133. The Solution
Heh heh hm.
The merchant of the Golden Moon Merchant Guild, Jetoson, hummed a tune just like always as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
He savored the bitter yet fragrant aroma.
"Truly, life's worth sticking around for."
As the saying goes, fortune turns like a pancake.
Back when he ran a small magic shop in Akan Kingdom, he'd tricked a dim-witted dwarf into buying defective goods at a premium price.
That would've been fine, but he got caught—and of all people, that dwarf turned out to be the princess of Berft Kingdom.
Naturally, all hell broke loose. He barely escaped with his life but got booted from the merchant guild.
But as they say, when you're desperate, paths appear. That's how he landed a job at this place, the Golden Moon Merchant Guild.
His current life was even better than before. Unlike those days scraping by on daily earnings, his skills now brought in massive bonuses.
'What the hell is this guild even up to, anyway?'
At first, they'd roamed the continent buying up elf slaves. Once that was done, they started hoarding all sorts of ores—copper, manganese, iron, orichalcum, mithril, even mana stones.
The money seemed endless; they kept purchasing without stop. No matter how he crunched the numbers, expenses far outpaced profits.
Yet they showed no signs of selling. Ironic, really.
'Whatever. Long as I get paid.'
His job was to haggle ruthlessly and slash prices. A cut of the profits came back to him as bonuses. Win-win.
Knock knock.
"Mr. Jetoson. Your newspaper."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
A lovely elf flashed him a warm smile. Her fresh charm lifted the corners of his mouth effortlessly.
She was one of the slaves he'd procured, but hey, what could he do?
Beautiful, kind-hearted, hardworking—and now a freed commoner.
It was only natural to harbor a few impure thoughts.
"Let's see here."
Ahem. Clearing his throat, Jetoson slowly unfolded the newspaper.
Reading the kingdom's daily morning paper was part of his routine.
"Hm?"
He frowned as he opened it.
Instead of the usual mishmash of trivia, one story dominated the pages.
Was this the best they could scrape together?
"What rotten times. Even those lawless pirate scum wouldn't stoop to cozying up with a Demon King, right?"
Tsk. Clicking his tongue, he shifted his thoughts back to the Flame Demon King.
"...The Flame Demon Tower."
A while back, the empire had hyped up a massive media blitz to find it—allying with three northern nations to track it down, no matter what.
Korzen's side drew extra buzz with the empire's 3rd prince, Hillon Kargil, and Daphne Philian joining forces.
The continent was abuzz, and Jetoson had paid attention too—for business. He'd backed off once the empire and allied guilds muscled in.
"They actually pulled it off?"
He'd hoped but braced for failure; after all, they'd bombed twice before.
Now that record was shattered.
"The Flame Demon King—or whatever—is done for."
The empire was grinding their teeth over it.
If you're gonna hide, hide till the end.
"Eh, none of my business."
Even if he wanted to supply them, the empire left no room for foreign guilds in hero expeditions.
Jetoson shrugged.
"This Demon King made a splash at first, but now? Poof—gone."
He flipped to the next page.
"Damn it, all pie in the sky."
But from start to finish, it was nothing but Flame Demon King and Daphne Philian. Irritated, he crumpled it and tossed it in the trash.
* * *
"...What nonsense is that?"
Berge let out a hollow laugh.
After regressing, after descending to Alein—he'd unleashed everything for the first time.
Squeezing out power beyond what dimensional interference allowed had wrought devastating force, but the backlash hit him hard.
That backlash knocked him out cold.
Right before blacking out, he'd entrusted Ernan Hildean with one task: kill Daphne Philian, no matter what.
When he woke, she'd done it. Daphne Philian was dead.
So he'd relaxed. But why—
"—did I have to hear they've exposed the tower's location?"
"...It couldn't be helped."
"Before you killed Daphne Philian, he'd already handed a recording orb of the tower's location to Korzen's prince. All his aides confirmed it."
"In that situation, I couldn't just ask him to bury it—or slaughter them all."
Obvious, right? Touch them once, and you'd have to wipe out Korzen Kingdom entirely. Even if he could, with only imperial forces surviving? The world would see right through it.
But being the one bearing that "obvious" injustice? Different story.
All the effort to hide the tower...
How much blood and sweat...
Berge called out to Ernan.
"Didn't you say it was handled perfectly?"
"...I thought so."
After burying the Demon King in snow, she'd infused the mist with magic. Then tracked down Daphne Philian.
People milled around him in the fog, but she kept her from meeting them. She wandered alone dozens of times until summoning Hillon Kargil.
So she'd thought it flawless.
But he'd pinpointed the location beforehand—and passed it to Korzen's prince before she intervened.
In that brief window before she acted.
"...I'm sorry."
"...No. Forget it. You did your best, like you said."
