Chapter 100
──Several hours after Thor and the others captured the fortress──
"We have just received word. It seems General Raizenga's unit has captured the culprit behind the demon beast summoning."
"Ohhhhhhh!"
At Demon Lord Lukie's words, her subordinates raised a cheer.
This was the throne room of the Demon Lord's Castle.
Demon Lord Lukie sat upon the throne, while Chancellor Kelv stood beside her.
Lined up before them were the Minotaur captain, General Raizenga's adjutant, and the commanders of the elven units.
They were rejoicing that the threat of the new demon beast had been eliminated.
Chancellor Kelv then began explaining the details of the investigation.
He explained how the 'Robot Vacuum' Thor had created had played a major role in the demon beast investigation.
He explained that the culprit who had summoned the demon beasts was the commander of an Imperial fortress.
He also explained that Raizenga and the 'Noza Town' unit had headed south to subdue the demon beast that had escaped.
"What surprised me was that the culprit behind the demon beast summoning was an Imperial commander."
Chancellor Kelv said this.
"I had assumed that the culprit was either a wandering mage or someone from a country destroyed by the Empire. I thought they had infiltrated the Empire to obtain Summoning Magic and were summoning demon beasts to sow disorder within its territory."
"But the culprit was a regular soldier entrusted with an Imperial fortress."
"That is correct. Your Majesty, what meaning do you think this holds?"
"It means there is some unknown faction within the Empire. Perhaps it is a secret unit created by the Empire's upper echelons, or perhaps an opposition faction."
"The Grand Duke and the Imperial princess did not seem to know anything about them."
"Then there is a possibility that the Empire itself is divided."
Demon Lord Lukie sighed beneath her mask.
"Should we be appalled by the incompetence of the Imperial family, or envy the fact that it is such a great power that it can continue functioning even while divided...? In any case, the threat of the new demon beast has passed. We should be celebrating that for now."
"I agree."
Chancellor Kelv nodded.
"Now that we know the culprit was an Imperial soldier, responsibility lies with the Emperor and the Empire's high officials. The Imperial princess and the Grand Duke have been informed of this. If something similar happens again, we will protest to the Empire and demand that it take action."
"That will make resolving the matter easier."
"Indeed."
"We still do not know the purpose behind the demon beast summoning, but at least we can breathe easily for now. From here on, we will protest to the Empire, demand information, and seek compensation commensurate with the damage we suffered."
"──In light of that, there is something I would like to say to Your Majesty and the Chancellor!"
Suddenly, the commander of the elven mage unit raised his voice.
He looked up at Demon Lord Lukie with a serious expression.
"If the Empire is divided, perhaps we could take advantage of that. What do you think?"
"Did I not just say that we would obtain detailed information about the incident and compensation for the damage from the Empire?"
"I mean that we should make use of the opposition faction within the Empire."
"Explain yourself."
When Demon Lord Lukie urged him to continue, the elven unit commander rose to his feet.
He looked around at Demon Lord Lukie, Chancellor Kelv, and the other people present, then said,
"If there is a 'faction opposed to the Emperor's will' within the Empire, could we not secretly support it? If they were to sow disorder within the Empire, we could weaken its power."
"...Hmm."
"If civil war broke out in the Empire, the Emperor and the high officials would have to devote their efforts to dealing with it. By exploiting that weakness, we might be able to obtain various benefits from the Empire. Depending on the circumstances, we might even be able to push the border farther south and expand our territory."
Having finished his speech, the elven unit commander puffed out his chest with satisfaction.
"...It is an interesting idea in theory."
"Then, Your Majesty!"
"But your strategy has one fatal flaw."
"──!?"
He flinched.
Red eyes stared at the elven unit commander from behind Demon Lord Lukie's mask.
Under that sharp gaze, the elven unit commander's body began to tremble.
"W-what flaw...?"
"First, we cannot trust the people who summoned the demon beasts in the slightest."
Demon Lord Lukie said this.
"They summoned 'Demon Beast Galgarossa' in the Demon Lord's territory. We were fortunate that it could be defeated. Their actions could have harmed our people and our land. How could we trust people capable of doing such a thing?"
"There is no need to trust them! We only have to use them—"
"The second problem is that you seem to have forgotten about Imperial Princess Sofia, who is in 'Noza Town.'"
"...Uh."
"She is quite clever. If we repeatedly communicated with an opposition faction within the Empire, she would notice. Among Princess Sofia's relatives is Princess Liana, the 'Holy Sword Princess.' And Princess Liana is close to the Grand Duke, the former Sword Saint. If those people became our enemies... we would have to be prepared for considerable losses."
At Demon Lord Lukie's words, the elven unit commander's eyes widened.
He seemed to have forgotten all about Princess Sofia and the others.
"The third problem is that you should learn a little more from history."
"From history...?"
