Hair like melted real gold tied in a ponytail, wearing form-fitting clothes that hugged her body without fluttering. Wearing leather gloves and boots, 'Erik' glared at me with eyes sharp enough to dissect me.
"Sickening. Do you have no common sense at all?"
'...Huh? The Lord of the Golden Assembly?'
Since even Peru thinks so, the homunculi must be the same. They would think she's no different from the real thing. Especially if they are mindless homunculi.
I smiled as if I had been waiting for this and said.
"Where is there common sense in war? What's important is what we must do from now on."
"...Hmph. All talk. Everyone, make way."
When 'Erik' roughly waved her hand, the soldiers in front moved in perfect unison and cleared a path. A path wide enough for two people opened up between the densely lined soldiers. 'Erik' began to walk down that path with majestic strides. I soon followed behind.
Meanwhile, Peru was horrified by this absurd situation.
'...Impossible. Bringing an intruder in so easily? That Lord of the Golden Assembly?'
It's not impossible. Who could know the true nature of the Golden Palace? Even I, a telepath, don't know. It's possible the Lord of the Golden Assembly brought me because of her own thoughts.
But no matter how you look at it, it's irrational. Preparing for war by making a ton of weapons, sending armed homunculi to fight, while simultaneously bringing a potential enemy into the heart of their base.
'...Could it be?'
It seems he realized it late, but it was already too late. We, who had passed the lined-up soldiers and reached the inside of the base, were already....
"...Your Majesty?"
Because we were standing in front of the Golden Mirror.
The Golden Mirror was in the middle of entering a large tent. Holding a large piece of paper in his arms, it seemed he was moving something like a map or a blueprint.
The Golden Mirror alternated looking between the tent and us with a bewildered face.
"Weren't you in the tent just a moment ago? No, more importantly. Who is that person?"
Meanwhile, the golden bell hanging at his waist rang with an urgent sound, as if representing his feelings. 'Erik's' gaze turned toward it for a moment.
'The Golden Bell my father spoke of. That person is the Golden Mirror? The one who admires Erik, the King of the Gold Nation?'
I read 'Erik's' thoughts and gave a small nod of affirmation. 'Erik' quickly observed the Golden Mirror and his surroundings, continuing her thoughts.
'Hmm~. Isn't he too fresh-looking for the Golden Mirror? It doesn't seem like his true appearance. Even for "me", it somehow feels a bit creepy~.'
You transform into all sorts of things too. Isn't that hating your own kind?
The 'Erik' who brought me was, of course, Hilde. I asked Hilde to transform into Erik's appearance while explaining her visual features to her. Although she had never faced the Golden Mirror directly, Hilde succeeded in transforming into Erik's appearance just from my explanation.
Hilde herself grumbled while transforming that she couldn't interpret the character, but whatever. I just need to blur the Golden Mirror's vigilance.
Hilde came up with lines to match the current situation and the Golden Mirror's words.
"Demo. Greet him. He is someone you must know."
"Me, Your Majesty?"
"Yes. That..."
Hilde, trying to immerse herself in 'Erik', pointed at me and chose her words carefully.
'Father told me to act like a teacher facing their beloved disciple, but~. As expected, I can't properly imitate it without seeing them in person, right? There are limits to improvisation~.'
I told you, you don't need to be perfect. I just need to mess up his vigilance for a very short time. Until I pickpocket that Golden Bell.
Come on. Quickly. Say something! So I can naturally get a little closer to the Golden Mirror!
Eventually, Hilde, having settled on a concept, leaned her body against my shoulder. She rested her interlaced hands on my shoulder and buried my arm in her chest. Tilting her head toward me, she softened her expression.
Uh, wait a minute.
Hilde voiced that thought before I could even stop her.
"He is the one who will be my consort."
"...Whaaat?! What an absurdity!"
I told you to get rid of his vigilance, why are you increasing it? He's glaring at me like he wants to kill me! Most of all, if you say something so out of character, won't he suspect your identity!
