Ch. 154
Chapter 154: At Last
No.
Absolutely not.
Although there had been no direct mention, anyone who had watched Berje Deias and Ernan Hilderan in the Demon King’s Tower would unanimously say the same thing.
That a strange current flowed between the two of them.
One might ask how such a thing could make sense between a Demon King and a kidnapped human princess, but in Hillan’s view, Berje Deias and Ernan Hilderan were, to begin with, people who made no sense when compared to ordinary Demon Kings and princesses.
What Demon King in the world would think of accepting a princess as a subordinate, and what princess in the world would immediately accept it and become one of the Four Heavenly Kings?
It takes two hands clapping together to make a sound.
‘And now you’re telling me to marry Ernan Hilderan?’
The Demon King would become enraged.
Ernan Hilderan would become enraged.
‘I hate humans who covet what belongs to me.’
‘I feel the same way, Demon King. To think he’d dare believe he could stand beside me. Shall I kill him?’
‘I’ll tear off his limbs and throw his neck to an ogre as feed.’
‘That’s a good idea.’
The image of the Demon King and the princess smiling brightly as they dismantled him came unbidden to mind.
But more than anything else, Hillan himself hated the idea. No matter that she was a Crown Princess, he would pass on such a cra… no, such a strange princess.
Sensing the change in Hillan’s complexion, the king’s face hardened.
“It seems you don’t like my proposal.”
“N-no, that’s not it. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“Shouldn’t we also hear Her Highness the Crown Princess’s intentions?”
“There’s no need for that. What’s necessary is only your intention.”
Or else—
“Are you saying you refuse?”
“I lack the qualifications.”
“If the one who killed two Demon Kings lacks qualifications, then my daughter will have to grow old and die alone?”
“That is a matter for Her Highness the Princess to decide, not me.”
“I see.”
The king clicked his tongue.
No matter what, he could not openly oppress Hero Hillan Cargill.
This was different from the time he had retrieved Ernan before. Back then, the kingdom had justification. This time, it did not.
Fortunately, Hillan Cargill had left room for possibility himself, so all the king could do was hold him to that.
“I hope you can take responsibility for what you’ve said.”
“Of course.”
Hillan nodded vigorously, letting out a sigh of relief.
He was certain. There was no way Ernan would ever give her permission.
* * *
In the Berfht Kingdom, the king of the dwarves who lived in an underground city could not suppress the surging anger within him.
The report was torn to shreds.
“Are you saying they’re truly nowhere to be found?!”
The kidnapped craftsmen and Louise Berfht. The dwarves believed the culprit to be the Lust Demon King.
She was the only Demon King who would have any use for craftsmen. It was obvious she would bear a grudge against Louise Berfht.
From that moment on, the Berfht Kingdom planned a hero’s march to rescue the princess and the craftsmen.
Envoys were sent to every nation to request cooperation, and promises of dwarf-made equipment trade were offered. An enormous sum was paid as sponsorship to the Hero Guild.
Hilderan, Hessen, and Arkan promised their cooperation, and the Hero Guild, in place of Daphne Phillian, decided to dispatch the newly rising star, Watton Colo.
Everything proceeded smoothly.
Unlike other places, it was a pirate archipelago crawling with pirates, but with the naval fleets of Arkan and Hessen agreeing to assist, the death of Lust was almost inevitable.
And yet, suddenly, the tower collapsed.
They should have rejoiced. But they could not.
Because not a single trace was found in the collapsed tower.
Not the forty-nine craftsmen.
Not Louise Berfht.
Not the belongings they carried, not even a single strand of hair.
It was unbelievable.
Normally, when a Demon King died, the tower collapsed. And all those imprisoned within it were freed.
The demon race members and monsters who had not died scattered in all directions, and the captives were released from their prisons.
That was the norm. It should have been the same this time as well.
“Just where, just where did they go?!”
But it was not so.
“Your Majesty, perhaps they were kidnapped by the pirates of the Seratin Archipelago.”
“Kidnapped again?”
“The very location where the tower stood was pirate territory. And it is no secret that pirates covet the craftsmen of the mainland.”
In fact, the troop detachment sent this time to find the princess had also suffered some damage from pirate attacks.
“But no matter how much they are pirates, do you truly believe they could kidnap Louise without a sound?”
“But otherwise, it makes no sense. If they had come to the continent on their own from the Seratin Archipelago, traces should have been found in Arkan, Dormunt, or Hessen. They are fifty dwarves. If that many moved together, there’s no way nothing would be left behind.”
Unless they never crossed over at all.
At those words, the king swallowed a groan. In truth, everyone present thought the same. They simply did not want to dwell on it.
Because if the pirates truly had kidnapped them, rescuing the princess and the craftsmen would be nearly impossible.
The pirates of the Seratin Archipelago were cockroach-like bastards whom even Arkan and Dormunt had failed to subjugate.
No matter how much Berfht promised unlimited dwarf-made equipment, what nation would willingly step into a swamp-like war?
They waged guerrilla warfare using their geographical advantage, and no matter how many were killed, they sprang back up like weeds.
“…Has there still been no response from the Golden Moon Merchant Company?”
“They replied that they themselves had purchased them through someone else. However, that person never revealed who they were to the very end.”
“Apply pressure to the Kingdom of Iasince.”
“Yes.”
It was suspicious. Far too suspicious.
And yet the reason they could not forcibly dig deeper to the end was that it could escalate into a diplomatic issue with the Kingdom of Iasince, and because they did not truly believe that they would have kidnapped dwarves and a princess.
They could only guess that some hero was involved, and that this hero was a heavyweight whom even the Golden Moon Merchant Company had to devote considerable effort to.
“What about the possibility that Hillan Cargill was involved?”
