As soon as Acerus brought in the demon Valac, he sent a military carrier pigeon to Hautean.
Even though Hautean was a small country, he still thought that the King of Hautean should at least know the fact that the rebel prince was in Tarragon and that a demon had possessed and pretended to be him. By the time he thought he had to wait a little longer to get an answer, the news he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
“Oh, it’s so fast.”
“Because the bird is fast. It has wings.”
“That’s not what I mean, jackass. The King of Hautean gave his answer fast this time. Usually, the King would gather his retainers, have meetings for about 10 days, then ponder about it for about another 10 days before writing back.”
“I guess he must be impatient. Like a certain someone I know.”
“Who?”
“Oh no, it’s cold here.”
The King used a military carrier pigeon. As the note sent by the King of Hautean was very short, a small piece of paper rolled up and came into Acerus’ hand.
[Soon, we will send a delegation qualified to act as the King’s deputy.]
It was a really, really short letter. Acerus wondered how they could suddenly send a delegation without saying whether to protect or kill the Prince. Still, he liked it this way. As the delegation will be the King’s deputy, it would be easier to consider the delegation representative as the King.
“That’s great.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have my saintess so they would have no choice but to cooperate. Hautean is such a small country, I thought they would be of no help when the Great Demon War comes, but this would change the story.”
“How would it change anything?”
“If I take the whole delegation hostage and threaten them…”
“Then, you will get scolded by the saintess, right?”
“I’m just kidding, dumbass.”
Acerus smacked his lips as if he was disappointed. Next to him, his aide grumbled, saying that he knew that Acerus was not joking.
Acerus burned the note in the fireplace. Then, in a report to be delivered to the Emperor, he wrote one more line that a delegation qualified as the King’s deputy would come from Hautean.
“Let’s go now.”
“Where to?”
“Sidhar, Valac, pollack, or whatever his name is.”
Ever since Valac came into Acerus’ hands, the Crown Prince has visited the demon quite often. He even put a watchman with the demon. As he had heard that demons were playing it safe because they were afraid that it would provide justification for God to intervene in this world, he hesitated no more.
The demon Valac was confined in a room made to accommodate guests of honor in the Crown Prince’s castle. Even though the facility itself was good, all the exits were blocked and there were a lot of staff members monitoring the room. It was like a prison.
“Did you sleep well?”
Acerus smiled softly. Even a soft smile would look energetic and manly on his masculine face. It also strangely suited him well. There was a joke that if Acerus smiled like that for a while, Tarragon’s ladies would be struck with a new fad of lovesickness.
Valac, who took over Prince Sidhar’s body, smiled back at him.
“Hello, Crown Prince Acerus.”
They had become quite close. This was all thanks to Acerus’ efforts. He treated his opponent thoroughly as Prince Sidhar. Acerus praised him highly as a tragic Prince who was forced to rebel because he could not see the country going under but was kicked out after being defeated.
“When can I leave this place?”
Valac asked. Acerus let out a long sigh with a sad face.
“There is a reliable priest from the temple, but he’s away for a prayer service in a temple in the countryside. I don’t trust the other priests. As you know, the Temple of Glory is no longer a shrine of God.”
“Right. They are just stuffed beasts. The difference is…they are trapped in their own stable. I can only laugh every time I see them.”
Valac’s ridicule was real. Acerus was able to easily notice that without difficulty. He heard that he was an old demon, but because he had lived as a demon for a long time, it did not seem like he could imitate humans perfectly.
“Moreover, the Temple of Glory is very busy these days. I wonder what they are up to…”
“They’re busy?”
“You already know, don’t you? The saintess has appeared.”
Acerus deliberately spoke fast like a person excited by the story of the saintess.
“How long has it been since God’s vicegerent appeared? Now that the saintess has appeared, so will the demon. Don't you think so?”
Valac’s eyes rolled slightly sideways before returning to their place. Valac was not flustered and spoke to Acerus with a smile that looked quite natural.
“I’m sure it will appear someday.”
“Right? I’m really worried. We don’t know anything about demons so I don’t know how to prepare to deal with them.”
Acerus let out a heavy sigh. He realized that Valac’s human impersonation became more natural over time. Perhaps in a little longer, even those close to Prince Sidhar would not be able to find any awkwardness in him.
