Chapter 29: Visit of Inertium

Lucas ends the class by saying "Something big is going to happen before the school year ends. The floating city of Inertium has declared that it will anchor itself near Windstone. This is unprecedented since the city of Inertium hasn't gone outside the demon territory since the founding of demon territory.

Inertium is a city that flies up in the skies of demon territory. It was built by the Inertia family and it has belonged to them ever since it was made. The architect of Inertia was the founder of the Inertia bloodline, Archibald Inertia himself.

Getting to Inertium was difficult for those who weren't approved by the council of the city. The council most often consists of somnum aides who follow their master's will. The city consisted purely of somnums and their aides and their families for hundreds of years, until the council decided to let outsiders come into the city, as most of the city was already filled from the lower rank demons.

The city would get some upgrades from time to time as most cities do. It gained additional islands that were anchored to the main island. There were of course some things that weren't allowed to be changed for any reason whatsoever, since changing some key parts of the floating city might cause it to fall to the ground. These places where change is illegal were drawn by Archibald himself. As far as I know, he really didn't approve of the additional islands at the beginning, but he didn't care to do anything about it as he was somnum.

The people who want to visit the city have to go to the teleporter that connects to Inertium itself. Otherwise they'd have to fly to it and ask for permission beforehand, or else you might be blown from the sky with the power of magical weapons. A teleporter is often put near the resting place of where the city is anchored to. It was not designed to ever touch the ground, so it always floats.

As for how it actually floats, I have no idea. I heard that it has some complicated spell crafted inside of the island itself, but as for the spell's contents, they are only known to a select few like the council or their aides.

As for the reason why Inertium is coming to Windstones vicinity, the reason they gave was to let people from the second magic tower to witness it. I don't know if it's actually true or not, but rumor has it that Archibald is hiding somewhere in the city and/or the demon king of solitude is inside the city to visit Windstone.

That's all for today. You may leave." The students start to leave the classroom while chattering a bit amongst themselves. Some talk about the contents of the class and some about Inertium.

Lucas hopes the rumors about Archibald and the demon king of solitude are false for many reasons. None of which he can talk to anyone. He also wonders if Sylvi is inside of the city or if this visit has something to do with her.

The day eventually came when Inertium anchored itself near Windstone and people started to go between the two cities. Lucas was a bit curious, as he hadn't gone to the city for the longest time, but he refrained from going in case there were people who might recognise him.

Lucas could just change his appearance like usual if it was any other place, but Lucas had made an oath to Sylvi's father that he would never enter the city in any form of disguise. This oath was one of the conditions that "Lucas" had to abide in order for him to marry Sylvi. This means that he would have to go inside the city in his demon king form as Legul. It was a bitter condition at the time, as per certain reasons, "Legul" couldn't marry Sylvi, thus he couldn't be seen with her inside Inertium. This made things more difficult as Sylvi almost never went outside Inertium due to laziness.

While the residents of Windstone went to visit Inertium, Lucas just focused on making a living. His wage as a teacher did pay for most of what he wanted to do, but to make sure Roland had the best conditions to become a hero one day, he had to do some jobs for the adventurers guild. He made sure to practice with Roland and teach him all Lucas knows. Taking Roland on quests was also important for his growth.

At the moment, Roland was rank E adventurer, but he was starting to near the rank D. His growth was surprisingly quick considering he is a human child. Some adventurers never get past the F rank and even fewer get past rank E and so on. Students in the Saint Diane Academy are exceptions to the norm of the world, as the academy has a habit of pulling exceptional people to it. Even still, there are students in the academy that don't surpass the norm.

One day Lucas received a letter that was handwritten by Sylvi. Lucas had gotten used to sending messages through klisi, so he felt a bit odd to get a letter from someone. Nonetheless, he didn't mind, as it was something Sylvi had sent to him and that's all that matters to him.

The letter roughly said "The Inertium should be there by now. I need you to go in there and meet with somebody that might be of interest to you. I told them to expect you, so feel free to walk in the main Inertia manor and say who you appear to be.

I trust that you remember the oath that you made with my father. And even though he is dead, I trust you hold on to that oath.

The person who I want you to meet should be in Inertium, as per my request, and you will most likely find them in the main Inertia manor. There is a slight chance that they are doing something else in Inertium and thus, they might be outside the main Inertia manor.

