110. The Black Mage
The current emperor's policy on succession was truly savage.
As long as it stayed hidden.
As long as it didn't come to light.
Anything went to become the crown prince. That was how he'd become emperor himself.
Three empresses and six concubines.
From them came eleven princes and eighteen princesses.
Out of the twenty-nine direct imperial heirs, only four were deemed capable of realistically aiming for the throne.
The first prince and first princess from the first empress.
The second prince from the second empress.
And the third prince from the third empress.
The concubines, by nature, couldn't challenge the authority of the empresses, so their children naturally flocked under the empresses' offspring based on their own interests.
The eighth prince was one of the few who'd chosen the third prince.
His death meant the imperial succession struggle had truly begun.
So you're telling me to meet the third prince and build a rapport?
"Exactly."
That's a terrible move.
Compared to the first prince, second prince, or first princess, the third prince's foundation is weak. If I curry favor with him and end up hated by the others, there's no worse scenario.
Besides, the empire won't look kindly on an Argan from the Hero Guild meddling in imperial affairs.
If you were the Demon King, I think you'd have told me to approach the more promising first or second prince instead. The fact that you're specifying the third prince—does it have to do with the ninth princess?
Hillun Kargil answered his own question, piecing it together himself. Smart guys were always easy to talk to.
"And if it does?"
I know I shouldn't say this as a hero, but please act like a Demon King.
Act like a Demon King, huh.
He never imagined hearing that from a hero who'd slain two Demon Kings.
But it wasn't wrong. Berge had no real obligation to honor Kaede's request. It would be a foolish choice driven purely by sentiment.
If things went south, the value of his card—Hillun Kargil—would plummet. No matter how promising a hero he was, crossing the empire would change everything.
And if the empire somehow caught wind of his involvement?
That meant war. They'd scour the Erjest Mountains with fire in their eyes.
"This isn't just about Kaede."
What... You can't mean you're seriously planning to put the third prince on the throne?
"If possible."
It's impossible.
Hillun's tone was firm.
The emperor remains silent. He'll have to rely on the empresses' support, but even the Aintheil marquis family— one of the empire's top noble houses—has been on the decline for ages.
Their influence has faded. They lack the power to crown the third prince emperor.
"What if you lent your strength?"
Still a bad move. The empire would never welcome Hero Guild interference. The emperor might even step in to shut it down.
The one silver lining is that the other royals won't dare touch the third prince lightly. No reason to pick a fight with me.
Right—that was exactly the pragmatic level Kaede wanted.
But Berge had no interest in that.
The moment Kaede mentioned the empire's succession.
The moment he decided to intervene.
The dormant embers ignited.
The pride of the supremely arrogant Demon King from before his regression.
The self-loathing toward himself for cowering subtly after dying to a mere human empire.
They became kindling, blazing fiercely.
If he was stirring things up anyway to uncover Jason's ties to the empire...
Wouldn't it be better to steer it toward maximum destruction for the empire?
Moreover, the eighth prince's death means they've started acting. The third prince has no future from the start.
"The third prince can be saved. What you need to worry about is what comes after."
What do you mean?
"A wildcard will emerge. Something that'll keep them too busy to bother with the third prince."
You don't mean you've already...?
"No, this is just the natural order."
He'd said it so often his jaw hurt, but pre-regression Berge had been supremely arrogant.
He had zero interest in human affairs—and no need for it. He did whatever he wanted, however he wanted. No need for caution.
But kidnapping Jespain Empire's crown princess changed everything.
As if mocking his unbroken streak of victories as unearned, heroes and imperial troops poured in relentlessly.
The tower weakened steadily, and Berge raged. He wanted to storm the empire and raze it all, but defending the tower left him stretched thin, and as the top-floor guardian, he couldn't descend.
So he'd turned to spies.
To sow discord among the empire's humans and shake its roots, he sought to understand it.
He summoned demons and monsters at massive magic point cost, then unleashed them on the empire.
Looking back, it was brutally inefficient.
Countless demons and monsters were shredded, worsening the tower's plight. Ironically, steady magic point inflow came from humans' intensified assaults, fueled by rage at the monsters' rampage.
Anyway, despite the demons and monsters dying like grains of sand, there were gains: the empire's politics, enemies, nobles, royals, the empire's this, the empire's that.
Berge was confident. In this damned dimension called Alein, no nation did he know better than the Jespain Empire.
That's why he'd avoided tangling with it as much as possible—but plans always change.
Kaede Jespain is here.
Through her, he had a thread to the empire. He might not forge ties with the third prince, but it was a connection nonetheless.
And Hillun Kargil knew what was coming in the empire.
Using these to devour the empire's future...
Was it truly impossible?
Of course, the future had already diverged greatly.
Berge himself had filled the tower with elves and heroes instead of monsters and demons. Drakson was dead, and Reina owed Jason nothing.
Above all, Berge didn't need success.
