Each One's Training to Claim the Man
Meanwhile, at that very same hour in the Silvairia Elf Kingdom.
Elaina, Knight Commander of Silvairia—said to be the second strongest in all of Rahelon, and the one who guarded the forest whenever the queen was absent—was currently dying inside.
"Knight Commander."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"…Excuse me?"
Elaina lifted her head, sweat pouring down her face. Before her sat Arsiena Silvairia, lord of the forest, perched with elegant poise upon a branch of the World Tree and gazing down at her.
Ordinarily the queen would inquire after the forest's well-being or the subjugation of magical beasts. Yet the moment she returned she launched into sudden romance counseling.
Even so, showing panic was out of the question. Elaina answered as calmly as she could manage.
"I-I have, but… why would Your Majesty…?"
"Then you understand perfectly."
Arsiena drew something from her bosom—the cream-colored envelope KJH had sent.
"This man left me a love message saying that even if he is nothing more than dust, he wishes to become a warm speck within my eternity."
"…How romantic."
"Isn't it? Yet the author of this letter whispered love to me and then fled hand-in-hand with another bi— another woman, right before my eyes. How exactly am I supposed to accept that?"
Arsiena's gaze turned glacial. As if answering that chill, the flowers around them trembled violently.
"I believe I carried myself with far too much lofty reserve, making it difficult for him to approach. So this time I am considering taking a more active role myself…"
She fixed Elaina with a piercing stare.
"Is there some sort of ultimate technique that maximizes an elf's natural charm while remaining utterly irresistible to a human man?"
"U-Ultimate technique?!"
"Yes. For example… allowing him to touch my ears."
Arsiena tapped her own pointed elven ears and flushed faintly. At the sight of her queen like that, Elaina recoiled in horror and waved both hands frantically.
"Your Majesty! For an elf, granting permission to touch the ears is tantamount to… becoming one's partner!"
"That is precisely why I am saying I will allow it. W-Well, if we spend time together getting to know each other properly, w-we will end up marrying, will we not? Besides, I must concede at least this much if I am to snatch him away from that thieving cat, don't you agree?"
"B-But to offer Your Majesty's noble ears to a mere human…"
"No. I believe this is correct. I will entertain no further objections. Therefore, Elaina—go to the library at once and bring me every volume related to Romance Studies Between Humans and Elves."
"Your Majesty…!"
"And catalogs of the latest sheer dresses currently fashionable in the human world as well."
"Y-Your Majestyyyy!!"
Elaina screamed and clutched her head. The queen who for thousands of years had been the very embodiment of aloof dignity was thoroughly falling apart—no, changing—because of one human man. At the same time, the Knight Commander's mental fortitude was crumbling into dust.
Meanwhile, deep within the heart of the Demon Realm ruled by the Black Moon.
Seated upon a colossal throne floating above a pool of blood, Nemesia Ragneil's mood had plunged so low it had punched through the crust and reached the planetary core.
"……"
Every time her crimson-black eyes glared into empty air, the atmosphere of the Demon Realm cracked with a sharp, splintering sound. Even the high-ranking—no, the absolute highest-ranking—demons standing nearby, watching her carefully, had no idea what was happening. They could only breathe as shallowly as possible while trembling from head to toe.
The reason they trembled despite understanding nothing was simple: when the Demon King wore that look of profound displeasure, it usually meant someone's head was about to fly or an entire territory was about to be erased from the map.
Yet the words that finally left Nemesia's mouth after a long silence were nothing like what they had expected.
"Lilien."
"Yes, Your Majesty. You called?"
A woman of languid, alluring beauty slid soundlessly out of the shadows. Behind her fluttered bat-like wings and a heart-shaped tail—the legion commander ranked fourth in the Demon Realm, queen of the incubi and succubi: Succubus Queen Lilien.
She prostrated herself flat upon the ground, awaiting her sovereign's command. Nemesia looked down at her for a moment before speaking, chin propped on one hand, voice carefully maintained at its usual arrogant and lofty pitch. Lilien sensed a strange dissonance for an instant, then dismissed it as her own imagination and continued listening.
"I am listening."
"I have heard you are a master of seducing the opposite sex."
"Seduction… is that so? Well, given my species' nature, I am more confident in that regard than anyone."
Lilien lifted her head with a puzzled look. A war maniac like the Demon King suddenly talking about seduction?
"Indeed. Then…"
Nemesia's lips moved. Her fingers tapped the armrest of the throne.
"Suppose… there is an extremely insolent yet irresistible piece of prey, and that prey has been charmed by some thieving cat of a woman and run off. How does one make it crawl back to one's feet?"
"A piece of prey that fled, Your Majesty?"
"Yes! No—just thinking about it pisses me off all over again."
In the end Nemesia could no longer hold back and slammed her fist down upon the throne.
CRACK!
One corner of the throne turned to powder and vanished.
"Eeeeek!!"
"P-Please restrain yourself, O Black Moon Demon King!"
Every demon in the vicinity dropped to their knees at once and slammed their foreheads against the floor. Nemesia ignored their reaction—so familiar it had long since grown tiresome—and continued.
"If only I'd been given a little more time, I could have wiped out every last one of those damned fox bitches and found that man."
She shot to her feet, fuming, and began pacing across the surface of the blood pool like someone deeply unsettled.
