Each Their Own Circumstances
"..."
"..."
After waking, stretching lazily, and opening the door, Berze was met with an unexpected intruder.
He did not avert his gaze, and neither did Lavinia.
What the hell.
Yesterday, he'd met Kain and Lavinia, had dinner with them, and decided he would remain in Hotenwalk for a while to discuss various matters. Then he went to sleep.
So why was this crazy woman standing in front of his door?
"What do you want."
"Wait."
"You were waiting for me to come out?"
"Mm. Go in. Excuse me."
"Barging in uninvited is obviously not excusable."
"So."
"How long have you been here?"
"A while."
"How long is 'a while.'"
Lavinia fidgeted and held up her fingers. One, two.
"Two hours?"
She nodded again.
"Why?"
"Cher."
"Cher?"
"See."
"You want to show me?"
If it was Cher, that must be the chimera Lavinia treasured. Seeing it firsthand wouldn't be bad.
"Let's go."
"Hand."
She held out her hand.
"No."
"Hand."
He stared at her. She did not back down. With a sigh, he took her hand—then immediately pulled away.
This insane woman…
She had tried to channel mana through their linked hands.
He barely suppressed the killing urge that spiked up his spine.
"What are you doing?"
"Mana."
"Don't."
"Wrong?"
"Obviously."
"Sorry."
This wasn't playing with a child—it was worse.
Her image is entirely different from before regression.
Back then, Lavinia had been the most insane woman he'd ever seen.
She wiped out an entire tower with hundreds of chimeras. Especially memorable was the chimera she'd created from a Titan—it had been strong enough to crush even a balrog.
And the woman who commanded it? She had casually disassembled that same balrog on the spot and stuffed the pieces into her subspace storage.
Even then, the balrog had been fighting alongside hundreds of monsters. Leaving the balrog to her chimera and beginning a live dissection right there—was that impressive or insane? Berze would choose—without hesitation—the latter.
"There. Cher."
"…That is…"
The thing I saw on the mountain.
He hadn't had time to examine it then, but now he saw clearly: it was a Titan.
So she had it from back then.
But the creature looked and felt quite different from the one before regression.
Milder. Much weaker.
So she'd been modifying it continuously.
Well, of course. Humans couldn't create a perfect chimera from the start.
"Cher."
Lavinia waved. The Titan—curled up in a corner of the garden—perked up and stood.
Boom, boom.
It approached, wagging its massive head like an excited dog, lowering it for pets. Lavinia stroked its head.
…This is…
It was disgraceful.
A Titan over five meters tall, behaving like a dog for a mere human. As fellow demonkind, Berze felt his pride being shredded.
One of Ugar's vassals?
Probably not. If it were, Ugar would have never tolerated this humiliation.
Then something hit Berze.
Slurp—
A massive tongue. Covered in sticky saliva that reeked horribly.
"..."
"Cher likes you."
The airheaded girl beside him chirped, saying Cher liked him too.
Something snapped in his head.
Berze moved purely on instinct.
He grabbed the tongue—
—and flung it.
KWA-AANG!
Cher screamed as its body smashed into a section of the detached palace, collapsing it completely.
Ding-ding-ding-ding—
The alarm rang and soldiers came rushing as expected.
***
"Ha ha…"
Vivian let out a hollow laugh. Stepping through the squelching blood, she picked up the fallen vampire's severed head.
Unable to even scream, its body lost, its eyes were still half-open.
How many demons and monsters had died?
How many fixtures in her tower were destroyed?
How many magic points would it take to repair all this?
She worried. But above all, the fear of not knowing when the heroes would return pressed down on her.
So she had that thing even back then?
"...Lord Demon King."
"I'm fine. I'm fine."
Vivian forced herself to respond to her aide's concern.
"I am a great Demon King. I've conquered other dimensions already. This level of suffering is nothing."
"Yes."
Was it really nothing?
Over a hundred heroes had attacked her tower at once.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors had been completely wiped out. The 4th survived only because of the heroes' whim.
For some unknown reason, they had simply… left.
She hated dying—but this infuriated her more.
That she, the Demon King, had been—
Ignored.
By humans.
It felt as though she had begged for mercy.
Grit—
"Jayson Corkmund…!"
She remembered their last communication.
"You tried to cross over, but didn't?"
And shortly after, the heroes stormed in.
What else could that mean? Anyone with a brain could see it.
"Jaaason!"
Vivian lost all composure. Throwing aside the vampire's head, she grabbed the communicator and infused it with mana.
A brief ringing.
Then someone answered.
『What is it, Lady Vivian?』
Jayson 's voice was polite as ever. That only worsened Vivian's mood.
"My tower was attacked by heroes!"
『Oh dear. How unfortunate.』
"You don't sound surprised?"
『Well, you are currently speaking with me, are you not?』
"So you knew already?"
『I think you're misunderstanding something.』
"Or maybe you were involved yourself?"
『Did I not tell you? I did nothing—absolutely nothing.』
"And the heroes just happened to come the moment you left? Do you take me for a fool?!"
