Chapter 148 : My Knight
Chapter 148: My Knight
“Clear him away.”
“Yes.”
The elves carried off the unconscious Roger and disappeared.
“...So you brought the princess with you as well. Is she the last of the Four Heavenly Kings?”
“You said you did not like ‘Dark Knight’.”
“I still do not like them. However....”
What she could not forget was Ernan’s long, earnest expression as she asked that the formation of the Four Heavenly Kings be achieved without her.
“However?”
“It is nothing. Still, you kidnapped a rather dangerous princess.”
“Do you know Louise Berfht?”
“I know she is considered one of the worst ruffians in the Berfht Kingdom. I heard she was placed under house arrest because of the Tarta incident.”
“I will tell you this especially. Louise Berfht personally cracked open the skull of the prince of Ormus in Tarta.”
“...Pardon?”
A crack formed on Kaede’s face.
“...It was said he was killed by the Demon King.”
“That is how it was made known.”
“How did the Demon King know that...?”
“Because I watched it from a very good seat. Well, it was self-defense in its own way. The second prince of Ormus tried to kidnap Louise Berfht first.”
“So he tried detain her under the pretext of the Demon King and tried to make a deal with the Berfht Kingdom?”
“Probably?”
Only then did Kaede nod, as if she finally understood.
“Still, it is impressive that it was not discovered.”
“There were no survivors from Ormus. The dwarves took care of everything themselves.”
“Then why is Sir Roger reacting so sensitively?”
“What Roger was making before being kidnapped by me was Louise Berfht’s weapon.”
“I understand now.”
“Well then, will you try it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am asking whether, as the first imperial princess captured by the tower, you have any intention of establishing discipline over your junior. With that type, it is easier to step on them decisively once. You are the senior who arrived first, are you not?”
Louise was not the type to become obedient over something so trivial, but since she had been kidnapped, she had to be made obedient somehow.
Assigning someone to be responsible for her was also a good method.
“Is there not also the method of freezing her continuously?”
“That is something only the frost demon race can do. I may have talent in melting or burning things, but I cannot freeze them.”
And that remark just now did not seem like something a princess should say to another princess.
“She is not listening, is she?”
“That is right.”
Berje chuckled. Kaede had also changed quite a bit from the beginning. It was probably because of Ernan.
“So, your answer?”
“...Discipline, being a senior, and such. I have no particular interest in those things.”
Click—
Kaede stiffened her expression and grabbed the hilt of her sword.
“I am a knight. If you give an order, I will simply follow it.”
Berje silently signaled to the elves who had returned after carrying Roger to the second floor.
A moment later, all the statues of the craftsmen were cleared away. Berje kindled a small flame.
When he threw it as it was, it devoured what had been Louise. Cold air and heat collided, releasing steam.
And within it.
“Wh-what is this...!”
Louise Berfht regained consciousness.
Her awareness had stopped in the garden of the annex palace. At the very moment, she was fighting the demon race that had deceived her.
The environment that had changed in an instant threw her into confusion.
However, she recognized reality. Far in the distance, there was the demonic being who had kidnapped her.
“This is your doing!”
Was it an illusion? Or a kidnapping?
It did not matter either way. She just had to kill him.
Her short legs kicked off the ground rapidly. A gigantic axe fell vertically, as if it would split the world apart.
────!
A powerful rebound force pushed her back two steps. Shards of bouncing aura slashed across her body.
Yet the demon race did not move an inch. A woman stood blocking her path.
A knight clad in well-forged armor, maintaining a sharp fighting spirit.
“And who are you?”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Louise Berfht. This is our first time meeting in person.”
“I asked who you are. No, never mind. If you are escorting a demon race, then you are just another demon race anyway....”
“Kaede Zespine. I am the 9th Imperial Princess of the Zespine Empire.”
“...An imperial princess?”
Louise’s brow twitched.
“...The imperial princess who was kidnapped by the Demon King of Dark Flame?”
