“I’d like you to steel yourselves for that as well,” Ernst says firmly; he seems to have decided he’s done apologizing. “No doubt abandoning Kilvas is something you could do. In fact, I was concerned that you would. However, you won’t. The demons are on your mind, and most of all, you have a good opinion of Vica. You must know it would be better to cooperate with him.”

  “Vica pushed everything onto me, and now he’s free. You don’t think he’ll just run?”

  “No, I don’t,” Ernst assures Claude. “I would not serve a master like that.”

  Claude smiles wryly; he probably finds the obvious loyalty in Ernst’s eyes very familiar. “And what is Vica doing now, then?”

  “He’s gone in search of a way to control the demons. He didn’t seem certain, but…”

  “He didn’t, huh? So it’s just a shot in the dark?” Isaac asks.

  “I’m also the type who acts on impulse, so I can’t blame him too harshly.”

  “Yikes.” Jasper physically recoils.

  Isaac sounds fed up with the demon king. “Yeah, and after you do, your adviser and your guards rip you several new ones.”

  Claude subtly averts his eyes. For the first time, Ernst smiles a little. “I’ll do the same. When he gets back, for starters, I’ll give him a good kick in the stomach. After all, the only explanation he gave me was ‘I’m going to have the demon king substitute for me, and I’ll grab the chance to get this and that.’”

  “Then planting that divine stone was your call?” Isaac asks.

  “Vica left it behind. His intent was quite obvious, so I merely used it. Doing so would turn both Diana and Cattleya toward the substitute plan. If I made them think I was eager to release the information, they were bound to be wary and push back.”

  “Uh, let me derail the conversation for a sec. Do you and those two Valkyries not get along?” Jasper asks bluntly.

  Ernst looks down. “I’m…not sure. We used to. And yet somewhere along the way…”

  “It happens,” Claude says, lightly tidying the matter away.

  Ernst closes his eyes briefly, discarding sentimentality. “Vica…or rather, His Imperial Majesty has left any decisions that must be made here entirely in my hands.”

  That’s proof of the trust Vica places in him, and at the same time, it’s a concession to Ellmeyer. It means Vica doesn’t intend to use them and leave them with nothing to show for it.

  “I see. Let me ask you one more time, then: What should I do with these approved documents?”

  If Claude is going to go along with this farce, how far should he go, and what should he pass along?

  Ernst gives him a fearless smile. “By all means, check them over. That is your job, Your Majesty. So is attending the banquet.” He’s telling Claude that it’s fine to act in Vica’s place and that he’ll cooperate. “However, please abandon the idea of leaving the capital or going to observe the demons… I’d prefer not to imagine it, but depending on the situation, Cattleya and Diana may give permission for that. They would be taking advantage of the fact that you don’t know anything.”

  That could happen, Isaac thinks. This country has no decent military force besides the Valkyries, and it would be the best way to boost their value.

  “If that happens, base your decision on what I’ve just told you.”

  “The situation seems complicated in several directions… By the way, I consider myself kind, but my subordinates are always telling me I use them too roughly.” Claude stares at Ernst, as if he’s testing him.

  Throwing his shoulders back, Ernst nods. “If you feel Vica is a suitable emperor for this nation, then command me as you like.”

  No one will be unilaterally used here. They’re all in the same boat.

  Not bad. It’s much better than abandoning Kilvas, then finding the Valkyrie’s warships closing in on Ellmeyer’s coast.

  “I suppose I must. I’ll give it my best. After all, I am Vica’s big brother.”

  Isaac doesn’t delve into that remark. That isn’t his job anyway. “Okay, we’ll say we’re comrades for as long as our interests line up. How far are we going here?”

  Jasper and Ernst blink at him, but the demon king seems to understand what he means.

  “Let’s see. Maintaining the status quo, deadlocks—that would be boring. I won’t do anything as unsightly as make a run for it, of course, but not being able to go home is irritating. Ideally, I’d like to make them beg me to leave.”

  “Man, you’ve got a nasty personality.”

