The Emperor, who'd swiftly extracted the letter from the envelope, immediately traced the written contents with his eyes. Since night was deepening and I felt hunger in my stomach, I wolfed down dinner. Since they'd selected things humans could eat, it was very delicious. Right now I was just waiting with nothing to do, and it would be embarrassing if my stomach growled during serious discussion. I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Still, while I intended to look at it later, what was written in the Demon Lord's letter? After enjoying his drink for a while, Tannin-san crossed his arms and waited quietly. But since his gaze was directed at Diehauser-san, he probably wondered about the contents like me.
After several moments, Diehauser-san, having finished reading the letter, seemed to be thinking about something with furrowed brows. Looking at his expression, it didn't feel like a new breakthrough had been found. Then what exactly had been written?
"Diehauser-san, what did Lord Ajuka say...?"
"...The current government's actual situation, and the extent to which Lord Beelzebub can currently extend help. Also, the date, time, and place of a meeting between the Demon Lords and the Great King Bael to be held later."
"What? I've never heard of Demon Lords meeting with the Great King."
"It's to be kept secret, apparently. Seemingly content that can't be openly discussed publicly. If we go there, we might be able to speak directly with Great King Bael, and with the Demon Lords as witnesses, perhaps keep this matter internal."
A chance to speak directly with Great King Bael! True, when thinking of the Old Satan Faction's ringleader, Great King Bael came to mind first. The title of first among the original seventy-two pillar devil households still held strong influence in the underworld. The rampaging Old Satan Faction would have no choice but to settle down if Great King Bael spoke. If the Great King House recognized Cleria-san, others couldn't complain.
Still, content that couldn't be discussed publicly and that Demon Lords and the Great King House would discuss... Given this timing, could it be about peace? Something as major as peace between the three factions wouldn't normally be decided suddenly like in the original. It wouldn't be strange if it had been discussed for about ten years.
Rather than the Great King, struggling to get permission from the Old Satan Faction would be understandable. The Great King himself wouldn't change his own thinking but could act considering world conditions and demon-side pros and cons. However, the others basically had troublesome dispositions that didn't want change. They were the type to first weigh their own lives and appearances on scales before finally moving.
They'd absolutely resist peace. Even knowing the current three-way standoff situation was dangerous, they'd probably brazenly complain and grumble. In the original, I felt they'd only shut up because Great King Bael, seeing the situation, approved the Demon Lords' proposal. I didn't want to think this, but could the demon government side failing to notice the Old Demon Lord Faction's actions or being slow to act publicly regarding peace have been because persuading the Old Satan Faction was incredibly difficult...? To the point of having no time for other matters.
The angel and fallen angel sides, while having lower-ranking runaways, could basically move as entire organizations once the top gave the GO. However, the demon side had thorns in their sides sitting brazenly even when the top gave permission. Lord Sirzechs and the others, no matter their power, weren't tyrants. Undoubtedly, they'd persistently held discussions multiple times with these stubborn people without giving up.
Thinking about it... only now realizing, hadn't the original Demon Lords worked incredibly hard to achieve peace? To the point of becoming completely exhausted. While that didn't excuse neglecting other things, I still felt some sympathy. I'd splurge on the gift box I planned to give when returning the handkerchief to Lord Ajuka.
While glossed over in the original, even I as a human understood getting those guys to accept peace like in the original was extraordinary. The troublesomeness of the demon camp was really something... I didn't want to get involved with underworld matters. Once this matter ended, I'd live peacefully in the human world with Lavinia and the others...
I got a bit distant-eyed, but let's return to the topic. Apparently the place the Demon Lords were meeting was called Auros. A town in Agares territory right next to this aerial city Agares. My memory was vague, but I thought that was the place chosen as number one for Sona-san's dream school. It wasn't exactly famous. Though apparently known to some people.
In the original, Rias-san's group was called the Rookies Four from their prominence as youngsters, and Seekvaira Agares-san should have been chosen as one of them. Since she didn't appear much in the original story knowledge I had, I didn't know what kind of person she was. She seemed serious, so perhaps similar type to Sona-san? I was a bit curious.
What I knew about the Agares Archduke House was limited. I recalled it was a house bearing the terrifyingly stomach-wrenching middle management role of mediating clashes between the current government and Old Satan Faction, and consolidating numerous demon factions. Even among free-spirited demons, a serious Shemhaza-san position existed... Everyone should cherish them more... Well, precisely because Agares territory played such a buffer role, it had been chosen as this secret meeting place.
