At King’s request, we set out to search for the underground empire by visiting King Sarkotea. We traveled north, about halfway between Tenatite and the defensive city. The defensive city was closer.
Deep in the forest, near the boundary of these mountains, there is said to be a quiet entrance. Although it leads to the underground empire, the entrance is located on a small hill.
Along the way, I had the sensation of passing through some kind of barrier. It was likely something to mislead perceptions, probably to avoid humans and other species from stumbling upon it. After walking for a while, we reached our destination, where a large hole gaped open.
The hole led to the depths of the earth, a dark and steep cave whose extent was unclear.
“This is the entrance to the underground empire.”
This time, I, Belial, King, and Ekvar all came along. Ekvar had missed out on the Dead Sea expedition and wanted to come along badly. After all, the country of the Dragonmen, Zumw, seemed like something from a fairy tale—it’s unclear whether anyone has ever truly visited. Naturally, he was curious.
Until partway, Belial and I flew using magic, and Ekvar rode on a wyvern, while King traveled on foot. He was impressively fast, though. While we flew or rode the wyvern, he kept up with us on the ground, navigating obstacles at incredible speed. He still seemed to have energy to spare.
Belial lit a small fire in his hand, using it as a light source, and we walked into the cave’s darkness. After a while, we emerged into a bright area. The light wasn’t from the sun, but from stones imbued with magic, which seemed to be the lighting of the underground empire.
As we were about to step forward, two dragonmen appeared, crossing their spears to block our path.
“Who are you!? How did you sneak into this place?”
There were guards.
Their faces were dragon-like, but their bodies were human-shaped dragonmen. However, they had scales on their backs and were much stronger and more enduring than humans, a tough race.
“…Who do you think I am!? Are you trying to block my path!? You impudent fools!!!”
Suddenly, magic surged from King, flooding the area, and the two guards staggered, exchanging glances.
“Th-this magic… a dragon, the Dragon God race…!?”
“My sincerest apologies!”
As expected, the Dragon God race, a higher-ranking dragonmen race, commanded respect.
We were quickly allowed in. The guards seemed to have called someone else to fetch them.
The dragonmen’s capital is divided into four districts, each governed by King Aram, King Arjintzan, King Auralal, and King Agemanto. Overseeing all of them is the Great King Sarkotea. The four districts don’t particularly have a good or bad relationship with each other and coexist under the Great King’s rule.
Currently, the Great King is bedridden, so the balance of power is in a precarious state.
Soon, a beautiful princess named Garubira arrived with one escort, bowing and holding up the golden hem of her skirt in front of King.
“I presume you are King? My soldiers were terribly rude.”
“You can tell, huh? I am here as the representative of my mother, the Black Dragon Tiamat, to visit Great King Sarkotea. Guide us.”
“Of course. Thank you for your trouble.”
The princess blushed slightly and gazed at King with adoring eyes. It seemed like she harbored some admiration for the Dragon God race.
“Which king is your father?”
As we started walking, Belial addressed Princess Garubira, her long golden hair flowing behind her.
“My father is King Auralal. You do not appear to be of the dragon race…?”
“I am just the guide. No need to concern yourself.”
“…What do you think of me, then?”
Princess Garubira furrowed her brow at Belial’s casual demeanor toward King, but she didn’t say anything else and simply continued forward.
She was beautiful, but seemed to have a high opinion of herself. She wore a golden dress and adorned herself with emerald and sapphire accessories. I thought Ekvar might compliment her, but he remained silent today. Maybe only humans speak in compliments?
We walked a long way before finally reaching the royal castle. The road was lined with flower beds, and there were stores selling food, crafts, and everyday goods, just like in a human town. The dragonmen Zumw we passed by saluted the princess and occasionally glanced at us, likely because we were rare guests.
“This is quite a large city,” I remarked to Belial.
“At the center is Sarkotea’s residence,” Belial responded.
“Ah, such a magnificent white castle!”
I was captivated by the beautifully planned city, but Ekvar seemed more taken with the royal castle. A grand white castle loomed high at the center, and from there, the four kings’ territories spread out in all directions. The entrance was in King Auralal’s domain, where all the comings and goings were managed.
But it seemed like the princess’s mood had shifted. I wondered if Belial intentionally spoke disrespectfully of the Great King to irk her. The guards, concerned for her, were observing her behavior anxiously.
“Have you met Great King Sarkotea before, King?”
“I think I’ve met him once or twice. He’s met my mother several times.”
“An impressive man with a magnificent beard, I gather.”
