"Name?"
"Mitchell Bruno."
"Age?"
"Twenty-one."
"Your swordsmanship is quite good for your age."
When Damon nodded, Mitchell’s face twisted. He was suffering from an extreme sense of loss after having been defeated by the Dullahan. Frankly, he was in no mood to take his opponent’s praise at face value.
'Damn it.'
The words Don’t mock me rose all the way to his throat, but he forced himself to calm down. In any case, the one he was facing was a being who could be called a villain to the bone.
Damon was currently absorbed in interrogating the prisoners. He had called only Yuliana, Mitchell, and Kasim, who could be considered their leaders, and was questioning them about their identities, objectives, and the like. Because of Winslut, who kept watch without so much as dozing, the prisoners did not dare think of escaping. Of course, they were probably even more frightened by the clusters of Magic Missiles said to have been installed in the passage. The interrogation continued without pause.
"Status?"
"Until recently, I served as the captain of the garrison in the Kingdom of Carsel. This time, I was assigned the duty of assisting the princess and appointed as captain of her escort."
Thinking that someone of that level of skill was certainly worthy of being chosen as an escort captain, Damon nodded. Though it was a little strange that there was not a single subordinate knight with him. Glancing at the mercenary captain sitting there with his face swollen and a sullen expression, Damon imagined the circumstances in his own way.
'Were they perhaps attacked on the way by a group targeting the princess? So they lost all their knights and, as a last resort, hired mercenaries?'
But everything was full of questions.
'If so, why did they crawl in here to capture me? Did they come in relying only on one escort captain? Trusting a fellow who doesn’t even have Grand Magic Armor?'
Growing suspicious of their true intentions, Damon asked this time about their purpose in going to the Crosen Empire. But surprisingly, the fellow who called himself escort captain did not even know the reason they were going to Crosen.
"I do not know. Only Her Highness the Princess knows for what purpose we are going."
"That’s truly astounding. Then naturally, you don’t know either, do you?"
Kasim, who had been singled out, merely shook his head. The job he had accepted was only to escort the princess safely to the Crosen Empire... In the end, Damon turned his head toward the very person who held the key to the mystery.
"Then I suppose you have no choice but to spit it out. Just what reason are you going to the Crosen Empire for?"
As expected, Yuliana did not intend to answer meekly.
"Hmph! Do you think I would answer that? You may be able to kill me, but you won’t make me open my mouth."
After saying that, Yuliana turned her head away so coldly that it seemed a chill wind blew. Watching her, Damon could not help but feel troubled.
'Damn it. If only her face didn’t resemble Daphne’s... Then I wouldn’t hesitate to hang her upside down. From experience, women spill everything, true or false, if you hang them up for just one day.'
But he did not want to do that. Whenever Damon saw Yuliana’s face, memories of Daphne came to mind, and he could not bear it. Even now, Damon was avoiding looking Yuliana in the face. Just looking at her seized him with a strange feeling. Of course, it was a sweet feeling, one that could never be called unpleasant.
But as Mitchell and Kasim watched, they felt their blood drying up more and more with every passing moment. It was only natural, since Yuliana was recklessly grating on their opponent’s nerves when they ought to have been begging for their lives. In the end, Kasim could not endure it and stepped forward.
"I have some idea about that point."
Damon’s gaze poured onto Kasim. Kasim met Damon’s eyes without flinching and continued speaking.
"Do you happen to know what grand event is scheduled to take place in the Crosen Empire three months from now?"
Naturally, Damon had no choice but to shake his head. Lately, he had been so busy that he had not even had time to visit Zengart.
But the moment Kasim’s words fell, all color drained from Yuliana’s face. Yuliana shook her head desperately as if telling him not to say it, sending Kasim an imploring look. But Kasim was not shaken in the slightest. Though his purpose of protecting his employer remained unchanged, there was no reason he had to keep even the thoughts in his heart to himself. In any case, for him, the most urgent matter was appeasing the villain and saving the lives of the mercenaries under him.
Especially since Yuliana was nothing but a rude little girl with a filthy stubborn streak. Thinking he had no obligation to protect her secrets as well, Kasim glanced at Yuliana’s face, then continued.
"Exactly three months and ten days from now, there will be a grand banquet in the Crosen Empire. It is called the Crown Prince’s selection ceremony for his Crown Princess. The princesses of every kingdom in Arcadia will be invited to the Crosen Empire for a grand feast, and in the process, the Crown Prince will personally choose his Crown Princess. Of course, most kingdoms will merely send their princesses as a matter of courtesy. Anyone who knows anything already knows that the daughter of Duke Pershtein will be chosen as the Crown Princess. I cannot say for certain, but it seems the princess of Carsel is aiming for that. Of course, I may be wrong, but that is my guess for now."
It was a reason Damon had never imagined, so his mouth fell open.
"The position of Crown Princess?"
Seeing Yuliana biting her lower lip hard, it seemed Kasim’s deduction was almost certainly correct. Damon blinked for a moment, then looked at Yuliana’s face once more.
"I’ll admit your looks are decent enough, but aiming for the position of Crown Princess with that temper? Huh. I can’t understand it."
As expected, Yuliana flared up and sprang to her feet.
"What is wrong with my personality...?"