Rage boiled up.
But worry overtook it.
'What now?'
The empire would swarm soon.
Empire alone? Hildean Kingdom had been sharpening their knives forever.
He envisioned thousands of heroes assaulting the tower—a dizzying nightmare.
Balaf Disrod, Rozel Charnt, Ralph Shmitz, Gillian Aint, and other Stars charging the front.
'Fire!'
'Blast 'em all! Kehehehehe!'
The dwarf's shout echoed like a hallucination. Hundreds of mana cannons roared.
But Ralph Shmitz's shield held firm. Balaf Disrod's blade pulverized everything. The heroes took hits from surprise fire but wouldn't get massacred by cannons.
Cannons were for crowds, not elite few.
'Behold the mighty orichalcum golem!'
Then golems deployed, leading to brutal clashes. Defeat, obviously.
Heroes breached floor 1, ascended to 2. Ravinia Akan's chimera legions awaited.
'Princess?'
'Huh?'
'What are you doing?!'
'...Crafting?'
'My god, helping the Demon King.'
'Deal.'
'Deal or no, right now... haa.'
He pictured blank-faced Ravinia and Rozel Charnt's exchange.
Heroes raged at a princess aiding the Demon King, but Rozel's defense and her Akan status barely saved her.
Floor 3: Empty. Better odds defending floor 4 with elves than isolating Elena or Kaede on 3.
Floor 4.
'Welcome to the Demon King's tower, everyone. I'm one of his Four Heavenly Kings, the Dark Spirit Summoner.'
Hildean's crown princess wouldn't lose her smile even in crisis.
'...Dark Knight, knight sworn to the Demon King.'
At Ernan's urging, Kaede Jespain would play along. Loyal as she was, she'd fight hard.
Elena Hildean owed Berge gratitude too—she'd give her all.
But the power gap was overwhelming. Defeat inevitable; princesses captured, returned home.
'...Princess? My god.'
'...I'm the Dark Spirit Summoner now.'
'Why aid the Demon King?!'
'Everyone has their reasons.'
Their "defections" buried quietly—for national honor.
Berge pondered: floor 4 or summit? Pointless. No path to victory.
His tower design was unfinished—meant to maximize surprises against humans, not crush with raw power.
'......'
His mind went blank. No solutions surfaced.
...Lord.
...King.
"...Demon King, you okay?"
Ah.
Ernan's voice snapped him from reverie.
"...What'd you say?"
Communication still linked; Martin Jespain awaited reply.
"For now, I'm in this with you—so I'll stall the empire's heroes as long as possible."
"Can you handle Hildean in the meantime?"
Facing empire and Hildean separately beat simultaneously.
"Got a plan?"
"Injury's the obvious play, but with thought, options exist."
Even found, hero expeditions needed prep. Delay and hamstring them.
"Handle it."
Link cut. Berge summoned everyone to floor 5.
"What's the play?"
"I'll shatter them with mana cannons!"
The firepower fanatic replied as usual.
"If the 3rd prince stalls the empire, Hildean's all that's left."
"Right."
Jespain was later. Block Hildean first.
"As Hildean's crown princess, how'll they move?"
"Full force."
Hildean nursed massive pride wounds.
Crown princess kidnapped. Hero expedition failed.
While stewing, the 13th princess snatched too.
The king wouldn't forget that humiliation.
And above all—
"Father will stop at nothing to save me."
His obsession with Ernan burned undimmed. Whatever the cost, he'd reclaim her.
"Bigger than Hillon Kargil's expedition."
"Yes. Failure means they'll go all-in."
Lucky break: Hillon Kargil was Hildean's ace.
"If Hillon betrays mid-expedition?"
Hillon had to lead. If he deliberately lured them into a trap for total wipeout?
"Bad idea."
Gordon objected.
"Hillon's key to your plans. We've dodged suspicion so far, but if everyone but him dies? Unavoidable."
One sole survivor? Even strong as Hillon, it'd raise flags.
Sparing multiples risked exposing betrayal.
Tower defense trumped Hillon, but...
"Repels work once or twice. They won't quit there."
"...True."
Hero expeditions boiled to two goals: rescue royals, slay Demon King.
Priority? Royals—especially for Hildean, robbed of a crown princess.
'Wait...'
Berge tilted his head.
"...Solve the root cause making Hildean hunt the tower?"
"Root cause?"
"Yeah. Remove their reason, and they won't risk lives chasing it."
Naturally back off, right?
"And that root is...?"
Ernan's face hardened, sensing it.
"Yeah."
"No way."
"Probably."
Berge nailed her guess.
"Crown Princess of Hildean Kingdom, Ernan Hildean. Time to go home."
"...Me."
Ernan's pupils quivered.
"Send you back to the kingdom?"
Her voice chilled.