TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None

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A group of men huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

"Has the Baron's proxy lost his mind?"

They were knights who had sworn fealty to Baron Vincents' domain.

There were three knights in total, each owning a small plot of land.

While Theo of Gremlin, the Baron's proxy, soaked his pillow with tears every night,

The knights of the barony couldn't help but worry about their own futures.

"Well? Did you talk to him?"

"I did."

"What did he say?"

"Ha. What kind of answer do you think I got?"

The knights frowned in unison, as if on cue.

No matter how they looked at it, Baron's proxy Theo seemed to have a screw loose.

"He's going to keep that old man locked up till the end?"

"Why on earth is he doing this?"

"How should I know? Probably too stubborn to back down because of his stupid pride."

The knights had no idea what evil scheme Theo had fallen victim to.

They mistakenly assumed he was just being stubborn for no good reason, to satisfy some petty noble's ego.

Before the wizards arrived, it didn't really matter.

Theo was the one who imprisoned Professor Inglan, and the knights weren't involved.

They weren't vassals sworn to die for the Gremlin family, just knights tilling small plots in Baron Vincents' domain. They had no reason to question the Baron's proxy's decisions.

That's how it had been until recently.

But after the wizards showed up, everything changed.

Now it wasn't just Theo's neck on the line, but every person of privilege in Baron Vincents' domain!

"As you all know, the wizards fired a rock with magic."

"..."

The madman who launched the rock was actually Ian alone, not "the wizards".

But the knights had no way of knowing that.

They saw the wizards as a single group and felt threatened by "wizard forces".

"It was a chilling warning..."

"I still feel sick thinking about it."

After their exciting quasi-siege experience, the knights complained of quasi-PTSD symptoms.

The impact they felt when the rocks hit the castle walls was tremendous.

The knights, who hadn't given it much thought until recently, snapped to attention after Ian's rock-throwing magic.

Ah. If this keeps up, we're all screwed.

Let's release Professor Inglan quickly and make peace!

The knights rushed to Theo en masse, begging him to release Inglan.

They fully expected Inglan would be freed.

But...

"That bastard spends all day holed up in his room, busy screwing around."

"He's an immature brat. He probably thinks the Count will take his side."

Theo ignored all the knights' requests and spent his days rolling around with his mistress.

A ruler indifferent to politics, obsessed only with women.

This had to be a textbook case of a puppet ruler!

"Haah. We have no choice."

After their repeated pleas were thoroughly ignored, the knights resolved to take drastic measures.

And that was...

Operation: [We're Staging a Coup, Dammit.]

"Let's free the wizard Inglan ourselves and lock the Baron's proxy in his room."

The knights' choice was rebellion.

It was a decision they truly didn't want to make, but they had no other option.

The Baron's proxy seemed determined to ruin the domain. And he wasn't taking any action to fix things.

It was, quite literally, a patriotic decision to save the country!

Their resolve was no less than that of the Empire's greatest heroes!

It was a bit pathetic that the country they were saving was just one barony, but still.

In any case, they had to put out this urgent fire, didn't they?

"This is absolutely not a violation of chivalry."

"That's right. The Baron's proxy broke the contract first."

The knights agreed to govern the barony themselves until Count Gremlin sent a new proxy, after resolving the issue peacefully.

Of course, they also promised to return the barony intact when the new proxy arrived.

But well...

If the knights did an exceptionally good job managing the domain, winning the love of the people, it wouldn't be so bad to become the new barons themselves.

'You never know.'

'He might just give us the baronial title outright?'

The knights grinned at each other.

Anyway, they rose up for the public good, with absolutely no selfish desires.

That's just how it was.

The knights began their march, driven by the sole ambition of becoming heroes.

The total number participating in the coup was three.

That's all the knights in Baron Vincents' domain.

"Sir Morrison! You free the wizard Inglan!"

"Alright. Keep a close eye on the Baron's proxy in the meantime."

There were only three of them, but it was enough manpower to overturn the domain.

After all, the knights were the most powerful figures after the Baron's proxy. With them united, no one could stop them.

The common soldiers certainly couldn't stop the knights.

"Out of the way!"

"Ah... Yes sir!"

The soldiers were like automatic doors with human skins.

Meaning they opened wide as soon as they saw the knights.

For the knights, occupying their current workplace was a piece of cake.

All the soldiers were their subordinates, and the only obstacle was the Baron's proxy. There was no way they couldn't subdue him.

"Hmm?"

That's what they thought, until they encountered a suspicious figure.

"That way leads to the prison. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"...? How did you know this was the way to the prison? No, more importantly."

The knight questioned the hooded stranger.

"Who are you?"

The stranger removed his hood.

Instantly, the knight felt a shock that nearly took his breath away.

"W-what! You...! Like, a, a demon..."

"Demon? I hate such religion-centric labels."

Bright red skin. Two straight horns.

Even reptilian, bright yellow eyes.

The stranger was clearly not human.

He was the very embodiment of a demon risen from hell!

"Call me a subterranean resident or a citizen of Pandemonium, human."

"Ah, ah..."

The knight gritted his teeth.

