152. Just Because.
"...So Vivian Blunt is dead?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Aina Semun, his adjutant, bowed her head.
Jason adjusted his monocle. She knew that was a sign of his displeasure.
"Could you be more precise and specific?"
"Rumors are spreading, centered around Akan and Dormunt, that the Lust Demon King has been killed."
"Just rumors?"
"The Akan Kingdom presented Vivian Blunt's horn as proof."
"Her horn..."
It was a Demon King's horn, no less. The magic points and their unique properties contained within couldn't be faked. If a group obsessed with studying magic and demons vouched for it, it had to be real.
"There were only signs of an expedition or hero campaign."
"Yes, and because of that, a few skeptical expedition teams marched on the Lust Demon Tower."
"Don't tell me the tower vanished?"
"Yes. It disappeared without a trace. From what I know, that only happens in..."
"One case: when a Demon King dies and the tower is reverse-summoned to the Demon World. Yes, Vivian Blunt is truly dead."
Haha. Jason let out a hollow laugh.
In truth, Vivian Blunt's death had been inevitable. But this timing was an anomaly that leaped beyond the script.
He hadn't received any signals of an expedition or hero campaign. Jason couldn't believe it.
Such variables were never welcome.
"Who did it?"
"That's not clear yet. Even Akan, who has the horn, doesn't know."
"They have the horn but no idea who killed her? Does that make sense?"
"I looked into it a bit. They didn't obtain it directly—it came through a merchant guild."
"A merchant guild?"
"The Golden Moon Guild of the Iasin Kingdom."
"Golden Moon..."
The corner of Jason's mouth twisted upward.
"Berge Dayas, huh."
"Yes, Berge Dayas."
After lending money to Berge, Jason hadn't lost track of the flow.
And he'd zeroed in on one merchant guild.
The Golden Moon. A guild on the brink of drying up suddenly received massive investment and rose again. And its heir was a survivor of a hero campaign.
Far too coincidental.
Especially since the timing wasn't far from when Jason had loaned him the money.
"Did Berge Dayas kill Vivian Blunt and sell her horn?"
"No, I doubt it. No matter how strong Berge is, dimensional interference limits him. Without pouring every magic point into nullifying it for a century straight, he couldn't kill another Demon King in their own tower."
The tower was a Demon King's home base. A Demon King blessed by their tower versus one cut off from theirs in enemy territory?
The outcome was obvious.
"But we can't say he was completely uninvolved. Having the horn means something's up."
What the hell is it?
At first, he'd thought it was a frame job to divert attention to Vivian.
But killing her outright? He couldn't grasp the motive.
Jason shook his head after a moment's thought.
Whatever Berge was after didn't matter.
Drakson, and now Vivian.
The problem was he'd crossed the line too boldly.
"We'll dig deeper."
"Yes, do that."
"What about the guild?"
"Leave them be."
"Is that wise?"
"After the hero campaign ends, we'll swallow them slowly. Better to chew and digest than smash."
"Understood. I'll prepare accordingly."
Aina withdrew slowly.
"The time until the hero campaign."
That's your last grace period.
Without fail.
The teacup in Jason's hand shattered.
"It will be."
After receiving Vivian's oath of loyalty, the first order of business was reorganizing the merged tower.
From 5 floors to 10. It felt like Vivian's tower had simply been tacked onto Berge's—hers taking floors 1 through 5, his 6 through 10.
Berge introduced Vivian's retainers to his own.
"Kaede Jespain."
"Ravinia."
"I'm Elena Hildean."
"...My lord? Is this for real?"
Vivian's retainers were flustered by the princesses' introductions.
Princesses, elves, dwarves—and one floor bristling with mana cannons.
To Vivian's ordinary demon retainers, it was a parade of the incomprehensible.
"I'm no longer a Demon King. I've become Berge Dayas's retainer, and so have you."
"...But."
Vivian's adjutant, the succubus Jenia, hesitated. Vivian cupped her chin and met her eyes.
"I hate to say this to those who trusted and followed me, but sadly, you have no choice."
That's what being a retainer meant. When your lord served another, you followed suit.
"Still, I hope you see this is for the best—for you too."
"...Understood."
"If you or Vivian command it, we'll obey!"
Her retainers bowed in unison.
But even with Vivian's words, things wouldn't be smooth. Berge's tower was built on humans, elves, dwarves—Alein natives. Instinctive revulsion toward invading demons was inevitable.
Time would sort it out.
"But with 10 floors now, the weight..."
"Exterior and weight don't change. The inside is warped."
Each floor was nearly 20 meters high, yet the tower looked only about 50 meters tall.
Theoretically two floors crammed into five, thanks to the tower's space-bending power.
"Ah...!"
Berge brushed off Roger's anxiety and rearranged the tower's layout.
"Couldn't even fill a 5-floor tower, and now it's doubled in a flash."
He split Vivian's retainers into two groups: demons bunched on one floor, beasts and monsters all to Ravinia.
"Waaah!"
Her ecstatic scream at the near-doubled numbers was no secret.
Floor 2: materials stockpiled with the dwarves, leg production starting on 1. Floor 3: Ravinia and monsters. 4: Vivian and demons. 5: Elena and Sharlot. 6: Kaede and elves.
Bonus: the dwarf princess, hooked after sparring Kaede, stayed on 6 and begged for daily bouts.
Floors 7-9 empty for now—plenty of time to fill them.
"No one doubts Vivian Blunt is dead, thanks to your ploy. They're obsessed with finding her killer, some even asking about other byproducts besides the horn."
