Chapter 99
#Chapter 99: Forte - The Hero's Descendant
The three rulers of the Demon Realm each have their own traits and specialties.
『Blood Cup』 prides itself on its ability to control blood and on its powerful organizational strength.
『Mad Fang』 prides itself on beastlike instincts and raw, physical violence.
Then what about 『Deception』?
He is the king of all vile things.
He deceives people, distorts facts, makes them misperceive what they see, and buries the truth where it cannot be known.
The great demon most specialized in schemes among the three rulers who survived in the Demon Realm.
Was it because he was influenced by that ruler's temperament, or did those kinds simply gather under Deception on their own?
I wasn't sure whether the right saying was 'one turns black by being near ink' or 'birds of a feather flock together,' but either way, spotting plots within Deception's faction was extremely difficult.
They had thrown pride, fighting spirit, and notions of fair play to the dogs, so they were hard to face, harder to catch once faced, and even if you did catch them, it was even harder to hear the truth from their mouths.
But here, there were people who perfectly satisfied every one of those conditions.
A duo that lured out a demon from Deception's faction who never showed itself, caught it before it could flee, and swallowed it whole before it had any chance to lie.
─To lead the Hero's Descendant astray, break the seal of the Sky Academy, and seize the relic hidden within.
At the prince's mutter, Lucidra nodded.
“One role is to approach the Hero's Descendant and lead her astray. One role is to identify the relic's location and recover it once the seal is broken. The last role is to touch another treasure in the academy, draw attention, and help the real plan proceed smoothly. Looks like three demons are being deployed.”
“Balzarez was the last one.”
“Yeah, they probably chose an easy-to-handle contractor because they intended to use him as bait from the start.”
“Hmm.”
With his hand over his mouth, the prince was lost in thought when Lucidra slowly leaned her upper body toward him.
Her full breasts pressed against the prince's shoulder, squashing slightly, and a sweet, perfume-like body scent wafted up at once.
Normally the prince would have said something like, 'It's hot, get off me,' even in a situation like this, but this time he didn't easily push Lucidra away.
Smiling inwardly at that fact, Lucidra went on in a gentle voice.
“There are two demons in play who are on par with Balzarez, or possibly even stronger. No matter how strong you are, it won't be easy to handle this with just the power of your clone, will it?”
As if she were an easygoing friend, yet with feminine allure and sensuality, Lucidra whispered.
“How about it? This time, shall I help you properly? Up until now I've only lightly coordinated from behind the scenes, but if you want, I can step into the spotlight too.”
Because she'd been sealed for so long, Lucidra was badly weakened, but that also meant her growth ceiling—no, her regression ceiling—was unimaginably high.
By following the prince's clone around, absorbing scraps of soul and vital energy, and by now having devoured a reasonably high-ranking demon, her charm and magical power had grown stronger than before.
If before she was at the level where she could bewitch an ordinary man with just a few words and a sidelong glance, now she was at the level where she could even bewitch a fairly seasoned man.
In other words, even if the prince was used to honey traps, this time...!
“Lucidra.”
“Why?”
“One of my masters has recently been focusing on strengthening detection abilities and attacks that ignore distance. The moment he notices your existence, I think a space-cutting slash will come flying from far away.”
“......”
Lucidra silently cut off all the magic power she'd been subtly exuding.
Then the air around them, which had somehow seemed to be turning pink, instantly returned to normal.
She obediently pulled over a chair with her tail and sat down, and the prince also straightened his posture.
And the two of them began talking as if nothing had happened.
“So, what are you going to do? You're going to intervene after all, right?”
“According to you, even Balzarez doesn't seem to know exactly what the 'relic' the demons are after is, but if it's something sealed in that Sky Academy, nothing good can come of it if demons get their hands on it. Stopping them is a given, but the problem is how to intervene.”
The prince picked up a pen and rolled it around in his hand.
“The Sky Academy is a territory, a building, and a magical tool created by the 'Sky Sage,' one of the Hero's companions in the past. As the legacy left by the Sky Sage, a 7th-rank Transcendent, the moment anyone who is not a Transcendent steps inside, they become bound by the academy's laws.”