Clank, clank. Behind him, soldiers wearing golden armor walked out. Appearing out of nowhere at this timing. It wasn't certain, but they seemed to be a manifestation of the Golden Mirror's anger. If it came down to it, they were probably planning to slice my belly open with those swords. Hilde. Are you trying to kill me?
The Golden Mirror was glaring at me fiercely, sparks flying from his eyes. He immediately prostrated himself and shouted.
"P-Please reconsider! A drifter from who knows where as your consort! That is absurd!"
"Do you truly think it's absurd?"
'Erik' wore a bewitching smile on her lips. She gently pushed me with her body and rubbed her cheek against mine as if showing off. While the Golden Mirror gritted his teeth, 'Erik' whispered like a devil with an expression that made it hard to tell if she was Erik or not.
"You too must have expected that a day like this would come eventually."
"What?"
"The only one worthy of me, the noblest person in this country, is a man just as noble as I am. But what man in this world could possibly be worthy of this body?"
Oho. Is that how it is. Now I understand Hilde's thoughts.
'Being deeply obsessed means, in other words, worrying about it being taken away. Nightmares are remembered better than sweet dreams! Shall I act out the most terrible situation the Golden Mirror can imagine!'
Perfectionism in a different sense. Rather than doing it half-heartedly, she'd rather perform perfectly, even if it's the opposite of the desired direction.
Heh. Didn't expect this. Artistry is difficult. Should I just play along for now? Like a blonde delinquent, I openly massaged 'Erik's' waist and acted in kind with Hilde.
"Really. Isn't this too explicit in front of your disciple? Your Majesty is mischievous too."
"Ah... Only if it's you."
'Erik', letting out a moan, looked like a girl in love to anyone who saw her.
No, don't overact. I'm not a delinquent molesting you. The real Golden Mirror is going to kill me! Me!
But thanks to that, the suspicion was lifted for now. The Golden Mirror may hate me right now, but he wasn't suspecting Hilde. Good, if I can just get a little closer like this....
"...Golden Mirror. She is a fake!"
However, while the Golden Mirror might not know, it didn't work on Peru. Peru had already experienced Hilde's transformation ability.
"What...?"
"...You must not be deceived! She is someone else who transformed into the Lord of the Golden Assembly! The real Lord of the Golden Assembly would not speak like that!"
Peru offered sincere advice to the Golden Mirror. Only then did the Golden Mirror look at Hilde with suspicion. Then the differences became glaringly obvious.
Because the Golden Mirror knew Erik inside and out, enough to 'alchemize' him.
The illusion shatters. No, it is overwritten.
His Erik does not speak like that.
His Erik does not act like that.
His Erik does not rejoice in another man's arms. Therefore, that is a fake.
Clang, a sound like something shattering rang out. At the same time, the tent next to the Golden Mirror was thrown wide open, and the real Erik... I'm not sure if that could be called real, but anyway, his Erik burst out.
"Demo! That is not me! It's a fake disguised as me!"
However... the Golden Mirror's eyes do not leave 'Erik'.
Perhaps the Golden Mirror already knew. That the world surrounding him was false, and the world that did not go his way was real. That was why he couldn't take his eyes off the 'Erik' he was seeing for the first time, and why he refused to acknowledge the appearance of the real Erik.
Hilde's acting as Erik must have been that much of a shock. Enough to make him temporarily break out of the world the Golden Mirror had locked himself in.
So... for a very brief moment. His thoughts were read.
"You bastard! As I thought...!"
The Golden Mirror, coming to his senses, tried to stand up but halted. A thin and fragile force was pulling him.
Spade 9. Tree of Origin. A demon god idol obtained from witnessing Nevida, and the power of a druid. The vines that grew using the card as a seed grabbed the Golden Mirror for a fleeting moment. They were easily severed, but they bought time. Hilde pushed away the Golden Mirror's soldiers during that fleeting moment and cleared a path.
