Damn Reincarnation

The only Tower that kept its distance from Balzac was the Red Tower of Magic, with Lovellian as its Tower Master. And this was only because Lovellian truly hated black wizards, not because the Red Tower of Magic as a whole held any enmity toward the Black Tower of Magic.

In other words, even though Balzac was a black wizard, he was able to get along well with everyone around him. Just from what Eugene had seen, Balzac’s approach was extremely sensible. He went so far as to bow his head in order to show the Lionheart clan his respect, and he didn’t use the influence of the Demon King of Incarceration behind him to take control of the situation or place pressure on anyone.

At first glance, he appeared to be quite a nice black wizard.

But from Eugene’s point of view, there was simply no such thing as a good black wizard. In Eugene’s opinion, the only good black wizards were dead corpses or cripples unable to use magic.

“You must be happy to be so free,” since he wasn’t feeling too good, Eugene couldn’t help but be sarcastic.

Although Eugene was openly frowning at him, Balzac just nodded with a grin.

“And it seems that Sir Eugene, you have it hard with how busy you are,” Balzac noted in amusement.

No, wait. Could Balzac truly just let Eugene’s rudeness pass without a comment? It seemed that Balzac was still only human after all, so how could he accept being treated this way by someone a lot younger than him? Although Eugene didn’t know the reasons for it, this was the first time Balzac had responded with anything other than sheer politeness.

Balzac waved his hand, “Ah, please don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean that to be sarcastic, Sir Eugene.”

Saying that just made his previous words sound even more sarcastic. Eugene didn’t reply immediately and just flatly stared at Balzac.

Balzac got back to the point of this conversation, “Now then, what was I saying? Right, I’ve heard that you will be leaving Aroth the day after tomorrow and would then be heading over to Ruhr and Nahama.”

“It seems you’ve got quite a lot to say today,” Eugene observed.

“It’s because I have some concerns about you, Sir Eugene,” Balzac explained.

Eugene hesitated, “...Concerns?”

All of a sudden? Eugene’s brows furrowed as he stared at Balzac.

Balzac continued, “The Northern Ruhr Kingdom is close to Helmuth.”

“...So why does that matter?” Eugene asked eventually.

“It’s relevant because the Lionheart clan’s influence won’t be able to stretch that far,” Balzac warned. “Originally, the Ruhr strictly prohibited the entry of all demonfolk and black wizards, but since five years ago, the royal family has become especially stubborn about it.”

“...,” Eugene listened quietly.

“There are a lot of demonfolk in Helmuth. Among them, there are also those who seek to go against the will of my master, the Demon King of Incarceration. In the first place, the Demon King of Incarceration is not the only Demon King who reigns in Helmuth.”

“By that, do you mean to say that the Demon King of Destruction is preparing to make a move?”

“How could that be?” Balzac shook his head with a short chuckle. “That isn’t the case at all. The Demon King of Destruction… well… they don’t enjoy violence. Also, they’ve always shown respect to the Demon King of Incarceration. If the Demon King of Incarceration isn’t making a move, then the Demon King of Destruction also won’t make any movements.”

The Demon King of Destruction was a first-ranked Demon King.

Recalling some distant memories, Eugene clenched his trembling fists. Like their name suggested, the Demon King of Destruction brought destruction with him wherever they went. In his past life, the party of heroes had never truly confronted the Demon King of Destruction.

They had only ever seen the Demon King of Destruction moving from afar.

Eugene still couldn’t be sure exactly what he had seen at that moment.

Was it a black… no… a gray blob? He couldn’t even be sure of that. All he knew was that, on the other side of a wide-open plain… he had seen that blob of ‘color’ move. The truth was, he couldn’t even be sure that that was the Demon King of Destruction.

But he couldn’t help but believe that it was.

If something like that wasn’t Destruction, then what on earth could even be called destruction? If something like that wasn’t the first-ranked Demon King, then what on earth could even be called a Demon King?

That feeling of existential doom had appeared briefly and then vanished from the other side of the plains, but everyone who saw it had lost consciousness for a moment.

Let’s go and fight him. We need to slay him.

No one had said anything like that. If Anise hadn’t uttered a prayer, thus calming everyone’s minds… then they might have fallen into an unsightly frenzy.

“...However, Sir Eugene, even if the Demon King of Incarceration doesn’t move, and the Demon King of Destruction keeps their silence… that doesn’t mean that all demonfolk will stay quiet,” continued Balzac.

“...Doesn’t that mean your master is lazy and indifferent, Black Tower Master?” Eugene asked provocatively.

However, once again, Balzac didn’t show any displeasure. Instead, he just smiled while nodding in agreement.

