Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings

Chapter 50: The Young Demon Lord

Seeing the message card, Rofus hurriedly rushed outside the mansion.

He headed straight for the source of the sudden appearance of the unique magic power.

It was right in front of the main entrance of the mansion.

“This is…”

Rofus saw “it” floating in the sky.

The source of the magic power was a dull-colored sphere.

The sphere emitted a faint light and hovered in the air without any support.

Rofus felt a sense of déjà vu at the sight of it.

He suddenly recalled a similar type of familiar that had appeared in the “Tomb of the First.”

In other words, that dull-colored sphere was a type of monster.

Moreover, it appeared just when a message card from the Galeon Duke’s family had arrived.

“Was it ‘I will come today’? Could it be…”

As if responding to Rofus’s uneasy premonition, the dull-colored sphere began to deploy a magic circle in the sky.

“Master!”

“Young Master, stand back.”

Carlos drew his sword, and Yurika, who had just removed her maid uniform’s skirt, pulled out a wand and positioned herself in front of Rofus.

However, Rofus, in a calm manner, said a single word, “Stand down.”

“It’s a teleportation spell. There’s no aggression.”

Analyzing the magic circle, Rofus discerned that it was a long-distance teleportation spell similar to the ones used by Rudens.

A beam of light poured from the magic circle to the ground, and from within that light, a figure emerged.

A boy with light brown hair and dressed in formal white attire—Raymond Roi Nordens Galeon.

Known in the story as the Second Demon King.

“Hey, Rofus. Did you come out to meet me? I’m happy.”

Raymond smiled warmly at Rofus, as if seeing an old friend after ten years.

Rofus grimaced, as if confirming his suspicions.

“Long-distance teleportation… that’s against the kingdom’s law.”

“The kingdom’s law prohibits personal or group use, as well as the use of magical items like teleportation crystals. The one who performed the teleportation was my familiar. It’s not a magical item, and I didn’t use it personally. No problem there.”

“That’s quite the loophole you’ve exploited.”

Raymond laughed heartily as he proudly explained, while Rofus frowned in exasperation.

Speaking of which, Rofus recalled a noble family head who had similarly exploited the same loophole for long-distance teleportation recently, during his recent trip to the Stelia territory.

“It’s a sad truth, but that’s the kingdom’s law. As a royal noble, I simply abide by it.”

“You talk about following the law while exploiting its loopholes. We need to urgently petition the royal family to amend the law. Especially with the information that someone is misusing it.”

“Let it go, as a favor to an old friend.”

“Who’s your friend?”

Raymond, enjoying their banter, smiled mischievously while Rofus maintained a sour expression.

Raymond snapped his fingers at the dull-colored sphere, which then responded by projecting a beam of light, from which another figure emerged.

With strongly curly blond hair, an unusually tall and well-built frame for a 12-year-old, the person was someone Rofus recognized well.

“Vallum…”

“Rofus…?! Then, this is the Lightless territory?”

Vallum looked around in surprise, confused.

Raymond tilted his head, puzzled by their interaction.

“Huh? I intended this to be an introduction, but you two already know each other?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Rofus, speaking with disdain, glared at Raymond, feeling certain that Raymond was well-informed about everything.

If Raymond hadn’t gathered information beforehand, he wouldn’t have approached the four geniuses, who later became the Four Heavenly Kings, at the party hosted by the Galeon family.

Raymond possesses some method to gather all kinds of information.

Recognizing Vallum, who was relatively unknown outside of his knight family, suggested that Raymond likely knew a fair amount about the recent events in the Stelia territory as well.

Rofus believed this firmly.

“You know everything, don’t you, Raymond? About what happened recently in the Stelia territory, and even about my interactions with Vallum.”

“…Why do you think that?”

“You have underlings everywhere, don’t you? Sharing vision with familiars is a basic skill.”

This was knowledge Rofus had gained from the story, but Raymond’s summoning beasts were not brought from another dimension.

Raymond had contracts with specific monsters, which responded to his call through summoning magic circles.

Raymond had contracts with monsters all over the kingdom and likely gathered information through them.

Surprised by Rofus’s deduction, Raymond widened his eyes and then laughed with amusement.

“Amazing, Rofus. How did you come to that conclusion with such little information? I’m really impressed. My interest in you never wanes.”

“Stop spouting creepy nonsense. If the purpose was to introduce Vallum, it’s done now. Take him and leave; he’s an eyesore.”

Rofus shooed them away dismissively, and Raymond, with a wry smile, complied.

Vallum, who had been brought here without explanation and left bewildered, furrowed his brows, looking at Rofus.

