Laldus of the Jest clan was an outlaw even among his own radical people.
"Why must we cling to this northern land?"
With those words, he left the north behind and crossed over to the Lauren Continent—the land where humanity, the race his kind had once fought, made their home.
The concentration of free ether was low, necessitating a period of gradual acclimation, but the steady pace of his travels allowed his body to adapt. He seemed to possess a natural aptitude for it; by the time he reached the territory of the Klein Kingdom, he was able to operate without any issues.
"Hmph. As I thought, humans are fragile."
A light blow from Laldus was enough to send them flying and knock them unconscious. He sneered at the idea that such a weak race could ever be considered a threat.
By combining brute intimidation with his fledgling command of the demon race’s unique brainwashing Master-Slave Magic, he found it easy to bring a remote village under his complete control.
"...I see. So this is how humans think."
However, he soon grew bored of simple violence and abandoned the frontier village. He moved on to a small nearby town, intending to study human logic in more depth.
"Oh? So things called golems exist."
"I see, the Ether Stampede thinned the human population as well."
"And now, instead of the Dinar Kingdom, they have fractured into these petty little nations."
As he gathered information on the current state of the world, his conviction that humans were nothing to fear only deepened.
"What would be the most entertaining way to handle them?"
Laldus harbored no personal hatred for humanity. After all, he had only heard stories of the Great Magic War. However, he felt a simmering irritation that they lived and prospered in a land with such rich soil and a comfortable climate.
"I think I’ll make them my toys."
That was the conclusion he reached.
＊ ＊ ＊
In the Town of Rakham stood a villa belonging to Earl Walter, a noble of the Klein Kingdom.
"You are quite well-educated. Skilled, too. Very well, I shall take you on as a guest."
"Thank you very much, my lord."
Laldus had successfully wormed his way into Earl Walter’s favor.
(With this, my foundation is solid.)
Outlaw though he was, Laldus was quite sharp—or rather, he possessed a wicked sort of cunning. He played the part of a clever rogue currying favor with the Earl, while behind the scenes, he manipulated and toyed with the humans. It was exactly the position he had wanted.
"The tax rate on the farming villages can be raised a bit further. The harvest was plentiful this year, after all."
"We should collect taxes uniformly from the townspeople."
"Let us impose a luxury tax on alcohol and certain food items."
By imposing these taxes, he slowly tightened the noose around the residents' necks while simultaneously increasing the Earl's revenue and securing the man's approval.
Laldus’s schemes were proceeding perfectly.
Yes—until that day.
＊ ＊ ＊
"I have received word from the royal capital that there is a highly skilled magi craftsman in some remote place called Kaina Village."
"Oh? A magi craftsman, you say?"
From Laldus’s perspective, this magi craftsman—who had reportedly defeated a powerful golem, repaired it, and turned it into an ally—was a threat that needed to be eliminated.
"It would be problematic if he were plotting a rebellion. Perhaps we should forcibly bring him here first and make him submit?"
"Hmm, yes. Let’s do that."
However, that plan backfired spectacularly.
The magi craftsman in question reportedly toyed with the Earl's soldiers before vanishing into the northern mountains. Because of this failure, Earl Walter was rebuked by the King, and Laldus was caught in the fallout.
"I was scolded by the King because of your advice!"
"I have no excuses, my lord."
As he bowed his head in a show of feigned contrition, Laldus decided that the Earl was finally beginning to outlive his usefulness.
＊ ＊ ＊
Then, one day, some familiar faces came to visit.
"Yo. So this is where you’ve been hiding, Laldus."
"It’s been a while."
"Bemiaruche! Dogmaralud!"
They were his childhood friends. Bemiaruche was from the same Jest clan, while Dogmaralud belonged to the Ash clan. Back in the day, the three of them had been a trio of troublemakers.
To be honest, Laldus had once had feelings for Bemiaruche, but for some reason, she had preferred Dogmaralud. Sensing this, Laldus had eventually distanced himself from them.
"You look well enough."
"What are you even doing in a place like this?"
"Hmph. Well, the truth is..."
Laldus explained his recent activities to the two of them.
"That sounds like you, Laldus. But you know, some of the current chiefs are talking about reconciliation, right?"
"What?"
Bemiaruche’s words were something Laldus could not simply ignore.
"Rumor has it the All-Creation clan and their lot will be sending a young woman as an envoy soon."
"Hmph. There's no way that will work."
After spending time around Earl Walter, Laldus found the idea of human goodwill impossible to believe.
"You’ve always been that way."
"Just don't overdo it, okay?"
"Mind your own business. I’ll do as I please."
"If you say so."
After talking for a short while, Bemiaruche and Dogmaralud complained that the free ether here was too thin and uncomfortable before using Teleportation to return to the north.
"Hmph. Reconciliation with humans? Nonsense."
A few days later, Laldus broke the seal on a small vial containing the virus for magical consumption fever.
"I’ll see if this stuff actually works."
He had received the vial from a mysterious man he had met at a strange, ancient facility in the northern demon territory. He had discovered it during an "expedition" with Bemiaruche and Dogmaralud when they were children.
Magical consumption fever was a disease that remained mild in those with high magi levels but became critical in those with low levels. Therefore, it was not a threat to the demon race.
Even so, not even Laldus was reckless enough to open it near his own clan territory, so he had decided to test it here.
＊ ＊ ＊
However, a massive miscalculation occurred.
Someone had realized that Laldus was the cause of the magical consumption fever outbreak.
"gravita!"
(Damn it! What is this automata?! Is it some kind of monster?!)
The automata did not yield to his specialty, Gravity Magic, and it withstood even his stacked spells powered by Elradrite. Before the automata's relentless advance, his overloaded Elradrite shattered into pieces.
"I-Impossible!"
Suddenly the one being hunted, Laldus was cornered by an automata created by "fragile" humans. He eventually lost consciousness after taking a direct tackle from the machine.