Voluntary Patsy
"···Are you saying you're swearing on the First Demon Emperor and on the Sacred Canon?"
『Yes···! I'm telling you I'm innocent!』
Jayson pushed up his monocle.
Vivian was foolish, but she was not foolish—or bold—enough to spew absurd lies while swearing upon the First Demon Emperor and the Sacred Canon.
To begin with, no Demon King anywhere would dare lie using the First Demon Emperor and the Canon as collateral.
It was Berze who had treated the sacred Canon like trash during the graduation ceremony—that was the truly bizarre one.
Which meant Vivian wasn't the culprit.
'Another Demon King, then?'
Who could it be?
Simple-minded Ugar was extremely demonlike.
That lofty pride saw relying on dwarven craft as a shame.
Proud Reina rarely left the Empire.
Unlike Ugar and Vivian, she had a sharp mind and knew clearly what should and should not be done.
Thus, it wasn't either of them.
'Then that leaves—'
A natural process of elimination. Only one remained.
'Berze… is it you?'
The Berze he knew was capable. The moment he descended, he knew what needed to be done, and in the face of every crisis, he clawed out survival somehow.
Even when things seemed dangerous, events ultimately twisted toward his benefit.
Someone like that had no reason to provoke the Kingdom of Verft.
Under normal circumstances.
But what about now?
The Empire was gnashing its teeth, shouting for the death of the Demon King of Emberflame.
'Cornered people can do anything.'
No—he didn't even need to be cornered.
'If it serves his goals, he'll use any means necessary.'
The first time they met, he had felt a faint disgust.
Alongside that trivial rebellious streak, he had sensed an ambition that stared far beyond.
Berze Deias was someone who would do anything for his victory and survival. He didn't hesitate to act in ways that weren't even demonlike.
That was why he borrowed money from Jayson and involved himself in Draxon's death.
There was no evidence—it was his speculation. Yet he was certain.
'That was why I believed he'd be helpful…'
As expected, those of the same kind could not walk together.
'If the culprit is Lord Berze, then his objective must be obvious.'
To incite the dwarves into a crusade. To pit them against an Empire obsessed with capturing him, stirring conflict between them—a scheme of using one foe to strike another.
'No, rather than that…'
A strategy to divert attention by focusing it on Vivian. The Empire would not simply ignore the fact that superior dwarven war materiel was flowing into foreign nations.
But—
'You're wrong, Lord Berze.'
At least this time, the Empire's attention would not turn. That was fortunate. If things had gone as Berze intended, who knew how the board would have flipped again.
'I'll need to be even more careful with this incident.'
He could not tolerate any more variables.
"I believe you. At the very least, it seems this wasn't Lady Vivian's doing."
『I told you it wasn't!』
『So now you're going to do something for me, right?』
"What do you mean?"
『Since it's proven I wasn't the one, shouldn't you take measures for me?!』
"Hm."
A desperate cry. Given the circumstances, desperation was natural. But that was Vivian's problem.
Jayson calmly removed his monocle and brushed off the dust clinging to the lens.
"Unfortunately, I don't believe I can be of help."
『···What?』
"As you suspect, I do have certain ties with humans, but at the end of the day, they are humans."
Dwarves were another matter entirely.
『But still, among the surrounding kingdoms—』
"Whether you did it or not, unfortunately all existing evidence points directly to you. Reversing that is close to impossible."
"And even if it were possible, considering the suspicion and negativity I'll receive from this incident, I have no desire to go to such lengths."
To Jayson, Demon Kings fell into three categories:
Useful, not useful, or neither—but at least not harmful.
Vivian might be useful someday, but at present she was not.
She was certainly not worth receiving the dwarves' wrath in her stead.
『What kind of dog-bone nonsense is that?!』
『I didn't do it! You believed that too!』
"What importance does my belief have? In Arein, it's the beings of Arein whose belief matters."
Which meant—
"As a mighty Demon King, as the vanguard of the Demon Realm marching toward dimensional conquest, I pray you defeat the rabble swayed by agitation and fabrication, and engrave the glory of the Demon Realm upon them."
In other words: stop bothering me and go die.
