Chapter 206 - Damn Reincarnation

Babel

"... Hmm..."

On the day he was leaving the inn where he had stayed for three nights, Eugene blinked for a moment at Kristina, who had come to his door.

Her visit was not unexpected. They were leaving Yuras today to return to Lionheart, so he had asked her beforehand to come to the inn before noon.

"... Isn't that a little too much luggage?"

After briefly wondering what to say, Eugene settled on that.

It was a fair question. Kristina really did have an enormous amount of luggage. Travel packs as large as she was—one, two, three, four... Eugene heaved a sigh and shook his head.

"What are you hauling all that stuff along for?"

"I need all of it."

Kristina answered without smiling. Eugene glanced through an opening in one of the packs. Clerical robes and miscellaneous belongings had been stuffed inside haphazardly. They did not look new; apparently, she had packed things she already used.

"... When did you even pack all that?"

"Two days ago, I hired someone and sent them to Trechia Cathedral, asking them to bring back all my personal belongings."

"Do you really need to bring the things you used there? You can just buy new things when we get—"

"I do not wish to incur any further debt to you, Sir Eugene."

Kristina answered with a resolute expression.

"As of today, I am becoming completely independent of Yuras. Until now, I have used the bishop's card issued by the Holy See and Sergio Rogeris's card, but I will no longer use either."

"Uh... Why?"

"Because financial dependence cannot be called true independence. In other words, I am now utterly penniless."

"Well, all right... Lionheart has plenty of money, and so do I, so if you need anything..."

"Sir Eugene."

Kristina narrowed her eyes at him.

"Did I not just tell you? I do not wish to incur any further debt to you. That is precisely why I am bringing all this luggage."

"... Then you don't need a room in the Lionheart mansion either?"

"If you wish for me to camp in the chilly garden, wet with morning dew, I will gladly do so."

So she did intend to take a room after all.

"Wasn't all that luggage you brought bought with your bishop's card and Rogeris's card anyway?"

"Strictly speaking, most of these things were given to me rather than purchased by me personally. And considering what I have endured over the years, I have paid more than enough to own them."

"Sure, sure."

Only half listening, Eugene opened his cloak. Mer, sitting inside, pouted at the sight of Kristina's luggage.

She had accepted that it could not be helped. But the thought of that scheming, split-personality saint moving into the Lionheart mansion and hovering around Eugene made her feel as though black ashes were swirling deep within her chest.

"My, you certainly contradict yourself. You're moving into the mansion penniless and relying on their hospitality, so why claim you don't want to owe anyone?"

"I may have no money on hand at present, but surely I can earn as much as I need by using my abilities?"

Kristina opened her smiling eyes a little and looked at Mer.

"I know Lionheart has no clergy. You may have excellent healers and a range of potions instead, but the healing magic of a high-ranking priest is a miracle that transcends both medicine and magic."

"That's..."

"I dare say there is no cleric alive today whose healing magic surpasses mine. If I were to take shelter with Lionheart and willingly offer my abilities, the family head would surely compensate me for them."

"Ugh..."

"Though I am indeed penniless for the moment, I have no intention of using my tiny body as a weapon to shamelessly demand food and sweets, unlike a certain someone."

"W-what did you say?!"

Mer's eyes blazed.

"I-I've never done that! I'm always helping, too! You may not know much about me, Lady Kristina, but I'm always assisting Sir Eugene with his mag—"

"I never said you were shameless. Why are you reacting so strongly?"

"Sir Eugene...! I hate that woman!"

Looking close to tears, Mer climbed up onto Eugene's chest. Thinking of what lay ahead, he let out several deep sighs.

"Don't fight..."

"Fight? I merely answered Lady Mer's question."

"She called me a shameless freeloader!"

"Just get along..."

Patting Mer's back, Eugene put Kristina's luggage inside his cloak.

"What about Sir Raphael? Isn't he coming to see us off?"

"I asked him not to. There is nothing to be gained from needless rumors spreading already."

Already, she said.

"There'll be rumors anyway."

Originally, Kristina's elevation from candidate for sainthood to saint was to be announced on Anise's feast day.

But Kristina had refused the Holy See's recognition, and the Pope and cardinal had accepted her decision. In the eyes of the world, Kristina Rogeris was therefore still a "candidate for sainthood."

However, Kristina was the only candidate for sainthood in Yuras in this era. Even without a formal announcement that she had become a saint, every subject of Yuras considered her one.

And now she was leaving Yuras to take shelter with Lionheart in the foreign nation of Kiel. That would become a major story, impossible to conceal.

"... Yes. I suppose there will."

The carriage they had arranged in advance was waiting outside the inn. Their destination was the warp gate on the outskirts of Euresia. They would reach the Lionheart mansion by this evening at the latest.

