漫画大王

Chapter 14

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but this is all I could afford in my current financial situation...”

I thanked Eleris while I ate, then a sudden thought came into my head that made me tilt my head.

“Wait... didn’t you offer to buy my Fireball scroll for four gold just now?”

“Oh, uh... well...”

‘Weren’t you willing to give a big sum of money to a teenage kid just because the scroll was “dangerous” to carry around a moment ago...?’

“I thought that it might be dangerous for a child to carry such a thing... My apologies, Your Highness.”

Huh. This spy was more sympathetic and compassionate than one would expect. Was it even possible for a vampire to have such an overly kind nature that they’d go to such lengths, even at the cost of sacrificing a large amount of money?

I took out the four gold I’d put aside and placed it on the table.

“I probably won’t need to use this myself, so I’ll return them to you.”

“Ah, well... yes... Your Highness.”

Anyway, I now had a guardian—an elite vampire, you could say—which was something I hadn’t expected. With her around, the money didn’t seem to matter anymore.

She watched me eating with a pitiful expression. It was nice to finally have something good happen to me. My protector was clearly a vampire with an excessively kind nature, and she might be willing to assist me in times of crisis.

However, I still felt a lingering sense of unease.

Eleris hadn’t reacted with anger of despair when I told her that the Demon King was dead. In fact, she seemed to have felt some kind of relief.

I continued to think as I casually ate.

Eleris seemed to be pleased that the Demon King was dead and that the Great War had ended in humanity’s favor.

Perhaps this vampire was a spy but also a pacifist? Or maybe she’d spent too long in Gradium and had been influenced by humans and their ideas. Either way, all I knew was that this vampire had a pure and kind personality, so much so that she wasn’t willing to let a teenage kid she didn’t know at all carry a Fireball scroll around with him.

Additionally, she had expressed compassion when I’d spoken about the princess, and was genuinely sympathetic to her plight. She’d even said that she couldn’t imagine how much the princess would’ve suffered.

This vampire hated the Great War and was happy that it was over.

What was unclear was whether she was happy simply because the war had ended, or because the humans had won.

It was true that she was taking care of me right now, but it was certain that her loyalty to the Demon King had long vanished.

What could the Demon Prince mean to a person who despised the Great War? Perhaps she thought that the prince was going to be the catalyst that would spark a new war. In that case, it was obvious what her best course of action was, in order to prevent another war.

I observed Eleris carefully.

I could see her fingertips trembling violently under her robe. Perhaps it was because she was weakened by her exposure to sunlight, but it could also be that she had made some kind of decision, and was feeling nervous about acting upon it.

The fear of having to completely end the Demon Realm with her own hands. The massive amount of self-loathing she would have to face for having to kill a young boy just to stop the next war.

Could she be having such thoughts, or was it just my misunderstanding?

“Your Highness.”

“Uh, um... yes?”

“Have you truly, truly... lost all of your memories?” she asked, her voice trembling, and that made me almost certain of what she intended to do next.

“Yeah, I don’t remember anything, except who I am. I don’t even know why I became like this. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a curse or magic, though.”

“...”

I wasn’t sure if my next words would reassure her, but I said them anyway.

“But still, regaining my memories wouldn’t change the fact that I hate wars. Because even though I’ve only experienced the war for one day, I think it’s pure madness, and I would never want to see another one happen, ever.”

Upon hearing my words, joy and relief flashed across Eleris’s face.

“N-no... That... That’s not good! Your Highness, you are the ruler of the Demon Realm and the last hope of all demons! You must have a strong determination to rebuild the Demon Realm and fight for our honor again!”

‘Wow, couldn’t you be more serious? I can tell you don’t mean a single word you just said.’

“The Demon Realm is finished.”

“... ”

“I have no intention of being the king of a non-existent kingdom.”

To be sure, I drove the point home.

“So you shouldn’t act like a loyal servant of a non-existent kingdom either.”

“...”

Upon hearing my words, tears welled up in the vampire’s eyes.

‘Yes, cry and prove that you’re truly pure and naive.’

There was a time when novels about vampires dominated my childhood, but the vampires in this world seemed capable of crying.

Eleris apologized for her display of emotion and went downstairs for a while.

It didn’t seem like my words had a negative impact on her, though.

***

That night, I lay in bed to go to sleep. Eleris was beside me, sitting in a chair by the bed, gazing out the window through which the moonlight streamed in. She seemed determined to watch over me.

Vampire, aristocrat of the night, or whatever you want to call it. I didn’t really know what it meant, but Eleris was undeniably beautiful in the moonlight.

I found myself gazing at the pale, moonlit figure of Eleris.

“Your Highness.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“...I apologize, but I can’t address you any other way.”

Eleris continued to speak without looking at me.

“What you’ve told me tonight must never be brought up elsewhere.”

“Of course, there’s no reason to. Talking about it would reveal that I’m a demon.”

“No, that’s not the point,” Eleris asserted, emphasizing that it wasn’t what she meant. “There are two other infiltrators in Gradium, besides me.”

Right. I remembered distinctly hearing that infiltrators came in as groups, so it made sense.

“Your Highness, the other two will inevitably find out about you as well. It’s impossible to hide you from their eyes while I’m watching over you.”

“What kind of people are they?”

“Count Argon Pontius and Hound of Irine are the other two.”

“Hold on. One of them is a noble?”