"Have you forgotten what happened when the First Demon Lord went to war with humanity?"
Demon Lord Lukie looked at the elven unit commander—and at all those assembled—and declared,
"Before the First Demon Lord began his war with humanity, humans had been fighting among themselves as well. But... as soon as skirmishes broke out with the Demon Lord's army, the humans forgot that they had been enemies. All the human nations united to confront the First Demon Lord."
Even during the era of the First Demon Lord, humans had fought among themselves.
But when skirmishes broke out with demons and demi-humans, humans completely forgot that they had been divided.
They united to defeat the 'evil demons and demi-humans.'
As a result, a Hero was eventually summoned from another world, and the Demon Lord was defeated.
It was a chapter of history that Demon Lord Lukie had heard about more times than she cared to remember.
That was why the people of the Demon Lord's territory avoided interfering in the Empire's internal conflicts whenever possible.
It was also a policy passed down through the generations in the Demon Lord's territory.
"Finally, this is merely my personal opinion... but I want to be someone who has nothing to be ashamed of before Thor Kanan, our guest from the Empire."
As though speaking to herself, Demon Lord Lukie murmured,
"If we interfere in the Empire's internal conflict and help evil people... we would be making people shed blood in another country, would we not? And if that happened, we would probably borrow the power of Thor Kanan's items. I would be ashamed of that."
"...Y-Your Majesty."
"If it were an open battle, I could borrow his power with pride. But could you tell him, 'We are intervening in the internal conflict of your homeland, so lend us your magic items'?"
"...Ah, a, aaaah."
"It seems Thor and I will have a long relationship. I do not want to do anything shameful before him. Of course, this is merely the personal opinion of Lukie Evergald, the Demon Lord. If you object, then speak up—"
"I apologize! That was a foolish thing to say!"
The elven unit commander prostrated himself.
Trembling violently, he struck his forehead against the floor.
"I had forgotten about Thor Kanan-dono. I had also forgotten that there are trustworthy people within the Empire... and that there are people with powers beyond anything I can imagine... I am... so sorry!"
The elven unit commander continued apologizing in a trembling voice.
"The fact that the culprit behind the demon beast summoning was an Imperial soldier... means that there are people within the Empire who look down on the Demon Lord's territory. I... simply could not accept it."
"I understand how you feel. I also understand your loyalty."
"But I have realized how foolish my words were. If there were someone in the Empire with the same power as Thor Kanan... they would see through my schemes immediately..."
(As if there could be several people like Thor.)
Demon Lord Lukie almost said it aloud, then covered her mouth.
Instead, she shook her head and gently rebuked the elven unit commander,
"I understand how you feel. From now on, I intend to gather information about the Empire, so that we can respond to anything that happens. Will that satisfy you?"
"...Yes, Your Majesty the Demon Lord."
"And think about this. During this demon beast subjugation, the Demon Lord's territory conducted a joint operation with the 'Noza Town' unit and captured the culprit. We cooperated and trusted one another, and accomplished that together. It is as though we have made allies within the Empire."
Demon Lord Lukie nodded as she looked around at everyone assembled.
"I would rather increase the number of our allies than make enemies."
After a brief pause, she continued,
"Besides, the kind of scheming that the elven unit commander described has been carried out repeatedly in the human world. It has caused humans to shed one another's blood. There is no reason for demons and demi-humans to imitate humanity's worst habits."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"In any case, the problem of the new demon beast has been resolved for the time being. Tell our people so that they can rest easy. Once General Raizenga's unit returns, we will hold a festival to celebrate our victory. Is that acceptable, Kelv?"
"The arrangements have already been made."
Chancellor Kelv took a parchment from inside his robe.
"As soon as General Raizenga returns, we will hold a victory banquet in the Demon Lord's Castle. There will also be a festival in the castle town. The castle will provide alcohol and food, so please inform the people of the town."
"Understood, Your Majesty, Chancellor-sama!"
"Festival, everyone, very happy."
"Let us all go out to welcome General Raizenga and Agnis-sama!"
The elven unit commander, the Minotaur captain, and General Raizenga's adjutant all shouted at once.
Their voices must have carried outside, because cheers rose from the corridor as well.
The news would spread throughout the castle immediately.
"That concludes today's audience."
"You have all done well."
"Please excuse us!"
The people present responded to Demon Lord Lukie and Chancellor Kelv.
And so, the report on the demon beast summoning incident came to an end.
"'Taking advantage of the division within the Empire,' was it? It seems there are others who think along the same lines..."
After the unit commanders left, Chancellor Kelv sighed.
"I considered it as well. I rejected the idea because the danger was too great."
"That was wise. If we intervened, the humans would forget their differences. And what came afterward would be the same as in the time of the First Demon Lord... a united human army."
"Humans unite the moment they find a common enemy."
