"......What is that supposed to mean?"
The Emperor's brow furrowed with a wave of bewilderment.
What in the world had that thing just said? No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand.
And the demon watched the Emperor and smiled with amusement.
[I mean precisely what I said. It is impossible to kill the leader of 'terrorists who seek to burn down the Empire.' Because such a human does not exist in the first place.]
Nonsense of the highest order.
"There are dozens of witnesses who saw the White Cloud Society in the middle of the capital declaring they would purify this world. And you're telling me such a person doesn't exist?"
No matter how incompetent his subordinates were, they weren't blind. There was no way his guards had suffered a mass hallucination.
Yet the demon smiled with amusement.
Smiled with amusement, and spoke.
[Let me say it once more. Such a 'human' does not exist in this world. Yes indeed, such a 'human' most certainly does not.]
The instant those words registered, a sense of wrongness crept in.
Why had the demon emphasized that particular word?
An absurd hypothesis surfaced. He recognized how utterly unrealistic it was, yet could not help but arrive at it.
'......Demons do not lie.'
In matters of contract, they spoke only truth. That was the code their kind bore as an entire race.
Therefore, the demon's words were the truth.
[Thus, even if you were to summon a higher-ranking demon, killing said terrorist would remain impossible.]
Even a higher demon could not touch that leader.
[No -- it would be impossible to even detect them. As though the person did not exist. No matter how much power is brought to bear in the search, not even a shadow could be caught.]
Even their eyes could not perceive the target.
That pointed to only one conclusion.
"The White Cloud Society's Leader is not human? A being far more exalted than even your Solomon's 72 Demons?"
***
On the road back to the alchemy workshop.
Ren spoke in a trembling voice.
"Th-the Sword Emperor said they'd visit our workshop and buy loads of soap as soon as the next vacation comes around. Wh-what do we do? Should we run?"
Ren, who was timid and easily frightened.
His reacting this way was par for the course. But this time, even the older sister was on edge.
Rang opened her mouth with a face that looked deeply anxious.
"......The Sword Emperor could come knocking as early as tomorrow. We have facilities to hide, traces of the previous incident still exposed. If that one comes here...... it certainly won't end well."
The atmosphere was dire.
Everyone was tense, bracing for the approaching crisis.
And that concern was well-founded.
"......Our headquarters is in a pretty sorry state, I'll admit."
The security was a mess. The facilities were shabby.
We'd declared we were going to sell soap nationwide, yet the factory was the size of a studio apartment and made of wood.
Too lacking to change a nation.
Too pathetic to serve as a base for nationwide hygiene reform.
At this rate, we'd never change the world -- the knight coming to visit would just scoff at how rundown it was.
"There isn't enough time to renovate at this point. We may have to be prepared to abandon our headquarters entirely......"
But moments like these were when a leader had to step forward.
"Everyone, why are you getting worked up over something like this?"
I smiled before them all and declared.
"We're falling short, you think? Then we fix what needs fixing, strengthen what's lacking, and come out stronger. That's all there is to it."
We were only ten right now, but that number would grow. We were in a ramshackle workshop right now, but it would soon grow larger.
The whole world would come to know our name.
"Let me tell you our next objective."
And I had something planned as the first step.
"The Empire's bicentennial celebration. The Emperor will be there, every major noble in the Empire will attend -- and we'll be there too. Promotions, finding sponsors, building our presence. It's the ultimate opportunity, don't you think?"
In business, name recognition was the most important thing.
We had to announce that we existed. Only then would people who wanted to join us, and people who wanted to sponsor us, start appearing.
"Let's go pay our 'respects' to His Majesty."
I was already excited.
Showcasing our products before the Emperor himself. Just imagining the uproar it would cause in the Empire was thrilling.
Of course, the road ahead was long.
"Obviously, at our current level, getting into an event like that would be difficult. We can barely handle welcoming one visiting knight right now. But like I said before --"
But what did that matter?
"We just need to bulk up. First things first...... how about we fix up this headquarters of ours into something presentable? So we can handle it without a hitch, even if the Sword Emperor drops by."
A business owner should always be able to see the big picture.
I'd been thinking about how to proceed with the business expansion for a while now.
The most urgent need was improving our base.
Churning out a mere few dozen bars of soap a day from this tiny wooden workshop was never going to cover the world.
I'd been planning to renovate the workshop anyway.
"Boss, we'll almost certainly run out of time. We need to finish the work before the Sword Emperor arrives at the very least. There's no way construction can be done overnight. We don't have the luxury."
Maybe we should just abandon this place and start fresh.