Yuliana’s fierce reaction told them that Kasim’s deduction was true. Even Mitchell’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had never dreamed they were going to the Crosen Empire for such a reason. Since it was an internal matter that could not be spread widely, the King of Carsel had kept it secret even from Mitchell. Finally understanding the situation, Damon burst into a hearty laugh, as though he found it extremely amusing.
"Kukuku. Interesting. You want to send a princess and form an in-law relationship with the Crosen imperial family? Quite an amusing king. But why did he send the princess this early? If he had a court mage teleport her to Crosen about a week beforehand, there would have been no need to suffer at all."
Glancing at Yuliana, who was fuming continuously with rage boiling to the top of her head, Kasim revealed the rest of what he thought.
"The Kingdom of Carsel likely has no such leeway at all. From what I have seen, in Carsel, never mind a court mage, there is not a single person who can use even basic magic. Think about it. What mage would there be in a country whose population is not even ten thousand? Since they have no knights to serve as escorts and must entrust the princess’s guard to a mercenary band, what more needs to be said?"
Glancing at Mitchell, Kasim continued speaking. Since he had come this far, he scraped mercilessly at Yuliana’s nerves as well.
"Still, the escort knight’s ability was better than expected. If judged by swordsmanship alone, he seems about on par with a royal guard knight of an ordinary kingdom. But since he has none of the character or refinement befitting that skill, it seems it will be difficult for him to leave Carsel for the rest of his life."
"Well, now."
It was truly something he had never expected, and Damon kept clicking his tongue in amazement. First of all, this was the first he had heard that there existed such a small kingdom, one that could hardly even be called a nation.
If it was to that extent, was it not even smaller than Antros, to which Sebain belonged? Damon honestly could not understand that the king of such a tiny kingdom had dared aim for the position of Crown Princess of the Crosen Empire and sent his daughter. Was that not something with less than half of one-tenth of a chance of success? Damon clicked his tongue repeatedly in disbelief.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The one who sends her, and the one who goes because she was sent..."
As if he intended to vent all the resentment he had built up over this opportunity, Kasim quickly added more. He looked at Yuliana, who was so enraged that she was nearly on the verge of a fit, as though he found it deeply satisfying.
"It is almost like the mentality of gamblers. Everyone rushes in, thinking they can change their fate if only they succeed, but almost all of them are bound to ruin their entire households..."
"Shut up. Stop it this instant."
Unable to endure any longer, Yuliana shrieked sharply. She glared at Kasim and threatened him with quite a bit of force.
"If you keep this up, I will consider it a breach of contract."
Kasim shouted back without yielding. He had already endured as much as he could.
"Hmph. Says who...? We fulfilled our mission according to the commission. Because of your absurd stubbornness, we came all the way in here and were all captured, so are you satisfied now? Yet how dare you blame someone else? Or did you people tell me first your purpose for going to the Crosen Empire? There was nothing stated in the contract about keeping secrets, so why should I keep my mouth shut?"
"Y-you really..."
Yuliana’s lips trembled, unable to endure any more. Unable to keep watching the group bicker, Damon roared.
"Shut up. You lot, in front of whom do you think you’re..."
At Damon’s shout, both sides closed their mouths as if by prior agreement. Fighting in front of the villain would only hurt them. Looking at the group split into two factions and glaring at one another, Damon sank into thought.
'Would following these people really be the right thing to do?'
Damon had already decided to leave this place. The sealing sphere was already embedded in his body, and the Death Knights were inside Incresia, so there was no problem with leaving. Rather, there was even the advantage of being able to avoid the dragons’ pursuit.
Traveling all over Arcadia, seeing the customs and scenery of various places, while strengthening the Death Knights and completing his secret weapon whenever he had time—this was the most reasonable conclusion Damon had reached.
To do that, joining a party would make traveling much easier. Traveling alone involved many bothersome matters. He would have to take care of all eating and sleeping on his own, and always pay attention to the itinerary. For that reason, Damon had long had the idea of finding a suitable party and joining it. Of course, after hiding the fact that he was a black mage.
But with the unexpected intrusion of this group, his plan had changed completely.
Originally, the proper thing would have been to join another party that did not know he was a black mage.
However, after seeing these people, Damon changed his mind. First, their destination was the same as his, the Crosen Empire, and if he demanded to accompany them as the condition for releasing them, it seemed it would go through easily. Of course, the fact that Yuliana’s appearance resembled Daphne’s had the greatest influence on Damon’s decision. Every time he saw Yuliana’s face, which was the spitting image of Daphne’s, Damon could feel his heart grow warm. Whether her temper was foul or not, if he could see Daphne’s face, Damon had nothing more to wish for.
Of course, his true feelings were firmly captured only by Daphne. Damon’s scheme was to soothe his longing by looking at Yuliana’s face, which resembled Daphne’s exactly, like making do with a chicken in place of a pheasant. He soon revealed his intentions to the group.
"Good. Since you answered obediently, I will release all of you if, in exchange, you accept just one condition."
At the unexpected words, the group looked delighted. Judging from the situation, they had expected they would not die, but would only be released after suffering considerable hardship. Yet he was letting them go so easily... The most cautious of them, Kasim, asked about the price of their release in an extremely careful manner.
"May I know what the condition is?"
Considering that their opponent was a villain, there was a high chance the condition would be quite burdensome for them.