Chapter 14: 14

The Demons I saw at the Demon King’s Castle ran rampant to save me. They seemed to recognize me even though I cast Camouflage on myself.

However, Eleris, who was also a demon, didn’t recognize me, before my real appearance was revealed.

What was the reason for that? I pondered while Eleris was away, but I didn’t come to an answer.

My ability to control demons was incomplete. That was the only guess I could make.

What Eleris bought were sandwiches and milk. She apologized to me for not having much to offer.

“I don’t have that much leeway…. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

As I ate gratefully, I tilted my head at the sudden thought I had.

“…Didn’t you just buy a Fireball Scroll for 4 gold?”

“Oh. Tha, that was….”

She told me that it was too dangerous for a kid like me to walk around carrying something like that and just threw a huge chunk of money at me.

“I just thought it would be dangerous for a child to carry something like this… I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

For a spy she was pretty sympathetic and compassionate. Was it fine to be so good-natured as a vampire? Was that how you spent all your money?

I took out the 4 gold coins I had stored and put them on the table.

“I don’t think I could spend so much anyway, so I’ll return it to you.”

“Oh, that, that’s…. Thanks.”

Anyway, I got a guardian who happened to be a high-ranking vampire now, so having all that money would seem pretty meaningless.

She was watching me eat with a sad expression on her face. What’s good is good. Because of her good natured personality, I gained a vampire protector. She could help me out in emergencies.

And.

That awkward mood still lingered.

There were some unknown emotions swiping over Eleris face when I told her that the Demon King was dead.

It clearly wasn’t anger at the loss of her master. It felt like relief.

Although I continued to eat casually, I didn’t stop thinking.

Eleris seemed happy that the Demon King died and about the fact that the Demon World War ended in the human’s victory.

So was this vampire a pacifist or something while still being a spy?

Or maybe she was influenced by the humans because she lived in Gardium for too long. Either way, this vampire was the kind of person who couldn’t even overlook a young boy like me carrying around a fireball scroll, even though she didn’t even know who I was.

And the emotions she showed while I was talking about the princess also felt like genuine sympathy and compassion.

She said, that she must have gone through so much hardship while still being so young.

This vampire hated war and felt joyous about its end.

I still didn’t know if she was happy about the war’s end or the human’s victory though.

She’s taking care of me for now, but her loyalty towards the Demon King had disappeared a long time ago.

So what was the surviving Demon Prince to those who hate war?

Wouldn’t he just be like the embers of a new war? Than it was obvious what her best choice would be if she wanted to avoid another war.

I see.

Beneath the hem of her robe, Eleris’ fingertips were trembling violently.

Maybe she just felt weak because of her exposure to the sun, but maybe she actually just made up her mind on something, but was too afraid to go through with it?

Fear of having to completely end the Demon World, her hometown, with her own hands. 

Disgust towards herself who was trying to kill the young and helpless me to prevent any more war from happening. 

I wonder if she was really thinking like that or if this was just my imagination.

“Your Highness.”

“Uh, ah…. Yes.”

“Have you really, really…. Lost your memories, all of them?”

When Eleris asked me this with a trembling voice, I was almost certain of what she was trying to do.

“Yeah, I don’t remember anything but who I was. I don’t even know why this happened and I believe I definitely wasn’t cursed or possessed.”

“……”

“Well, whatever. Not that searching for my memories would change anything.”

I didn’t know if these words would reassure her or not.

“I’ve only gone through it for one day, but war sure is crazy.”

At these words, an indescribable joy flashed across Eleris’ face.

“The, then, ah, no! You are the master of the Demon Realm and the hope of all demons! You must have a strong heart and rebuild the Demon Realm and raise it up again…!”

She was trying really hard to say things she didn’t mean or stood behind.

“The Demon Realm has already fallen.”

“……”

“I neither intend to be the king of a country that doesn’t exist.”

Let’s drive it home.

“Nor should you act like the subject of a country that doesn’t exist.”

“…….”

At these words, tears fell from the vampire’s eyes.

She proved her innocence by crying.

There was a time when novels like that dominated my childhood.

But vampires were able to cry in this world, huh?

After saying, that she was sorry for her behavior, Eleris went down to the first floor and didn’t come up for a while. It didn’t seem like what I said had any negative impact on her.

* * *

That night.

I lay in bed. Eleris said she’d watch over me, so she sat down on a chair by my bed, looking out the window from where some moonlight was pouring in.

It was said that Vampires were the nobles of the night.

She was really pretty.

I was looking at Eleris, who shone paley in the moonlight.

“Your Highness.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“.…… I’m sorry, but I can’t call you anything else.”

Eleris said so and kept talking without looking at me.

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“You should never tell anyone else what you told me today.”

“There’s no reason to. If I were to say these things, I’d reveal that I’m a demon.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

That’s not why, Eleris said powerfully.

“Excluding me, there are two other infiltrators that have infiltrated Gardium.”

Yes.

That’s exactly what I expected, because she told me it was an Infiltration group.

“You will inevitably get to know the other two as well. It would be unacceptable for them if Your Highness continued hiding away from the world.”

“Who are they?”

