"Eh~, good grief, what is this?"

Vois Fiurelle said, raising his voice in a sulking manner.

Pretty black hair, intelligent black eyes. Dressed in miko-like garb, he was a boy who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen.

Right now, that boy was inside the central military building of the capital of the country that he"d quickly established, the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet.

While walking down the corridor, Vois, in an oddly troubled manner, scratched at his tidy black hair.

Then he read the report that his subordinate Harmit possessed.

In that report, this kind of thing was written.

—Ryner Lute, Ferris Eris, and Kiefer Knolles have fled.

Staring at those words, Vois knitted his eyebrows, and,

"Why~ has it turned out like this?"

He said, turning around, where a beautiful woman with an apologetic expression was.

Vois"s subordinate, Harmit Wolf.

Long black hair, navy blue eyes. A tall, slender body adorned in a combat uniform.

Harmit spoke with a meek face.

"Due to my incompetence..."

"I"m not interested in apologies, you know. Just tell me the truth. What happened?"

"That"s..."

"You don"t know? You were keeping an eye on them, of course?"

"Yes."

"But they shook you off?"

"... Yes."

"When you noticed that they were no longer there, it was just a short while ago? After I came back?"

"... Yes."

"The investigation?"

"Presently..."

She began, but Vois interjected with,

"Don"t bother. I"ll do it myself."

With that order, Harmit hurriedly gave commands to a male subordinate in the waiting. Then, the man began running.

But ignoring that,

"Hmm,"

Vois said, while crossing his arms, as he walked down the corridor, pondering.

Where he was headed right now was the one who should be located closest to where they were now: the room given to Ferris.

While heading there,

"... How~ever, this is strange, isn"t it? Given the current state of affairs, there shouldn"t be anywhere other than here that they would go to, and furthermore, Ryner-san and the others should"ve seen perfectly that, with the effective government, what a nice place this is, with the information and restrictions given to them... correct?"

He said, looking at Harmit again as if seeking affirmation.

Harmit nodded.

"That was the intention."

"But they"ve left. Now then, now then, what should we do from here?"

He said, finally reaching Ferris"s room.

Unless Harmit"s information was incorrect, Ferris had left the country.

And as Harmit had no reason to lie to him,

"... My, my, she really isn"t there,"

Vois said in a troubled manner. Then he entered the room.

Inside the room was the wrapping paper of various shops" dango from within Sph.e.l.lilans that she"d apparently gone around buying, and on the back of each paper, the impressions of that dango were written.

Picking up one sheet,

"... The south Sapruno shopping district"s dango shop, Pippi Dango, wasn"t stocked up properly, so negative points for them,"

Vois read.

Then looking over his shoulder at Harmit,

"Did you know that Pippi Dango isn"t any good?"

He asked, to which she shook her head. Regretting her own faults as always, she made an awkward expression.

Looking at that somewhat weak face of Harmit"s,

"... Haha,"

Vois said, grinning.

Always acting gallent, like the difficult-to-fl.u.s.ter Kiefer, having her make an apologetic expression like this,

"Like this, it"s something that comes firmly, though. But..."

Right now, the fact that Ryner isn"t here anymore is bad, he muttered inwardly.

Though Harmit"s face, looking as if she wanted to say something, twisted further—well, that it"d go that far is, as one would expect, pitiful.

But nevertheless, the fact that Ryner Lute was, at the moment, no longer there was especially bad.

After all, right now, Vois was, day by day, spreading out a delicate negotiation with the rest of the world.

Or rather, if one were to look at just what happened here over the last two weeks, then definitely, it would look to them as if, out of everyone in the world, it was him who was the busiest, wasn"t it? For example,

- Proclaiming Ryner as the Demon King to the world.

- Conquering and dividing the Geihlficlant Empire"s territory.

- Binding various countries through a peace treaty by proposing a ban on Rhule Fragmei.

- Furthermore, getting that queen of the Azure Princess Mercenaries, Pia Varliere, on his side.

And such, already, he"d been working hard day and night and had finally just returned to his own country.

Afterwards, while indulging himself by frequently teasing Ryner, Ferris, and Kiefer, though he"d intended to capture the world at once,

"... Why~ is it that everyone must act on their own without thinking?"

As he said that, Harmit again looked down with a pained expression, at which Vois laughed.

"It"s not your fault."

"But—"

"I said that it"s not your fault, so it"s not your fault. And the leader"s words are absolute, aren"t they?"

"......"

Harmit, at that, lifted her face to look at him.

Vois smiled at that.

Well, right now, it honestly wasn"t her fault. With her power, she wouldn"t have been able to stop Kiefer, generally-speaking, and Ryner and Ferris.

No, amidst his p.a.w.ns, when it came to someone who could stop someone of Ryner and Ferris"s level, there was no one.

That was why it wasn"t an error on Harmit"s part.