"I have decided on a pretext."

"What kind?"

"Treating the elves under Lionheart's protection. A considerable number of them suffer from demonic sickness, do they not?"

It was only a pretext. Eugene knew perfectly well that the elves' demonic sickness could not be cured. Even Anise, a saint, had been unable to cleanse it from them. Only the World Tree's spiritual energy could halt and alleviate demonic sickness.

... All sorts of worries began to surface.

Naturally, Eugene had not yet informed Lionheart that he was bringing Kristina back. Explaining it would be awkward, and any explanation would sound feeble, so he intended to bring her along first and simply give her an empty room.

'I don't think the family head will object much...'

He did have a plausible reason prepared.

The problem was that this was hardly the first or second time.

He had brought Raman Shulhob back from Nahama.

He had brought more than a hundred elves back from Samar.

He had brought Mer back from Aroth.

And now he was bringing Kristina back from Yuras... Even if Gilead said little, Anisilla might clutch the back of her neck in exasperation.

'No... She might actually let it pass without much fuss.'

Eugene knew very well that Anisilla was surprisingly humane and softhearted.

When he had brought a hundred elves back from Samar without so much as asking, Anisilla had been angry enough to crush her fan. In the end, however, she had taken pity on their plight and given them the main family's forest.

Several months had passed since then. Thanks to the World Tree sapling Eugene had planted, their demonic sickness was improving rather than worsening. Unaware of that fact, Anisilla would sometimes visit the elven village under the pretext of taking a walk and ask Siknard about their symptoms.

'If we say she's come to treat the elves, well...'

Treatment aside, none other than the Holy Empire's saint would be staying with the family and offering her healing magic. Surely Anisilla, so devoted to elevating the Lionheart name, would never refuse that?

For now, that was what Eugene chose to believe.

* * *

The demon lands.

This land had been called that since long ago. Even now, most people on the continent called it the demon lands.

The people living here did not deny it, either. True to the name, countless demons and Demon Kings existed in this land. Yet its meaning had changed greatly from hundreds of years before.

To the human citizens of Helmuth, the demon lands, demons were kindly neighbors. They did not indiscriminately hunt or devour humans and shackle their souls, as they did in old tales.

The Demon King was not a war criminal who had trampled the entire world and perpetrated mass slaughter, but a benevolent, wise sovereign surpassing the king of any other nation. The Demon King granted humans' requests, protected them, and made their lives prosperous and happy.

This was both the demon lands and a land of opportunity. The cost of purchasing permanent residency was substantial, but not beyond the means of anyone who truly desired it. Moreover, Helmuth's immigration assistance system was exceedingly humane: the cost could be greatly reduced according to the number of years of labor one pledged after death.

That was why people from the impoverished northern nations knocked on the doors of Helmuth's foreign ministry, dreaming the Helmuth Dream.

The city of skyscrapers.

The capital of the Helmuth Empire, the land of opportunity.

Pandemonium.

The buildings in this city were taller than those in any other city on the continent. It was filled with high-rises dozens of stories tall—not castle towers, but "buildings." These towering skyscrapers, impossible to erect by human strength, were proof of the Demon King's greatness.

Among them stood a sleek black building towering over the heart of Pandemonium.

Babel.

Ninety-nine stories tall, it was the tallest building not only in Pandemonium, but in all Helmuth. There was no secret about it: Babel was the Demon King's castle, the personal residence of the Demon King of Incarceration, who reigned over Helmuth.

"The master of Dragon Demon Castle is absent again?"

Babel's ninetieth floor.

Gavid Lindman, Incarceration's Sword, stood with his hands behind his back, looking down through the glass wall. Far below lay a forest of buildings, nowhere near as tall as Babel but high-rises nonetheless. Dozens upon hundreds of fish, large and small, drifted between them.

Airfish.

Swimming through Pandemonium's sky as though it were the sea, the Airfish were a public security system that kept the city's crime rate under complete control. They watched over the city of skyscrapers without a single blind spot, transmitting everything they observed to Babel's control bureau.

Even now, dozens of floors below, thousands of souls contracted for posthumous labor and the hundreds of demons overseeing them were reviewing the Airfish's footage, working to preserve the city's security.

"So it seems. It would be nice if he would at least send word..."

A spacious conference room.

The middle-aged man opening the door and walking in answered with a smile. He removed his top hat and set it on the table, then laid the staff he carried across his knees.

The staff was the color of thick, sticky blood, and veins writhed along its shaft as though it were alive.

Bloody Mary. Alongside Akasha, wielded by Senya the Wise, it was one of only two dragon-heart staffs on the continent.