He had no idea why a demon was wandering around the middle of the castle, but

Judging by his appearance at such a hellish time, he was definitely not someone to be messed with.

"If a wizard sent you, stand aside! Demon! I'm on my way to free the wizard!"

"Oh. You're going to free Inglan?"

The demon drew his sword.

The knight steadied his trembling hand and likewise drew his sword.

There was no further verbal exchange.

A cold dialogue of steel began.

"Guh!"

... Battle result.

The demon won and the knight lost.

"Inglan is mine. He's the prize I was promised."

"Cough, cough!"

The knight collapsed helplessly to the floor, his lung pierced.

He would die of suffocation due to his blood-filled lung.

The knight's death was mirrored elsewhere.

The two knights who set off to imprison Baron's proxy Theo and his lover Karenne...

Met an equally miserable end.

"You f*cking maggots! How dare you! Betray my darling and stage a rebellion!"

"W-what is that!"

"It's a monster!"

The knights who burst into Theo's bedroom pointed their swords at the couple caught in the throes of passion.

Immediately after, something unbelievable happened.

Theo's lover, Karenne's body twisted and contorted...

Transforming into a horrific monster resembling a spider!

The monstrous Karenne sent the knights flying with ease.

The knights died without putting up much of a fight.

Even with thorough preparation, monsters are difficult to deal with. There's a reason they're called monsters, after all.

But Karenne transformed into a monster of her own accord.

As a result, she could wield overwhelming strength, tossing two knights around like toys.

[Monster Transformation] was a secret technique of transmutation wizards.

It was also the source of Karenne's confidence in infiltrating the operation area alone.

"Karenne... Oh. This is troublesome."

The demon stopped short while searching for Karenne.

The transformed Karenne howled.

"What is it, Pentagon!"

The demon, Pentagon.

He was a demon affiliated with the Golden Rule Society, a mercenary of sorts who moved in exchange for the massive tribute Karenne paid.

Karenne sacrificed abundant souls and corpses to control Pentagon.

They were corpses obtained by murdering travelers and domain residents.

"I have bad news, Karenne."

"Worse than these maggots staging a rebellion?"

"That barely qualifies as bad news."

The knights' rebellion felt more like something that finally burst after holding out for too long.

It meant they had spent a lot of time in Baron Vincents' domain.

"The wizards have caught on."

It's time to withdraw.

"No more wizards will come. I'll deal with the remaining four and clock out."

"That's not even bad news."

Karenne licked her claws with her snake-like tongue.

She was a black wizard affiliated with the Golden Rule Society, and the person in charge of this [Trap Operation].

The outline of the operation was simple.

Utilizing the nature that wizards help other wizards, it was an operation to kill or capture multiple wizards.

The benefit desired by the Golden Rule Society was clear.

The fewer the wizards, the higher the value of magic.

And black wizards are wizards too.

Could those desperate for magical aid... truly resist the temptation of black magic?

As the number of wizards decreases, the domain of black wizards naturally expands.

Right now, everyone shuns black magic.

But when things get desperate, they'll quietly reach for black magic.

It was a rough and truly black wizard-like idea and operation.

That's why Karenne intended to eliminate all the wizards who came to Baron Vincents' domain.

She even summoned a demon to deal with as many wizards as possible.

But it seems they've reached their limit of holding out.

It was time to pull in the trap.

"Well. I've sucked plenty of honey... and other things too."

Karenne looked at Theo with her compound eyes.

Theo felt like he was going to lose his mind...!

While Karenne in her human form was quite beautiful, right now she was just blatantly a monster!

The mere fact that such a monster showed interest in him was enough to drive him mad.

"How convenient. The prey is walking right into our hands?"

The wizards' goal is, of course, Professor Inglan.

If we guard the prison, they'll show up on their own.

"Don't let your guard down. We're dealing with wizards."

"You're the one I hired to kill those wizards."

Pentagon nodded silently.

He had already killed two wizards - the ice wizard Victor and the water wizard Anton.

The remaining wizards didn't particularly scare him either.

Unlike fragile humans, a demon's flesh isn't easily broken by mystical tricks.

Pentagon calmly waited for the wizards.

'Once I kill the remaining wizards, I can clock out.'

But the demon didn't know.

That Anton, who he thought he had killed, was actually alive...

And that the one who saved Anton was a wizard versed in all manner of bizarre mysteries.

---

---

---

Meanwhile.

Ian and his group arrived in front of the Baron's castle.

The castle was eerily desolate.

'... Is it because I wrecked the walls?'

There wasn't a single soldier on guard duty outside.

It seems they fled, scared of magic.

"Are you ready?"

Ian looked at his companions and shouted.

Except for Anton, whose condition wasn't great, everyone was ready for a fight.

Though they said he could rest, Anton stubbornly insisted on following Ian.

"Be honest. Did you come to follow me? Or to follow Herta?"

"What does that matter..."

Anton was about to say that, but felt Herta's gaze from beside him.

Staring.

"... I came to follow Herta. Damn it."

He couldn't help but be a so-sweet wizard.

Ian chuckled and placed Herta and Anton side by side.

"Take good care of each other. Now, let's go!"

Ian stepped into the Baron's castle.

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