An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 2

by Fuminori Teshima

  Well, it’s probably best for Nephy to have another girl to spend time with. That was why Zagan quietly left the two of them on their own.

  And today, he was once again reading a large number of tomes in the archives, but...

  “So this is the last of the books that I brought over from Marchosias’ castle, huh?”

  He was almost finished reading through every new book he had gotten his hands on.

  But there wasn’t any info on demons or the Sigil of the Archdemon at all. As he thought, there seemed to be a need for him to search through Marchosias’ legacy once more.

  However, when he scoured through it last time, he wasn’t able to find anything more conspicuous than what he already had. If he just went over without thinking of anything new, then he’d probably get the exact same results.

  “If I had... one other sorcerer...” The old Zagan never would have thought of such a thing. A sorcerer who possessed different knowledge from him, and thought in a different way. It was a problem that his personal disciple, Nephy, was unable to help out with.

  When he thought of sorcerers other than himself, the first one that came to mind was his undesirable friend, Barbatos, but nothing good would come of showing him the legacy of an Archdemon.

  Next, another face came to mind, but just how much would he be able to trust them? It made it difficult to decide.

  And then, Zagan thought of another approach to the problem. Perhaps I should look into a field other than sorcery? The first thing that came to mind as a potential avenue was the church.

  It was an organization which revered a so-called ‘one and only god,’ and clad their members in Anointed Armor that granted enough power to oppose a sorcerer. Of course, it was also an existence which could be called his natural enemy. Among them, there were a mere twelve Archangels who wielded Sacred Swords. And that group were said to be even able to rival Archdemons if they joined forces.

  It wouldn’t be strange if they held knowledge that sorcerers did not possess, but even as an Archdemon, it wasn’t wise for Zagan to tread on their domain.

  Suddenly, he recalled the face of a certain awkward girl. Now that I think of it, has she been safe after that? Chastille, the Maiden of the Sacred Sword, had once fought against Zagan, but for some reason she was also Nephy’s friend. He ended up saving her after she was captured by Barbatos, but he didn’t know just what had happened to her after that.

  Well, not like anything good can come of an Angelic Knight and a sorcerer meeting.

  She was a girl who was far too serious in the oddest ways. He thought it best for both of them that they didn’t meet, but he also couldn’t help but remember she was trying her best to allow Zagan to escape when they last fought.

  If they met again, she might once more hesitate to kill Zagan, or she might try to strangely cover for him again and end up driving herself into a corner.

  It wasn’t like Zagan particularly asked for it, but watching someone fall into ruin because of him did leave a bad taste in his mouth.

  I guess I’ll try asking Nephy later, then.

  Given his position, it would be most convenient if she was actually dead. However, as a person, he wished her no harm. The thought of her dying without him ever being aware made him feel quite sad.

  Though, Zagan only truly worried about it to that extent.

  “There’s a huge mound of problems huh...?” And as he said that and stretched out, the door to the archives opened without a sound.

  Valefor, is it?

  In a rare turn of events, she was alone. Zagan turned around to face the young girl, who was silently standing still at the entrance to the archives.

  “Do you need something?”

  “Dinner... is ready.” She was being cautious as always, but her voice held no hint of hostility in it.

  After hearing that, Zagan shut the open book in his hands and nodded.

  “I see. I’ll head over now.”

  Valefor continued looking up at Zagan as he set aside the book and started walking toward the dining hall.

  “Looks like you have something you want to say, Valefor.”

  “Why... have you not killed me?”

  It seemed she had opened her heart a little to Nephy, yet still suspected Zagan.

  And Zagan merely shrugged his shoulders and uttered a simple, short response.

  “I’ve said it many times now, haven’t I? Nephy is fond of you. That’s why I let you live.”

  “So what... do you just assume I won’t ever try to take you by surprise?”

  Zagan made a bitter smile as he heard those words. Just the other day, he had a similar exchange with his undesirable friend Barbatos.

  Though she looks like a child, she’s a true sorcerer when it comes to things like this.

  He thought there was something wrong with a dragon acting like a human, but Zagan simply replied with a snort.

  “There’s a guy I know who said something similar once. Back then, I told him to come at me at any time. He knows a lot about good alcohol, you see? And so, each time I strike him down, he brings over some quality liquor,” Zagan said, then finally turned back around.

  “That’s why I’ll say the same thing to you. Come at me whenever you want. Each loss will add more time to your sentence, so you’ll have to keep working under Nephy.”

  If Nephy’s growing attached to you, then it’d be great if you could stay forever! His actions were absolutely not because he was moved by her lonely voice from the other day.

  And Foll’s expression grew dangerous in response to that haughty reply.

  “Do you not worry... that I’ll steal all your damn knowledge?”

  There were over ten thousand books in his archive. After gaining access to Marchosias’ legacy, that number only grew, so even Zagan didn’t have a grasp of the accurate count anymore.

  A sorcerer’s knowledge... was a stockpile of each and every single one of the books they held.

  Fundamentally, sorcery grew in power by making a magic circle more complex. Though it was also possible to not use a magic circle and replace it with a spell or apparatus, the basic structure never changed.