With year-end match adjustments, the Emperor would be staying in Agares for a while, and it would be plausible for him to happen to visit Auros. That place wasn't a tourist town but a peaceful countryside town mainly doing agriculture. The Emperor might visit for rest before matches, and at that time might go greet the Agares Archduke. Well, various reasons might need creating, but knowing where Great King Bael and the Demon Lords were was important information. Lord Ajuka would be there too, and might provide behind-the-scenes support for the Emperor.
"For example, could we tell the Great King about the pieces there and directly ask the Demon Lords to save Cleria-san?"
"Impossible. You may have forgotten, but Cleria Belial has committed the taboo of romance with clergy. Under current government circumstances, as Demon Lords they cannot permit that."
"Because demon leaders can't openly recognize someone from an opposing organization..."
"Furthermore, there's the matter of the pieces. Threatening the Great King with a problem that could trigger civil war—as Demon Lords that's unacceptable. Given Sirzechs Lucifer's personality, he could stop the purge. However, Cleria Belial would lose her freedom. She'd be brought back to the underworld, or at worst exiled as a criminal."
"That's..."
That meant even if Cleria-san's life was saved, she'd be separated from Yaegaki-san. True, she might not be able to continue as Kuoh Town's administrator. If she stayed by Diehauser-san's side in the underworld, while monitored she might survive. There might be a method of waiting there until peace...
There was also the method of choosing exile again and staying with Yaegaki-san, but I didn't think the church would stay silent. Stray devils' fates were all tragic. Without backing, they'd be targeted by the three factions.
In that case, the Gray Magicians couldn't extend help to them, and we'd have no choice but to borrow Azazel-sensei's power as insurance and have them live quietly in the shadows. While they might be united in the form of both being exiled, the world's treatment of strays was cold. Like Akeno Himejima-san, they might be constantly pursued. They'd spend time fearing the terror of continuously having their lives targeted.
...Right. Knowing that would happen, I'd been thinking all along about a compromise to get the Old Satan Faction to give up on Cleria-san. However, to speak directly with the Great King required content the Demon Lords would also approve. Lord Ajuka, a Demon Lord, had expressed negative opinions about the danger of King Pieces. In other words, negotiation using the pieces with the Old Satan Faction was impossible. Lord Ajuka was a Demon Lord. Approaching negotiations with content that he as Demon Lord feared would be nothing but foolish. Different negotiation cards would be needed.
I wanted to save Cleria-san and the others. I understood that just saving their lives might be enough. Still, I didn't want to abandon the wish for my friends to live happily and smiling. I didn't think just being alive made me happy. Because everyone was nearby and smiling, I felt happy. I'd struggled for that.
"We can't use the pieces for negotiation with the Old Satan Faction... Or rather, doesn't that mean the King Piece materials I worked so hard to get from the Demon Lord only serve to inform Diehauser-san of the pieces' existence..."
"Probably. That's why Ajuka Beelzebub could give you the materials, knowing that."
At Tannin-san's affirmative words, my shoulders slumped. True, while we'd gotten the Emperor to recognize the King Pieces, beyond that this was too much of a bomb to use carelessly. If underworld citizens learned of it, riots were certain. If other current factions learned, demon society would face disaster. Uninvolved people couldn't be allowed to know.
Hmm, the card called King Pieces—was there truly no use beyond showing it to them?
"...Which means two choices, then."
"Yes, that's what it comes to."
"Tannin-san? Diehauser-san too—what choices...?"
"As mentioned earlier, if just saving Cleria Belial's life, that could be done now. However, in that case, she'd have no choice but confinement, exile, or appearing to die publicly. To escape the Old Satan Faction's eyes."
The choice we'd be forced to take if no negotiation cards with them were found. The choice I'd initially considered of having them hide until peace ten years later wasn't impossible. But if possible, I didn't want to choose such options.
"...Then what's the other choice?"
"Give the Old Satan Faction negotiable material and have them overlook Cleria. Have the Demon Lords serve as witnesses to that. As a backdoor deal."
"Material to negotiate besides the pieces..."
"My seat as Emperor."
For an instant, my breath stopped. At my wide-eyed reaction, the Emperor smiled as if it couldn't be helped.
"I could also become stained by the game's darkness, but my pride and everything I've built won't allow that. Then, I'll announce retirement soon with minimal confusion and vacate the first place seat. A new wind visiting the Rating Game where the top ranking status had continued unchanged. The cunning old foxes will gleefully publicize, compete, and profit."
"No. That's no good! If you do that, even Cleria-san...!"
"But this causes the least damage. Cleria's future or me stepping down from the Emperor's seat. Only those two choices remain. And I've already obtained that answer."
Saying that, he held the letter Cleria-san wrote to his chest, those gentle gray eyes unchanged. I couldn't speak at his words. I knew his resolve. Because this person, in the future ten years from now, was someone who could seek revenge for Cleria-san even by throwing away everything.