  “Are you against it, Isaac?”

  “Nah, it’s the best move. Getting this over with fast would be great. Okay, old man Jasper, we’re narrowing the scope of information we’re gathering.”

  Jasper is still there to collect information for Aileen. Under the circumstances, he’ll have guessed what his role is. “Scandals about the Valkyries, the empress’s reputation, and intel about corruption among the aristocrats who’ll fight us next. Is that about right?”

  “Got it in one. I’ll tell you which ones to work up into articles. I doubt it’ll be a decisive blow, but it’ll annoy them.”

  Anxious, irritated people make mistakes. That should be particularly true of those women, who aren’t used to politics and who probably think being correct will inevitably yield results.

  “As you wish, I’ll make them beg you to get lost. While I’m at it, I’ll make sure they never get the urge to fight us again.”

  “…If possible, um…go easy on us.” Ernst seems to have mixed feelings about this, but that’s not Isaac’s problem.

  Heaving a long sigh, Jasper tugs his beret back onto his head. “Without Miss Aileen and the adviser around, I can’t expect this crew to act sensibly, can I…?”

  “I’m really glad I sent Aileen home.”

  Isaac’s with the demon king on that. If anything happens to Aileen, Rachel is bound to get pulled into it. Besides, the demon king’s reliable, sensible adviser is with them now, he thinks sarcastically, and then gets the feeling something’s wrong.

  Do Aileen and Keith actually have the sort of common sense that would put his heart at ease?

  Well, there can’t be too much Aileen can do without the sacred sword… Plus she’s pregnant…

  If she behaves and leaves the Kilvas Empire, she’ll be welcomed back by retainers who are the very definition of sensible. After that, I hope she just leaves everything to us, Isaac wishes with heartfelt sincerity.

  She breathes deeply to calm herself.

  Vica Tsar Kilvas. The final boss of Valkyrie of the Magic Lance was a child who’d lost his parents young, relied completely on his elder sister, and stayed holed up in the capital. Frightened by the legend that he would become a demon if he left the city, he could neither carry out his role as emperor nor become the demon king. In fact, he was a red-eyed demon. However, he gained courage from the heroine, Diana, and having become aware of his form and his situation, as the emperor and demon king, he ultimately gained the resolve to fall along with his empire and the demons.

  Although, in the end, the demons still attack.

  He died on every route, and yet the demons attacking the Kilvas Empire didn’t disappear. He was attended by the demons of Kilvas, but Hausel and Ellmeyer were the reason for the demons’ attack, so they were the ones who had to be defeated to save the empire—or that was the answer in the game anyway.

  In short, Vica dies for nothing. The unfairness of it all is what earned the game its reputation as a real downer. For the man in question, it’s an intolerable fate. It’s as awful as the villainess Aileen’s incredibly pointless death. If anything, it’s worse. On that point, she can sympathize with him.

  That’s only in the game, though. This man is just someone she glimpsed in passing when she arrived at the imperial castle. She’s heard that people consider him a puppet emperor, but she hasn’t managed to discern if that’s true.

  “…So you’re all right.”

  She sees Vica’s reflection blink, then force a smile. “I apologize for worrying you.”

  “Did you orchestrate that attack yourself? Or was the attack itself genuine, and some sort of situation has prevented you from returning?”

  Vica shifts his grip on his dagger. She’s made him wary. “That’s a shock. From what my sister and Diana said, it sounded as if you were just an adorable little consort. Was that all an act?”

  “I do believe I am adorable, thank you very much. I’m so precious that after you’ve threatened me like this, I won’t know what to do unless you tell me your story.”

  “That really isn’t the attitude of a woman who’s worried for her life. Although it’s also odd for your assailant to say so.”

  “You don’t appear to be a mere puppet emperor, either.”

  Aileen glances down and to the side. A shaft of sunlight is coming through the window. She has a shadow.

  In order to keep an eye on—or rather, protect—Aileen, Claude cast a spell on her shadow that allows the demons to come and go through it. Vica has been watching her in the mirror, and his gaze follows hers.

