Completing the Transaction with the Demonic Sword Princess
After concluding his deal with the Demonic Sword Princess, Kyle returned to the guest room with a big grin plastered across his face. He was passing the time there when Bellion suddenly threw the door open and barged in.
“Kyle!”
“Rion? You were here?”
“I was waiting so we could head back together.”
“What about the academy?”
“Who’s going to bother taking attendance for a prince?”
Bellion flashed him a sly smile, then snapped his fingers with a crisp click. The maid standing behind him wheeled a cart into the room, a large wax-sealed box resting on top.
Kyle glanced at the container the servant had brought and quietly released a thread of his aura. The box, covered in intricate magic circles, oozed a menacing demonic energy that made it perfectly clear something dangerous was sealed inside.
“What’s this?”
“The item we promised.”
“Ah, the magic sword…”
Even as he guessed at the object inside the sealed box, Kyle tilted his head in confusion at his own words. The magic sword Myungwol possessed was simply a normal blade enchanted with spells. It naturally wouldn’t emit this kind of ominous demonic energy, nor would it need to be carried around inside a sealed container. Yet the thing before him was radiating an aura that couldn’t possibly belong to the same category.
“—Doesn’t seem like it, though.”
“Correct. It is a magic sword, but… to be precise, it’s a demonic sword.”
“A demonic sword, huh.”
Kyle grinned and stepped closer to the sealed box. Worried he might get swept up in the energy leaking from the sealed blade, Bellion discreetly retreated a few steps. Once he confirmed both Bellion and the maid had backed away, Kyle grabbed the lid and ripped it open as if tearing apart a stubborn wrapper.
The instant the seal broke, the energy that had been slowly seeping out exploded forth like a dam bursting.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Kyle snatched the sharply projected demonic energy—keen as materialized killing intent—with his aura and immediately began forcing it back into the blade. As the energy it had been emitting flowed straight back into the sword itself, the demonic blade reacted as if panicked and spewed out an even fiercer wave of power. But an ownerless, previously sealed weapon had no hope of piercing an Aura Master’s aura to escape.
Kyle carefully picked up the now-subdued demonic sword, stroking it gently as if calming a wild animal.
“Oh… ooh—”
The moment his hand closed around it, the demonic energy that had been radiating outward converged at once, aiming straight for Kyle’s mind and burrowing into his body. Had he been a mere Expert with clumsy aura control, his brain and spirit would have been dominated instantly, and he would already be swinging the blade wildly on the spot.
Impressed by the demonic sword’s unyielding spirit, Kyle smiled and looked at Bellion.
“What’s its name?”
“Apophis.”
“Nice name… What are its effects?”
“I only know that a demon dwells within it.”
At Bellion’s answer, Kyle grinned with clear satisfaction. Even a regular magic sword would have been enough, but a demonic sword housing an actual demon? Such a thing wasn’t easy to come by. The fact that they had given him this instead of a simple enchanted blade was probably thanks in no small part to his deal with the princess.
“Oh, right. Rion, I struck a deal with the princess.”
“I heard from my sister. Where on earth did you get something like that?”
“During the break?”
“That’s not the kind of thing you can just pick up during vacation…”
“I got lucky.”
Kyle hadn’t given Ludmilla the full story, but he saw no reason to hide it from Bellion. He explained how he had obtained the talisman for tracking the Evil God Cult—how he had visited the Great Witch’s Forest during break, exterminated the millions of evil spirits sealed there, freed the Great Witch, earned her gratitude, and received a one-time wish ticket in return.
After hearing the whole tale, Bellion stared at him with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Kyle…”
“What? Are you so impressed you can’t close your mouth?”
“Are you an idiot? Why would you use it on that?!”
The reaction that came back was completely different from what Kyle had expected. He scratched his cheek and asked why Bellion was responding that way. Bellion exploded as if he were the one who had suffered a loss.
“Obviously! You wasted a one-of-a-kind item on my sister’s mission! You should have at least gotten it reimbursed as an expense!”
“Uh… was that necessary? I just used it because I wanted to…”
“No! I’m going right now to tell her and get you more. I can’t stand watching you get taken for a ride!”
Shouting those words, Bellion darted out of the room. The maid, who had been standing there in a daze, eventually picked up the cart and the empty box and followed him out.
Silence settled over the room once the two had left. Kyle stood there absentmindedly for a moment, then felt the demonic energy wriggling in his grip and broke into a grin.