In other words, what was strange wasn"t that Ryner and co."s intentions and actions weren"t dealt with, so if there was a mistake in his plan, then maybe,

"... Something beyond my predictions, an irregular situation occurred here, hmm~?"

He said, throwing away the dango package and directing his eyes towards Ferris"s belongings. Moreover, he pointed towards the room"s closet, and,

"Harmit, open the closet,"

He ordered.

At that,

"Understood,"

Nodding as she said that, she moved towards the closet and opened it.

Regarding that, Vois spoke.

"What"s inside?"

"Clothes."

"Underwear?"

To the question, after pulling out several drawers, Harmit said,

"They"re here."

"What colour?"

"Eh?"

"What colour are Ferris-san"s panties?"

"... E-Er, they"re white and pink."

"Hmm. I see. It would"ve been nice if they were black or red, huh?"

While saying such things, Vois looked at Harmit"s back with a bored expression. Like that, he exited into the corridor and began walking.

And he thought over things.

He thought over what it meant that Ferris"s clothes and underwear had been left behind.

By the time that Harmit had noticed, Ryner, Ferris, and Kiefer were no longer there. Completely evading the surveillance on the second floor, they"d left the area.

In other words, they should have been able to take their clothes and belongings with them. In spite of that, Ferris didn"t take anything with her.

At that, again,

"This is bad, huh?"

Vois muttered.

Somehow, Ryner and co."s disappearance, being unable to stomach this place, didn"t seem to have any logic behind it.

Seeing as how they should"ve taken their belongings with them, it seemed that a situation beyond his predictions had occurred.

Now then, what would that be?

"......"

Slipping through the corridor, Vois headed to Ryner"s room.

The door to Ryner"s room was wide open.

Inside the room was a mess.

The bed was buried under books and doc.u.ments, and there were traces of a drink spill here and there.

Looking at the books and doc.u.ments, because of Harmit, that the information given to Ryner had been manipulated, he knew.

In other words, by the things that Vois was doing, the affairs that he didn"t want Ryner to know about shouldn"t have been conveyed to him.

"... Hmm,"

He said, looking around the room.

At the bookshelf, the window, the desk, the bed.

However, there were no clues as to where Ryner had gone. Furthermore, all of his belongings had been left behind as well.

If Ryner and the others truly had left the country, then without making any preparations, they would"ve left empty-handed.

Regarding that,

"......"

Exiting the room with a thoughtful expression,

"All right, I"ve inspected Ryner-san and Ferris-san"s rooms. Investigate as to why there are no leads,"

Vois ordered Harmit.

Harmit nodded, and then turned to a young boy behind them in stand-by. That boy began running.

But unsurprisingly, Vois wasn"t interested in that.

Now, he headed over to Kiefer Knolles"s room.

The state of Kiefer"s room was slightly different from the other two"s.

First of all, the door had been shredded to pieces.

On top of that, it was an iron door.

Though it was a door where the lock had been camoflauged so that it couldn"t be seen, with the lock actually being on the outside, so that one could lock any guests inside the room.

"... Agaaain, it"s been cleanly sliced apart, huh?"

He said, entering the room.

Kiefer"s room, unlike Ryner and Ferris"s rooms, was tidy.

Prudent in the cleaning, there wasn"t a speck of garbage. As if she"d been researching something, books and doc.u.ments had been sorted and arranged.

Furthermore, amidst that collection was doc.u.ments on affairs that Vois hadn"t wanted them to see.

"Oh~, oh~, this is... heh, Kiefer-san is more capable than I thought,"

Vois said in admiration.

Anyhow, that she"d evaded Harmit"s surveillance and had gathered this amount of information,

"She might be an unexpectedly good find."

While saying that, Vois wandered around her room, searching for Kiefer"s belongings.

However, she hadn"t left her belongings behind.

Neither her clothes nor her underwear remaining, everything had completely disappeared, and conscientiously, her bed had been made.

That was to say, for Kiefer, leaving the country had been of her own will.

"... Now then, what can be understood from this situation?"

He muttered.

Ryner and Ferris had vanished while leaving their belongings behind, but Kiefer had left with preparations for a journey.

Consequently, what in the world was the meaning of that?

While thinking over that, he lay down on Kiefer"s bed in the meantime. Sleepiness. .h.i.tting him immediately, he was aware of his own, notable tiredness.

Regarding that sleepiness, enduring it as he closed his eyes, he spoke to Harmit at the entrance of the room.

"Harmit."

"Yes?"

"Shall we sleep together~?"

"Understood. If that is what Vois-sama desires,"

She said, but to her who was approaching, Vois spoke.

"But, Harmit, as there"s still work to be done, I"m not letting you sleep with me~"

"Eh..."

"Look at what"s on the desk. Kiefer-san has been escaping your surveillance, Harmit, and investigating the backstage of this country~"

As he said that, Harmit looked at the desk. Looking at the countless doc.u.ments there, her face paled.

