Chapter 125: Alice’s Goal Is to Win an Oscar

"You want a Seed of Nature?"

When Flaman learned that Alice wanted a Seed of Nature from the Elven Forest, he didn't hesitate for even a moment as he said, "No problem! Leave this matter to us!"

"Will there be a problem? I believe the elves place quite a lot of importance on the Seeds of Nature, right?"

Alice was currently conversing with Flaman on the phone. Of course, since she was talking with one of the demon race's Four Heavenly Kings, she had naturally made sure to store the Soul Gathering Tablet housing Kristine's soul into a separate room before doing so.

"I doubt we have a good relationship with the elves, right?"

"It is quite bad… Past Demon Kings have never avoided involving other races in their war, so we aren't very welcomed. Out of all the races in this world, only the dragon race treats us without discrimination."

Flaman smiled bitterly when he talked about the demon race's relationship with other races. While he might have risen to his position of Heavenly King by relying on his strength, he was still a sovereign. Meanwhile, throughout his rule, he had suffered a lot of hardships because of the grudges the demon race had sowed in the past.

"But it isn't impossible for us to fulfill your request, Lord Demon King. If you want a Seed of Nature, we will get it for you even if it means snatching it by force!"

Alice fell silent when she heard Flaman talk about the demon race's hardships. She had previously wondered why the demons, whose individual prowess surpassed that of humans, would need to wait for the Demon King to appear to wage war against the human realm. Now, she realized that the demon race's opponent wasn't just the human race. Because of the actions of past Demon Kings, the other races had also become enemies with the demon race. If the demon race were to wage war against the human race, it would have to simultaneously fight multiple races. No matter how strong demons were individually, there was no way they could afford to go up against multiple races simultaneously.

Thus, the Demon King, an existence equivalent to a walking nuclear arsenal, had become a crucial factor for the demon race to wage war against the human realm. So long as the Demon King or the Hero was removed from the equation, the side that won would be able to clean up the remaining problems without any pressure. There was no mortal army capable of stopping the advance of the Demon King or the Hero.

Meanwhile, noticing the worry on Alice's face, Flaman laughed and said, "Don't worry. The demon race's reputation has never been good. It wouldn't matter even if we added one more stain to it. Everything is fine so long as we can help you, Lord Demon King."

Alice couldn't help but feel a little guilty when she heard Flaman's words. Previously, she had never thought that the demon race had such a terrible reputation among the other races.

"Okay. I will also be watching from the side this time. If you come into any trouble, I will step forward to help," Alice said after giving the matter some thought. "Do you know about the March Academy? The high school section will be visiting the Elven Forest for its school trip, so coordinate your operation with the school trip."

"I see. So you will be going on the field trip as well, Lord Demon King?"

The matter of Alice becoming the Gryffin Kingdom's princess naturally couldn't escape the ears of the Four Heavenly Kings. However, they did not suspect Alice to be the Hero. They simply thought that Alice had employed some means to secure herself the position of a princess.

"No problem. We will time our operation with your school trip."

After ending her call with Flaman, Alice breathed out a deep sigh. She wasn't lying when she said she planned to help the demons. Although she had expected Flaman to agree with helping her acquire a Seed of Nature, the other party's determination had exceeded her expectations. Her initial plan was simply to have Flaman put pressure on the elves so that the March Academy's students would be forced to stay in the Elven Forest for a longer duration. She never intended for the demons to acquire a Seed of Nature, be it by negotiations or force.

The demon race's reputation was already plenty terrible. Although having the demons put pressure on the elves would indeed worsen the demon race's reputation, the severity of the situation would change significantly depending on whether the demons actually acquired a Seed of Nature.

Hence, Alice panicked a little when she heard Flaman's decisive response to snatch a Seed of Nature by force. After realizing the demon race's terrible reputation, she really couldn't bring herself to let the demon race bear even too much blame. Instead, she decided to shift the blame onto the "Demon King."

Once the demons besieged the Elven Forest, Alice planned to perform a double act, having Luna roleplay as the Demon King while she roleplayed as the Hero. On the one hand, she could utilize the Hero's identity to harvest the elves' gratitude. On the other hand, she could utilize the Demon King's identity to harvest the demons' gratitude.

At that time, with the demons, elves, and humans serving as witnesses, the Hero and Demon King would fight each other to a standstill. Then, after the demons failed to acquire a Seed of Nature, the Demon King would withdraw from the Elven Forest with the demon army. That way, everyone would know that the Demon King was the one trying to obtain the Seed of Nature, and the demons were merely showing their loyalty by following the Demon King's orders.

There shouldn't be a problem with this setting… Although the Demon King's Power has long since left Luna's body, Luna still possesses powerful dark mana in her body, so she should have no problems roleplaying the Demon King, Alice thought as she caressed her chin. Then, she looked down at her disappointing figure and agonizingly thought, With Luna's height and figure, she can disguise herself as the tall and sexy Demon Queen so long as she puts on a cloak. But how am I supposed to disguise myself as the tall and muscular male Hero…

This was the most troublesome aspect of Alice's current plans. Thus far, in order to prevent others from linking the Hero to herself, she had deliberately created a fake image for herself on LINK, describing herself as a muscular man with a pretty face.

The misinformation was indeed effective, and nobody had ever suspected that she was the Hero unless they had seen her using the Hero's Sword or were introduced to her by an insider. Nobody had suspected her, even when she had openly studied taboos.

Unfortunately, the downside of this misinformation was that she had a much more difficult time taking advantage of her identity as the Hero. It might be fine if she had a similar figure to the fake image she created. She could simply wear a cloak to cover her appearance if that were the case. However, because there was a significant difference between her actual figure and her fake figure, she couldn't cover things up just by wearing a cloak.

…There should be some types of magic that allow the user to change their appearances, right?

After thinking it over, Alice decided to visit the library and see if there were any spells she could use to alter her appearance.

With the omnipotence of magic, there shouldn't be anything it couldn't accomplish. The only limiting factor it had was the user's imagination. Thus, Alice felt that she should be able to find some sort of disguise magic that she could use to alter her appearance. The only problem was that learning this disguise magic wouldn't be as easy as described in mangas and novels. The magic might even have huge flaws.

However, Alice had no better options right now. She'd rather settle for a flawed product than nothing at all. And if she couldn't find such magic, she would have to further modify her plans.

…

TL Notes:

[1]Demon Queen: I will be using Demon Queen when the context calls for it, but very rarely. I will still be using Demon King most of the time.

I have been using Demon King(魔王) only thus far because I thought it was a stylistic choice the author made, but the author used one instance of Demon Queen(女魔王) in this chapter. If I were to directly translate 女魔王, it'd be "female Demon King." That looks kind of awkward, so I will be using "Demon Queen" during such instances.