Demon Followers

Golden hair and azure eyes.

A full bosom and slender waist inherited from her mother that captivated every man's heart, while her innocent gaze and mannerisms stirred the deepest protective instincts.

This woman radiated an almost uncontrollable allure from her very appearance—a beauty so intoxicating that even if she cast aside her rank, she would still be a prize no man could resist craving.

Any man alive would surely dream of being received by Olivia Arken.

"I wasn't certain what to prepare for you, so I've brought the black tea I favor myself. I hope it will be to your liking."

Olivia offered the teacup with an apologetic look.

"His Majesty the Emperor and my brothers are occupied with official duties, so I have come in their place. I hope you are not offended?"

She dipped her head slightly, peering up at him through those blue eyes. Her face was that of a pitiable young girl.

They were never busy with official duties.

They had simply discarded Ferda's letter as if it were worthless trash, and the imperial princess had snatched it up for herself.

"Not at all. It is an honor to be received by Olivia Arken, said to be the greatest beauty on the entire Serdes Continent."

The words held not a shred of sincerity.

"I am grateful you would say so. Though I am lacking, I shall do my best to guide our conversation."

Olivia smiled sweetly and clenched a small fist as if to say, Let's do our best together.

"You mentioned you wish to attend the Grand Council? Do you know where it is held?"

"Yes. The absolute domain of the White Dragon Blancaros—commonly known as the White House, is it not?"

"That's correct."

An absolute neutral ground created by the White Dragon Blancaros, Lord of Order and the Spear.

A place where wars were mediated and matters spanning the entire continent were discussed.

There was a time when even my name was bandied about there.

In a place that focused on the affairs of nations and organizations, it was rare to discuss a single individual. Yet Ferda's name had risen there.

Had the Grand Council marked him, Ferda would have been publicly designated a target and subjected to concentrated fire. Even Ferda—whose trials only made him stronger—would never have survived it.

But he had escaped that fate.

The Emperor of Arken.

The emperor had proven useful in many ways. He seemed incompetent, yet the moment his own power was involved he became cunning as a devil. He had attached himself to Ferda, and in return Ferda had solidified the foundation of the emperor's rule.

"Attendance at the Grand Council is permitted for officials of ducal rank and above. Your spouse, Lady Baldrova, is an Archduke—and a Red Dragon at that—so you may attend as her representative!"

"If I attend as a mere representative, few will look upon me kindly. Will that be all right?"

Ferda tested the waters, feigning a lack of confidence.

Olivia nodded vigorously.

"It will be fine! You are the Guardian of the Far East, after all. You have every right to voice your opinions there."

As expected of Olivia. She was skilled at saying exactly what would please a person in the moment. Even though a moment's thought would reveal how insulting the situation truly was, Ferda found he could not bring himself to grow angry. Olivia possessed that kind of bewitching nature.

"Besides, dragons almost always send representatives."

"Representatives… meaning their Spawn, I take it."

"There are Spawn, and there are ordinary humans as well."

He knew that much, yet not the details, so Ferda asked her.

"Which dragons typically send representatives?"

"Hmm… well. It's quite fluid, you see. As you know, dragons are the sort who never know what the next moment will bring."

She stopped mid-sentence, clapped a hand over her mouth, and looked startled.

"Oh dear, I've gone and spoken ill of them. That wasn't my intention at all!"

"It's fine. Please continue."

"W-well, um… the ones who attend regularly are roughly Lord Silverwind, Lord Orosagrado, Lady Iorga, and Lord Storeus."

The Silver Dragon, Lord of Steel and Wind.

The Gold Dragon, Lord of Faith and Light.

The Blue Dragon, Lord of Magic and Water.

The Thunder Dragon, Lord of Storms and Lightning.

Sending a human who is not a Spawn… that would be the Gold Dragon, Orosagrado.

Orosagrado had built his own holy kingdom in the west-central region; he was a being who was faith itself. Because anyone could believe in him, he created no Spawn.

"Thank you for the answer."

"Not at all. I am the one who should be grateful."

Olivia's brows arched alluringly.

"With the Archduke's consort attending, our empire stands to gain tremendous strength."

"I am still only the regent. I hold no such rank."