"M-My apologi..."

She began, but without letting her finish, Vois said,

"That"s why I"m forbidding you from sleeping with me."

"U—"

"As punishment, Harmit, investigate this room. As it looks like Kiefer-san left of her own will, there might be a clue left behind. As expected, I"ve hit my limits, just a bit, so I"m going to sleep, but if you don"t find anything by the time I wake up, Harmit..."

Suddenly, Vois"s eyes opened, as if jolting himself out of a dream, and,

"I"ll be angry?"

He said.

At that,

"Au,"

Harmit said in a frightened voice. The sound of her frantically investigating the doc.u.ments on the desk rang out.

While nodding in satisfaction, Vois embraced the pillow tightly.

"What does Kiefer-san smell like?"

While saying such things, he was about to go to sleep, but then he felt his hand touch something paper-like.

At that, Vois faintly opened his eyes.

"Ah, what"s this? The ingenious me found a clue while sleeping,"

He said, taking out a sheet of paper from under the pillow.

It was a sheet of paper that looked to have some kind of message on it.

Likely a message from Kiefer Knolles.

Vois read it.

In that message, this sort of thing was written.

"To Vois-kun. As we are unable to believe in you, we"ve decided to quietly leave the country. However, if by any chance you intend to help us, then please send a message to the inn in the Sul village of the Heilmuss Republic to the west. There"s only one inn. From there, you"ll obtain a means of contacting us. Please do not try and tail us. In the event that we notice such a tail, we will be unable to believe in you once more. If you wish to gain our confidence, then please display your good will—"

Reading up until there, Vois spoke.

"Quite a long preface, isn"t it...? But she truly is amazing. I"d like for her to be one of my direct subordinates,"

He muttered.

He continued reading the message.

With this, regarding what had just happened, that was written.

Kiefer said this.

"Now then, I"ll write only about what occurred here. Ryner has been abducted by a monster. The monster"s outward appearance involves a spherical head with countless eyes. It seems that its body has seven arms. Ferris-san was the one who saw it. Though there is a chance that an illusionary spell was being used, there"s also the chance that it"s a monster in reality. If you happen to know of such a monster or a mage that could cast an illusion over Ryner, contact us. We"re pursuing Ryner."

The message ended there.

And Vois, with a frustrated expression, stared at that paper.

Then he looked up at Harmit, who was still desperately searching for clues.

She was looking through the doc.u.ments and then putting them aside, pulling open the desk drawers, looking inside; however, it didn"t seem as if she was discovering anything, and so had a troubled face.

While dimly watching that,

"......"

However, he didn"t tell her that he found a lead.

Instead, he thought over the contents of that message.

And he did have some information on the monster written about in the message.

Countless eyes on a spherical head.

A body with seven arms—though that was what was written, he had information on a being resembling that.

Called the Crawling G.o.d by the G.o.ddesses, an old G.o.d—Remrus Remuld Aarqued.

Reigning over the Remrus Empire, a grotesque monster.

If he recalled correctly, it had seven eyes through which it saw the world and six arms.

"... But the amount of eyes and arms don"t quite match up..."

That said, if it took Ryner-san away so easily, then it"s likely Remrus, isn"t it? He thought.

Though the Crawling G.o.d didn"t have that much power, there were practically no other myth or folklore-like beings aside from the G.o.ddesses, Hero, and Demon remaining.

"... This is quite the unexpected ambush that"s appeared, isn"t it? Remrus has gotten involved rather quickly..."

Vois said, rising from the bed.

Harmit looked surprised at that, and then,

"M-My apologies, I"ve yet to find a..."

Interrupting that,

"No, the clues that have already been found are enough,"

He said, tossing the message in Harmit"s direction.

As Harmit caught it, she began reading.

However, unsurprisingly ignoring that, Vois exited the room.

And he thought over things.

Ryner—no, the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet"s trump card of a weapon [Ryner Lute] had been stolen by Remrus.

That was especially bad.

After all, the fact that Ryner was here was what protected this country of the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet"s right to speak to the rest of the world.

Obliterating a million lives in an instant, a demon king that possessed enough power to stop the war between the Gastark Empire and Geihlficlant Empire—as the world thought that, then despite the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet"s small numbers in soldiers, their people were able to take a short rest without being attacked.

However, if Ryner Lute were to be abducted by the Remrus Empire, and if other countries were to learn of this, what would happen?

"......"

It was likely that they"d simultaneously be attacked by neighbouring countries.

First, the Geihlficlant Empire that had been divided into northern and southern divisions would come to reclaim their territory.

Furthermore, the Ertolia Republic and Gastark Empire that had captured territory of the weakened Geihlficlant Empire would come and attack at once.

On the contrary, small countries that had been relying on the three superpowers might also take this chance to partic.i.p.ate in the war.

