Demon territory.
Beyond the northern snow-capped mountain range. A place that bore no name even on the maps of the Constellations.
At the heart of the region humans called the Dark Domain stood the Demon King’s castle.
The castle’s great banquet hall.
The long table was laden with food. Fine meat dishes roasted whole on the bone. Dark crimson wine made from grapes grown on the heat of lava. And other oily delicacies. Befitting a banquet of the demon race’s highest echelon, it was rather extravagant.
And at the center of it all,
the Demon King sat in the seat of honor.
He was enormous.
His body was more than twice the size of a human’s. His shoulders were broad, his arms thick.
Even without armor, his hard-looking muscles were revealed, their surface like rock.
Two horns resembling those of a reindeer rose from his head, and his face was stern and imposing. Seated against the backdrop of a high-backed chair, he looked like a fortress in and of himself.
Around him sat the demon generals whose schedules had allowed them to attend.
As befitted something called a banquet, there were those beating drums, and those laughing as they tore into chunks of flesh.
It was quite a noisy scene.
The Demon King sat quietly in the midst of it.
Without losing his dignity even amid the chaos.
---
At that moment, a voice sounded in his head.
```
[Demon God → Demon King]
Stop posing and eat something.
You need to stock up on energy before we really get moving. You got caught this morning, didn’t you?
```
"..."
The Demon King received it.
It was a revelation from a Constellation. Its name was the Demon God. It was the epithet given to the most influential of the Constellations who sponsored the demon race.
This banquet, too, had been arranged by that Constellation with the intention that he “rest sufficiently before extending his claws over the world in earnest.”
The Demon King reached out an arm.
"Yes."
He answered briefly and picked up a piece of meat from the table.
There was no hesitation.
Outwardly.
His subordinates were startled, wondering if the Demon King had been enraged by the commotion, but when he picked up the food, they were relieved.
---
In truth, the Demon King
had thoughts.
'......'
He thought as he tore into the meat.
'...Is this right?'
Whenever he found a moment to sleep, or even when he was taking a shit, a revelation would come.
Then he would answer, yes, and carry it out. If told to eat, he ate. If told to stop posing, he stopped posing.
But when he thought about it.
The Demon King quietly pondered as he chewed the meat.
Was he truly the strongest?
He had reached the pinnacle of the demon race, who pursued strength. Whenever he fought anyone, he won.
Even when heroes of some renown had reached him, he had never lost.
That was the Demon King. Up to that point, it was true.
But.
'...Certainly, if a god is always by my side, I should be pleased.'
When a revelation came, he said yes.
Even when his legs went numb and he wanted to adjust his posture, even when his testicles were bothering him and he wanted to shift his legs a little, if he was told not to move because he had to maintain his dignity, he did not move.
'Am I truly the strongest?'
That question had quietly settled in the Demon King’s mind. It had been there for quite some time.
He could not express it. He could not ask in front of the demons, “Is it right for the strongest to worry about something like this?” The generals were watching. If he did, it felt as though the banquet would become the burial site of the former Demon King.
The Demon King chewed the meat once more.
'They should have added more salt.'
If he ate too salty, he would be nagged that his stats would drop, so he simply ate it as it was.
---
The Demon God’s view.
A space connected differently from the Constellation Lounge.
The Demon God, who had been checking reports from other demon guild members in his spare moments, was looking down at the Demon King’s banquet.
In his opinion, something strange had been going on recently.
A few Constellations entering the Lounge were suspicious. They had not joined long ago, yet there were movements of them sending forces toward the front lines of the demon territory.
Looking closely, it also seemed linked to the demons’ activity patterns. So it was not exactly strange, but...
Still.
The Demon God moved the giant crystal sphere’s screen.
Their trust was low, so even if he gave them only low influence, the demons’ main forces were still intact. No important information had leaked in. They were merely touching the outskirts.
He could not find a reason to stop them.
The Demon God lowered the crystal sphere and turned on the screen showing the Demon King.
The banquet was proceeding.
The Demon King was eating.
Just as the Demon God was about to watch the screen with satisfaction.
Beside the Demon King.
Someone was there.
The Demon God zoomed in on the screen.
It was a hooded figure. In the seat right beside the Demon King. Reaching for the food on the table. Demon generals were beside him, yet no one reacted.
He looked closer.
The figure lifted food and brought it inside the hood.
Then devoured it greedily.
Beside the Demon King at a demon banquet.
The Demon God narrowed his brow.
```
[Demon God → Demon King]
Hey.
