New chapter of Demon King is out! (1/1 chapter)

Escape

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That day, Adil went to the building used as a detention facility for suspects awaiting trial. Naturally, it was to meet with Sher.

After stating that he wished to meet with Sher Marmaset, submitting his stay permit, and writing “friend” in the relationship field of the application form, the permission was granted with surprising ease. The room to which the clerk guided him with a “This way, please”, contained a desk, a chair, and a large window.

Once the clerk had left, Adil examined the window. It had no glass panes, and at present it was wide open, letting in light from outside. Since the room was on the first floor, the trunks of trees could be seen beyond it.

As he was gazing outside for a while, the door of the room opened.

“The visiting time is one hour. When you leave the room, please knock on the door.” (Guard)
“I know that already.” (Sher)

The man who appeared to be the guard escorting Sher frowned unpleasantly and left the room.

“Sher. I am glad you are alive.” (Adil)

When Adil said this in Arnish, Sher walked over silently and sat down in the chair. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully before speaking.

“Well, that is how it is, you know.” (Sher)

“What do you mean?” (Adil)

“It means this is goodbye. After this, they will go through the formal trial, issue a verdict, and then the sentence will be carried out. That will be the end of it.” (Sher)

“Let us escape together.” (Adil)

Sher frowned in bewilderment, as though she had misheard the Aarnish words.

“Are you serious? It might make sense to appeal to Yuri Hou for a pardon, but escape?” (Sher)

“Yes. The two of us can escape through that window.” (Adil)

“Oh, so that is what you meant.” (Sher)

As though strangely convinced, Sher murmured to herself.

“Even if we do run away, where would we go? Once they start searching for us, we will not be able to live in this country. Are you planning to flee to your own country?” (Sher)

“No, I cannot return there.” (Adil)

If it had been some other crime, perhaps it would have been possible, but Sher was charged with high treason. If the crown prince were to take back the ringleader of the rebellion, protect her, and hide her, it would undoubtedly result in demands for extradition. That would surely lead to a diplomatic problem with the Kururuan Dragon Empire. Either they would have to make significant diplomatic concessions, or in the worst case, it could even lead to war.

“There is a smuggling route to the Albio Republic. We can cross to Little Albio Island first, and if life there proves impossible, we can flee further to the southern continent.” (Adil)
“What are you talking about? We do not even speak Luwakka language, and neither do you.” (Sher)

“We can learn it again.” (Adil)

“Whether I live or die, it has nothing to do with you. Why would you even say such a thing?” (Sher)

“Because you are my benefactor, my friend, and the woman I love. If I were to abandon you for the sake of my own safety, I would live the rest of my life ashamed of myself. That is something far more important than my position as a prince.” (Adil)

When he said that, Sher’s stubborn expression seemed to waver slightly.

“You are such a fool. I am a woman who has botched things so badly I am now burdened with this crime, foul-mouthed, and hardly worth anything. There are plenty of women in this world, you know.” (Sher)

“There is no one like you. I love you, not anyone else.” (Adil)

When he declared this clearly, Sher’s face showed a faint trace of joy, which she quickly suppressed with a shadowed expression.

“It is still impossible. It will never work. Forget about me.” (Sher)

Sher stood from her chair and began walking toward the door. If she were to knock and announce the end of the meeting, Adil could do nothing. If Sher refused, he could not possibly force her to go with him against her will.

But is that truly acceptable?

Just as Sher was about to knock, Adil’s heart overflowed with a deep longing.

“Do not die. For my sake.” (Adil)

At those words, Sher stopped her raised hand and glanced back at him from the side.

“You really mean it. You are such a fool.” (Sher)

“Do you dislike fools?” (Adil)

“…” (Sher)

Sher lowered her gaze for a while, lost in thought.

What is she hesitating about?

Adil could not understand.

“You are right. It might be better than being thrown back in a cell and waiting for execution. If you truly wish for this, I will go with you.” (Sher)

—

They climbed out through the window and slipped out of the premises when the gate guards changed shifts. Adil picked up the change of clothes he had prepared and hidden for Sher, and helped her change into them.

As planned, they moved through the city streets as dusk deepened into night, heading south. Going near the end of visiting hours had worked in their favor. The difference between using the cover of night and not having it was significant.

Avoiding the patrolling soldiers, they took narrow backstreets and finally reached the outskirts of Sibyaku. The area was a poor district, known for its bad security.

“Sher, this way.” (Adil)

Adil took Sher’s hand and drew her close as they walked. Compared to those around them, their clothing was somewhat too fine.

“Hold it right there.” (Man)

A man wearing a hood pulled low over his face blocked their path and called out. As expected.

“Sorry, we are in a hurry.” (Adil)

“Then, leave your money or the woman. Choose one.” (Man)

“…” (Adil)

Adil thought for a moment about what to do. Leaving all his money was out of the question, but giving him a small amount might solve the problem. However, if he kept losing money to every such encounter, their funds would quickly run out. The amount Adil had been allowed to use at his own discretion was not large.

The man was about the same height as Adil. Beside him stood a smaller figure, apparently a woman, also wearing a hood. She probably posed no real threat.