  And the things that made use of those complex designs... was the fine details of a crest’s design, which were known as ‘circuits.’

  Each of these books explained one of those circuits, and it could even be said that understanding one book would be akin to gaining mastery of one new circuit. Of course, the word ‘understanding’ here didn’t mean just knowing how to add a circuit to a magic circle. No, it was something that indicated one would be able to manipulate it in any form.

  That was why sorcery could be ‘stolen.’

  If Valefor was anywhere close to Zagan in power, then she would be able to understand an equal amount of books.

  By that logic, the criteria for being an Archdemon candidate is accumulating over ten thousand of those. The number of circuits wasn’t necessarily something that created a gap in quality, but it was a still a criteria.

  If Valefor were to steal all the ‘circuits’ here, she may even have been able to overwhelm Zagan.

  However, Zagan simply shrugged his shoulders as if he weren’t particularly concerned.

  “Not really. Go right ahead.”

  “Wha...” Valefor opened her eyes wide in shock at Zagan’s reply, which sounded as if he was ridiculing her for stating the obvious.

  “What, you find that surprising?”

  “Do you... expect me not to be?” Foll just so happened to have an expression of shock on her face as she said that.

  I don’t have any interest in what happens to the grimoires I’ve already studied.

  Zagan never went back to read a book after mastering a new circuit. And so, all the books he had piled up were of no use to him anymore. That was why he didn’t really care if they were stolen or burned or whatever.

  Perhaps his ability to fully comprehend everything upon reading it once was the reason he was granted the title of A
rchdemon.

  However, it seemed Valefor was unable to understand his logic. She continued to look up at Zagan, her confused expression stuck to her face all the while.

  Eventually, after scratching his head, Zagan replied like he found her stare bothersome.

  “In my mind, techniques and knowledge are simply things to ‘steal.’ Even I took from the sorcerer who was first here... His name was Andras or something, I believe... Well, at any rate, I killed him and stole his knowledge.”

  It was something he did during his days as a waif, back when he was abducted to be a sacrifice. At that time, Zagan turned the tables on Andras and became a sorcerer.

  The reason Zagan, who was just a human, could kill a sorcerer was because he saw Andras’ sorcery... and stole it. And even now, the technique to do so had become the cornerstone of his power.

  The amount which is stolen... is proportional to the amount of power you have.

  That was why he thought he had no right to stop someone who was hell bent on stealing his sorcery.

  “Of course, I won’t attentively teach you like I do with Nephy. But at the same time, whether you sneak into the archives and read all the grimoires or memorize my sorcery by watching, I have no intention of hindering you. Though, if you go and steal or tear up a book I haven’t read yet, then it’s a different story.”

  Having said that, he already scanned over all of the tomes he had brought from Marchosias’ legacy. There was nothing left that he was desperate to hold on to.

  Besides, I can’t complain if she does the same things I once did.

  The reason he went out of his way to tell her that may have been because he saw his old self overlapping with her.

  Zagan was an incorrigible rascal, but even so, there was a boy who acted like an older brother and lent him a hand. If nothing else, he wanted to at least mimic that boy’s behavior.

  Valefor then shook her head.

  “...I can’t understand that. You’re arrogant. You should be able to force me to obey you through sheer strength. Why not do that?”

  I mean, that would just make Nephy sad, right!? Even if she didn’t show it, he felt like she would scorn him for it. It wouldn’t be all that much, but it was still something that he couldn’t possibly bear.

  And in response to Valefor, who had no way of knowing his circumstances, Zagan snorted with a ‘hmph.’

  “I don’t know how long you’ve lived as a dragon, or how excellent a sorcerer you are, but you are a mere child in my presence. And children should quarrel and throw tantrums as they see fit. There are none here who would take offense to that, I assure you.”

  It wasn’t that he wanted to be liked. No, it was just that he couldn’t leave her be.

  He himself couldn’t explain how he felt, so Zagan roughly rubbed Valefor’s head to distract from his thoughts.

  However, much to his surprise, Foll didn’t brush off his hand. He had expected her to at least get angry and bite at him, but...

  On the contrary—

  “A child...” As she said that, for some reason, tears began welling up in her eyes.

  Huh? Is this my fault? Did I mess up? Sure, she was a dragon, but any ordinary onlooker would assume he’d just made a child cry. And even Zagan lost his presence of mind at that thought.

  “G-Gaaah, don’t cry!”

  “I’m not... crying.”

  Zagan was at a loss as he watched her wipe her face with both hands.

  “Urgh, a-anyways, it’s time for dinner, right? Let’s go. Nephy’s cooking is good enough to stop those tears in their tracks,” Zagan said, as he took Foll’s hand and headed toward the dining hall.

  And the fact that Valefor was tightly squeezing his hand in return... Well, that was something he pretended not to realize.

  ◇

  “Is it tasty, Foll?”

  “Mm... It’s tasty.” Valefor was crying in the archives, but had stopped by the time they reached the dining hall. And following the flow of events that occurred once they reached their destination, the three inhabitants of the castle were now having dinner. Their seating order ended up with Zagan at the head of the table, Nephy to his left, and Valefor on his right.

