I immediately got dressed.
A Cat Tribe prostitute I'd summoned the night before was sprawled across the bed. She let out a scream upon realizing who Barbatos was. After roughly covering her naked body with the blanket—though you could say the parts left uncovered far outnumbered the parts covered—she hastily dropped to her knees on the floor.
But neither Barbatos nor I had the time to spare for such things. I grabbed a random coin purse, tossed it to the prostitute, and hurried out the door. In truth, I hadn't even dressed properly—I was a complete mess.
"What about the declaration of war? Was there a declaration of war?"
"There was. If you count giving a five-minute warning before attacking as some kind of courtesy, then sure, call that a declaration of war."
I asked this.
Agares, the second-ranked Demon Lord, had launched a surprise invasion. And now, of all times—when the majority of the Plains Faction had gathered in the Demon Realm! The words "trick" and "trap" surfaced in my mind naturally.
"That explains why Gamigin was so easy about the whole thing. She was after this from the start!"
"We scrambled Beleth and Zepar on short notice, but we know absolutely nothing about the situation on the ground."
Barbatos said. She was deliberately keeping her anger in check.
Now that I thought about it, it was strange. Why had Gamigin attended the negotiations as the sole representative? I'd simply assumed it was because her negotiation skills were superior. That was a misjudgment—Agares and Gamigin had been cooperating all along, working together to present a clever united front.
"Listen carefully, Dantalion. I'm heading straight for the Habsburg Empire. If that bitch Agares is making her move personally, no one but me will be able to hold the line."
"So full authority falls to me..."
"I already spoke to Uncle Bael and had things arranged."
Barbatos said.
"Good luck. Don't let someone like Gamigin get the better of you."
"Right. Barbatos—you stay safe out there too."
I bowed my head. We shared a brief kiss.
Barbatos cast a spell and vanished on the spot. I headed for the Niflheim palace.
The palace already had roughly ten Demon Lords gathered. Word had apparently traveled fast, and they had rushed over to witness the spectacular show that was about to unfold from the closest vantage point.
Not a single member of the Plains Faction was among them. It seemed that, aside from me, everyone had promptly retreated back to the Habsburg Empire.
"Oh my, Dantalion. You're a little late~?"
Gamigin sat at the negotiating table and glanced over at me in a leisurely manner. Her expression was no different from yesterday, as if she had no idea what had happened. A surge of anger boiled up inside me. The sheer audacity…
The colder my head got the angrier I became — that was one of my strengths. I bowed my head first toward Bael, who sat in the seat of honor. Bael was the one who had arranged this negotiation. Since Agares and Gamigin had unilaterally broken the accord, Bael would now have to side with the Plains Faction.
"I heard some truly wonderful news last night, which is why I couldn't sleep a wink. Lady Gamigin, I'm quite curious — what on earth is going on here?"
I sat down at the negotiating table and spoke.
"Negotiations are officially underway, yet you've invaded the territory of the mediator? I may only be ranked seventy-first, so perhaps I'm unfamiliar with the customs, but is this the etiquette of the supreme Demon Lords?"
"Well now. You're absolutely furious. But there's one point you've got wrong."
Fine, Gamigin. Let's hear what kind of excuse you've cooked up. This entire situation could only fall squarely on Gamigin's shoulders. Even if it hadn't been Gamigin but anyone else who had shown up, there was no way they could talk their way out of this.
"A point I've got wrong? Please, by all means, enlighten this lowest-ranked Demon Lord as to where I've erred, Supreme Demon Lord."
Gamigin smiled.
"That's right. Not 'Supreme Demon Lords' plural. You should use the singular, not the plural."
"…?"
"You're slow on the uptake. Agares didn't just attack the Plains Faction."
What followed left me dumbstruck.
"The territory I control was also attacked, Dantalion."
I'd been had. There was no other way to put it.
Agares had never truly intended to put Gamigin forward as their representative. Pretending to delegate full authority, they had actually been hunting two rabbits — Barbatos and Gamigin — from behind the scenes. With their masters gone, those territories would fall easily before the army of the second-ranked Demon Lord.
"Honestly, I'd say I'm pretty ticked off too~. Getting slapped in the back of the head this spectacularly — should I call it oddly refreshing?"
"So you're saying Lord Gamigin is also a victim of this situation?"
Gamigin nodded.
"Well... if you really want to put it that way, then sure."
"......"
So then Agares had acted unilaterally, planning everything on their own?
I furrowed my brow and sank into thought. It was strange. Could the second-ranked Demon Lord really get away with acting so recklessly? If it had been Bael — a Great Demon Lord of the first rank — preparing the negotiations, that would be one thing.
On top of that, Agares had betrayed not only the Plains Faction but also Gamigin, who had been chosen as the negotiator. In other words, they had turned every party into an enemy. No matter how powerful Agares might be, they couldn't hold back a typhoon with ten fingers...... Where on earth had they gotten this kind of confidence?
"I can't make sense of it. If Lord Gamigin were to join us, Lord Agares wouldn't stand a chance......"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
That was when Gamigin tilted their head.
"I'm going to keep negotiating with you, Dantalion."
What were they saying?
Their territory had been invaded. They had been betrayed by an ally. Anyone could see it was time for both sides to cooperate. Yet here they were, talking about negotiations again? I felt an indescribable chill crawl down my spine and spoke cautiously.
