Free Web NovelThe Southern Demon Archduke asked, “What business do you have in my territory?”
His voice was boyish and a little high-pitched.
The western noble had never heard the Southern Archduke’s voice from this close before. For one absurd moment, he thought it suited that beautiful, capricious face perfectly.
“I-I...”
“Are you a messenger sent by the Western Archduke?”
AWOOOOOO!
A wolf’s howl rang out from somewhere nearby.
Behind the Southern Archduke, wolf-type mamools, each one as large as a lion, began gathering one by one. They stared at the noble with yellow eyes.
The demon noble felt deeply unsettled, but he could not show it.
The Southern Archduke was looking at the creatures fondly, as if they were adorable.
So the rumor that he keeps mamools around him was true.
Still, wolf mamools?
Was that not in rather poor taste?
Would it not be better to keep something more noble, or at least more obedient?
The demon noble belittled the archduke in his mind to defend himself, but he could not stop cold sweat from pouring down his back.
The Southern Archduke stood before him.
If the archduke so much as swung his hand, the noble would die.
The Southern Archduke looked at him with those clear black eyes and spoke arrogantly.
“You smell foul.”
“Y-yes, yes...”
“Do not ever drag those filthy feet into my territory again. You frighten my mamools.”
“Yes! Yes!”
The noble no longer even knew what he was saying.
Permission to leave had been granted.
Before the archduke could change his mind, he turned and fled back the way he had come.
The demons with him followed in a panic.
Only after they had put some distance between themselves and the Southern Archduke did rage flood the noble’s mind.
Those useless underlings!
They had been no help at all.
Still, he was fortunate to have kept his life.
Those foolish humans brought me a baseless rumor!
Why had the Southern Archduke not participated in the coliseum?
What did that have to do with him?
Perhaps, as someone had said, he simply could not stand the sight of the nobles beneath him.
Whatever the truth was, it was not something a western noble like him had any right to concern himself with.
His mind was filled with only one thought.
The Southern Demon Archduke was still alive and well.
He had to report this to his master, the Western Archduke...
It worked.
Ian thought that as his feet touched the ground.
His body felt as though it might collapse at any moment.
He had been lucky.
First, Sema had only failed twice before finally lifting him with <Levitation>.
The fact that he had not dropped Ian halfway through was even greater fortune.
Ian had deliberately minimized his use of <Purification> and exposed his body to the dragon’s domain.
He had forced his body to absorb the filthy demonic energy clinging to the demon archduke’s corpse, disguising himself so that it would look as though demonic energy was naturally emanating from him.
And the items he had taken from the demon archduke were these.
Ding!
[Ishter’s Cloak (A)]
A cloak favored by Ishter, the Southern Demon Archduke.
Dignity: +200%
Magic: +100%
[Ishter’s Horn (S)]
A horn from Ishter, the Southern Demon Archduke.
Consuming it inflicts a curse, but grants immense power.
Dignity: +200%
Magic: +100%
[Ishter’s Shoes (A)]
Shoes worn by Ishter, the Southern Demon Archduke.
Wearing them makes the body lighter.
Dignity: +200%
Magic: +50%
Speed: +5%
What’s with all this Dignity plastered over everything?
What use was such a pointless stat?
At least for this moment, however, it had helped Ian.
On top of that, Ian had a genius enchanter.
“Done!”
Momisia had drawn the scales of the Southern Demon Archduke, which they had seen through <Water Mirror>, onto the demon mask.
There had not been enough time to make the face look exactly the same, but...
Minor nobles don’t know the archduke’s face anyway.
Especially not nobles from other territories.
Black hair and black eyes were symbols of the demon race.
The “traitor clan,” who possessed those symbols along with gray skin, had been despised even before their “betrayal” because of those very traits.
Ian had been born with black hair and black eyes, which had nothing to do with any of that.
In any case, Momisia’s craftsmanship was so exceptional that unless someone examined the mask closely, they would not notice anything strange about the scales.
The werewolf Contacca had used <Friend of Wolves> to summon wolf-type mamools.
All of those factors, combined with luck, had allowed Ian to make the western nobles retreat without a fight.
Ian felt as if he might faint.
Not from tension.
His HP had hit rock bottom.
I was exposed to demonic energy for too long.
Pretending to be a demon meant he could not purify the demonic energy.
As a result, he had taken a ridiculous amount of DoT damage.
Ian tore off the stifling demon mask.
The moment he did, blood burst from his nose and mouth.
“Ugh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“Lord Ian!”
Ian collapsed forward, unable to keep his balance, and lost consciousness.
People rushed to catch him.
Even then, his HP was still falling.
