Chapter 4: A Demon’s Daily Life
Several months have passed since I successfully completed my duties as the [Princess of the Holy Kingdom] in the neighboring country of Sigres and returned to Taliteld.
In the end, I couldn’t recruit Noel here.
Because, you see, when mr bear said [I want you to watch over him from afar as much as possible] and Noel said [I’ll become stronger too until we meet again], how could I recruit him after that?
So of course, I’ve been attending the academy since returning. It was a journey that took a full two months there and back, but my daily life after returning hasn’t changed from before. I go to the academy in an extravagantly luxurious carriage (with ten knight escorts on horseback) and I walk around accompanied by four attendants while the students keep their distance, .
I wonder…don’t I come across more as a “villainous lady” than my older sisters these days?
Well, it doesn’t really matter.
As for Rick, whom I had been avoiding since that time, we’ve settled into a relationship where we can properly converse.
Because, you know, that guy waits until my classes are over!? Does he understand his position!? He’s been in an oddly bad mood since I avoided him for a while…
Somehow, that’s just like “him”, isn’t it?
But one person like that is enough, you know?
Basically, the problem is that Rick isn’t clear! Even if he said it directly, that would just put me in a difficult position, but the brat comes to see me every time and when I look straight at him to ask what he wants, he averts his eyes! Are you a girl!
For now, since Timothee is also coming to check on me in addition to Rick, people are giving me kind looks like [The two princes are so sweet to their young cousin]. But if I get much older, strange rumors will start.
Still, I’m not so idle that I can just keep the company of my cousins.
I am the first princess of a ducal family, you know? At my mother’s insistence, I have tea parties with terrified young noble ladies, go shopping with Sherry and Betty while dozens of attendants and guards trail after us (what a nuisance), write replies to letters from Noel (pre-screened, of course), and study summoning magic – I’m quite busy.
But that’s busy as the [Princess of the Velsenia Duchy]. As the demon princess that I am, I have my own matters to attend to as well.
In the Kingdom of Sigres, I had various “encounters”, you see.
Now then…I wonder if my cute little demons are doing their jobs properly?
“–That concludes my report.”
“Ah, thank you. Here’s a candy for you.”
Late at night when the devout residents of the Holy Kingdom of Taliteld had gone to sleep, in the darkness of the capital city lit only by the magical glow of street lamps, the pale-skinned young butler gave a small fang-revealing smile as he accepted the jet-black “candy” offered by the silver-haired maid girl.
Fluffy hair that seemed both white and silver.
Mischievous gemlike azure eyes.
Though only around eight years old, she was a beautifully radiant girl, even in this backstreet alley beyond the reach of the street lamps.
“Give my regards to Mylene.”
“Understood, Lady Fanny.”
With a bow, the vampire butler vanished into the shadows. Watching him go, Fanny took another jet-black candy from her apron pocket and popped it into her mouth.
Fanny, a great demon of [Catastrophe-class] whose presence alone could threaten a nation…
Just what were these “black candies” she seemed to relish so?
Their blackness didn’t reflect even a speck of light, an ominous miasma seeming to writhe around them like cursed objects.
Something vampires, who dislike human food, would gladly accept and demons would favor – the ingredients were likely best left unknown.
“…I don’t get it.”
Fanny had been tasked by her master Eurushia with investigating the Costelle faith.
While such an investigation seemed better suited to the butler demon Noah’s talents than the easily bored Fanny, her abilities were well-matched for investigative work.
Moreover, Noah was busy mediating various situations on the surface and underworld, and the knight demon Nia and maid demon Tina were too muscle-brained compared to Fanny to act independently amongst people.
Borrowing aides from Mylene, who managed Taliteld’s underworld, Fanny gathered rumors and investigated the Arch-Bishop Calisto of the Costelle faith in Sigres.
In principle, the leaders stationed in Taliteld’s surrounding nations were all appointed at the Costelle headquarters in Taliteld itself – normally a matter with potential to impact international relations. Yet Taliteld was so trusted in religious matters that nations not taking the Costelle faith as their state religion simply did not antagonize it.
Calisto had been appointed by the College of Cardinals, but Fanny’s investigations using vampire charm and “nightmares” turned up nothing particularly suspicious about him.
