SPELLCRAFT: Reincarnation Of A Magic Scholar

'There's someone brilliant among them. He saw through my plans.'

Zenkiel was now certain of it.

Even though they had done their best to ensure the Humans and Elves were too occupied with their simultaneous problems, so they didn't form an Alliance, that objective was thwarted.

That was when things started spiraling downhill.

After the Western Border of the Humans, and the Eastern Border of the Elves were completely purged of their Demon Beasts, the two Races must have made contact.

Still, Zenkiel had wanted to believe it was all coincidence.

After the recently failed probe, though, he received his answer.

"They have a brilliant strategist. He saw through those attacks, didn't he? The problem is how exactly he was able to predict my moves?"

Zenkiel hadn't also been expecting Teleportation Magic to be at work. That meant the Elves had advanced in Magic more than he previously surmised.

'King Abellion is right. If we leave these people for much longer... our very existence is threatened.'

Zenkiel's major concern was the strategist of the Enemy Forces. If only he could find out what was going on on his end, he would be able to plan accordingly.

'How will that be possible, though...'

"C-commander!" Zenkiel's subordinate swiftly entered the tent where he was all alone in, bowing instantly.

"What's the matter, Lakyus?" He asked.

Despite the Demon's submissive personality to him, he was still a member of the Nine Stars.

He resembled a Dragon, having a scar on his face, and several black tattoos to match his green scales.

The darkness in his eyes, as well as the immense Miasma swirling within him, attested to his strength.

This Demon General—Lakyus—was the most powerful within Zenkiel's Nine Stars.

"W-well, a human is here... in the War Camp."

"E-eh...?"

Zenkiel was surprised beyond measure. What was a human doing here?

They were currently stationed at the border of the Northern Continent—stationed closer to the Elf territory than the Human one.

It was madness to assume that a single one had managed to cross over—and even appeared amid the encampment of the Demon Forces.

"He says he's not an enemy—that he is well acquainted with Legris Damien."

Zenkiel knew Legris Damien, the human. He was a human who aided the Demons.

If not for the support of his organization, then perhaps their plans for war would have been postponed by another few years—maybe more.

But, it wasn't like they operated on charity. In exchange for the help the organization rendered, the Demons had to give a huge chunk of the Miasma harvested from their generator.

It was a give-and-take relationship.

"The human also says he's with 'the organization.' He says you'll understand."

'So, he's with them, eh?' The very fact that the human was aware of the connection between the Demons and those people meant he was indeed in the loop.

The question was how deeply acquainted he was.

"Did you restrain him?" Zenkiel asked, looking at Lakyus.

"N-no. Much to my shame, that human is stronger than I am. None of the Generals also stand a chance. We could definitely defeat him if we teamed up and brought him down with our numbers, but..."

"No. There's no need to go that far."

Zenkiel decided to trust in the man's words. Besides, if it was true that an emissary was coming had indeed come from the organization, then it would be rude to treat him in such a manner.

"Did he give you his name?"

Other than the human called Legris Damien, Zenkiel also knew one other member of the Organization called Kido.

"He calls himself Damien Lawcroft—10th Seat of the Organization."

"I see..." Zenkiel did not need to ponder on his next course of action.

If a member came personally, that meant that it was something important.

Legris Damien had been unavailable for some time now, so this one was probably sent as a replacement.

'They should inform us of these things first, though...' Zenkiel sighed a bit, remembering how abrupt the change between Kido and Legris had been.

"Take him to a reception area. I'll be with you shortly."

Lakyus bowed upon hearing the words of his superior, and the skittered off to carry out the command.

"Huu. Very well then. I might as well see what this is all about."

At the very least, perhaps it would serve as a distraction from the dread that was assailing him.

'The next Grand Demon Assembly is tomorrow...'

All the other Demon Lords would be there—in the presence of King Abellion himself.

Zenkiel gulped after considering his failure. The other Demon Lords would probably take this chance to usurp his position.

They were comrades, but that didn't mean the others wouldn't seize turn on him if given the chance.

Everyone only had unadulterated loyalty toward their King.

'... Let's hope I can get some good results before then.'

With that fleeting thought, Zenkiel decided to leave his tent and see the man who came to visit him.

He could only wonder why.

*********************

"Alright. Looks like everyone is set."

It was the following morning, and our little group of diplomats was prepared to begin our journey to the Fairy Kingdom.

Of course, we wouldn't be venturing there with our Envoy team alone.

"We don't want to keep our other members waiting."

The people before me nodded with resolve and excitement.

Serah Crimson

Bradford Levyfield.

Maria Helmsworth

Damien Lawcroft

Fabian Indiavel

Counting myself, that made us a group of six. Ivan Smith wouldn't be following us on this mission.

The reason came as a surprise to me too.

"Jared... I don't think I'll be going for the Fairy Expedition!" He had told me yesterday, just after we concluded the conference.

"Hm? Why?" My response contained hints of surprise.

I was sure Ivan had been feeling inadequate in many ways after seeing so many crazy things. Still, I didn't expect him to simply give up on exploring the world and finding ways to improve.

For a moment, I was nearly disappointed.

"I-I want to remain here." He finally blurted out.

And then, Ivan told me his reason.