"Lord Gamigin. Forgive me, but I don't think now is the time to be discussing negotiations. You should return to the Habsburg Empire at once and deal with this betrayal as it deserves."
"That's exactly what I'm saying — I don't get what you mean."
In that instant, a pair of scarlet pupils seemed to gleam from behind Gamigin's narrowed eyes.
"Why do you think Agares betrayed me?"
"...Excuse me?"
"No, Dantalion — Agares did attack my territory, that's true. It was an infuriating move, no question. But think about it. An enemy faction simply attacked another enemy faction. There's no need to dramaticize it as some great betrayal, is there?"
I struggled to understand what the other party was saying.
"I'm sorry. However, Lord Gamigin served as special envoy on behalf of Lord Agares..."
"Oh. I thought that was the case too, but when I thought about it, it turns out it wasn't."
Gamigin grinned foolishly and lightly flicked his own forehead with his finger.
"If I dig through my memory, Agares never actually told me he was entrusting me with diplomatic authority!"
"..."
Oh, so that's how it is. I finally realized.
—So that was his angle.
"I was about to head to Niflheim, and Agares suddenly tells me to go alone, right? So I just assumed, 'Ah, he's entrusting the full negotiating authority to me,' and ran with it. That's the logical conclusion, isn't it? Aha-ha!"
Gamigin rattled on by himself. My heart grew colder by the second.
"I made a mistake. I should have gotten 'official' confirmation from Agares. Instead, I went ahead and assumed things on my own, and now I don't even have a single document to show for it. Yep, I acted like a fool. How embarrassing. It's entirely my fault. I'll take responsibility and make amends."
"...At least a single word."
My lips trembled as I barely managed to speak.
"You're saying you didn't hear even a single word acknowledging me as negotiator?"
"Not a single word."
Gamigin smiled.
"I didn't hear a thing."
"Stop joking around!"
I slammed my fist on the desk and stood up.
This was the filthiest trick imaginable. Agares and Gamigin had been colluding behind the scenes. Agares never said a word about recognizing you as a negotiator. And yet Gamigin simply assumed it on his own and appointed himself as negotiator.
This was a mistake on my part. But the one who started the war was Agares and Agares alone, so the responsibility for the war fell squarely on Agares. And to make matters worse, Agares had gone so far as to encroach upon Gamigin's territory.
When it came to the war, Gamigin would remain nothing more than a victim!
What about Agares? He had started the war, and that was certainly worthy of condemnation. But Agares had never attended the negotiations. Gamigin and the rest of us had simply "assumed" on our own that Agares was participating.
Therefore, while Agares bore responsibility for the war, he bore zero responsibility for ruining the negotiations. And, damn it! In the Habsburg Empire, territorial disputes were an everyday affair. Barbatos had initiated local skirmishes more than once, and Agares had attacked first just as often.
You couldn't condemn Agares simply for waging war.
In other words... the entire negotiation had been a grand deception from the start!
"Even a child would see it! A scheme to pass the blame back and forth until it vanishes entirely!"
"Hmm."
"You have insulted the authority of Lord Bael and trampled the will of the Plains Faction. We will absolutely not stand by and let this matter go!"
Gamigin had exploited our carelessness to launch a sneak attack, but she too had been attacked from the start, so she was innocent. The only responsibility Gamigin would face was that she had made a foolish mistake.
Agares had ruined the negotiations and started a battle, but he had never agreed to the negotiations in the first place, so he was innocent. The only responsibility Agares would face was that he had created one more routine skirmish.
Two supreme Demon Lords had conspired together to screw over the Plains Faction in a way that caused no harm to either of them! Those bastards!
"Well, Dantalion. It's perfectly understandable that you'd be foaming at the mouth~."
Gamigin said, with a composed air.
"Getting that angry at me isn't going to do the Plains Faction any favors, you know."
"In this situation, Gamigin, if I'm not angry at you, then who should I be angry at?!"
"I already told you. I intend to keep negotiating."
Gamigin interlocked her fingers.
"Now then. Dantalion. Right now, Agares has conquered the entire Habsburg Empire except for your four territories. This comes from 'my own sources,' so you can trust it. I'll also add that the imperial capital of Windfona has fallen."
She must have applied a thousand layers of sheer brazenness to that face of hers. "My own sources" meant she was receiving information directly from Agares. And, with only four territories remaining, the fall of the entire north-central Habsburg region was anything but good news...
"Yeah, this is the Plains Faction's crisis of a lifetime. So then, Dantalion, the Demon Lord sitting right in front of your eyes — couldn't she perhaps be the one to help you escape that crisis?"
"...Gamigin. You."
"I'm more than willing to help the Plains Faction. Getting screwed over by Agares has only stoked my desire for revenge. So therefore... "
Gamigin gave a sly grin.
"Well now, if you hand over roughly half your territory in north-central Habsburg, I might just consider sending reinforcements."
I gritted my teeth. This was Gamigin's true intention all along.
Shake hands with Agares, use threats to force the Plains Faction into accepting an unjust territorial partition. What would happen then? In the end, even Gamigin's blunder would be swept under the rug without consequence.
Gamigin cast a lingering, eye-smiling gaze straight at me.
"So, shall we begin negotiations right here and now, Dantalion?"