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“Indeed. Well, I can turn into any woman imaginable. You may as well call me if you suffer from restless nights.”

 

“Aren’t you a man?”

 

“Is that something you verified?”

 

There was nothing I could say to that.

 

A thorough pat-down might put the issue to rest, but it could cause even more trouble if Eve or Jeanne were to see. And so I changed the subject.

 

“I know that you like to play these little tricks, but that can’t be the only reason you are here. You must have news.”

 

“Indeed, my lord. I do. I have news of Demon King Zagam.”

 

“That is wonderful. Now tell me.”

 

“Why not on the bed?”

 

She smiled seductively. I was saved by Eve’s timely entrance. She was bringing me my tea.

 

Eve was very surprised to see a strange woman was in my office. She immediately pulled out a short sword, but I told her that it was just Kotaro.

 

She put away her sword, but not her hostility.

 

Apparently, Eve was under the impression that Kotaro’s true identity was that of a woman. And she was also sure the Kotaro was a scoundrel who was out to ensnare me.

 

Regardless, it did show how good Kotaro’s disguise was.

 

As for Toshizou, he didn’t mind what Kotaro’s real identity was, and had joked about getting better acquainted.

 

But that was all unimportant. I asked Kotaro for the information.

 

“Demon King Zagam is one of the kings who lives to the south of here. His lands are connected to Decarbia’s. And his army is about the same size as well.”

 

“So now that I’ve absorbed Decarbia’s forces, I should be more powerful?”

 

“That is likely. However, the Ashtaroth army is still quite new. Your hold here is not strong. I think it would be safer to assume you are equal.”

 

“I’m sure you’re right. Self-conceit is the road to destruction.”

 

“As for Demon King Zagam. He is human most of the time, but his true form is that of a bull with the wings of a griffin.”

 

“So, this one isn’t human either.”

 

“He is likely to stay in human form unless he is forced to transform.”

 

“Then I’ll do just that. And then I will dissect him. We could use the beef.”

 

“Jeanne will be overjoyed.”

 

Kotaro joked in return.

 

I laughed politely.

“And what about this gift that Decarbia sent to him?”

That was the most important matter.

 

Kotaro nodded.

 

“This information is the most important. You will lose without it. Or so Kongming insisted. And so he read through all the documents in the castle and searched for anything that was missing. And Kongming discovered it in just three days.”

 

That was no surprise to me.

He was using his ability to read quickly.

No, it would still take more than that to find it in just three days.

I suppose this showed just how threatened he was about this gift that Decarbia had left.

 

I felt the same way.

I wasn’t afraid of Zagam.

Or his army. I respected his intelligence and courage, but only to a point.

What I feared was Demon King Decarbia’s tenacity.

After all, that was one thing that he had that was much stronger than any other Demon King I had met.

And he had left a gift. It would surely be something terrible.

That was my prediction, and it turned out to be not very far from the mark.

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