“Tina, Iris.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Do you remember the scarred man who spoke to me a moment ago?”
As I walked down the long corridor of the Royal Palace, I asked the two of them.
“I remember!”
“Yes, I remember.”
“That man’s name is Line Lector. From now on, you two will use teleportation to track Marquis Lector. Monitor his every move, who he meets, and what he does. Maria and I will head to the Mens Trading Company. If anything happens, use the transport scroll—”
“Are you going with Maria again? You went with her when you faced Peremus too!”
As I was about to hand over the transport scroll, Tina pouted in disappointment.
What does it even mean to go with me? She might actually end up struggling more than I do.
…Thinking back, I realized there hadn’t been a time I didn’t step in. I had always been the key person in solving problems.
Kugh! My plan to ride on the heroes is…!
“…Is that so? Then this time, Tina will come with me—”
“No way!”
This time, Maria raised her voice to refuse. Tina looked at Maria in disbelief.
“What? You went with the Teacher before! Don’t hog it, share!”
Tina and Maria stood still, facing each other, insisting on yielding. There’s no time for this.
“Then let’s decide it by duel! Last time, the Teacher granted a wish through a duel. I’m still not over losing before!”
“Fine! Let’s have a match again! The loser goes with Iris without a fuss!”
“Wait? Me? I also want to go with the Teacher—”
“Fine! That’s what I wanted!”
Is there even time for this?
Do you two truly understand how important this task we are about to undertake is?
When Iris wished to hug Tina after defeating her, the duel with Maria proceeded, and Tina emerged victorious. Maria felt so upset about losing that she was almost in tears.
And although Tina, as the winner, had gained a wish, she hadn’t used it yet.
Tina had suggested she wanted to save it for an important moment, so I had let it go for now.
But the moment that was brought up, the conversation spiraled out of control.
“Teacher! Is that alright?”
“No.”
“What?!”
“Stop whining. We are risking our lives for this. If you’re going to keep acting that way, you can return to the Empire.”
“…Do you think this is a joke? It’s not.”
Tina spoke without her usual playful demeanor. She’s seriously wasting her efforts here.
“Fine then, I’ll use my wish.”
“What?”
“I was originally going to wait until I was older, but I think I’ll have another chance to earn a wish. Maria won’t mind, right?”
“Ugh….”
Maria showed her discontent clearly, pouting, but she couldn’t say a word. Only then did Tina flash her usual bright smile.
“Let’s go, Teacher!”
“Then Iris and Maria, I’ll ask you two to track and monitor Marquis Lector. If you encounter any demons, don’t hesitate to kill them.”
“Understood.”
“…Got it. But can I suggest one thing?”
“This conversation is over. What’s your suggestion?”
“How about next time, the winner of the duel goes with you, Teacher? If you agree, the others will too.”
“I’ll think about it later.”
I gave a vague answer.
If I split up the team for the operation like that, I’d inevitably start to feel anxious.
The heroes are still very immature mentally.
Tina tends to act recklessly without thinking, and Maria has a tendency to act impulsively when angry.
So, I mixed in Iris, who shows a relatively mature demeanor. I thought she could control the bad tendencies of Tina and Maria.
“For now, we proceed as is.”
“Alright~! Lady Tina will be going out! Everyone, wait with bated breath!”
Do you even know what it means to wait with bated breath…?
Just don’t cause any trouble. Please.
*
The Lector Marquis House.
Having spent a fortune on a single teleportation, he rushed towards the annex of the mansion.
“Oh, you’ve arrived, Marquis.”
Ignoring the greeting from the butler and maids, he strode ahead. Entering the annex, he lit a match using an ever-burning lamp at the entrance.
With that in hand, he headed straight down to the basement.
A shadowy space with no windows, where not even sunlight could seep through.
As he descended the stairs, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of stepping into the abyss with each footfall, a chill of dread trickling down his spine. He continued onward despite sweating.
“Hello! Is anyone here?!”
Bang!
With resolve, he swung open the wooden door he could finally face after descending all the stairs. A putrid stench assaulted him.
“…I clearly told you to knock before coming in, didn’t I?”
Standing there was a black-haired woman wearing a mask without any holes. Her long hair draped down to the floor, somehow without getting dirty.
Her attire, completely shrouded in a robe that left no skin exposed, made it hard to discern her body shape.
“That’s not important right now! It seems the Empire has sent a full-fledged demon subjugation squad!”
“Calling it a squad feels off; their numbers seem quite lacking, don’t you think? They aren’t even an army to begin with.”
The lips behind the mask moved.
She had already confirmed the faces of the brainwashed humans through their “eyes” and “ears.” With Habito’s orders in mind, she had already decided how to respond.
