Hero.
"Damn it, this dogshit…!"
He kept complaining nonstop, but the elf's hands stayed busy preparing the ingredients.
Rinsing them in water, chopping vegetables, mincing meat.
Then, suddenly, he stopped chopping.
"Haa…"
A sigh escaped him.
The cooking was one thing, but what made it even more pathetic was having to make it over a campfire on the bare floor of an empty third floor with no proper facilities.
'How the hell did I end up like this…'
The Demon King made a vow on his honor. So he believed him. And the Demon King didn't betray that trust.
At least everything he said had been true—He just hadn't mentioned the more important parts.
"You bastard."
He knew exactly who he was dealing with. Not even the elves back in Elven territory would dare treat him like this.
What made it worse was that some part of him still thought, 'Well… it's still better than the five years of slavery.'
'Out of the goblin cave only to find an ogre den.'
Granada shook his head hard and returned to cooking.
He heated an iron pan, spread oil, added minced meat, and when the fat melted, stir-fried it with vegetables and spices.
A savory aroma spread gently throughout the entire tower.
"Wow."
Just then, someone walked down the stairs from the upper floor.
"It smells so good!"
A human?
She was a beautiful human woman who looked around twenty. He wondered why a human was in the Demon King's tower, but the question quickly answered itself.
'She's probably in the exact same situation as me.'
No doubt she'd been tricked by the Demon King and turned into a slave of the tower.
"What are you cooking?"
She came closer.
"Just a simple stir-fried meat dish."
"It smells amazing."
"Obviously. Who do you think made it?"
Granada huffed and shrugged proudly.
"But I haven't seen you before. How did you get here?"
"Similar to you."
"Then… you were kidnapped?"
"Kidnapped? Not a slave?"
Their eyes met.
'…She looks familiar?'
Pale white skin, platinum hair, and those faintly shimmering amethyst eyes—it tickled something in his memory.
'Where? Where did I see her?'
At that moment, something peeked out from behind the woman's back—A cluster of pure mana, a spirit.
Platinum hair. Amethyst eyes. A spirit.
The words clicked together like a puzzle.
"…The crown princess of Hilderan?"
"You know who I am?"
"…You've got to be kidding me!"
"Keep it down."
Just then the Demon King descended the stairs. Granada shot to his feet and rushed over.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"From what I see, you're the one who's lost it."
"You kidnapped the crown princess of Hilderan! What in the world are you thinking?!"
"Oh, that story."
"What do you mean that story? Hilderan must be going mad right now! And we have nothing here—what will you do when the Hero arrives?!"
"I'll handle it. Just finish the cooking."
"How can you be so calm—"
"That's an order."
"…."
Granada's face twisted as he went back to stir-frying the meat.
Then a strange thought finally surfaced—something he had been too preoccupied to notice.
'…But why is the crown princess coming down from the fourth floor instead of being in a prison?'
Why was she sitting with the Demon King, calmly holding a fork?
"Why?"
The princess smiled gently as their eyes met.No matter how he looked at her, she did not feel like someone who had been kidnapped.
He shot a questioning look at the Demon King.
"It doesn't matter. Escaping the tower is impossible anyway."
"That doesn't seem like the issue here…"
"She's cooperative, so I let her roam a bit."
"Roam a bit… like this?"
The issue wasn't the Demon King.It was the princess.
No matter how accustomed she was to the Demon King, no matter how frequent it was for kidnapped princesses to be ransomed or rescued by Heroes—
This level of comfort was not normal.
After a while, the dish was done, and even the dark elf Gordon joined.
"It was really delicious."
The princess rubbed her full stomach and scraped her dish clean. Her innocence made Granada wonder if this place was truly the Demon King's tower and not the royal palace of Hilderan.
"Now then, let's get to the main topic."
At the Demon King's signal, Gordon took the princess upstairs.
"As you heard, she is the crown princess of Hilderan. What reaction do you think Hilderan will show?"
"They'll lose their minds, obviously."
Granada remembered rumors he heard before becoming a slave.
The first princess of Hilderan was an extraordinary prodigy, forming a contract with a spirit at a young age, and the entire kingdom adored her.
A princess like that getting kidnapped? They'd be frothing at the mouth by now.
"They've probably already put in a request to the Hero Guild and are forming a massive hero expedition. Ergest's natural fortifications will stop the rabble, but Hilderan's determination won't end there."
Of course it wouldn't.
"You don't mean to tell me to fight the Hero alone in a suicide mission, right?"
Granada muttered gruffly.
"That was never the plan. A Hero strong enough to enter the tower means the game is already over."
"Then?"
"I'll send you back to Horton Walk."
As the Demon King explained further, Granada understood.