```
```
[Demon God → Demon King]
What’s that thing eating food next to you?
```
---
The Demon King turned his head to the side.
There was no one there. He saw a general tearing into a meat bun.
```
[Demon King → Demon God]
Did you send that wrong?
```
Another message arrived.
```
[Demon God → Demon King]
No, not him. The one eating food right next to you. The one dancing as it leaves right now.
```
'...I-I don’t know...?'
It felt like he should not say that he did not know again.
So he carefully looked over the table once more.
"!"
The food in front of the Demon King.
Something had changed.
A moment ago, there had been three hunks. Now there was one.
The Demon King looked to the side again.
There was no one there.
---
The Demon King looked to the side again.
The generals were eating and drinking. All of them were visible. They were tearing into the food in front of them.
The Demon King went rigid, and then slowly rose.
The chair legs scraped against the floor. The banquet hall fell silent. The generals stopped moving and looked at the Demon King.
The Demon King slowly opened his mouth.
"Within this sacred banquet."
His voice was low.
"Someone has infiltrated."
The banquet hall froze for an instant.
The Demon King’s eyes swept over the table. The places where meat had been. The places where bones had been. The places where there was now nothing at all.
"Find them."
The demon generals sprang to their feet.
An uproar spread through the banquet hall.
---
The Demon God looked down at the crystal sphere.
The banquet hall had been turned upside down. The generals were flipping tables at once and searching underneath them. Some were checking behind the curtains. The Demon King stood at the seat of honor with his eyes wide open.
The Demon God narrowed his eyes.
He had definitely seen it earlier. A hooded figure had been eating food beside the Demon King. But now it had gone somewhere. Even as the generals searched, it did not appear.
Was it a bug? A user using cheats?
The Demon God turned on the thirty-second recording function and replayed it.
It seemed to have slipped out quickly when the Demon King received the message and checked that side.
'Ah, we should have caught it...!'
He opened the inquiry window for the Arcana Online operations team.
```
[Constellation Inquiry]
Sender: Demon God
Content: I have witnessed an entity suspected to be
a bug or a cheat user in the Demon King’s banquet hall.
It was eating food while invisible.
Please check immediately.
```
He typed quickly and sent it.
---
Jaewon had already left the banquet hall.
Quietly. While the generals were searching under the tables. Through an open side door. Moving swiftly as if gliding.
An empty castle corridor.
Jaewon caught his breath and checked his pocket.
He took a bite of the meat he had taken from the banquet hall table as he walked.
It was seasoned.
'……Ugh, salty. Demons season their food heavily, huh.'
He walked down the corridor as he ate.
---
The crystal sphere rang.
It was the crystal sphere he had brought from the hut. It was still lagging because of the report list, but for now the inquiry window barely opened.
Jaewon stood in a corner of the corridor and checked the inquiry.
The sender was the Demon God.
The content was suspicion of a bug or cheat user. Invisible state. Ate food.
Jaewon stood still for a moment.
'It would’ve been better if I could have passed it off as pretending to check for poison, but it can’t be helped.'
He opened the reply field.
```
[Reply]
Hello, this is the operations team.
We have confirmed the sighting in question.
Arcana Online is currently planning a trial introduction of
a “fairy”-type race as new race content.
One of the characteristics of this race is a behavior pattern
of secretly taking precious plant-based items or
high-grade foods,
and it has been determined that some entities were placed
in the Demon King’s Castle banquet area this time
in the form of a preliminary test.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
```
He sent it.
Jaewon was about to put the crystal sphere into his pocket, then stopped.
The Demon God’s reply came quickly.
```
[Constellation Inquiry — Additional]
Sender: Demon God
Content: The thing I saw earlier was as big as a human.
Why is a fairy that large?
```
Jaewon leaned his back against the wall.
'...This guy’s sharp, huh?'
He thought for a moment.
Then opened the reply field.
```
[Additional Reply]
Upon further investigation, we have found that your point is correct.
In the case of the fairy race, test placement was carried out
before the modeling work had been completed,
and it appears that the unfinished model was temporarily applied
at the default humanoid size.
We apologize if this interfered with your immersion.
An official announcement will be made after modeling is complete.
```
He sent it.
Jaewon put the crystal sphere away.
He continued walking down the corridor.
---
The Demon God looked down at the crystal sphere.
Fairies. Unfinished modeling. Temporarily applied at human size.
It sounded plausible. It made sense. But something about it left a bad taste.
The Demon God opened the Constellation Lounge tab.
He skimmed through it.
```
[Is this new fairy content? Or a bug?]