‘Using humans to kill humans… Habito really does have an interesting way of thinking.’
The masked woman, KyouKyou, grinned malevolently.
“So what are you planning to do?! If we keep going like this, everything will be revealed! You know full well how I got rid of Count Forna, don’t you?”
“Hah! Spare me the sentimental rubbish. You were relieved not to be dead. Not a shred of guilt in you, I know it!”
“That’s because you…”
“What? You aren’t going to try and threaten me now, are you? You owe your rise in status and wealth to me, don’t you?”
‘That damned demon!’
Lector trembled in rage.
Although he wanted to crush the casual attitude of the demon, he realized he was no match for her. He barely suppressed his anger to regain his composure.
“Anyway… we need to make immediate arrangements to drive those folks away. I’d like your help.”
A desperate tone.
KyouKyou still recognized that he had value she could use, but his attitude of trying to use her at will didn’t sit right.
“Why would I do that? To be honest, I couldn’t care less whether you live or die. Even if you die, you have a son, right? Ah—come to think of it, doesn’t getting involved with demons mean total annihilation for your house?”
Upon hearing KyouKyou’s playful remark, Lector lost his composure. He grabbed her robe’s collar and shouted.
“No matter what, if you touch my son, I won’t forgive you!”
KyouKyou burst into laughter at Lector’s emotional response.
“Ha! You? What will you do?”
As he watched her laugh heartily, he squeezed tighter in frustration.
“Do you think that will suffocate me? Maybe you should get some exercise. With that kind of grip, you might only be able to….”
He had no choice but to let go, considering his position.
Even if it hurt his pride, he understood better than anyone that there was nothing he could do against a demon.
“Getting worked up over your child… Count Forna probably felt the same way. Isn’t that right?”
“…Shut up.”
“Well, that aside, Lady Stella will be arriving here soon.”
“Stella?”
“Stella Forna, the daughter of the Count you cast aside.”
KyouKyou said with a laugh in her voice. Upon hearing her words, Lector felt as though he had been struck with a hammer, and his mind went blank.
“What?!”
“Please do your best not to get killed by our Deputy Commander. You still have some usefulness left. Of course, I’ll tell you that. You have value. But if you refuse to listen, what can be done? Ah, but don’t feel too disappointed. If you die, I’ll put you to good use.”
“Stop talking nonsense! Deputy Commander?! What are you saying?! I exiled you because you were to be executed…!”
“Humans really are naive. You’re all about fulfilling your desires, willing to do evil without hesitation.”
“I only believed your words—!”
“Shh. Stop talking now. It seems those girls have arrived.”
KyouKyou covered his mouth with her palm. She noticed with her subordinates’ eyes that Iris and Maria had come to the Marquis House.
“What?”
“A Beastman who has endured the magic that Peremus lost, and an elf with mana comparable to the Spirit King…”
KyouKyou chuckled as she reprocessed the information about them in her mind.
“Hmm, how should I make use of them?”
*
“More ordinary than I expected.”
A massive three-story building.
A trading company formed by Marquis Lector and the other nobles, currently serving as one of the pillars of the economy within the kingdom.
It was located in the capital of the Aioum Kingdom.
“On the outside, it looks like that.”
There probably wouldn’t be any issues with the company itself. The problem lay with the humans who couldn’t break free from the demons’ influence.
“Let’s head in for now.”
“Welcome! What brings you to our trading company?”
As soon as we entered the company, a clerk at the counter greeted us with a smile.
“I came to look at some goods.”
“…You’ve come to the right place. Here, you can find everything needed to live in the Aioum Kingdom. It’s all circulated here before hitting the market.”
I felt like speaking informally probably didn’t suit him, but he refrained since he was a customer.
“Then let’s take a quick look around.”
“Please, go ahead.”
We began to peruse the displayed items. Tina touched different items, tilting her head.
“Some of these are very poor quality, while others are exceptional.”
It was a shrewd strategy to offer high-quality goods to those above them in status while giving the commoners cheap trinkets.
While browsing through items, Tina noticed a noisy group of customers.
“Wow, this one is so pretty!”
“We absolutely have to buy this.”
Seeing the customers smiling as they took items away, Tina skipped over to pick up the same item one of them had chosen.
“Teacher, this… it’s just a shiny rock, isn’t it? It looks pretty, but do people decorate with stones these days?”
“…It’s probably brainwashing.”
Perhaps the situation might be far more serious than I had thought.
It was clear that there were many customers visiting this trading company. This meant there was a high likelihood that a majority of the Aioum Kingdom’s citizens had been brainwashed.
“For now, we need to identify what the medium is.”
The aspect of the medium had been mentioned even within the game.
I didn’t know if that was true, but I had to start by acquiring it.