Chapter 86
Those words flustered David. It was true that Parna had a reason to come here. But it was strange for her to show up at this particular moment looking so confident.
Parna was standing there, blocking the exit. And beyond the door, something was waiting... David sensed it instinctively.
"Parna-san! Long time no see!"
"Yes..."
Unaware of David’s wariness, Alice spoke as though greeting a close friend and hurried over to Parna.
"Alice-sama! Don’t go near her!"
"...Huh?"
David immediately called out to stop her, but he was a moment too late—
"W-why... Parna-san?"
Parna caught Alice as she approached and held her fast in an embrace. She pulled off the ribbon tied at the back of Alice’s head, then forcibly unwound the special cloth wrapped around the right of the two horns hidden beneath it—a cloth that absorbed the mana unique to demons and transformed it into something else—and flung it into the air.
Immediately, demon mana began spilling from Alice’s exposed horn, spreading through the area.
The adventurers in the tavern sensed the sudden release of demon mana and all turned to look at Alice.
"A-a demon?! Why the hell is there a demon in a place like this?!"
"No way... Hey, isn’t that the girl who works as a vendor at the casino?"
The sudden turn of events sent a commotion through the tavern. Perhaps they had noticed the commotion inside—or perhaps they had been waiting for this all along—as soldiers clad in heavy armor rushed in from outside.
"Nobody move!"
In an instant, Rex and the others were surrounded by soldiers.
"I see... So it was as I suspected. You can’t deny it now, can you, David?"
Just then, a slender, middle-aged man with a thick mustache pushed his way through the soldiers. His fine clothes and bearing made it clear that he was a man of high rank.
"Why are you here...?"
David looked taken aback by the unexpected arrival.
The man was Duke Militaria Remote, one of the nobles who held power in the royal capital—and influential enough to move a great many nobles and soldiers with a single word.
There was no way David could mistake the face of someone known to everyone living in the royal capital. He grew flustered, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"Did you think that I, a duke, would never listen to the idle words of a mere mage who had once joined the Hero’s party, David?"
Militaria stopped in front of David, smiled faintly, and spoke.
"I don’t know what your intentions were, but Parna’s prediction was right—you were taking their side. You falsely reported to the king that the girl over there wasn’t a demon, trying to cover the whole thing up. That’s a grave offense, you know?"
"What does this mean... David?"
Confused by the baffling chain of events, Kururu pressed David, her expression tense.
David sighed as if he had given up. His expression still betrayed his anxiety as he—
"My claim that I was ordered to keep watch over Rex-sama and Kururu-sama and came here for that reason... was a lie."
He said.
"A lie...? Then why are you here, David?"
"The mage over there, Lady Parna, reported to us—including the king—that Kururu-sama and Rex-sama were living here in Valman, joining forces with demons. Of course, both the king and the rest of us thought it couldn’t be true that you two, who had set out to defeat the Demon King, would join forces with demons. But the king decided we needed to investigate, so he sent me here."
Rex and Kururu both looked bewildered at those words. If that had been true, they would have been taken away long ago. If they had known from the start that Alice was a demon, confirming it would have been easy.
"David’s mission was to find out whether Kururu-sama and Rex-sama were really with demons. Parna told us that the cloth worn by the demon girl over there suppresses her mana. Someone of your caliber shouldn’t have needed this long to determine whether she was a demon... Would you explain yourself, David?"
"I believe I reported, ‘At present, no contact with any beings suspected of being demons. Surveillance continues.’ And yet... why are you here? Did you not trust my report?"
"No. You are a capable man. If anyone other than Parna had reported this, I would have concluded that the princess raised by the king would never do such a thing."
"Is there some connection between you and Lady Parna?"
"Yes. Parna and I have known each other for a long time, so her words carried weight."
At that, Parna’s expression turned bitter. Militaria was the father of the mentor she had admired and respected. She had thought she would never have anything to do with him again, but she had never expected to become involved with him and ask for his help under these circumstances. It felt as if she had sullied her memories.
But more than that, she couldn’t accept what was happening now.
She was prepared to seek help even from someone she had thought she would never deal with again, if it meant exterminating the demons. That was Parna’s resolve.
"Checkmate. There’s nowhere left to run, and you can’t cover this up. Give up and tell me what you were planning. If I find your reasons convincing, I’ll put in a word to have your punishment lightened."
"Before that... what do you intend to do with Kururu-sama, Rex-sama, and Alice-sama?"
"Kururu-sama and Rex-sama will return to the royal capital, where we’ll ask the king to decide what should be done. There’s a possibility they were brainwashed by demons and brought to this state."
Hearing that, David clenched his teeth and muttered, "Just as I thought...!" His expression grew tense.
"As for that demon girl over there, once we lure out the other demon, I’ll have them both killed."
At those words, Alice’s expression clouded as Parna continued to hold her down.