Chapter 18

  Devil In A New Dress

  Deep inside the giant ship, in the royal chambers.

  Nora still didn’t understand the mechanics of this colossal vessel. From the outside it looked sealed tight, as dark as an iron box floating on the water—but inside, it was bright as day and the air was perfectly breathable.

  Still, in true demon style, there were elements meant to unsettle humans… like the fibrous tissue strands spread across the walls in every corner.

  And then there was… that lump of squirming flesh with a single eye… standing (or floating?) in the corner of the room.

  “Don’t be afraid of him. He won’t hurt you,” Dan leaned in to whisper.

  “…Unless you push your luck too far—then he just might.”

  “Mr.Fury… I’m already stressed enough…”

  There was no one else in the room besides her, Dan, Everton, and Galatasaray. Which meant her only comfort was to stay pressed close against Dan. The closer she was, the safer she felt—and she had no intention of moving.

  Seeing how tense she was, Dan added,

  “He’s no scarier than the maids in your dorm. Relax.”

  Nora eased up slightly.

  “I’ll stay in human form to keep you company, if that helps.”

  “This is your space, Mr.Fury. You can go back to your real form… after all, this ship is Diablo territory.”

  “Like when you said you’d break my neck inside the Snowhaven embassy?”

  “You still remember that?”

  “I’ve got a good memory.” Dan tapped his temple.

  “This form’s the young one.”

  Nora’s mood brightened, a faint smile creeping onto her lips.

  “So your real form’s old and forgetful, huh?”

  “For every one annoying remark you make, that lump of flesh will move a centimeter closer to you.”

  “I was wrong! ?? I’m sorry, Mr.Fury!”

  “In that case, I’ll change back. In human form I feel tiny.”

  Snap!—both hands.

  Crack!

  Mr.Fury, Crown Prince, stood before her once more.

  Now he was the largest presence in the room, fitting in perfectly with the ship’s massive proportions. Nora’s instincts shivered with intimidation at his true form, but when she imagined Dan’s face over it, her nervousness eased—despite now being the smallest person there.

  When Everton was briefed on what had transpired between his brother and the Snowhaven princess, he relaxed considerably—though his natural instincts as a negotiator kept him somewhat wary.

  “If it were me, I wouldn’t meddle in another family’s affairs.”

  “That’s because you’re selfish and rotten.”

  “Say whatever you like.”

  Everton’s deep blue demon eyes flicked to Nora, then away.

  “By the way, has anyone told you the meeting’s now down to four human kingdoms?”

  “?”

  Mr.Fury and Nora raised their brows at the same time.

  “Luminus withdrew in the last week. Word from our intel.”

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  “Withdrew?”

  “They probably think they can handle the Shadows themselves.”

  Everton shrugged, leaning forward with his hands clasped.

  “After all, holy magic works on Shadows too. Guess they didn’t want to come running to us and lose face. Kih kih kih.”

  Turns his head

  “So, why exactly did you bring the Snowhaven princess to me, brother?”

  “Everton, I figured you’d want to hear about Mathema’s stock market.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Nora.”

  Mr.Fury tilted his head toward her.

  Nora nodded, then began explaining to Everton…

  By the time she finished, the reaction was exactly what she expected.

  “This is very interesting…”

  Prince Everton listened to Nora with his full attention, fully in “work mode.” He seemed so reliable that for a moment she forgot how slick he could be.

  “The stock market appeared about twenty years before the world learned of the Diablo’s existence. Right now it’s only in Mathema—which is good, because they’re not as hostile toward you as Luminus is.”

  Everton nodded in agreement.

  Why was he so interested?

  To put it simply—

  As head of Diablo’s Ministry of Finance, Everton controlled the nation’s wealth entirely. His job was to grow that wealth and keep humans from taking advantage of them in trade.

  Diablo was rich from mining mana crystals, but all that money just sat in vaults, doing nothing.

  Over time, that money’s value would inevitably shrink—maybe only 0.1% a year from inflation, but still. Watching their fortune stagnate while humans across the ocean busily traded and developed new technologies was not something they could ignore.

  The Demon King had given Everton a critical mission: Diablo needed technology, and their greatest bargaining chip was money—vast amounts of it.

