Toppling the Sandcastle - 2
Bang!!
Dantalion slammed his fist on the table without realizing it. His ministers flinched, shoulders trembling in fear. No matter how far he was from being a combat-oriented Demon King, a Demon King was still a Demon King. Taking the heads of everyone present would have been trivial for him.
“This… just what the hell is this? How did a rumor like this start spreading among the merchants?!”
The Demon Realm newspaper Dantalion had pounded with his hand read as follows.
Had it been mere nonsense, Dantalion would not have flown into such a rage. He could have simply opened the warehouse to the merchants for full inspection.
“Why… why did a rumor like this have to leak…!”
The real problem was that it was true. Recently the 70th floor had begun distributing weapons of inexplicably high quality, dealing Dantalion a heavy blow. One of his core businesses was weapon distribution.
He had operated a kind of weapons wholesale enterprise—receiving arms from blacksmiths on other floors and supplying them to the merchant caravans gathered on the 69th floor. Yet once the 70th floor started producing and circulating weapons vastly superior to anything previously made in the Demon Realm, the merchants naturally turned their eyes away from Dantalion’s stock.
Five years of this had left his warehouses buried under mountains of unsold inventory. The true issue was that Dantalion had never reduced the volume of supplies sent to the forges he traded with. Two years earlier, one of his ministers had urged him to contact the forges and cut orders, but Dantalion had answered:
Because of those words they had kept the supply steady and falsified their books to make it appear as though every shipment was sold out and new orders were being placed. All so the merchants would not sense the shift and sever ties.
As a result Dantalion continued to bleed money, yet he had judged that preserving trust was more important and simply waited for the right moment.
“But if an article like this breaks…!!”
Regardless of his true intentions, the situation looked undeniably suspicious. To outsiders it was textbook creative accounting—manipulating ledgers to generate phantom sales. Those unaware of the facts could only see a man inflating revenue, quietly liquidating stock for cash, and preparing to abandon the business entirely.
Even if he did walk away, the forges could do no more than protest to the Demon King; they had no power to retaliate. In reality Dantalion had never planned to dispose of the goods, nor had he created fake sales to dodge payment….
“Who leaked this?! Which loose-tongued bastard was it?!”
If he had truly been stockpiling inventory with this scheme in mind, he would not feel so wronged. He would have chosen from the start to sacrifice credibility for cash. Yet he had made no such decision, and still the situation had spiraled into exactly that appearance.
His attempt to protect trade relations by falsifying sales had become the fatal self-inflicted wound.
“W-we do not know, Your Majesty.”
“No evidence of an internal leak has been found.”
Dantalion roared in fury. “Then who in the world uncovered this information?! It is something only insiders could possibly know….”
Just then the conference room door was knocked on cautiously. Dantalion’s secretary entered.
“Your Majesty!”
“What is it?”
“The merchants we trade with are demanding contract termination. The forges are pressing us for immediate payment!”
“Where am I supposed to find the money…!”
Dantalion frowned deeply and looked at his ministers. “Is there no way to overcome this situation?!”
“…Your Majesty, you must first calm the merchants and pay the forges. Surely there is some way to raise the funds.”
“By selling off the inventory?”
“Yes.”
“Do you not understand how catastrophic our losses would be?!”
“Yet if we delay any longer it will be too late. Without swift action, every trade relationship will be severed.”
Dantalion’s faction maintained itself through vast funds used to hire private armies. Should trade be completely cut off, sustaining those soldiers would become impossible. He would lose his support base, and Sitri—who was quiet for now but could strike at any moment—would open her jaws wide.
“…Contact Decarabia.”
“What?!”
“You intend to borrow money from Decarabia?”
“Yes.”
“Y-you mustn’t. Who knows what that vicious creature will demand in return…”
The ministers’ opposition was fierce. Dantalion understood their reaction completely, yet the situation left him no choice.
“Contact him. That is an order.”
“…Understood.”
Even if it meant borrowing Decarabia’s hand, Dantalion had to resolve this crisis.
“As expected, he reached out to Decarabia.”
Nahen smiled as he read the report. It contained the latest intelligence sent by Bennett, the one who had spread the rumor.
Seere, who had been listening, spoke concisely.
“A self-inflicted wound.”
“Indeed.”
Though Decarabia and Dantalion were allies, Decarabia’s personality made it highly likely he would wring every possible advantage from his partner. It was no different from poking a new hole in the bucket while trying to plug the old one.
“But Teacher, how did you know Dantalion was stockpiling inventory in his warehouse?”