If they knew that the Demon King [Ryner] wasn"t here, then the Geihlficlant Empire and the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet, exhausting itself with a civil war, was nothing more than a divided country.

Neighbouring countries wouldn"t overlook this chance.

Of course, the military forces of the Anti-Roland Coalition that Vois led possessed many Rhule Fragmei, but Gastark was the same.

In that case, there was the possibility that they"d use Glovil against them. Right now, the other party had vastly greater numbers in terms of soldiers. On top of that, it seemed that, as if using a Rhule Fragmei that could control the soldiers" feelings in an instant, even when there was flat-out friendly fire in the war, Vois and co."s soldiers had no chance at winning with their power.

In other words, it"d be bad if it was leaked out to other countries that Ryner wasn"t here. And though, before that was revealed, they had to rescue Ryner from Remrus,

"Now then, how to move when the enemy is a monster?"

He said, narrowing his eyes.

Remrus shouldn"t be too great of a foe.

Compared to the G.o.ddesses, the Crawling G.o.d should have always been a low-grade, powerless G.o.d.

And he also possessed tools that could kill even the G.o.ddesses.

He also possessed G.o.d-killing relics known as Rhule Fragmei.

If he used them, then a monster of Remrus"s level shouldn"t be able to do anything.

But the problem was,

"The problem is that why did Ryner-san get taken away so easily if the opponent was a lowly G.o.d of that degree, hmm? Did it lure him away with the panties of a girl as bait?"

While muttering such foolish things, he continued to think with a serious expression nevertheless.

Truly, the incident that had happened just now was beyond his predictions.

The matter of Remrus wasn"t one that Vois had seen fit to pay much attention to. No, up until just a short while ago, the G.o.ddesses who meant to make use of him were fools who thought that it was enough to manipulate humans.

Naturally, though, a monster"s power far surpa.s.sed that of a human"s, and while he was aware of that in itself, he still hadn"t paid much attention to it.

Rather, aside from the fact that, being located north of Roland, the Remrus Empire had become an obstacle to the other country, he hadn"t thought about it.

But Ryner had been taken away.

Ryner, who should"ve obtained enough power to frighten the G.o.ddesses, had easily been taken away.

Though he didn"t know what kind of trap or illusion had been prepared in order to do that, Remrus, who was scorned by the G.o.ddesses, had done that, and he"d certainly have laid out various other plans—

"d.a.m.n it. Again, the enemies aside from the G.o.ddesses and the Hero have increased?"

Vois said, groaning.

And he wanted to blame the naivety of his own thoughts. Well, even if he blamed himself, he didn"t think he could"ve stopped what had happened this time.

No, because he knew that enemies who wanted to obtain Ryner"s power like himself were gathering, maybe he should"ve put up some guards.

For example, a.s.signing Ferris as a guard to Ryner who possessed one Rhule Fragmei, or something like that.

But as he hadn"t expected Ryner, with his degree of power, to be taken away so simply, he hadn"t a.s.signed any such guards.

"I was naive... but even if I regret it now, there"s nothing that can be done about it. However, I have to take measures immediately now. Now then, what to do..."

He began, but then suddenly, a different subordinate barged out of a room. And upon locating Vois, in a desperate manner,

"Vois-sama! An enemy has attacked! Please escape imme..."

However, his words ended there.

The upper half of the subordinate"s body was devoured and torn to shreds by some sort of black shadow monster, and so became no more.

And that monster turned this way.

Made of shadows, it was a gigantic wolf-like monster.

With only one glance, he could tell that it was a monster born from a Rhule Fragmei.

And upon looking this way, the beast opened its mouth wide, before attacking him.

"Wah, wah, Harmit!"

Vois called out.

Harmit lifted her face at this and reacted. Withdrawing the sword at her waist, she moved to save him.

The monster then looked at Harmit.

Vois took that opportunity to jump back. Furthermore, he took a knife out from his pocket. Then, he flung it to the floor.

In that instant, the knife separated into four pieces and pierced through the left and right walls, the ceiling, and the floor. And with those four pieces in the cardinal points, a thinly translucent film of light was spread out, isolating the monster away from Vois.

The monster was stopped by that film, and,

"Gah—"

In the moment that it let out a cry, its body was already disappearing.

Looking at that,

"Oh~, that was close,"

Vois said, letting a bit of emotion leak into his voice.

Then he turned towards the entrance of the room that the monster had entered from.

There, at the room"s entrance, he saw a lone man appear.

It was likely the man manipulating the shadow monsters.

Long, smooth and pretty jet-black hair. A thin, tall body. Though his face was surprisingly well-featured, anyone who saw him wouldn"t feel that, with his icy, dark blue eyes.

With eyes as if he were completely looking down at everything, he looked down at Vois, and,

"Ah, how unfortunate that was just now,"

He said in a horribly dark voice.