This must have been why Balzarez didn't simply storm the academy himself and make a scene, but instead tried to make a human with the right qualifications into a contractor and use him.
The laws that govern the Sky Academy are so powerful and troublesome that, even though it is nothing more than an educational institution, it can stand on equal footing with the various 'countries' of the central continent.
“If you don't enter through the official entrance, getting in and out of the Sky Academy is almost impossible. And only students, professors, and guests approved by the academy can go through the official entrance.”
“If I say I'm going, can't I enter as a guest?”
“If we're talking about whether it's possible, then yes. But in that case, free movement would be nearly impossible. Besides, the Sky Academy and the Empire don't exactly have a good relationship.”
“Why?”
“A few hundred years ago, when the Heroes were active in earnest, I hear the emperor of that time caused them quite a lot of trouble. You know, that bigwig from a neighboring country in hero stories who always leaves you wondering whether he's friend or foe.”
“......”
The Aizern Empire has a fairly long history.
And when a nation's history grows long, some rather problematic rulers are bound to emerge along the way.
In Aizern's historical records, much of the trouble caused by the emperor of that era had been concealed or toned down, but in the central continent's records, which had close ties to the Heroes, the relevant details had been recorded in considerable detail.
Librarian Ernst had taken a keen interest in those accounts, and among the things that emperor had done, many were absurdly ridiculous.
“The Demon King... no, I mean, the great demon who had safely descended into the mortal world was literally reducing people to pulp, and they didn't even provide proper support just because it was a matter for the central continent. Or they'd demand land and all kinds of unfair treaties in exchange for support. Or he'd hit on the saint who had been part of the Hero's party. What a spectacular fellow.”
“What happened to that emperor?”
“He was killed by the young son of the former king—more precisely, his nephew—whom he had fed poison to and thought he had killed.”
It was a family history that was really hard to comment on.
“Well, it's been hundreds of years already, so there isn't much of a direct grudge left, but some faint aversion and discomfort seem to remain. Besides, if we move too ostentatiously and the demons catch on and hide, that'll be troublesome in its own way.”
“Then what if I go in as a student or professor?”
“The Sky Academy has strict admission standards. Even with Brown Trading Company's help, it'd be hard to hastily fabricate an identity that could get you in at this point. As for professors, it's apparently impossible unless you're a graduate of the Sky Academy, so there's no need to say more.”
“…Aren't we at a dead end? It would've been easier to ask that Eris girl while you were in Ernst's guise.”
“If Ernst could go into the Sky Academy with you and solve the situation, maybe. But both in terms of standing and ability, he's hardly the right fit for the job.”
The prince's eyes widened.
“Besides, even if that weren't the case, there is another way. A way to pass the Sky Academy's picky scrutiny while also protecting her by the side of that 'Hero's Descendant' the demons are after.”
After saying, “Listen carefully,” the prince soon began laying out his 'plan.'
At first Lucidra listened with interest, but soon she was blinking, and before long she had a dazed, blank 'Heh?' face.
“What do you think? Isn't it a perfect plan?”
“What kind of nonsense is that—no, that's insulting to dogs, Prince.”
***
The prestige of an ancestor has a huge influence on descendants.
Descendants of widely known criminals, traitors, and incompetents are condemned for ages simply for being born of that bloodline.
But conversely, when an ancestor's fame is too great, that becomes a problem too.
The most famous hero in the central continent's legends.
The hero Fernando Valestia, who defeated the evil Demon King and saved countless people.
The girl born as his descendant, Pina Valestia, was painfully feeling the burden of that name.
“Gaaah! What do I do, what do I do...!”
A white shirt and dark-blue leather suspender shorts.
Between her long braided black hair, there were blue strands mixed in that might have been natural or dyed, and among them the blue gathered neatly on one side of her bangs was especially vivid.
Her face, with glittering golden eyes, gave off more of a cute impression than a beautiful one, but in contrast her figure was quite shapely.
The cravat that should have hung down over the white shirt instead sat on top of it, enough to make boys her age do a double take.
She might not have been an unrivaled beauty who stole everyone's gaze, but she certainly wasn't someone anyone could call plain.
