Obviously when it came to being in prison, and even house arrest, you weren’t permitted to take a single step outside your room. That meant no going to war and earning accolades. And definitely not a chance to interact with anyone outside your family. It wasn’t quite a death sentence to a warrior, but it was a crippling blow to your career. With all that time spent on the sidelines, your skills would rust considerably.
So what if you doubled down and violated the rules of your house arrest too? Then the Demon King himself would execute you. Failure to deal with that kind of behavior would throw law and order within the entire kingdom into chaos. Those who dared to threaten the Demon King’s authority by brute force of arms were not granted mercy.
As I was right now, I’d never win a brawl with the Demon King. Though once I could, that meant I could do whatever I wanted.
“In that case, it would just make you the Demon King.”
Exactly. At any rate, if they were going to play dirty, I’d have to respond in kind. I had plenty of ideas on how to make the lives of the Izanis family and seaweed head miserable. I’d make them regret ever messing with the autonomous zone!
Beyond that though, the problem of the fiends in the autonomous zone was still a headache I had to deal with. Flying around on Layla and hunting them down myself was an option. While that would cut into their numbers significantly, it would be exceptionally time-consuming. Not to mention the criticism I’d get for babying the citizens of Evaloti so much.
“I suppose the best you can do is cull any fiends you find on your way to and from Evaloti.”
That would probably be about it. There was really nothing else I could do. I’d have to hope the survivors in the City Guard could pull it together and find a way to deal with the fiends themselves. The total lack of high-class soldiers like heroes and Swordmasters was really painful.
“Thank you, Mr. Prince,” Claire said as she pulled her hands away.
“Done already?” It didn’t feel like she had taken that much. I definitely didn’t want to hold her hands any longer just for the heck of it.
“Yes, I’m all full now. Thanks,” she said with her usual smile. Magic was pure power. It wasn’t like a spell that was cast. Just like if I were pressing on her hands with physical force, pouring magic into her wouldn’t communicate any of my feelings. All that happened was that her reserves of energy were replenished. That naturally meant I had no clue what was going through her head either.
“This vice captain...Tafman, was it? You two seem to have gotten rather close.” Apparently, that energetic wounded soldier from the first audience I held had ended up becoming vice captain of the City Guard. I thought he had quite the backbone, but...
“It’s just a business relationship,” Claire said, expression vanishing.
“Sounds to me like you have a lot of fun talking to him.”
“I just feel bad for him, that’s all. Things would be so much easier if he just died already.” She shrugged, her usual fake smile returning. But just a moment before she said it, I saw her eyes waver and her gaze turn upward.
“Is that so? Well, hopefully your dream comes true soon.” I flashed the most natural smile I could muster, all to ensure my mask as a demon prince didn’t slip.
In the middle of the day, I was flying with Layla through a cloudless sky. We were on our way back to the Demon King’s castle from Evaloti. Normally I’d have been fast asleep, but after figuring out the Izanis family’s meddling to sabotage the autonomous zone, I was wide-awake.
So, what would I do about all this? I’d been thinking about it for a while, but the first order of business had to be that green-headed bastard himself. Driving fiends into the autonomous zone was an open act of hostility.
With the Izanis family being responsible, he couldn’t simply feign ignorance. Whether he admitted it or not, whether it was on purpose or by accident, none of that mattered. As prince of the Izanis family, he’d have to pay. And to do that, I’d make use of my incredibly unstable position as the seventh prince to the greatest possible effect. As things were currently, I was keeping both Aiogias and Rubifya equally at arm’s length. But now seemed like a good time to go pay Rubifya a visit. Of course, only after I’d made a big fuss in front of everyone about the Izanis family’s actions. I could already picture the strained smile on Aiogias’s face after hearing it. He was the one who stood to lose the most from me joining hands with Rubifya.
I imagine he would bring quite the hammer down on seaweed head for that. I really wanted to kill the bastard myself, but I’d have to settle for enjoying the thought of Aiogias chewing him out instead. The actual murder could wait until the succession war began.
Next up, the Izanis family as a whole. At this point, there was one idea that stood head and shoulders above the rest when it came to messing with them: the high-speed communication system of the undead. My daily reports from Evaloti had already proven its effectiveness. If that system became widespread throughout the kingdom, the Izanis messengers and their dragon companions would all be out of jobs.
“However...”
No need to say it, Ante. That would be putting a tool that was way too powerful in the hands of the demonic army. Sure, it would be a major blow to the Izanis family. But overall, would it be worth it? That was the first issue. The second issue was that it would let out the terrifying fact that Enma had a good grasp on the movements of the army across the entire demonic kingdom. When it came down to it, exposing the undead messaging network still seemed like a far too rash decision. So revenge against the Izanis family would have to wait.
Last was the Izanis territory that bordered the autonomous zone. I had spent quite a bit of time thinking about what to do there, but no ideas had managed to stand out. Really, that Izanis territory was basically just mountains and forests. There were only a handful of human cities that they had absorbed. So the problem was that they had nothing there worth protecting. And I couldn’t just attack their cities directly.
“Ah, I see a fiend. What should we do?” Layla asked as we passed over the border into the Izanis territory.
“Where? What is it?” I squinted down at the ground racing by below us, but nothing came into view. All I saw was a lush green forest under a beautiful summer sun.
“Forward, one o’clock. It looks like a spiky wolf.”
Ah, that’s a gorewolf. They can be pretty annoying.
“I can deal with it if you’d like.”
Yes, please. Since we didn’t have to worry about damaging its pelt this time around, I could leave it to Layla.