In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 4 Page 11

  Her eyes were fixed on mine. She wasn’t even blinking, she was simply staring... the sensation was a little familiar.

  “...What is it?”

  “Wh-What?! N-Nothing! I-It’s nothing at all!” The girl’s cheeks flushed faintly pink.

  “I... I don’t usually get a chance to interact with gentlemen such as yourself... So, please, forgive me if I seem rather tense...”

  “...Don’t sweat it.” Seemed the girl was sheltered, which only made my suspicions more concrete... Just as I was about to ask her name, I heard someone charge through the door frame I had left in my wake.

  “Princess!”

  “Carol!” Carol barged into the room and ran over to the girl. It was as I had expected. The girl was the princess of the empire.

  “Are you safe?! Are you hurt?! Who is that?” Carol motioned toward the uniformed man on the ground.

  “He was here to kill me! But Touya here saved my life...”

  “He what?! Unforgivable... to even lay a hand against the princess is high treason! I’ll kill him!”

  “Hey, wait a sec!” Carol unsheathed her blade and brought it close to the unconscious man’s neck. I grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back. She was a frustrating person who didn’t think before she acted.

  “So you’re the princess? That explains your general behavior.” I called out to the princess as I dragged Carol. I had a feeling it would end up like this.

  “I am the Third Princess of the Regulus Empire. Lucia Leah Regulus. ...My apologies, but you don’t seem terribly surprised, Touya. Many people change their attitudes upon learning I’m royalty.”

  “I’ve met two other princesses besides you, I guess I’m just getting used to it at this point.” Yeah, one’s my fiancee, and the other’s a freaky author.

  “To know so many members of royalty... just who are you?” This time Carol was the surprised one. In all honesty, I had no idea how to define myself at this point. I felt as though my position on the political stage hadn’t exactly been well established. Tentatively, I was affiliated with Belfast due to my engagement to Yumina, but... I definitely didn’t want to become the king.

  “Well, I can explain the details later. For the time being, shall we carry on? I can use transportation magic to send Princess Lucia to safety, if you want.”

  “That would be wise, I think.” Carol started to ponder, I assumed she was thinking of safe places to send her, but the princess herself actually refused.

  “I’ll go later on. I’m more worried about father and my elder brother right now. Let’s all go together.” Lucia spoke with bravery and determination in her voice. I thought it was a tad dangerous, but I probably needed her with me to get the crown prince and the emperor to trust me, as well. I decided that once we found her family, we’d all teleport back to my house and take refuge there.

  I left Lucia’s safety to Carol and focused on the surrounding area. We returned to the mail hall where I had parted from Carol, then continued down it.

  “We only need to rescue the emperor and the crown prince, right?”

  “That’s right. But I’d also like to keep an eye out for the state minister and the aides, too.” Carol answered me as we ran along. That reminded me, Lucia called herself the third princess, but where were the other two? I asked, and apparently her oldest sister had married off overseas, while her other sister was studying abroad. They were in countries on good terms with Regulus for the time being, but... But depending on what happened to the empire after the coup, anything could happen. The princesses abroad might even be forced home and subjected to who knows what.

  We ran through the corridor and turned the corner. Five soldiers were waiting for us with drawn blades.

  “It’s Lucia! Catch— no, slaughter the little bitch!” The soldiers turned their blades on us and charged in unison.

  “That’s dangerous, you know.” I pulled out Brunhild and unloaded a barrage of paralyzing bullets. With a ra-ta-tat-tat, the men fell one after the other. It was pretty simple.

  “Y-You killed all five so quickly...”

  “It’s not like that. I only paralyzed them. Is the emperor nearby?” Carol was annoying me a little bit, so I asked Lucia a question.

  “Yes, the room ahead is my father’s bedroom. He’s ill, so I haven’t been able to see him very much...”

  “Is he diseased? Is it infectious?”

