The Demon Saint is Missing, so I Ran to Another World

A Reason to Fight (Part 1)

***Castle Darkmoor***

The Lord would always begin his day with a breakfast in his bed, though lately he was together with his younger sister—he would never let her far from him, not even when going to the lavatory. Along with his food, delivered by the palace's maids, was the newspaper for the day, for he never wanted to miss on the interesting events around Cherflammen. And that moment was no different.

The new demon lord sat on his bed, careful not to wake his sister sleeping at his side. He never touched his food; instead, he immediately grabbed the newspaper. For the past few days, he'd been receiving unofficial reports of a new administration and system being implemented in the Conclave, as well as rumors of a failed negotiation between one of the head scholars and the leading vassal of the Biorno clan. And then, just a couple of days ago, some Usarved merchants from the Saint's Tower arrived with stories about a 'great battle' within the city where they came from.

The Lord Haya was puzzled. The newspapers' headlines in Darkmoor never mentioned such events, focusing more on his takeover and other topics he found superficial. So, he gathered the editors of the newspapers in his city, and ordered them to the Saint's Tower in haste, to pick up 'real news'. It was an impossible task, for he had only given them a two-day allowance, whereas the travel to the Biorno city took five days of non-stop horse ride.

Nevertheless, his efforts eventually bore fruit. From 'useless' topics, his newspapers changed their headlines.

"The Great Battle of the Saint's Tower, huh?" the Lord Haya read the headline aloud as he skimmed through the lengthy article detailing the incident, that is, according to the Usarved merchants that came from that city. According to the report, the fighting began when the goblin legionnaires tried to dismantle the Biorno defenses surrounding the school. Then, as the battle raged, a sandstorm, followed by a thunderstorm, whirlwinds and hailstorm complicated the situation and added to the casualties for both sides.

In the end, the Biorno forces prevailed, and ejected the allied force of goblins and orcs from the Conclave.

The Lord Haya couldn't help himself but be amused. Aside from the fact that the Biornos, goblins and orcs were spending their strengths to kill each other (making his planned attack on them easier), the weird account of the fighting was funny. For one, the region of the Saint's Tower may be a breeding ground for severe sandstorms, but never of hailstorms. The whirlwinds and thunderstorms in that area were hard to believe as well, for the climate there was always hot and dry. Only the demon saint's magic was the reason for keeping the temperature in that area bearable, particularly in and around the city limits.

Those Usarved refugees must've lost their minds trying to escape the battle, he mused.

Realizing that he was wasting his time reading a 'garbage' article, the Lord Haya searched the broadsheet for another interesting piece of news.

"The Tambara Clan's First Victory..." the demon lord then read the article describing the ambush of the pursuing Biorno force by a motley army of goblins, orcs and Tambara warriors, which happened a few leagues away from the lycanthropes' main city, Fangborough. The Lord Haya's interest was definitely piqued, for he saw in the article a familiar name: the Lord Kuro of Arles, who—according to the newspaper—was the legendary human hero of Chersea and Cherwind. The report concluded that the 'Commoner General' led the outgunned and outnumbered allied army to victory, and even captured an entire regiment of incubi soldiers, complete with their rations and equipment.

The Lord Haya's eyes then fell on the sleeping form of his sister. As far as he remembered, the Lord Kuro of Arles was the human Noir brought here in Cherflammen. That human was his enemy; his rival in love...the one who took his sister's heart.