In response, Vois looked up at the man, and,

"You are?"

He asked, to which the man smiled.

And, with open red lips entirely like a demon"s,

"I"m not someone who would introduce himself,"

He said such a thing, at which Vois shrugged and spoke.

"An a.s.sa.s.sin from Gastark?"

"Ah, I"ve been expo..."

"No, that"s not it, is it? After all, Gastark"s Rhule Fragmei user would have pink hair. And to manipulate that shadow beast—that"s a type of Rhule Fragmei that can only be used by the chosen bloodline, isn"t it? That is, you aren"t an a.s.sa.s.sin from Gastark. In that case, where are you an a.s.sa.s.sin from?"

At that, while cheerfully smiling, the man caressed his own black hair.

"I dyed it,"

He said such a thing.

Vois smiled in response and spoke.

"Heh. Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Then you must be an a.s.sa.s.sin from Gastark, huh? In that case, if it"s a precious a.s.sa.s.sin from Gastark, it"s fine for me to say this. The film of this Rhule Fragmei separating us cannot be broken by a relic. But rather, there"s only one way to break it. Do you know what that is?"

The man looked up at the film of light that spread across the center of the room.

"Now then, what should I do?"

He asked, and so Vois told the man.

"Though this holds up against the laws of nature and against relics, it"s weak only to magic, you see. So if you use magic, it"ll be troubling~"

He said that.

At that, the man looked his way, and,

"... Do you expected me to be deceived by such nonsense?"

Vois answered,

"That should be my line. Someone from Gastark? You dyed your hair? If that"s the truth, then let me see you use magic. Come on, draw your prided grid pattern, and invoke your magic~"

However, at that, the man didn"t move to use magic.

Well, he"d known from the beginning that this guy wasn"t from Gastark, so it wasn"t as if this was a new piece of information.

Vois stared at the man, and,

"So, what does an a.s.sa.s.sin from Roland want with me?"

He said.

That was the scythe that he applied.

If he reacted to the mention of Roland, then Vois would know where this guy came from.

However, the man"s face didn"t as so much twitch. Instead, with a cold expression, he stretched out his hand, and,

"Let there be darkness,"

He said.

The shadow at the man"s feet stretched, and one beast was formed. Furthermore, it was a beast that was far larger than the previous one.

That beast lunged at the film of light spread across the room.

And that light, for a moment, for only a moment, wavered faintly; however, again, the beast disappeared.

And watching that,

"......"

Not good, Vois thought.

Just now, the film"s special trait might have been revealed, he thought.

If this film were struck by a certain level of power or higher, it was possible to break through it.

Of course, if it were attacked by a normal sword or spell, it wouldn"t matter much, but.

Then suddenly,

"That messenger girl that you sent to us, of the Roland Empire—I killed her."

The man revealed the country from which he came.

At that, Vois felt increasingly more that this was not good.

This man had already discovered the way to break through the film. And he possessed enough power to kill Vois.

That was why he so easily revealed the country that he came from.

To that,

"......"

Vois, however, made a surprised face as if he hadn"t noticed anything, and,

"So, you"ve willingly revealed yourself,"

He said.

And he became aware of the window behind him. He started simulating a plan to escape from here inside his head.

During that time, the man placed his hand on his chest, and bowing his head slightly,

"I am a messenger hailing from the Roland Empire, known as Miran Froaude. Pleased to make your acquaintance,"

Though he said that, this man called Froaude didn"t give off the feeling that he was pleased to make his acquaintance, as Vois knew the instant he saw his demon-like face.

That was why, while smiling, Vois took a step back.

Froaude, looking at his feet, laughed again.

"There"s no need to be afraid. It"ll only hurt for a moment. No, not even for an instant—you likely won"t feel any pain."

While saying such things, he took a necklace out of his pocket.

It was a Rhule Fragmei that would absorb the surrounding light and unleash explosive, destructive power.

Demonic Beast Destroyer [Ellearms].

Vois scowled at that. Though he possessed a Rhule Fragmei that held the power to render Ellearms null, in order to negate Ellearms, it was necessary to take down the film dividing the room.

And naturally, if the film were removed, this Froaude man would attack with his shadow beasts.

Even if he negated Ellearms, he wouldn"t be able to defend against an attack from Froaude.

However, if he didn"t negate Ellearms, there would be an explosion right in the heart of the country, its destruction exceeding even that of a large-scale offensive spell. If that were to happen, then it would be likely that this country wouldn"t be able to rebuild itself.

Vois scowled at that, and shouted.

"If you use that here, then my subordinates within Roland will do the sa..."

He began, but Froaude laughed.

"You will die here. And my lineage will be known to no one. Now, let"s end this already. Please resign yourself to your death,"

He said, moving to toss the necklace.

Vois made his decision to deal with it. From his pocket, he took out the Divine Parasite Bugs [Euloss Elma], devoted to devouring the light of the Ellearms.