Belial had met him too! Come to think of it, he knew the location of the underground empire.
The castle was massive, with a grand entrance hall. Dragonmen in luxurious outfits passed by, bowing to the princess. An older dragonman approached her, greeting us before walking with us.
The ceiling in the hallway was high, and the walls and pillars were covered with intricate carvings. Red carpets lined the floors and stairs, while a golden clock hung on the wall, and the doors had impressive knobs. As expected from the Great King, this castle was lavishly built.
We arrived in a large room. Soldiers stood on both sides, saluting the princess as she entered. The elderly dragonman who had joined us earlier opened the door and led us inside.
There, lying in a large bed with a canopy, was the Great King Sarkotea. By his side were a few attendants.
The walls were colorful, and there was a luxurious chandelier. A large painting of the Great King stood beside the bed, and the window overlooked the city.
King stepped forward, walking up to the bed and checking the Great King’s condition.
“I am here on behalf of my mother, Tiamat, to visit you, Sarkotea. How are you feeling?”
“This… King! I’m afraid I have little strength left…”
An attendant helped the Great King sit up. He seemed quite weak.
“You need not get up; can you talk for a while?”
The Great King had long white beard and was one of the larger dragonmen, with a strong build if not weakened by illness. His greenish-brown scales seemed lackluster.
Just as I thought the meeting would continue peacefully…
“You seem lacking in strength, Sarkotea.”
Belial moved forward, speaking. At his words, Princess Garubira’s expression hardened, and she shouted angrily.
“…Who is this man!? How rude to King and the Great King!!”
“You are the rude one!”
As expected, Belial seemed to be waiting for this moment to provoke her.
“What did you say!? Do you know who I am…?”
Princess Garubira tried to approach Belial, but King stopped her with a hand.
“You’re the impudent one. Is that how you treat the King of Hell?”
“…The King of Hell!?!”
It seemed like she didn’t realize until it was pointed out. She might have been too focused on King. The others in the room had probably sensed it earlier, and they watched with concern.
“I was made a fool of by this charlatan, and now I’ve been embarrassed in front of you.”
At King’s words, Princess Garubira flushed with embarrassment and lowered her head.
It was a little sad, but also quite fitting. Belial was giving a somewhat displeased look.
“…Belial, I apologize on behalf of that person’s rudeness.”
To my surprise, the Great King bowed his head!
When he moved, I felt an odd sensation.
“…Lord Belial. What happened to the orange gemstone?”
“…Huh? …It seems I dropped it and lost it… Huh?”
The orange gemstone. The one Belial had turned into a cursed gem that amplifies death, that one.
“Sarkotea, pardon my intrusion.”
Belial slid his hand under the blanket. And, as expected, it appeared! The orange aventurine, now a cursed gemstone that summons death!
“…This is a vile curse. I see, Belial! You’re the culprit!”
“No, that’s not it! I dropped it myself! Why is it here?”
Still, the fact that the King of Hell had a cursed gem placed on him and only ended up lying down shows how resilient the Great King Sarkotea is. He must have high resistance to magic. Even that long white beard of his seems to have magic power flowing through it.
The dragonkin will handle the culprit search. It seems there’s more to discuss, so only Kingu remains, and the three of us are led out of the room by Princess Garubira and the dragonkin attendants. The attendant leads the way, walking down a long, wide corridor. As I looked at the carvings and the ceiling designs, I almost fell behind. When I realized it, Princess Garubira was next to me.
“…A contract with the King of Hell, this young girl…? Did she offer her virginity or something?”
She spoke in a condescending tone, getting close to me and sneering, making sure no one else could hear.
It was probably payback for what Belial had done to her earlier!
After saying that, she quickened her pace to catch up with the others ahead.
“Princess Garubira , that is a thoughtless assumption. One cannot form a contract with a king simply by offering their body. Besides, Lord Belial is much sought after, so he could choose any woman even without a ‘treat’.”
Yes, Belial himself had said something similar before, so it was undoubtedly true.
When I retorted so the others could hear, the princess glared at me with frustration. Normally, she probably doesn’t get retorted to…
It seemed like she understood what had been said about her, as both Belial and Ekvar’s gazes became somewhat sharp. The dragonkin attendant, who was guiding us, seemed quite flustered by the princess’s slip of the tongue about the King of Hell’s contract.
“I apologize for their rudeness.”
This time, a beautiful princess with lightly bluish-white hair appeared! She wore a light blue dress, which gave off a pure impression, standing dignified and silent.
“And you are?” Belial asked.