If you see the patriarch, don't antagonize him like usual. Things have been rough on all demons and they don't need any more grief. Though it is hard to believe he achieved this, Archibald has become even more hostile to me ever since I suggested that we hand over the secrets of the Inertia theorem. He should be civil with you as long as you don't annoy him on purpose, though your mere connection to me might cause him to get agitated, so mind what you say to him. I sincerely hope that you won't meet him, but as far as I know, he should still be in the main Inertia manor as I write this.

I'm sorry that this is not the time for us to meet yet, but rest assured, I'm working on something that allows us to finally meet again after so long. But before we meet, live your life as you see fit. We will meet again soon. Rest easy.

PS. I have seen that you have had intercourse with another woman even after what I told you. Now I won't let this affect my plan, but you should know that this has in fact hurt me somewhat. Even though it hurts, I managed to collect myself enough to find it odd that she looks almost exactly like me besides the colors, the markings and the size of her chest (which I'm not jealous of). When we meet again, I trust that you will tell me a satisfying answer about your connection with her."

Lucas was a bit torn about the letter. Who is this person that Sylvi wanted him to meet? Why must he reveal the fact that Legul Ranan is back? Nevertheless, all that mattered was that it was Sylvi who told him to do it. And so he went to the teleporter that would lead him to Inertium.

Near the teleporter, there were guards that watched over who could enter and who couldn't. Without anyone noticing, Lucas changed his appearance to his true self. A shadowy humanoid figure that had no face.

When it was his turn to enter, the guard asked Lucas' name. Lucas answered "Legul Ranan" and the people who heard it became silent. At first, the guard said "Don't joke around mister. Even though you are a mimic, you shouldn't lie about something like that."

Legul said to the guard "If you don't believe me, then I'm afraid I have to force myself in since my name won't suffice." The guard got a cold shiver down his spine. Still the guard managed to say "Do… Do you have any proof that you are indeed Legul Ranan?" Legul answered "I do have both the Ranan family and the Elifito family insignias with me if you want to see them. Though I doubt that you even know what they look like."

The guard said "I have seen a picture of what they look like, though it was only a picture. But please, show them to me and I might believe you." Legul showed both the insignias. One had a carving of multiple animal heads sprouting from a singular body of a humanoid and the other had a carving of what looked like a blob of matter, but if you looked closely, you could see the blob forming a demon mark that said roughly "Envy".

The guard was speechless for a moment, but eventually he says "You… are you really THE Legul Ranan?" Legul answered with "No one else." The guard then quickly said "My apologies sire. You are now free to enter the teleportation platform." Legul did so and finally entered the flying city of Inertium. Guards and the people who were watching the whole ordeal are now shimmering for the fact that the demon king of abomination might have returned.

Legul headed straight to the main Inertia manor and one of the guards was someone Legul didn't recognize and the other was someone who he recognized instantly. And so did the guard who knew Legul. Leguls appearance wasn't the thing that the guard recognized, but it was the aura Legul was emanating that gave him away.

The one who didn't know who Legul was tried to ask "What's your business here?" but the one that did know said "It- it's really been a while sire." Legul answered "So it would seem."

The guard who didn't know asked the other "Is this the guy we've been expecting?" To which the other guard said "Yes. Now treat him with respect." Then the guard who knew Legul brought his attention back to Legul and said "Please, enter. Long live the king." The other guard repeated, though a bit obliviously, "Long live the king?".

Legul then entered the main Inertia manor and he was then guided to where he would meet that certain person Sylvi mentioned. Once the door opens, a woman plunges at Legul to hug him. That woman was none other than Leguls daughter, Anya Ranan.

No words were said for a while until a girl in the back of the room said "Grandma, I think that would be enough." Then Anya stopped hugging Legul and said "Sorry Lis. I just…" She looked at Legul and continued "... I missed him so much." Then Legul puts his hand on Anya's head and pats it a bit, which makes Anya smile a bit.

Legul said "I missed you too Anya." After which Lis came and said meekly "Can you stop?" After which Legul immediately stopped, which surprised him a bit. Anya then said happily "This is my granddaughter Lisbeth Ranan, the demon king of solitude." Legul is surprised by this, as usually the title would be demon queen in case of it being a woman. Lis says "Greetings great grandfather. As you heard, I'm your great grandchild and the current ruler of the demon territory."

Legul says "It's great to meet another demon king at long last. But do tell, why do you call yourself demon king instead of demon queen?" Lis says "Since I rarely show my face, I saw it would be more appropriate to call myself demon king instead of demon queen. While officially I have the power of a demon queen, I don't like others to know that I'm a girl."