“I understand.” (Adil)

Adil approached with his hand in his bosom, measured the distance, and suddenly launched a front kick with his full weight behind it. This was a technique in which he had confidence among the various martial skills taught at the officer academy. It proved especially useful in confined passages such as this. It had the advantage of carrying little risk of inflicting grievous injury upon an opponent.

He pictured the kick sinking into the man’s solar plexus, the man collapsing, and then himself seizing Sher’s hand, propelling her forward and fleeing. At that point, the foot that should have carried his weight cut the air.

The man avoided the kick by stepping back half a pace and then struck the outstretched leg with the heel of his hand. A force from an unexpected direction struck the extremity of Adil’s extended body and his balance gave way so that he pitched forward. At that instant, the man had already rounded his shoulders and gathered force in his slightly bent leg.

It was no good. A shoulder charge struck into Adil’s chest, and he was sent flying without a chance to defend himself.

“Ah!” (Sher)

Sher, who stood diagonally behind him, was struck by the edge of his body and uttered a small cry.

“Ugh.” (Adil)

Adil rose at once. The blow had been no more than a body tackle and had caused no functional damage.

“Well, you pass for a rough sort of performance.” (Man)

The man spoke with a tone of dissatisfaction and removed his hood. The face beneath was the one Adil had seen only yesterday. He could not believe it.

“Why are you here.” (Adil)

“Because I knew you would come south. Once you place the guards where they will be noticed, guiding you onto this road is not so difficult.” (Yuri)

So, he had been guided. Everything had been on the palm of this man, Yuri Hou.

“That is inconceivable. For a prince of a nation to engage in an elopement for love shows extraordinary lack of prudence.” (Myaro)

The small woman beside the man removed her hood as well. There stood Myaro Gudanvier.

“Indeed, that is what has happened.” (Sher)

Sher spoke with evident dismay.

“Sher, did you suspect it.” (Adil)

“I did not have absolute certainty. A few days ago, when a pupil came for a visit, they used the room on the third floor behind iron bars. When they led you to the reception room on the first floor, I thought perhaps they had made allowance for the crown prince. Yet it was odd that you were able to escape so easily without anyone reproving you. I suspected this sort of thing.” (Sher)

If they had been able to leave through the window and slip out of the grounds so readily, Yuri Hou must have had a hand in it.

“If by some mistake you had slain a guard, I could not cover for you. Still, what were you planning to do if you were forced to fight guards in the detention facility. Were you intending to kill a Shanti regular and flee.” (Yuri)

“No, I intended to knock them unconscious in combat.” (Sher)

“The management there falls under the Royal Guard. Did you intend to subdue armed, battle-hardened guards with bare hands. Even I would find that difficult.” (Yuri)

Being addressed so calmly made Adil feel his face flush. He felt as if he were being reproved for ignorance and recklessness. In truth, he was being reproved.

“Even so, this was your doing all along.” (Sher)

Sher glared at Myaro Gudanvier with eyes full of bitter resentment.

“The old saying holds true. If you would take something, first give them hope. Let them break free from prison for a time, kindle hope, and then cast them into the depths. Truly, you have a charming temperament.” (Sher)

“No, this affair was His Excellency Yuri Hou’s plan. I did not believe that Adil would abandon his position in order to rescue you.” (Myaro)

A deep enmity seemed to exist between the two women. Myaro Gudanvier’s gaze upon Sher was entirely changed from yesterday and had become as frigid as ice.

“Moreover, Adil. I do not know whence you learned it, but the information that there is a smuggling vessel to Albio Republic is false intelligence that we have disseminated.” (Myaro)

That, too, had been a lie.

“If Shanti are listed as criminals in this country, their escape options are few. They may hide at the unpeopled northern edge and live in concealment, or they may flee to another country. For many criminals, Albio Republic is an attractive option. Therefore, we spread word that there is a smuggling ship. The criminals who are drawn to it are taken aboard and locked in the cabins. Once the vessel sets forth, we conduct an inspection at sea and arrest all aboard. Those who observed the ship’s departure spread the rumor of the vessel in confidence, and more criminals gather. In any event, the chance of actually crossing the sea is not one in ten thousand.” (Myaro)

Yuri Hou stepped closer and held out his hand.

“Produce the stay permit we issued.” (Yuri)

He intended to confiscate it. Without that document Adil could go nowhere. He would become equivalent to a person from the Papal States wandering in an enemy land. It would be natural that he could not stay at an inn and that a single inquiry by a guard or gate sentinel would end him. But to defeat Yuri Hou here would mean opposing a regent who wielded power akin to a sovereign. First, there was a great disparity in combat skill. To wound him would be tantamount to turning a blade toward a nation.

After a moment of hesitation, Adil presented the stay permit which lay in its accustomed place in his beloved satchel. Yuri Hou took it and examined its contents.

“The expiration is near. Three weeks. Well, the Black Sea route is impossible, but if you hurry you may reach the border of the Tyrellme region. The fighting should be on the seaside, so travel as much as you can by the continental side.” (Yuri)

Somehow, he returned it to him readily.