  Oddly, Valefor had become all friendly, acting as if that was how she’d always been.

  What a selfish girl. Zagan was the one who said her tears would stop if she had dinner, but he couldn’t really accept such a radical change in her.

  And, just as he felt he was about to let out a sigh, Valefor shifted her attention to him. Her feet, which couldn’t quite reach the floor, dangled about playfully as she gazed at him inquisitively.

  “...What is it this time?” Valefor suddenly cast her eyes downward as Zagan pointed a suspicious gaze over to her. Since she was still clearly frightened of him, the young girl spoke up as if she was mustering all her courage.

  “...Zagan.”

  “What?”

  “...Getting in the way... of dinner before... Um, it was my bad.” She was likely talking about the first day they met. The time she came charging into his castle. And hearing that apology made Zagan stare back at her in wonder.

  “I got in the way of you eating Nephy’s delicious food. It’s only natural that you got so angry.”

  “H-Hmph... As long as you understand.”

  He never thought that she would apologize, so Zagan raised his voice as if trying to cover up his bewilderment.

  At the same time, a certain thought occurred to him.

  Well, it’ll probably be fine if it’s her.

  He didn’t for a second believe that a relationship of mutual trust had developed over just a few days, but he did know she was someone he could cooperate with.

  At the very least, it made no sense for her to remain hostile toward Zagan, as she clearly understood the benefits she would gain by obeying him.

  As Zagan fully realized all that, he turned to face Nephy.

  “More importantly, Nephy, I was thinking of taking this girl along and going out for a little tomorrow. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. Do you have some business to care of?”

  “Indeed. I was thinking of going to Marchosias’ castle... I wish to investigate Archdemon Palace.”

  The real name of Marchosias’ castle was unknown, but sorcerers called it ‘Archdemon Palace’ out of reverence.

  Hearing that name made Valefor stand up with a bang... However, because of her height, her line of sight had gotten even lower.

  “The former Archdemon’s castle... you say?”

  “Yeah. I’ve already looked through it once before, but the knowledge I desire wasn’t written down in any of the books I brought back. That’s why I’m going back again.”

  He was looking for anything on demons or the Sigil of the Archdemon.

  No matter how I think about it, there’s no way nothing would turn up after how hard I searched...

  It seemed that Marchosias really didn’t want others to know anything of those matters.

  Valefor then spoke up, as if on guard.

  “...Are you sane? That would be the same as granting me the knowledge of the Eldest.”

  Eldest was Marchosias’ second name. Because the ex-Archdemon had lived for a thousand years, at some point in time, he earned that name.

  Naturally, the amount of knowledge that he had accumulated was colossal. If they went to investigate things there, she would be able to at least hide and steal a look at books as much as she liked. If the dragon Valefor were to gain even more knowledge, it may have even been possible for her to defeat Zagan and the other Archdemons.

  And yet, Zagan nodded as if it didn’t matter at all.

  “I do believe I told you this already, but I have no problem with you stealing knowledge.”

  Valefor’s face became more and more contorted, as if to mirror her confusion.

  “I’m... your enemy, you know?”

  “Yeah, now that you mention it, you’re right. But you might say I’m short on hands. As long a
s you help me search for what I want, I’ll allow you to run amok as you please.”

  He had been keeping an eye on her the past few days and noticed that Valefor held no real sense of hostility toward Zagan or Nephy. Thus, it likely wouldn’t be a problem to have her help search through Marchosias’ legacy.

  Honestly, I’d prefer to go with just Nephy and me, but... Unfortunately, Valefor was still a sorcerer. Moreover, she was a dragon who might possess knowledge that only dragons knew. As such, she would surely be helpful for searching through Marchosias’ legacy.

  Besides, frankly speaking, he wanted a hand in managing Marchosias’ castle.

  He didn’t think his undesirable friend Barbatos would provide proper reports for him, and Nephy’s friend Manuela wasn’t a sorcerer. Even her one other friend, Chastille, was an Angelic Knight of the church.

  That was why he wanted to leave its management to Foll, if she proved capable, anyway.

  That was just how highly Zagan regarded the truth behind demons and the Sigil of the Archdemon.

  After thinking for a while, Zagan cleared his throat with a cough and muttered.

  “Besides, being an Archdemon’s subordinate should suit your needs well. It’s about time those guys outside understand that it’s not worth it to oppose me, too. That’s why, well, um, how do I put it...”

  “Huh...? What are you trying to say?”

  Zagan averted his gaze and continued his speech as Valefor tilted her head quizzically.

  “No matter your identity, there cannot be many fools who would dare lay their hands on you after learning it would offend me.”

  It would mean that, just like Nephy, Valefor would fall under the patronage of an Archdemon.

  In practice, Valefor was the last one to attack him, and no more intruders had shown up in Zagan’s domain since. There may have been lost people or Angelic Knights trespassing, but there would likely be no more sorcerers who were openly hostile to him.

  Well, if I can’t protect this lone girl, then there’s no chance of me protecting Nephy for the rest of her life. That was the only reason for his decision. It absolutely was not because a young girl who had no place to return to weighed on his mind. If he said that was his real reason, then that was all.