  In that moment, she wrenches free of his arm and starts for the door. “Almond, come out!”

  “—Oh, there’s some sort of magic cast on this?”

  Vica’s foot stomps on Aileen’s shadow. At the same time, she touches the unlocked door, but her hand is knocked back. Silence fills through the room.

  Claude’s spell hasn’t activated, and the door’s been sealed. Biting her lip, she turns around. “What do you want? Is there any room for negotiation?”

  “…I thought just threatening you a bit would be enough… That’s a problem. And the attendant who’s trying to sneak in through the window there… Is he really human?”

  So he noticed that, hmm? Keith must have heard the commotion from the next compartment over. Hooking his leg over the frame of the open window, he slides into the narrow room. “I’m just a human. One who’s able to manage as the demon king’s adviser anyway… I’ve arranged to have the Valkyries summoned if I don’t return within one minute. What would you like to do?”

  “I can use magic freely now, so it won’t be a problem. Maybe I’ll jump off the train and run for it.”

  “It won’t work. Although I’m just a human, the demon king places particular trust in me. When he is unable to act, I can use his power. It’s what’s known as the demon king’s proxy authority.”

  “Proxy… So you can use the demon king’s power?”

  “Yes, I can issue orders to the demons on his behalf… Milord’s spell just failed to activate. Even if that was your plan all along, it isn’t such an easy thing to do. Something must have happened to Master Claude, and you’re involved. You’re going to tell me about it.”

  Vica doesn’t move; he seems to be thinking. “If something’s happened to Master Claude, the demons of Ellmeyer won’t sit idly by,” Aileen adds. “I’ll mobilize all the forces at my disposal as well. It wouldn’t be wise to make us your enemies.”

  In response to her warning, Vica raises both hands. “…All right, I’ll explain. I see simply asking you to hide me was rude to both of you. Good grief. I only chose this train because it would get me out of the capital unnoticed. What a blunder.”

  “If you wanted to leave the capital, then that attack was self-orchestrated after all. Did we fall into your trap?”

  “I’m not sure. It seems as though Big Brother Claude has seen through it.”

  Big Brother Claude. The name makes Aileen sigh deeply. “So that’s why Master Claude is kind to you… He’s a pushover when it comes to little brothers.”

  “You’re the reason I changed my mind, though, Empress Aileen. You’re incredibly quick-witted. No wonder my sister and Diana were so wrong when they thought they could get information out of you. You wouldn’t sell out Claude.”

  “A wife who would sell out her husband is outrageous.”

  “In that case, I may have acquired an outrageous wife. Not that I was at our wedding.” Lowering his hands, Vica sits down. They’ve only just left the capital. There’s probably still time. Aileen touches the door behind her; there’s no resistance, so she calls through the door. “Rachel, are you there? Is the tea ready? I’m quite thirsty, so bring more than usual, please.”

  A voice promptly responds. Rachel must have been standing by on orders from Keith. “I’ll bring it right in. May I open the door?”

  “I’ll open it in a moment. What will you do, Master Keith?”

  “This appears to be about milord, so I’ll stay here, of course.”

  He has no intention of leaving, and Aileen sighs. The train car is going to be cramped, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

  She opens the door for Rachel. When the other woman gives her a look, silently asking if she’s all right, she responds with a nod. “Leave the tray there, if you would. I don’t want to disturb the Valkyries. I’ll be resting in here for a while. Wake me when it’s time for dinner.”

  “Very well. Don’t forget to lock the door.”

  Don’t let the Valkyries notice this. Having picked up on what Aileen really means, Rachel says the exact opposite of what she said earlier. Seeing this, Vica laughs. “You really do betray expectations, don’t you? So you understand that I don’t want the Valkyries to find me?”

  “Aren’t you the one who said Lady Diana was an outrageous wife? You may dispense with the flattery. Get on with your story, won’t you? Does Lady Diana have designs on your life?”

  “She hasn’t made an attempt yet. However, she and the Valkyries may attack me someday.”

