Shadow Court Magician Chapter 12: The Demon Lord Victor

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　I looked down at the amber liquid lightly and brought it to my lips.

　It smelled very rich, and the bitterness was pleasant.

　I asked for two teaspoons of sugar, so it wasn’t too sweet, but I lamented lightly that with such good tea leaves, I should have had it straight.

“I’ll take the second cup straight.”

　I thank Chloe for the tea. She smiled back and we immediately start working.

“Now, I’m going to look through the paper, but I think I’ll focus on the sections like ‘Hero of the Day’ instead of the front page.”

“Why not the front page?” (Sicily)

“Why not the front page? —Because the front page is mainly filled with generals and politicians. What we’re looking for is a promising general candidate. We are looking for officers and enlisted men who are active on the battlefield. These people are often featured in the Heroes of the Day section around page 7 of the Sun Elfism newspaper.”

“I see, right.” (Sicily)

　As expected, Sicily praises me.

　I divided the newspapers we read into “useful” and “not useful” categories.

　I, Sicily, and Chloe read the newspaper at our speeds.

　It was interesting that our individual personalities came out with just reading the newspaper.

　I handled the newspaper roughly, thinking it was something to be thrown away. I crumple it up and read the words quickly and roughly.

　On the contrary, Princess Sicily reads the newspaper carefully. She reads carefully so that there are no wrinkles. She is reading it at quite a relaxed pace. Reading slowly and gently like her personality.

　Chloe is in the middle and doesn’t mind wrinkling the newspapers a little. Her reading speed is paced between me and the princess.

　Sicily came to me with the Dwarf Times, thinking that there was something we can start on.

“Leon-sama, I found an interesting article.” (Sicily)

“What is it?”

　When I asked, she opened a featured article.

“Here’s an article I found about an officer who is highly praised by the honest Dwarf Times reporter.” (Sicily)

“Hmm, a dwarven reporter who doesn’t give out compliments easily.”

“It is curious.” (Sicily)

　And so we read the article.

　Then I read the headline.

“A new hero appears on the Eastern Front: a modern-day demon god who wields a great sword and knocks down his enemies.”

　The headline may be exaggerated, but it seems to have been done for increasing the number of readers.

“Isn’t it amazing that he killed 20 enemy soldiers by himself?”

“It’s amazing. It seems that his presence can influence the battlefield.” (Sicily)

“If he there during the princess’ rescue operation the other day, I might have done it more straightforwardly.”

　That said, I check the person’s first and last name and rank.

“His name is Victor? A commoner since he doesn’t have a house?”

　In this country, aristocrats have “von”. [T/N: So “fon” or “フォン” is probably a borrowed term from the German language. German nobility has von to denote their house or blood relation. It means “of” according to google-sensei. So ask google-sensei for more info.]

“Looks like it.” (Sicily)

“He’s twenty-five years old. He’s still in his prime.”

“He is older than Leon-sama.” (Sicily)

“That’s right. Well, that’s all well and good, but this is just an article. It’s the Dwarf Times, so it’s probably not a puff piece, but it’s also possible that these battle results are just a coincidence. You can’t measure a man by the results of just one battle.”

　Speaking of which, Chloe then immediately brings in other related articles.

　Nice timing.

　I appraised him after seeing the articles she brought.

“… Hmm, he is doing quite well.”

　The first article about Victor’s military service was a year ago, and from there he regularly made many similar achievements.

“I mean, it’s amazing. This person is.” (Sicily)

“He is truly the Demon Lord.”

　The two women seem to be surprised, but I wrinkled my eyebrows.

　After seeing my reaction, Sicily asks.

“Do you see anything worrisome?” (Sicily)

“A bit. No, not just a bit?”

“What’s wrong?” (Sicily)

“No, even though he has an active and regular military career, I think this guy’s growth is slow.”

“His career?” (Sicily)

“If you raise such flashy achievements in war, he should already be promoted to a field officer, but the article from a month ago he was still a second lieutenant.”

“… It’s weird. Is there something wrong? Or is it a typographical error?” (Sicily)

“A dwarf professional making such a typographical error?”

　After I say that there is no such thing, I continued, “I wonder if there is something wrong.”

　Then a maid enters the room. A newspaper was in her hand. It was the evening edition released today.

　When she gives it to her lady, Sicily, who immediately looked surprised.

“… this, Leon-sama. You’re like an oracle or priest; you know exactly what to say.”

　I wanted to know the facts rather than be praised, and when I received the newspaper from Sicily, I checked the article.

　The article written had this headline.

“Lieutenant Victor, the Demon Lord, becomes a real demon. Kills colleague and captured by the military police.”

　It seemed that Lieutenant Victor was a tough nut to crack.

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