"Once you marry Her Highness the Archduke, will you not obtain that status as well, Lord Ferda?"

"Even after marriage, I will remain merely the regent."

"Oh my, why is that?"

Olivia covered her mouth with one hand, eyes sparkling.

"I did not come here for power. I simply stand in this position to look after our Archducal territory."

"Ahh, I see. Hmm, hmm…"

For a fleeting instant, Olivia's gaze sharpened. Yet it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced once more by that soft, floating atmosphere.

"What a devoted husband you are. I only wish I could meet a partner like you myself."

Olivia let out a deep sigh.

"His Majesty the Emperor—my father, you see—doesn't seem to want me to marry. Everyone else has their matches arranged, yet I remain alone… It makes me so sad."

She pouted her lips, pretended to cry, and looked at him with smoldering eyes. Her every gesture carried the implication that she might even come to a man like him.

Of course, such theatrics had not the slightest effect on Ferda.

"You will meet someone. Good connections have a way of arriving when least expected."

"Hehe. Even if it is only words, I am grateful."

Having learned what he needed about the Grand Council, Ferda decided it was time to move to his true purpose.

"On my way here today, I was attacked by those the empire calls demon followers."

"Oh my, truly? How frightening…"

Olivia trembled dramatically.

"I have heard things have grown quite dire of late. In the past I used to sneak out with the maids to buy sweets, but now they say demons are on the rise, so security has become extremely strict."

"The times certainly have not improved."

"But we are under the protection of the great light, Alte! So long as that light watches over the emperor, nothing can threaten the empire."

She spoke like a woman with flowers for brains.

"Yet the impure elements are like monsters. Leave them unchecked and they contaminate the land, rendering it useless."

"Mmm… I must concede that point. For the sake of protecting our subjects, the demon followers must be eradicated."

Olivia nodded with a tense expression.

Here Ferda made his proposal. It was time to lay the foundation of his plan.

"Then why not take this opportunity to deal with those demon followers?"

"Of course that would be wonderful if we could… but we have searched high and low for their hideouts and found nothing."

It was less that the imperial soldiers were incompetent and more that the empire was simply too vast. Unless a sudden, concentrated raid was possible, suppressing a force was difficult.

Ferda had prepared for exactly that.

"Recently we also discovered a demon follower within our own territory. Among his belongings we found this."

Ferda took out a cloth-wrapped paper and placed it on the table.

Strange characters were written upon it.

Olivia picked it up without hesitation and examined it.

"What… is this?"

"Demonic language."

"Kyaah!"

Olivia recoiled in shock and dropped the paper. She wiped her hands with a scented handkerchief as if they had been soiled.

"Why demonic language…? Only true demon followers can use this, can they not?"

"Yes. When I showed it to a scribe at our castle, he identified it as demonic language. A proper deciphering will require a magical investigator."

Olivia stared down at the paper covered in demonic script, her face contorted in thought. The innocent façade of moments before had vanished completely. She knew this was no time for foolish coquetry.

Having reached a decision, she raised a hand lightly. The butler standing like a folding screen behind her bowed his head.

"Your orders, my lady."

"Summon a magical investigator at once. This is urgent."

Demons were forbidden beings on the Serdes Continent, without exception. Thus few people could look upon demonic language with their heads held high.

Within the empire, only the magical investigators who examined heresy and demonic arts, and the senior scholars who recorded and researched every scrap of information, were permitted such contact.

The magical investigator who introduced himself as Yuren examined the paper Ferda had handed him and spoke with a grave expression.

"This… is indeed demonic language."

"Oh dear…"

Olivia let out a soft moan. Though her body trembled, her eyes did not waver in the slightest.

"Do you know what it means as well?"

"Yes. It indicates a location. And that place is…"

Yuren drew a map from a spatial storage pouch, spread it open, and pointed to a spot.

"It points precisely to the underground aqueducts beneath the imperial capital."

The man who had stopped the carriage approached the side where Ferda sat. He reached for something he had been concealing. Ferda prepared to launch the mana sphere coiled around his hand.

But he stopped.

In the instant the mana sphere was about to fly, Ferda halted. What the man held was not a weapon, but a scrap of cloth.

