in soon."
"You go ahead. I'll bathe tomorrow."
"You're telling me to use Master's tub?"
"Just think of it as cleaning and hop in."
"Oh? All right, then."
"Bathe every morning. Even without me telling you to."
Satin's head tilted slightly.
"Why?"
I stepped closer and bent at the waist.
"Because we need to settle the princess's Magi. It's on an entirely different level from an ordinary demon's. Inquisitors are moving through the territory. Magi like yours might be readable even from beyond the walls."
"Really? Oh no, that's so scary."
"Which is why calming it every day with hot water and soap is best."
"Okay. I'll do it every day."
"I'm relieved to see you managing so well. You're lovely."
"Thank you. Chief Butler Percival and Head Maid Marcelle are both so kind to me. So it isn't hard at all."
"I'm glad."
I straightened again.
"If you understand, go in and wash thoroughly. Use the soap with the strongest fragrance."
"Yes! Master."
Satin disappeared into the bathroom.
As long as that child remained with me, the peace would hold. The Demon King would search for a way, of course, but for a while I could rest easy. Controlling the Imperial Palace came first.
What still bothered me was the Hero party. Killing the Demon King? Had that idiot William really thought up such a deception? The one with a mind for schemes was Mage Liris. For Barbarian Princess Bella, the scale was far too large. Could it possibly have been Saintess Helena? No. Something else was at work here.
I drummed my fingers on the desk.
Tap. Tap.
Tap-tap-tap.
Fine. I'd know when I saw them. Meeting them would give me the answer — who had done this, and for what. And if nothing else worked, I could always activate the amulet's other function: the one that forced a person to speak only the truth.
I summoned Chief Butler Percival and had him prepare for a journey. I had no intention of using a portal. I would tour the Magic Towers along the way and enter the Imperial Capital from there.
Twelve Magic Towers stood scattered across the continent. The Empire had raised walls around each of them and built academies inside: the Magic Academies run by the mages, and the Holy Academies of the saintesses. The stated purpose was to protect the citizenry from the towers. A pretext. What truly interested the Imperial family was the Magi that flowed from them. Extremes meet, as they say. Just as poison can sometimes become medicine, so it was with Magi. Mages and saintesses had each discovered their own methods of putting it to use. Employing Magi in a world of Mana was, of course, taboo. There was a price. And yet they still greedily pursued it — every last one of them was out of their minds.
Once I entered the Imperial Palace, that would be the first thing I dealt with. The authority to control the Magic Towers. I would strip the mages and the saintesses of their rights to operate the academies.
"Ow!"
A scream came from the bathroom.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"…I fell. I'm bleeding."
Tsk. For how pretty she looked, she was awfully clumsy.
I took out medicine and bandages and opened the bathroom door.