Ventorino Kingdom - Negotiations (2)
Amid the confusion that had swept through the conference hall, only one boy was smiling faintly.
I was worried it had been delayed too long, but it looks like it’s fine.
He had thought the raid would begin almost immediately, so when it failed to appear even as the talks dragged on, he’d found himself, uncharacteristically, growing a little tense. And it was understandable, because this raid was a crucial operation he had personally planned. If it failed, he might have to rebuild the entire strategy from scratch.
Just as he had told Mercedes, it was an operation aimed at killing four birds with one stone. Credit for becoming a knight, an extension of the negotiations, internal discipline within the Demon Realm, and a perfect smokescreen all at once. With Heroes having been summoned in the Holy Kingdom, it was the ideal way to redirect suspicion as well.
According to the report Beatris had brought him, the Goddess had even delivered an oracle to the Heroes: darkness was hiding on the continent, and they were to destroy it. If things went badly, he, a half-demon of uncertain past, might have found himself under suspicion.
But this incident would help preempt any such doubt about him. If things went especially well, he might even win the support of the half-demons living across the continent. He did worry a little about how they might react once they learned the truth someday, but that was a problem for later.
Come to think of it, maybe I was worrying for nothing.
Valdes suppressed a snort as he escorted the important figures preparing for evacuation.
The operation mattered so much that he had been on edge, but from the start it had been a difficult one to fail. He himself had drawn up the plan, the Demon Army’s chief intelligence officer was quietly directing the hidden details, and the demon who was now attacking under their false pretenses was a monster who had already been counted among the candidates for the Four Heavenly Kings.
Bang!
"There you are, filthy human scum!"
The doors shattered, and a pack of ominous-looking demons burst inside.
Looking at them, Valdes rolled his shoulders loose.
Well then. Let’s enjoy a long-overdue battle.
"Stop them!"
"How did demons get in here?!"
The hall plunged into chaos in an instant. Hundreds of demons had launched the assault—hundreds of them, each one possessing the strength of at least a knight. It was nothing short of astonishing that so many had managed to strike in secret. And not just anywhere, but inside the royal castle of a kingdom, targeting the royalty of two nations at once.
King Marc of the Ventorino Kingdom was here, along with the prince and princess—everyone except the queen. On top of that, there were the two princesses of the Ulsro Kingdom as well. In total, five people had to be guarded with absolute priority by the royal guard.
This raid… could it be Vald…?!
Confused, Mercedes searched for Valdes. By then, he had already snatched up the sword from a dead soldier and was charging straight at the demons. As her squire knight, he had been permitted to enter the royal castle by the queen, but because he was a half-demon, he had not been allowed to wear a sword.
Maria, too, had heard enough in fragments from her sister to realize that this raid had been planned by Valdes. But seeing him charge at the demons so openly still left her bewildered.
What is he going to do if they find out who he is?!
Then, a beat later, she understood from the demons shouting around them that there was no danger of that.
"That black hair…? You traitor bastard!! Half-breeds really do all deserve to die!"
"Kill the half-breeds who side with humans too!"
"Kill them all! Show the world that only pure bloods are true demons!"
"Kill the traitors and the human royals!"
"…"
Maria could feel not only hatred toward humans but toward half-demons as well in the demons who had raided the hall. And in the middle of that, she caught the word pure blood. Demons who saw a tiny bit of mixed blood and immediately called someone a traitor, radiating that twisted hostility. It wasn’t hard for her to guess who they were.
Pure-blood supremacists—there were a few of those even among other races, and sometimes among humans as well. But something about it felt off. Valdes, the Demon Prince, was himself a half-demon and a former human—more than that, a Hero. And yet these pure-blood supremacists were somehow inside the Demon Army? It didn’t make sense.
Besides, there was no way an entire unit of the Demon Army had been packed with pure-blood supremacists. Why would anyone need to shove a bunch of would-be rebels into a single battalion?
...Huh? Would-be rebels? Don’t tell me!!
Goosebumps rose across her skin.
Bloodshed was raging all around them, and while the fighters struggled to evacuate the royals and nobles, Maria drew closer to the truth.