"The emperor has betrayed the faith of his subjects!"

The assault on the carriage had been for the sake of a demonstration.

"He ignores the suffering of the people, fills only his own belly, and continues his incompetent rule! Those who suck our lifeblood are no sons of the light!"

The man's actions succeeded in drawing every eye, just as intended.

Knight Captain Marco bellowed, veins bulging in his neck.

"What are you standing around for?! Subdue him at once!"

"Yes, sir!"

Armed soldiers dragged the protester down from the carriage and began beating him with clubs.

"Argh! Argh! People of the empire, rise up! We are not slaves!"

"You bastard! Shut your mouth!"

The man was thrashed and hauled away, blood streaming as he was dragged from the main avenue.

The people standing in the capital streets averted their eyes as if nothing had happened and continued on their way.

"Oh dear, haha! I apologize for showing you such an unsightly scene."

Knight Captain Marco offered an apology, smiling as he tried to smooth the incident over.

Rather than matching that smile, Ferda kept his gaze on the man being dragged away.

"Who was that man? He looked wronged."

"Wronged? You must not be deceived by appearances like that. Those people are demon followers."

"Demon followers?"

"Yes."

Marco spoke with solemn gravity.

"As we enter this golden age, the demons are attempting to rise. They do not hesitate to slander His Majesty the Emperor with their baseless agitation."

That was Marco's explanation. Yet Ferda knew—and Marco himself knew full well—

That man is no demon follower.

He looked as though he had not eaten properly for at least three days. Starving, with no work he could do, he had simply come out in desperation to cry out against tyranny.

Ferda chose to react no differently from any other noble.

"I see."

He neither feigned surprise nor showed understanding. He merely offered a gesture of complete disinterest. Only then would these people feel at ease.

With the surprise protest crushed, the carriage rolled onward once more. Watching the prosperous scenery of the capital, Ferda thought,

Is an empire like this even necessary?

In truth, Ferda did not care either way. Whether it collapsed, continued to rot, or sparked a revolution—he would simply let it flow as it would.

But Baldrova was different.

Who was that woman? She possessed a body that had traversed the roughest grounds of all, safeguarding the Serdes Continent, yet her spirit was as pure as a flower raised in a greenhouse. She was a pure-hearted woman who wished for every person to be happy. In her eyes, the empire's actions were evil—things that could never be tolerated.

Yet she does not act.

She concentrated her mission solely on holding back the monsters. Forcing such complicated political affairs upon her would be no different from abuse.

The internal matters are mine to handle.

For Baldrova's sake, Ferda had to decide. And so he had written three letters.

Every one of them was trash; trying to choose the lesser evil among them was foolishness itself.

Better simply to roll the dice.

Ferda had replaced those dice with three letters. He would go to whoever reached out first. That was all.

The carriage entered the imperial palace, and Ferda stepped down.

A landscape of colossal granite pillars and an imposing palace. Everything was unrealistically vast—fit to be the dwelling place of a god.

The Imperial Guard stood in formation to welcome the guest. And at the end of that line stood one who had come to greet Ferda—one who carried the great bloodline.

The moment Ferda saw that figure, his expression hardened.

Surely not.

It cannot be.

Those phrases of denial tried desperately to hold back the reality that was forcing its way in.

Someone I deliberately never wrote to… has come out to meet me…

For the person who had come to greet Ferda was not the emperor. Not the First Prince. And not the Second Prince either.

"Greetings, Regent of Baldrova."

The imperial princess of the Arken Empire, to whom he had deliberately sent not a single letter.

"I am Olivia Arken."

It was Olivia Arken.

"I pay my respects to the Imperial Princess of the Empire."

Ferda offered the courtesy by reflex. Even with his head bowed, he still felt as though he were being shaken within a giant's grasp.

Fate.

The theory of mana destiny held that all mana was determined by fate. Lately Ferda had been thinking much about that destiny. And so now he thought:

Is fate truly something already decided?

That an imperial princess to whom he had sent no letter would answer him like this…

As I thought…

Doubt tipped into certainty.

It seems the empire is fated to fall.

Olivia Arken.

The woman known as the Golden Rose of the Empire was truly beautiful.