The princess gently lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed slowly.
Princess Garubira ‘s expression soured even more. It seemed like she viewed this princess as a rival.
“I am the daughter of King Agemant, Scripichoa-sa.”
“If you’re here, I have no need to stay!” Princess Garubira tossed her words and walked off.
“…She really is straightforward… I apologize for any discomfort she may have caused,” the princess said.
“No, please don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault,” replied Ekvar.
“Indeed, beautiful one, a smile suits you better,” Ekvar remarked, delivering one of his usual lines.
After guiding us to the reception room, the princess left, and we were left alone with the dragonkin. They prepared tea and offered some snacks.
“I’ll have some. Oh, this is delicious herbal tea.”
The tea smelled of roses, warm, and calming.
Belial and I sat on the sofa, but Ekvar was staring out the window at the town below.
After a while, Kingu came in and had the dragonkin leave.
“It seems there’s no clear culprit, but… was there something else? We were apologized to, after all.”
“Ah, that golden woman. She blurted out something about exchanging her body for a contract with my contractor.”
“…What a vile way of thinking.”
Belial lightly responded, but Kingu openly criticized him.
“To think that just giving her body would make a contract—it trivializes the contract with a king! It’s disrespectful to Lord Belial!”
“No, what are you talking about?”
“I don’t quite understand Lady Iriya ’s way of thinking… But the culprit of this incident still hasn’t been identified by the dragonkin? Hah, what a foolish race.”
Ekvar sounded unusually aggressive… He had moved a chair next to the window and sat down, crossing his legs and resting his elbow on his knee.
“What do you mean by that? Do you already know who it is?”
“It’s simple. Among them, there was one who reacted as if they already knew about the gem. That golden woman. When Lord Belial reached for the blanket, she was startled. Just hearing the mention of the orange gemstone made her flinch. She couldn’t possibly know what it was.”
At that time, everyone was watching Belial’s movements, but it seemed that he had been observing everyone else’s reactions instead…
“Really, with her personality, it would have been unnatural for her not to make a scene when the cursed gemstone was discovered.”
“True…” Kingu nodded. And this is the most convincing reason?
“However, that leaves the motive,” Ekvar continued.
“It seems she was expelled for some reason and had tried to take the capital of a human kingdom on her own. I met her and eliminated her during the defense city incident. It’s possible that she was incited by some country.”
“…If that’s the case, then it could be a separate matter. But if it’s connected, she might have pretended to be exiled in order to expand her territory, but failed and was discarded. However, something must have triggered her to shift her focus on taking the dragonkin kingdom. She may have found the cursed gemstone while keeping an eye on the exiled dragonkin. The timing when Belial dropped it and they got their hands on it seems most likely to be here.”
“Could it be that they planned to use the curse for an assassination when it almost got exposed by Sarkotea? That man would never allow an invasion into the human world. Sarkotea’s successor is Agemant. That woman’s father, Aural, has second place in the succession rights. So, would they try to take Agemant down?”
Belial and Ekvar were working through their deductions, and we kept silent and listened.
“Then, it would be convenient for Sarkotea to die once. Luckily, no one has seen him in his recovered state. If we say it was actually a true illness and spread the news of his death, Agemant would take the throne in no time.”
“Either way, that impulsive woman will probably be pushed by panic and contact her accomplices by today.”
For now, we decided to quietly inform King Sarkotea and let him and his trusted subordinates investigate. Since we couldn’t get too involved, we planned to leave the country after staying for the night.
Even in the underground kingdom, they adjusted the lighting to distinguish day and night. During the night, King Sarkotea was reportedly on high alert, and it seems Princess Garubira was indeed having a secret meeting with some man.
I’m not sure if King Aural, the father of the golden Princess Garubira , knew about this.
Thus, our visit to the dragonkin kingdom came to an uneasy conclusion.
Belial, as the ambassador for the Emperor of Hell, had once visited King Sarkotea with a letter of recommendation. It seems he’s been assigned some unclear tasks. He must be good with his words.
Ekvar, on the other hand, didn’t like Princess Garubira from the start. She grew up in an isolated little world, unbothered by real effort, with high pride but little actual capability. He dismissed her as the typical unpleasant noble. It seemed he judged her by the way she greeted only Kingu and ignored us, not understanding the relationship between Kingu and Belial.
Well, since he’s also a noble, he probably has seen all the worst traits in women like her.
“In the end, such a princess is ill-suited for political strife,” he said, his eyes cold. Could it be that he was angry for what had been said to me?
