Do I really have to become a Dark Knight?
The Traparta Union, the Duchy of Carmenia. Its capital, Karnia.
There stood a massive tower, thirty floors tall.
A structure larger than any other, grander than even the ducal residence where the duke resided.
Its appearance symbolized the hero who stood against the Demon King.
Its height—thirty floors—declared that the hero was greater than the Demon King.
This was the Hero Guild Headquarters, the honor and pride of all heroes.
Entering its central halls had long been Hillen Cargill's dream.
Before he became a hero, he longed to be one.
After becoming a hero, he always aspired to become a central power within the Guild.
Because he wanted power.
Because he wanted honor.
Why the Hero Guild, of all places? The reason was simple.
Even the kings of great nations—
Even the almighty emperor—
Could not freely command heroes.
Heroes were outlaws whom even emperors and kings were sometimes forced to beg.
When he was very young, he had once witnessed a great noble of the kingdom bowing his head to a hero who was then called a star.
That image had never left Hillen's mind. Burned clearly into memory, it became the engine that drove him.
'I've finally come this far.'
Even if he arrived here only as a subordinate of the Demon King, the result did not change.
One day, he would break free of the Demon King's shackles and soar. Everything he strove for now would shine brighter then.
He steadied his breath, calming his pounding heart.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day I walked into this place…"
"Are we really becoming a raid unit?"
"We cleared the Beast Tower and the Geumgang Tower—why wouldn't we be able to? And Hero Hillen is with us!"
"But we're just hired hands…"
"Lord Hillen wants this. And he'll keep paying."
"But it's a bit dangerous…"
"Well, with your abilities, I doubt you'd die no matter where we drop you."
"Ahem. Thank you for the compliment."
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Everyone, please maintain your dignity."
'Of all people… why these ones…'
Humans are social creatures. Even heroes do not escape that truth.
No matter how great one's reputation, entering the central guild meant nothing without a support base.
So Hillen Cargill decided to bring not only himself, but also his close associates. Officially, they were known as the Red Hawk Raid Unit, a mercenary group.
He didn't trust them completely, but having them was better than having no one.
"Granada."
"What?"
"This is an official occasion."
"…What's the issue?"
"Please keep the Red Hawks in order. I don't want anything tarnishing my image."
"Ah, yes, yes. Right. Everyone, quiet down."
At Granada's words, the Red Hawks shut their mouths.
The Hero Guild was the largest and most magnificent building in Karnia. It held even more symbolic weight than the Imperial Palace and was a transcendent organization.
The people of Karnia took pride in hosting the Guild headquarters within their city. The Guild was always a target of attention.
And with that attention gathering one by one, they felt it too.
If there was an eye of the storm right now, it was them.
"Who are they? I've never seen them."
"Hillen—Hillen Cargill."
"The Demon King slayer?"
"Then that group behind him is the raid unit he organized?"
"Probably."
"I can't believe I'm seeing with my own eyes the great hero who slew two Demon Kings."
"Hail Hillen Cargill!"
Hillen Cargill had never set foot in Karnia before, but among the citizens of the Hero's City, he had become far too famous.
The cheers directed at him.
This was it. He liked this—this excitement and attention.
'I can't make a disgraceful first impression in the Hero's City.'
Hillen barely suppressed the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
But there was no need to suppress the atmosphere itself.
Crowds gathered to see him. And naturally, the crowd opened a path for him.
"This way to the Hero Guild!"
Citizens themselves guided them toward the Guild. And at last, they arrived before the enormous tower.
Creeeeak—
The doors of a tower greater than any Demon King's tower Hillen had ever entered slowly opened.
Dozens of representatives had come to greet them.
"Welcome to the Hero's Tower."
"It is an honor to meet the great hero, Lord Torniel Borgis. For you to personally greet me—this is a generational blessing for my family!"
"You know me?"
"What hero does not know the great elder who slew the Famine Demon King?"
"That was so long ago, I barely even remember it. I'm just an old man waiting for death in a dusty room."
"Who would dare describe you in such a way?"
"I am the one who is honored, truly—being recognized by a hero destined to leave his name in history."
"You flatter me."
The young man and the old man embraced.
"I look forward to working with you. The Guild always welcomes talents like you."
"The honor is mine."
'A smooth tongue. He won't be an easy one. Better be careful.'
'Old man, I can see you calculating how to use me. Well, I expected as much.'
"Hahaha."
"Hahaha."
Their smiles deepened toward one another.
The roaring cheers behind them were just a bonus.