What am I doing just standing around?
Time to train.
With that thought, Kyle headed toward the imperial training grounds.
In the emperor’s audience chamber—a sacred space where the emperor normally resided, so exalted that ordinary people could not even know its appearance—two members of the imperial family sat facing each other.
Emperor Langrey Dairos looked down at his daughter Ludmilla and let out a low groan.
“—Is that statement true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will present the evidence.”
Ludmilla offered up the talisman Kyle had given her. Langrey had a subordinate accept it, then lightly shook the object in his hand while regarding it with clear skepticism.
“What can you possibly learn from something like this?”
“I had the imperial mages verify its authenticity. The magic contained inside points to a specific location—”
“Do you trust his words? Truly?”
Langrey looked down at his daughter with a bored expression. Ludmilla met his gaze without the slightest tremor and nodded firmly.
“There is no benefit for him to gain by deceiving me. Therefore, I can trust him.”
“What a truly ruler-like statement. How convenient the world would be if everything truly operated on nothing but profit and loss.”
“Even without that, I have no choice but to believe him.”
“…No choice but to believe?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ludmilla’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at her father.
“He is the new Master who has appeared in our empire. To earn his loyalty, I concluded we had no choice but to trust him.”
“Even if he is currently playing a prank meant to put you in a difficult position, you still believed his words just to purchase that single thread of trust?”
“—Even if my credibility suffers because of this and I am sent into exile, the empire gains legitimate grounds to make use of him. In that sense, this too is for the empire’s sake.”
“You would offer up your own credibility for the empire’s benefit?”
“If he is indeed playing a trick on me—that is.”
At the princess’s words, the emperor began to smile. Ludmilla’s mindset of putting the empire first had struck exactly the right chord. Since his daughter had shown such a side, it was now time for him to respond not as emperor, but as a father.
“Very well, Ludmilla. I will review this matter. If the item is genuine…”
“Then?”
“I shall officially declare the subjugation of the Evil God Cult. The credit for that achievement shall belong to you.”
At the emperor’s declaration, Ludmilla hid her joy deep inside. In her heart she was dancing with wild abandon, only half-listening to the rest of his words. After all, what followed was unlikely to carry much meaning.
Having received the emperor’s full response, Ludmilla left the audience chamber and found Bellion waiting for her just outside the doors.
“Oh my, Bellion.”
“Sister. You look quite pleased.”
“Do I?”
Seeing Ludmilla unable to hide her bright smile, Bellion murmured softly. Without denying anything, Ludmilla quietly covered her mouth with her fan. The subtle lift at the corners of her eyes revealed her true feelings.
“So, what brings you here?”
“I came to talk about Kyle.”
“Kyle. Did he cause another accident?”
“You already know. Stop playing dumb.”
At Bellion’s words, Ludmilla tilted her head as if she genuinely had no idea what he meant. Seeing her reaction, Bellion let out a small sigh and brought up the mission she had assigned Kyle.
“The mission you gave him. I heard he brought a Master-rank mage to complete it. Using that one-time opportunity, no less.”
“He never said anything like that to me?”
“Regardless—you need to compensate him properly.”
“Why should I?”
“Because it happened while carrying out the task you assigned.”
“I never asked him to do anything of the sort. Must I give extra rewards for work he wasn’t ordered to perform?”
Ludmilla’s argument was perfectly logical. She had no contractual obligation to provide further compensation. Not doing so would cause no immediate problems for her. It was simply a matter of courtesy—something only those hoping for smoother cooperation in the future would consider. If she failed to reward him now, the next time a similar situation arose, Kyle might not exert his full strength. In short, she herself would suffer no direct loss. The damage would fall instead on the other royals and the empire…
BOOOOM—!
“Kyaaak?!”
“What was that?!”
Startled by the massive explosion echoing from afar, the pair whipped around toward the source. Thick black smoke was billowing up from the training grounds outside the window. Sensing the horrific demonic energy contained within it, Bellion immediately guessed what had happened and broke into a dead sprint.
That crazy bastard, Kyle…!
What kind of mess did he cause this time?!
“Wow… this thing’s pretty damn strong.”
I gazed down at the sword in my hand and gave my honest assessment. This demonic blade was no ordinary weapon.
I slowly lifted my head and looked around.
…Now what do I do about this?
All around me, knights who had fallen victim to the demonic sword’s ability lay sprawled in a neat row. Among them was the knight commander himself—who also happened to be a Master.