— Pitch-Black Curtain
💬 147 comments
Reports of sightings came in from two places today.
The northeast and the northern lord’s castle, was it?
In both cases, it seems an invisible entity ate food and disappeared as far as the entities were concerned.
The operations team said it was new fairy content, but—
I don’t know if this is a pre-release leak or a bug.
ㄴ Frost of Dawn: If it’s bait for a new race, it’s interesting,
but it does seem kind of half-assed for it to appear without even modeling
ㄴ Flame of the Red Furnace: If it appeared simultaneously in two places,
doesn’t that mean it’s a test? A regular bug
wouldn’t spread like this
ㄴ Pitch-Black Curtain: But considering the pattern of it consistently
stuffing its face like a pig and then disappearing is so specific,
it really looks like race design.
ㄴ Wandering Starlight: Looking forward to fairy content lol Please hurry up and release actual fairies, not elves
ㄴ Tree Fairy: Elves are fairies, fuck, what are the devs talking about
ㄴ Wandering Starlight: Change your nick lololol A real tree fairy is coming
ㄴ Demon God: If it’s a human-sized fairy, isn’t that just a person
ㄴ Pitch-Black Curtain: The operations team replied that it’s an unfinished model lol
Well, I guess that can happen
```
The Demon God scrolled down.
It said that there had been a sighting at another lord’s castle as well.
In other words, this evil life-form had a movement route, not just the Demon King’s Castle.
The Demon God tilted the crystal sphere and looked again for the screen showing the Demon King’s Castle corridor.
There was nothing.
It seemed the entity had already moved.
The Demon God set the crystal sphere down and muttered.
"……Is it real? If it’s new content, I guess I’ll leave it alone."
---
Jaewon was wandering inside the Demon King’s Castle.
He had finished the meat.
The stealth effect was still being maintained. It lasted longer than he had expected. The efficacy of the Patch Note ash had better duration than anticipated.
Jaewon recalled the route he had taken.
The northern lord’s castle. From there, two eastern strongholds. And then here, the Demon King’s Castle.
There had been intent behind it.
If he was only sighted in one place, it would be strange. If he was sighted in more than two places with a similar pattern, it would look like content. Jaewon had deliberately stopped by several places.
The pattern of “something invisible eating food” had been witnessed multiple times.
It looked like a leak of new content.
'Perfect, isn’t it?'
He only had to move within the range where that excuse would work.
As Jaewon walked down the corridor, he grasped the structure.
The interior of the Demon King’s Castle. Where were the bases of the demons supported by the suspicious Constellations? Were there traces of demon forces systematically abusing the internal regulations as they moved?
He had to find them.
Jaewon muffled his footsteps and turned toward the next corridor.
From somewhere, he could still hear the sound of demon generals searching the banquet hall.
As Jaewon moved away from that sound, he scanned the corridor.
---
It was the Demon King’s Castle archive.
Inside an iron door at the end of the corridor. Two torches hung on the wall. Shelves were packed tightly together. Bundles of parchment. Sealed scrolls. Boxes with markings attached.
Jaewon stood before the shelves and slowly looked them over.
Demon stronghold placements. Troop movement records. Reconnaissance reports on the borders of human lords.
All of it was within the normal range.
Jaewon moved his fingers and went to the next shelf.
'Where could it be?'
Traces of outside intervention. Records of a Constellation who was not of the demons moving the demons. Orders issued from outside the chain of command.
Jaewon pulled out one scroll. He slightly undid the seal. He skimmed the contents.
It was a patrol record from the northern border.
He checked the date. It was recent. He checked the patrol route.
'……This.'
Jaewon’s hand stopped.
The patrol route was strange.
It was outside demon territory. In the direction of human villages or the collateral line of the old dwarf tinkerer. And it overlapped with the regions where new Constellations had deployed heroes.
It was not an order issued by the Demon King.
In the signature field, there was a note saying further investigation required, but there were no additional documents.
'Then who.'
Jaewon narrowed his eyes while holding the scroll in his hand.
At that moment.
A sound came from the iron door.
Footsteps.
Not one. Two. Or three.
They were approaching from the corridor.
Jaewon slid the scroll back onto the shelf. He quickly looked around. Behind the shelves. Beside the pile of boxes. A dark corner.
The iron door opened.
The torchlight flickered.
One demon general entered. He held a bundle of parchment in his hand. Two subordinates followed behind him.
The general walked toward the shelves, and his shoulder nearly brushed against Jaewon’s arm.
Jaewon held his breath.