Toppling the Empire (2)
“Mission accomplished.”
Edward grinned at Sisilia, who had returned after just three hours on her long-term assignment.
“Impressive, Sisilia. The Sword Princess… your moves are utterly unbelievable.”
His words carried the implication: ‘Not even bothering to hide your power anymore, are you?’
Sisilia pointed at her own head with her index finger.
“I’ve got a good memory. If I can recall it, I can send the wind there.”
“Good nose, good eyes, and now a good memory too?”
“Good face. Good figure.”
At that moment, Jerryway—who was scrubbing the captain’s office as punishment for drinking on duty—snickered.
“Boobs are small, though.”
Sisilia quietly stared at him, then swung a cute little fist. Thwack.
Jerryway curled into a ball and tumbled into the trash can.
Beatrice marveled at Sisilia’s flawless use of her Aura.
“Incredible.”
Edward muttered awkwardly.
‘Small?’ He’d always thought they were just right.
“You ended up receiving the demon delegation yourself.”
“I can’t bring demons before Her Majesty twice.”
“It’s strange. Her Majesty skipped me again and handed it to you.”
Sisilia awkwardly ducked behind Beatrice, who broke into a nervous sweat but forced a smile.
“Don’t drag your cute little self into the captain’s family feud, please.”
“……Sorry about that.”
Edward sighed at Sisilia, who didn’t even realize she was caught in a power struggle.
“You’re really going to accept the demons’ proposal?”
“Yes.”
Sisilia’s short reply led her to ask out of curiosity:
“But Captain, why do you want to destroy the Empire?”
“More territory? Why refuse?”
“It’ll be that much harder to defend. You know that too.”
Edward chuckled.
“Nothing comes without sacrifice. And besides…”
Edward merely dreamed.
Of a natural era where the strong were honored.
And the weak were scorned.
To make it real, he had to show it.
“It’s a long-cherished wish.”
The power of the strong.
The frailty of the weak.
“For a wish come true, you don’t seem all that thrilled.”
And he wasn’t, really.
For a simple reason.
“Sisilia, how ruthless can you get?”
“A sweet girl like me……”
Edward’s voice turned chilling.
“I’m serious. And it’s very important.”
Sisilia blinked.
She glanced away and murmured softly.
“As much as needed.”
‘Bringing Sisilia in was a mistake.’
Whether he’d pulled her or she’d stepped in herself, he wasn’t sure.
But Edward wanted this job himself.
Not just for power.
To thoroughly subjugate the Empire’s weak.
Half-hearted defeats only bred rebellion, he thought.
If you were going to crush them, do it completely.
So they’d never lift their heads again.
Sisilia wasn’t enough.
She had a soft side, appearances aside.
……Toward humans.
‘Send her on another mission? Somewhere without a specific location this time.’
But Edward quietly shook his head.
He’d tried one method already, and she’d seen right through it.
Edward was a man who accepted defeat.
“I’ll entrust the kingdom’s future to you.”
But he hadn’t given up on drawing out her potential.
Results mattered to him.
If Sisilia could be as ruthless as him—
‘Nothing better than that.’
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The appointed time arrived.
The prior meeting had tossed around ideas.
From “Her Majesty should handle it personally” to “Assemble the entire Windsor Knights to seize the momentum.”
But Sisilia chose the simplest approach.
“It’s that cute demon from before.”
The demon delegation, stepping through the gate, found a cramped room with a single wooden table.
And there sat Sisilia, smiling faintly, demurely poised.
“Alone?”
“Not married yet.”
Freya sat across from her.
Liliana wasn’t there today.
Instead, other demons had come—upper demons with real power and status.
Twenty of them, capable of shredding hundreds of humans with a gesture.
As Freya sat, the twenty lined up behind Sisilia.
They glared at her tiny head, radiating no small killing intent.
But Sisilia didn’t flinch, staring straight at Freya with her unchanging smile.
Humans call demons liars.
But demons learned to lie from humans.
Demons feel human emotions perfectly.
Humans always lie.
No human’s outer self matches their inner.
Humans can smile through sorrow, cry through joy.
Humans are liars.
But the Sisilia before them was different.
Her emotional aura perfectly matched her appearance.