***
"Yes, I've confirmed it. He really sent everything."
Jayson replied toward the crystal orb.
Five million magic points of debt—magic he was supposed to receive in exchange for ten thousand gold.
All of it had been repaid.
In truth, compared to how greatly humans valued money, it wasn't that large a sum. But magic points were far more valuable, so he didn't feel cheated.
And truthfully, he had hoped it wouldn't be paid back so quickly.
"As expected, the Chief's reputation isn't undeserved."
Berze's advance had been unstoppable.
He kidnapped the crown princess of Hilderan, the imperial princess of Jespine, and yet another princess of Hilderan.
Performing those acts themselves wasn't difficult.
But doing all that and still being alive?
That was proof enough of Berze's capability.
Even if all he did was hide the tower—to break a convention so deeply ingrained it bordered on faith, and have it work across dimensions…
How many Demon Kings could do such a thing?
No one. Absolutely no one.
Others called Berze a lunatic, a madman without sense, but Jayson saw it differently.
Perhaps Berze was the one who had investigated Arein more thoroughly than anyone, and was the one following the most correct solution.
But how? How could he know that this was what Arein was like?
Those with great power might know such things, but Berze Deias was a newcomer who had only just graduated from the academy.
How could he possibly have known about Arein?
He didn't have any meaningful faction or backing either.
No matter how Jayson thought about it, he couldn't understand.
『That's an exaggeration.』
"Absolutely not. There is no Demon King who has gained five million points in just one year."
『Is that so?』
"I'll correct myself—there is no such Demon King in Arein. That is why I like you more and more, Lord Berze."
『Even if you say that, I don't know much. This is my first time in this dimension.』
"Yes, I am very aware that Arein is new to you, Lord Berze."
Which only made you even more suspicious.
I suppose I'll have to spill a little blood.
Jayson decided to contact the Demon Realm for the first time in a very long while. He hated wasting even a little magic, so unless it was absolutely necessary, he avoided doing so.
But now, he had just received a fresh 2.5 million points.
『Then I'll hang up.』
"Ah, please wait just a moment."
『Do you have something else to say?』
"May I ask one question?"
『What is it?』
"Your future plans."
『Why would a Demon King care about another Demon King's actions?』
"It might not matter in other dimensions, but this is Arein."
No matter how much Jayson worked, if Berze kept causing incident after incident, there would be problems sooner or later.
『Do you want me to stay quiet?』
"I won't deny that."
『Well, I have no plans for now. I've repaid my debt, so I'll focus on strengthening my tower.』
"Thank you. Ah—and do you know? It has now been exactly one year since you descended into this world."
『I know.』
"Then you must also know the time for the Tower Convergence has already passed."
The Tower Convergence was held once a year. But because of the sudden hero journeys Berze had triggered, and the chaos from Draxon's death, it had been forgotten for a time.
『I will participate. When and where is it being held this time?』
"In two weeks…"
Jayson paused to gauge his reaction.
"How about hosting it at your tower this time? It has been a year since you founded it—would it not be fitting to show it once?"
A very brief silence.
『I refuse.』
Thunk—
The connection cut.
"…Haha."
Jayson let out a hollow laugh.
"…Honestly."
His laughter deepened.
"There are truly many entertaining individuals this cycle."
He pushed up his monocle.
***
"You're going into the weapons business?"
『Yes. Forgive my boldness, but because of you, Lord Berze, the dead Beast Demon King, and the newly emerged Lust Demon King, the scent of war looms in the air.』
『The prices of military equipment across the continent are skyrocketing.』
Hilderan, which had lost two princesses.
Dormunt, shaken by the Lust Demon King's schemes.
Ormus, which lost its elites in the war against the Beast.
And the sudden series of royal kidnappings by the Geumgang Demon King—it was like fuel thrown onto a growing fire.
All of it was the butterfly effect of Berze's actions.
『Of course, depending on Lord Berze and the other Demon Kings' behavior, the price of weapons will rise dramatically. So if it is not too insolent of me, may I ask your general intentions?』
"Makes sense. If you know how we plan to act, you can buy low and sell high."
『Exactly.』
Berze fell into thought.
Ugar had no intention of moving significantly. He would kidnap unimportant royals, but that was all.
Reina would be as before—doing nothing noteworthy.
The problems were the other two: Jayson Kokmund, whose intentions had been opaque both before regression and now, and Vivian Blunt, who had not appeared in his previous life at all.
Jayson will not make a move.
Their earlier conversation proved that clearly. That left Vivian.
