Before departing for the capital, Klad appropriately utilized the dyeing potion Ainel had developed through long research and his own magic to change Jake’s appearance to look like a different human. His face hadn’t changed dramatically, but his impression felt blurred, enough that anyone who hadn’t paid close attention to Jake normally wouldn’t recognize him.
The duke, who would never have properly looked at his son’s face in his entire life, would definitely not be able to recognize Jake. Even if he detected traces of magic from Jake and became suspicious, he wouldn’t feel the waves of mana from the hair covered by the dyeing potion, so he wouldn’t think of Jake when seeing a man with common reddish-brown hair.
“It doesn’t suit you.”
The disguise was perfect, but Klad had many complaints.
Klad, being a dragon, could see through any magic. Even if he changed Jake’s hair color with magic, it meant it would appear in its original form to his eyes. But hair dyed with dyeing potion appeared to Klad in the dyed color as well.
“Reddish-brown hair.”
“What’s there to complain about? You should be happy his hair color changed. In the past, whenever you saw gold, you said it reminded you of the Duke West’s house and destroyed all the gold bars and coins you’d accumulated in your lair.”
“Do you think reddish-brown hair suits blue eyes?”
Ainel was dumbfounded. Jake’s pupils had their color hidden by Klad’s magic, so to others they looked deep purple. But right now, Klad was insisting that since they still looked blue to his eyes, the hair color should also be something that suited them.
“Does it… necessarily have to suit?”
“If the harmony between hair and eyes doesn’t blend, it feels jarring at first glance.”
“That’s a jarring feeling only you would notice.”
Klad also seemed to know he was being unreasonable, so he didn’t add anything more.
“I’ll be going.”
“Yes. Take care.”
Klad stepped onto the teleportation magic circle with Jake, who stood blankly. This method of overlaying the same magic circle multiple times and activating it by pouring mana directly without using mana stones was, among various long-distance teleportation magic, the one that left the least traces and was hardest to track.
Wooong—
The magic circle instantly transported Klad and Jake to an unpopulated forest a bit away from the capital. He planned to use magic to travel a certain distance, then ride a horse for the remaining distance to the capital, just like when heading to Audrit.
Back then, the plan had gone awry and Jake had to be carried by a dragon instead of riding a horse, but this time everything proceeded as planned.
In the forest they’d moved to, a horse that Ainel had someone prepare in advance was waiting. Klad seated Jake in front of him and drove the horse toward the capital. Whether he judged he could rely on the other person, or whether he lacked even the energy to sit with his back straight as usual, Jake leaned back against Klad with an expressionless face.
“…….”
Klad carefully held Jake in support, worried he might fall, and drove the horse quickly.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Running continuously in silence where nothing but the sound of hoofbeats could be heard, they arrived at the capital two days after leaving Audrit. Klad, who passed through the castle gate with a fake ID that Ainel had prepared, acted like an ordinary traveler and secured a room at a suitable inn. It was an inn with a training ground attached, which he’d looked into while hoping that perhaps Jake might regain his spirits and pick up his sword.
Swish— Swish—
Jake sat on the bed and stared intently out the window where the training ground could be seen. Even though he’d lost motivation, the sound of swords cutting through the air seemed to calm his mind, as his expression looked more pleased than usual.
While Jake watched the training ground, Klad connected the Communication Crystal Sphere and contacted Ainel.
[You’ve arrived.]
“Thanks to you.”
[I’ll report what happened in the capital while you were traveling.]
Ainel thoroughly reported the events that occurred during the two days Klad and Jake traveled on horseback.
According to the report, demons appeared in the capital once a day. At first, the demons wandered dark and remote streets for several dozen minutes before disappearing, but gradually appeared in more populated areas.
[Yesterday, a demon appeared in the middle of the plaza. Fortunately, knights from the duke’s house immediately appeared and drove the demon away, so there was almost no damage.]
“Fortunate, my ass. That duke bastard knows where the demons will appear, so he must have deployed knights there in advance.”
The duke’s house can defeat demons without damage. The duke’s house is always prepared for the safety of the empire’s citizens. The one who truly performs against demons isn’t the hero Jake, but Duke West.