Then, now, if a choice existed before him to save Cleria-san by abandoning what he'd built—
"Cleria or me. If there's only one path, I'll take it. I became the pro player I admired, improved game content competing with others, and reached that summit. I've already enjoyed Rating Games plenty."
Wrong. My wish wasn't this kind of choice.
"I'll go to the meeting between Demon Lords and Great King, and use my seat as a card to have the Great King suppress the Old Satan Faction. The Demon Lords will understand that's the method causing least damage. Lord Beelzebub will be there too. We must have the Bael Faction arrange things with the church regarding Yaegaki-san too. ...I must speak with Cleria about this."
I... I didn't come to meet Diehauser-san to prepare this kind of choice. True, I'd come this far relying on him. Even if it was depending on others and a pathetic method, I'd worked hard because there was possibility of creating a future where everyone could smile. Where Cleria-san and Yaegaki-san could be together, where all the household members could smile, where the Emperor could continue working hard as champion...
I truly understood that was a pipe dream. It was impossible for the Emperor alone to keep confronting the Old Satan Faction. I knew my wish was just selfishness. I thought I was a complete fool looking away from reality and only thinking ideals. Still—
"You couldn't have reached it alone. But your actions moved those around you. That is your power. Crystals you yourself drew in and gathered to connect this pipe dream to reality."
Right, remember. Even this very moment had been a pipe dream for me. Yet it properly became reality like this, didn't it? Dreams I couldn't do anything about alone—I could fulfill them by joining forces with everyone!
"Alone... it can't be fulfilled. Right, that's obvious, isn't it?"
Just as I alone wasn't enough, the Emperor alone wasn't... enough either. The crystals needed to connect pipe dreams to reality. They surely existed. Crystals even someone like me could gather. Cards the Emperor, Diehauser-san, could use precisely because he was Emperor—surely they still existed!
Lord Ajuka had said it. As things stood, it wouldn't become a trigger against the Old Satan Faction. Just revealing the pieces would only be a method of bloodshed causing underworld confusion. So to avoid that, I'd come here thinking we'd consider more together, right? If I stopped here, it would truly end.
Think, think. What good was having a brain if I didn't use it here? We couldn't use King Pieces to pull the trigger on the Old Satan Faction. To negotiate with them, we needed to load bullets they wouldn't realize were bluffs—rather, bullets we'd actually be fine firing. Cards beneficial to the Emperor's side and detrimental to the Old Satan Faction.
But those loaded bullets needed to convince underworld citizens and Demon Lords. Otherwise, from fear of leading to citizen riots, Demon Lords would have to stop it. In other words, it had to be beneficial to Demon Lords or something they could remain indifferent to.
Furthermore, if the Emperor and upper echelon became adversarial, there'd be pressure on him afterward too. After these negotiations, influence was needed so they couldn't carelessly interfere with Diehauser-san. Meaning, some kind of power to keep fighting the upper echelon afterward was necessary.
...Argh, what the hell, seriously! Why did things get so complicated? Besides, the Emperor hasn't done anything wrong! Handing over the Emperor's seat he worked hard to obtain—that was absolutely wrong. Rather, weren't those guys—stealing Rating Game management rights from Demon Lords, match-fixing for their houses, receiving dirty money through corruption, cheating with pieces—clearly the villains!? The Demon Lords truly wanted to do something about this situation too...
Position-wise, Diehauser-san was absolutely the hero. A champion confronting great evil—didn't that sound cool? Even now he was incredibly popular. Definitely would become even more popular with underworld children. So much so that citizens, presented like this with which opinion was correct between the Emperor and those guys, could instantly understand without thinking—
"...Wait, hold on."
Words leaked out unintentionally. Cleria-san's matter, the upper echelon's matter, Demon Lords' matter, Emperor's matter, underworld's matter—everything was entangled too complicatedly, making me think it was hopeless, but... was that really true?
Maybe I didn't need to think so complicatedly? As I'd just thought, wouldn't it work to correctly convey the Rating Game's current situation to everyone? And what if we gave them hope toward improvement rather than disappointment in the games?
Rating Games were dreams themselves—connected to demon status, rank, honor, and also excitement, hope, and smiles. Absolutely not a playground for the upper echelon. So wasn't the problem just the method and direction of conveying that?
Cards Diehauser Belial held precisely because he was Emperor. Methods those guys couldn't imitate. That was... his track record. And everything built with underworld fans existed. The Emperor's power those guys had underestimated—shouldn't we make them thoroughly experience firsthand that was a mistake?
"...Red Dragon Emperor is the royal road. White Dragon Emperor is the path of supremacy. Then the Emperor is... the righteous path."