Legul says "Has it to do with the fact that in this era, male leaders are often more respected in the society than their female counterparts?" Lis says "Precisely. But those who think about it for a second and remember that succubuses can only have female children, they realize that my title as demon king is false. Now then…"

Then Lis bows down and says "Welcome back my king. What are your orders?" Legul says "So this is your aim." Then Legul thinks for a moment and says "Continue to lead the people as you have done before. Treat me like I don't exist, or at least, don't hold any power over you." Lis asks "Are you sure? You are the last true demon king so I think you should hold the reign."

Legul asks "What do you mean last true demon king?" Anya says "After you handed the title as demon king to Thesius, the way the title of demon king is handled changed from its original form. Usually one had to surpass the previous title holder in both wit and strength, but now it was simply handed down by lineage."

Legul says "The system has still accepted Lisbeth as demon queen, has it not?" Lis says "It has, but…" Legul stops her and says "Then that's all that matters. I no longer have the title of demon king, so it would be inappropriate of me to retake the title that I already handed down."

Lis says "But you can still retake it. And even so, you still have the title of "Demon king of abomination" haven't you?" Legul says "I do, but the true title of demon king is absent. And as I said, retaking that title would be inappropriate."

Lis then says with a bit of frustration "Aren't you angry what has become of our once mighty race? Aren't you ashamed?" Legul says "I think it's unfortunate about the fact that demons have become like this, but I am neither angry nor ashamed." Lis says angrily "How can you not be!? You and your predecessors worked so hard to make the demon race a respected race in this world! Why wouldn't you be angry!?" Legul says "Sometimes, the balance will shift in another's favor. This time it is in the favor of the holy. Before it, it was in the favor of the demonic."

Lis looks frustrated, but then Legul says "I know that it's hard to carry the once grand legacy of your predecessors on your shoulders. But as long as you try your best, no one can blame you for the fate of the demon race. You are their leader now, so you should hold yourself in a higher position than you do." Lis says "I… I understand. Thank you."

Then Legul says "Can you stop bowing down already, it feels a bit odd." Lis says "Of course." and rises up on her feet. Anya then says to Lis "See? I told you how it will turn out. Though I didn't expect the meek Lisbeth to get so vocal." Lis says "Sorry. I just… something came over me." Anya says "It's alright. Things don't always go as expected."

Then Legul says "I think it's time I leave." Anya stops him and asks "Aren't you curious about what happened and my reason to hide?" Legul says "I do know that Thosos went over the line and that you hid yourself somewhere after that. I do not care for why you're hiding and what exactly happened. All that matters to me is that demon territory still exists."

Anya seems saddened by this and says "Is… Is that so." She thinks that Legul didn't care

if she was alive or not. She then muttered "Just like she predicted." Legul asks "What did you say?" To which Anya says "Nothing. You were going to leave anyway."

Legul thinks for a moment. Then he had an idea, so he said "How about we go eat somewhere together? All three of us." Anya perks up a bit from his suggestion and says "I… If it won't bother you so much." Legul says to that "Why would it bother me to spend time with my daughter and her grandchild?"

Anya tears up a little as she mutters "So… She was wrong after all." Legul asks "What did you say?" to which Anya says "Nothing. Come Lis. It's not often that your great grandfather treats you to a meal." Lis seems reluctant, but she decides to say "Sure. Let's go. I heard there is a great restaurant not so far from here."

While they are leaving, Anya thinks "I knew that that witch's words were a lie. There is no way that dad would hate me for being Pilalas daughter. Even if it was a political marriage."

While they were going, Legul noticed that Lis didn't have anyone watching from the shadows, so he decided to ask "Why don't you have any guards following you Lisbeth? Someone like you should at least have someone watch out for you from the shadows." Lis replies "I sometimes have one just in case, but due to having a very powerful charming ability, having one isn't always necessary. Besides, I have perhaps the strongest mortal to walk the earth beside me, so there isn't any danger."

Legul says "You give me too much credit. If some god came down to kill you for some reason, I'm not sure I could keep you safe." Lis replies "Well how likely it is that a god decides to attack me, hmmm? And even if that happened, would you not at least try?" Legul says "Of course I would try. I always wanted to fight a god." Lis says "Just like what I heard."

The meal at the restaurant they went in was good and there didn't happen anything noteworthy. There was a little commotion after people talked about Legul Ranan returning and now there was a shadowy figure walking around town.

After the meal was concluded, Legul said his farewells and left Inertium. Lucas would have to prepare tests for the students before the school year ends. The test he is most in charge of is the history test, as he was someone who was quite knowledgeable about it.