Ch.88The Final Stratagem – 1

Igor seemed to notice the way I was looking at him like he was insane, and burst into a casual laugh.

“I didn’t say anything wrong, so why are you looking at me like that? There’s no problem if you just use what you’ve taken well instead of throwing it away. You’re a merchant’s son, so you should understand how these things work. Ah, but I absolutely don’t mean I’d use your subordinates too, so please don’t misunderstand.”

“I think my being a member of House Crate has nothing to do with what you’re saying.”

“Fundamentally, there’s no difference. So, what’s your answer?”

“I refuse. I’m not the type to switch sides easily.”

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Really? Tsk, that’s disappointing. I was trying to recruit you even if it meant arguing fiercely with the Queen. After failing to bring you in, I’m going to get a real beating when I go back.”

“…What did you just say?”

I asked again thinking I might have misheard, but Igor remained nonchalant.

“Don’t you know the Succubus Queen? Her name is Astaroth, the 7th Legion Commander of the Demon Lord’s army. That succubus wants you dead so badly.”

My brain couldn’t process the situation for a while, leaving me dumbfounded. Only after blinking several times could I finally gather my thoughts.

“Why are you being so brazen? Do you think I won’t tell anyone?”

In all my life, I’ve never met a human who would openly admit to colluding with demons.

“Because there’s no evidence anyway.”

He continued to respond with complete composure.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? You can’t catch someone on suspicion alone. Without solid evidence, how would you accuse me? If you go and tattle, saying ‘Hey, this guy is working with demons,’ and they ask for evidence, what will you say? ‘Well, he admitted it himself’? Just to be clear, I’m not stupid enough to confirm it with my own mouth if it comes to that.”

“I could request the Crown Prince… no, the Crown Princess to investigate you.”

“Investigate? Ha, if the Sword Saint and the Archmage couldn’t notice, how would that little sister figure it out?”

I wondered where his confidence came from, but it seemed he had already gained certainty. Indeed, if he hadn’t been detected by the Sword Saint and the Archmage, he had reason to be confident.

Above all, Astaroth must have given permission for him to speak so freely because she was confident too. There’s no way a human enthralled by a succubus would reveal their most important secret without orders.

“I got examined under the pretext of feeling unwell, and neither of them noticed anything. I was told I definitely wouldn’t be caught by the Queen, but I was still nervous inside. But seeing that gave me confidence. Now, back to the point. If they investigate me as you suggest and find no evidence of demon connections, can you handle the consequences?”

“Well, I don’t see why not.”

Of course nothing would show up in an investigation. Astaroth would have made sure to leave no trail.

I was planning to fabricate evidence to take him down anyway, so it doesn’t matter what he says. It’s not like I’d be framing an innocent person—I’d only be catching someone who’s definitely on their side.

‘Should I start carrying a magical recording device from now on?’

If I’d known he would blurt out secrets so openly, I would have brought one. I hadn’t thought it necessary before since the activation status was too obvious.

I considered commissioning a custom modification from a workshop—one that doesn’t show when it’s active, can be turned on and off with mana, and wouldn’t be noticeable when concealed.

Though since its purpose would be quite obvious, I’d need to find a craftsman who knows how to keep their mouth shut.

“You? I’d like to see you try.”

He curled his lips into a mocking smile, thinking my response was mere bravado. I decided to let him keep that misconception. Maintaining that arrogant attitude would only make it easier to deal with him later.

“Let me ask you one more time. Are you really not interested in joining my side? If you team up with me, you could even have a taste of succubus. Oh man, I’ve tried it a few times, and it’s incomparable to ordinary humans. Once you’ve had a taste, you can never go back to how things were before.”

“Not interested.”

For the first time, Igor’s expression hardened slightly at my firm rejection.

“Why choose the difficult path when there’s an easy one? Think about it.”

“If the easy path leads through a sewer, I’d rather take the clean one, even if it’s more treacherous.”

“…Is that so.”

He glared at me with his hardened expression.

“That’s a shame. I thought we would get along quite well.”

Then after a slight pause, he grinned.

“Well, let’s see what your master thinks about this.”

“…Master?”

“Igor, if you’d told me you were insane earlier, I would have cut your head off before you became this disgusting.”

“I’m not insane, sister. You’re the ones who are insane. You dare to conspire with demons?”

Igor shot back at Laura’s sharp retort without backing down at all. He displayed a certain imperial dignity in his own way.

With students and even professors gathered nearby, Laura’s alleged conspiracy with demons caused a great stir.

“Conspiring with demons? Me? I don’t know where you’re trying to spread such absurd rumors.”

Laura laughed cynically. She had no choice. It was the Crown Prince who was colluding with demons, not Laura.

“Can you still say that after seeing this? Bring it in!”

A knight roughly threw something down in front of us.