Saving Cleria-san was our objective. And to do that, we had to do something about the Old Satan Faction creating Rating Game darkness. The objective itself of helping a demon in romance with clergy wouldn't be praiseworthy in underworld terms. But what about just the method? The act itself of clearing Rating Game darkness wasn't wrong for underworld society.
In the original, sudden exposure and discovery of massive cheating had been leading toward riots. But thinking about it, there was no need to suddenly dump piece-nitro into the underworld. Rather, weren't there several easier-to-drop bombs? Bombs that wouldn't cause rampage even if surprising. And what if, rather than dropping those bombs and abandoning things like in the original, we led with legitimacy as Rating Game champion?
Rating Games were sports hugely popular among demons, naturally involving many media. He as Emperor and popular person had appeared constantly in movies and various TV programs like Issei's group. In other words, he had personal media connections. While there were probably media run by those guys' pawns, striking first and stirring things up might delay their intervention.
Current demon society had many demons with human-like values. Not rational thinking but emotional thinking. That's why in this world, the righteous magical girl Magical☆Levia-tan was popular and Oppai Dragon could become a hero.
No matter how terrorist organizations or Qliphoth attacked the underworld, underworld people kept believing in and cheering for Oppai Dragon. In a sense maybe meaning easily swayed, but still those feelings strengthened the protagonist. Underworld people's feelings definitely weren't light. They had power. Then what if we could guide that power not toward riots but in the right direction?
Wouldn't all that power become the hero Diehauser Belial's?
"Diehauser-san, Tannin-san! As top players, I'd like to ask you both something."
"Kanata?"
"...I have an ominous feeling bubbling up, but what?"
"Rating Game pros... do you get proper salaries? Are benefits solid?"
"Huh?"
As expected, these two might be close. Rather, I was asking seriously, so I wanted them to answer my question. Why were both looking at me so exasperatedly? I'd cry.
What came to mind was the scene in the original where Rias-san had recruited Rossweisse-san. Insurance was properly set up, and not even term-based. The Valkyrie had trembled at the base wages. That's how fascinated she'd been by demon pensions and health insurance. Those were demon-like in stimulating human desires, while simultaneously the underworld's work-related aspects likely had human world-like sides. If so, probably that was OK too. It would have impact on surroundings and become a properly legitimate reason.
Honestly, I didn't know if my thought-up method would work. Frankly it was highly luck-dependent and completely improvised. But I refused either Cleria-san or Diehauser-san being sacrificed. Then I'd struggle to the end. Whether I was human or this was a demon problem—screw it all!!
Sticking to my original purpose, I'd use whatever I could! Since it was an important problem the underworld held... it was natural for everyone in the underworld to think about it together! It wouldn't cause riots at least. Since this distortion affected even the surface, if it was this versus getting piece-nitro dumped like in the original, I'd believe making things a bit noisy was acceptable! If it went well, it would become a negotiation card with the Old Satan Faction upper echelon. Lord Ajuka had said before he'd provide support, so probably it would be fine.
"Ah, also one more thing. I'd like to ask you something, Diehauser-san."
"Wh-what?"
"Can you do hero roles?"
"...I do movie and acting work, so I've done it several times."
"Good good. Then it's securing evidence. We need to find trustworthy media contacts and put effort into direction too. Oh, I need to consult Lord Ajuka and others about whether we can use the King Piece materials on those people."
After all, they were directly involved. We properly held the involving card called King Pieces. But this absolutely required Diehauser-san's cooperation. If the Emperor didn't permit it, we couldn't make them allies. He knew them best, and probably could persuade them. Because the target we should aim at in this matter had to be focused on one.
I didn't know if this was right, but I couldn't think of other methods. There'd be many problems to consider later too. We'd have to be careful of the upper echelon's movements after everything ended. Rather, whether we could get Lord Ajuka's approval was the biggest problem. As Demon Lord protecting the underworld, having either Cleria-san or the Emperor sacrifice themselves would protect underworld safety.
Still, I knew full well which I'd choose between the choice of one being sacrificed or neither being sacrificed. Believing in the Demon Lords and everyone, I had no choice but to try with everything I could do. Red light—if everyone crosses together, it's not scary!
"...Emperor, brace yourself. This will probably get quite terrible. I've already given up."
"Huh?"
Tannin-san started ordering more alcohol for the Emperor's share too. We were discussing seriously, yet how much was he planning to drink? After Diehauser-san looked between me and Tannin-san alternately, he timidly started drinking the offered alcohol. Adults were somehow unfair.
At any rate, toward the two who'd started a drinking session on their own, I began explaining my thought-up content.
***
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