"Indeed... sometimes they even make demons and demi-humans their 'common enemy' in order to unite."
With that, Demon Lord Lukie tightened her expression.
"In any case, make sure we continue gathering information. Whether or not there is an internal conflict in the Empire, we need to know what is happening in that country."
"I have already sent civil officials to the trading post to gather rumors."
"...Come to think of it, there was an internal conflict in the Empire once before."
Holding the letter brought by a Pixie, Lukie murmured as though exasperated.
"If I remember correctly, the previous internal conflict in the Empire happened... before I was born, did it not?"
"Yes. According to the oral history passed down through the Chancellor's family, it happened several decades ago, during the reign of the Demon Lord before last. There were still several small kingdoms in the east at the time. The fortress General Raizenga headed toward was probably built during that period as well."
"I have heard that the area near the border was extremely chaotic back then."
"The Empire had large numbers of soldiers patrolling the area. Presumably, it was to prevent people from the Demon Lord's territory from interfering in the internal conflict. As a result, we knew almost nothing about what was happening inside the Empire. However..."
"We did take in some refugees from the Empire, did we not?"
The records list three people.
Two of them died soon after being taken in by the Demon Lord's territory.
Apparently, they had fought their way through a war, and arrows were lodged in their bodies.
In the end, only one person survived: a very young girl. She seemed to have suffered severe shock and had forgotten both her name and where she was born. However, the history books of the Demon Lord's territory record that the man who had accompanied her worried about her until the moment he died.
The girl fell in love with the young elf who had rescued her, married him, and had children.
Her descendants must now be pursuing demon beasts alongside Thor.
"The difference between then and now is that Imperial Princess Sofia is in 'Noza Town.'"
Demon Lord Lukie sighed in apparent relief.
"She wants friendly relations with the Demon Lord's territory. As long as she is there, the borderlands will not be sealed off."
"We also have a trading post now. Information from within the Empire reaches us as well. These are good times."
"Though much of that is thanks to Thor."
"...Yes, it is."
"...Why are you staring into the distance?"
"...It is nothing."
"Kelv, do you still find Thor difficult to deal with?"
Demon Lord Lukie looked at Chancellor Kelv with exasperation.
"Thor is... well, he is a good man, is he not? It is only that his ideas are a little unexpected, his skills are unbelievably great, and whatever he does exceeds anything I can imagine."
"That is precisely the problem..."
Chancellor Kelv pressed a hand to his forehead as though he had a headache.
"My duty is to analyze information, establish a logical chain of reasoning, and make realistic predictions and plans. But Thor-dono skips straight past the intermediate steps and arrives at unexpected results... As Chancellor, I find him difficult to deal with."
"Thor seems to respect you."
"I do not dislike Thor-dono, either. I respect him. I simply find him difficult to deal with in my capacity as Chancellor."
"You should tell him that when he returns."
"...Please give me some time to think about that."
Knock, knock, knock.
"Excuse me! A letter has arrived from a Pixie!"
A guard's voice came along with the knock.
Chancellor Kelv opened the door and accepted the letter.
After quickly looking it over, he said,
"It is from Thor-dono. It seems to have been written after the previous report."
With that, Kelv handed the letter to Demon Lord Lukie.
"It seems the Pixie accompanied them as far as the eastern fortress."
"Yes. She said she would disguise herself as an owl with the 'Dress-Up Pajamas' and follow them from a distance."
"But there is also a note from Thor-dono. It says, 'The Pixie does not want to go where there are many people from the Empire, so she will travel separately. That is why the next report will be a little late.'"
"Thor and the others are going into the Empire in pursuit of the demon beast. A Pixie who is shy around strangers could not accompany them that far."
Demon Lord Lukie unfolded the letter she had received.
"It says what happened after they used the 'Robot Vacuum'... and it also thanks Kelv. It says the Spherical Type 'Robot Vacuum' was a great help."
"...I have mixed feelings about that."
"And... Thor is asking for permission to create a magic item."
"Even though Elte is in General Raizenga's territory? Why would he specifically ask Your Majesty and me...?"
"Wait, wait... Hmm."
Demon Lord Lukie slowly read through the letter, then looked up.
"...I see. It seems Thor recovered a strange item from the fortress that had housed the new demon beast. He apparently handed the item itself over to the Imperial commander as evidence, but made a copy. The item was... What? 'A magic circle used in summoning magic and a metal plate inscribed with an incantation'!?"
"Thor-dono obtained information about Summoning Magic!?"
Chancellor Kelv's body began to tremble.
"No... Even Thor-dono would never experiment with Summoning Magic. There is no way he would summon a demon beast and harm the Demon Lord's territory. If that is the case, then what in the world is he—"
"He apparently wants to use Summoning Magic to create an item for ordinary households."
"An item for ordinary households?"