  “No... he’s just very old and unwell. I think he doesn’t want me to see him like that. I’ve heard that he’s become very frail and weak as of late.” That was worrying... I had no idea how to proceed. The fact that there were five enemies waiting for us this far in didn’t exactly bode well for us. It was entirely possible that the army had made it in there and already slain the old man. I didn’t want to be responsible for exposing someone so young to her father’s potentially brutalized corpse. Lucia noticed by hesitation, and quickly grabbed me by the sleeve.

  “I’m prepared to see it through, regardless of the consequences. If I don’t see my father with my own two eyes, even now... I’ll truly regret it. Therefore, I shall come with you.” The girl’s determination was nothing short of admirable, so I couldn’t say no to her after that. Steeling myself, I flung open the door.

  The room was very spacious, clearly build for royalty. Several men were standing around a king-sized bed on the far wall, but they turned toward us as we entered.

  They were all clad in military-style uniforms. Three regular soldiers, two men who looked like officers, and a single general. There were several corpses dotted around as well. They had been clad in armor, so presumably they were the royal guard.

  There was an elderly man amongst them all, lying in the bed. He appeared to be neither a member of the army or the royal guard. It was likely the emperor of the Regulus Empire himself. If that was the case, then we were too late.

  “And just who are you? You aren’t with the royal guard.” The man who appeared to be a general spoke up. He had sharp eyes and a hooked nose, kind of reminded me of a hawk, overall. He looked to be about forty years old.

  “General Bazoar! Have you laid hands upon His Eminence the Emperor?!”

  “Father...!” Carol furiously roared at the man, and I heard Lucia gasp in horror. So he was a general. I wondered if he was the mastermind behind the coup.

  “Hmph, if it isn’t Princess Lucia and the stupid daughter of the Rillettes house. How vexing. I’m sure I had ordered both of you be killed.” The general frowned. It seemed he was annoyed by their survival. I wondered if Carol had a reputation... I gave her a cursory glance before looking back at the general.

  “You’re the one behind all this, then? Tell me this, at least. Why? What are you doing this for?” I spoke my question right to General Bazoar’s face. In the end, I was an outsider to this situation. I had to hear him out in order to know which side was the right one.

  “The emperor has a sickness. A sickness within his heart. He signed a peace treaty with Belfast and Roadmare, and he even hesitates when we say to trample on such agreements and conquer those territories! The emperor as he was in his prime would never have behaved this way. Truly, age is a frightening sickness with no cure.”

  “...And just for that, you’d kill him?”

  “For the sake of his people, an emperor must be strong. If he loses that strength, then he must move aside and make space at the table. A new emperor must take his place, one with true strength and drive.”

  That’s not how it is, is it? This is just treason, it’s clearly a hostile takeover. The general must command more respect from the military than the emperor does, otherwise he would have never been able to kick off a revolt like this. An unwell old emperor with no plans for his people, and an unreliable crown prince... When you put them alongside a determined general who’ll stop at nothing to win... Well, it’s pretty clear which of those three has the biggest presence. Still, do these guys seriously intend to break the treaty and wage war?

  “Belfast, Refreese
, and Mismede all stand together in an alliance. Can you even hope to go against all three nations at once?”

  “Of course I can! Do you think that I’ve been sitting by, idly twiddling my thumbs for the last twenty years of peace?” General Bazoar raised his right arm toward a nearby window and began to focus.

  Oh, is he a magic user?! Wait, more importantly... what kind of magic is this?! I felt an immense pressure. This was clearly a greater force than I had encountered from any magic user before. What is this feeling...? My body feels... heavier, somehow?

  “Come forth, Darkness! I seek a fiend of the highest order: [Demon Lord]!” The general spoke his incantation. As he finished his sentence, the window shattered to pieces and the room was engulfed in a white light.

  When it finally subsided, the wall that the window had once been attached to was no more. More importantly, there was an enormous creature floating outside, clearly visible despite the fact that we were on the third floor. It had the head of a goat, the wings of a bat, the upper body of a well-built man, and the lower body of an owl.

  What the hell is that thing?! He called it a Demon Lord? That’s an understatement, the damn thing looks like the Devil himself!