They were clearly putting on a show to plant such thoughts.
[Three injured. All were immediately transported to the temple right after the demon disappeared. The duke’s house says they’ll support treatment, but I can’t confirm whether it’s to improve the duke’s house’s image or to investigate changes in the condition of people attacked by the demonized priest.]
Either way, they would have a hard time leaving the temple until the duke’s house was destroyed. Ainel quickly moved to the next topic after confirming Klad’s increasingly crumpled expression.
[Since yesterday, the duke has started spreading a new rumor. The rumor is ‘the hero attacked the Emperor, and because of that, the duke’s house’s honor was damaged, so the dragon appeared to punish him.’ Quite a few people believe this one.]
The duke spread rumors by exploiting the fact that a wanted order had been issued under the charge that Jake had attempted to assassinate the Emperor. As the festival-like atmosphere that had persisted with news of the dragon’s appearance subsided due to the demon appearances, and an uneasy mood settled over the capital, negative rumors spread even faster.
Satisfied with the reaction, the duke added the rumor that demons had begun appearing because the hero Jake West wasn’t properly fulfilling his role.
[If demons continue to appear, more people will believe the rumors the duke spread. If the hero continues to show no movement, the duke will act more boldly, and within days he might announce that he himself is the true hero.]
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Jake became the world’s public enemy.
They had to restore Jake to his original state before that.
[I’m analyzing the expected time and location of demon appearances based on the duke’s and the temple’s movements. I’ll contact you as soon as it’s organized.]
“Thank you, Ainel.”
[I should be the one thanking you. Since you’re taking revenge on my behalf.]
Beep.
With those words, the connection to the crystal sphere was arbitrarily cut off. To avoid catching the eye of the duke who would be guarding against a possible dragon attack, mana usage had to be kept to a minimum, so there was a time limit on crystal sphere use.
But he’d obtained all the necessary information.
‘Now I just need to wait.’
When Klad, who had made that resolution, turned his head, Jake was looking at Klad instead of out the window.
He waited, wondering if there was something Jake wanted to say, but Jake never opened his mouth in the end.
***
Thanks to the duke’s consistency in releasing demons every day without rest, the wait wasn’t long.
That night, Klad detected demonic energy. Judging by the direction and distance, it was toward the capital’s outskirts.
‘If it had appeared in a place crowded with people, it would have been hard to approach without being noticed. This works out well.’
It wasn’t difficult to guess the reason for throwing demons in a deserted place. If demons repeatedly appeared in similar environments, someone would find that suspicious, so he was trying not to formalize the pattern. Incidentally, it could also be to give demons time to wander the streets and gather data about them.
To emphasize that ‘the duke’s house is always prepared to face demons,’ they had to eliminate demons without giving them time to run wild. However, if released in a deserted street, there was no problem letting them wander around as much as desired.
After eliminating them at an appropriate time, they just had to leave traces and announce ‘demons appeared during the night, but were executed by the duke’s house’s knights who work tirelessly even at night.’ Incidentally, it was also perfect for monitoring whether someone presumed to be Jake or his party would approach.
That meant the fact could be reported to the duke when Jake approached the demon, but Klad didn’t care.
Whoever was in the vicinity would soon be in no position to report anything to the duke.
Klad layered protective magic over Jake’s thick cloak and left the inn.
He’d planned to carry Jake even at the cost of people’s stares if Jake refused to move, but Jake followed Klad out without a word of complaint. His hand firmly gripped the sword he’d brought from Audrit.
Did the fact that he followed without showing displeasure while clearly knowing what they were going out on the streets for mean Jake also had the will to return to his original state?
“Really, he requires a lot of attention.”
A faint smile hung on Klad’s lips.
Judging that Jake might want to swing his sword when facing the demon, Klad even cast body strengthening magic on Jake.
“Let’s go.”
Klad stood beside Jake and headed toward the direction where demonic energy could be felt.
As they walked through the darkness, Jake hunched his shoulders. Was it because of the particularly cold wind?
No, perhaps he had predicted what would happen next.