Seeing Ian cough up blood, Sema looked as if he was about to faint from crying.
Ding!
Ding!
[People think you are frail!]
[People consider you a benevolent ruler!]
The unconscious Ian did not hear those notifications.
“How is Lord Ian?”
Louise, who had been nursing Ian before briefly falling asleep, returned to his side within thirty minutes.
His face was a mess of dried tears.
Sema sat there like a soaked dog and shook his head.
“The priest said he’s all right... but he still hasn’t woken up.”
Louise had dreamed while he slept.
In the dream, demons attacked the village where Louise had lived long ago.
In that dream, the village chief had ordered Louise to “buy time” while everyone else packed their things and fled.
As he died, Louise had thought that he was lonely.
It had been painful.
Exhausting.
It had made him want to give everything up.
If I die, I hope the village chief dies too.
Louise had not wanted to protect the village chief.
When he opened his eyes, Louise realized he had returned to reality.
And he returned to Ian’s side.
In reality, Louise was happy.
His heart ached now, but even that pain was a happy one.
There was a master who stood in the most dangerous place in order to protect his people.
Louise wanted to die for Ian.
He must become king.
He spoke to Sema, who still seemed too dazed to think properly.
“Why is Lord Ian not king?”
“......?”
Sema blinked blankly.
“Lord Ian... is the king, though?”
“......?”
Now it was Louise’s turn to be puzzled.
“We call him Lord Ian, do we not?”
“Ah, that’s because Lord Ian hates being called Your Majesty.”
“What?”
“I tried calling him that once and got hit, so no one calls him that anymore.”
Louise, who had always felt jealous whenever Ian casually kicked Sema, guessed that such an incident must have happened.
Would he hit me if I called him Your Majesty?
“But I heard the king was dead.”
“Well, he might still be mourning his father, right?”
Sema answered sleepily, yawning right in front of Louise, who began shedding tears without changing expression.
“Wh-why are you crying?!”
Sema, who had been stretching, asked in surprise.
He leads us with such a frail body, and he does not even desire status. He truly is an extraordinary person.
Sema seemed too stupid...
No.
Too thoughtless to think that way.
But Louise wanted Ian to be called Your Majesty with respect.
“Since he protects all races against mamools, could Lord Ian not be called, in a sense, the savior of all species?”
No.
Not merely that.
He deserved a title worthy of him.
“Uh... well... that’s not wrong?”
Sema looked confused.
Ding!
[Louise thinks of you as a savior.]
[Loyalty: 100%]
This, too, went unseen by the unconscious Ian.
Meanwhile, the Western Demon Archduke was listening to his subordinate noble’s report.
“The Southern Archduke is still alive and well...”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I saw him with my own eyes. I was at the coliseum as well, but it seems the Southern Archduke simply had no interest in attending. After seeing how those nobles behaved, I can understand why he would not want to be there.”
“Hmm. I see.”
The Western Archduke laughed under his breath.
He could see through his subordinate’s thoughts clearly.
The man was trying to curry favor by bringing him important information.
And indeed, it was important information.
If he had not known, he might have believed the rumor that the Southern Archduke had “disappeared.”
Of course, “disappeared” could mean many things.
In truth, the Western Archduke had thought the Southern Archduke might have offended the Demon Lord.
This world was sustained by the absolute power of the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord was an entity even the four Demon Archdukes together could not defeat.
They acknowledged that fact.
That was why he was their king.
Their “Your Majesty.”
However, the Western Archduke, filled with ambition, was not content to remain one of four archdukes on this continent.
At the very least, should he not become the only archduke?
Or perhaps even the Demon Lord himself...
In place of ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the Demon Lord, who had no interest in worldly affairs, he ruled this land.
And the ruler possessed what he ruled.
Was that not only natural?
“You have brought me useful information. How did you obtain it?”
Pleased by the Western Archduke’s praise, the subordinate noble answered humbly.
“I discovered it when I visited the southern territory to confirm the rumor.”
“Oh, I see. The Southern Archduke has peculiar and bizarre tastes, but he cannot tolerate anyone trespassing in his territory.”
The Western Archduke smiled.
“Because of you, there may soon be a war.”
“What?”
The subordinate noble’s face froze mid-laugh. freēwēbnovel.com
The instant he instinctively tried to flee, the Western Archduke severed his head.
Roll...
The head of the ambitious noble rolled across the palace floor before coming to a stop at the base of a pillar.
Territorial disputes may flare up again.
The Western Archduke was not interested in the corpse or the head.
His thoughts were elsewhere.
He could not wage war while a powerful enemy remained behind him.
Keith of the Vatican.
Now was the time to remove him.