"So you want me to sow chaos in the human world on your behalf."
"In short."
"Join an organization, gain influence, buy information, track the Heroes' movements, sabotage them if possible, or at least delay them as much as you can?"
"Correct. But before that—"
The Demon King stood up.
"I need to check your abilities."
Third floor.
An empty floor, a perfect space to face the Demon King one-on-one.
Berze (the Demon King) had two reasons for bringing Granada into the tower.
One was to prove he was truly the Demon King and gain Granada's trust.
The other was to assess his strength accurately.
The cooking had only been an act of spite to humble him; it wasn't the real purpose.
"Your body's condition is surprisingly good for someone who lived as a slave for years."
"At the very least, I'm not built for cooking."
"The food was good. You have talent."
"…."
Granada tried hard to change the subject.
"But this is a fight I can't win from the start, isn't it?"
Even if it had been a surprise attack the first time, he'd already been beaten once. The difference in level between them was unquestionable.
"I won't use one of my hands. How's that?"
"Not enough."
"Then I'll give you a condition. If you win, I won't force you to speak formally. And I'll treat you not like a slave, but a proper subordinate."
"…No cooking duties either?"
"If you insist."
"Then I'll do my best to take your head— I mean, to defeat you!"
Elf and Demon King clashed.
Moments later—
"…I heard freshly summoned Demon Kings are supposed to be more affected by interference forces."
"Did you think the demons didn't know that?"
Why did the Demon Realm create a Demon King Academy and send only the most elite candidates?They chose ones who wouldn't fall easily even under the worst interference, who could maintain minimum combat power despite weakened conditions.
That was the frontline commander of the Demon Realm—the Demon King.
"I've seen enough."
The Demon King casually lifted the fallen Granada back to his feet.
"Let's go down."
"It is an honor to see you again!"
Bark brightened at the sight of two familiar faces.
He didn't know their names, but he remembered the wealthy man who spent money like water and the elf slave he had purchased.
'Did his face always look like that?'
Everything felt oddly fuzzy, but he blamed it on the alcohol.
"I want to buy your time."
The wealthy man spoke abruptly.
"All of your mercenary company. A one-year contract should do."
"Uh… what exactly do you plan to have us do for a year?"
"For now, continue as usual—take monster extermination jobs. I promise I won't assign any requests your mercenary band can't handle."
Bark hesitated. With the way this man spent money, the rewards would be massive—but nothing came for free. Even if he sounded confident, who knew what dangers were involved?
"I can't decide alone."
He was the leader of the Red Hawks, but they operated on a relatively horizontal structure.
"Discuss it. I'll match the pay as high as needed."
Twenty Red Hawk mercenaries held a meeting.
"It's too suspicious."
"But the pay is guaranteed. Refusing big money makes you a bad mercenary."
"What work will he make us do?"
"He said he won't give us impossible jobs. Put it clearly in the contract—if it's beyond our capabilities, we can refuse."
"Can you trust that?"
At that moment, the wealthy man placed a heavy pouch on the table. Gold and silver coins poured out, making the mercenaries widen their eyes.
They exchanged glances and nodded.
"All right."
It was too much money to refuse.
"But we have conditions. If we judge any request too unreasonable, we want the right to refuse it—clearly written in the contract. We'll base it on our mercenary rank, as objectively as possible. And also…"
"Acceptable."
Bark listed several conditions, and the wealthy man agreed to every single one.
"In return, I also have a condition."
"What… kind of condition?"
"Take the elf Granada as a member of your mercenary company."
"…What?"
"You only need to accept him on paper. Granada will issue commands to your group on my behalf."
Among humans, there are ranks. And there are countless organizations:
Mage Towers, the Hero Guild, the Mercenary Guild, Free Knights, the Artisan Union, the Black Moon, and so on.
Some are connected to nations, others are not.
But they all have one thing in common—An organization that gathers people inevitably gathers power, and one can hold influence no different from a king, even without being one.
I intended to insert my subordinate into such organizations and spread influence from within.
One by one, they would fall into my hands, and eventually I would become the true mastermind controlling everything from the shadows.
The first target I chose was the Mercenary Guild.
Their quality varied, but in numbers, they rivaled any organization.
A group with incredible inclusivity, accepting anyone without prejudice.
A guild even a kingdom couldn't afford to underestimate.
Most importantly, they were obsessed with money—a gathering of people who lived for money.
And the fact that there was a suitable mercenary and a mercenary team I already had connections with made the decision easy.
"…Very well."
After much whispering among themselves, Bark nodded.
"We don't usually accept new mercenaries so easily, but considering you're the client, we can make an exception."
He approached Granada.
"I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise."