  But humans had no reason to welcome them. On the contrary, they’d never hand over their technological “weapons” to the Diablo— not even a country like Mathema.

  “Opening our country won’t be easy, but we have two advantages: money and mana crystals,” Everton said.

  “We can pump massive amounts into the human economy. If we can just get that money into circulation over there, I’m certain it’ll yield huge returns for us.”

  “You’re planning to negotiate with President Fofana, aren’t you?”

  “Of course, brother.”

  Everton took a sheet of paper from Galatasaray.

  “I’ve got the numbers. Mathema’s heavily in debt—I’m confident they’ll want our money.”

  “Where’d you get the numbers, Mr.Everton?”

  “From a—”

  “A spy?”

  “…”

  “A spy, right?”

  “For hell’s sake, brother, your idea was terrible. Of all people, you brought the princess of Snowhaven?”

  Nora: “Oh, come on. They all know by now, Mr.Everton.”

  “Did your mother underfeed you as a child? Because with your project, you need Nora even more.”

  “Tch…” Everton cleared his throat.

  “Anyway… my long-term goal is that Diablo will find a way to invest in the human world—soon.”

  He’d been thinking about it for a while, but Nora’s arrival had been the last push.

  What lay beyond was more “opportunity” than “danger.”

  “But first, we have to get the humans to open the door. All the money in the world’s useless if they won’t sell.”

  “Have you thought about… setting up intermediaries, Mr.Everton?”

  “Huh?”

  Everton made a noise as though frowning with brows he didn’t have.

  “Intermediaries? I already have a fund—we call it DIF.”

  DIF: Diablo Investment Fund.

  “No, I mean…”

  Nora sketched on Everton’s paper.

  “If DIF dumps a pile of money in all at once, it’ll be messy—no structure, no scope. Without scope, you have no clear direction. You should branch DIF into multiple funds, each with its own scope and management. That way it’s easier to control.”

  “And we could quietly slip money in without anyone realizing it’s Diablo money? Oh, that’s brilliant. We wouldn’t even need to ask permission.”

  “See?” Mr.Fury lifted his nonexistent brows.

  “I told you we need Nora.”

  “Uh… I didn’t mean the sneaky part…” Nora scratched her head.

  “It just sounds kind of shady… and I’m pretty sure it’s illegal.”

  “Tch… they’ve written laws to block us already?”

  “If a strange new fund with an unknown money source suddenly floods in, anyone would be suspicious, Mr.Everton.”

  “You’ve got a point, princess.”

  “So it’s better to make it legitimate—after all, we have to share this world for a long time.”

  “It’s not that simple, brother…”

  “Why not?”

  “Princess Nora, explain it to my simpleton of a brother.”

  “Ha ??”

  “Mr.Everton probably means taxes,” Nora said.

  “If Mr.Fury invests in another country, when profits come back, you have to share them. Normally, the bigger your investment, the bigger your cut—but I think he’s saying they might find ways to cut your share through taxes or whatever else.”

  “Like if it’s a 60/40 split and profits are 100, we should get 60—but they tack on taxes so we end up with 55 instead?”

  “From 60 to 55—if we’re talking millions of credits, that’s a big loss, brother.”

  “If they know Diablo wants a slice of the pie, there’s no escaping a ‘welcome party.’ Or they might just block you entirely… like Luminus.”

  “And all of that would fall to you to deal with, right?” Fury looked at his brother.

  “Yes. That’s my job.”

  Everton handed Nora’s notes to Galatasaray.

  “But today’s main topic is eliminating the Shadows, and my job is securing a cooperation deal to send skilled Diablo to work with Snowhaven.”

  The black-and-blue demon rolled his neck.

  “But off the record, I’ll try lobbying your mother—no objections, right, princess?”

  Nora wasn’t sure how to answer, so she just shrugged.

  “I’ll… help however I can.”

  “She may be first in line for the throne, but she’s still ‘princess,’ and only nineteen… she won’t have much power. Stop pressuring her, Everton, or I’ll toss you overboard for the sharks.”

  “Alright, alright, I’m scared now.”

  His mocking body language made Fury shake his head in exasperation.