A single female officer with black hair and bobbed hair, wearing a black military uniform, sat in a narrow room, manipulating the devices in front of her with practiced hands.
The officer’s military uniform was adorned with various insignia, including an Iron Cross, and the hat she wore on her head bore a platinum-shimmering eagle insignia symbolizing the Empire.
And the silver insignia on her chest was proof that she belonged to the Imperial Intelligence Agency, and more specifically, its ‘leader’.
Whirrrrr.
Magic power glittered, and light burst from a square panel.
The officer with black hair reached out to the square panel made of magic stones, and soon began to manipulate the screen rapidly.
Beep beep beep.
New light appeared from the bottom right.
The officer reached out to the light and then struck a salute pose.
“Loyalty.”
[Is the information that the Alliance’s
Someone’s silhouette appeared on the square screen.
The officer lowered her hand and nodded at the question from the figure, whose silhouette was only visible against a black curtain spread out before her.
“Yes. It is true. We are currently gathering follow-up information.”
[There were no precursors at all? Director of Intelligence. How did this happen?]
“There are several possibilities, but it might have been an impulsive act by the royal family.”
[Are they insane?]
The officer flinched at the vulgar words spoken by the person beyond the screen.
[No one knows what consequences it will bring, so they made such a gamble?]
“I suspect they naively thought, ‘It will work out somehow’.”
It was surprising that the other party would say such a thing, but the reaction was exactly the same as the emotion she had felt at first.
[Even so, are they trying to force that demon onto the throne of the Kingdom through marriage?]
“They made a pre-emptive move before other kingdoms could snatch him away… that’s what I think.”
[Is there a possibility that such marriage talks went on beforehand without our knowledge?]
“It’s not entirely impossible, but judging by the Red Devil’s reaction, it would have been news to him.”
As the officer tapped one side of the screen, a magic image appeared, seemingly watching a mansion from afar.
“According to the current real-time surveillance of Wilhelm Mansion, he is enjoying a ‘pleasant time’ with the maids who were arranged for his entertainment after the end-of-war banquet.”
[Really?]
“Yes. We have secured transaction records for the merchants entering Wilhelm Mansion. For ‘this time,’ they ordered a large quantity of stockings and garters to be worn under the maid outfits.”
[He’s a lustful beast…]
The voice of the person beyond the screen contained irritation, contempt, and a hint of laughter.
[The stockings are black ones, right?]
“Yes. 35 denier.”
[Still, his tastes and actions never deviate from expectations.]
“It’s his only hobby.”
The officer picked up a profile file placed on her desk.
“Red Devil, Hans Wilhelm. His hobby is…”
[Woman. It’s the only one.]
Hobby.
It’s not maids, not garters, not stockings.
It’s one that encompasses all of them – ‘woman’.
To be more explicit, ‘lust for women.’
“Yes. It’s the easiest, yet also the hardest, hobby to exploit for an assassination.”
The officer pulled a thick stack of documents from the file.
“By taking advantage of the hobbies and habits of nobles and key figures within the Alliance—including those from the Kingdom of Grates—we’ve successfully carried out assassinations up until now.”
[Those fond of alcohol were poisoned, suffered carriage accidents, were run over by carriages, or were lured into gambling until they squandered their fortunes. In this way, countless key figures were eliminated before the onset of the 12-year war.]
“Yes, we continued eliminating many more through such means… but the Alliance’s Red Devil evaded every one of those attempts.”
The thick documents were filled with progress reports on various assassination attempts, most marked as “failed.”
“He even managed to thwart several attempts on Princess Knight Sylvia Grates—the very person involved in the marriage negotiations.”
How many assassinations had failed because of just one person?
Therefore, various assassination methods were employed to eliminate him, but the Empire could not even inflict a scratch on the Red Devil, except for a single method.
“The assassination approach with the highest probability of success was…”
[Women.]
“…Yes. It was an approach using a honey trap. We even stopped doing that after realizing he was deliberately falling for it.”
The officer’s gaze naturally drifted downward.
She stared at her long fingernails for a while, opening and closing her hands as if scratching at something, then closed her eyes for a moment.
It was top secret.
If word got out that the only time they managed to injure Hans Wilhelm during this entire war was through scratching his back or biting his neck during assassination attempts—what would the people of the Empire think?