***
"So these are···"
Dwarven-made mana cannons.
Aman let out a gasp as he beheld the splendid might of fifty mana cannons.
Each unit was practically worth an astronomical sum; he couldn't even begin to imagine how much all of them would sell for.
"You said there are a hundred more?"
"Yes. Dwarves made them, but the functionality is the same as the human-made kind. If fired repeatedly, they'll overheat badly and become difficult to use, and some may even explode. But they're still superior to most things out there—at least among human-made ones."
"That alone is more than enough. With this, we can convince every executive opposing our current plan."
It was unfortunate that they couldn't openly sell them as dwarven-made, but that didn't diminish the inherent value of the mana cannons.
The problem lay elsewhere.
No one would fail to find it suspicious if mana cannons suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Fortunately, the Golden Moon Merchant Guild did possess several workshops of its own, producing military supplies.
And the quality of the cannons wasn't so low that they obviously looked non-dwarven.
"In our current situation, having dwarven-grade mana cannons appear is actually a blessing. Otherwise, we would immediately be suspected of ties with the Demon King of Lust…"
"Lust? What do you mean?"
"You didn't hear? Recently the dwarven princess and forty-nine royal artisans were kidnapped. The Kingdom of Verft named the Demon King of Lust as the culprit."
"···Lust?"
Berze tilted his head. He had assumed the dwarves' fury would naturally turn toward him.
"Why?"
"Well, because the kidnapped princess is Princess Louise Verft, the Second Princess. As you know, she is the Demon King of Lust's—"
"She cut ties with her."
But even then, that alone was too flimsy a basis.
"Yes, that is true, but the biggest reason is the artisans."
"How does that prove Lust?"
"Demon Kings generally don't borrow human or demihuman strength, correct? And never before has any Demon King targeted dwarven artisans specifically."
"That's true."
"So at first the dwarves assumed humans were responsible, but traces of demonic energy were found at the kidnapping site, so the suspicion shifted."
"And what does that have to do with Lust?"
"You may not know this, but the Demon King of Lust is currently engaging in piracy in the archipelago."
"···Piracy?"
It was the first he'd heard of it. A Demon King doing something like that? What was the world coming to?
"Yes, she has been sighted acting together with certain pirates."
"Even though they're humans, they act with a Demon King?"
"Pirates don't care about such things. Demon or human—if it benefits them, they cooperate."
"···And then?"
"For pirates, ships are crucial—almost like lifelines. Naturally. But right after ships, the most important asset is mana cannons."
"Mana cannons?"
"Do you know how naval battles are fought these days? In the old days they boarded and fought hand to hand, but now…"
"You install mana cannons and bombard from long range, correct?"
"Yes. Which makes mana cannons extremely valuable to navies and pirates. That's why those scoundrels have already attempted to kidnap dwarves more than once."
"So among the Demon Kings, the only one who'd kidnap artisans is the one colluding with pirates—Lust? And her bad blood with Louise Verft only adds certainty?"
Of course.
"I personally don't think so, however."
"As expected, you're quite capable."
"No, anyone who knows you, my lord, would think the same."
"Hm, whatever the case."
Berze's expression turned intrigued.
From the viewpoint of the person involved, it was complete nonsense, but to those who knew nothing, it would seem like a rather plausible deduction.
'Not bad.'
Vivian would be taking the full brunt of the consequences of what he had done. It wasn't intentional, but he felt no need to go out of his way to clarify anything.
He might not care whether the dwarves burned with rage even if he moved the tower, but having someone else take the blame for his mistakes was always the preferable outcome.
Guilt for Vivian? As if such a thing existed. Demon Kings were individualistic by nature.
"Have you acquired all the materials I mentioned?"
"Only some of them so far···."
Although Aman trailed off, what he had gathered in such a short time was by no means insignificant.
"I can't tell you to go slowly, but there's no need to rush too much either. We can begin the construction with what we have."
"Most things only require time, and none are particularly impossible to obtain, but···"
"But what?"
"A few rare materials may take some time to acquire."
Golems were fundamentally the pinnacle of magitech. Even if he had broken free of the issue of the core, the foundation wasn't any different.
