Demon King Daimaou: Volume 4 (eBook)

Shoutarou Mizuki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
232 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
9781718300842 (ISBN)

Infos

Akuto Sai's life is about to get even more complicated. Junko Hattori invites him to visit her family home, without telling him that the occasion is an arranged marriage meeting - for an arranged marriage between Junko and Akuto! Meanwhile, an assassin comes to Constant Magical Academy, targeting the air-headed Keena, of all people. Who is behind this assassination order? And most importantly... how will Akuto react when he learns of this plot? Prepare to see a darker, angrier Akuto in Volume 4 of Demon King Daimaou!

Textauszug

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The God Suhara was, in the broadest sense, a god of nationalism. There were two major organs of defense for the country: the knights and the imperial army. Only believers in Suhara were allowed in the latter.

Suhara emphasized noble blood, pride, and order, and granted permission to use powerful attack magic to those who performed brave feats. For that reason, Suhara’s believers were often considered to be polite and familial, but also uncompromising and violent.

The High Priest, the most important of the believers, was currently a man named Keizo Teruya. He was the father of Eiko Teruya, the girl who’d caused so much trouble for Akuto before. The Teruya family’s specialty was spying, and in an era where there had been no external wars for years, they’d gained military power by plotting the downfall of the noble families which ran the army.

The Hattori family, whose job it was to provide bodyguards for high-ranking officials, had managed to compete for the role of high priest until the end, but since they had already been given the honor of directly serving the emperor, de facto power was given to the Teruya.

Keizo Teruya was a rare man who could do cowardly and evil things with pride and dignity. Even those whose lives he’d ruined were forced to admit that. He stole and assassinated without the slightest hesitation or conscience, though he never lost himself in the pleasure of such deeds. Even after becoming high priest, he’d killed people with his own hands more than once or twice.

Eventually an evil shadow began to appear on his face, which everyone who looked at him could sense. But as the years went on, his expression became pleasant and relaxed. Now, as he sat with perfect posture wearing a kimono, he was clearly evil, but also strangely had the air of a saint.

He looked nervous, which was rare for him. His always-laughing eyes were now raised and sharp.

He was in the temple of Suhara. It was a huge shrine in a quiet forest on the outside of the capital. Walk under the red tori gate, and you found a huge thatch-roofed temple building. Inside the sliding doors, you could see the divine tree that was the object of the Suharan’s worship. The tree was actually just a stump, about the size of a man, and Keizo sat across it on a straw mat. This divine tree was the device that connected Suhara to humanity. There was no one but Keizo in the shrine now. He was speaking directly to the god.

“Are you sure this is her?” Keizo said searchingly.

Two priestesses walked out from behind the tree. They both had identical beautiful faces. One sat in front of him on the right, and one on the left.

“This is the judgment of Suhara.”

“We leave the final decision to you.”

They were artificial humans. When humans struggled to communicate with the god, they were there to act as aides. In terms of rank, they were bishops, ranking higher even than the high priest. But that was only in theory. The high priest was the only one allowed to make changes to the god’s program settings. Thus, the high priest was actually more important than the god itself.

But Suhara was different than the others.

“You really want me to assassinate her?” Keizo asked again.

Those who were guilty of treason had their information given to the high priest by Suhara. The gods used the mana in the atmosphere to observe the deeds of mankind. For this reason, those who were certainly guilty of treason had the corresponding evidence and their location sent to the high priest.

Of course, normal people didn’t know about this system, and it was heavily criticized even among the high-ranking officials who knew of it, but even they had to admit its effectiveness. It made it possible to stop treason against the empire before it reached a large scale.

“We are not telling you to assassinate her.”

“But her treason is clear.”

The priestesses spoke in unison.

“But there’s no proof.”

That was what made Keizo nervous. The location of the traitor had been sent, but there was no indictment, and no evidence.

“The evidence cannot be revealed.”

“Even to the high priest?”

Keizo was well aware of how strange this statement was. Once you reached the level of high priest, you knew better than anyone that the gods were just a system.

—Should I use the unlock code?