Rang was putting forth an extremely drastic opinion, but.
"Don't worry so much."
Whether it was the world of my past life or this damn medieval Empire, there was one truth that held anywhere.
"Most problems can be solved with money."
If there was a problem money couldn't solve, in most cases you simply didn't have enough money. This situation was no different.
"We just hire specialists capable of alchemical construction. They can tear down and rebuild a building in a single night."
If we could pull that off, then when the knight arrived later, what awaited would be not a ramshackle shed but a respectable soap company.
"The issue, of course, is that we'd need not one but several dozen alchemists specializing in construction."
"......Isn't that practically impossible? The cost of hiring that level of skilled labor would be prohibitive."
Rang's point was realistic and valid.
There was the option of 'Sian is a noble, so let's borrow his money!' -- but family assets weren't something a fourth son could just take and spend as he pleased.
"Doesn't matter. I have something in mind."
Besides, there was no need to rely on Sian for this.
Of course, hiring top specialists was expensive.
Alchemists who were busy with commissions from nobles. We'd need to present a sum enticing enough to tempt them.
But if the cost being expensive was the problem?
Just haggle and bring it down.
"I think it's time to call in my connections."
......Let's see if I could get a friend-and-family discount.
***
Boss never made mistakes.
While an ordinary person could only see one move ahead, Boss could calmly see hundreds, thousands of moves into the future.
If Boss's actions were beyond common-sense understanding?
Then one's common sense was wrong.
If the world thought Boss's actions were strange?
Then the world was wrong.
The most obvious of facts. Even Rang knew this much.
Rang knew it well, and yet.
"......Boss, might you reconsider?"
Knowing it, she still couldn't help but speak up.
She trusted the Leader's foresight more than anyone, but that trust existed alongside worrying about his safety more than anyone else did.
If Boss was about to do something dangerous, she had no choice but to try to stop him.
"The Empire's slums are extremely unstable and dangerous places. Essentially abandoned land. Laws don't apply there, and outsiders are often rejected. No matter how important the person you need to meet is, coming to a place like this is......"
It would be wise to reconsider.
Of course, she would do her utmost to protect Boss.
But the best course was to avoid creating danger in the first place.
"You worry too much. Besides, I told you -- the Sword Emperor could come as early as tomorrow, so we need to do something about the headquarters before then. There's no time to dawdle."
"......That's."
An undeniable truth.
'From traces of bomb manufacturing to the alchemical formulas used to deal with Yulia. The Sword Emperor would spot them at a glance.'
They had to hide everything related to the attack.
No -- hiding alone wouldn't be enough.
'If it doesn't look like a legitimate soap factory, we'll draw suspicion...... Transforming a bomb-manufacturing facility into a soap company overnight. Without alchemical construction, it's definitely impossible.'
Even knowing all this, she couldn't help wanting to dissuade him.
"......If it were just pickpockets, I wouldn't worry. But kidnapping is an everyday occurrence, organ harvesting is considered the conscientious option, and worse things than that are rampant."
Rang herself knew the reality better than anyone.
What she and her brother had nearly endured while wandering from place to place. Just thinking about it made her hands tremble.
"It's fine. Nothing is going to happen, I promise."
But even as Rang agonized, Boss walked onward without a care. Steps unburdened by doubt.
Into a shadowy alley.
The atmosphere grew darker and more sinister.
......Somewhere, she felt eyes watching. The prickling sensation of a gaze. An eerie awareness that set her nerves on edge.
An outsider had entered this shadowy alley.
The inevitable result was already decided.......
'......Damn.'
Presences. Nearby.
Not merely the wary eyes of those guarding their territory.
This was organized.
As if coordinated in advance, they had encircled Rang and the Leader, forming a net with no escape.
"Stay close to me, Boss. It would be better to postpone meeting your contact. Right now, we need to kill these people and survive."
......She didn't want to use her power if she could help it.
The fact that the White Cloud Society had a woman who wielded ice was surely known by now. Keeping it hidden was preferable.
But holding back her power for her own safety while on a mission to protect Boss? That was unthinkable. If it came down to it, she would use everything she had.
Steeling herself, Rang took her stance.
"......Here they come!"
Rang gritted her teeth and shouted.
The enemy charged from all directions.
Swords drawn, rushing to cut Boss to pieces.
They were going to behead the defenseless Boss, bathe in his blood, and grin with excitement.......
None of that happened.
"......?"
What unfolded before her eyes was something very strange.
People did swarm in and surround them. They even charged with bloodshot eyes wide.
But they did not brandish any blades.
"Our Saint has returned!!!"
They were...... bowing before the Leader.