He felt a bit uncomfortable bowing his head to someone who'd been a slave until recently, but money was king.
"To join our mercenary band, you'll need to take the guild test, but…"
Bark tilted his head.
"Where did you get beaten up?"
Why are your eyes swollen and bruised like that?
Granada did not answer.
That day, Granada formally took the mercenary exam at the guild, received an advanced mercenary badge, and joined the Red Hawk Mercenary Company.
The fact that all the mercenaries who tested him ended up with one bruise each—courtesy of an unusually irritable Granada—was a minor incident.
That evening, at the gathering to celebrate Granada's joining, they received their first request from Berze.
"I'll give you your first request. You've heard that the crown princess of Hilderan was kidnapped recently. I want to know which Heroes Hilderan has hired."
"Why…?"
"Because it makes money."
"Ah."
The path of a Hero attracts much interest and wealth. Those who sponsor them may gain treasures from the Demon King's tower if the Hero succeeds.
The mercenaries, who believed Berze to be a wealthy patron, found this a reasonable explanation.
"But we're a small mercenary group. For something like that, we'd need to request information from the Information Guild…"
Thud—
A pouch of money hit the table.
"Do it."
"We'll get on it immediately!"
"And while you're at it, investigate the other princesses of Hilderan as well."
"Why would you—?"
'Because if things go wrong, I'll return the first princess and kidnap the thirteenth princess instead.'
He had spoken confidently in front of the crown princess, but a single-route plan was never ideal.But he couldn't say that aloud.
And the thought of fabricating another reasonable excuse to manipulate the humans irritated him.
"Do you want the reason? Or the money?"
"We'll take the money!"
The mercenaries' eyes gleamed with greed.
Berze reaffirmed his belief.In this world, money might as well be the humans' religion.
Knight Kultan gave an order to the soldiers.
"Surround the hotel. Don't let even a rat escape."
Dozens of soldiers wrapped around the area. Kultan ascended with two others.
"He is upstairs."
The hotel owner—who had received prior authorization—guided them personally.
"What's his condition?"
"He is enjoying a drinking party."
"He probably has women on each side again."
"…"
The hallways were empty. The staff had clearly cleared them. They reached the very top floor, the suite reserved only for special VIPs.
The door opened.
A thick wave of alcohol, heat, and humidity brushed against their faces.
Crack—
Kultan stepped on a shard of broken glass. The carpet was damp and sticky.
He silently opened a window, letting cold air sweep the heat away.
"…What the hell."
"Oh my."
A drunken man opened his eyes, his voice loose. The women sitting on both sides of him trembled.
"It has been a while, Hero."
"Sir Kultan?"
"You two, leave us."
The women wobbled out, still tipsy. The hero frowned, his mood ruined.
"What is it now?"
"A royal decree has been issued."
"…It's about the crown princess, isn't it."
"The other Heroes feared the name Ergest. Only you can slay that insolent Demon King and rescue Her Highness."
"The Ergest Mountains frighten even me."
"That's amusing. If you, the hero who beheaded the Demon King of Lust, cannot climb the mountain and rescue her, who can?You are not frightened—you are simply inconvenienced."
"And if I refuse?"
"Hero, the crown princess of the kingdom has been kidnapped. You know well what she means to Hilderan."
Kultan met the Hero's eyes.
"This is not a request. It is an order."
Heroes hold tremendous rights—but with those rights come obligations.
Kings overlook many of their crimes and misdeeds, but when a crisis occurs, they can force the Hero to act by royal decree.
The Hero could refuse—but he would have to endure the consequences of making an entire kingdom his enemy.
"You may refuse. But you will no longer be welcome in Hilderan.The greatest hero of Hilderan turning into its greatest disgrace—would that not trouble even you?"
Fwip—
Kultan held out the royal order.
"Take it."
"No matter what, I can't do this alone."
"You will receive authority over all Heroes currently in Hilderan. The Hilderan branch of the Hero Guild has pledged full cooperation."
They, too, had no choice.
"The kingdom will spare no support, and your compensation will exceed anything you can imagine."
"His Majesty is bleeding heavily for this."
"That is how important the crown princess is to us. And if you were considering fleeing—give it up. The hotel is surrounded. If even one soldier is harmed during official duty, we will have justification."
"You think you can stop me?"
"You will not leave the kingdom unscathed.And physical harm is not the only concern—social death is also being considered."
"A complete checkmate, I see."
The Hero smirked bitterly. Had he known this would happen, he'd have fled Hilderan sooner. Being complacent because he was at the edge of the kingdom had been a mistake.
"…Fine."
He snatched the royal decree.
"Oh mighty Hero, please save the heart of Hilderan."
The knight bowed.