A Useful Princess
Berze personally confirmed that Granada had successfully become a member of the Red Hawk Mercenary Corps.
Although bound by contract, the fact that a reliable subordinate had now infiltrated human society satisfied him.
'This is only the beginning.'
Granada and the Red Hawk Mercenary Corps would flourish under his support.The mercenary corps' growth would mirror Granada's own growth—and the elf who grew in this way would become a dagger for the days to come.
A poison-soaked blade aimed at the backs of humans and heroes.
'One thing is resolved.'
After descending into Arein, Berze had devised three major approaches for conquering the dimension.
Becoming the mastermind behind the scenes.Growing stronger himself.Strengthening the tower and his domain.
The tower and domain could only be enhanced through Magi Points, so that was impossible for now.However, lifting the dimensional interference did not necessarily require Magi Points.
'Elixirs.'
Herbs or elixir pills saturated with the dimension's mana. Their nature differed from Magi, but the tower could convert mana into Magi.
Their purity was inferior to emotions or Magi Points, but having them was still far better than having nothing.
'I'll have to do the legwork myself.'
The farther Berze went from the tower—which suppressed interference even slightly—the heavier the burden placed on him.
The tower had only just been erected, and its range was extremely narrow.Searching for elixirs in the vast snowy mountains would be no easy task.
Even so, it had to be done.He could not entrust everything to Granada.
'Granada is ultimately support. If I am weak, nothing matters.'
No matter how he tried to stop them, the heroes would eventually come knocking on the tower's door.Someone would have to face them.
And Berze hoped that someone would be himself.
With his own hands.With his own strength.He wanted to personally crush those insects' necks.To roar that he had returned to the bastards who mocked him and killed him.
It was then.
"······."
His steps toward the city's north gate came to a sudden halt.
A damp, sinister gaze pricked the back of his neck.
Someone was following him. Watching him.
Who?
Who would dare… follow him?
Berze resumed walking—slowly, yet swiftly—turning into a deserted alley.
'Did they notice?'
The shadow tailing Berze hesitated.The alley swallowed in darkness felt like the maw of a dragon.
His instincts warned him.
'I've definitely been spotted. I should retreat and wait for another—'
"The sound of you scheming is far too loud."
"······!"
A cold killing intent froze the shadow's spine.
He clenched his teeth.
Swish—
A beast's claws sliced through the air as his muscles burst through his clothes.
The moment he realized his attack had failed, he hurled himself away. A nearby rooftop cracked under the force.
"A beast-man, hm."
Berze snapped his fingers toward the demonkin rapidly fleeing.
Fwoom—
A black flame shot forward in a straight line.
"Guh···!"
The beast-man twisted his muscles, forcibly contorting his body midair. Yet the flame bent like a living creature and swallowed him.
Engulfed in fire, the beast-man instantly unleashed his Magi. It would leave traces, but he had no room to care about that now.
His Magi scattered the lingering embers.
However—
"I'll praise you for shaking off the flame. For a mere beast, your head works better than expected."
That brief moment was enough for Berze to close the distance.
BOOM!
A massive hand clamped around the beast-man's throat.
They crashed through the roof, smashing through five floors before slamming into the ground.The beast-man writhed in agony.
'H–How? Even if he's a Demon King, dimensional interference should've weakened him···!'
He himself had descended into Arein long ago and had regained much of his original strength.Yet what was this overwhelming difference?
"W-Why are you doing this?"
"Don't worry. I won't bother asking who you are. It's obvious, isn't it?"
"I—I was just passing by!"
"Right. And I was just in a foul mood. You glared at the Demon King and tried to run away, ruining that mood. Isn't that reason enough to punish you?"
"T-That's unreasonable!"
Crack—
The grip on his neck tightened. Bloodshot veins spread across the beast-man's eyes.
"Is it? Power makes the unreasonable reasonable."
"If—If you do this, Lord Draxon will—"
"If you wanted to hide it, you should've hidden it to the end.Have your brains turned into beast meat as well?"
Not that it changed anything.
"I'll let you live—for now."
His mood was foul, but openly opposing Draxon at this moment wasn't wise.
The pressure on the beast-man's neck loosened.The moment he exhaled in relief, both of his arms snapped.
"Graaahhhh!"
"But I can't let you walk away without paying any price. Go tell Draxon this: I am not a debtor who owes him money, so I have no reason to care for his attention."
Berze tossed the limp beast-man somewhere out of sight.
Then he leapt over the city wall and headed toward the mountains.
'More direct than I expected.'
It had likely been a simple surveillance attempt, but it left a filthy taste.And now he was certain: whatever he did, Draxon would interfere.
'I must reduce dimensional interference as quickly as possible.'
Combat between Demon Kings was forbidden, but loopholes existed.He could not trust that Draxon wouldn't use such methods.
In such a situation, the only thing worth relying on was his own strength.
His eyes cooled.
The Ergest Mountain Range was vast and immense.
Its height and harshness were unmatched anywhere on the continent, so humans and other intelligent species did not even dare set foot there.
Naturally, monsters took over the empty territory, and the untouched mana of the environment grew increasingly pure.
Plants that sprouted absorbed nature's mana and became spirit herbs.
