CHAPTER 4
Vs. the Tiger King!
1
The day after the chaos involving Adelie.
Having been invited to the palace to discuss yesterday’s events, Alice and I are consulting with Tillis on how to proceed.
“Based on Ms. Adelie’s reaction yesterday, there’s a possibility she’ll exaggerate our threat to her leaders, and they’ll be moving to attack us. So I would like to request that Kisaragi serve as reinforcements under that eventuality.”
The crystal ball that Adelie gave to Tillis adopted a particularly impressive shade of black.
I mean, it was even darker than when the former Demon Lord’s Army leadership or employees of an evil organization touched it.
Whatever else she might be, Tillis is a princess. The sight of her freezing in place as the crystal turned a darker shade of black than for anyone else invited some pity.
“…Well, a Combat Agent’s only value is in their fighting ability, so we don’t mind the fighting part…”
“…What is it? If you have something you wish to say, please don’t hold back.”
As I sip the tea poured by the maid, I ask Tillis, “Tillis, were you actually the Demon Lord all along?”
“That’s going too far, even for you, Sir Six! Please don’t take what she said seriously!”
I don’t know what got into Adelie, but when she saw the crystal turn coal-black, she blurted out an odd remark, “So the true Demon Lord was here… So the saga of the Chosen One defeating the Demon Lord hasn’t started yet…!”
After proclaiming Tillis to be the true Demon Lord, she escaped our cordon and fled the Grace Kingdom, but…
“I’m already getting comments from the people in the castle. So far I’ve heard, ‘Your Highness, your method of governance isn’t wrong! Even if you are the Demon Lord, Your Highness, we’ll follow you to the bitter end!’ as their attempts at encouragement, so please don’t add to that…!”
With that, Tillis looks rather dejected, an unusual sight for her. It seems that being called the scheming princess behind her back is actually bothering her.
Alice speaks even as she tries to show some consideration for the deflated Tillis.
“Her objective isn’t clear, but she does seem to value the legends surrounding the Demon Lord. If anything, she made it sound like it’d be a problem if the legends didn’t come true.”
“Frankly, it’s all quite bothersome! The whole matter of the Demon Lord has already been settled!”
True. Even for us, given that we’ve already recruited Vi and accepted the demons into our settlement, we can’t have Adelie messing up our arrangement.
Which meant we were fine with being hired as reinforcements, but that still leaves us with a problem.
“…She was really strong…”
“Ah…”
Tillis lets out a sigh at my words.
In truth, yesterday we had a bunch of combat-ready people assembled—myself included.
And yet Adelie was able to meet our might head-on and then make her escape.
“It’s true that the fighting ability on this culturally and technologically backward planet is quite a threat. The Elite Four aside, she was even at the level of Earth’s Heroes.”
“Yeah, that’s just it… Heine and Russell’s magic attacks weren’t very effective. And when she grappled with us Combat Agents, not only did she match our strength, but she was actually pushing us back. All that despite the fact that this planet’s residents are supposed to be weak…”
“Ahem, I find both your observations a bit rude.”
Tillis, a denizen of this planet, protests with a look of displeasure, but there’s definitely something wrong when Adelie can match a technologically enhanced Combat Agent wearing power armor with only her physical abilities.
While Viper also has the power to knock over the Sand King with a mere kick, that is a fighting style that utilizes time manipulation and is only usable by the Demon Lord.
She accelerates her own body’s speed when attacking while slowing the time of the impact location on contact.
In doing this, the objects become due to the stopped time, crash together at high speeds, and impart a substantial amount of kinetic energy.
This means that Viper’s fighting style requires magic to use, but it doesn’t look like Adelie needs any magic to fight. To make matters worse, her combat techniques are on par with those from Earth.
“I don’t mind sending you our Combat Agents, but this opponent’s a different matter from the usual riffraff. We’ll need you to pay us way more this time around. I mean, the cause of this whole incident is because a corrupt governor from your kingdom went and assumed power in our Hideout City and caused all sorts of problems, then it was sealed by your scheming nature, Princess.”
“No, since Snow’s currently been assigned to you, it’s Kisaragi’s responsibility to keep an eye on her. As for the scheming, putting aside the fact that royals need to be schemers to a certain extent, all of Kisaragi’s people seem a bit too corrupt as well, no? It seems she considered Kisaragi with quite a bit of hostility, so I doubt she’ll just stop at making an enemy of us. So our payment would be…”
Just as Alice and Tillis start trying to push the blame on each another as part of negotiations…
I hear someone dashing down the hallway, and shortly after, there is a loud knock on the door.
“Your Highness! We have a problem! Someone has been distributing these throughout the city!”
The subject of the conversation, Snow, has burst through the door without waiting for a response. Tillis, elegantly taking a sip from her teacup, furrows her brow.
“What is it, Snow? Why are you in such a panic? …And what are you holding?”
Snow holds out a piece of paper as she bends over and tries to catch her breath.
“Oh, well if it isn’t the corrupt governor who neither the Grace Kingdom nor Kisaragi wants to be responsible for.”
“S-Six, how dare you say that! Saying no one wants to be responsible for me is an exaggeration. Sure, I may have gone a little far at times, but that’s what all nobles do in this kingdom. If anything, considering that I’m producing results, I’m probably better than they are… Isn’t that right, Your Highness? And Alice, I’ve been doing pretty well at Kisaragi, haven’t I?”
Snow fails to show any remorse for her actions, but I’m more interested in the sheet of paper she was holding.
Since I can’t read the language of this Kingdom, I have Alice translate for me.
“It seems to be a bounty for ‘Demon Lord Tillis’ issued by the Hiiragi Agency of Order. The reward is fifty thousand gold pieces.”
Tillis—who was taking a sip of her tea—does an impressive spit take, prompting Snow to wipe her face with the paper as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened.
“I believe this is the spy woman up to her tricks again! No doubt she’s aiming to incite a rebellion by your subordinates by placing a bounty on Your Highness! But I, Snow, though fond of money, really am truly loyal to you, Your Highness! With it being so difficult to know who to trust, now is the time to make me knight commander once again! Please believe me, Your Highness. I love not only money and magic swords but power and authority as well! If anything, during times like this, you can trust a woman like me more than those who ply you with flowery words!”
Snow lets loose a litany of reasons that sound both convincing and unconvincing at the same time, but there’s something almost refreshing about her honesty.
Tillis’s cheek twitches as she stares at the paper before her expression softens into a small smile at Snow’s insistent pleading.
“I trust that no one in this palace, Snow included, will stay loyal to me… However, it’s also true that there are nobles who disagree with my policies. There’s no need to be paranoid about them, but simply leaving them to their devices would also be a problem…”
“Curse them! This is why nobles who care only about themselves are lower than dirt! What would they have a problem with, given Your Highness’s perfect public policies?!”
“It seems the upper class has a problem with your consistent screwups.”
While Alice’s quip causes Snow to avert her gaze, I study the wanted poster…
“<Hey, Alice. How much is fifty thousand gold pieces in Earth money?>”
“<The gold pieces circulating around here are about thirty grams apiece. So it’s roughly about ten billion yen.>”
Alice’s estimate stuns me into silence, prompting Tillis to hide behind Snow’s back.
“It rather unnerves me when you go quiet after a conversation in your native tongue…”
Just as Tillis voices her concern…
…the bells indicating danger ring out across the city of Grace.
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