And like that, turning on his heel,

"Harmit! Exit from the window! Provide back up!"

He called.

And he began enacting his plan from outside the room window.

However, then, Froaude said,

"Now, putting aside that joke..."

Suddenly, saying that, he put the necklace back in his pocket.

"......"

Vois, with a foot on the window, looked over his shoulder.

And narrowing his eyes at Froaude,

"... Don"t you think that was a rather poor joke?"

Froaude smiled, and,

"Compared to what your spies, who you were able to send to Roland, did?"

He said such things.

Incidentally, the duty of the spies that Vois sent to Roland was to set fire to their provisions, blow up their armoury, etc.—things one couldn"t really speak well of.

Rather, there was also the matter of unleashing a Ellearms at the Roland palace like the one that Froaude had almost activated.

But, even on top of not suffering any damage at all, the dispatched spies also—

"None of them came back, did they?"

Vois said, to which Froaude nodded.

"Because I killed them."

"You admitted it so easily, huh?"

"But you are the same, are you not?"

"Well, perhaps,"

Vois said, removing his foot from the window. Then, turning around, he pointed at Froaude and spoke.

"Or rather, if it were me in your position just now, I"d be attacking with Ellearms."

"Haha. But you"re of a worse nature than me."

"That"s right, isn"t it? Well, though I"m always hoping that I have a worse nature than anybody else... Otherwise, an adorable child like me would"ve been immediately attacked all "nooo" and "fufu" and whatnot. That"s also your true goal, isn"t it?"

At such words,

"......"

However, Froaude didn"t respond to that.

He looked around, and,

"However, seeing your frantic response just now, this country has yet to erect a barrier to negate Ellearms, hmm?"

He said.

Vois nodded at that.

"My, wouldn"t that take about a month? But this country wasn"t even established a month ago, if you recall,"

He said, though from the beginning, Vois had no intention of erecting a barrier.

Firstly, when it came to Euloss Elma that existed to negate Ellearms on its own, its numbers were few, so it was precious.

In terms of numbers, Vois had only six in his possession.

And once that Rhule Fragmei was used once, it couldn"t be used again, so unless there was a place that had to be protected at all costs, he didn"t want to use them.

And as for Sph.e.l.liyet here, Vois had plans for it to merely be a temporary establishment.

Though from now on, their army would, with Pia and co. attacking the other towns of the Geihlficlant Empire, be sequentially be migrating the acting capital city—

"......"

However, if they planned to return right after, it would be insane.

First, Ryner, whom they should be celebrating as their king, had been captured by the Remrus Empire.

Furthermore, an a.s.sa.s.sin from Roland had easily infiltrated the heart of their country.

The state of the world was continuing to spiral past Vois"s expectations, and to that,

"... The me who thought about sleeping was a fool, huh?"

He muttered.

Froaude tilted his head to one side at that.

"What was that?"

Though he said that, Vois shrugged.

"No, nothing. Or rather, if you"re not using Ellearms, then that means that you"ve come here with another goal in mind, doesn"t it?"

As he asked that, Froaude nodded.

"Correct. I thought I would come and greet Ryner Lute-sama, who"d established this new country, and have him hear my opinions."

Vois laughed at those words.

Directing his eyes towards his subordinate whose upper body had been devoured and whose corpsed had collapsed onto the ground,

"... Greet him?"

Froaude also looked down and smiled.

And easily,

"Yes,"

He nodded.

Staring at Froaude with an astonished expression,

"Even though you nearly obliterated the country with Ellearms?"

"You would"ve defended against it, no? You possess Euloss Elma."

"That may be true, but..."

"And that we both possess Rhule Fragmei is what I confirmed just now. With this, the meaning behind your proposal for the peace treaty has finally been revealed. Using this sort of tool indiscriminately, no one will be left standing at the end—is that it?"

"......"

"And that fear just now, you felt it in your body as well. In that case, perhaps we can both walk the same path. If you throw away your Rhule Fragmei, so will I. Now, please undo this barrier. I will use neither my Shadow Beasts nor Ellearms. Let us compromise. Undo the barrier, so that we may speak, face to face. For the sake of peace, as you said, hmm?"

He said such things.

He said cheerfully.

And in response, Vois looked at the knives that pierced the four corners of the room.

He looked at the Rhule Fragmei that was erecting a barrier in order to divide him and Froaude.

Even if he undid the barrier, this Froaude man wouldn"t attack him.

The reason was, earlier, he demonstrated that he held a method to destroy the barrier.

If he unleashed Ellearms and dealt with the fleeing Vois, he was able to kill him, after all.

However, he didn"t do that.

Furthermore, acknowledging the risks, he went as far as to reveal his home country.

In other words, this guy hadn"t come here with the intention of killing Vois. Here, he"d come for some sort of negotiation, without intending on killing Vois.

