He Wasn't There
When Michaela first encountered the Demon Kings, what she carried was, as expected, hostility. And wariness.
No matter that they had slaughtered the hardline demons, no matter that they now preached peace—they were still demons in the end.
A violent race that tried to solve everything through fighting alone, starved for blood and battle.
Just look at how they had won their peace. A great purge of everyone who opposed them!
Even if the rest of the world accepted the Demon Kings, she believed that she, as a Hero, had to remain suspicious of them.
She knew that showing unconditional enmity was wrong. But she had no choice.
If relations ever soured again, she would have to stake her life on eliminating the Demon Kings at once.
And yet…
What the hell—what the hell are these demons even doing?! What are they up to?
They said “hunting.” That hunting wasn’t supposed to be hunting people, was it?
Pounce on him? Don’t tell me—don’t tell me that “pounce” meant… that! That thing!
“Y-You! You shameless creatures!”
“Huh?”
“Mm?”
How could they be so vulgar! This was the Academy! A place of learning filled with countless students!
And they intended to do “that sort of thing” here? Without even trying to hide it, so brazenly!
See? This was why demons were impossible. This was why she could never get close to them!
“What’s she on about?”
“I don’t know. Why’s she suddenly like this?”
“Are you seriously asking because you don’t know? This is the Imperial Academy! A sacred place of learning! A noble ivory tower! In a place where everyone is trying hard to learn and grow and gain something—what exactly are you planning to do!”
“Didn’t you hear? We’re gonna pounce on Ahjussi.”
See? See? They were completely out of their minds! How could they say something like that so openly!
Relations between men and women were supposed to take place in quiet, secret places, without anyone knowing!
The way they were chattering about it so casually was something Michaela simply could not accept.
“Stop saying such foolish things, Hero.”
But the Demon Kings only grew calmer in the face of the Hero’s reaction.
“Be honest. You’re interested in Big Brother too, aren’t you?”
“I admire Sir Lethe! Don’t compare that to your filthy intentions!”
“We admire Ahjussi too, y’know? Sitri?”
“We do.”
“El?”
“Yes.”
“See? You think we don’t admire Ahjussi?”
That wasn’t the point at all, Michaela was about to shout—when Astaroth simply declared she didn’t care and charged straight for Lethe’s room.
The other three Demon Kings swarmed after her, and Michaela, going “Wait—?”, hurriedly caught up as well.
She didn’t know exactly what these Demon Kings were planning. So even if she was still a rather lacking Hero, as a fellow Imperial swordswoman she ought to help, right? she muttered to herself.
Absolutely, absolutely not because she was curious. She was only worried about Lethe!
She believed she was different from those Demon Kings, yet there was one fact she had not yet realized.
If she had truly meant to warn Lethe, she could have shouted or given some other signal.
But she had gone quiet when the Demon Kings told her to be quiet, erased her presence, and was following them perfectly well like this.
B-But if they really pounce… all four of them at once… Aaaah! W-What am I thinking?!
She shook her head hard—flap flap!—and continued after the Demon Kings.
It seemed the “pouncing” had been real. The door to what looked like a faculty room stood open.
Which meant she was about to witness the spectacle of four Demon Kings and one war hero tumbling all over each other…
“What the—! Where’s Ahjussi?!”
“It seems he isn’t here.”
“Where has Master gone?!”
“…Bust.”
Lethe was not in the room. The moment she heard that, Michaela let out a sigh of relief.
While carefully ignoring the tiny emotion tucked in one corner of her heart—the one called “disappointment.”
Those brats finally snuck into the room after all.
The intruder-detection magic was blaring noisily. It was obvious who would have broken in at this timing.
He’d actually been wondering when they would come. He’d expected them to barge in on the very first night after entering the Academy.
“Haa.”
“Is something the matter?”
Marquis Anes, seated beside him waiting for someone, asked in a concerned tone.
Lethe laughed it off as nothing important—then suddenly found himself thinking something odd.
Whenever he sighed, this man always used to say, “Why does a young man sigh like that?”
“Marquis. Is something the matter with you, by any chance?”
“Plenty of things. Do I look like a man with free time?”
“True enough. But it seems there’s ‘something else’ as well.”
At Lethe’s words the Marquis let out a low “Mm.” As expected—there was something.
“What is it? Are those lunatic nobles giving you grief again?”
“Can you not do something about that way of speaking of yours?”
After lightly scolding Lethe, Marquis Anes soon let out a long sigh of his own.
“The hardliners don’t seem willing to hand over the initiative.”
“That much was expected, wasn’t it?”
“What we expected was not for the war to end this quickly, this absurdly.”
Exactly as he said—neither Marquis Anes nor Lethe had ever imagined the war would end like this.
They had believed it would only end after far more fighting, far more deaths, and far more tears shed.
With that assumption they had been slowly draining the power of the hardliners who had held sway until now, while offering just enough carrots so that the hardliners would publicly resist yet privately fall in line.
Then the world had flipped overnight. Like turning over a hand—heaven and earth reversed.
