With our conversation with Funf-san finished, Sieg-san and I set out to explore the city as planned.
It was only natural, I suppose, but the atmosphere here was starkly different from the capital of the Kingdom of Sinfonia. While Sinfonia felt like the quintessential medieval fantasy cityscape, this place struck me as more modern.
For one, the roads were meticulously maintained. I didn't know what they were made of, but they reminded me of the asphalt streets back in Japan. The buildings were also quite varied in scale, which I figured was a result of the inhabitants having much greater differences in physical stature compared to humankind.
"It’s incredible," Sieg-san remarked, her eyes scanning our surroundings. "The city seems even more advanced and functional than the Hydra Kingdom."
"It certainly feels like everything is organized in a very efficient way. I wonder if it’s because this is an economic hub where the top trading companies are concentrated?"
"That’s likely one of the reasons. And because those companies are based here, the most cutting-edge technology naturally follows."
Sieg-san didn't seem to have visited the Demon Realm very often herself, as she was looking around with deep interest.
"Have you not spent much time in the Demon Realm, Sieg-san?"
"That’s right. Setting aside the Human Realm, traveling here requires a significant amount of money and time. Teleportation from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm is extremely expensive, so most people have to travel through the Gates."
"True, Magic Tools with teleportation formulas are quite a luxury."
"Yes. A level of magic that can cross between realms used to be far beyond the reach of an ordinary person... or so I thought. I’m actually a bit overwhelmed because it feels within my grasp now."
Sieg-san gave a wry smile. The reason for her newfound wealth was her pet, the Rainbow Dragon Sera. Apparently, Alice had taken a liking to Sera’s Rainbow Diamonds as a crafting material and had been purchasing them from Sieg-san quite frequently.
Regardless of how much of Alice's "I'm broke" act was true, she was still a King with the largest network of subordinates in the world. She bought the gems for a high price, and as a result, Sieg-san had come into a considerable fortune.
"This is my first time experiencing the trouble of having too much money and nothing to spend it on," she continued. "I live in Lili’s mansion, and I don't really have any expensive hobbies."
"Then why don't you actually buy a teleportation Magic Tool? If you’re going to be commuting to Funf-sama’s place for lessons, it might be worth it."
"True... that might actually be a practical use for it."
"In that case, since we’re in the city that houses the headquarters of the world's largest magic tool trading company, why don't we go take a look?"
"Fufu, you're right. Let's go."
Sieg-san smiled at my suggestion and took my hand. It wasn't my imagination—she seemed genuinely excited. I was feeling the same way; going on a date with Sieg-san was always fun, and my spirits were high.
I had visited this location once before to buy a magic crystal for a music box, but as expected of the headquarters of a massive trading firm, the building was so enormous it was easy to spot from a distance.
As we chatted and approached the company’s flagship store, we spotted two girls standing at the entrance with frantic expressions.
"Did you find her?"
"No... Ugh! She slipped away again!!"
"How is it that Big Sister has zero combat power, yet she’s a master of stealth? She even bypassed my detection magic. I can’t find her anywhere."
"She shouldn't have gone far. Let's hurry and look."
They looked like twins with nearly identical features. One had red-purple hair tied in a right side-tail, while the other had blue-purple hair in a left side-tail. They wore suit-like outfits and carried large blades at their hips.
They appeared to be searching for someone, but when they noticed us, they rushed over in a panic.
"Excuse us! Have either of you seen a tall woman with a purple ponytail?"
"No, I haven't," I replied.
"Neither have I," Sieg-san added.
"I see... Sorry to bother you."
I hadn't been paying that much attention to the crowd, but I certainly didn't remember seeing anyone like that. Sieg-san shook her head in agreement.
The red-purple-haired girl slumped her shoulders and bowed, while the blue-purple-haired girl stared at me, looking thoughtful.
"Let’s try looking the opposite way from where we came... Sien? What’s wrong?"
"I feel like I've seen this person somewhere... Um, where was it?"
"We have to find Big Sister Tre first! Come on!"
"Right... Sorry, Cento. Let's go."
The girl called Sien, who had been trying to place my face, snapped back to attention when Cento called her. She gave us a quick bow before the two of them hurried off.
"I wonder if they got separated from a friend?"
"Most likely... though those two were impressively powerful."
"Really?"
"Yes. I suspect they are in the upper ranks even among the Count-class. I don't recognize their names, though. With that level of skill, I’d expect them to be famous... but perhaps they’re well-known in the Demon Realm and I simply haven't heard of them."
Sieg-san and I tilted our heads at the strange encounter, then put it out of our minds as we stepped inside the shop.
Bonus: Combat Compatibility of the Six Kings' Executives against Vier
Because Vier possesses incredible regenerative powers, she does not tire or weaken during standard combat. To actually exhaust her—barring cases where her initial condition is already critical—the absolute minimum requirement is enough firepower to incinerate her in a single strike through her defenses.
Even for someone as durable as Vier, self-resurrection carries a cost. Therefore, the most effective strategy is to blow her away, wait for her to self-resurrect, and then blow her away again before she can recover her magic power, slowly whittling her down.
[Five War Generals] The compatibility is quite good. They possess high-firepower attacks, giving them plenty of ways to deal effective damage to Vier. Since they are accustomed to battles of attrition, there is a high chance they could eventually win by pressure.
[Four Great Magic Dragons] Like the Generals, they possess many high-firepower attacks, meaning they have a high probability of fighting with an advantage.
[Ten Demons] With a few exceptions like Pandora, their compatibility is extremely poor. Vier has massive resistance to status ailments and is a master of recovery magic, meaning their specialized "tricks" are almost entirely useless against her. More than half of the Ten Demons have no clear path to victory.
[Seven Princesses] Their compatibility is the worst. Aside from Camellia, none of them have a realistic path to victory. For the Seven Princesses, who primarily rely on counter-attacks, Vier—who has extremely low offensive capability but is nearly invincible in every other category—is a natural enemy. However, since many of the Princesses are also excellent at magic recovery, any fight between them would likely last for an absurd number of days before a winner was decided.
[Mutsuraboshi] Iris, who is entirely specialized in raw firepower, is Vier’s ultimate natural enemy. Iris can simply incinerate her with every resurrection and use the window before Vier’s magic recovers to apply a sealing formula. Against Iris, Vier has no chance of victory.