“Those words are undeniable. Yes, it’s the truth. The Demon King of Incarceration doesn’t suppress the demonfolk under his control to keep them from taking independent action. My merciful master, he… respects the freedom of all his servants,” Balzac unabashedly praised the Demon King.

Even though this seemed contrary to his name as the Demon King of Incarceration.

“However, my master still clearly draws a line. It doesn’t matter if you take advantage of the freedom he offers you, but you alone are responsible for the consequences that might arise from your actions. Just think of Baron Olpher, the one who tempted young Eward. He had to pay for the problems he caused with his own life,” Balzac casually brought up a sensitive topic.

“...,” Eugene held his tongue.

Balzac continued, “Demonfolk are naturally violent. The stronger the demonfolk, the more violent they are. And among the demonfolk, many are sick of this peace that has been going on for hundreds of years. The world might be at peace… but the demonfolk…. Ha ha. It might sound ridiculous for me to be the one to say this, but the demonfolk aren’t a group that can truly be satisfied by peace.”

“Are you saying that thanks to your Demon King’s indulgence, they might be a threat to me?” Eugene clarified.

“I’m just saying that there may be many demonfolk who think this way,” Balzac said as he lowered his voice. He stared at Eugene with a smirk in his eyes and continued, “This statement does not just apply to the demonfolk serving under the Demon King of Incarceration. The silent Demon King of Destruction also has demonfolk serving him. If it’s to finally break the silence of their master, they might just be willing to do anything.”

Eugene didn’t reply to this and just glared at Balzac.

Faced with this silence, Balzac could only continue the conversation, “Also, among the high-ranking demonfolk, a few wish to become one of the new Demon Kings. Since the original five Demon Kings have shrunk down to just two, doesn’t that mean three slots are now vacant? Duke Giabella is one who is eagerly eyeing such a position.”

“Can’t they just hold a vote for it?” Eugene asked as the corner of his mouth curled up in a smile. “You can just gather all the demonfolk together and nominate new Demon Kings.”

Balzac seemed amused by his suggestion, “Haha… while it would be nice if that were the case; unfortunately, the demonfolk don’t believe in holding elections. The demonfolk are a group that would just smash the ballot box if they feel that an election wouldn’t go the way they want. It’s because they’re like that that they hate peace.”

“Thank you for this warning.”

For Eugene, these were just words; he didn’t actually show any gratitude by bowing to Balzac. Instead, he stood there casually and stared at Balzac.

“Since you’ve said all this, I might try going to the Ruhr at another point in time.”

With his current skills, was Eugene truly capable of fighting high-level demons?

Eugene believed in his strength, but it wasn’t to the point of overconfidence. He also hated the idea of getting into danger because he needlessly got involved with something troublesome. He might still go there someday, but he only intended to visit Ruhr after he was confident that he could handle the danger there.

‘I also need to pay attention to the matter of the Moonlight Sword,’ Eugene reminded himself.

He had managed to purchase a fragment of the Moonlight Sword at an auction house. They had said that the place this fragment was discovered was in the Khazad Hills. So in a few years, when he was ready to go to Ruhr, he also planned to make a trip to the Khazad Hills.

“As for Nahama… hm,” Balzac trailed off with a thoughtful hum.

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He had already warned Eugene about Ruhr, but it seemed that Balzac wasn’t done talking just yet. He pondered something for a few moments before smirking.

“You should be careful in the desert,” Balzac advised.

Eugene asked, “Because of the sandstorms?”

“No, because of Amelia Merwin,” Balzac said as he raised his hand.

With a snap of his fingers, his shadow rose from the ground and engulfed Balzac’s hand.

“But the Demon King of Incarceration has declared the Lionheart clan a friend. If Amelia Merwin, who has made a personal contract with the Demon King, were to harm me, wouldn’t that make the Demon King of Incarceration a liar for calling the clan his friends?” Eugene asked.

Balzac simply answered, “She’s special.”

Even though Eugene had directly implied that the Demon King of Incarceration might be a liar, Balzac still hadn’t dropped his smile.

Balzac added more detail to his answer, “She was… even before she made a contract with the Demon King of Incarceration, she was already an amazing black wizard. Haven’t I already told you that the Demon King of Incarceration respects his subordinates’ right to freedom? Even among all his servants, Amelia Merwin especially enjoys a lot of freedom.”

“...,” Eugene was silent as he processed this.

“If, in the one in a million chance that you do accidentally bump into Amelia Merwin, you can try and give her this,” Balzac’s hand was now holding up a black envelope which he offered to Eugene. “If you give this to her, no matter what you might have done to her, she probably won’t harm you.”