Deployment
『Are you insane?』
"Your words are rough."
『You're telling me, with a straight face, to march into the Empire and help their prince? Have you lost your mind?』
"You are a Hero. If there is a dark mage or a Demon King, then no matter the nation, running toward them is only natural."
『Cut the cliché bullshit.』
"I'll give you mana."
『That's a given.』
『You already made a contract with the 5th Prince, didn't you?』
"I prioritize you over the kingdom."
『And?』
"And?"
『Even if things cross over to the kingdom's side, extracting you out is nothing. Some troublesome, disgruntled humans might complain, but that's hardly a one-day problem.』
『Surely you're not going to claim that giving me what you should give me is some grand "compensation," right?』
『Or are you really that much of a thug?』
On the other side of the communicator, Rozel Charnt licked her lips.
"What do you want?"
『Well, if I'm going to run all the way to an Empire I don't even like and work for their prince, ordinary things won't cut it.』
"Don't make me ask twice."
『Something thicker than mana. Something closer to the source.』
Rozel's eyes filled with madness.
『Your blood.』
『Your hair.』
『Your mana-road.』
『And your mana-core and your heart… is that too much?』
"I admit it. You're definitely insane."
Berze rubbed the goosebumps on his skin. Since becoming a Demon King, this was the first time he'd ever felt chills.
And from a mere human, no less.
Alongside it, anger welled up.
How dare a lowly human Hero covet the body of a Demon King?
"Get lost."
『…What?』
"And the contract is void. I'll just swallow the penalty. The reason for termination? Rozel the lunatic Charnt. Understood?"
Berze realized something then.
This wasn't about his connection to Acan. The madness radiating from Rozel Charnt was nowhere near normal. Humans like her always dragged incidents and disasters behind them.
If her target was Berze himself, then the deeper the involvement, the more certain the explosion.
So cutting ties was correct.
Penalty fee? Losing a bit of money was cheap. And his ties to the Acan Kingdom could continue through the elves anyway.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy to fully sever. Rozel Charnt's obsession would hardly give up.
But at the very least, he needed a firm line she would not dare to cross—would not dare to approach unless it was the absolute last resort.
『No—wait!』
"What, are you that shocked? You thought I'd listen to that garbage quietly? I'm not the one who's desperate here."
『No, no! It was a joke, okay?』
"I'm serious."
And you were serious too from the start.
『This is bad. The king and the Tower Master will raise hell.』
『And every mage in the Tower, too.』
"That's your problem to deal with. I doubt a mage would speak without thinking."
『…So this is how you want to play it?』
"And if I am?"
『Fine! I'll stick to the original deal and just take mana. Satisfied?』
"You can't scoop spilled water back into the bowl."
『Don't be stupid! What magic can't undo something!?』
…Well, that was true.
『Fine. I'll concede. Free. I'll work for free as an apology. I'll work, so stop canceling the contract!』
"…Hmm."
『It's not every day an opportunity like this shows up. If you miss it, you're an idiot.』
"…If you want to help me that badly."
A faint curve appeared on Berze's lips. Rozel finally realized she'd been tricked and her expression turned hollow.
『…The hell?』
"Cross over immediately with the Crimson Flame Strike Squad and find Hillen Cargill. I trust a great Hero and mage isn't someone who speaks with two mouths. Goodbye."
『You son of a—!』
Berze cut the connection.
Rozel's final words vanished into the air.
***
The Emperor of Jespine was a man who understood the importance of grand causes and spectacle.
The imperial royals themselves would carry out noblesse oblige and personally march to subjugate the dark mages—the very servants of evil.
Why hide that? Why conduct it secretly?
Especially when it is the Empire—holder of the greatest power on the continent?
Absurd.
Better to flaunt it proudly, to stir rumors, to move with great noise.
That way the people would know.
That way their loyalty would rise.
That way everyone would see.
The nobles and the people alike could witness the royal heirs being tested.
Only those who proved their worth under those gazes could ascend the imperial throne.
Srrrng—
The Emperor drew his sword.
The Draco Sword, symbol of the Jespine Imperial Family and of the Empire itself.
He lifted the blade high. Its brilliant edge reflected sunlight.
"Subjugate the insolent dark mages who dared to trample upon and defile the Empire's name."
"March forth!"
Small words, but powerful.
Amplified by magical loudspeakers, the Emperor's voice crashed into the ears of every citizen in the capital.
Waaaaaaaaah—
Responding to the fervent roar, the four imperial heirs knelt and bowed their heads.
"We obey your command!"
"We obey your command!"
Boom— boom— boom—
Drums thundered. Trumpets blared. The swelling cheers were so hot one might mistake this for a festival rather than a war.
Naturally so. No one believed the Empire could possibly lose.
Thus began the campaign to subjugate the dark mages in the Hapstline Gorge.
***
The four imperial heirs, along with the nobles and royal retainers who accompanied them, accepted the Emperor's decree before the people.
Hillen and Berze, and Rozel Charnt who had joined them, watched the spectacle as part of the crowd.
"I still can't stand Empire folks. They want to use Heroes, but hate having attention drawn away from their official ceremonies?"
"This is the Empire. Speaking ill of it is not a wise choice."
"Shut it, you thieving Demon King."
"You're louder."
"Shut up, you scammer."
Rozel Charnt, dragged by the nose into doing free labor, had been in a foul mood since the moment she arrived in the Empire.
The Empire's poor treatment of Heroes only made that irritation worse.
