An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7 (Premium) Read online

  “Za...gan...”

  The moment he heard that name, Decarabia’s smile vanished.

  “What... did you say?”

  “Zagan... The new Archdemon’s name... is Zagan... Guaaah!”

  The Archdemon was mumbling in a delirium as Decarabia crushed his head underfoot.

  “Zagan...”

  He repeated that name nostalgically, in an irritated manner, yet longingly.

  “Zagan... Zagan... Zagan, ZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGAN ZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGANZAGAN... ZAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!” Decarabia screamed to the heavens. He screamed, and screamed, and suddenly went quiet. His expression calmed down just like a baby in his mother’s bosom, and he then smiled just like a little boy.

  “I see. So he became an Archdemon. How amazin’. That’s just like Zagan. He was a strong kid even before becomin’ a sorcerer, after all.”

  Then, after smiling and praising his sibling, his eye peeled back repulsively.

  “GYAAHAAHAAAHAAHAAAA! I see! So he’s an Archdemon! That guy who gouged out my eye! Who crushed my arm! Who tore out my heart! He’s an Archdemon!”

  And so, Decarabia began walking.

  “I need to go see him. He’s the only one who can save me from this endless achin’ in my eye.”

  With that, the Archdemon’s castle crumbled to pieces behind the lunatic.

  ◇

  “The beach... is so nice... If only I was born in this world...”

  Zagan was greatly perplexed. After inviting Chastille and the others over to an uninhabited island, he found Gremory waiting for him there.

  It was supposed to be the turning point of winter, where it would be impossible to even think of going for a swim, but oddly enough, the sunlight pouring down from the sky was just like summer. It seemed that this was thanks to the power of the sirens’ Holy Treasure. If one were to change the climate using sorcery, it would require a magic circle that covered the entire area of the sky over the island along with the power of several dozen sorcerers. This was a power different from sorcery and the Sacred Swords... No... it even differed in terms of how its power existed in itself. In any case, it was something awe-inspiring.

  As for Gremory, who appeared on such a miraculous island, she was lying on the beach with a smile plastered on her face as she gazed at the other girls. Kuroka seemed to sense danger to her body, drew a short sword from her cane, and took a step forward.

  Why is this idiot here? I only just decided on coming out here moments ago, right? Zagan had left Gremory with her teacher three weeks ago. So how did she end up coming today, with this kind of impeccable timing? Was this granny maybe prescient? And upon thinking that, he realized it was the opposite.

  It took until today for her to escape from Orias... And because Gremory brought over swimsuits saying they should go to the beach, Lilith recommended that everyone go to this island. It may have also been possible that Lilith was guided along without directly meeting Gremory or anything too. This granny would surely go that far to fulfill her desires, leaving Zagan at his wits’ end.

  Zagan was currently dressed in nothing but a swimsuit in the form of shorts. Normally, he had robes wrapped around him, covered in countless barriers, so it was somewhat unsettling for him.

  Present at the beach were Zagan’s group of four consisting of himself, Nephy, Foll, and Gremory; six people from the church including Chastille, Kuroka, Nephteros, and a young Angelic Knight named Richard; and the two people who had invited them here, Lilith and Selphy. In total, there were twelve of them, all wearing swimsuits prepared by Gremory. However, Barbatos was nowhere in sight. He was likely lurking in the shadows somewhere, but he wasn’t showing his face.

  “Um, Your Highness?” Lilith called out to him timidly. She had twisting horns poking out from her tied up crimson hair that were similar to Gremory’s. Her unyielding eyes were golden like the moon, and she had bat-like wings sticking out of her back. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit and for some reason also had what looked like a servant’s apron on over it. After Zagan took her in as a subordinate, she started to refer to him as royalty.

  “This woman is... your subordinate, right?”

  “Yeah, sorry. I guess I haven’t introduced her yet. This is Enchantress Gremory. She’s a sorcerer who possesses enough power to compete for first or second place in strength among my subordinates... I’m sure she doesn’t appear that way to you, though.”

