“Changing the question won’t make a difference. I told you already—I don’t know.”
“I’m not going to ask about what you don’t know. I just want to hear your opinion as a demon.”
Marco tilted his head.
This human acted strangely familiar, even though they’d met for the first time today.
To want a demon’s opinion—what kind of human says that?
'Is that possible only because he’s a ‘good human’?'
Kindness is just another name for clumsiness and weakness.
Marco nodded, as if to say fine, go ahead and try.
Then Dierre spoke.
“If a demon impersonates a god, the god will declare war on that demon. What do you think of that possibility?”
At Dierre’s words, Marco felt annoyed again. He couldn’t figure out how far this information had leaked.
Was this also Frondier’s doing? What the hell is that guy up to now?
Marco said, “It’s a high possibility. Almost certain. That’s basically the same as a demon declaring war first.”
“As expected. Good.”
Dierre jotted down Marco’s words. He looked exactly like an exemplary student diligently taking notes at school.
“It seems quite a number of the 72 Demons are in Agoris. If it’s possible to impersonate a god, it would have to be at least that level of power.”
“That’s right. People will only believe if there’s strength behind it.”
“But the reason so many of the 72 Demons exist in Agoris is because their way back was cut off, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. You already know that story.”
Led by Baal, the demons crossed the gate with Satan.
But Satan returned to the Demon Realm and closed the gate, and the demons left in this world had no means of return, remaining in Agoris.
“I’ve heard the demons have no king. Is that true? Do you think demons need a king, Mr. Marco?”
“My answer to both is yes. Demons need someone to unify them. They’re far too individualistic, but that doesn’t mean they can just do whatever they want. The current demons each have temporary representatives sitting in place as stopgaps.”
Hmm, hmm. Dierre nodded, busily taking notes. He didn’t even seem to judge whether Marco’s words were true or not. The sight made Marco let out a short laugh.
Aster and Esther, watching from the side, exchanged uneasy glances, but they didn’t interfere.
“The gods must naturally know that demons have no king, right?”
“Of course. That’s why the gods already consider victory in the war against demons a certainty.”
“If demons have no king, then how do they communicate with the gods? There must be some sort of balance with the higher gods.”
“Basically they’re hostile, so it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the Seven Deadly Sins handle it. They take turns, like drawing lots. Though lately, Satan has been the one to step forward most often.”
As # Nоvеlight # always, Marco didn’t use honorifics even when speaking of his superior, Satan. But Dierre, apparently uninterested, continued writing intently.
Dierre scratched his head with the back of his pen as if pondering something difficult.
“Hmm, then have the high gods never met any demons other than the Seven Deadly Sins?”
“Well, unless they happen to bump into some low-class demon by chance, there’s no need.”
At that answer—
“──Is that so?”
Dierre’s expression vanished, and he put down his pen.
“......What?”
Marco’s eye twitched at that sudden shift.
In that instant, he caught the scent of Frondier from Dierre.
But it was gone in a blink, and Dierre’s eyes still shone with the light Marco knew well.
The unmistakable light of a kind human’s eyes—Marco’s favorite kind.
“So the only demons the higher gods have ever shared words with are the Seven Deadly Sins. Meaning, they would take those demons’ opinions as the opinion of all demons.”
“......What—”
“If Baal, or whoever it is, is impersonating a god, then from the gods’ perspective, they wouldn’t know whether it’s the Seven Deadly Sins or one of the 72 Demons, would they?”
“!”
Bang!
Marco sprang to his feet in shock.
For one who should always conceal his true feelings, that was something he would never normally do—but this moment made such restraint meaningless.
This went beyond something he could hide with facial expressions or words.
“You, you bastard, how did you...!”
“How did I, what?”
Dierre asked again.
Marco bit his lower lip.
A burning question ran through his mind.
'How did he deceive me? How did that innocent-looking face deceive me?'
But even if Marco didn’t know, Dierre himself did.
'......It doesn’t suit me.'
A kind heart, and the psychological warfare that toys with others.
Even Dierre himself thought the two things he possessed “didn’t suit each other.”
So everyone else surely thought the same.
As long as they didn’t truly know him, the “kindness” he showed would naturally make his enemies drop their guard.
Being seen as easy—that’s what that really meant.
'And besides, Marco had already tasted defeat once at Senior Frondier’s hands before even meeting me.'
Frondier’s image was strong.
And at the same time, sharply clear and rational.
When Frondier deceived his enemies, he used fearless smiles, mocking words, and an overwhelming presence and killing intent that crushed his foes.