Its owner was Edmond Codret, a black mage with the title of count and the only one of Incarceration's Three Demons to reside in Helmuth. He stroked his mustache and smiled.

"Are Your Grace and I once again the only members of Loyalty attending? At this rate, we can hardly call it a regular meeting."

"It is hardly a meeting to begin with, is it? The idea is simply to catch up. Demons and humans have very different perceptions of time. Without gatherings like this, I might not think to see you for decades."

"A few decades would be quite all right with me. Perhaps even longer."

"Do you still seek eternal life? You must already be close."

"Haha... What eternal life I have attained is merely an extension of a human lifespan. How could it compare to demons, who truly live forever?"

"We are not so different, you know. Just as powerful humans live long lives, so do powerful demons."

Gavid murmured those words, but Edmond merely smiled without answering.

Gavid knew why. Incarceration's Three Demons. The three black mages who had contracted directly with the Demon King were all eccentrics... No, although human, they possessed a madness that was anything but human.

Balzac Ludbeth, Aroth's Black Tower Master, sought the end of magic. Far beyond even the limits a human could reach, he obsessed over an "end" to magic that no human could possibly attain—indeed, whose very existence was doubtful.

Edmond Codret, the owner of Bloody Mary, wanted to improve his own "breed," humanity, into a new species. He yearned to discard everything human, from thought to patterns of behavior, and metamorphose into a new humanity through mana distilled from demonic energy to the utmost purity.

Amelia Merwin, the desert's dungeon master...

"... Hmm."

Gavid's eyes, which seldom betrayed any agitation, trembled. He stared at a flying object approaching through the distant night sky.

... For a moment, he wondered whether he was seeing it correctly. Whether he was dreaming. He had not been this astonished since Hamel the Stupid's rampage had driven him back three hundred years ago.

"... Edmond."

"Yes, Your Grace?"

"Come here... Look at that. What in the world does it look like to you?"

Edmond tilted his head at the sudden summons. Rising from his chair, he approached Gavid, then pressed his face close to the glass wall and peered into the distant night sky.

It was fast. Even now, the object was drawing closer. Its form grew clearer as the distance shrank.

Edmond gasped and staggered back several steps. Had he made a mistake with his magic? No, that could not be. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked out again. It was now close enough to see clearly without using magic.

It was...

A gigantic head.

What else could he call it? An airship made through magical engineering from absurdly expensive and rare metals such as orichalcum, mithril, and adamantium... No, a flying head. That head alone would easily buy ten buildings in Helmuth, with money to spare.

"... A head... it seems."

Edmond stammered out the words. It was no ordinary head. Wavy hair fluttered like wings, like tentacles. Red horns protruded from its crown.

Its eyes, enormous even for that head, glittered as though stars had been embedded within them.

"Ahahaha!"

The forehead split open.

Noir Giabella, queen of the dream demons, threw both arms into the air from her velvet chair.

"What do you think of my Giabella Face?"

"..."

"I was going to unveil it at Giabella Park's grand opening! But it was finished so much sooner than I expected. So I decided to show it off early. Isn't it wonderful?"

"..."

"The Giabella Face will be Giabella Park's mascot! The Giabella Face, floating through the sky morning, noon, night, and dawn... The guests at Giabella Park will look at this face and feel awe and love. Tormented by their lust for me, they'll squander their fortunes at the casino, and their vital essence..."

"I am embarrassed just watching this."

Gavid murmured, shaking his head. Behind him, Edmond also looked incapable of voicing everything he wished to say. Noir was not remotely hurt by their dry reactions.

SNAP!

At the snap of her fingers, the expression on the metal Giabella Face slowly changed.

"..."

Gavid and Edmond watched in silence as the Giabella Face smiled. Gavid feared that the citizens of Pandemonium, living far below, might be witnessing this disgraceful display.

"Smile."

Noir smiled, pushing up the corners of her mouth with both index fingers. Then she rose from her velvet chair and walked out of the cockpit.

SWISH!

The carpet stretched outward. Noir stepped lightly along the red carpet toward the window.

Then she passed effortlessly through the glass and entered the room. Her lips curled as she looked at the empty chairs.

"The master of Dragon Demon Castle is absent again, I see?"

"It cannot be helped."

"Hmm, I'm very, very curious. How long are you going to keep overlooking the problem with Dragon Demon Castle? Haven't two hundred years of indulgence been enough?"

"... Two hundred years may seem a long time, but it is not so long for a dragon. The 'young master' of Dragon Demon Castle will need at least another hundred years."

"I'm asking why we should wait any longer. Because demon dragons are so rare? Listen, Gavid. Three hundred years ago, a fallen dragon was rare enough to serve as a symbol, but aren't things a little different now?"