One step with deception. One step with earth magic. One step with acting alongside Hilde. And one step with tree vines.
Each one is trivial, but gather them all, and they reach the Golden Mirror. Thanks to using every means possible, in my hand that finally reached the Golden Mirror....
The golden bell ringing with a clear sound was resonating with me.
It was all for the Gold Nation.
It was all for Your Majesty.
It was all... for that beautiful smile the Iron-Blooded King awkwardly wore.
But how did it come to this.
A blade fastened to his neck, and shackles on his feet. The heavy iron ball hanging from the end of the blade was agony itself. The arm holding the iron ball felt like it would fall off, but he couldn't let go. If he did, this weight that was tearing his arm off would shift to his neck.
A sharp needle pierces his back. His body reacts before the pain. Even in exhaustion, Demo took a step to avoid the pain. Then, the thorn chased after Demo a beat late and pierced him again.
Trailing a string of tools designed solely to give humans pain and despair, Demo walked barefoot on the land of the Gold Nation.
Curses were heard. Stones were thrown. People rushed at him cursing, swinging daggers and attacking him. The soldiers escorting him only pretended to stop them while watching, and his wounds gradually increased until Demo became like a walking corpse.
Crying out in pain was only for a while. After it exceeded five hours, he reached a point where he could no longer distinguish the pain from himself. Perhaps he had been with pain since he was born.
He wants to be comfortable. He wants to escape from all this pain. He would rather die and be free.
However, Demo couldn't even turn away from it.
Because the very culprit who ruined the once-brilliant Gold Nation was him.
They say money can't buy happiness, but without money, you can't be happy. To be happy, you need a modicum of leisure. In the fierce battlefield of life, the only means to create that leisure is money.
For a country where everyone is happy, Demo created gold. So that the whole nation could be happy.
It should have been.
According to the common sense he knew, that was right.
Demo looked around with dim eyes. Crumbled castle walls. Burning houses. Screams and crying flowing out filled the surroundings. An old farmer holding a worn hoe is painstakingly cultivating the fields that were once crushed and ruined under the weight of gold's value. However, the land poisoned by iron was already facing its end, and even with careful tending, it gave no response.
The beggars sitting on the streets were no better off than Demo. Holding out empty bowls with cracked throats, they begged for a shred of mercy. Those bowls were made of gold, but they couldn't promise a single meal. A single grain of rice would be more precious than a gold piece.
A mother wailing as she embraces the corpse of her dead child—does she love it as a being that was once her child, or does she love it as a few meals' worth of food?
The poverty of gold. The most horrific event in the history of the Gold Nation had occurred. The even bigger problem was that no solution came to mind.
There is no future. The past has been erased. At the end of a contract with the devil, he sold eternity in exchange for a once-brilliant time.
The Gold Nation became a hell made of gold.
And, what created this hell was... the alchemy that produces gold.
If he had not created alchemy. Such a tragedy would never have been born. The horrific truth that his great discovery was the knowledge of the devil even pained his very heart.
Thud.
Something was stuck in Demo's temple. His head swayed for a moment. It didn't hurt. His body, already drained of energy, had chronically accepted even pain.
Demo looked with unfocused eyes at the object that had hit him. It was much smaller than its weight, but its brilliantly sparkling light inflated its value to the fullest.
It was gold. A gold coin, named after its own color because no other name could bear its light, rolled away across the dirt ground.
A skin-and-bones woman approached him as he looked at it in despair and shouted.
"It's because of you...! If only it weren't for you!"
Was gold ever so useless? It couldn't even serve as a single meal for that starving woman and was thrown instead of a stone. Moreover, it wasn't even very useful for throwing at someone. A jagged stone would have hurt more.
Gold that can't be eaten or used. Once blinded by that light... but now it was no different from garbage eating away at the land.
If so, then what had he, who produced gold, been creating all along? Was he not making everyone wealthy, but rather making everyone poor?