It was a succubus. And clearly one of high rank. Even just standing still, pheromones were constantly leaking from her.

Four priests were clustered around her, casting holy healing. I wasn’t sure if that would help block the pheromones, but I supposed it didn’t matter since they were all already enthralled anyway.

The succubus had her eyes covered with a holy cloth and her mouth blocked with a ball gag. Combined with the succubus’s characteristically provocative clothing, it almost looked like some kind of BDSM play.

“What does this woman look like to you?”

“Must I answer that with my own mouth for you to know?”

“It’s a succubus. A high-ranking one at that. She said herself that she has the privilege of sitting next to the Queen at banquets.”

“What are you trying to say, Igor?”

“This creature was disguised as one of your maids. Surely you’re not going to claim you didn’t know. The great Laura Ercarenchia couldn’t possibly have been unaware of a succubus standing right beside her.”

Laura’s face frowned for the first time. She had noticed their intention.

If she said she didn’t know, she’d look like a fool who couldn’t tell what was right beside her. If she admitted knowing, it would lend credence to the conspiracy theory. Either choice was unacceptable for someone as proud as Laura.

This is just my guess, but Laura truly didn’t know. After all, they could simply kill a maid and have the succubus pretend she had been disguised as that maid all along.

They’re the kind of people who would do such things without hesitation.

“Stop talking nonsense. If that were true, I would have noticed long ago.”

“The Sword Saint himself caught her contacting the Queen, and you call it nonsense?”

“…”

Laura closed her mouth and turned to look at the Sword Saint. The Sword Saint nodded. His expression wasn’t good, though it didn’t seem to be because of Laura.

“Of course you’d deny it. You were conspiring with demons. Do you know how I discovered this fact, Laura?”

“Such sophistry—”

“Because! It tried to enthrall me! Me, the Crown Prince of the Empire!”

His voice suddenly grew much louder. Igor was now referring to himself as the Crown Prince. Laura’s expression soured as she noticed this fact.

The murmuring around them grew louder. Laura tried to open her mouth to refute, but Igor, riding the increasingly strange atmosphere, was faster.

“Sword Saint!”

“…What is it?”

The Sword Saint, who had been frowning with a blood-stained branch in his left hand, clearly displeased with the current situation, answered curtly.

“You have slain those enthralled by succubi before, so you can surely tell the difference. Do you sense any succubus energy from me? Do I truly appear to be enthralled by a succubus?”

The Sword Saint gave Igor a disgusted glance and shook his head reluctantly.

“…No, you don’t.”

“Then what about Laura! What about my sister! Who dared to bring demons into the Empire and tried to offer this entire country to the Demon Lord! How does my sister feel to you?!”

“What are you trying to say? Are you suggesting something is wrong with that child?”

An eerie killing intent spread around them. It was so intense that even the succubus and the priests and knights beside her flinched, but Igor shouted without concern.

“I want to reveal the truth! The truth that has been hidden under lies and deception all this time! I want to bring it to light in this world!”

At those words, the Sword Saint looked at Laura with a cold face, then flinched, his eyes widening. It was a reaction sufficient for everyone present to realize something was wrong.

Laura’s characteristically cool and imperious expression broke for the first time. She was looking at the Sword Saint with bewildered eyes. The Sword Saint also appeared equally confused, as if this couldn’t be happening.

‘What’s going on?’

As I quickly looked around trying to assess the situation, I soon noticed the cause. It was the succubus lying bound on the floor.

A stream of pheromones so faint that even I could barely notice it without proper concentration was flowing toward Laura.

‘So that was all misdirection.’

No wonder she had been so blatantly leaking pheromones since being thrown in front of us—it was all groundwork for this moment. If the sweet scent suddenly appeared, the Sword Saint would be suspicious.

And the stream directed at Laura was just the faintest trickle. Not enough to excite a man, but enough for the Sword Saint to notice something was off.

“That’s enough, Sword Saint. Your reaction alone has given me sufficient answer.”

“…I don’t always speak the truth, you know.”

“But you’re closer to the truth than anyone else in the Empire.”

Igor bowed as if showing respect to the Sword Saint until the very end. The Sword Saint barely acknowledged the gesture, too concerned about Laura.

The Sword Saint quite openly disliked Igor—I wonder if something happened between them.

“How dare you set foot in the Empire with your filthy feet! What were you planning to do! Confess with your own mouth! If there is even the slightest falsehood, I swear by my name and sword that I will not spare you!”

Igor thundered at the succubus. From my perspective, he seemed to be putting on quite a performance. Every gesture and tone was full of bluster.

A knight carefully approached and removed the ball gag blocking her mouth. With her mouth freed, the succubus let out some erotic moans for a moment before speaking haltingly.

“I… I received orders from the Queen… to work with Her Highness the Crown Princess… to plan an invasion of the Empire…”