A golem's body required materials far more sensitive to mana than ordinary weapons or armor, and all of these materials were rare and expensive.
"How long?"
"We've dispatched personnel from the merchant guild across the entire continent. Fortunately, Jetoson's skills are exceptional, so we expect the timeframe to be shorter than anticipated."
"Jetoson?"
"The merchant from Acan you sent us, my lord."
"Ah, right."
That bastard who had dared to scam both a Demon King and a dwarven princess?
"Yes, he claimed he had been successful in Acan, and he truly is quite competent."
"Successful in Acan?"
"Yes, he said so himself. That he was a major figure who dominated the magical market."
"···And you believed that?"
"It sounded dubious, but since he was someone you sent, I assumed there was a reason. Whether it was true or not, the fact remains he performed his tasks flawlessly. Especially when dealing with people and negotiations."
Of course he did. He was a smooth-talking con artist.
"And?"
"I don't know exactly what you intend to make, my lord, but the materials you requested closely matched those used for golems."
Naturally. The tower only replaced the core; the overall structure was still that of a golem—an enormous golem unlike anything ever created before.
"So we determined it would be fastest to procure them from Acan."
"That's true."
If not the Kingdom of Verft, then Acan was the best source of superior magitech materials.
"Hold on. Who exactly did you send to Acan?"
"Jetoson."
"···Insane."
He was fairly certain that guy had been half-ostracized from Acan society.
"Hmm."
A sense of crisis crept over him—he couldn't just leave things as they were.
***
"Damn it. My stupid mouth, damn it."
Why had he told a lie that would be exposed so quickly?
'No, think about it. The merchant guild is weird too. If someone brags, shouldn't the first step be checking whether it's true or not before assigning important work?'
Why was the handling so sloppy if the job was so important?
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing at all."
He wasn't alone. Alongside him were ten merchants assigned by the guild, workers pulling the wagons, and guards—fifty people in total.
Jetoson was the one in charge.
'I have to procure them somehow···.'
He couldn't afford to destroy the trust he had built up until now. If it became known that everything he'd said was empty bluffing, it would truly be over.
On the other hand, if he overcame all these hardships and succeeded, he could rise even higher. Earn even more money!
'There's a way.'
He simply had to turn his bluff into truth.
All he had to do was acquire everything the guild wanted.
'Even if my reputation in the Acan market is rock bottom···'
He was no longer the owner of a decrepit shop on the outskirts of the trading district; he was a merchant of the Golden Moon Guild, rapidly rising within the Kingdom of Iasin.
And the leader of this entire expedition.
Jetoson unfolded the list. Dozens of items—each expensive and rare.
Even in the magic market saturated with magical goods, these were not easy to find.
To acquire them smoothly, he would ultimately need to negotiate with the Mage Tower to obtain materials from its stores, or negotiate with the merchant guilds that supplied the Tower.
'To trade with the Mage Tower, money isn't the important part.'
The Tower was overflowing with money. The merchant guilds that supplied the Tower were no different.
What the Tower wanted was materials.
Rare, precious materials worth researching.
'Does the Golden Moon Guild have anything they might want?'
No.
But giving up just because they currently had nothing—that wouldn't be the mark of an excellent merchant.
'A true merchant should be able to sell a magical lamp even at the northernmost tip of a sunless polar night.'
What mattered was the will to sell—and the silver tongue to go with it.
'Isn't there something suitable?'
Something that could be packaged and sold to enchant hungry mages.
'Ideally some byproduct of demons or demonic beasts… a Demon King's would be even better.'
No easy answers came to mind.
He decided he would first tour the royal capital's auction houses and gather rare materials there.
'Please, let there be just one.'
One blind fool who did not know the true value of what they were selling.
And then—
『My lord, I believe you should return quickly.』
"Why?"
『We received a message from Demon King Vivian.』
"Vivian? Do we even have enough of a connection for her to contact us?"
『Well… I'm not sure how to describe it.』
"Say it."
『···She's begging for her life.』
『She's crying in front of the communicator right now, begging us to bring you immediately.』
"······?"
Somewhere on the continent, a voluntary patsy was walking straight into the trap.
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