  So simply holding the wedding hasn’t ensured a happy ending. The vague, bad premonition Aileen sensed after seeing Diana’s attitude was apparently right on the mark.

  Still smiling, Vica continues, “As I think you’ve realized, there’s a movement to depose me and install Diana in my place—in other words, to give the empire to the Valkyries. This marriage was a preliminary step. She even had my sister’s introduction. If I behave and stay a puppet emperor, we can get by without a war.”

  “But you don’t intend to play along. Why not?” Keith asks. Even in the cramped compartment, he’s skillfully preparing tea on the tray Rachel brought in.

  “Why not? You ask some funny questions. I am the emperor, you know.”

  “In order to keep from dividing his nation, milord once voluntarily withdrew from the line of succession.”

  “Yes, I know. If he’d wanted to, he could have led the demons and subjugated the whole country as the demon king, and yet he acted quite nobly. My sister told me about it often. She said I should become an emperor who puts my people first, as he did. Will you tell me the same thing, adviser to the demon king? You’ve watched the man himself closely all this time. I’d like to hear your opinion.”

  Keith dexterously divides the generous serving of tea between the teacup from the tray for Aileen and the compartment’s mug for Vica. “Milord withdrew because he thought the empire would be better off that way. The talent needed to run the nation was all there, the house of d’Autriche’s chief among them. Prince Cedric was also far from incompetent. You have the same face as milord, so perhaps that’s why I see it this way—if you refuse to withdraw, it’s because there’s a good reason.”

  Accepting the mug from Keith, Vica hesitates for the space of a breath, then begins his story. “When Hausel fell, the demon attacks on Kilvas abruptly stopped. The reason wasn’t clear, but in a way, it reinforced the Valkyries’ claim that the Kilvas Empire was used by Hausel. I think there’s truth in that claim myself. Whether the imperial family of Kilvas was an active accomplice or whether Hausel just used them, some sort of bargain must have been struck.”

  “In other words, you know nothing?”

  “Unfortunately, it’s all I can do to survive as a puppet emperor. I did look for information but found nothing. After all, I couldn’t even leave the imperial capital.”

  Does that mean Vica has never become the red-eyed demon?

  Or perhaps he simply isn’t aware of it…

  If that hasn’t happened, Aileen is no longer certain how Diana became a Valkyrie.

  However, even in the game, Diana discovered the experiment surrounding the demons and Valkyries in the Queendom of Hausel. It wouldn’t be odd if no evidence remained in Kilvas.

  “As an aside, I do think Ellmeyer was involved as well. After all, it was Ellmeyer who brought Hausel down. My sister and the other Valkyries had a method of communicating with Hausel. I only heard the gist of it from them, but the situation was highly abnormal to begin with. The Queendom tried to destroy the demon king and ended up being destroyed instead. If this were a story, readers would find that turn of events hard to swallow.”

  “Yes, on the face of it, that nation was on the side of justice. You must have seen the way they acted, though. Rising into the sky and threatening the entire world to bring it to its knees,” Aileen says.

  That Ellmeyer has not been the target of international censure even after Hausel’s fall is due to the presence of neighboring Ashmael and the fear that the Queendom’s attitude had sneaked into other nations. It’s also key that Ellmeyer has not attempted to assume Hausel’s position of power.

  “It’s strange, isn’t it? The Queendom very nearly controlled the world already. Why would they act that way? Was the demon king so great a threat? I really can’t believe it.”

  Since Vica is brilliant, though, he’s the type of person to have doubts. Aileen nods to show her sincerity, telling him his suspicions are entirely appropriate. “The underlying situation is complex. However, it will make for a long conversation, and neither of us has much time. May I ask you to get straight to the heart of the matter? As a fugitive, your choices must be limited.”

  “You really are skilled at drawing information out of people. Having a wife like you would have made my life a lot easier.” He’s grumbling, but there’s no pessimism in it. “I’ll be brief: I want to control the demons.”

  “…You mean the demons of Kilvas, who won’t respond to Master Claude. But what do you mean? Do you wish to become a demon king?”