“That is correct.”
“Then this place is?”
“The Tower of Dark Flame.”
“Then that bastard over there is?”
“Please refrain from calling him that. He is the Demon King of Dark Flame. Watch your language.”
So that meant she had been kidnapped by a Demon King.
It felt novel, as she had never expected that someone would dare kidnap her. Still, under the current circumstances, the fact that she had been kidnapped itself did not weigh very heavily.
“Why?”
“I do not follow the context.”
“Why is an imperial princess like you guarding that bastard Demon King?”
Kidnapping? Giving every possible benefit of the doubt, she could imagine a Demon King who had gone mad and decided to go all out.
After all, the Lust Demon King had done exactly that.
But no matter how hard she tried, she could not picture an imperial princess of an empire following a Demon King.
Perhaps she was dreaming. Perhaps she had been kidnapped by the Lust Demon King and was wandering through a succubus’s illusion.
Yes, that sounded more realistic. That woman had probably lost her tail and harbored resentment toward her.
“Everyone has circumstances of their own...ah.”
Kaede closed her mouth.
‘So I would end up saying these words.’
It was the answer Ernan had given when asked why she served the Demon King.
She could roughly guess how she must have felt. Louise Berfht was probably similar to how she herself had been back then.
Judging from her own experience, the most certain method was—
‘To clearly engrave her current situation into her.’
“Why did you stop mid-sentence?”
“Is there any need for further words? Setting aside my status as an imperial princess, I am currently the Demon King’s knight. If you wish to kill the Demon King and leave the tower, then defeat me.”
“The Demon King’s knight? What kind of nonsense is that....”
Louise hurriedly raised her axe. A sharp blade pierced through the space and struck the side of the axe.
“Is there any need to talk when we have such fine sword and axe?”
“...Does an imperial princess also resort to such cowardly acts?”
“Right now, I am a Dark Knight. And as a Dark Knight, I am stopping you.”
Therefore.
She would have to give it her all.
Berje confirmed the faint upward curve at the corner of Kaede’s lips.
‘Come to think of it....’
Since Kaede came to the tower, was this not almost her first proper real battle against an opponent of equal standing?
For some reason, she looked rather excited.
* * *
When people commonly described Kaede Zespine, they said she possessed the finest swordsmanship among the imperial family.
That the scope was limited to the imperial family alone might sound like a frog in a well, but one had to remember who those “imperials” were.
The Zespine Empire, the greatest and strongest nation on the continent.
From childhood, they not only consumed all kinds of elixirs, but were also taught by the finest talents gathered from across the continent.
And was that all? What they ultimately learned were the secret arts of the imperial family. With superior teachings, superior instructors, and superior foundations, running at the very front among them could not be described simply.
Such a woman took another step forward upon coming to the Demon King’s tower.
In the extreme environment where mana was scarce, her fine control over aura became even more precise and faster.
She had also witnessed, from close at hand, the summoning of a high-grade spirit, something rarely seen even once in a lifetime. The pure spirit mana absorbed at that time greatly helped her advance another step.
That was why Kaede was—
Strong.
────!
Golden aura danced.
The Tyrant Emperor’s sword strike pressed down upon the axe.
Louise retreated backward. The unresolved impact shook her physical body.
‘What is this...?’
In the blink of an eye, Kaede’s body moved again, cleaving through space like a bullet.
Power amplified by speed became overwhelming violence in itself.
─!
Both feet dug into the ground. Twisting muscles and the pain of screaming bones sublimated and burst out as a raw cry.
“You bitch!”
Louise poured more strength into the hand gripping her axe. She forcefully shook off the reverberating impact and swung the axe in a wide arc.
With a whooshing sound, a ferocious wind arose. Kaede stepped back once. Louise reset her stance.
And this time, she charged first.
She swung the axe. The brown-hued aura was so fierce it seemed capable of severing space itself.
Slash—she barely evaded the golden flash that twisted its way into her blind spot. The shallow wound that cut her skin was the price for the axe failing to fully reach its opponent.