[After that, the Imperial Intelligence Agency even referred to the Red Devil as an incubus.]
“Ahem.”
What is an incubus?
It was a derogatory term for a man excessively obsessed with women.
The officer briefly found it remarkable that such a crude term came from the mouth of such an elegant, noble-looking woman.
[But such a person showed reluctance regarding his marriage to the Princess Knight?]
“Yes. That is the issue currently being debated within the Intelligence Agency.”
[Why? Doesn’t he like all beautiful women? To the extent that he would eat them and then secretly let them go alive, even knowing they were assassins we sent.]
“……Ahem.”
The officer cleared her throat and turned her head.
“That, the expression ‘ate’ is a bit…”
[It’s not a fabricated story. While some people believe you survived solely due to your combat skills…]
“Ma’am. Regarding that matter…”
As if something came to mind, or recalling something that happened in the past, the officer straightened her posture, wiggled her legs, and composed herself.
[Is there no one else around?]
“Yes. It’s just me.”
[…Then, from the position of being similarly victimized by that man, you and I, can we talk a bit more freely and frankly?]
The feet of the figure on the screen, which had only revealed its silhouette, disappeared, and the black-haired beauty revealed her appearance.
A black-haired, red-eyed beauty with unnaturally pale skin.
Like the officer, she was wearing a military uniform, but her attire, resembling that of some commander, made her face the officer and smile like a fellow victim.
[Any woman who has been preyed upon by that man knows how obsessed he is with women. We are still alive and here because of it.]
“……I survived because I was beautiful.”
[It’s a joke, but isn’t it also true? For you or me… compared to the price of trying to take our lives, it was rather cheap.]
The officer gave a bitter smile and nodded at the black-haired woman’s words.
[Anyway, our side had made all sorts of plans to bring the Red Devil over to our side after the armistice agreement, but those plans have been disrupted from the start. All because of that ‘marriage’ move.]
“May I inquire what plans the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made?”
[There’s no harm in it. I’m speaking to share information to some extent.]
Beep.
The screen flickered, and a square area in the bottom right shimmered like a paper document.
[In all plans, we intended to use women, but the element of marriage has caused a disruption in our operational planning.]
“…If we remove the element of assassination, are the basic plans centered around luring him to the Empire with a honey trap?”
[Of course. Isn’t it the most difficult yet the easiest method? If you succeed in seducing someone obsessed with women by using women, what could be a more certain defection? Frankly, what if the woman who makes him think of marriage, not just a one-night stand, is a citizen of the Empire?]
“Ahem. Ma’am. Such expressions…”
[So now, we need to ascertain this. That man who let go of the beautiful women who tried to assassinate him, who, after conquering a fortress, didn’t torture or kill the surrendered, but spent a night with them and released them through hostage negotiations…]
Heh.
[If he genuinely falls in love with someone and decides to marry them, and if that person is from the Empire, that would be the true path to victory for our Empire.]
“…That.”
The officer scanned the data in the profile.
“Not one night, but three days and three nights—”
[Sh-shut up.]
“…….”
[Anyway, we must somehow bring him to our side. He accumulates merit but is satisfied with a mere pension as compensation, content with enjoying the women around him or taking in new ladies. If we can satisfy not only his physical desires but also his heart…!]
“The Alliance will crumble quickly. After all, without the Red Devil, the Allied Kingdoms will collapse within three years.”
[Yes. Without the Red Devil… Huh?]
“What’s wrong… Ah.”
Somewhere in the room of Wilhelm Mansion being monitored in real-time.
A creaking sound echoed like an auditory hallucination, and a man appeared as the terrace door opened.
“…….”
[…….]
The man, exuding heat from his body and clad in a thin robe, appeared as he came out to enjoy the air outside the window.
[…You said five people, right?]
“Yes.”
[He doesn’t seem satisfied with just five.]
“Hmm….”
The officer carefully opened her mouth.
“At least he isn’t doing anything while they’re unconscious… but won’t he just start again once he wakes up? Until dawn.”
[How would you know that…?]
“…….”
* * *
And then.
In the morning.
“Pri-Princess!!”
Princess Knight Sylvia visited Wilhelm Mansion from the morning.
