"Qual, you are called the Sage of Corruption, one of the great ancient powers of the Demon Race. Are you really willing to hunker down in some piddling little territory like this? Well, then — care to come along with me, Aura of the Seven Sages of Destruction, and do something grand?"
"This old man is not interested."
In the face of what Aura herself believed to be a perfectly executed invitation, Qual and the dozen-odd Demon Race who followed him all wore expressionless faces.
"You—! Qual, don't make me get rough about this!"
Aura whipped out the Scales of Obedience. With Nanoda gone, she was now an avenger who feared nothing!
"Hm?"
Qual, who had been ignoring Aura this entire time, at last turned his head. He no longer concealed his presence; that crushingly oppressive Mana of his spilled outward, enveloping the entire research institute and even the surrounding jungle within its sweep. The lamps flickered fitfully, the vessels arrayed about the room began to rattle — and that included the Scales of Obedience Aura was holding up in her hand.
Two shafts of sharp, icy light pierced through the slits of his long, narrow eyes. Although Qual's expression had not changed in the slightest, the row of fangs left baring naturally across his mouth and his towering, robust frame formed into a terrible shadow that engulfed Aura.
Eh? Hold on — this old guy's Mana actually seems to be stronger than her own?
"Eh! Look — see this scale of mine? Even the Hero's sword only left this tiny little mark on it. Tough enough, right?! If you join up, I'll make a special exception and let you have a touch!"
Aura held the scale aloft with a thoroughly guilty face, utterly oblivious to the fact that her own shoulders were juddering violently back and forth — for all the world like a baby chick that had only just learned to walk.
"Hmph. This old man is not interested."
Qual reined in his terrifying presence, stretched out a great hand and grasped the entire teapot in his palm. Under the workings of magic, the black tea that had already gone cold once again gave off pure white steam, and he refilled Aura's cup for her.
"Thump." The teapot, set back down on the table, made a small noise — and frightened the fearless Aura into a full-body wobble like a quivering jelly.
"Compared with the King, this old man sees nothing on you worth researching. Since the King is not present now, this old man will, as before, give priority to his own research. Your choices are no concern of this old man's — but do not get in this old man's way."
A white breath drifted up out of the bitterly cold air, rising in company with the steam ascending from the tea.
"Lugner! I shall now bestow upon you a glorious mission — come, be my subordinate! Forget about being some acting president of the Demon Association — I will grant you the title of Headsman beneath Aura the Guillotine of the Seven Sages of Destruction. A standing such as that is one that countless Demon Generals could not even hope to aspire to."
Lugner first dipped into a bow in salute, then, summoning his courage, brazenly ventured to put forward a question.
"As a Headsman, will I be permitted my own rest periods?"
"Of course!"
"May I continue to cultivate magic and grow stronger?"
Well, given that battles against formidable foes were inevitable in the future, naturally she would allow it.
"Will I have the opportunity to observe Humans?"
"What kind of question even is that?"
"Ah, well, lately the lovey-dovey New Demon Association has had no business to speak of, and the ordinary Demon Race are all being managed splendidly under your hand. The lord of Gaderia, Mr. Aaron, has invited me to go handle Gaderia's internal affairs together with him, and in the process I've come to discover that Humans are actually quite interesting — they can write up the most trifling of petty matters into voluminous, long-winded documents. It has truly been an eye-opener for me."
"Uh, most impressive — that you can spit out that revolting association's name with such complete naturalness."
For the first time Aura switched expressions, wearing one of utter distaste on her face, and waved a hand as she answered, "No problem."
"Then — one last question. Could you bring along my teacher as well?"
"Huh? You can't be talking about Qual, can you?" Aura's expression began to turn ugly.
"No, no. Although I did spend some time learning under Lord Qual, the elder's magic doesn't really suit me." The other party smiled and shook his head.
"Phew, that's a relief, then."
On the spot, Aura felt considerably lightened. In all of Gaderia, the only one who would not bend the knee to her power was, by her estimate, none other than Qual.
"My teacher is Miss Jane — the young little lady who shares a room with you."
Aura fell silent. Of all people, why did it have to be someone written down on the blacklist?
"If that won't do… then I must beg you to forgive my declining. Miss Jane has given me a great deal of inspiration in magic — to call her my benefactress and teacher would not be an overstatement."
Lugner seemed to have already guessed at Aura's intentions, and after his refusal he said nothing further, sending Aura off with that polite yet hypocritical smile of his.
"Heh heh."
"Schlacht, would you care to come and be my Headsman? A direct subordinate of one of the Seven Sages of Destruction — this is an opportunity one might not encounter even once in several hundred years."
The robust, bull-like Demon sat alone atop the city wall gazing off into the distant horizon, his thoughts a mystery. As he polished the heavy sword in his hand, he answered slowly in his deep, weighty voice. "I apologize, Lady Aura, but at present I rather seem to be enjoying this way of life. There are plenty of Demon Race here who are stronger than I am — please go look for them instead."
Over the course of better than half a year's worth of effort, Aura had been ranging back and forth across Gaderia, and still she had failed to recruit even a single upper-echelon executive who was even barely usable.
"No matter, I'm used to it…"
Aura was feeling weary. Should she just go ahead and use the Magic of Obedience to bag every mid- and upper-rank Demon she could lay hold of?
It was just then that a loud voice came through from off to the side.
Draht came rushing in from the other side of the city wall like a bird homing back to its nest. "Lady Aura, I am willing."
"Draht, eh — he's quite young, but his strength is rather outstanding. He should be just barely able to serve as your Headsman." Schlacht offered an objective appraisal.
Were Draht to be allowed a few more decades to mature, perhaps even the majority of Demon Generals would prove no match for him.
"Very good. From this moment on, you are my Headsman. Feel honored."
"My deepest thanks, Lady Aura." Draht knelt down on one knee in salute.
Here, there was no one who could compel the proud Draht to kneel — not the Demon General Schlacht, nor Lugner either; but Aura of the "Seven Sages of Destruction" possessed the requisite standing.
One day, when the nobles of the Northern Empire dispatched troops to apply pressure, Aura led Linie, Draht, and close to a thousand Demon Race soldiers forth to mount a resistance. In the end, every one of them failed to return, and not a word of their fate was ever heard again.
Gaderia, having lost the entirety of its Demon Race military strength, fell utterly into the lower hand in what had hitherto been a balanced contest with the Empire.
Fortunately, with internal strife within the Empire and with Yuna bringing in the support of the Continental Magic Association, and with Qual subsequently inventing a new type of magic weapon, Gaderia was, in the end, spared from vanishing off the map.
Lugner had once asked Jane, "Why did Lady Linie also leave along with Lady Aura?"
Because Linie had joined Nanoda's group earlier than Lugner had, Lugner regarded Linie as his senior.
Jane's answer was simple: "To grow stronger — and, most important of all, to seek out the legendary recipe, so that when 'she' returns, even better dishes can be cooked for her…"
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