Chapter 70

Melheys was waiting for me when I arrived at the top floor .

Ive been waiting for you Arnos-sama .

Melhys kneels before me and bows his head .

What about Gaius and Idol?

They were successfully revived and like the others, someone attacked them 2000 years ago and took over their origins and bodies .

The same as Aivis then . I think its safe to say that that the other elder demon emperors will be the same .

Out of the seven elder demon emperors, there is now three on our side . Do you want me to strengthen the unification faction with this? (M)

It doesnt appear that Avos Dillheavia knows that Aivis is alive yet so only Melheys, Gaius and Idol can move openly on the table as my subordinates . Each side now has three of the seven elder demon emperors that they can use .

In political terms, the unification faction now rivals the royal faction so I should be able the place some of Avos Dillheavias plans in checkmate .

However .

You can leave it as it is . No matter how much you try to change it the thoughts of the Mazoku will not change so easily . If we try to force it, Deiruheido will be split in two .

Because the royals and the royal faction hold so much power the mixed races and the unification faction keep a low profile . The power of the royals allows people like Emilia to come out of the woodwork . If the unification faction learns they have the power to oppose them now, they will act .

I could easily take control of Deiruheido again but its not all about power . How many people would I have to kill to silence the royals and bring them into line?

Say I do unite the mazoku then what of Avos Dillhevaia? He would probably hesitate and run away and then its just another problem deferred to a later date .

Saying that I doubt he has any intention of losing . Hes been preparing for 2000 years after all .

For now, lets just let the other side carry on . If they believe things are going their way they might appear before me and that is the time to kill them .

Certainly my lord . I have one final question if I may?

Why was it only you who didnt have his origin taken over?

Melheys nods with a serious look on his face .

Indeed . The other seven elder demon emperors had their origins fused and their bodies taken over, but in my case, I was only stabbed with the demon slavery sword . This difference is quite significant .

Perhaps they thought I wouldnt be able to see through it or more likely they didnt have enough subordinates .

Do you believe they only have a handful of subordinates?

If you are letting them take over someones body you have to really trust them unless you are throwing them away then, in that case, you can have as many as you want but it will be hard to build up trusted retainers doing that .

If I follow that line of thinking then they only have 3 trusted retainers left in the remaining demon emperors .

It could be they want me to think they only have 3 pieces left to play .

At the very least Avos Dillheavia is not stupid and is careful as well . They have placed double and triple traps and are probably waiting for me to walk into one .

I have questions for the leader of the unification faction but that doesnt appear to be you .

. You saw that as well? As expected of Arnos-sama .

Who is it?

I dont know . They are probably a royal though since theyve gone to great lengths to hide their identity . If its a demon emperor or someone close to that position and its found out they support the unification faction then they will be driven out and the unification faction will crumble .

Thats a good reason to hide your identity . Saying that, if you are not a demon emperor or a person close to one then you can easily hide your identity . Avos Dillhevia fits that description .

I checked and checked but they are brilliant at hiding their identity . Even their magic trace has been erased . Im of the opinion that its a mazoku from the age of myths like myself .

A logical conclusion . They could have seen what the current Deiruheido was turning into and formed the unification faction .

However, if that is the case then now that Arnos-sama has been reincarnated they should appear before you .

It is reasonable to think that since its hard to imagine any mazoku from 2000 years ago ignoring the demon king of tyranny .

It might be they arent showing themselves yet because they cant .

That is a strong possibility, my lord .

Judging by the events of the tournament that masked man was not the leader either .

Another subordinate of Avos Dillheavia?

Let me ask about something else Melheys . Do you know anything about the hero academy?

Melheys expression changed .

. Has something happened?

Im going on an academy exchange . It happened very quickly and its more than a little suspicious .

I dont know if the hero academy is under the patronage of Avos Dillheavia or not but I found no traces of Mazoku involvement when I investigated it .

Melheys voice turned heavy

Despite that please be careful around them . Since they were once our mortal enemies I investigated the royal capital of Gairadeite . The humans have certainly become peaceful and have had hardly any wars over the years, however, Gairadeite spends 10% of Azeshions entire tax revenue on the hero academy .

10% of your entire tax revenue on one institution? Thats an extraordinary feat .

What was the hero academy made to do?

Officially its to train heroes in the use of magic and weapons as well as to give them a high standard of education . After they graduate they show the fruits of their labour by contributing to the growth of the whole of Azeshion .

Sounds like they take up similar roles to the demon emperors here in Deiruheido .

It smelt suspicious to me though . In the school, theres an elite class called [Jergakanon] and they are the ones that get a considerable amount of the budget . The thing is when I tried to investigate them I couldnt find anything .

Fumu . Jergakanon? It could simply be they took the name of two legendary heroes though .

A hero is someone who fights in great wars . Unlike the demon king who influences the mazoku, a hero is not needed in peaceful times . Of course, thats not to say that you cant use the power of a hero to further your countries development in peacetime

In other words, you dont believe its a normal academy?

Melheys nods .

Jergakanon appears to be the class where reincarnated heroes go . Even if its got nothing to do with Avos Dillheavia you should still be cautious .

The humans are plotting something then .

Due to them being inferior in magic humans plans are usually far more insidious and nasty than any plan a mazoku comes up with .

Humans live short lives . The only reason the humans can have to be hostile to the mazoku 2000 years later is because the reincarnated heroes are trapped in past grudges . (A)

Even though I say that, when I created the wall I settled things with Kanon and that guy would definitely not leave any grudges for future generations to have against the mazoku .

I dont remember any other heroes that I believe could reincarnate with their old memories fully intact though .

I dont know the answer but it possible someone reincarnated from 2000 years ago with their memories fully intact . Like you say my lord, humans lead short lives so if they have reincarnated with their 2000-year-old memories intact that means they have successfully reincarnated many times before to get to this point . (M)

It depends on the situation but generally speaking Reincarnation <Silica> depends on the users magic and lifespan . Humans reincarnate relatively quickly but for a mazoku, its not uncommon for it to take 2000 years like me .

Deruzogedo has had limited interaction with Gairadeite and the Hero academy for quite some time now and the humans dont appear to have any hostility towards the mazoku though . (M)

Well if you are going to start a war you arent going to declare it before you are ready .

Fumu . Then Ill search the academy while Im there . Its highly unlikely they will believe that the demon king of tyranny will be there on an academy exchange .

Understood .

Keep a close eye on the movement of the 7 elder demon emperors here in Deiruheido . If anything happens let me know immediately and Ill return right away .

Certainly .

I head back on down the tower .

A selection class called [Jergakanon] . If its for reincarnated heroes then even if he doesnt have any memories I want to meet the hero Kanon if hes there .