‘Isn’t that far too much for just an ordinary spy?’

“Yes. He’s the one who executed the operation to abduct the princess and the empress of the human kingdom.”

When I heard the words “abduct the princess,” my spine shuddered. Of course, I knew that the demons had performed such abductions, but knowing that the executor was going to be loyal to me left me with a peculiar feeling.

It felt as if I had now become Charlotte’s worst enemy.

“Count Pontius’s real name is Sarkegar. He is a demon of the devil race known as the dreadfiends.”

A demon that belongs to the devil race. Devils were a subcategory, a lower-tier race amongst the demons. However, I had no idea what a dreadfiend was.

Why had I entered my own novel’s world, only to discover things I knew nothing about?

“Could you explain in more detail?”

“Dreadfiends specialize in shapeshifting magic, including basic face-shifting abilities. As such, Count Pontius was able to deceive the eyes of the humans and infiltrate as far in as the heart of Gradius’s aristocratic society. They are so skilled at transformation that they don’t just disguise themselves on a superficial level, but fundamentally become the race they are imitating, which is why they remain undetected. In other words, you can think of them as having a power similar to one of the highest forms of magic, polymorph, right from birth.”

There were numerous types of transformation magic and tricks with similar effects in this world. There was the low-level spell I wrote about, camouflage, which used illusion magic to create hallucinations, and even ways to completely transform for a short amount of time.

However, the polymorph spell was the highest-level spell that could completely change one’s appearance, and could not be revealed by any detect or dispel spells.

Dreadfiends had a similar ability to polymorph right from birth.

Man, I wish I’d spawned into that race; things would have been much easier.

“He is absolutely loyal to the Demon King. Not only is he aggressive and enthusiastic, but he would even dedicate his soul if it meant rebuilding the Demon Realm.”

Weren’t demons usually the ones that take souls? How loyal was this guy?

“So, if he finds out that I’m not actually interested in rebuilding the Demon Realm... that’ll be a pretty big deal, right?”

“It’s not just that. He’ll try to manipulate your thoughts and turn you into someone who does care about the Demon Realm somehow.”

“But he won’t try to kill me, right?”

“Your Highness, you are the last Archdemon alive. Without you, the Demon Realm cannot be rebuilt. So, he’ll do anything to try to change your mind.”

Were Archdemons such an important race? I mean, as of now, I seemed to be a completely useless teenage boy.

“What’s he going to do if I don’t change my mind?”

Eleris looked at me and smiled, then placed her hand on my head. Her body felt cold, but it felt good in its own way.

“He will do anything to change your mind, even if it means destroying everything you love, Your Highness.”

I had just arrived in this world, but it seemed someone named Sarkegar would do everything but kill me to make me the Demon King.

“I suggest that for now, you follow his lead. There will still be time to act when you’ve grown strong enough to overpower Sarkegar.”

“...Alright, fine. I’ll do that.”

“He is also very capable. In many ways, he should be able to look after Your Highness more than I can.”

Well, even though he was a spy, he was also a noble, so to speak. Sarkegar was ultimately a loyal servant, and he wouldn’t do anything that harmed me.

In fact, Eleris had been much more of a danger to me before I told her I wasn’t interested in the war. Although she doesn’t seem that way now, it had definitely seemed as though she’d wanted to kill me.

“But wait, what are you going to do if I go along with his plan for a while, and then somehow really end up becoming the Demon King?”

Eleris smiled a bitter smile and sighed. “...I’m not sure about that part. When the time comes, you will have to choose between me and Sarkegar.”

“...”

It seemed like killing me right then and eliminating any kind of potential threat might have been the best option for her, but Eleris seemed unable to do that.

“Please become a kind-hearted adult in the future, Your Highness.”

“...I’ll try my best.”

I never thought I’d hear such words from a vampire.

“So, who is this Hound of Irine?” I asked.

What an eerie alias. Irine’s Hound? It seemed like he was trying hard to be needlessly cool.

Eleris scratched her cheek lightly.

“Well... There are various illegal, violent gangs In Gradium. The Hound of Irine is the leader of one of them.”

“So you’re saying that a demon who was sent in as a spy is involved in gang-related crime?”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Eleris wore an amused smile, as if she found it ridiculous as well.

“To be precise, it’s not so much a gang that intentionally associates with crime or violence, but a group where unavoidable acts of crime and violence occur, to which they have no choice but to partake...”

“...So it’s not a gang?”

“What should I call it...”

Eleris seemed more hesitant about this than about Sarkegar.

“Well, if all you’re good at is fighting, I guess it makes sense to have such groups form.”

Whatever it was, if the guy who was going to help me was some gang leader, what was there for me to lose?

Eleris sighed deeply and muttered as if she was confessing something deep.

“Th-they... They’re actually just beggars, Your Highness.”

“...What?”

“Members of the organization usually sell candy-like items to people taking a walk by the Irine River... In fact, they’re often the ones who supplement the money necessary for our activities...” Eleris added.

...They were just straight up begging like that?

So, the guy who’d been sent as a spy of the Demon Realm was the leader of a Gradium beggars organization? And the money they earned was being used to fund the spy activity? Wait, what kind of spy tried to become a leader of street beggars in the first place? Was this some medieval comedy?

Ah, the Hound of Irine. I understood it now.

It wasn’t just a random, cringy name, but had a literal meaning to it.

The name drew its origins from the stray dogs by the Han River in Korea!