"If that damn multiple-personality lunatic hadn't jumped the gun and snatched him right in front of me while screaming 'KJH is mine!'… By now I would have had him tied up in the underground dungeon of my castle—no, in my bedroom—and been spoiling him rotten!"
"…Y-Your Majesty?"
Lilien doubted her own eyes. Was this grumbling woman really their Demon King? The cold-blooded Nemesia who for thousands of years had known nothing but blood and slaughter?
"And… it's strange."
Nemesia suddenly stopped and clutched the area over her heart. A faint flush colored her cheeks.
"He was clearly nothing more than a human. A creature worth less than an ant… yet the moment I laid eyes on him—even with recognition interference active—my heart started pounding like mad. My mana circuits weren't tangled, but my mind went blank and I couldn't see anyone but him."
She pouted and kicked at the blood pool with the tip of her foot, splash after splash, exactly like a child sulking after having a favorite toy stolen.
"This weird feeling… what is it? Why does just thinking about him make me furious and yet so desperate to see him that I could go insane? Am I broken somewhere?"
"……"
Lilien stared blankly for a moment, then a deep smile curved her lips. This was a historic occasion. That blunt, cruel Demon King had begun her first-ever bout of lovesickness.
"Your Majesty."
Lilien rose and smoothed her attire. At the same time her eyes sparkled with excessive brightness as she declared,
"You are not broken! That is simply a perfectly normal emotion known as love."
"L-Love? Me?"
"Yes. And at present Your Majesty merely lacks the techniques required to claim that love."
Lilien snapped her fingers lightly. Instantly a blackboard and a pointer materialized out of thin air.
"Just as war requires strategy, romance requires strategy as well. Especially when reclaiming a man stolen by a thieving cat—simple brute force will not suffice."
She struck the blackboard with a sharp tap of the pointer.
"From this moment I shall begin a special lecture on the Succubus Queen's secret arts: one hundred and eight techniques of temptation guaranteed to steal a man's soul."
"Ooooh…"
Nemesia swallowed hard, approached the blackboard, and squatted down in front of it—the very picture of a model student attending class.
"First: aim for gap moe. When someone as intimidating as Your Majesty occasionally reveals a moment of vulnerability, the effect is meteor-class."
"Vulnerability? You want me to deliberately take hits?"
"No! Not that kind of physical gap! For example…"
Lilien struck a sultry pose and smiled with her eyes.
"When your gazes meet, you blush ever so slightly and look away… or you lightly grasp his sleeve and whisper, 'Don't go.'"
"Ugh… goosebumps."
"You must endure it! Only by mastering this will you be able to bring the man called KJH into your bedroom!"
"Ahem… Fine. Continue."
"Second: attire. Your Majesty's leather outfit is already sufficiently shameless—excellent, rather—but to truly stimulate a man's fantasies we need something a bit more… pure yet lewd in concept."
"Pure? For a Demon King?"
"It is possible! I shall assist you!"
That night, instead of any order to unleash the beasts of the Demon Realm, the heart of the Demon Realm was filled until dawn with the sounds of fabric tearing and cries of "Cross your legs a little more seductively!" and "L-Like this? Augh, this is so embarrassing!"
Thus from the north, south, and east of the continent, and even the Demon Realm itself, every transcendent began sharpening her blade in her own way—the blade of courtship meant to monopolize the unidentified man who had sent them love letters.
Yet one still remained.
White Dragon Emperor Serapagnia, who had been heading toward the Forgotten Snowfield at the extreme northern tip of the continent. Rather than pursue Kyra and KJH straight into the snowfields, she abruptly changed course and made for Heidelas, the paradise of dragons.
The reason was simple. The reactions those three insolent women had shown upon seeing her human form earlier still grated on her nerves.
"How dare they look at this lady with such dismissive eyes?"
Arriving at the highest peak of Heidelas—the Dragon Lord's lair—she cast polymorph with practiced ease.
Shwoooom.
The massive form of the white dragon was enveloped in light, and a moment later a petite human girl stood in its place. Fair skin, platinum hair, and a youthful face that anyone would place in the mid-teens at most.
She planted her hands on her hips and summoned her closest friend, the chieftain of the red dragons, Caldrania.
"Caldrania!"
"You called, my Lord."
At her summons a vast dragon of crimson scales descended before her, then transformed into a mature woman with red hair and bowed her head. Caldrania's human form was utterly different from Serapagnia's—voluptuous curves, tall stature, an aura overflowing with mature allure. Anyone could see she possessed the full charm of an adult woman.
Serapagnia was perfectly capable of assuming an adult woman's appearance as well, yet her true form had been this very state ever since she first hatched long ages ago. If at all possible, she wished to make that man hers while remaining in her original form.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Serapagnia fixed a sharp glare upon Caldrania's generous curves and spoke.
"I called you because I have a question."
"Ask whatever you will."
"Answer honestly. If you lie, I shall bind your tongue with dragon-speech."
"…Understood."
Serapagnia spun once in place, proudly displaying herself. Then—
"Well?"
"…Pardon?"
"Is this not more than sufficient for this lady to be embraced by a man as a woman?"
"……"
For the first time in thousands of years, Caldrania experienced an emotion she had never once felt before: pure, absolute bewilderment.