"It's done. Let us head to the East Gate."
"I wonder how many troops and Heroes those other imperial brats managed to gather."
Berze and Hillen headed toward the eastern gate of the capital. Rozel Charnt followed behind them.
A massive crowd had already gathered at the outer eastern gate.
In the distance, the subjugation force was visible—four knight orders, four mage battalions, and eight hundred soldiers.
Compared to the Empire's five elite knight orders, they were inferior, but certainly not lacking.
When the imperial heirs appeared, the troops formed up and bowed their heads.
What was amusing was that only they did so.
"A game of reading the room."
"Yes. I expect most forces will merge later along the way."
The competition had begun the moment it was decided that the subjugation would be led by the imperial heirs.
Hiding one's strengths and exaggerating one's weaknesses was the most basic strategy.
For days the newspapers had been buzzing about which Hero had been hired by which imperial heir, yet the number of people who actually revealed themselves today was small.
They were hiding their real cards on purpose.
"We should have hidden ours too, but…"
"Want me to gouge your eyes out?"
Hillen shot Rozel a sideways glance. Rozel growled in response.
Originally, the 3rd Prince had wanted to hide Rozel's presence entirely and have her join only near Hapstline, but Rozel refused.
She whined about filling one storage orb after sprinting alone across the land, leaving the Crimson Flame Strike Squad elsewhere.
Naturally, Hillen didn't grant her request—and so the day arrived like this.
If there was anything fortunate, it was that she at least wore her robe low to obscure her face, keeping herself from being too openly exposed.
"Where's the 3rd Prince's group?"
"Over there."
Just then, a knight bearing the imperial dragon crest rode up and dismounted before Hillen.
"So you are the famed Sir Hillen Cargill?"
"I greet the 6th Prince."
"To see with my own eyes the Hero who slew two Demon Kings! Delightful! I've wanted to meet you!"
With that small commotion, the four imperial-led detachments departed toward Hapstline Gorge.
***
Hapstline was not a single canyon. The paths splintered into dozens of cracks spreading in all directions, and the Empire had fortified the largest and most important point among them.
The fortresses—four in total—encircled the gorge from the east, west, south, and north. This matched the four imperial heirs leading the campaign.
The four groups would spread out to different fortresses, surrounding the gorge, and advance inward toward the center.
"So this is the Dortin Fortress."
A colossal fortress stood in the distance, blocking the entrance to the gorge.
The subjugation force, originally composed of 50 knights, 30 mages, and 100 soldiers, had nearly tripled in size after being reinforced by the Aincheil Marquisate's 500 troops, the Crimson Hawk Strike Squad's 21 warriors, and the Crimson Flame Strike Squad's 50.
"The White Hawk Knights… aren't they Aincheil's strongest order?"
"We're hawks too."
"You can't compare us to them."
"You're the Crimson Hawk Strike Squad. What's so inferior about you compared to them?"
"Of course, Captain. It's different from our mercenary days."
"But still, the White Hawk Knights are a little…"
"Well, it's not like we became exceptionally stronger compared to back then."
"Can't you shut up?"
The Crimson Hawk Strike Squad members whispered as they stared at the gleaming platinum-clad knights.
Hillen clicked his tongue silently at their pride deflating all on its own.
"It was a mistake to form a strike squad out of mercenaries. We should have recruited proper warriors and built it from the ground up…"
"That would've taken ages. And besides, that sounds suspiciously like you're saying giving you mercenaries was my fault?"
"Of course not, but if it sounded that way…"
"Shut it."
"Yes, sir."
The Aincheil Marquisate's elites—representatives of the Empire's strength. The 3rd Prince's power was not weak in any objective sense.
But the 3rd Prince could not rest easy.
Everything was relative. Though this force was strong, compared to the other heirs' forces, it felt lacking.
'My older brothers and sisters must have received far greater support.'
The 1st Prince and 1st Princess would surely be leading the elite forces of ducal houses. They were objectively and subjectively stronger than the Aincheil Marquisate's forces.
And the 2nd Prince had likely hired an enormous number of mercenaries powered by the Marquis Boldorbou's vast wealth—not to mention his house's own knight order.
'That much was expected.'
Everyone assumed the heirs would be backed by their houses. Their reason for hiding their forces and merging later was to conceal their Heroes.
'In the end, the Hero is what matters.'
In the mana-tainted Hapstline, facing undead and dark mages, the one capable of the greatest impact was a Hero.
'Who could they have brought?'
They had likely recruited some famous stars. Even if the Empire disliked the Hero Guild, Heroes understood well that forming ties with the imperial heirs was a path to immense wealth and power.
'We should have hidden ours too.'
But everything was already exposed. Hillen was revealed at the capital from the start, and Rozel Charnt came to the capital despite his attempts to keep her concealed.
They tried to hide her, but… well.
'Still…'
His gaze shifted to the Crimson Hawk Strike Squad.
To the Hero leading them.
'I've prepared everything. My brothers and sisters don't know about this trump card.'
It was thanks to Hillen—his advice had allowed the 3rd Prince to craft his secret weapon.
"We're entering the fortress."
"Yes!"
As the gates opened, the lord of the fortress and his retainers came out to greet him.
'I will personally slaughter the dark mages. And I will help Hillen strike the Tower of Flame.'
He made a deep resolution.
To become Emperor, rescue his younger sibling, and ensure he never died in the blood-soaked struggle for succession.
His eyes burned with grim determination.
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