Hyaku Ma No Aruji

Alicia, dressed for a change of costume, made her way to the room of Castle Sisalis after a while to show up in a public place.

He had given instructions to his first visiting subordinate to pass the envoy of the Westia Chamber of Commerce to the guest room, so he would already be sitting in a chair and sparing no time over there.

"Was he a messenger who had a face once?

"No, I saw (...) this (...) and (...) this (...) person (...)"

"Right."

On entering the guest room, Alicia returns a nod, listening to an example of a man actually face-to-face with the messenger.

Zymood had a slightly relieved look next door.

"If it's your first face, you don't seem to have a problem"

"... right"

Alicia corrects the collar and opens the door to the guest room.

There was a moderately tidy interior room, even if it was not called a shambles.

And...

"Eh."

Then Zaymood walked into the room and saw who was waiting inside.

"disrespectful!!"

I uttered an unwavering rage on that soft face.

◆ ◆ ◆

The man was as long back as Zaymood.

The costume is more aristocratic than a merchant, with a white shirt and an unspoilt black cape.

He is also wearing a vest and glances at the golden string ornament knitted beautifully from his pocket.

That's good.

If you look in Aios, an academic city with many aristocratic boys, you're likely to find them soon.

The problem is...

"Take that mask off now! You're being disrespectful to His Holiness!

The man was wearing a mask that covered his face perfectly.

It's like being in a comedy in a city of art - a mask of dogma.

"Rude? This is disrespectful. But will you forgive me? My face isn't much that people can see. There were severe burn marks."

The man in the mask answered without flickering at any of Zaymood's offensive remarks.

"I'm sure if you take this mask, it'll be more disrespectful. I showed my men my face to prove my identity, but I can't show it to His Holiness."

The masked man flat out lets his shoulders shrug with ease as if to tell a friend something nasty.

"Oh my...!

"Nice, Zaymood. I don't want any courtesy from the Westia Chamber of Commerce. Because he was a man with a curse all over his face."

The opposite Alicia cares nothing more than the attitude of the masked man, and likewise advances pale and sits in her seat.

"It hurts to care."

"You're blind from here. Is that how you feel about being a merchant?

"No, it's not that much. Indeed, business is also a psychological battle, so it's not that I don't want to be seen as much as my mouth."

"Right."

Does this man know The Devil's Eye of the Heart Emperor?

That prediction came to mind for a moment, but soon Alicia's thoughts were interrupted because the masked man continued to talk.

"Well, first of all, I apologize for the disrespect that suddenly disturbed you in this evening. But there are circumstances that we can't afford to do..."

"Precedents are good. Speak of the requirements."

Alicia takes the cup that was prepared in advance on the long desk for the meeting and drinks the vanilla water that was inside.

"Then don't hesitate"

The masked man coughed once before continuing.

"First of all, it's about the land money we arranged in the other day's agreement -"

◆ ◆ ◆

"In short, I'll double it and return it, so lend me the money."

He was a masked man with Alicia, who had been discussing agreements between the Chamber of Commerce and the Church for a while, but Alicia told him to summarize what had happened until then around the time the consultations boiled down.

"That's a lot summarised..."

"But it's true."

"That's right..."

Initially, Alicia still suspected about the masked man.

I haven't seen the man's face right now, even though I had my men verify his identity.

It's more impossible to trust someone dressed like this in the first place.

This way Alicia can have a drink at will, because she knows she has allies nearby, but if she were alone, she wouldn't have met such a lousy person.

"... Well, I'm pretty sure you're from the Westier Chamber of Commerce"

"Um, did you still suspect me?

Naturally, Alicia laughs small so that she doesn't look like her opponent.

"So if you thought you'd be trusted, you'd be disqualified as a merchant."

"This is, in painful words,"

The masked man scratches his head all the time saying it's gone.

"Then why is Your Majesty so sure now?

Alicia was asked the other way around and showed a bare gesture of thinking.

"- Because you know too much. I did not say anything else about the other day's consultation. During the current meeting, there were a number of things that could not be answered immediately if they did not know what that consultation was about. That's what you wouldn't know if you weren't the head of the Westia Chamber of Commerce who was there."

Fuji Alicia's red-purple eyes glance at the line drawn on the man's mask.

But the real eyes of the man behind it were still invisible.

"The chief told me directly."