So even if he undid the barrier, there wouldn"t be a problem—that was how it should be, but.

"......"

Vois didn"t undo the barrier.

No, he couldn"t undo it.

He couldn"t believe in this guy"s words and mannerisms.

And Froaude laughed at that.

"Haha, cowering in fear, you won"t undo the barrier? Even though you understand that I have no intention of killing you, you"re unable to undo the barrier."

"......"

"But I believe that to be an ordinary sentiment. Once a person obtains such a weapon, they are unable to discard it. If you discard it, then what to do if the other fellow discards his, if he outwits you, if he attacks you? Suspicion leads to more suspicion; as long as that is clear, then in the end, people won"t discard their weapons. And in that case..."

Staring at Vois, he laughed, with the dark expression of a demon"s.

"Ha, haha, in that case, what does that say about you, who is unable to undo the barrier, who won"t discard his weapons? That ban on using the dangerous Rhule Fragmei? A peace treaty? How laughable. Don"t you think that raising your seized weapons above your head while crying out for peace is rather amusing?"

To the question, however, Vois didn"t think it was particularly amusing.

After all, he"d known from the beginning that it was like that.

Being born into this world as a descendant of a swindler family, about the weakness of a person"s heart, about how to take advantange of a person"s weakness, about how to destroy a person"s heart—from the time he"d been born, he"d always been studying about those things.

That was why, cheerfully smiling, Vois spoke.

"The world shall decide whether it"s amusing or not, Froaude-san. If everyone supports that opinion that I"ve happily put forth, then it will become reality. Raising my seized weapons above my head while crying out for peace is amusing? Haha, please don"t laugh about that. This is about human lives, isn"t it?"

He said, to which Froaude easily nodded.

"Yes, that"s correct."

"In that case, what exactly did you come here to do? I have no interest in that sort of dull, immature speech."

Froaude smiled at that. Then, taking a step back, he exited into the corridor.

The corridor was dyed in blood.

It was likely the blood of Vois"s subordinates. There should have been seven guards of Vois"s outside the room.

But no one had come to help. There were no indications of reinforcements.

In that case, everyone had presumably been killed.

And Froaude spoke. After directing his eyes towards the corridor once, he again looked at Vois, and,

"No, of course the speech just now wasn"t for your benefit, Vois Fiurelle. I said it, did I not? That I"ve come to greet him. I came to have the one who established the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet, the Demon King Ryner Lute-sama, listen to my opinions—though I thought I would come to have him listen to the words of our king, Sion Astal, it seems that it"s rather difficult to find Ryner-san—"

He said, and at that point, Vois finally understood what his aim was.

This guy, like Remrus, had come to take Ryner away.

Though his method was different, his way would"ve been effective. Ryner was someone who would"ve easily been influenced by the view that Froaude presented just now.

And that was if those were the words of Sion Astal.

Furthermore, if Sion Astal, whom Ryner was seeking to save, had said such things, there was a decent chance that Ryner would"ve left this place.

Thus, right now, it might actually be a good thing that Ryner had been captured.

In his absence right now, if Vois could tell this guy that they had no intention of meeting with a messenger from Roland, then the significant behind the fact that Ryner wasn"t here right now might also emerge somewhat, Vois thought.

"... Well, I"d like to convey that and pull it off, but..."

He muttered quietly.

Then, putting on airs as if he weren"t affected by this disturbance, he puffed out his chest with a smile, and was about to say that Ryner wasn"t there.

But then,

"Your Excellency,"

A voice rang from the corridor.

It was likely the voice of a subordinate that Froaude had brought along.

Though Vois couldn"t see them from where he was, Froaude spoke to them.

"As I expected, Ryner-san isn"t there?"

"Yes. Instead, Vois Fiurelle"s subordinate was investigating Ryner Lute"s room. After torturing them, I was told that it seemed that Ryner Lute had suddenly disappeared from this country this morning."

At hearing that report, Vois wanted to clutch his head.

At the same time, a smile broke out across Froaude"s face.

Then looking over at Vois,

"Suddenly disappeared? And Vois-san, you are unaware of his whereabouts?"

Vois"s thoughts began whirling at that. They turned wildly. That this information had been leaked was bad.

That Ryner"s absence had been leaked was bad.

But Froaude stared at him with an intrigued face, and,

"... This has become an interesting situation, hasn"t it? Even though you and Ryner Lute had managed to dig a ditch until now, it seems that the time for you has already come. Everything is over for you. With this, I have no need for such antics."

While saying that, Froaude took a step back.

Froaude was smiling.

Cheerfully smiling.

It was only natural.

Right now, if the information that Ryner was missing was revealed to the outside world, this country would easily come to an end.

Vois"s plan that he"d laid out and frantically built up would crumble in an instant.

That was why Vois took out a different Rhule Fragmei from his pocket.