─!
However, the sword that should have been elsewhere had already returned to its original position. Instead of splitting flesh and bone, the axe collided with the blade.
A clash of strength against strength. In a perfectly head-on contest, Kaede was pushed back two steps.
Ho.
Louise smiled for the first time.
That’s right. If I do this properly, there’s no way I’d lose in strength.
The small yet solid muscles of the dwarf stood out even more. Determined not to lose the momentum she had seized, she pressed after the retreating Kaede.
The secret art of the Berfht royal family drew brown trajectories. It surged like a storm, shattering everything.
She would grind her down just like this.
Facing the twisted smile, Kaede sharpened her senses even further.
The raging feast of axes was death that would take everything if she slipped even for a moment. However, that was all it was.
Kagagak—
Her sword moved. It collided with the axe, then deflected it away.
Once was chance, twice was inevitability, and three times was skill.
And when that continued, it became a gap.
The time it took for Louise’s smile to vanish was not very long.
The power contained within the axe increased even further, and the ground shattered all the more miserably from the backlash, yet it still could not harm Kaede.
And so.
At last.
──!
The axe slipped from its owner’s hand. Louise’s grip tore apart, staining it red. The sword blade, heated by the fierce exchange, plunged into the ground right beside the fallen Louise.
“It is over.”
Kaede calmly declared Louise’s defeat.
* * *
Clap clap clap clap—
“Excellent.”
Berje’s applause echoed through the now-quiet first floor.
‘Impressive.’
In truth, Kaede had not existed in the future before the regression. She had died in the Tower of Falsehood and never spread her wings.
Because of that, he had not expected her to perform to this extent.
‘Overwhelming Louise, who would rank among the very top even without being a hero?’
Strictly speaking, it was not quite overwhelming. But what did that matter? She never relinquished the upper hand, and when she was pushed back in strength, she instead pierced through the opening and ended it in a single stroke.
‘And on top of that, she is an imperial princess.’
Moreover, one closely tied to the 3rd Imperial Prince, who still had a chance at the throne.
Her value was dazzling beyond measure.
“Well done.”
“Thank you.”
“So, Louise Berfht.”
Berje crouched down and met the eyes of Louise, who was sprawled on the floor.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“....”
“You were kidnapped to the Demon King’s tower and defeated by my knight. You have two choices.”
“Choices?”
“Resist stubbornly, have your limbs bound, and rot in a dungeon until someone comes to save you, or become my subordinate and serve me.”
“You’re completely insane, aren’t you?”
Louise snorted.
“I don’t know how you persuaded that empty-headed bitch, but do you really think I’d serve someone like you?”
“Then you will rot in an underground prison for the rest of your life.”
“Ridiculous. Do you think the Berfht Kingdom will stay quiet? You’re finished.”
“Is that so?”
Without a word, Berje handed her a single sheet of paper.
“No matter how much of a ruffian princess you are, you’re still a dwarf. You can at least read that, can’t you?”
“...Insane. You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you?”
Louise burst into laughter. It was a blueprint. An absurd, impossible blueprint depicting something that should not exist.
“I will use that to step out of my original position. Then the heroes who come to save you will be left with nothing to show for it. Forever. Naturally, you will be locked in prison as well.”
“Do you really think this is possible?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, if you weren’t stupid, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place. Listen carefully. This is a golem! And one that’s over 20 meters tall!”
“And?”
“Even in the Berfht Kingdom, where magi-engineering is the most advanced, 10 meters is the limit. And you, a demon race who doesn’t even know the ‘ma’ in magi-engineering, what? You’re saying you’ll make a golem over 20 meters tall?”
“Of course, as a Demon King, I don’t know the ‘ma’ in magi-engineering. But I’m not the one making it. Dwarves like you are.”
“...Dwarves?”
“Isn’t the designer’s name written in the corner of that blueprint?”
‘Roger Friedrich.’