"According to Thor, 'Summoning Magic has the ability to draw something toward you from far away.' He wants permission because applying that ability might allow him to create an item that anyone could use for convenience."
"..."
"He is asking us for permission rather than Elte because Summoning Magic is involved. Since he would be using an important form of magic, Thor seems to be taking care to obtain the proper approval."
"...I-I see."
"I think... it would be all right to approve it. What do you think, Kelv?"
Demon Lord Lukie handed the letter to Chancellor Kelv.
Kelv studied it carefully, then let out a long, long sigh.
Then, scratching vigorously at his blue hair, he said,
"...Let us meet with Thor-dono and discuss it in person."
After a while, Chancellor Kelv continued,
"First, I need to see a copy of the 'metal plate used for Summoning Magic' with my own eyes. We can confirm its safety and make our decision afterward. However, leaving the matter pending until then would make Thor-dono uneasy, so perhaps we should have him prepare a prototype."
"Understood. I will tell Thor to return by the time of the festival."
Lukie picked up parchment and ink from the writing desk beside the throne.
She wrote down the necessary details, then handed the parchment to Kelv.
"Kelv, write a letter based on this and send it to Thor."
"Understood."
Chancellor Kelv accepted the parchment written in the Demon Lord's own hand with both hands.
"Even so... what could a household item using 'Summoning Magic' be?"
"I have no idea."
"I agree. We can discuss it after Thor-dono returns. He must attend the banquet as well, so we will have to commend his accomplishments before everyone."
"Indeed. By the way, did you read the entire letter?"
"Y-yes. I read the part written by Thor-dono."
"What about the message from the Pixie in the corner?"
"A message from the Pixie? No, I did not notice it..."
"It says she found a fragment of a broken pillar in the castle hall and asks whether she may have it."
"...What?"
Chancellor Kelv's eyes widened.
What came to mind was the time he had been helping design the 'Robot Vacuum.'
In his eagerness to come up with ideas, he had damaged part of the castle's structure at the time, but—
"Apparently, Thor had asked her to do so. He told her, 'If you find anything that inspires you from a Pixie's perspective, please bring it back with you.'"
"...Wha, wha, whaaaaa!?"
"It seems the Pixie noticed the fragment of a pillar lying on the floor of the hall. It has a truly interesting shape. It might give Thor a hint for creating a magic item, so she asks whether she may have it—hmm? Kelv, where are you going in such a hurry?"
"Please excuse me, Your Majesty!"
Chancellor Kelv bowed to Demon Lord Lukie and dashed out of the throne room.
"T-Thor-donoooo! Please stop using me as a source of clues for creating magic items every single time—!"
With that cry echoing behind him, Chancellor Kelv's footsteps faded into the distance.
"...Kelv really does find Thor difficult to deal with."
Murmuring this, Demon Lord Lukie let out a sigh of relief.
She had remembered what she had said to the elven unit commander only a few minutes earlier.
(...It seems no one noticed.)
Demon Lord Lukie removed her mask and touched her cheek.
She could feel how hot it had become.
A moment earlier, she had said this to the elven unit commander.
'It seems Thor and I will have a long relationship. I do not want to do anything shameful before Thor Kanan, nor do I want to hurt his pride.'
──That was what she had said.
At the time, she had been imagining something far, far in the future.
Several years from now. She would be standing beside Thor──spending peaceful time with him.
She had been wondering whether she would have anything in her heart that made her feel guilty or ashamed before him.
(...I let that slip out.)
Demon Lord Lukie murmured this inwardly and composed herself.
That was not something she should have said aloud in front of everyone.
It would have been all right if Kelv or the unit commanders had been the only ones listening. But if Mabel or Agnis had been there, they might have realized the meaning behind her words instantly.
Of course, her resolve not to interfere in the Empire's internal conflict was no lie.
That was the policy of the Demon Lord's territory.
If they meddled without knowing the circumstances, they risked suffering a disastrous backlash severe enough to bring down the country.
(...But there was no need to bring up Thor. Yes.)
Recently, even when she was in Demon Lord mode, her true feelings had been slipping out more easily.
As she resolved to be more careful, Lukie suddenly began thinking about the victory banquet.
The banquet would be informal.
She, Thor, Mabel, and Agnis should all be able to speak without restraint.
She would talk about all sorts of things then.
The demon beast investigation, Thor's magic items──and how worried Lukie had been about Thor──everything.
(I am also extremely curious about this 'magic item using Summoning Magic' of his.)
With that thought, Demon Lord Lukie rose from her throne.
The day's schedule was over.
Before returning to her room, she considered visiting Thor's room──perhaps practicing making tea in his room while he was away──as she pondered these things.
And so, the demon beast investigation in the borderlands reached a temporary conclusion──
In the Demon Lord's territory, a banquet would be held to celebrate the disappearance of the demon beast threat.