A natural and fitting appearance for someone who digs into the enemy’s mind.
That image was carved deeply into Marco as well. Naturally, someone like Dierre seemed to stand on the complete opposite side from Frondier.
'I can’t do that.'
Dierre couldn’t grin with self-confidence, or provoke enemies with arrogant taunts, or crush them with killing intent.
Instead, even in every moment he read the opponent’s mind, he never abandoned his kindness.
And to a demon, that very thing became a knife that pierced through their complacency.
“My last question.”
Dierre looked straight at Marco. Their eyes met.
“Baal’s provocation of the gods—is it meant to draw the Seven Deadly Sins, meaning Satan, into the war?”
“......!”
Marco had anticipated that question.
He had finally, belatedly, figured out what kind of human Dierre was.
Marco was a demon of truth. He usually didn’t lie.
But that was not a constraint.
It was a deep, deep trap designed for deceiving humans at the most critical moments.
However, his opponent was Dierre.
'Go ahead. Try lying.'
If you can.
When you speak falsehood—replicate perfectly the same breathing, gaze, blink, fingertip and shoulder movements, tone, inflection, voice color, and stiffness of the lips as when you speak truth.
While my eyes are watching you—if that’s possible.
***
Dierre and Aster left the prison.
Aster spoke.
“That guy said it wasn’t true.”
“He was lying.”
“He sounded pretty convincing to me.”
“Really? I stopped listening after that, so I wouldn’t know.”
Good grief, Aster scratched his head.
Aster also knew Dierre well. He trusted his extraordinary intellect.
But sometimes, it even scared him—in a different way from Frondier.
“Shouldn’t we re-verify the hypothesis? Marco already knew about the signs of war on Agoris from the start. If he knew things would progress this far in advance, it’s possible that the bluff you used got seen through. It’s best not to underestimate a demon’s intelligence.”
“I do agree we should verify the hypothesis itself, but that guy wouldn’t have known what’s happening now.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“That guy was dragged around by Senior Frondier all over the place.”
Ah, Aster nodded, understanding.
Marco had fallen into Frondier’s schemes halfway through, floundered, and ended up fainting under the power of Frondier’s demonic energy—then was thrown straight into Obsidian.
No matter what, that couldn’t have been what he wanted.
“Now that all his plans are ruined, he’s actually the best demon we can get information from.”
“...You really are scary, you know that?”
Dierre smiled awkwardly, as if being called scary were a compliment.
Maybe because he’d heard “you’re kind” too often, hearing something like this felt like his abilities were finally being acknowledged—and that made him happy.
“But from here on, it’s a problem. I have to let Senior Frondier know about this.”
Dierre was troubled.
Marco had told him to go to Agoris directly. As if that was what he secretly wanted.
'That must mean there’s something visible from this continent—something that can only be noticed from here.'
The situation in Agoris that cannot be seen inside Agoris itself. There must be such a thing.
Inside, it would be nearly impossible to notice the demons’ plan the way Dierre did.
Only from the Falind continent—and only with information about Agoris—could one see how the gods were turning their eyes toward the demons.
That was why Frondier hadn’t reached the same conclusion as Dierre. Even if he had, there wasn’t a good way to confirm it.
Frondier was now too famous, and unlike Dierre, it was impossible for him to make demons let their guard down.
“If there’s something we can only notice from here, then going to Agoris would be a bad choice for us.”
“Since who knows when we’d even arrive.”
Exactly. Dierre nodded.
Flap.
At the sound of wings, they both stopped walking.
“Hm?”
A crow circled once around Dierre and landed on Aster’s shoulder.
“...Senior Aster, are animals usually this friendly to you?”
“Never thought about it. Even if they were, I’ve never had a crow land on my shoulder.”
Dierre looked at the crow perched beside Aster.
His first thought was,
'Senior Aster and a crow don’t match at all.'
Then came the next thought,
'This crow looks familiar.'
[Greetings.]
“Uwah!”
Aster shouted in surprise. Dierre didn’t scream, but his eyes went wide.
[Do you remember me? I am a servant of Lord Frondier.]
“...Ah, ah! The one that’s always perched on Senior Frondier’s shoulder!”
Only then did Dierre recall and exclaim.
......But the crow looked a little different from the one in his memory. Strange. Did Frondier tame several crows?
If he had tamed multiple crows, and all of them could naturally speak in human language to this degree...?
[It seems you have something you wish to tell Lord Frondier.]
The crow bowed deeply in a gesture that didn’t suit it.
[Please, entrust it to me.]