It was the same one that Froaude had taken out earlier.

Ellearms.

It was a Rhule Fragmei that no one would dare to use right in the middle of a city like this.

If he were to use it here, it held enough power to wipe out half the city.

Nevertheless, it was necessary to kill Froaude for certain here.

If Ryner"s absence were to be revealed to the outside, then this place would be—

However, at that,

"Though I"d rather not, I also possess the Rhule Fragmei for negating that, you realize?"

While saying that, Froaude took another step back.

Then he gave orders to his subordinate.

"Leave. And tell this to the world. Right now, in the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet, Ryner Lute—no, the Demon King isn"t there—"

"Understood."

"But be cautious. It"s likely that Sph.e.l.liyet will do everything it can to kill us. Remain alive, and we"ll meet again in Roland. Now, please go."

Saying that, Froaude swung his finger. Again, a shadow beast stretched from his shadow and was formed. And leaving behind that beast there,

"Now, Vois Fiurelle-sama, I bid you farewell,"

He said, before he began running into the corridor.

His figure eventually disappeared.

And at that,

"d.a.m.n it,"

Vois groaned, staring at the shadow beast that appeared to be keeping an eye on him.

Then inside his head, he began thinking of a way to pursue Froaude.

Following after him was simple.

He"d jump out the window behind him and call for help.

Though the Rhule Fragmei that Froaude held was a nuisance, the only place that was in ownership of Rhule Fragmei outside of this building was the elite force.

That was why it was possible to capture Froaude as well.

But.

"......"

Just then, Harmit spoke in a strained voice.

"Vois-sama, your instructions,"

She said.

But Vois didn"t move. Instead, his thoughts continued to whirl.

He"d already seen Froaude"s face. His height had also been confirmed. That was why the possibility that they could chase and capture him existed.

But what about Froaude"s subordinate?

He didn"t know anything about the other people.

And if even one person escaped, then this battle would be lost.

The news of Ryner"s absence would most definitely be revealed to the outside.

That was why Vois kept thinking, searching for the most ideal plan.

A way such that no one would escape.

A way such that, without a doubt, no one would escape.

And he ordered his subordinate.

"Harmit."

"Yes?"

"Gather all of our ally soldiers behind this building within twenty minutes. And if it takes over twenty minutes, unleash seven Ellearms from here towards the south."

"Wha—!? W-With that, the district..."

"We"re casting the district away."

"The soldiers also won"t be able to move within twenty..."

"Then hurry. Don"t be careless. What I think is necessary, when I think it"s necessary, is to be implemented. If you move too slowly, you"ll also be cast away."

Harmit"s expression changed at those words. It bent with sadness for a moment, before it immediately tightened. And running towards the window, she moved to go outside.

And to her back, further orders were given.

"Just one shot of Ellearms should be negated. Froaude will be there. Squad #13 will pursue him. Apprehending him isn"t necessary. Without fail, kill him—tell them that. Following that, Public Relations Squad #1, prepare to spread the news that Roland has violated the peace treaty. The disaster that will occur here was caused by Roland. Tell the world that people from Roland used Rhule Fragmei from within the cities of other countries."

While nodding at that, Harmit leapt out the window.

"......"

He looked again at the corridor where Froaude no longer was, and,

"... Ah~, good grief, what is this? I don"t particularly care over people"s deaths either, though, right?"

He said such a thing.

And he let out a quiet sigh.

Then he slowly inhaled.

From here, tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands lives would be stolen. He began preparing for that impact.

Then turning towards the shadow beast that was glaring at him utterly as if watching over him, beyond the barrier in front of him,

"Your master is quite gloomy, isn"t he? My, he has a face like he"s always thinking dark thoughts. What do you think? You must also be fed up with your master, right?"

Though he said such things, the shadow beast didn"t make any indication that it understood his words.

But Vois continued.

He continued talking to the shadow beast that had no will of its own.

"Incidentally, I wonder if what I tell this beast is pa.s.sed onto the owner? Otherwise, as it continues to follow its previous orders, is it a stand-alone relic? Well, though I don"t know which one it is, if there"s any chance that you can hear me, Froaude-san—prepare yourself. After all, you won"t be able to escape. The punishment for smiling so arrogantly at me will immediately..."

While saying that, he again took out a necklace from his pocket.

Called Ellearms, with a level of power that one wouldn"t think people should wield, bringing forth brutal destruction—he took it out.

And in an instant.

In just about only an instant, he recalled Froaude"s words.

Speaking so arrogantly of humans, he recalled Froaude"s words.

Froaude had said this.

Because humans were horribly weak, they were too afraid to let go of the weapons that they"d obtained.

And regarding that, Vois stared at the necklace that he was grasping.

Staring at the weapon that would again steal tens of thousands of lives,

"... Ah~, I really am human, huh?"

He muttered quietly with emotion.