“...Roger?”
“How do you think I know about Roger?”
“...Roger is here?”
“I kidnapped him. And along with you, I kidnapped forty-nine dwarf craftsmen from the royal workshop. And that’s not all. Look around.”
Not far from where Kaede and Louise had clashed, piles of materials were stacked high.
“That is only the tip of the iceberg. Soon, even more materials will arrive, and all of them will become materials for the golem.”
“Ah, even so, making a golem is impossible.”
“The most important thing in a golem is the core. In the end, isn’t it because you can’t make that core that you’re stuck at a mere 10 meters?”
“Exactly. The core is the culmination of magi-engineering. Even if the entire kingdom throws itself at it, 10 meters is the limit. What do you think will change just because a mere fifty dwarves latch onto it?”
The royal workshop’s craftsmen and Roger were by no means insignificant, but regarding the creation of a core, it was, at a glance, a valid point. If it were something that could be done so easily, the golems of the Berfht Kingdom should have long since exceeded several tens of meters.
However.
“When did I ever say I would make the core? Is a core included in that blueprint?”
Louise examined the blueprint again. It was not there. Nowhere on it was there any mention of a core.
“What is this supposed to mean.”
“The core is this tower itself. The tower will serve as the power source on its own, so there is no need to make a core.”
“That can’t possibly be feasible....”
“The authority of the Demon Realm is supreme in the universe. It is not like those dwarves who shut themselves inside a single dimension and boast that they are the best.”
“....”
“At the very least, Roger saw the possibility. You know his skill better than anyone, don’t you? Didn’t you whine endlessly for him to make weapons for you?”
“....”
Louise did not answer. But anyone could see that she was desperately turning her thoughts over, considering the possibility.
“If you rot in prison for the rest of your life, you won’t be able to swing the axe you love. What was it, the axe? You’ll have to completely cut yourself off from exercise altogether.”
“T-that, muscle loss!”
“What in the world are you talking about now?”
Tch, clicking his tongue, Berje decided to offer her a carrot at this timing.
He spread all ten fingers.
“Ten years.”
“What?”
“If you become my subordinate, I’ll work you for exactly ten years and then release you. Isn’t it better to suffer briefly and enjoy freedom than to rot in prison for the rest of your life?”
“Lies! How can I trust the nonsense of a Demon King?”
“I swear upon the great First Demon Emperor and The Demon King’s Standard, as precious as my life.”
“The First Demon Emperor and the Standard...?”
“You know how precious those two are to us demons, and what symbols of trust they represent, don’t you?”
“....”
Silence settled in. It was quite some time later that Louise forced her mouth open.
“One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Roger. Let me have my way with Roger. That insolent bastard....”
“You must not inflict serious injuries or kill him. Ah, and you must not interfere with production either.”
“Got it.”
“But there is a price.”
“A price?”
“Eat while you listen. If you resist, the orb will shatter, so if you want to rot in prison for the rest of your life, go ahead and try something foolish.”
Berje handed over Armani’s Orb.
“Persuade the forty-nine craftsmen kidnapped along with you with your own hands.”
With a princess present, there was no need for him to do the persuading himself.
Especially when that princess was a crude ruffian who would smash heads first if people did not listen.
“...Alright.”
Louise frowned at the strange sensation as Armani’s Orb melted and was absorbed, then nodded.
* * *
“Demon King.”
“Hm?”
“Were the First Demon Emperor and the Standard really that light a matter?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“There was what Lady Ernan said, and the matter with Sir Roger just now, and also with Louise Berfht.”
Kaede’s eyes narrowed.
“Surely, you did not make promises to me as well without any meaning...?”
“That can’t be. You are my precious knight. I have no intention of breaking a promise made to my knight.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
“Truly, truly?”
“...Would you like some chocolate?”
“...Thank you.”
Sweet chocolate entered Kaede’s mouth. Her mood improved.
“...For now, I will believe you.”
“That’s my knight!”