"Well, as a messenger to be sent here, naturally."

Giving up glancing into the man's eyes, Alicia lifts the cup at hand again.

"By the way."

Wet her lips with vanillized water before Alicia opened her mouth again.

"What do you think of the Demon King?

"Demon King, is it?"

"Yes."

Now vice versa, showing a masked man doing his hand to his jaw to think.

"Well, I can't really get a realistic response from someone who's never actually been a Demon King..."

"I don't mind. Whatever."

"Right...... To put it bluntly, you're pitiful."

"Well, pity and?

Alicia opens her eyes as if she was a little intrigued.

"Because isn't it? Some have actually done what should have been called the Demon King. But it could have been a hero for someone even like that."

It's a common story in wartime.

"Yeah. But that's why it's pitiful. Especially a hero who was picked up by naming his country. They did something called" heroes, "but they were also made evil by the course of the times that followed."

"Times...? It's people who make those times. In the end, the former Heroes were - No, the Demons were losers."

Alicia continued.

"People's minds are weak. Most of them can only walk over the system laid by the strong. When the mighty speak of the Demon King, it becomes the Demon King."

It is an outrageous argument. But at the same time, it's real.

When I thought so again, Alicia's hand held her fist with nature.

"... Either way, the winner is just. Whatever thoughts may be, it is a testament to justice that you will eventually be the winner of that era"

"Hmm. Is it the Black Country Mooseg that's about to be its winner"

"And this is Sisalis."

The man in the mask seemed a little surprised by what Alicia had said in vain.

"I see. That's His Holiness the Pope. It's a big one to think about."

Zymood's shoulder moves tingly until then, listening to the conversation, to the reaction of a masked man who can't take either, whether he is fooling around or simply impressed.

"Indeed, when it comes to simple violence, how can your country be difficult to abandon these days? But."

"What?"

"If the strength that times demand is financial strength"

――

Now on the contrary, Alicia looked decent like a pigeon who ate a bean cannon.

"Ha, ha, ha, I see, financial power"

Finally Alicia laughs out.

"It's not an impossible story, is it? Whatever the case, the (...) power (...) of gold (...) is (...) great (...) with (...) su (...) or (...) et al. (...)"

The masked man said in an extreme serious voice.

"Right. Maybe that too. If people can manipulate with gold, financial power shapes the justice of the times"

"Well, in Mooseg, there seems to be a flurry of violence and financial resources."

The masked man shrugged his shoulders to be deliberately sorry.

"That's off the record. I heard boring things."

"No. But why did you suddenly do that?

"A little bit like you."

Fu and Alicia looked at the masked man's hair.

Beautiful blonde hair as if it were a polished gold coin.

"But it doesn't look like it. The man I know does not call the Demon King pitiful or anything.... No, it doesn't exactly end with the description of pity"

"You care. If I were His Majesty's man, what would I have said about the Demon King?"

I'm sure he would say this.

"-" The Demon King is pitiful. but also those given at the same time '"

What was given?

"'Demon King and enough power to be feared, and a grand stage to repeat this adversity again.'"

"It's like a comedy actor in an art city."

"Or maybe the influence of another theatre lover."

But I didn't hate that word.

He always repeated the words whenever a young self cried about these eyes.

Later, he himself was called the "Demon King", and lost his native land, which he was born and raised, until one day suddenly - he disappeared.

"... okay. Either way, have you completed your requirements?"

"Yes, but I haven't heard your answer yet"

"It's not something I can answer right away. I'll see you tomorrow."

"The Pope!

As Alicia tried to mark the end of the talks towards the masked man, she heard a rush from outside the guest room.

"... what"

"Wes, someone named the messenger of the Westia Chamber of Commerce!

"It's already here"

Aside from what, Alicia lifted her heavy hips and tried to flatter her men, who would be outside the guest room.

"It's not! The head of the Westia Chamber of Commerce has come straight to us! I just told him that the messenger had arrived and he said 'I haven't sent out the messenger or anything'...!

I felt the air cool down properly.

It was Zaymood who moved out before anyone else in that cold air, and it took roughly two seconds before the dagger was removed from the sleeve of his clothes.

Who are you?

"- hahahaha"

Zaymood sees then.

Hidden in a mask, the mouth of a man you're not supposed to see.

Under the laughter of the dogma depicted there, it really led to fun.