“Wait. Are you telling me to return to my homeland.” (Adil)

“Indeed. If you take that woman with you, I will not escort her. If you insist upon your whim, then you must return on your own feet.” (Yuri)

“That is acceptable, but what of diplomatic relations. Sher is, well, a criminal in this country.” (Adil)

“Sher Marmaset will be recorded as having committed suicide in custody.” (Myaro)

Myaro Gudanvier spoke.

“You shall hereafter assume another name.” (Myaro)

Her eyes, those of a cold and merciless chancellor, fixed upon Sher.

“What did you say? You are telling me to abandon the name Marmaset?” (Sher)

Sher’s voice carried clear defiance.

“If you bear the name Sher Marmaset within the Kururuan Dragon Empire, then the Dragon Empire shall be deemed to harbor a traitor who incited rebellion within our own nation. We would be compelled to demand your extradition, and if you continue to be sheltered, your country could no longer expect to be treated as a friendly power. Surely you are not so naïve as to be ignorant of what that would entail.” (Myaro)

“I refuse. From birth until death, I am a Marmaset. Even you cannot change that.” (Sher)

At the very moment Sher spoke those words, Myaro Gudanvier’s expression altered. It was only a slight narrowing of her brows, yet to Adil it appeared as though her entire countenance transformed and the atmosphere she exuded shifted completely.

“In that case, take your own life here and now.” (Myaro)

Myaro Gudanvier drew a dagger still in its sheath from her bosom and hurled it toward Sher. The well-crafted dagger, out of place in such surroundings, clattered and rolled across the grimy cobblestones. In the frozen air, where neither of the two men could find words to speak, Myaro Gudanvier continued.

“If you wish to bear the name Marmaset, then thrust that blade into your throat and die as a witch. I shall see that you are laid to rest in the family tomb. Yet if you wish to live with this man, then abandon the name of the witch. Choose now whether you shall die for your house or live for the man.” (Myaro)

Her face, motionless even in the slightest blink, resembled that of a creature of politics revealing its true nature through naked intent to kill. Adil felt himself overpowered by the small chancellor standing before him and for the first time was struck by a sensation close to fear. Perhaps it was the oppressive force possessed only by one who governed the domestic affairs of a nation, or perhaps it was the murderous instinct that the witch race turned solely upon their own kind. This was the first time Adil had ever been overwhelmed by a force not of tangible violence but of intangible authority, by the sheer power of dominion itself.

“…” (Sher

Sher remained silent, as though pinned by the force of that gaze.

Would choosing to preserve the name Marmaset, dying by her own hand, and being laid to rest in the family tomb truly be a more alluring choice for her than life?

In the Sher he knew, industrious, steadfast, and unshaken by solitude, he had never sensed so deep an attachment to her lineage. Yet now her face was clouded with anguish, and it was clear that the thought of abandoning her family’s name filled her with strong resistance.

After some time, she spoke in a strained voice.

“…Very well. I shall take another name.” (Sher)

“That would be best.” (Myaro)

Myaro Gudanvier replied simply, walked a few paces, and retrieved the dagger. After brushing away the dust, she returned it to her bosom. Then, in place of the dagger, she placed a leather pouch upon the ground.

“This is the money gathered from the estate of the woman named Sher Marmaset who committed suicide in the detention house. It is money that should have no relation to either of you, but as it happens to have been dropped here, you may pick it up as you please.” (Myaro)

“You will need money whether you take lodging or offer bribes.” (Yuri)

Having said this, Yuri Hou pulled his hood over his head, signaling the end of the conversation.

“You are to take the hand of the woman you love, escape our country by your own strength, and return in triumph to your homeland. Whether it succeeds depends upon your own ability. Yet if it does, the secret pact with His Majesty the Dragon Emperor will have been fulfilled.” (Yuri)

Ordinarily, Yuri Hou would have had no obligation to go so far. Considering the secret agreement, to let Adil cross such a dangerous bridge was nothing but a risk to himself.
And yet he intended to do so. From the very first time they met, Adil had felt a kind of detached kindness from Yuri Hou, one he had never experienced from anyone else.

“Farewell. I pray that your stay in this country has been meaningful.” (Yuri)

Meaningful? Of course it had been meaningful.

The experiences he had gained in this land had swept away the drowsy, dreamlike existence he had led within the harem. The humiliations he had suffered, the self-discipline that overturned them, the vastness of the world, the different races and their divergent beliefs, all these had expanded his world many times over.

To think that he might have remained in that comfortable yet enclosed world, growing into adulthood under his mother’s protection, chilled him merely to imagine it. His experiences in this country had made him truly human. Those memories, those lessons, the compassion he had received, and the debts of gratitude, he knew he would never forget them as long as he lived.

“I am deeply grateful for your kindness.” (Adil)

Expressing from the depths of his heart all the emotion that welled up within him, Adil bowed deeply, tears rising naturally in his eyes.

“Then, until we meet again.” (Yuri)

“Adil-san, please take care.” (Myaro)

With those simple words, the regent and the chancellor of the nation disappeared down the alleyway.

 

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