But even having that kind of beauty meant little when she herself was rolling around on the bed clutching her head.
“The Sky Academy...! That's that weird place where people even die while taking the entrance exam! I don't want to go...!”
Her pitiful “hoeeeng” completely shattered the fantasy people would form upon hearing the words 'Hero's Descendant,' but in truth Pina had a point.
Because Pina's own will accounted for barely 1% of the decision to go to the Sky Academy.
「Heh heh heh, my adorable daughter. I'm sorry I haven't been able to look after you much lately. The border situation is a complete mess these days! If I'm out there killing monsters day after day, I don't have time to rest, do I?」
「A-ah, it's okay. You don't need to worry about me.」
「Hmm, hmm, yes. You're also a proud member of the Valestia family, and I was treating you too much like a child. How's your sword training going?」
「A-ah, yes.」
「Any trouble with daily life?」
「A-ah, yes.」
「That's good, I'm relieved. Ah, right. The Sky Academy entrance exam is in a week, so get ready.」
「A-ah, yes. ...Huh?」
「Originally they seemed to plan to exempt you from the exam along with a few top students, but with the Valestia name, how could we use such a shortcut? Take the exam fair and square, and show those who doubt your ability what you're made of! This is what the sword left behind by a hero is for!」
「...Uh, um, wait.」
「Oops, looks like time's already up. After I have an audience with His Majesty, I'll head straight back to the border, so if you need anything later, tell the head butler or write me a letter! Well then!」
It was truly a whirlwind of a development.
Without even getting a chance to object, Pina's father left, and Pina, seated in her chair and only blinking, didn't fully understand the situation until about an hour later, when she screamed inwardly.
What was even sadder for Pina was that her father's behavior came not from a hint of malice, but from pure trust.
The belief that if you bore Valestia blood, if you were the descendant of that 'hero,' then of course you could do something like this.
Her father himself had been raised that way, as had his brother, her grandfather, and just about everyone in the family.
From childhood, they learned the sword as a matter of course, graduated from the Sky Academy as a matter of course, and served in the kingdom's military as a matter of course.
There had been no other choice.
Some rebels did challenge that by applying to civilian posts instead of military ones and trying to carve out new lives for themselves, but the clan elders and the kingdom's bigwigs seemed to be in perfect sync as they tore up those challenge letters and stamped them 'Yeah, you're military.'
Of course, if they were born physically frail or without mana, they could stray from that set path, but unfortunately Pina was neither.
“What do I do, seriously, what do I do.”
Pina kept letting out deep sighs.
It would be nice if she could just fail in peace, but actually trying that was far too heavy a burden for someone who bore the name of the Hero's descendant.
But she also didn't have the confidence to put on the kind of showing people expected.
It was right then that she was lost in thought.
Clunk!
In one corner of Pina's room.
From the pile of various equipment bought or gifted for the entrance exam, a strange sound came.
Thinking she had misheard, Pina stared at the stack of boxes, and soon one of them shook again with a clunk!, sending her jumping back in alarm.
“W-what. Did some animal get in there? Or maybe, no way, a person? There's no way the servants wouldn't have checked, right?”
Either way, fleeing first seemed best.
Just as Pina, having reached that conclusion, was cautiously inching toward the door.
Bang! With that sound, the lid of the box flew open, and a faint magical power began to seep out from inside.
Pina, who instinctively checked what that magical power was, murmured.
“A sword?”
It was a sword.
A blade of interwoven silver and black, with a blue jewel set into the pommel.
As Pina blankly stared at the sword, which looked like something out of a storybook, the sword's magical power suddenly began to surge wildly.
《Do you... desire... strength...?》
A voice full of dignity rang directly inside her head.
《I am the Demon Sword Forte... girl with the proper qualifications... take me in hand... and I shall become your strength, and protect you from those who threaten you....》
A magical sword with a will of its own.
A special moment of contract.
In a situation that felt like the beginning of a hero's tale, Pina answered.
“…Um, uh. Lord Demon Sword?”
《Speak....》
“Sorry, but I think it was delivered to the wrong address.”
《.......》
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