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–––Sorciere’s viewpoint

I had a strong feeling something strange was in the works.

Lately my daily routine involved gathering info from Guild Cards and what my familiars would bring. Usually I had a far more lax attitude, staying away from stressful topics like studying, but considering the current situation of the world, I could not afford to do that. I did not enjoy tapping communications and controlling familiars remotely, it was exhausting work. I did not want to get involved with that side of the world anyway, but I could not leave Brave…Lapis alone.

The environment she was in had basically changed entirely in just one month. No one had expected an usurper of the throne to rise in her country. If it did not involve Lapis, I couldn’t care less, but she had been branded a wanted criminal. Trying to find a way to make things even slightly better, I began gathering information around the capital, and slowly spread out from there.

The Guild Cards I had created allowed me to know the jobs taken by their owner, the monsters they hunted, and the time and count of each kill. With that, I could extrapolate where monsters were appearing more frequently, as well as people who feared for their safety and were hiring adventurers.

I was able to determine there were two factions at odds in Bordaule. Even if one of the sides was about to fall, there were still people fighting for both sides, so it was just fair to consider both. But the issue I found was not related to that.

“Only Bordaule has seen an increase in monsters…?”

There were monsters appearing in the world even before the Demon King was resurrected, but only Bordaule had a dramatic rise of them, adventurers were killing an unnatural number of them. It was more than twice what I had seen in Lumielle and Strom, which had been attacked by the demons before. And Leble Empire on the other hand had unnaturally low numbers, so much that their adventurers had to go find work in other countries. Something was definitely fishy about that.

“Or could some natural phenomenon have… no way in hell. There’s someone clearly manipulating these numbers. But who could it be?”

Demons were the primary suspect. But as far as I could see through my familiars, they were all just preparing big assault armies, and did not have the numbers to send spies. And if they tried moving an entire army, I would have the upper hand.

The next possibility was that the empire had done something. Both countries were not on good terms after all, so them using indirect means to crush Bordaule would not surprise me. But they were regular monsters, not familiars like mine. Was it even possible to control a large amount of monsters at will, regardless of their strength? If there was someone like that, they had to be a magician even more powerful than me.

“Except…if the demons are helping them.”

I frowned as I arrived at the conclusion I hated to even think about. I quickly force the wrinkles apart and shake my shoulders. I could not do that, face wrinkles are the worst enemy of beauty.

Before I retired, there were always people that would willingly cooperate with demons, in exchange for safety or power. But they always did that on their own, rather than being a group of people or even a country. But would a ruler even attempt such an alliance? Demons saw humans as nothing but prey to scare and toy with. Even livestock held more value to them, so if there was such an alliance in place, I was sure they would get betrayed afterward.

Even the dumbest of idiots would know that much seeing how demons usually acted, but were the people in the empire actually so stupid?

“…No, that’s probably not it.”

They probably believed they could outsmart the demons, or maybe already knew how, otherwise it would be too strange. Thinking that, I pull out a bundle of papers from a shelf nearby, and begin leafing through it. I had stored the information I gathered on Leble in the past there.

“…Here it is, the emperor of Leble, Leble the Fifth.”

He was exactly forty years old. A warrior in the past, has a robust body and red hair. He was born to a middling noble family, but during a civil war he proved a vital asset and pushed his way through to becoming an emperor. It was said that his weapons were quite incredible as well, armor that deflected any attack, and a sharp sword that cut through steel like it was paper. His extreme ambition had stuck with him even after becoming emperor, and he had a lot of confidence. He boasted of his undefeated strength, and had no mercy against his enemies.

“He’s a pretty simple minded man then. He seems to be the kind of person who uses anything in his reach for his own gain, and doesn’t care what happens to others. But that also makes him a prime suspect for having deals with demons.”

I probably should tell Lapis and her friends that as well. As I was thinking of all that, a young girl rushed into my room.

Lapis had told me to take care of her, and her mother Maria. She was obedient and honest. I knew she grew up in the slums, but she has not been corrupted at all, she always listened to her mom and was polite. Lately I have been teaching her some stuff while Maria is busy. She learned to write and read with incredible haste, and I was shocked seeing how easily she picked up the fundamentals of magic. Her future was definitely going to be interesting.

“Lady Sorciere! Sepia is done making lunch!”
“Thank you, I’ll be right there.”

I threw the paper bundle onto my desk and stretched before standing up and patting Rina’s head. She looked ticklish, but did not seem to hate it, narrowing her eyes in pleasure. My house barely has any rooms, and the kitchen was right next to the study. There I found a limited assortment of dishes, but they all looked well made and eager to be eaten.

“Lady Sorciere, lunch is ready.”
“Thanks Sepia.”

Of the three people I was looking after, Sepia was the most capable. But that was to be expected, as being a maid was her actual employment, not to mention she was in charge of a princess. Of the few maids that get hired in the palace, only a handful are cherry-picked to serve royalty directly. They have to be from a good family, have top-notch skills, and possess the wit and readiness to act as guards if the need arises. Not too long after she arrived, my room that I had never put any effort into maintaining was all clean and orderly. And I also got to eat three meals a day regularly.

“It looks so goood!”
“Did you wash your hands Rina?”
“I did!”

Rina, who still had plenty to grow, was already holding a fork and knife, eagerly waiting to be able to eat. I smiled awkwardly seeing that, and when I took hold of a knife as well, a loud alarm sound blared into my mind.

‘Warning! Warning! A large army of demons and monsters is approaching!’

I received a message from a bird monster, one of the many familiars I had keeping watch outside. A large number of monsters, enough to fill the entire forest, were being led by a handful of demons. Were they trying to invade a country again?

“Lady Sorciere, is something the matter?”
“Mm…I hope it’s nothing.”

It almost seemed like the monsters were heading straight to this city. I had closed it off from the outside world entirely, and a mirage like spell made it impossible to detect. I thought it very unlikely, but maybe some monster that was not affected by mirages had noticed the city? If that was the case, things could get annoying. I place the knife back on the table, and stand up to leave.

“Lady Sorciere?”
“Something came up. I don’t think it should take too long, but start without me.”

If they were headed for a human country, then I would leave them alone. But if there was a chance they were headed to my city, and I could not let that happen. I had to prepare for the worst.

I returned to the study, put on my hat and robe, and picked up the staff that had hung like a decoration for a long time, and swung it once.

“Alright.”

It really had been a long time since I touched any of these items, but I still felt the exciting sense of adventure I had before. I felt like my staff, robe, and beloved hat, all were happy to be of use again as well. I shook off the waves of memories coming back with those feelings, channeled magic power into my entire body, and flew out of the barrier in a flash, hovering in the air outside.

“First to confirm what their objective is.”

I mix in some of my familiars with the bugs scurrying around down there so I could listen into the conversation of the demons leading the army.