  Judging from her reaction, Zagan was convinced that Lilith was guided here without realizing it. Incidentally, since Nephy and Foll were Zagan’s family and not his subordinates, he didn’t count them in that power ranking. Barbatos wasn’t a subordinate, but more of a collaborator, or maybe he was just paid help, so he wasn’t counted either.

  Upon hearing such words of praise, Gremory began scratching the tip of her nose.

  “Keeheehee, even I am embarrassed to have my liege praise me. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Gremory, oh princess of the succubi.”

  Even as Gremory elegantly bowed and introduced herself, Zagan didn’t overlook the fact that she was slurping at her lips.

  “Gremory, this is my new subordinate, Lilith. I’ve given her suitable authority to match her role as my mediator with Liucaon. Don’t start anything strange, you got that?”

  “Keehee, I’ll keep that in mind. I’m not such a narrow-minded woman that I’m unable to love without touching someone directly. True love power is something that accumulates infinitely even when gazing from a distance, right?”

  The fact that she was surrounded by beautiful girls in swimsuits must have eroded her self-control. Gremory was no longer able to hide her arousal, leaving Lilith completely taken aback.

  “H-Hey. Is she alright? I don’t understand a thing she’s saying.”

  “It’s better for you not to understand, so be at ease. Oh... but as long as she’s here, try to stay close to me or Nephy. She won’t cause you any harm, but you’ll end up a little exhausted.”

  “Is that so...? Well, understood.”

  This girl was clearly to Gremory’s tastes, so ignorance was bliss in this case. Gremory’s eyes were already sparkling with a blaze in them, but Zagan decided to ignore that. He then shifted his attention over to Lilith.

  “By the way, what’s with that outfit? Is that also a type of swimsuit?”

  Wearing an apron atop a swimsuit did a wonderful job of hiding the swimsuit, making it look like she was wearing an apron and nothing else, which was somewhat troubling. Lilith suddenly turned red and hid her face behind a tray she was holding in her hand.

  “Th-This is, um! The elders said that I should be waiting on the Archdemon, and kind of forced me to...”

  Lilith looked ready to sink to the floor, but then Gremory gently embraced her shoulders.

  “I see there are those in Liucaon who understand reason. Be at ease. You are like a blindingly dazzling gem right now.”

  “I-Is that... so? I guess it doesn’t feel bad to get told that!”

  Lilith recovered in an instant.

  Well, it’s fine as long as she’s okay with it... If he thought about it too deeply he would begin to pity her. Moreover, Lilith’s reaction seemed to fully appease Gremory, so it didn’t seem like she was going to snatch Lilith up and eat her anytime soon.

  Zagan then suddenly remembered something.

  “Now that I think of it, Alshiera hasn’t meddled with you at all since then, right?”

  That completely mysterious vampire seemed more fixated on Lilith than she was on Zagan.

  She spoke as if Azazel was referring to Lilith...

  “No, I haven’t seen her since. She always appears at the most unexpected times and only leaves behind completely incomprehensible words. She’s been like that for years,” Lilith said as she shrugged her shoulders.

  “I see. That does explain her quite well from what I saw.”

  Did she already a
ccomplish her objective? Or was she lying in wait and seeing how things played out even now? Zagan didn’t believe for a second that she did something idiotic like die after getting caught up in what happened with Foll.

  “Well, if she’s not getting involved, then I guess that’s fine too.”

  Besides, Zagan had bigger issues on hand. He stole a glance over at Nephy. A white swimsuit was covering her snow-white skin. Nephy was usually quite charming, but right now she was even more beautiful than usual. Since she was embarrassed by the unusual outfit, she was fidgeting, trying to cover herself with her long hair and squirming about. It was enough to drive Zagan to want to just embrace her on the spot.

  So why!? Why can’t I look her in the eyes!? Even though she was so attractive that he felt like his pupils would burn, he couldn’t look at her directly. And, while he writhed in agony over that, Foll suddenly squeezed his hand.

  “Zagan, wanna play with us?”

  “Hrm... I really do want to, but...”