Keizo wasn’t sure if he should use his authority as high priest. If he did, he would be able to rewrite the god’s program. If Suhara had somehow gone mad, he would be able to deal with it quickly.

—But if I overrule the will of god, the other priests may criticize me. And if the system is discovered to be acting incorrectly, then the other assassinations I’ve performed will have been wrong as well.

The god only gave information on the traitors. Whether to kill or arrest them was left up to the high priest, and Keizo was a fan of assassinations. Before he’d become high priest, he’d deceived his political enemies into committing treason, and used that evidence to get them killed. If it was revealed that the system was wrong, it could lead to his own destruction.

—Normally I’d use the military’s special forces... but I suppose I’ll just use my own personal army.

“I’ll take this data, then. I will be the one to make the decisions from this point,” Keizo said.

The priestesses nodded.

“Understood. Thank you. But...”

“Depending on how you use that data, even a high priest may be found guilty of treason. Do not forget that this is possible.”

The priestesses said as they walked around him in a circle.

—What?

He’d never been threatened like that before. No, it was impossible for the divine system to behave that way. The only possibility he could think of was that it had developed some kind of will of its own.

“Wait, you can’t threaten me like that...” Keizo said, but the two had already vanished behind the tree. And Suhara said nothing further.

“Either way, I’m going to kill her. That was my plan,” Keizo said to the god as he rose.

—It has a will of its own? No, that’s impossible... Either way, once this is done with, I’ll reveal to the other priests that Suhara is acting strangely. In the end, it’s just the life of one girl. It will be over soon.

Keizo flicked at the mana screen floating in front of him, marking the data displayed there as top secret. It was a photo of a girl with red hair and a bright smile, and a name.

“Keena Soga. I’ve never even heard of her. She must be my daughter’s age. I do take pity on her, but...”

○

The Hattori family were the enemies of the Teruya. And their eldest daughter, Junko, had a big problem.

—What do I do? This is a problem I may never be able to solve...

In her hands was the student handbook, a device which could be used as a method of communication. The screen had a message from her family on it. The subject was, “Preparations for the arranged marriage meeting are complete.”

—If preparations have been made, that means that Father has given his approval, and there’s no turning back now...

Junko was lurking out in the woods behind the dorm. She’d put a mana screen in front of her to blend in with the trees, concealing herself in a way that made sure no one would find her.

In front of her, Keena was sleeping and Akuto was reading a book.

The “arranged marriage meeting” was to be with Akuto. Junko had done nothing herself, but Korone had already discussed things with the Hattori clan.

Korone was an artificial human sent by the government to observe Akuto, who was expected to become the next Demon King. She was well aware of the complicated political situation, and had decided that one way to protect Akuto from the hard-liners in the government who would have him assassinated was to marry him off to the politically influential Hattoris.

—From the way he wrote in the message, Father seems very excited. It’s a political marriage, but Hattori women are usually fated to a worse fate in love. Compared to that, he wrote that it would be better that I achieve some measure of happiness... My little sister seems happy, as well, to be relieved of her duties. Now that the family’s future depends on me, she can go back to the carefree life she’s used to living. And I, myself, don’t mind the idea... There’s one problem, though...

The problem was that Akuto was completely unaware of this. The day of the meeting was coming. And it was Junko’s job to tell him.

—Wh-What do I do? Tell him that the date’s been decided? No, what happens if I do that?

“The date of the arranged marriage meeting has been decided.” “Huh? Whose?” “Yours and mine!”

“Does that mean that you decided all this without asking me? Don’t act like I don’t get a say in this. I thought that was one thing you’d understand about me...”

—That’s what he’d say, of course! Then what do I say? Maybe this?

“Marry me!” “W-Wait a second. We’re not old enough for that yet. Are you making fun of me?”

—That wouldn’t work either....

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 31.3.2018
• Reihe/Serie: Demon King Daimaou
• Reihe/Serie: Demon King Daimaou
• Illustrationen: Souichi Itou
• Übersetzer: Adam Lensenmayer
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Battle • color wars • demon king • Light Novel • Magical academy
• ISBN-13: 9781718300842 / 9781718300842