Animals that ate them became spirit beasts.
One human mage once described the Ergest Mountain Range like this:
"A treasury of elixirs."
Guarded, however, by a brutal environment and countless monsters.
If one did not wish to spend Magi Points immediately, this was the easiest way to reduce interference.
The problem was that "easy" didn't mean "simple."Finding them was still exceedingly difficult.
"The farther we get from the tower, the stronger the interference becomes.And the worse the mountain weather, the weaker the tower's influence grows.It is dangerous."
Gordon's objections were reasonable.
In a place like Ergest, a blizzard wasn't a mere natural disaster—it was a storm made of mana.
Like how fire cannot burn in the rain, the chaos of mana would weaken the tower's function.
And just because he was a Demon King didn't mean monsters would not attack him.Unless subdued completely, they merely avoided him out of instinctive fear.If he appeared even slightly weak, they would bite his throat without hesitation.
"Most importantly, there is no guarantee we will find anything.The mountains are enormous."
"That is a problem, yes—but if we keep searching, we'll find something eventually.It's far better than doing nothing at all."
"Well, that's true, but···."
At that moment—
Knock, knock—
The door opened slightly. A tiny face peeked in through the narrow gap.
"Um··· are you busy?"
"What is it?"
"It's just that···."
In that instant, a spirit popped up above her head, revealing its presence.
"······."
Berze and Gordon let out quiet exclamations at the same time.
The answer had been close all along.
The spirit—more sensitive to mana than anyone—was the solution.
"I'm really looking forward to this."
The princess wore a smile that didn't quite fit the situation.
"I was a little—no, maybe a lot?—bored."
She had borrowed someone else's hand to throw off the burdens she had longed to escape, and that alone made her happy.
Being kidnapped and yet not harmed had been a stroke of luck.
But after spending weeks doing nothing, in a place with nothing, her gratitude turned to boredom, and her boredom turned to curiosity.
Even she had heard certain rumors as a princess.
"That the Beast Demon King stuffs kidnapped princesses into animal cages."
Or—
"That the Frost Demon King turns every captured prince into an ice statue."
Or—
"That the Demon King of Lies treats kidnapped princes and princesses with the utmost luxury."
If not any of those, then at least stories like this:
To Demon Kings, princes and princesses were bait to lure in heroes, or valuable hostages to negotiate with.
Good methods or bad, they were supposed to exploit them somehow.
Yet the Demon King before her had not once touched her. He hadn't even visited her.
Naturally, curiosity rose within her—but she quickly pushed it away.
'No matter what, he's still a Demon King···.'
If he left her alone, she should simply be grateful.
But the sudden gift of limitless free time, to someone buried daily under crushing duties and expectations, was instead a torment.
She wanted to do something—anything—but she was still a hostage.
'I feel like it would be fine to decorate this place however I want.'
What caught her eye was the empty fourth floor. She wanted to turn that barren space into a playground for her spirits.
She had boldly knocked on the door.It was a reckless act, but she could no longer endure the crushing boredom.
Her heart pounded painfully with tension—yet the result she received was completely unexpected.
"Bundle up tight."
She wrapped herself thoroughly in the thick fur coat he handed her. He had gone down to the nearby city recently and bought it.
"Please keep your promise."
"Letting you decorate the fourth floor however you like? If you can find an elixir, I'll allow it as much as you want."
When he first heard her say it, Berze thought she'd gone insane.
'Even if I've been lenient, she wants to decorate the Demon King's tower?'
A mere human?
But instead of scolding her, he accepted it.For now, he had no resources to make the tower grow anyway.
Besides, she wanted something from him, and he wanted something from her.It was better to get what both sides wished for through an exchange.
The tower doors opened.For Ernan, it was the first time in weeks seeing the outside.The cold wind and scattered snow stung, but it felt refreshing.
The water spirit cheered.The fire spirit shrank its size and slipped into her clothes.
"I'm probably the first person to roam the upper parts of Ergest Mountain."
"I don't care. Listen carefully, princess. What you need to do is—"
"Ernan."
"······?"
"Please call me Ernan. We'll be seeing each other for a while, so isn't that better?"
Berze's face twisted.
He had let her loose too much—had she gone mad?
"You keep forgetting your place··· if you want me to move you to a dungeon, I can arrange that immediately."
"······."
She didn't answer. Her face paled at the faint killing intent.
Berze withdrew his pressure and strode outside the tower.
"What you must do is simple.Use your spirits to find places where mana is densely concentrated."
For spirit herbs to grow, a special location saturated with mana was needed.Finding a broad area of concentrated mana would be easier than locating the specific, tiny plants themselves.
"Okay."
Ernan sent out the water spirit and the wind spirit.
"I found one."
"······?"
Meanwhile, while Berze and Ernan were searching for spirit herbs—
A message arrived from Granada.
『News from the Information Guild.』
『The hero, Hillen Cargill, along with 32 other heroes, departed from the royal capital of Hildean and have begun marching north.』
『They are expected to proceed with a typical hero's expedition, and their strength is predicted to continue increasing.』
Gordon bit his lip.
"I was hoping it would be delayed as long as possible···."
At last, the heroes had begun to move.