And honestly, Berze had no idea what an idiot who caused a disaster the moment she descended would do.
But he was certain of one thing:
Even if she caused a bigger incident, it would stop there—because Jayson would not sit still otherwise.
"Vivian Blunt. Excluding her Lust-related antics, she won't cause major trouble. Unless humans start a war among themselves or an unexpected disaster occurs, the spike in weapon prices won't last long."
『Thank you. That helps immensely.』
"Send regular reports. And if you need anything else, contact me."
『Understood. Ah, and—our merchant group has currently purchased twenty-one elves. What should we do with them?』
"Elves, huh."
Right, there were elves.
"What about Granada?"
『He followed Hero Hillen Cargill to the Hero Guild Headquarters. I have not received further orders since.』
"That's inconvenient."
Granada had to help Hillen assemble the raid unit. But Granada was also the only one capable of managing elves.
If only Granada could split into Gra and Nada and become two people.
Impossible, of course.
To make use of elves, there are only two approaches:
Either hide my existence entirely, or bind them to me with a World Tree Oath.
Berze preferred the latter, of course. Hiding things would eventually be exposed—and when that happened, the elves would become living bombs.
"For now, keep purchasing elves. And once Granada returns from the headquarters, tell him to bring the elves to Hotonwark."
『Yes, understood.』
The connection ended.
Suddenly, a scene flashed through Berze's mind.
The dark spirit summoner ruling the fourth floor… and the dark elves who guarded her from behind…
Smack—
Berze slapped his face to one side. Then slapped the other side too.
"…I really am losing my mind."
To think he'd mentally repeated such a childish, embarrassing name.
But he hadn't forgotten why he originally planned to buy elves.
And most importantly—he had not forgotten the safety of his tower.
Bring them into the tower and bind them with oaths. Half will go to the fourth floor, the rest to the raid unit.
The elves' fate was decided.
***
Deep beneath what humans called the Tower of Blazing Ash, inside the underground prison—
"…I understand."
The tower's only prisoner, Kaede Jespine, nodded.
"What do you understand?"
"Ernan was right. I will do as she said."
"You've decided, then?"
"Yes."
Ernan's persuasion had not been long, but every single one of her words stabbed into Kaede's heart.
The Empire had abandoned her—she had no reason to remain loyal.
As long as she wasn't discovered, she wouldn't tarnish the Empire's honor.
Elves served the Demon King.
The great hero Hillen Cargill served the Demon King.
There was no reason she could not.
The Demon King had granted her request. She had paid a price for it, but she too could negotiate for her own future.
She was growing weaker with every passing moment in this prison.
She did not agree with everything Ernan had said.
But if the Empire showed no urgency in rescuing her, then continuing to rot in a cell did her no good.
Why had she despised political marriage?
Because she did not want to become the concubine of Ormus's old king—
Living like a puppet who could do nothing, change nothing.
Because she wanted to become the Empire's greatest knight and race across the continent.
She did not want to decay in prison.
'If I must spend time…'
Swinging a sword even one more time.
Gathering aura through meditation.
Even if she had to bow her head, she would build strength.
'The better choice for the future…'
It would become that.
For the day she escaped.
To become a better knight—
A better hero.
"I will use the Demon King."
"Go ahead. The Demon King will use you too. So will I."
Ernan's purple eyes gleamed.
"…But one thing."
"Yes?"
"Do I really have to become a Dark Knight?"
"Why not?"
"It's… a little childish…"
Kaede's face turned red. She did not have the confidence to shout I am a Dark Knight! with her own mouth.
"If you hate it, you don't have to. But I'm not sure the Demon King will be pleased."
"…I'll do it."
"Good choice. Stay here. I'll go speak to the Demon King."
"Yes."
"You'll be bored, so I'll leave Nairuniel with you."
Ernan summoned the water spirit and disappeared.
The spirit blinked its large eyes, full of sympathy toward Kaede.
— Poor thing. You must've been so lonely in this prison.
"I am fine."
— Oh no, child. You don't have to console yourself that way. Why don't you share your weary heart with me?
"…Yes."
— Good. I'll give you some topics, and you choose one. Forbidden love between a Demon King and a princess. Love between a Demon King and a hero. And love between a Demon King and a knight.
"…What are those grotesque stories?"
— What else? They're your stories.
"..."
Nairuniel did not hide her fascinated gaze.
A princess with overflowing knightly pride—who was also a hero.
To Nairuniel, Kaede Jespine was a goldmine of entertaining material.
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