The Imperial Emperor was, of course, still alive — after all, he had been the very first human Fíliya transformed into a Demon.
Whether by virtue of his rank or his value as a research subject, there was no reason to have him executed.
When exactly had Flamme made contact with the Emperor? Well, it didn't matter now. She had, admittedly, overlooked many things during her period of deep meditation — for now, it was best to simply focus on what lay before her.
Time-traversal magic, is it... A spell of that magnitude truly could only be wielded by a member of the Demon Race.
Serie studied the figure of the Emperor, and felt, for just a brief moment, something faintly like envy.
After all, whether it was her or any human, mastering magic required countless years of painstaking study and gradual exploration.
And yet every Demon, at the very instant of their birth, received a gift of incomprehensible power — conjured out of nothing.
There was one thing, however, that still struck Serie as genuinely surprising. On the very day the Emperor had been transformed into a Demon — after the resulting unrest had been quelled — she and the Empire's Magical Research Institute had conducted a thorough examination and analysis of his condition.
At that time, aside from the pair of horns that had appeared atop his head, the Emperor showed no other abnormalities. His body contained not even a trace of mana — identical to what he had been as a human.
Now that I think about it... he had only just become a Demon, so it must have taken time for his traits to awaken.
The more Serie turned it over in her mind, the more certain she became of her hypothesis.
After all, barely half a year had passed — and already, the Emperor standing not far from her now carried a considerable reservoir of mana within him.
The Demon Race truly are the beloved children of mana... Even Serie could not help but feel a quiet sense of awe at that.
"At first, I simply felt that something unfamiliar had appeared inside me — but I had no idea what it was," the Emperor said, stepping forward to offer a brief account of his situation. "It was only with the help of the Imperial Research Institute that I came to understand: what had appeared inside me was what mages call [mana]. As for the magic itself — I didn't understand that either, at first. It was only after receiving instruction from Lady Flamme that I realized what it was."
It seemed that, having lost the ability to fulfil his role as Emperor, he had quite naturally accepted his new identity — he no longer referred to himself with the imperial 'We.'
"Oh? For us of the Demon Race, sensing mana and magic should be as instinctive as breathing. And yet you required someone else's guidance before you could even recognize what had appeared within you?" Macht stepped forward as well, his expression carrying a curiosity that had apparently taken hold of him — directed at this very person Fíliya had transformed into a Demon.
"Well... I was always something of a slow learner. Even as a human, I had absolutely no talent for cultivation — not in magic, not in martial arts... and my academic knowledge was far beneath that of my peers. That someone like me managed to become Emperor can only be called a twist of fate."
At those words, the assembled group lost any inclination to press further, and waited in silence for him to continue.
"Once I came to understand the nature of this magic of mine, Lady Flamme and I began to work out a plan together... If we could send a suitable person back to the right moment in the past, it might be possible to stop everything. However, there is still one rather serious problem."
"What problem?" Frieren asked.
"This magic of mine cannot affect anyone whose total mana reserves vastly exceed my own," the Emperor explained, his voice calm and measured.
"Oh? By your own account, you've never actually used your magic before, have you? So why are you so certain of that?" Serie fixed her gaze on the young man before her — the one who was no longer Emperor — her eyes sharp with curiosity.
"That is true. But as this gentleman just said — for a Demon, no explanation is needed when it comes to one's own magic. I have never used it, and yet... I have a certain [vague sense] of it."
As he spoke, the Emperor's gaze drifted instinctively toward Macht.
"A 'vague sense'... In the world of magic, there is no more reliable testimony than that." Frieren gave a helpless shake of her head — but she accepted the Emperor's claim. After all, she herself had acted on exactly that kind of vague intuition more times than she could count.
"Very well. Then the two key issues are obvious — the question of who to send, and the question of... exactly which point in time to send them to." Serie immediately identified the two critical problems.
"Yes. Among those present, you, Lady Frieren, Lady Flamme, and this gentleman — you four are all beyond the reach of my magic."
The Emperor picked up the thread at once, naming the four individuals his power could not touch.
"I see. So we would need to choose from among the others..." Serie nodded slowly, then cast her gaze around the room.
"Kraft — I must say, I'm rather surprised to see you here."
She looked at the third member of her own kind in the room, a faint, unreadable smile curving at the corner of her lips.
"As Eisen said — the chaos that young Miss Fíliya has caused has now reached every corner of the continent. Under these circumstances, there's simply no such thing as peace and quiet, whether one is traveling or in seclusion. I had little choice but to get involved." Kraft gave a resigned shake of his head, then turned toward Frieren with a greeting.
"Frieren — it has been quite a while since that winter, hasn't it?"
"Hardly... It's only been two or three years. On an Elf's timescale, that's barely the blink of an eye," Frieren replied offhandedly.
Behind her, Stark and Fern took the opportunity to greet Kraft as well — after all, both of them owed him a debt of care from that winter.
"That's true enough." Kraft acknowledged the pair's greetings, then gave Frieren a nod.
"Then — could we entrust this mission to you? You are a warrior, which gives you something of an advantage here," Serie proposed at once.
After all, Kraft was considerably older even than Frieren — second only to Serie herself in years lived. Sending him back into the past, he would have the power to handle whatever situation arose regardless of the circumstances. And since he was not a mage, he would not be rejected by the Emperor's magic... In theory, he was the most fitting candidate by far.
But Kraft slowly shook his head.
"Before we came here, we discussed it among ourselves. The primary purpose of [returning to the past] is to stop Lady Fíliya from becoming the Demon King... so ideally, the one sent should be someone who knows her well — or better yet, someone she is deeply close to."
"...If stopping her is the goal, using force is also a perfectly reliable method. If we're being rational about it, the most efficient approach would be to travel back to when she was still an infant and finish things with a single stroke — why bother trying to talk her out of it?"
Genau's sudden interjection brought the entire room to a standstill.
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