Vera
1389 Words
“I’m not angry…
I’ve even been wondering what kind of image I have in your eyes.”
Ira, somewhat helplessly, pressed his hand against the blade that rested on his neck.
“How many demons have you killed, Ira? I hope you have a clear idea in your own heart…”
“…” For some reason, Ira found that voice oddly familiar. His gaze shifted from between the dark knights and the massive insectoid beings toward the direction of the teasing voice. There, he saw a pale-skinned woman wearing a wizard’s hat.
“Vera…” Ira called out her name, frowning as he struggled to find the right words.
“Miss Vera, do you know Mr. Ira?” Satanleaf emerged from behind him, waving her hand to signal the demon leaders to sheath their weapons.
“She’s a traitor to the empire,” Ira said.
“I worked with Ira for ten years,” Vera replied.
But Vera offered a different perspective.
“Lich…
You said you came from the empire, yet you never mentioned holding a high position there.”
This came from a giant insectoid being clad in what looked like an armored exoskeleton. His reflective, small black eyes fixed on Vera, his tone questioning as he addressed his colleague—a lich who had served for decades.
“Not exactly a high post…” Vera replied simply.
“She was the court mage, Empress Izabella’s magic tutor, but she chose to become a lich.”
Ira then interjected, almost derisively.
“…” Although the atmosphere seemed lighthearted, it had gradually grown extremely tense. Even though the leaders had all lowered their blades, each harbored a metaphorical dagger in their hearts. Not that they wished to drop their enmity—they simply dared not let it go.
“So, did the Demon King set you free? To take revenge on the empire?”
Cold sweat beaded on Vera’s brow. Though she didn’t quite understand the ways of the Chancellors, there was no doubt that Ira currently had Satanleaf’s mana coursing through him—a sign that was hardly auspicious.
Either Ira seized it, or Satanleaf willingly gave it to him…
The former possibility was more likely.
“Or did you decide to join us? The Demon King is so adorable, isn’t she? I seem to recall you’re a loli fan?”
Faced with Vera’s rambling nonsense, Ira immediately shook his head firmly, saying, “What nonsense are you spouting? I didn’t betray the empire like you did; it was the empire that betrayed me…
I’m headed to the Silvermoon Arboretum next.”
That was, for now, the best option Ira could think of. Although the relationship between the Silvermoon Court’s elves and the empire wasn’t particularly warm, his personal ties there were good. If he were to seek refuge, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Betray the empire?
Ira, you really have the nerve to say that…
Wasn’t it your plan all along to keep your conversion into a lich under wraps and continue working for the empire?”
The young and beautiful Vera remarked, lamenting, “I, too, was betrayed by the empire. Why can’t the empire tolerate liches? Just as it cannot tolerate you.”
“…” Her words rendered Ira silent.
The empire simply could not allow its citizens to transform into demons—a fundamental principle of its state. Vera was undoubtedly engaging in sophistry, yet at that moment, Ira found himself at a loss for words…
There was no point in rebutting her.
“I must be going…
Anyway, thank you for your help, Demon King.”
After that brief expression of gratitude, Ira softly chanted within the great hall of the Demon King’s Castle: “First Wing Pillar · Crimson Dragon · Wing Expansion.”
As his calm chant echoed, scarlet wings materialized on his back. Under the watchful, wary eyes of every demon present, he looked out at the starry sky through the window.
*********-**************，***********，************。****，*************。
On the battlefield, however, such a chant was invariably followed by slaughter and death—there was no time for admiration…
Only terror remained, buried deep in the hearts of every demon who had witnessed the c*****e.
“Wait a moment, Mr. Ira—didn’t you remain unconscious for three days? Weren’t you hungry?
The Demon King had ordered a banquet earlier…”
A succubus named Shilina spoke up, trying to halt Ira’s imminent takeoff, but he paid little heed to the matter of the banquet—even though he was, admittedly, a bit hungry.
He simply didn’t care…
Perhaps.
…I’m so hungry… I want to eat something.
Somewhat embarrassed, Ira halted his attempt to take flight. The scarlet wings on his back retracted, folding back into his body. He turned toward the confused demons and said, “I’m sorry to trouble you…
Consider this a debt I owe you.”
“…” Vera: By the way, it was Ira who once said that “nothing beats finely cooked food and delicately prepared dishes.”
————Dining Interlude————
The banquet at the Demon King’s Castle was a feast utterly devoid of demonic ferocity.
Typically, each demon leader would return to their own domain for their meals and other routine tasks, so usually only the Demon King’s kin along with the butlers and maids handled the banquet affairs.
Calling it a banquet was a bit of a stretch—it was more like a family gathering…
Especially today, with all the leaders present. Otherwise, if only Ira and Satanleaf were dining, it would have resembled a candlelight dinner more than a grand feast.
“The salad isn’t fresh enough, and the snake-apple tastes too sour. What do you think?”
Ira critiqued the salad, and the insectoid attendant could only nod in agreement.
Ira wasn’t wrong.
“The main course is mushrooms—it’s too odd. Every race needs to ensure an adequate intake of carbohydrates.”
Vera nodded in agreement with Ira’s remarks…
Though, as a lich, she merely sampled the food for flavor rather than actually consuming it.
“The meat steak is overcooked, and there aren’t any side dishes at all—it’s too monotonous. Even for the teeth of a Crimson Dragon, it’s inedible!”
Ira frowned and complained. He couldn’t understand how the chefs could be so careless with the food that the Demon King supposedly enjoyed. Standing before everyone’s eyes, he rose and asked, “Who will take me to the kitchen?”
Though phrased as a question, his tone brooked no argument—as if he were the master of this Demon King’s Castle.
“Yes…
Right this way, Lord Ira.”
Shilina, standing nearby, managed a small, respectful smile as she led Ira away from the dining area toward a room on the other side of the hall, leaving behind a group of astonished Satanleaf and the other leaders.
“Lich…
Um, is Ira Elcaras always like this?”
A young girl with small bat-like wings on her back asked Vera.
For some reason, everyone felt that this wasn’t quite the image of Ira they had in mind—the enemy they once knew.
“Yes, he does have a habit of being overly particular in the strangest places…
Let’s hope Mr. Lemm finds his own fortune.”
Vera replied with narrowed, mischievous eyes. She then offered her own theory: “I’ve always heard a rumor…
That Ira isn’t the staunch monarchist the empire’s people imagine him to be, but rather a paranoid dreamer.”
“What are you… say… ing?”
Confronted by the halting question from a golem-like being, Vera flashed a sly smile. Looking at Satanleaf, she said, “Demon King, the future of demons rests entirely on you~”
“Hmm?”
Satanleaf tilted her head in confusion, an innocent expression on her face.
- Writer