These demons are reactionaries! Big Brother is planning to slaughter them while taking advantage of the situation in a dozen other ways too!
She had not heard it directly from Valdes himself, but Mercedes had been bragging just enough to let the information slip. The four purposes behind the operation Valdes was carrying out.
One of them was internal discipline within the Demon Realm. There was probably a spy planted among the attackers—by Valdes, or by the Demon Army. Otherwise there was no way to make sense of this situation.
With Big Brother’s level of ability, it’d be stranger if he didn’t make a name for himself here. There’ll be demon attackers, there’ll be casualties, and they can’t just tell us to evacuate right away. They’ll need to discuss the attack too. If every demon here gets wiped out, it’ll be a devastating blow to the rebel faction... and through a spy, they could feed the Demon Army false information as well.
"Maria?"
"Ah, yes."
At her sister’s voice, she turned to look at Mercedes. Judging by her expression, her sister seemed to have reached much the same conclusion.
Then the only thing left for them to do here was to take a little damage and evacuate. Valdes probably wouldn’t want them injured, but now that she understood what he was after, she couldn’t simply stand by. If need be, she could even cut herself during the evacuation.
"...Let’s trust Vald here."
"Yes, all right…"
Crash—!!
The wall collapsed, and new demons emerged from the wreckage.
"Heh. So you were here."
And at the center of them stood a man who was clearly their leader at a glance. His clothes, his tone, even the dense magical power that rolled off him—everything about him was aristocratic, old-fashioned, and steeped in an obsession with status, like a noble from a family that valued history above all else. At the appearance of the demon glaring down with those haughty eyes, Marc and the others who were still evacuating all stiffened.
"What is this ridiculous pressure...?"
Marc had once been a warrior strong enough to invade the Demon Castle eighteen years ago. Though he had weakened since then, his instincts had not died. And those instincts were screaming at him that he absolutely should not face the demon in front of him.
But...
He glanced back. Among the royal guard escorting them to safety, there was no one strong enough to take on that demon. At the very least, they needed someone of the guard captain’s level.
"Let’s see... Shurette."
"Yes, Master."
One of the identical pair of dark elves standing behind him answered.
"Are these the right ones? Their clothes look expensive enough, but human faces all look the same to me."
"These are the correct targets. The royal family of the Ventorino Kingdom—three of them. And the two princesses of the Ulsro Kingdom."
"Is that so? But that half-bloo—"
The demon looked around, as if searching for someone. However, Shurette cut in and blocked him.
"Master. I’m sorry, but we don’t have time."
"...How dare this bitch interrupt me? Hmph. Well, time is short, so I’ll leave the punishment until after the job is done."
The twin dark elf, who resembled Shurette just as much as the demon who was being called Master, glared at her as well. But Shurette merely nodded without a change in expression.
"Understood."
"Listen carefully! My name is Eldrif! I am the one who will soon become Demon King and wipe out you human bastards!"
The instigator of the raid, Eldrif, abruptly introduced himself at full volume, then gestured with a sharp motion toward Marc and the others. At the same time, dozens of demons near him turned their attention on Marc’s party.
Tch.
Marc clenched his teeth. Every one of them was at the level of a squad leader of the royal guard. With no weapon in hand, he had no confidence he could fight off so many. But his son and daughter were beside him. The two princesses aside, he had to protect his family at the very least.
He had forgotten even to use the term “my burden,” and reached out to the guard standing beside him, asking for a sword.
"Hey! Give me a sword—"
"I’m sorry!"
"Hm?"
At that moment, Valdes, who had been fighting demons farther away, appeared. The moment Marc saw the half-demon boy, he blinked in surprise and stared at his back.
"We’ll handle this area, so please evacuate!"
"You’re a half-demon... But there’s no way you can hold them off on your own!"
He had heard that Valdes had taken second place in the martial tournament and was a squire with knight-class skill. He had also heard he was Serenia’s disciple, the student of a Sword Master. But there was no way one man could take on that many demons.
"We will."
"What?"
Meanwhile, Eldrif’s eyes gleamed at Valdes’s appearance. With a gaze close to madness, he glared at him and shouted,
"You bastard! So you really were here...."
