"Excuse me for a moment."
I excused myself from the Saint and turned to leave. The instant I lifted my foot, it might have been nothing more than an illusion, but the silver-haired noble maiden also turned her body in my direction. After taking a single step, I immediately realized it was no illusion. She was heading right toward me.
All eyes converged on me. Normally, that would have weighed my steps down, but for some reason, my heart felt light. It was like a skilled actor, aware of the audience's gaze while simultaneously confident in his role and fully immersed in it, ascending onto the stage with perfectly measured steps.
That's right. In this moment, I felt an unparalleled conviction welling up inside me.
It was no exaggeration. Had my footsteps ever before possessed such a clear direction? The countless footsteps that fill the streets — they carry a direction that seems certain at first glance but is in truth utterly hazy, nothing more than confusion — such ambiguity was entirely absent from me. Come now, ask yourself.
Where else could I possibly be heading, if not right there?
It was a strange feeling. I had always considered being dropped into this world a curse. But right now, I was confident enough to believe that even if I had been cast into this world solely for the sake of taking these very steps — for that alone — it would have been worth it.
Just as Alexander the Great had raised the tip of his sword to point at the walls of India, just as Julius Caesar had pointed his finger across the Rubicon, my steps were directed toward her.
They had been an inevitability. I too could feel some inexorable force drawing me forward.
I was no longer an outsider. She was granting me the right of residency — that I was a person of this world. And when I looked into her bright blue eyes, I realized without reservation that she was thinking the very same thing.
We stood facing each other. I was probably wearing the finest smile I had ever managed.
"My name is Dantalion."
"I am Elisabeth."
We introduced ourselves no further. Between us, an unspoken agreement had already been sealed. Demon Lord, Court Count, Consul, the last of the imperial bloodline — none of the words that adorned us were appropriate for this occasion. It was a pact to that effect.
You are Elisabeth, and I am Dantalion. I guarantee that you are Elisabeth, and you guarantee that I am Dantalion. Yet we were far too cunning to trust a certificate of guarantee based on a single moment of conviction. Like blind men carefully groping over each other's faces, we took turns asking questions one by one.
"We met through letters not long ago. I wonder whether my earnest feelings of admiration reached you properly."
"If you do not desire something, you cannot obtain it. And the more you obtain, the less you desire it."
Elisabeth was smiling.
"That is what beauties and the world have in common, Dantalion."
"Indeed, those are wise words."
I smiled. As expected, Elisabeth had seen through the meaning behind the letter addressed to "all under heaven." In all the world, turned upside down from one end to the other, there was surely no one besides Elisabeth who could truly understand that meaning.
"And yet, you and I both stand atop all under heaven."
Now it was Elisabeth's turn.
"What is it that compels you to keep standing on this land?"
"Haha."
It was rather amusing.
When the Saint of Longuewy had vaguely grasped the truth of my existence, the question she had thrown at me was "Why are you not bothered?" But look at Elisabeth. Her question was "What compels you to continue living?" The substance was the same, yet the nuance was entirely different.
"Well, this is not exactly the most suitable place for a deep conversation..."
"Hmm."
Elisabeth glanced around.
People were stealing looks in our direction, straining to eavesdrop on our conversation. Elisabeth and I were infamous for our bitter enmity on the Bruno Plains. Just a few weeks ago, we had been locked in a fierce diplomatic battle. Two such figures exchanging words — anyone would want to listen in.
"What do you say? Shall we take a stroll through the garden and get some fresh air?"
Elisabeth nodded. We stepped out into the garden adjoining the ballroom.
The social circles would likely be buzzing about this for a while. The gardens near a banquet hall were often put to more scandalous use — partners coupling outdoors, that sort of thing. Of course, couples bold enough for that were rare; most simply strolled through the beautiful garden and shared a light kiss.
Elisabeth and me, tangled up in a scandal. Setting aside whatever political use could be made of it, the thought was genuinely entertaining. Could there be a more mismatched pair in all the world?
"Now I want to hear your answer to the question."
"Very well."
I stopped walking and turned to face Elisabeth. I had already activated the anti-magic woven into my necklace. There would be no eavesdropping of any kind.
"For a clearer world, Elisabeth."
"A clear world?"
I nodded.
"I should never make excuses for the path I've walked. That is the bare minimum of respect I owe to the hundred thousand lives that perished across the continent."
"...A specter wandering in search of a place to die."
Elisabeth sighed.
"I cannot think of it that way. It is true that both you and I are murderers. But precisely because we are murderers, should we not strive to realize our ideals at least as much as the value of every life we have taken?"
I smiled faintly.
"Perhaps you and I simply started from different places."
"Different places?"
"When you killed your younger brother, you held a clear cause in your heart. For the Habsburgs, for the people..."