  “I-Impossible...! How could he forge a contract with such a creature? Wh-Where is he even getting the magic power to keep it on this plane?” Lucia mumbled to herself, awestruck and horrified. She had a point. Lizardmen, Silver Wolves, and Skeletons were standard summons, but this thing was on another level entirely. I had no idea where the general was getting this kind of magical energy.

  “Contracting with the beast was a trifling matter. I simply offered it living sacrifices. Criminals of our great city were offered up as fodder for the creature. The emperor stubbornly opposed the idea, of course. But think of the potential. If one could contract a Higher Demon, then one could also control Lesser Demons vicariously. After fulfilling the contract conditions and feeding the beast with as many lives as it desired, I was able to successfully collar it. And now, an entire army of monsters is at my disposal! As for the magic...” General Bazoar held up his right arm and pulled back the sleeve. He lifted it up to show us a beautiful bracelet wrapped around his wrist. A stunning red gem was fixed on to it, which shimmered with a terrifying glint. Is that... an Artifact?!

  “This Drainbracer absorbs the magic energy from places and people around me. Little by little, it has drained the magic from everyone in the vicinity. You people are the ones maintaining the Demon Lord.” It drains magic? That explains the weird feeling from before, I guess... That’s bad news, though. I should get out of here or he’ll just gain more magic.

  I noticed that Lucia and Carol had fallen to their knees. It looked like they were becoming weaker with every bid of energy they lost.

  My magic had already regenerated enough, but there’d be little point in using [Transfer] on the girls. Any magic I gave back to them would just be sapped away again.

  Then there’s only one thing to do... I’m gonna have to wipe it out at the source!

  [Apport]! I tried to pull the Drainbracer away with magic. Instead of what was supposed to happen, a strange sound reverberated near the general, and the spell failed completely.

  “Hm? My my, you little whelp. You still have magic to spare? It’s unfortunate for you that such things will not work on me at all. Why do you think I chose a demon of all things to contract with?” The general gestured toward the monstrous creature that was still hovering in the air nearby.

  “This Demon Lord has a special trait. It’s called Magical Nullification. Magic attacks, and the effects of enchanted weaponry, have no effect at all on it. And, as its master and contractor, the ability now extends to me!” Magical Nullification?! How am I supposed to do anything against that?! Guess I have to use physical attacks, then...

  I pulled out Brunhild and reloaded it with paralyzing bullets. If magic didn’t do anything, that was likely my best bet.

  “Hm?” I pulled the trigger on the general. The gun echoed out, and... the bullet struck an invisible wall in front of the general’s face. The hell was that?!

  “Hm? Was that some kind of projectile weapon just now? You thought you’d switch to physical after failing to strike me with magic? How unfortunate.” The general rolled up his left sleeve to reveal another bracelet with a different red gemstone set into it.

  “This is my Blockbracer. It forms an invisible barrier equal to the level of the magic poured in, nullifying all physical damage entirely. My Drainbracer absorbs magic, my Demon Lord grants me a resistance to all magical attacks, and my Blockbracer resists all physical strikes! This is my holy trinity! My ultimate defense! I cannot be damaged, regardless of the means employed!”

  H-He’s gotta be lying, right?! That can’t be possible! I mean, I’m not exactly in a position to be saying anything at all about this, but doesn’t that sound kind of cheap? He’s way too overpowered! That’s not fair at all! And he’s using me as a magic battery, too! No fair! So even if I used [Gravity] to do an extremely heavy or powerful attack, he could just use my own magic to generate a shield to block it. Wait, does that make sense? How can he draw that much magic out of me at once? Well, I guess others are supplying magic to him, as well...

  Tsk... this is bad. If only I could get rid of his damn bracelets.

  “I don’t know where you hail from, but you can’t be allowed to leave alive. You’ll become fodder for the Demon Lord, another sacrifice for the pile.”

  “Then what? You plan to summon a monster army and wage war? How many of the innocent citizens of this nation do you plan to sacrifice?!”