“Count Argon Pontheus. And then there’s the one known as Irene’s Wild Dog.”

“One of them is a noble?”

Wasn’t that way more than a spy?

“Yes. He was the one who directly carried out the abduction of the princess and the empress.”

When I heard that it was him who kidnapped the princess, I flinched. Naturally, the demons here must have carried out the abduction themselves.

But it felt strange to think that the one who did it was someone like him and that he’d definitely be someone loyal to the Demon Realm.

I felt like I was faced with the uncomfortable truth that I was, after all, nothing more than her parents’ enemy to Charlotte.

“Count Pontheus’ real name is Sarkegaar. He’s of the Dreadfiend race.”

Fiends belonged to the demon tribe. Fiends were a sub-species of demons. But I didn’t know what a Dreadfiend was.

Why did I get sent into my novel, only to find mostly things I didn’t know about?”

“Could you elaborate?”

“Dreadfiends are basically demons who specialize in transformation magic, including counter magic. That’s why he was able to fool the humans’ eyes and penetrate into the aristocratic society, the heart of Gardias. He wasn’t detected not because of the level of his transformation, but because he changed his race itself. You can think of them as being able to use abilities similar to Polymorph, one of the highest level magic spells, from birth.”

There were many types of transformation magic. There was camouflage, which was a low-level magic spell. It was the one I used. Then there was the method of creating optical illusions with illusion magic, and the method of transforming for a short period.

However, polymorph was a highest level spell that could change one’s very body structure. This kind of magic couldn’t be lifted by using Detection or Dispel.

Dreadfiends could use abilities similar to that polymorph from birth. All this would have been much easier if I had turned into that kind of demon.

“He’s absolutely loyal to the Demon King. Not only would he go to war, he would be willing to sacrifice even his soul if it meant he could rebuild the Demon Realm.”

Weren’t Fiends usually in the position of stealing souls? How loyal was he?

“So if he came to know that I wasn’t interested in rebuilding the Demon Realm… it’d cause some real problems, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t think it would be to that level, but he’d try to make Your Highness want to.”

“He won’t kill me?”

“You’re the last Arcdemon. Without you, the Demon Realm cannot be rebuilt. So he will try to change your mind somehow.”

Were Arcdemons such an important race? Right now, I was just a kid who couldn’t do anything on his own.

“What if I still don’t change my mind, then what?”

Eleris looked at me and smiled. Then she put her hand on my head. She had a low body temperature, but it felt good in its own way.

“Even if it means destroying everything you love, he will do it.”

I had just arrived in this world, but Sarkegaar would do everything except kill me to make me the next Demon King.

“For now, please just go along with him. And it won’t be too late to use your hand when you built up enough strength to overwhelm Sarkegaar.”

“.…Yes, well. Let’s do that.”

“He’s also very competent. He’ll be able to help Your Highness in a lot more ways than I’m capable of.”

First of all, he was a spy, but he was also a noble. Sarkegaar is, after all, a loyalist. He wouldn’t do anything that could cause me harm.

Actually, the most dangerous person to me was Eleris before I told her I wasn’t interested in war. It seemed like Eleris was trying to kill me, though she looked like she wouldn’t want to do that anymore. 

“Wait, just out of curiosity, if I became the actual Demon King after going along with what he said, what would you do?”

“..… I don’t know about that.”

Eleris sighed with a bitter smile.

“When that time comes, you’ll have to choose between me or Sarkegaar.”

“…….”

Perhaps killing me now would be her best option to burn the roots of war, but Eleris didn’t seem like she was able to do that.

“You have to grow up to be good, Your Highness.”

“…I will try.”

I couldn’t believe that I was hearing these things from a Vampire.

“So what is that Irene’s Wild Dog?”

What was with that creepy nickname? Irene’s Wild Dog?  Were they trying to seem cool? She scratched her cheek slightly.

“They….. There are illegal gangs in Gardium committing crimes in various places…… Something like that…… Irene’s Wild Dog is the head of one such gang.”

“……The demon sent as a spy became a gangster?”

What kind of dog was he supposed to be again?

Eleris wore an awkward smile showing her dumbfoundedness.

“Strictly speaking, rather than being a gang… They are just some people that stuck together. It’s just that it’s inevitable for violence to occur because they are together.”

“.…Isn’t that a gang?”

“What should I call this….”

Eleris seemed even more hesitant than when she was talking about Sarkegaar.

“That’s how one turns out if the only thing one’s good at is fighting.”

Whatever it is, if the guy who’s going to help me is the head of a big organization, what was the harm in that? Eleris sighed deeply and muttered openly.

“They’re… a beggar.”

“..…What?”

“The gang members are usually selling candies or something to people walking along the Irene River…. In fact, that’s how they also earned our funds for our activity….”

…Isn’t this solicitng?

So the guy who was sent to Garnium by the demons became the head of an organization. And that’s also what they earned their activity funds? What kind of spy was that guy? Was this the medival version of the Beggars’ Sect?

Ah.

Irene’s Wild Dog.

It wasn’t just a chuuni name, but literally described them.

They were the abandoned dogs found at the Han river!

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