Then, should I agitate him?
Acerus muttered to himself.
“I heard there are demons who like humans. How I wish such a demon would appear in front of me.”
Valac rolled his eyes. This time, he did it swiftly. There was a deep interest in the eyes that were looking at Acerus’ face.
“Why?”
“Well… as long as they can help me. I will hide their identity, support everything so that they can live among humans, and give them whatever they want.”
“For the demon?”
“I’m really curious about the existence of the demon.”
That’s why I’m hanging out with you like this even though I’m so busy, dickhead.
Acerus spoke in his heart.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Lara had a dream. It was a dream in which the God of Fate appeared and begged her to come to the sanctum to visit him. With that mysterious and sacred voice of his, he whined that he had something to say, and because of that, she should come to the sanctum and listen to him.
“It was such a vivid dream.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, Lara chuckled.
“What kind of dream?”
Konny asked, drawing back the curtain. Lara said, trying to pull herself together in the blanket.
“God asked me to visit him in his house.”
“I guess he has no friends.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
There were dozens of known Gods worshipped in the Temple of Glory. If all those Gods were with the God of Fate, there was no way that he would be friendless.
“I will go and ask him.”
“Are you going to the temple?”
“God appeared in my dream. How can I just ignore him? For today, I just have an appointment with Crown Prince Acerus. So I will stop at the sanctum later.”
“Milady, can I go out with Valentine then? We will be back by evening.”
“Okay.”
Konny was excited and shrugged her shoulders. Valentine was converting part of his shop into a laboratory, where after completion, he was going to build a few more long-distance magic receivers.
“Demian, are you awake?”
Lara went to Demian’s room and called out to him. But, rather than Demian, Lampion was the one who came out. He opened the door with a sleepy expression on his face. He flinched his large body after looking at Lara and smiled awkwardly.
“Good morning.”
“Did you all sleep in?”
“Well, we ran here all night long…”
“I want to tell you to rest more but I’m afraid Crown Prince Acerus is waiting.”
“Okay.”
Lampion readily nodded. Then, with messy hair and a greasy face, he brutishly put on a coat and came out with a weapon. Lara told him to get ready quickly so they would not be late but he seemed to have understood that she meant to come out quickly.
Fortunately, Domino, Oscar, and Demian still looked moderately organized. The three people who came out belatedly frowned at Lampion one after another.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Acerus came out of the Crown Prince’s castle and greeted them.
“Welcome!”
Although he omitted the word ‘saintess’, Acerus served Lara the most politely among her group.
“Your Imperial Highness, thank you for inviting me here.”
“No, it must have been troublesome for you to come here. By the way, you brought three more Barbarians here.”
“Yes, you have met them before, right?”
Acerus smiled awkwardly. He greeted Domino, Lampion, and Oscar, but Oscar was the only one who answered.
“Hello. How have you been? It’s been a while.”
“Are Domino and Lampion still like that?”
“Yes, it’s better to just keep their mouths shut. I gave my greetings thrice so let’s move on.”
“Yeah… You cunts are still the same.”
Acerus, who had been talking without hesitation as usual, looked at Lara. However, her gaze was facing somewhere else.
All the knights who wore the armor helmet of the Crown Prince’s castle were staring at them. No matter how hard they tried to hide it, it was useless. Their disapproving gazes toward Demian and the Barbarians, their unpleasant attitude, everything was so clearly embedded in her mind.
“It’s okay.”
Demian approached her and whispered. Lara shook her head slowly.
“It is not okay.”
“Lara.”
“If it weren’t for the Barbarians, they would have probably died an untimely death on the battlefield.”
Lara’s voice was loud. All the eyes of the knights guarding the Crown Prince’s castle gathered to her this time. Vicious energy flowed from them.
“The hell are you doing?!”
How dare they stare at the saintess?
Acerus screamed in surprise. All the knights bowed down to him and admitted they had done wrong.
Instead of understanding and moving on, Lara raised her chin arrogantly and spoke to the Tarragon’s knights.
“Don’t stare at me like that. If you’re jealous, just say it.”
She smirked.
“It’s not a sin to be weak.”
Acerus got the hiccups.
