Chapter 4: Pact (last part)

For instance, we talked about how Madam Maria wanted to abolish slavery.

Madam Maria had apparently wanted to abolish the system, which was a hotbed

for human trafficking, for a long time, but she was now looking to use the looming

menace of the Demon Lord's Domain to do it in the name of national unity. Though

the policy would be hard to pass in peacetime, she recognized that she could force it

through now, and she was quick to act on the opportunity. It seemed she was more

than just an idealistic dreamer.

I was in favor of abolition, too, but I felt it was too sudden, so I asked them to

wait. Sudden changes, even good ones, always cause chaos. The French Revolution,

with its call for liberté, égalité, fraternité, ended in the purges of the Reign of Terror,

and the Arab Spring movement for democratization (though I did not, in any way,

mean to condemn the movement itself) brought chaos to the countries of the region.

With my knowledge of precedents like those, I had to be cautious.

That's why I told the Empire that emancipation had to be taken step by step. If

possible, I wanted them to move forward on it at the same rate as the kingdom.

And, well, with important topics like that coming up one after another, the

bureaucrats of both nations were running around in a frenzy. Even late at night,

once the conference wrapped up, they continued.

They would likely be up all night. With a sideways glance to those bureaucrats, I

took Liscia and Jeanne with me out onto the government affairs office terrace.

Because it was late at night in autumn, it was quite chilly. I had Serina bring us

hot milk in wooden mugs, and though it wasn't really to celebrate of the end of talks,

we shared a toast.

Liscia raised her mug. "To the glory to the Empire."

Jeanne raised her mug. "To the development of the kingdom."

I raised my mug. "And to the friendship to both nations."

"""Cheers!"""

We clacked our wooden mugs together.

It was hot milk in them, so after the toast, we could only sip away at them

(because if we knocked them back, we'd burn ourselves), but... oh, was it good. One

thing I'd come to appreciate since coming to this world was the deliciousness of

milk. It was unpasteurized (they probably milked straight into a metal bucket, like

you'd see in The Dog of Flanders, then chilled it with river or well water), so the

flavor was fully intact. The tradeoff was that it wasn't exactly safe, but... this

thickness was irresistible!

"This was a highly fruitful conference," Jeanne said as I was being warmed by the

delicious hot milk. "We talked for quite a long time, didn't we? It's almost dawn."

"...Now that I think about it, I feel like we talked about a lot of things today that

we really didn't have to," I said.

Since we'd gone to the trouble of arranging a hotline using the Jewel Voice

Broadcast, I felt like we could have saved a number of the topics we'd covered for a

later date. I felt bad for the bureaucrats of both nations whose workloads had

increased because of us.

"Maybe because it was so late at night, we got strangely excited..." I said.

"Can you blame us?" Jeanne said with a smile. "I, for one, was thrilled to find new,

reliable friends."

Friends... huh.

True, though our alliance was a secret one, we and the Empire could be called

friends now. As for what influence this secret alliance would have on the world... I

couldn't be sure yet, but it was reassuring to know that other countries could share

my values. The Empire must have felt the same.

Jeanne suddenly took on a serious expression. "I have something to tell you, my

friend in the east."

"What is it? My friend in the west."

"It's about the Demon Lord, said to inhabit the Demon Lord's Realm," she said.

The Demon Lord. If I were to employ my knowledge of RPGs, that was the being

who ruled over the demons and monsters. While it was unconfirmed, the former

king, Sir Albert, had told me there apparently was a being like that inside the Demon

Lord's Domain.

"Have you seen the Demon Lord?" I asked.

"No," said Jeanne. "More than that, no one has ever claimed to. The ones who

penetrated the deepest into the Demon Lord's Domain were the initial punitive

force, but they were almost completely eradicated."

"Huh? How do you know there's a Demon Lord, then?" I asked.

"When the punitive force was destroyed, there was a group of demons believed

to be capable of speaking, and there was a word they often spoke," she said. "The

researchers in my country have hypothesized that this word might be the name of

the Demon Lord."

There Jeanne paused, then spoke the word as if announcing it.

"That word was... 'Divalroi.'"

"Divalroi... Demon Lord Divalroi?" I asked.

"Yes. They say that's the name of the Demon Lord." Jeanne nodded somberly.

Demon Lord Divalroi, huh... hmm?

"Demon Lord Divalroi... Demon Lord... Divalroi, Demon Lord..." I murmured.

Huh? What's this? I remember hearing that phrase somewhere, I thought. Is this

deja vu? ...No, that's not it. It sounds familiar. Somewhere. I've heard it somewhere.

Somewhere other than here. Not in this world. In the other world?

No, hold on. Why would I think of Earth? There shouldn't be any demon lords on

Earth. I don't know any Divalroi. I shouldn't, at least, but there's something tugging at

the back of my mind.

"Wh-What's wrong, Souma?!" Liscia exclaimed.

When I came back to my senses, Liscia was supporting me. It looked like I had

been clutching my head in my hands and stumbled. Liscia and Jeanne looked

worried, so I gave them a smile.

"I'm fine," I said. "I just got hit by a sudden wave of drowsiness."

"Hmm... it is late, after all," said Jeanne. "How about we turn in for the night?"

Because Jeanne was saying that too, we decided to meet again tomorrow in the

audience chamber with Julius present to announce what had been decided today,

then we all went off to rest.

I asked Serina to show Jeanne to a guest room, while Liscia and I headed to the

room Liscia was using. I wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible, but my bed was in

the governmental affairs office. I couldn't very well go to sleep with the bureaucrats

working right beside me, so I thought I'd borrow a corner in Liscia's room.

"Souma... are you really okay?" Liscia asked me, sounding concerned, as we

reached her room.

"...I'm fine," I said. "I was just a little worn out."

"You're lying!" she burst out. "You've been routinely staying up for three nights

straight! I'm not going to buy that you're tired after staying up late for just one

night!"

"No, I think it's pretty bad that that's what's tipping you off..." I said.

Liscia sighed. "Come here."

Liscia sat down on her bed, instructing me to sit next to her. Sitting next to a cute

girl on her bed was a situation that should have had my heart racing, but Liscia's nononsense attitude intimidated me into meekly obeying her.

When I did, the moment I sat down, Liscia grabbed my head and pushed it down

into her lap. It was my first lap pillow in a long while. I could hear Liscia's gentle

voice above me.

"I don't know what caused it, but when you're tired, let me indulge you," Liscia

said, rubbing my forehead.

"...Sorry," I said. "And thank you."

"Hee hee. You're welcome."

I closed my eyes, letting the tension slip away from my body. When I'd heard the

name "Demon Lord Divalroi," I'd felt a vague uncertainty from the sense that I'd

heard the name before. That hadn't been resolved, but just having my head patted

like this made my heart feel lighter.

Thanks to Liscia, in the time it took me to fall asleep, I didn't have to feel worried

anymore.