  If he didn’t calm down a little, then it would be troubling to even point his gaze in Nephy’s direction. And as that was going on, Chastille’s group from the church also came over. Perhaps because Gremory was running wild, they were standing aside waiting for an opportunity to cut in.

  Chastille was wearing a swimsuit that had a similar style to Foll’s with a pareo around her waist. It had a mature feel to it, which was quite unexpected to Zagan.

  Hmm. I’m fine looking at her in a swimsuit, huh? He did honestly believe that she looked cute, but it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t look directly at her. And that was when Zagan suddenly realized that Chastille’s gaze was wandering around restlessly. It was as if she was looking for someone.

  I bet she’s looking for Barbatos... It had only been a few hours since the last incident. There was no way she forgot in such a short time. And perhaps noticing Zagan’s gaze, she straightened herself out and smiled.

  “Zagan, Nephy. Thank you for inviting us. Allow me to show my gratitude as the representative of the church. Thanks to you, my subordinates are also able to take a well deth...served break.”

  Seeing Chastille so plainly bite her tongue, Zagan and Nephy smiled.

  “She bit her tongue, huh?”

  “She clearly did.”

  Chastille’s gallant expression was reduced to tears in an instant. And upon closer inspection, it was clear that the other Angelic Knights were also looking at her with smiles on their faces.

  Aaah... somehow, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen this side of her...

  “I-I haven’t had any breaks lately, so this is natural!” Chastille exclaimed as she turned beet red upon noticing the gazes pointed at her. In other words, her switch had been stuck on ‘work mode’ this entire time.

  I guess her crybaby part would show up in force after being suppressed for half a month... It seemed that it was the correct choice to invite Chastille along.

  Zagan shifted his gaze over to Nephteros, who was letting out a sigh, and Kuroka, who had her head cocked to the side in a worried manner next to Chastille. Nephteros was wearing a dazzling white swimsuit atop her dark skin, while Kuroka had a swimsuit with a cute looking ribbon on it adorning her chest, and even had little ribbons tied around the ends of both her tails. That was clearly Manuela’s choice.

  Kuroka currently had her cane in hand, and even the Angelic Knights accompanying them in their trunks had swords at their waists or strung along their backs. It was quite commendable of them, but it definitely looked uncomfortable to wear such belts against their skin.

  Manuela prepared swimsuits for these guys...? How did she know that Chastille’s entire group would be here? It was truly frightening. She wasn’t a sorcerer, but she had a full grasp of the circumstances surrounding sorcerers and the church. Just who exactly was she? In a way, it was a greater mystery than Alshiera.

  “Nephteros, Kuroka, sorry, but keep her company.”

  “Oh well. I suppose it would be troubling if she ended up drowning here.”

  “I can only get in up to the shore, but I’ll do my best!”

  Kuroka nodded and clenched both her fists, but Zagan shook his head.

  “You don’t have to go out of your way to do anything, Kuroka. As long as you’re next to her, Chastille’s ‘carelessness’ will decrease by thirty percent. That’s more than enough.”

  Chastille was always concerned about those around her. Kuroka’s cane would surely be difficult to use with the sand at her feet and especially in the water. Moreover, Kuroka attracted misfortune of a different type from Chastille’s at a greater magnitude, so it was even more worrying that some sort of disaster would happen to her. However, precisely because of that, it would balance out Chastille.

  “Even all of you have been looking down on me...?” Chastille remarked reproachfully while drooping her shoulders, to which Nephteros replied with a dead serious expression.

  “It would be troubling for me if you died. Is it strange for me to be worried?”

  “Huh? No, um, that’s not what I...” Chastille began muttering in confusion as if she was unable to decide whether she should be happy or embarrassed at such a straightforward declaration. And just then, a voice which couldn’t read the atmosphere at all rang out.

  “Hey, Mister Zagan, and you people from the church, are you guys, like, not planning to get in the water? Swimming’s fun!”

  Even though they had finally crawled out from the bottom of the sea and were now basking in the sun, the siren was slapping the water with her tail and beckoning them back in. She was a girl who was both a servant at Zagan’s castle and royalty among the sirens, Selphy.