“There is none. Hillan Cargill was actively participating in high society in the royal capital of Hilderan at the time. And if it were him, wouldn’t there be no reason to hide it?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Above all, what mattered now was not who had killed the Lust Demon King and taken her horn.
It was the princess and the craftsmen who could not be seen even though the tower had vanished.
“So it truly is those pirate bastards.”
“They must be wiped out to the last.”
“That’s right. We must make them thoroughly realize the price of daring to lay hands on dwarves.”
The ministers began to seethe one by one.
“They are none other than craftsmen of the royal workshop. If the nation cannot protect them, who will trust the kingdom!?”
“The pride of the dwarves has been stolen. Unless we take it back, the pride of the race cannot survive.”
“Your Majesty, if a precedent of lukewarm action is left behind, humans will look down on dwarves.”
“Subjugate the pirates!”
“Subjugate the pirates!”
The ministers bowed their heads deeply.
Faced with their hardline stance, the king opened his mouth.
“It is not that I do not wish to do so as well. However, the pirate archipelago is their fortress, one that has never once been subjugated.”
“There is no need to completely exterminate them. We only need to make such a gesture so that they lower their tails first.”
“Give them a sense of crisis? You’re suggesting we use a method we’re good at.”
“Yes. Are there not those who wish to eliminate pirates even more than we do?”
The world called them the Kingdom of Dormunt, the Magitech Kingdom of Arkan, and the Kingdom of Hessen.
“You must promise support of mana cannons and craftsmen. Hundreds—no, thousands—of mana cannons must be pledged, and craftsmen must be dispatched to reinforce their warships. We must help them with total commitment, to a degree that has never existed before and will never exist again.”
Only then would a nation appear that was willing to step into the quagmire called pirate subjugation.
“And the mana cannons and weapons technology that will leak out in the process?”
“We must bear it. With time and effort, technology can be surpassed again. But trust and honour, once lost, are difficult to restore.”
“…You are right.”
The king closed his eyes briefly and sank into thought. The ministers were right. Yet it was also undeniable that they were being too emotional.
No matter that this was directly tied to the kingdom’s honour and the safety of its people, waging war against them was like sinking into a swamp.
The enemy was a pirate force that had already withstood subjugation attempts many times. No matter how much support was given, a perfect suppression was impossible, and unless they grew frightened first and raised the white flag, it would be no different from sinking into a deep mire.
The safety of the princess and the craftsmen would only sink further into uncertainty.
‘If they were to die…’
He might truly go mad.
That small, adorable child…
Not provoking the pirates might be a better way to keep her alive. But he was a king, and he could not decide everything based on personal feelings.
“…Very well. But do not limit it to a single nation, and rather than simple support, proceed in the direction of technological partnerships and exchanges.”
If one could not have it, then no one else should either—that was human sentiment.
There were plenty across the continent who would not want Berfht’s weapons and technologies flowing only into the Kingdom of Arkan.
Especially the Empire. If they decided to interfere, the Berfht Kingdom itself would be placed at risk. Therefore, a solid breakwater had to be built.
“Send envoys to the kingdoms adjacent to the Seratin Archipelago. Dormunt, Hessen, and Arkan as well.”
“Yes.”
“You should pay particular attention to Arkan. Question them about the Demon King’s horn, and obtain even the smallest clue. Officially, it was said to have been acquired through the Golden Moon Merchant Company, but there is a strong possibility that Arkan is also involved.”
“Yes, I will obey your command.”
“Draft the details carefully. Under no circumstances should the kingdom suffer losses.”
“Yes. I will do my utmost.”
Two days later, the dwarven kingdom’s delegation departed for the three kingdoms.
* * *
“At last, the time has come!”
Balraf Dislode, who had taken the role of commander of the hero force, climbed onto the podium.
Looking down at the five hundred members, he slowly opened his mouth.
“The Demon King of Dark Flame is different from the Demon Kings of the past. He erected his tower in the treacherous land of Ergest, obstructing our search and blocking us from the outside rather than from within the tower.”
“We suffered enormous losses merely in the process of searching for the tower, and our proud star, Daphne Phillian, died.”
“He was a new type of Demon King, unlike any before.”
His voice carried no rise or fall, remaining calm. Precisely because of that, it struck the members’ hearts even more deeply.
“Ernan Hilderan. He kidnapped the Crown Princess of Hilderan.”
“Kaede Zespine. He kidnapped Her Highness the Empire’s Ninth Princess.”
“Ellena Hilderan. He kidnapped the Thirteenth Princess of Hilderan.”
“No Demon King had ever kidnapped those with rights of succession. We humans, made it so. Yet the Demon King of Dark Flame shattered that unspoken rule.”
“He trampled and toyed with everything we achieved over a thousand years. Hiding his tower, mocking us, and ravaging the continent!”
And we—
“Had no choice but to watch! Because we could not find the tower, because we did not know where it was!”
But now, that was no longer the case.
“Through the sacrifice of Daphne Phillian, we found the tower! The time has come to punish that vicious Demon King who does not even have the courage to reveal his tower openly!”
Sring—
Balraf Dislode drew his sword. The pure white blade reflected the sunlight.
“We will!”
“Behead that vicious Demon King who toyed with humanity and ravaged the continent, and proclaim that justice yet lives upon this continent!”
Waaaaaah—
“March out!”
Thus began the hero’s march of a 512-strong hero force, led by Commander Balraf Dislode, with Vice-Commanders Gillian Aint and Aina Diaphrin, and even the newly risen star, Watton Colo.
It was an unprecedented hero force composed entirely of heroes, containing four stars.
And it was the Empire’s and the Emperor’s desperate resolve to kill the Demon King of Dark Flame without fail.
* * *
“Demon King! It’s finally complete!”
A pure white snowfield where blizzards fell.
A single dwarf leapt about, cheering in delight.