"Golden Moon's in for a rough time."
They were the first to peddle Demon King parts.
All eyes naturally turned there.
Fewer suspected the guild killed her themselves—more wanted to track the hero who sold it.
And Berge didn't love the attention.
"Trade with the magic tower went smoothly; all needed materials secured, but..."
"But?"
"Word's out they're demanding more byproducts and buying supplies through Golden Moon. Golem materials especially, fueling rumors they're making golems themselves."
"And?"
"They're sweating to convince the executives."
Aman held real power as vice-guildmaster, delegated by his father. But guilds couldn't run solo.
Consensus with executives was key—except on Berge-related matters.
He couldn't admit he was a Demon King's pawn gathering supplies.
His ploy: mysterious client, proven payoff in mana cannons.
Merchants sold organs for profit; it worked.
But with scrutiny and the surprise horn, "whatever" wouldn't fly anymore.
"They're demanding daily: who got the Lust Demon King's horn? Who trades mana cannons for golem parts?"
"Put Hillun Kargil forward?"
"Already doing that."
"Claiming he killed her?"
"No."
Hillun had stayed in Hildean after rescuing Ernan. Too many witnesses; he couldn't have toppled the Lust tower then.
"How, then?"
"Using that he's the guild's investor."
Investors demand secrecy. Hearing Hillun's name shut the executives up, gripes or not.
"Good enough."
Humans' greed endures. Noisy now, quiet soon.
"Not good enough. Kingdoms are kicking up a fuss too."
"...Headache."
Sudden tower vanishing and Demon King parts? Attention inevitable.
Problem: unwanted, and it might lead to guild sanctions.
"Worst is Iasin Kingdom."
Foreign uproar was just noise. Official interference in another kingdom's guild? Limited.
But the host kingdom?
"Yes. Official demand: if bought through someone, reveal the path."
"Demand," not request. A threat.
"...I'll kidnap Iasin's princess."
"Pardon? Experiment just succeeded; you're heading out now?"
Test: could legs fuse solidly?
Dwarves whipped up an artifact overnight, installed it.
Berge touched it; Mana's Phantom-like text appeared.
Everyone knew: success.
"With royalty in line of succession snatched, no time for a mere guild."
"That rage heads straight our way."
"Move the tower; empty threats."
"Legs just started."
"Hero campaign prep takes months even now. Roger swears he'll finish with enough materials."
Not easy, but Berft's top 50 artisans plus Akan golem-smiths? Doable.
"Plus, we need max magic points. Merging tower and legs, mobilizing—who knows the cost? More rage, the better."
"True, but why tighten the timeline?"
Empire prepping anyway. Iasin joins? Might accelerate.
"No, won't happen. Don't worry."
"Won't?"
"Certain."
Empire never allies abroad.
Joint searches? Sure, share blood to cut losses.
But finding and toppling a tower? Empire solo.
Monopolize glory, spoils.
Pre-regression Empire; unchanged post.
Unless something huge.
"If so, good. But one princess won't divert from this mess."
"Then more than one."
His steps were light, like heading for a stroll.
Days later.
Iasin Kingdom was thrown into chaos by the kidnapping of four princesses at once.
While Berge gave the continent headaches, the Empire calmly prepared its hero campaign.
Under the Emperor's lead, no less.
Martin Jespain closed the door with a stiff face. Blood trickled from his busted lip.
"Your Highness."
His adjutant bowed.
"Talk with His Majesty didn't go well?"
"Don't know what to call it."
Personally? Total disaster. As imperial prince? No real loss.
"His Majesty flipped direction entirely. Excluded all royals."
Originally, this was succession fodder—glory and power to top performers.
But the Emperor changed tune.
"He's forming and leading the hero team himself. To finish the Flame Demon King for good."
No variables like prince squabbles.
"...That's."
Ruthless hardline. Desperate resolve to kill the Flame Demon King.
A ruler raging over kidnapped kids? Normal.
But he'd never before.
Until recently, he'd framed it as succession extension.
Martin's plan to protect Kaede crumbled.
"Something's up. Something changed his mind."
"I'll look into it. But honestly, I'm relieved."
"Relieved?"
"Flame Demon King is too dangerous."
Hid tower, ambushed from mountains, devoured heroes and folk.
Unlike others, kidnapped succession royals without hesitation.
"He's wrecked our Demon King relations. For the Empire, better gone quick."
Berge's acts fueled human vigilance—unresolved threats.
"Sure, but..."
Martin, knowing his sister served the Demon King, couldn't nod easily.
"Sad to miss glory, but others too—and you found the tower. Lucky."
"Yeah."
Better if he hadn't found it, didn't know Kaede was Dark Knight, hadn't handed the token.
Or nabbed him in the capital when he pushed?
No, Demon Kings had counters; bold appearance meant confidence.
And took the token back.
Couldn't reenter the annex, but as succession mark, token returned—to be stolen again.
Martin smiled bitterly.
"With His Majesty's direct orders, campaign might speed up. Watch the team composition closely."
"Yes."
Martin decided to inform the Demon King first.
Quick.
After dumping Iasin's princesses on Kaede, Berge soon got Ernan's comm.
Kaede had spilled already.
Why that answer? No clue. Eyes met; chills. Smile didn't feel like smiling.
Instinct blurted it.
Succubus Queens were pretty by default. Princesses too.
Her amethyst eyes, depthless, stared into Berge's until the comm cut.