Chapter 100

“Wh-What!? The leader of the Demon Kingdom, Kiwi Alaya …!?”

Inside the grim prison, when I revealed my true identity to the fearful Tiga, who had curled up in a corner, he recoiled, pressing himself against the wall to put distance between us.

“Ugh, no way! I didn’t hear about this…!”

“Of course you didn’t. I wasn’t kidnapped after reporting it to anyone,” I replied.

The Demon Kingdom still doesn’t have photographs. In a kingdom, even high-ranking officials might have their photos taken for newspapers, allowing even ordinary citizens, who have little interest in politics, to remember their faces. But in the Demon Kingdom, that’s not the case.

Well, this is actually convenient, as it allows me to operate secretly, even after becoming a high-ranking official in the Demon Kingdom.

“Well, whether I’m an official of the Demon Kingdom or not doesn’t matter, does it? You only need to guide me, nothing more.”

“…”

Tiga, the fierce gatekeeper of the Eight Great Infernal Gatekeepers, ultimately chose betrayal over death. I was thankful for this, as it spared me from having to search through the headquarters one by one.

“Now, let’s go.”

“Where to…?”

“For now, to Shess… the woman who was bound and brought here with me. I want you to guide me to her.”

“That woman, huh…”

Tiga sighed. Then, in a hesitant manner, he spoke.

“I should mention this just in case…”

“What’s that?”

“That woman, Shess, was quite a beauty. Am I right?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“The one in charge of her torture and execution is another crazy woman from the Eight Great Infernal Gatekeepers, ‘The Mad Whip, Exstacion.’ She’s the type who, when she sees younger, more beautiful women, will mercilessly destroy their bodies with a spiked whip.”

“Hmm. And so?”

“So, uh… I can’t guarantee her safety… If something goes wrong, don’t take it out on me, alright?”

Tiga said this as we left the prison. Ahead of us…

“Ah, Lord Kiwi. I’m so glad to see you managed to escape safely.”

We ran into Shess, who should have been in a different cell.

“Shess, I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

I took the Holy Sword from the Zombie Thief and handed it to Shess. Her hands, upon receiving it, were stained red.

“By the way, Shess, when you were brought here, there was a female demon with you, right? What happened to her?”

“Yes. She tried to attack me hysterically, so I killed her first, with a chop to the neck.”

She demonstrated by positioning her hand sharply, and then suddenly realized.

“My apologies! Should I have kept her alive…?”

“No, safety comes first. It’s fine. By the way, do you know the species of that demon?”

“Um… I think she was a Mosquijo-type.”

“Ah, a mosquito-type demon. I’ve seen them before. That makes it even less of a problem.”

Considering my occupation, I prefer to minimize demon killings, but it’s impossible to be completely harmless to outlaws. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable.

Plus, today I’m off-duty. I’ll prioritize personal matters… or so I’ll tell myself.

“We’re changing our destination, Tiga.”

“What… no way, Exstacion did that with her bare hands…?”

“Tiga?”

“Y-Yes?”

“I need you to guide me to where the other Eight Great Infernal Gatekeepers or high-ranking officials are gathered. Can you do that?”

Though Tiga looked hesitant, he nodded rapidly in agreement.

It seems that the headquarters of this organization is set up in a rather large mansion.

The layout is different from the building where Iwagane’s safe room was; it’s expansive both vertically and horizontally, and there’s even a large courtyard in the center. It appears they’ve been living quite luxuriously, draining the wealth of the demons in the magic city.

“Th-the ‘Shadow Round Table’ at the very top of this building, that’s where the executives and the remaining six of the Eight Great Gatekeepers are supposed to be… all of them…”

“Everyone? Does that mean all six remaining Gatekeepers and all the top executives?”

“Y-yes. Today is the monthly executive meeting, so they should all be gathered there.”

What a coincidence.

Without even needing to spread the false information about attacking the research facility, it seems they’ve already gathered here at the headquarters.

“That’s convenient. Alright, then let’s head straight to this ‘Shadow Round Table’…”

“No, no, you won’t be doing that.”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice interrupted my words.

I immediately looked around, but no one was in sight.

“Kiwi-sama… It’s right in front of us.”

Shess, hand on his holy sword, glared at the wall to our right. Then, the wall began to bend unnaturally… No, it was something that blended in with the wall’s color, moving. Two humanoid figures appeared, standing in our way.

“Tiger, I never thought you would betray us.”

“Ch-Chameleon brothers…! What are you doing here…?!”

Chameleon brothers… I see, they’re demons capable of changing their body color. Quite rare.

From the surprise on Tiger’s face and the fact that Shess had managed to deceive him up until now, these must be members of the Eight Great Gatekeepers who were supposed to be at the Shadow Round Table.

“There’s no need to ask. We’re connected through this.”

One of the Chameleon brothers pulled out something from around his neck and showed it to us. It was an eight-pointed star silver necklace, and each of the eight points had ancient demonic numbers engraved on them. One of them had been blackened, as if it had been burned.

“Ah…!”

Tiger gasped, recalling something. Then, he took the same eight-pointed star necklace from inside his shirt and revealed it.

“I see, because Exstacion is dead…!”

“Yes. We realized that the ‘Seventh’ was missing. You wouldn’t have forgotten, would you?”

“…!”

Tiger nervously turned to me, trembling slightly, with tears in his eyes.

Hmm, it seems he really did forget.

I took the eight-pointed star necklace from Tiger’s neck and examined it. Well-made indeed.

From the context, it seems that this necklace is enchanted in some way, so that when a member of the Eight Great Gatekeepers dies, the corresponding point on the star is blackened, signaling to the other members.

I see. That would explain why they noticed the disturbance and set up an ambush for us.

“Now then, be quiet, you operatives. Don’t even think about taking any drastic measures. You’ve already been cornered.”

The Chameleon brothers both smiled the same sly smile and said,

“Right now, at the research facility, the No.1 of the Eight Great Gatekeepers, ‘Demon Spear Twinko,’ and the No.2, ‘Scorching Fist Atchies,’ have gone on a field investigation. Do you understand what this means?”

“…If there’s any more change in the eight-pointed star, those two demons will probably realize the betrayal of Iwagane and the others and turn the research facility into a demon stronghold.”

“Exactly.”

The Chameleon brothers, with smug expressions, walked toward us leisurely.

“Submit quietly. Then tell us who’s backing you. If you do that, we might consider letting you join the organization for your feat of taking down Exstacion.”

“No, I’m good.”

“What…?”

“No need to worry about the demon stronghold. The research facility is safe.”

I showed the Chameleon brothers the necklace again, this time with the two upper points of the eight-pointed star being blackened as well, in addition to the one that had already turned dark.