But before he could finish, a sword came flying at him.
Bang!
"...Ghk! You damned human bastard!"
"I’m here, Your Majesty! My apologies for the delay! Please evacuate at once!"
"Guard Captain!"
The owner of the thrown sword was the guard captain Heik. Only then did Marc realize what Valdes had meant by we, and his face brightened. He had not come alone—he had brought the guard captain with him.
The king believed that if it was the guard captain, he could hold the enemy off with ease.
"Thank you, Guard Captain!"
Marc was just turning to flee down the corridor, leaving the rear to the guard captain, when he paused for a moment and looked back at Valdes.
"...I misjudged you. Thank you. If I make it back alive, I’ll certainly repay you."
The moment Marc finished speaking, he turned his back and hurried away. Watching him go, Valdes smiled. That was the answer he had wanted most. As expected, Marc’s debts and enmities were the sort he took seriously. Even if it was only a verbal promise, there was no way he would break it.
With those satisfying words ringing in his ears, he swung his sword again and set about the demons. He showed enough skill to be stronger than an ordinary squad leader knight, and killed them without hesitation. These were pure-blood supremacist rebels who did not even follow him; there was no reason to spare them.
While Valdes dealt with the smaller fry, Heik was fighting Eldrif.
Crash—!
"Tch, damn it!"
"You worthless human bastard! And you think you can take me on with that level of skill?!"
This bastard’s insanely strong!
Deflecting a barrage of incoming mana bullets, the guard captain furrowed his brow. Thanks to the half-demon boy calling for him, he had managed to evacuate the king’s party, but his opponent was too strong. A mage stronger than himself, a Sword Master at that—and on top of that, he had absurd reserves of mana, enough to keep hurling inefficient mana bullets over and over.
Against a swordsman like Heik, the matchup was terrible.
I may have to bet my life here...!
"Pathetically weak. It would be better if you were the one dealing with my subordinates. And you’re still protecting the prince?"
"...?"
Heik stared at the demon in confusion, unable to understand what he was saying. Setting aside the part about being pathetically weak, he couldn’t make sense of the claim that it would be better if he fought the subordinates, or the comment about protecting the prince.
At the moment, the only one fighting the other demons around them was Valdes. In Eldrif’s words, that meant Valdes was stronger than Heik himself. Nothing about it made sense.
Still, to buy time for the king’s party to escape, he decided to play along. A guard captain, lazy or not, was still a guard captain. Even if he died here, as long as the king and the others got away, that counted as his victory. The inexplicable unease crawling down his spine also made it easier to answer.
"...What are you talking about?"
"Hmph, don’t play dumb! We already know everything you were planning to do!"
"What?"
"How dare you try to forge a peace treaty between humans and demons when the war only ended a short while ago! We will never accept such a thing! Humans and demons can never reconcile!!"
A peace treaty between humans and demons? What the hell was this supposed to mean?
Heik stared at Eldrif with a dumbfounded expression. Looking at the demon’s furious face, it seemed he really did believe that some kind of peace treaty was in the works.
To think the demon raid had been caused by some bizarre misunderstanding—it was almost funny. And even if they really had been trying to reconcile, for the demon side, the very side that had started the war, to launch a raid in order to prevent it was ridiculous beyond belief.
"...What a fucking idiotic misunderstanding."
"W-what? Idiotic?!"
Eldrif, who was used to cursing others but not being cursed in return, flushed red at the word idiot.
"Sorry, but this is a matter between the human kingdoms…"
"Bullshit! You expect me to believe that? You’re standing here with the Demon Prince and still spouting nonsense like that?!"
"What? Demon Prince? What are you—"
At that moment, a thought from Eldrif’s earlier words flashed through his mind: And you’re still protecting the prince?
Demon Prince. The prince of demons.
If the prince of demons, the heir to the Demon King, was a half-blood?
Just as Heik’s face began to freeze and he tried to turn his head—
Thud!
"K, khuagh!"
Dark elf Shurette suddenly burst out from the shadow of the collapsed rubble and stabbed straight through his heart.