  “I’m not sacrificing the citizens, the only ones that died so far were criminals. In life they were trash, of no use to our glorious empire. Is it not better for them to die for the sake of my ambition? But if that’s your concern, worry not. We’ll be using Belfast’s soldiers as sacrificial fodder soon enough!” The general laughed heartily. It was at this point that I realized he was nothing more than a madman with a lust for carnage.

  I didn’t know whether the coup was righteous or not, but his tirade sealed the deal. It was wrong.

  Using and abusing the lives of others for one’s own ends was simply an unforgivable sin.

  “Uuh...” The emperor, who was out cold on the floor behind the general, moved his foot very slightly. Is he alive?! Neither the general nor his companions seemed to notice. I decided then that my priority should shift to saving the emperor. The two behind me seemed to be on the edge of consciousness themselves, so it seemed like their magic reserves were at their limit.

  “Invoke [Gate]. Target three individuals. Emperor, Lucia, and Carol. Send them to my home, just outside.”

  “Copy that. Invoking [Gate].

  “What?!“ A light appeared around the three individuals, and they vanished in a flash.

  “You wretch, you can even use transportation magic?!”

  “That’s right. I’ll be retreating just for today, but don’t think for a minute that I’m done with you.” I reloaded Brunhild with a different set of bullets. I leveled my gun and aimed it at the general.

  “Foolish child, it’s futile! For as long as I wear the Blockbracer on my wrist, you cannot lay a scratch upon me!”

  “Fine. It may not be possible to damage your body, but... I’m sure I can still do a number on your pride.”

  “...What the devil are you talking about, boy?” A cruel grin spread across my face. I lowered the aim of my weapon, then fired near his feet.

  “[Slip].”

  “Augh!” The general fell with a magnificent thump. He put his hand to the ground and tried to get up again, but the bullet I had fired was programmed to create a frictionless zone in a wide area. It didn’t matter where the general put his hands, his feet, his anything. He was entirely at my mercy now.

  “G-General! Don’t worry!” His allies ran to help him... like idiotic lambs to the slaughter. The magic effect wasn’t just focused on the general, after all. It was an area of e
ffect spell.

  “Whuh!”

  “Gah!” As expected, they were pulled into the slippery hell and began to fall over repeatedly. They didn’t have a Blockbracer like the general did, so they’d definitely take some damage after bashing into the ground repeatedly for a while.

  “Ohoho... Ahahaha!!! Yes, writhe! Fall forever! Keep dancing this pathetic dance until you die!” I said a few dramatic things to try and provoke him, but he didn’t bite. He could have used his Drainbracer to absorb the magic I’d imbued into the ground, but he didn’t seem to realize. I didn’t have any obligation to tell him, though.

  “Demon Lord!” The goat-headed monster reached for me in response to his master’s call. That wasn’t good. I didn’t think [Slip] would work on things in the air.

  This thing could definitely be damaged by physical attacks, though. Still, the general would probably be able to call it back if I defeated it... And so, I decided to do the only thing I could do.

  “Farewell, dear gentlemen! But don’t think you’ve seen the last of me! Soon enough the Hammer of Babylon shall descend upon you! The thunder of my vengeance shall bear upon you with the gust of a thousand winds! Live in fear until then, vermin! Fuhahaha!!!”

  I got a little too into it.

  Just before I left, I conjured up a mirage to shock their senses. The image I created was that of cockroaches, maggots, centipedes, and other disgusting squirming animals, all over the floor. That was my parting gift.

  “Eek!!! Augugh!!!”

  “B-Bugs! They’re everywhere!!!”

  “Y-You son of a...! I’ll g-get you for this!” They let out their anguished cries in response to my abuse. Either way, their suffering made me feel a lot better.

  I opened a [Gate] beneath me and escaped.

  I landed in my garden, looking over to see that Lucia was by her father’s side. He looked pale and cold.

  “F-Father! Father...!” The situation was looking grim. It seemed I needed to treat him immediately. Lucia was clutching one of his hands, so I bent down and grabbed the other.