If it happened, great. But if it required betting everything, with massive risk, no need.
The process alone would shake the empire, making it differ from the one he knew pre-regression.
Weakening the mightiest foe was victory enough.
The enemy's enemy is a friend—and better yet, if they tore each other apart.
What was once a two-way fight between the first and second princes...
Make it three-way?
Better yet, ignite full civil war and engulf them in flames?
Just thinking about it...
Was thrilling.
"Here."
Kaede handed him the necklace.
"It's the one Mother gave me. Only my brother and I have them, so it'll be the surest proof for him."
"Got it."
"But won't taking this make him even more suspicious?"
"You can't go yourself."
"...True."
She probably wanted to, but knew her position well enough.
"Do you really need to go in person? Just tell Hero Hillun and..."
"Don't worry. I'll handle it."
"...What are you planning?"
Kaede muttered anxiously.
"Don't worry. No matter what, I'll save your brother's life."
"...You know that makes me more anxious?"
"Does it?"
Berge shrugged.
Not his problem.
The empire was currently in turbulent times.
Now was the moment to make a mess—or total chaos.
A few years later, the first prince would eliminate all rivals and become crown prince, uniting the empire into an even stronger foe.
"Even so, coming to Hero Guild headquarters in person. You're truly beyond me, Lord Pale."
Hillun shook his head as he greeted him.
"Shall we go inside?"
"No desire to step where those repulsive bastards reek."
"You made it here unscathed."
"It's outside, at least."
"The guild's probably investigating you anyway."
"Don't care."
If they could dig up anything on his sudden "Pale" identity from the sky, good for them.
"So, what excuse did you use to slip out?"
"You might know—Argans must tour five continental guild branches every six months."
"Hasn't the empire gotten more than enough already?"
The northern snowfields were Demon King turf, so the nearby Chernian border count's lands had a guild branch.
"The empire's vast. The distance from the capital to Chernian rivals a whole kingdom."
"Personnel?"
"Usually with escorts, but I'm no ordinary Argan, am I?"
Being a Star—slayer of two Demon Kings—paid off here.
Who'd dare harm Hillun?
"Eyes boring into me."
"Lots of people interested in you."
"Not my problem."
They soon left the city.
"But really the third prince?"
"Yes."
"This isn't right. If it fails..."
"The third prince dies, and your reputation in the empire is ruined."
"You know that and still?"
"First and second princes don't need you. They're set."
"So the best move is no involvement."
"Succeed, and you're the emperor's right-hand man."
"Fail, and I die."
"You won't die. At worst, a humiliating pact with the victor."
"...No change of heart, then."
"Coming this far wasn't answer enough?"
"Fine. What incident did you mean?"
"The empire's huge. Plenty of nominal territories not fully theirs. Like the snowfields."
"Yes."
"Now just the Frost Demon King, but many towers rose in imperial lands before. They fell countless times."
"Everyone knows that."
"No, you don't. Over a millennium, eleven towers passed through the empire—five at the same spot."
"Hamstline Gorge."
"You know it. Why?"
"Mana-rich?"
"Right."
Hamstline Gorge teemed with monsters but wasn't untouched like Erjest.
Yet mana overflowed there. Humans love mana-rich spots. So do Demon Kings.
More ambient mana means more magic points from the tower.
No coincidence five Demon Kings chose it as their grave.
"Demon King dies, tower crumbles. Without interference negation, no more magic points—demons and monsters weaken. Naturally purged."
But.
"Magic points don't vanish completely."
"They don't?"
"Magic points differ fundamentally from Alein's mana. They don't mix or dilute. Just scatter and linger."
Five times over, that miracle of coincidence built up.
"So you're saying..."
"Hamstline Gorge's depths hold magic points amassed by five Demon Kings."
"And we're going for it? How does that trigger an imperial crisis...?"
"Shut up and listen. It does."
Hillun fell silent at Berge's glare.
"I didn't know before."
Probably no one did. Magic points usually disperse across the dimension upon a Demon King's death. A miracle from five choosing the same grave.
Pre-regression Berge learned too late.
Post-regression, even knowing, he couldn't claim it.
Imperial territory—too risky to build a tower just for that.
And he'd forgotten since.
"Nor did I know some arrogant human was living there, absorbing those magic points to grow strong."
"...Human?"
Hillun blinked.
"A human there?"
"Yes. A black mage absorbing magic points for power."
A peculiar one using magic points without a Demon King pact.
People thought Ravinia Akan knew magic points best, but this guy was probably close.
"He erupts later normally, but I'll accelerate it."
"Still just one human."
"A necromancer?"
And.
"Turning gorge monsters into undead, building an army?"
"My god."
"Normally, they'd commission the Hero Guild. But the emperor will choose differently. Order the royals to subjugate."
A test.
To gauge who was emperor material.
The worthy advance; the weak get culled.
"I'll exploit that."
Berge grinned wickedly.