“I sent a spy to confirm it. You know I have a rather useful child among those I’ve raised, yes?”
“Ah… you mean that human?”
The two humans Nahen had singled out five years ago from the captives, declaring he would raise them as his own limbs—Dane and Eri. Dane had been a thief-class adventurer from the start. Over the past five years he had trained with desperate intensity until Nahen acknowledged his worth.
Of course, Dane had not been the source of this particular information. It was simply knowledge Nahen already possessed from his days as a veteran gamer. He had offered the excuse only to avoid seeming suspicious.
“He seems more useful than expected?”
“They are the ones I chose. Do you doubt your teacher’s eye?”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
Seere pouted her lips slightly.
“It’s just that they keep stealing your attention….”
“…Haha.”
Nahen gave a small laugh. He was not so petty that he could not indulge a child’s adorable jealousy. He gently stroked Seere’s head.
“No matter what anyone says, I am your teacher. There is no one who pays you more attention than I do.”
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
Seere broke into a bright smile.
Like humans, demonkind tended to reach secondary sexual characteristics earlier in females than males. Their growth was also faster. Perhaps for that reason, the twelve-year-old Seere was steadily shedding the last traces of childhood. Though hints of the little girl remained, she was blossoming into a young woman.
Her smile had grown so lovely it was difficult to view it as merely a child’s anymore, yet in Nahen’s eyes she remained his adorable disciple.
“You still smile so beautifully. It does my heart good to see it.”
With those words Nahen withdrew his hand. Unaware of the faint disappointment in Seere’s gaze, he looked back down at the documents.
“Seere, deliver an order to Commander Rin.”
“Yes? What should I tell her?”
“Eliminate the envoy Decarabia is sending to the 69th floor.”
“……Understood.”
Having grasped Nahen’s intent, Seere nodded.
“I’ll summon Rin to the audience chamber.”
“Please do.”
Please do. Lately those words were Seere’s favorite. Nothing pleased her more than Nahen’s trust and willingness to entrust her with important tasks. Her mood lifted instantly and she beamed.
“Yes, Teacher.”
Rin El Laza, commander of the 4th Legion—the strongest military force on the 72nd floor—walked toward the audience chamber in a perfectly pressed uniform.
As she approached, Chief Butler Kain stood waiting. He bowed respectfully; she returned the greeting.
“You may enter at once, Commander.”
“Thank you.”
The moment Rin stepped inside she saw a girl seated upon the throne. By appearance alone she could no longer be called a mere child, though a faint youthful softness still lingered on her face. Wearing a grand crown, she regarded Rin with eyes that now unmistakably belonged to a monarch.
The sight stirred a pleasant sense of déjà vu. Rin allowed herself a small smile, then knelt.
“You summoned me, Your Majesty.”
“Welcome, Commander El Laza.”
It no longer felt awkward for her to speak down to her subordinates. Aside from her somewhat young-looking features, Seere now displayed the full dignity of a Demon King.
“I have an order for you, Commander.”
“Speak, and it shall be done.”
“Soon an envoy will travel from the 68th floor to the 69th. Dantalion has asked Decarabia for aid.”
“…Am I to ensure the envoy never meets Dantalion?”
“Correct. Handle it quietly. And….”
Seere accepted a sword from Secily, who had been waiting at her side.
“You must use this blade without fail.”
“This is…”
“You understand, yes?”
It was a sword forged on the 69th floor. As Rin gazed at the weapon, she thought of the one person absent from the chamber. This was undoubtedly Nahen’s scheme.
Rin nodded, rose, and accepted the sword.
“I will carry out Your Majesty’s command without fail.”
“I trust you, Commander.”
After Rin left the audience chamber, Seere rose from the throne and glanced behind her.
“Teacher, did I do well?”
Nahen stepped out from behind the throne, smiling with satisfaction.
“Yes, very well. Continue giving orders in that manner from now on.”
“Then please give me a reward!”
“A reward?”
Nahen paused. Did she want another doll? Seere still loved them. She no longer carried a teddy bear everywhere as she once had, but her room was filled with dolls that he and White Gomi occasionally bought for her.
“All right. What kind of doll would you like this time?”
“…Not a doll.”
“Hm?”
Nahen tilted his head, puzzled. Seere’s eyes—blue as the Demon Realm’s moon—narrowed. She thrust out her lower lip, spun on her heel, and marched wordlessly down from the dais.
“S-Seere?”
Nahen called after her in confusion, but she left the audience chamber without looking back. Secily bowed to him before hurrying after her mistress.
Left alone, Nahen muttered in bewilderment.
“…Is it puberty?”