  “We haven’t been under the sun for three weeks, so why should we go out of our way to go back into the sea?”

  “I mean, everyone’s just, like, talking about complicated stuff and looking all troubled, right? You’ll feel better if you move around some!”

  It seemed she was just bored from being unable to put up with the general mood. And so, she had raised her voice in a bid to cheer everyone up. However, the next one to voice their disapproval was Chastille.

  “I’ve never tried swimming before... Will I be fine?”

  “Huh? Really?” Nephteros asked.

  “I mean, there aren’t all that many bodies of water large enough to swim around in, right? Our bath was really small too, and swimming in a public bath really is just improper...” Chastille said as she twiddled her fingers in embarrassment.

  “Angelic Knights have to go camping when they’re on missions, right? Didn’t you get in a river or something?”

  “There’s no way I can go swimming in such a public place! Actually, can you swim, Nephteros?” Chastille asked, trying to shift the focus of the conversation away from herself.

  “Do you really think I ever had the opportunity to try?” Nephteros inquired as she looked over to Nephy.

  “Nephelia, how about you?”

  “Can I swim, you mean? I’m the same as you. Even being allowed to take a bath was a rarity...”

  “Sorry. It’s my fault for asking you.”

  The hidden elven village was situated deep within a mountain range, and when Zagan’s group had gone to investigate it, they hadn’t seen any bodies of water nearby. There was a well in the village, so they had ample access to drinking water, but regardless of all that, Nephy had been basically imprisoned during her childhood there.

  Foll seemed to be tired of all the talking already, and began playing around by building a sand hill at Zagan’s feet.

  “Ummm... then, what about Kuroka?” Chastille asked.

  “I’m bad with water!”

  An immediate response. Even her two tails were standing on end, and her face was screaming, “Please stop talking about water!” In the end, cats really were bad with water.

  “Huh? Then... none of us can swim...?”

  A cold silence spread out with that unneeded remark. In truth, Zagan could swim, but he didn’
t feel like getting in the water right now. Regardless, Selphy dared to further not read the atmosphere.

  “Then I’ll, like, teach all of you to swim! I’ll lead you by your hands so it won’t be scary!”

  “Y-You will...? Then, I guess...” Chastille muttered to gather her courage, then one of the Angelic Knights raised his voice with resolution.

  “Then, would you like to learn as well, Lady Nephteros? Though it may be presumptuous of me to ask, I am quite experienced.”

  “Huh?”

  The Angelic Knight Richard held out his hand like a gentleman, to which Zagan reflexively glared back at him. A cold sweat began pouring down Richard’s brow from having an Archdemon’s glare pointed at him. But even so, his smile didn’t break. He was the very image of a man doing his best to maintain his courage.

  I faintly felt it was the case before, but is this guy trying to court Nephteros? There was no problem with his character... Or actually, compared to a sorcerer, he was a boundlessly upright person, but it felt like he would die if Zagan were to lightly tap him. He just couldn’t approve of such a frail man becoming his brother-in-law. Still, Zagan said nothing. Silence was power after all.

  First, Zagan would judge him based on how much he could endure this situation where an Archdemon was silently glaring at him. Such was the case, but the Archdemon’s silence didn’t continue for all that long, since Nephteros suddenly squeezed Zagan’s arm.

  “Big Bro, can I go swimming?”

  “...I guess. Watch out for any strange creatures.”

  The Archdemon’s silence was easily shattered by his sister-in-law’s pleading.

  “Thanks, Big Bro. Let’s go, Chastille.”

  “Oh, mmm... Okay, see you later, Zagan.”

  Nephteros took Chastille’s hand and ran off. Richard’s efforts to withstand an Archdemon’s silence were all in vain, as he was left behind... It was a little pitiful. Zagan felt like he’d done something bad, and cleared out his throat with a cough.

  “Ummm... If you wish to get closer to Nephteros, then demonstrate enough power to make me acknowledge you first.”