If there’s something, it’s that he might be considered “too fastidious.”
Due to his direct personality, Calisto ended up serving as an archbishop in another country, rather than in the Holy Kingdom’s main temple.
However, this was not an unusual thing for a religious leader, and he was sent to another country because the College of Cardinals trusted him and wanted him to become more calm and composed.
It’s understandable that Calisto would want to return to the Holy Kingdom, but why did he get involved with the “Hero”?
“Ugh…”
In the end, she would need to directly investigate Calisto to understand. But Fanny, like her master, didn’t like people as unpleasant as Calisto.
People with strong preconceptions have a hard time seeing the truth, even if you use nightmares. Fanny, who can sense souls and give nightmares, was the one who realized how unpleasant Calisto was.
Just reporting this impression would probably make Eurushia satisfied and praise Fanny.
But Fanny herslef didn’t want to just leave it at that.
Fanny’s combat ability as a demon is the lowest among the four great demons.
This is not because her abilities are inferior, but because her abilities are not directly suited for combat. It doesn’t mean she is inferior as a demon.
That’s why Fanny wanted to be useful to Eurushia in ways other than combat.
Fanny can also use spatial transfer by targeting soul wavelengths. All great demons have transfer abilities, but only Fanny can perform long-distance transfers without any cost. That’s why Fanny, who can come and go between Taliteld and Sigres, was suited for this mission.
Eurushia, who solves things forcefully with just massive magical power, is actually in the minority among demons.
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“…How strange.”
After transferring to Sigres, Fanny tried to touch Calisto’s surface-level soul with nightmares, but couldn’t find out anything more than what they had investigated in the Holy Kingdom.
However, what caught Fanny’s attention was that Calisto was giving a lot of work to the [Hero’s party].
The content of their requests was reasonable, and they were seriously completing them.
But to Fanny, who can perceive human souls, it seemed very unnatural.
“Why are you helping the less fortunate?”
Recently, there have been many kidnapping incidents in the Kingdom of Sigres. The reason the Alfio party started being called the [Heroes] was because [demonic beings] were involved in the kidnapping cases they solved.
And tonight, the Hero’s party is going to rescue only half of the kidnapped children, based on the request and information provided by Calisto.
On the days the Hero’s party accepted Calisto’s requests, children were also being kidnapped in other places without anyone knowing.
“Hmm…”
After pondering, Fanny decided to go see for herself. To be precise, Fanny was getting bored of investigating Calisto.
Initially, what Eurushia was concerned about was the [Heroes]. It’s unclear how much of a Hero Alfio is, but if he is the “real thing,” he would be the greatest threat to demons. For a demon as powerful as Eurushia, it wouldn’t be a problem, but a true Hero should be able to stand up to even the great demons.
Compared to that, it’s not a big problem if Calisto is plotting something. If Calisto is using the Heroes for something, it would be better to investigate the Heroes directly.
The reason Fanny had investigated Calisto first was simply because the existence Eurushia is currently “cultivating” is on the Heroes’ side, so Eurushia was avoiding interference.
But if that existence can’t be touched, Fanny decided to directly observe the Heroes, following his own curiosity, and transferred to the place where the kidnapped children were being held.
The location was a small storehouse in a large agricultural field, away from the town.
It was late at night, but there were four adults and one child there.
Fanny transferred to the captives rather than directly to the Heroes, simply because the child’s soul had caught his interest.
When Fanny quietly peeked into the storehouse…
“Shut up, you brat!”
A loud shout from an adult echoed, and a large man was kicking the small child. The man wasn’t kicking with full force, but the child, much smaller than Fanny, was crouching down, suppressing their cries in pain and fear.
“Hey, take it easy, will ya? We could only get one kid. If they die, we won’t get the rest of the money.”
“Tch, why does it have to be a kid? They’re just a hassle.”
One of the man’s companions tried to restrain him.
“It’s fine, isn’t it? We get two gold coins for each child with divine magic abilities we capture. We’ve already got the advance payment, but we won’t get the rest if they die.”
“What weird guys. They won’t even show their faces…”
“Must be some bigshot, huh? Anyway, what are we gonna do with these two?”
“Since we only got one kid, maybe they’ll give us some extra cash?”
“Probably not…”
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