『Hmm. From where I'm standing, Lady Vivian… you do appear to be a fool.』
"What?"
She bristled, but Jayson didn't flinch.
『I already told you, did I not?』
『Arein is not that petty little dimension you claimed to have conquered.』
『Yet from the very beginning you released succubi in Dormunt and caused havoc, and now you tried to kidnap the dwarf princess. Shouldn't you be more surprised the heroes only arrived now?』
Vivian only now understood what Jayson meant by "I will do nothing."
"You… you're not simply manipulating humans behind the scenes, you're…"
『You should thank Hillen Cargill.』
『You should be begging him for gratitude—for making you fail to kidnap the princess.』
Because—
『He saved your life.』
"Shut up…!"
『Lady Vivian. I do not know what the Archduke of Alkaine promised you to make you run around without thinking, but I will say this one last time.』
『Please.』
On the other side of the communicator, Jayson raised his monocle.
『Make a wise choice.』
『I can understand that you're following the Archduke's order to find the culprit.』
『However—』
『If you interfere in continental matters one more time and cause trouble—』
『There will not be a second warning.』
『Do not test my patience.』
"..."
The cold eyes—and the fury burning underneath—left Vivian unable to speak.
Cold sweat drenched her back.
"...Just what…"
Her trembling lips barely pushed the words out.
"What are you plotting?"
The reply came only after a long moment.
To Vivian, the few seconds felt like hours.
『Even if I explained it… would you be capable of understanding it?』
Even the insult left her unable to respond.
The communication cut.
"…Fine. It doesn't matter."
She would definitely escape this wretched place—eventually.
Vivian bit her lip.
***
While the Flame Demon King was grappling with the Acan Kingdom…
And the Lust Demon King was struggling under the Hero Alliance…
Hillen returned to the Hero Guild.
Before departing, he had already spread rumors: that he successfully secured a treaty with the Kingdom of Verft, and rescued the princess who was nearly kidnapped by the Demon King.
So when he arrived in the guild city, a massive crowd greeted him.
"It's Hillen Cargill!"
"The great hero who saved the princess!"
"No hero compares to Hillen!"
Excessive praise rained down. Some came from hired cheerers—but none of it was false.
So the cheers grew louder, and Hillen basked in them.
As expected.
Good.
When you achieve something, you must show it. Keep your mouth shut and no one acknowledges you.
He passed through the cheering masses and entered the guild.
"The Grand Elder is waiting."
He had no time to rest; he immediately climbed the tower to the upper floors.
"Grand Elder, Hillen Argane has arrived."
"Wait a moment."
The Grand Elder, wearing glasses, finished reviewing his documents. After about five minutes, he removed his glasses and pushed the papers aside.
"It has been a while."
"Yes."
"Tea?"
"Coffee, please."
"Bring it."
"Yes, sir."
The attendant left to fetch refreshments.
"You certainly caused quite the spectacle."
"A 'spectacle'? Or an 'achievement'?"
"If we're being precise, an achievement."
The Grand Elder chuckled.
"People outside say all of this is your doing."
"I apologize. I was… overly happy and let slip a few words while drinking. They must have spread."
"Well, that happens. I won't chastise you."
"Yes, sir."
The attendant returned with refreshments.
"Take it."
"Thank you."
"I've read the reports. You accomplished something truly remarkable."
The Kingdom of Verft had never been cooperative with the Hero Guild. Because of dwarven isolationism, they rarely offered more than bare minimum cooperation.
That made things troublesome for the guild.
Heroes were precious, no matter how many there were; for them to grow stronger and survive, good equipment was necessary. But thanks to the dwarves' isolation, supply was always short.
Thus, Hillen Cargill's treaty was no small feat.
"Well done. Thanks to you, the guild will grow even stronger."
"I only did what I was supposed to."
"What you were supposed to, hmm. Well, for an Argane, that may be true. But you still did well. Your contribution will be formally recognized in three days. The guild will hold a banquet—enjoy it."
"Thank you."
"And you saved the princess, I hear?"
"I was lucky."
"I heard the rough outline, but… was it truly a coincidence? There's never been a case like this. Hard to believe."
"It was coincidence. If it weren't, how would I have saved her?"
"I see. That is true."
The Grand Elder laughed heartily.
"At any rate, you exceeded my expectations. Continue as you are now—if you do, I can meet your expectations as well."
"Yes, I will."
Hillen bowed his head at the blatant proposal.
"I've kept a newly arrived man too long. Go rest."
"Yes. Until next time."
Hillen left.
"There's definitely… something."
But he couldn't grasp what.
"For now, I'll keep him close and observe."
Hillen's standing would rise after such great accomplishments, and if the Grand Elder supported him from behind, it would accelerate further.
A useful counter to the empire and kingdoms trying to exert influence over the guild.
The Grand Elder returned to the documents he had set aside.
***
"They're full of plans to use me."
But Hillen didn't mind. Both sides were using each other. As long as he took what he wanted while being used, that was enough.
Just like now.
Hillen Cargill's lips curled upward.
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE: pokemon-translation-2.myshopify.com