Faced with this upheaval, the hardliners were left gaping, growling and scrambling to cling to their power.
Political deals were supposed to leave them with something as well, yet the entire order of things had collapsed.
“…You could have at least said something, Sir Lethe.”
“About the Demon Kings? I had no idea it would turn out like this either. Am I some kind of prophet? You think I raised them knowing they would become Demon Kings later?”
That was a lie. He had raised them knowing they would become Demon Kings. More precisely—he had raised them believing they would not become Demon Kings.
If he planted good hearts in them, if he gave them someone to rely on, he had thought they would surrender and fight on the Empire’s side instead of becoming Demon Kings.
The result was, well, as anyone could see.
Thud—
“It seems she has arrived.”
“Indeed. Her Highness appears to have come.”
Lethe and Marquis Anes rose from their seats at the same time and looked ahead.
A moment later, a figure quietly revealed herself beyond a small side door.
Click—
The two men facing that figure immediately dropped to one knee and offered their respects.
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor. Your subject Edgar Jackrat, Marquis of Anes, greets Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor. Your subject Lethe greets Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
From beyond the darkness a single pale hand slowly rose. At that gesture Lethe and Marquis Anes stood and took the seats prepared for them.
“…It has been a while, Sir Lethe.”
“Have you been well in the meantime?”
“Well, you say. Regrettably, I have not. Thanks to those wretched younger siblings who keep eyeing this seat.”
A voice steeped in fatigue, languid—yet still carrying dignity and beauty within it.
A woman with hair like glittering sunlight, chin lightly propped on one hand, quietly regarded Lethe.
“Given the circumstances, I will ask at least once. Sir Lethe.”
“Please ask.”
“Why did you spare the Demon Kings? Why did you care for them?”
It was a completely useless question. One that should never have been asked in the first place.
Yet they kept making a fuss, so what choice was there? She had to ask. Yes—ask at least.
“At the time they were not the sort who seemed likely to become Demon Kings. On the contrary, they were being dragged off as slaves by their fellow demons. I rescued those children intending to raise them into people who would help the Empire rather than the demons.”
“The result is a little strange, but the intention was not impure. I understand.”
She had never intended to reprimand the man to begin with. Why would she? He was the Empire’s war hero.
If anything, the war had ended faster thanks to him. She ought to reward him, ought to bow her head in gratitude—yet people were suspicious that he might have some connection to the Demon Kings.
Haa—
A sigh escaped on its own. Those detestable creatures. Both the younger siblings and those hardliner bastards.
They had sucked every drop of honey from the war until now; of course their guts twisted at the thought of suddenly having to spit it all back out. Yes, she understood that much. But to chase private gain at a time when the greater good of the nation was at stake…
“You are well aware of the current political situation, Sir Lethe.”
“The war ended abruptly, and because of that not a single political deal was struck between the hardliners and the moderates—so the hardliners are now rebelling at having to surrender every privilege. Is that correct?”
Exactly right. Some people claimed that anyone who lived by the sword should stay far from politics and simply ignore it, but Sir Lethe was not one of them. If anything, he grasped the situation more precisely than anyone.
“That a war lasting years has ended is a good thing. But because of that war, all the special authorities the hardliners held, the countless interests, and even the fear and dread of war they used to exert their influence—everything is about to vanish. Those people simply hate that.”
“They are fools of the highest order.”
“Fools, yes. But humans are creatures that chase the profit right in front of their eyes. The moderates are few, the hardliners many, and those who have taken money from the hardliners even more numerous—so what is one to do?”
As if frustrated, the Crown Princess tapped her own chest a few times. Marquis Anes, declaring himself overwhelmed with awe, hastily dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness.
“Of course it will not be easy, Your Highness.”
But instead of following the Marquis’s example, Lethe faced the Crown Princess in his own way.
“Even so, everything must return to the way it was before the war. Only then will you become Emperor. Only then will the broken order be restored. Only then can we strike down those who dare use the war as an excuse to defy the august commands of the supreme Imperial House.”
“….”
She gazed at the man who kept his head deeply bowed yet did not spare his loyal counsel.
Neither a noble nor a native of the Empire, yet more trustworthy than anyone.
The guardian who had saved the Empire every time it faced a moment of crisis.
She felt gratitude, apology, and sometimes even the wish that he would simply stay by her side forever.
“Some among them will try to provoke those who extended a hand to the Empire—those demons called the Four Heavenly Kings—and once again light the spark of discord. Can you stop them, Sir Lethe?”
“Without question, Your Highness. Give the order. I shall carry it out without fail.”
Of course he would. Demon King or Hero, he just wanted the war over so he could live quietly for a while.
I want to suck on that sweet academy-life honey too. Just how good is it that everyone keeps going on about academy this, academy that? A transmigrator should at least get to do that much, right? Right?!
Whether she knew of Lethe’s inner thoughts or not, the Crown Princess wore a faint smile no one else would notice.
As expected—he was a man the Empire absolutely needed. And… a man who suited the place at her side as well.