‘No matter what you do, I’ve got this.’
Arrogant confidence.
But undeniable truth.
In that moment, Freya understood why she was called the “Slaughterer,” a terror to demons.
A human whose outer self and inner match perfectly is more inhuman than any other.
“Your hair suits you.”
Freya flinched, touching her locks—the exact style Sisilia had cut.
As a time demon, she could revert it anytime.
But she hadn’t.
—It suits me.
“……”
Freya blushed at the odd thump in her chest.
But duty called, so she spoke coolly.
“Standing in for the queen means you hold full authority, right?”
“Exactly.”
“What’s the verdict on our proposal?”
“First—I have a question.”
“……Ask away.”
Sisilia pulled paper and pen from her bosom, offering them to Freya.
“Write the Demon King’s army’s detailed forces for the Empire invasion here.”
“……”
Silence hung in the room at Sisilia’s absurd demand.
Freya swallowed, feeling her chest tremble again.
“Can’t do that.”
“Even rough numbers are fine. We need to know the scale passing our territory.”
Freya eyed the paper, then slowly wrote a number and handed it back.
Sweat beaded on her neck.
“About this much.”
—5000.
Freya watched Sisilia’s reaction tensely.
Disappointment.
Clear disappointment.
‘Why?’
Sisilia crossed out the 5000, wrote another number, and passed it back.
—100000.
“!”
“This feels right. 5000’s too few.”
Twenty times more.
Even packing weak demons, that was seventy percent of the Demon King’s forces.
“……5000’s enough to conquer the Empire. Aren’t you overestimating it?”
But the real question: why disappointment at 5000, then demand twenty times that?
Sisilia scratched her cheek.
“I don’t usually use polite speech with demons.”
“……?”
“Me using it means I respect you enough.”
Sisilia had never been polite to any demon but Cain.
The Demon King was worth sharing a table with.
But lesser mutts? No.
She didn’t treat them as persons.
Who speaks politely to cockroaches?
Her politeness now was because—
“But keep asking ‘why,’ and it’s souring my mood.”
Chill.
Freya felt a breeze brush her throat.
Thump, thump— her heart raced wildly.
‘Again, again.’
Freya, one of the primordial demons.
More sensitive to emotions than any demon.
She loved love most.
Her dungeons emphasized love over pain, savoring human emotions.
Because she’d never felt it.
‘This is true love.’
How desperately she’d wished to create it herself.
She’d give eons for one taste.
But she thought it impossible.
She’d lived too long.
No being could make her feel love.
Not even a demon god.
‘I love this human now.’
Yet here she was.
Freya shivered at her heart’s throb.
“Human, you must be out of your mind. Kill a few lowly demons and think you’re above us?”
Then, one demon behind Sisilia sneered, hand on her shoulder.
Sisilia glanced at him coldly.
“What’re you looki—”
The demon glared, then eyes widened.
He yanked his hand back.
But the wind surging inside him didn’t stop.
—Pop!
“Hm.”
Sisilia smiled intriguingly at Freya.
Freya stood, hand extended—a transparent barrier keeping demon ash from Sisilia.
“Still a cute demon.”
“……”
Freya sat quietly.
She folded the paper Sisilia gave her neatly and tucked it away.
“……100,000 it is. You’ll accept the proposal?”
“Of course. We’ll open the way. Just… a month from now would be good.”
“……Got it.”
Freya was clearly minding Sisilia’s mood.
Not from fear.
She just didn’t want to upset someone she liked.
Sisilia, no demon, couldn’t read that deep.
But she noted the friendliness.
“One more condition.”
“……Say it.”
“Naturally, no attacking Liannen Kingdom folk during the Empire invasion.”
“Guaranteed. Contract if you want.”
Having gotten her way, Sisilia beamed innocently.
“Break it, and I’ll kill you.”
Freya lost herself in that beautiful smile.
Her eyes caught the mangled demon corpse, flashing back to ages ago.
—Cupid, you’re the angel of love—why can’t you pierce my heart with your arrow?
—A demon’s heart frozen in time can’t beat again.
‘Wrong, Cupid.’
Freya was certain.
‘A demon’s heart can beat again.’
Not because she was designed that way.
‘If you meet the right person.’
She just hadn’t yet.