In other words, the cause preceded the killing.
"The more political enemies you killed, the less you could afford to abandon your cause. All the lives you'd taken up to that point would become meaningless. That is precisely why you could never give up..."
"..."
"But I am not like that. There was no grand mandate from heaven. I simply killed, and killed again, for my own life and my own peace of mind. If I were to champion a cause now, it would be nothing but hypocrisy."
That was why a clear world mattered.
Suppose a murderer suddenly began preaching world peace. Suppose they even actually achieved world peace. What would the families and friends of those who were murdered think?
The story would become: "The murderer was actually a good person, after all." Even revenge against such a murderer would leave a bitter aftertaste. The murderer would now have an excuse...
"People kill people en masse. They hold swords, but they swing them for no reason. I want those swords to be given an unshakable direction."
"...You will never stop committing evil."
"Of course not."
I smiled.
"It's the same as you never being able to give up on your ideals, Elizabeth. It isn't a matter of will. It's a matter of the roles we've been given."
I don't do something because I'm able to.
I'm able to because I have to.
Elizabeth gazed up at the night sky.
"What a cosmic joke. Which comes first and which comes after. It's simply a matter of order, yet that decides everything…"
She lowered her head and stared straight at me.
"I'm certain now. There is absolutely no room for compromise between you and me."
"Exactly right."
"I will kill you. Along with the hundred thousand lives you carry on your back and your own life—I'll make sure you carry them on my behalf instead."
There wasn't a shred of hesitation in Elizabeth's blue eyes.
Excellent.
They were honest, transparent eyes. If I were to die at her hands, I was certain I would harbor no regrets. I turned up the corners of my mouth in silent elation. Elizabeth raised a finger and pointed at my chest.
"First and foremost, I will make this representative assembly happen. What you fear is republicans—both human and demonkind—rallying together. The republican faction within the Demon Lord's army must already be moving independently."
"Brilliant deduction."
I nearly clapped my hands.
"When we consolidate, the Demon Lord's army fractures in the opposite direction. For you, Dantalion, who believe yourself weak, that division would be the worst possible scenario."
"That is also correct."
This time I actually did clap.
"Words like 'brilliant' simply aren't enough to express it."
"The Black Death may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, but now that the plague has subsided, it has become the perfect opportunity for us. The number of peasants has plummeted. Which means the amount of land each individual peasant controls has increased."
Indeed. The land that ten people used to cultivate now had to be worked by just six.
"Peasants are commanding wages we've never seen before. Mercenaries' wages are climbing too, and so are the wages of skilled workers. It means the peasantry has begun to grow powerful enough to threaten the existing power structure."
In other words, an era ripe for republicanism to flourish.
"The Empire and the Kingdom will side with the nobility over the peasants. A massive clash is inevitable. The free cities were nothing more than an overture to that conflict. Dantalion, republicanism is the tide of history."
"And if the peasants succeed in their revolt?"
I smiled.
"I intend to delay that explosion for as long as possible. Let me see — at least until you die. That would take around fifty years."
"I plan to trigger it within two years."
Fifty years versus two.
We could only laugh at the absurdly vast gap between those timelines. It wasn't laughter born of amusement. Only raw hostility existed in that space.
"But, Elizabeth. It's already too late."
"…?"
Elizabeth furrowed her brow.
Just then.
—BOOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion rang out from the direction of the ballroom. It was so massive that the shrubbery in the garden rustled in unison.
Elizabeth reflexively looked toward the ballroom, then immediately turned her head back this way. Her expression had twisted.
"Dantalion!"
"This assassination was carried out by radicals who believe that humanity and the demon race must never unify."
I spoke calmly, brushing off her fearsome gaze.
"This incident will no longer be remembered as the Republican Representative Assembly. It will be recorded as a tragedy brought about by selfish racial sentiment that shattered the peace of the continent. And in reaction, people will emphasize the peace between the demon race and humanity even more……."
"Did I not call you to the garden to exchange genuine feelings with you!"
Elizabeth shouted.
"I was certain that I had connected with you, even if only for a moment……!"
"Of course, I came here because I wanted to share something genuine with you."
A smile curled at the corner of my lips.
"But, Elizabeth—is there a law in this world that says you must not use sincerity? Whether it is my sincerity or yours."
"……!"
Elizabeth's gaze grew even more intense.
For some reason, I found myself growing even more amused.
"Did I not say I was a wraith wandering in search of a place to die? That is half right and half wrong. Because, Elizabeth, I am no wraith. I am a Demon Lord standing before you in this very place."
Moans and screams drifted in from the direction of the ballroom. How many had died? The best scenario would be no deaths at all, but five or six would be manageable. Should I trust in Paimon's abilities……?
"Remember this—I have no particular intention of dying for you."