"Dragons have been great and noble beings in every age. The fall of such a being, and the title bestowed upon it by the Demon King of Incarceration, have a symbolic significance that is difficult to relinquish."

"That's what dragons were three hundred years ago. But now? It's been three hundred years since dragons vanished. Are there even any dragons active these days? In any case, to people today, dragons are like creatures from a distant myth. Don't you think a human who rose all the way to duke would be a better symbol of advancement than that?"

As she spoke, Noir turned to Edmond.

"Edmond. What do you think? If you want it, I'd gladly lend you my strength. Do you understand? I'd tear that young dragon in Dragon Demon Castle to pieces with my own hands."

"Haha... I am most grateful for the offer, but..."

"Oh, don't pretend you aren't tempted. I like you very much because you're a lunatic. If we deposed the master of Dragon Demon Castle and chose a new duke? I'd much rather promote you from count to duke than any of those fucking worthless marquises who dream up ambitions far beyond their station and skulk around me pretending to keep me in check."

"I had no idea you regarded me so fondly."

"If you didn't know, remember it from today onward. If you wish, I'll speak to the Demon King of Incarceration myself. But I'll keep that young dragon's corpse. You already have Bloody Mary, don't you?"

Listening to their exchange, Gavid heaved a sigh and waved a hand.

"Do not prattle about something the Demon King of Incarceration would never permit. And Noir. What could you possibly want to do with a dragon's corpse?"

"There's not a single part of a dragon that goes to waste, is there? First, I'll have its scales, hide, and bones made into arms and armor and offer them as prizes at Giabella Park's casino."

The answer surpassed anything he could have imagined. Gavid stared at Noir, unable to speak. Delighted by his astonishment, she beamed.

"Giabella Park's casino will be the finest casino in all the past, present, and future. Nowhere else in the world will have offered dragon-made arms and armor as prizes redeemable for casino tokens."

"... It certainly will be a shocking establishment in more ways than one."

"And I'll implant the dragon heart in the Giabella Face. The mana engine it has now is excellent, but a dragon heart would make it even, even better, wouldn't it?"

Edmond narrowed his eyes at the Giabella Face outside the window. At first glance, that flying object brimming with self-love seemed utterly ridiculous. But as an archmage, Edmond recognized that it was not simply a head that flew.

'She linked the flying object's eyes to her demonic eyes. Whether that is magically possible or impossible aside, Duchess Giabella's mana is clearly absurd.'

Demonic eyes, which activated through a mere glance, consumed vast amounts of mana. Among them, Noir Giabella's Demonic Eyes of Fantasy ranked among the greatest of all demonic eyes that existed or had ever existed. True to their name, her eyes turned reality into fantasy and fantasy into reality.

That enormous Giabella Face would drift over Giabella Park, named after her. Countless tourists would enter the park once it was finally completed. With such a bizarre object floating overhead, they would inevitably look at it at least once, whether they wanted to or not.

At that instant, the Demonic Eyes of Fantasy would catch them, and they would fall into the fantasies Noir Giabella showed them.

"... Let me say it again. The Demon King of Incarceration will not strip the young master of Dragon Demon Castle of his title."

"Then what about hunting? I don't like that young dragon, and I doubt the Demon King of Incarceration would stop me from hunting him to fulfill my own desires."

"If you attempt that, I will stop you."

Gavid spoke calmly. Yet a red light flickered deep in his eyes. It was the light of his Demonic Eyes of Prestige, equal in rank to Iris's Demonic Eyes of Darkness and Noir's Demonic Eyes of Fantasy.

"I suppose time really has passed. You, once called the Slaughterer, now playing guardian to a young dragon."

"I am not protecting the young master of Dragon Demon Castle. I am keeping you in check. A dragon is a dragon, even if it is not fully grown. You are already powerful enough. I do not wish to let you acquire a dragon heart."

It was only a mild warning. Noir's words had been harsh, but she probably had no genuine intention of hunting the young master of Dragon Demon Castle.

"I understand perfectly. So would you stop giving me that chilling look?"

Noir swept her luxuriant hair back and smiled. Gavid shrugged and deactivated his Demonic Eyes of Prestige. Watching the two of them, Edmond laughed and returned to his seat.

"When Your Graces play such mischievous games of feigned anger, I can scarcely breathe. So please, let us discuss another subject."

"Has anything interesting happened?"

"That depends on how you take it, I believe."

Edmond raised the hand he had kept inside his coat. With a light sweep through the air, a pale sphere the size of two fists appeared.

It was a human soul.

"I am not certain, but..."

Edmond lightly tapped the soul with a fingertip as he spoke.

"It seems a Hero and a saint have appeared."

Gavid's eyes narrowed.