But Rofus, signaling that the conversation was over, turned on his heel.

“Carlos, escort our guests. Yurika, I’m going to rest. Prepare some coffee.”

Carlos, bewildered at the thought of treating the Duke’s heir like this, glanced around nervously, while Yurika responded quickly, “Yes, sir,” and followed Rofus.

Raymond shrugged his shoulders and uttered a single word.

“Coal mine.”

At that word, Rofus stopped in his tracks.

Raymond continued with a confident smile.

“…Recently, a new one was found in our territory. It seems to have a good yield—coal.”

Rofus turned back, glaring at Raymond with disdain.

Raymond smirked.

“In fact, we have enough coal in Galeon territory. We’re looking for investment opportunities. By the way, Rofus, are you interested in trains?”

“Raymond, you…”

Just how much do you know? Rofus glared at Raymond for a while, then sighed deeply.

He turned back towards the mansion and began to walk again.

“Carlos, we have guests. Show them to the guest room. Yurika, prepare coffee for everyone.”

“Understood.”

“As you wish.”

Carlos bowed gracefully, and Yurika followed Rofus quickly.

Raymond, with a smirk, followed Carlos’s lead.

“…What is going on?”

Vallum, still not understanding the situation, muttered to himself.

＊

Although Rofus knew about Raymond through the story, it was from the perspective of the protagonist Abel. Thus, he only had fragmented knowledge about Raymond, the Second Demon King, and his relationship with the Four Heavenly Kings.

In other words, there were many things Rofus did not know about Raymond.

However, Rofus felt a sense of unease ever since the party hosted by the Galeon family, where Raymond gathered the Four Heavenly Kings excluding Vallum.

Rofus initially thought that Raymond and the Four Heavenly Kings met and bonded at that party.

But, if that were the case, the earlier meeting was unnatural.

Rofus, called by Raymond without much conversation, found that the future Four Heavenly Kings were already gathered there as if it was predetermined.

Moreover, Raymond’s tone at the time suggested he knew about Vallum, who wasn’t present.

The facts derived from this are:

Raymond’s direct encounter with the Four Heavenly Kings was undoubtedly at the party, but Raymond had recognized the four who would become the Four Heavenly Kings long before that party.

And that meeting wasn’t a coincidence of geniuses gathering but an intentional assembly orchestrated by Raymond.

As proof, Raymond had said during that meeting:

“There were four people in this kingdom who surpassed me in specific areas. And to think they are all of the same generation. I felt it was fate. One isn’t here, but that’s you all.”

The four who surpassed Raymond in specific fields were the Four Heavenly Kings he saw as his companions.

From Raymond’s words, it can be inferred that he had already recognized Vallum, in addition to Rofus, Annegret, and Orgus, at that point.

At the time, Rofus had casually overlooked these words, but upon reflection, they were odd.

Rofus, Annegret, and Orgus were undeniably geniuses, but Vallum was different.

Despite his strength, Vallum was relatively unknown in noble society due to his lower status as a knight’s family member. He was at best rumored to be a “strong apprentice knight.”

With many such strong knights rumored, pinpointing Vallum was strange.

And this applied to the other three as well.

Rofus, Annegret, and Orgus were certainly geniuses and prodigies in their respective fields.

However, nobles are often pretentious.

Many children are praised as geniuses due to family favoritism.

Noble society was filled with such fake geniuses.

But among those many so-called geniuses, these four were chosen without hesitation.

And that choice was correct.

In the story, the Second Demon King’s forces, consisting only of Raymond and the Four Heavenly Kings—Vallum, Rofus, Annegret, and Orgus—brought the kingdom to the brink of collapse.

A magic nation boasting the largest territory and national power on the continent.

Not only was Raymond remarkable, but the four chosen by Raymond were truly geniuses—no, monsters capable of confronting even a nation.

It wasn’t by mere chance that he chose them.

Raymond was searching.

He sought outstanding individuals who could stand alongside him, who could walk with him as equals.

To find them, he deployed contracted monsters throughout the kingdom to gather information.

Sometimes he received information from the monsters, and other times he saw directly through their eyes.

The ones chosen through this method later became known as the Four Heavenly Kings.

These four were geniuses—no, monsters.

Given this background, Raymond knew a lot about the events and information from across the kingdom.

In the recent meeting, he had likely been particularly observant of Rofus and Vallum, whom he had failed to recruit as allies, through his contracted monsters.

Thus, Raymond was aware.

He knew about the events in the Steria territory and that Rofus wanted to introduce trains to the Lightress territory.

Never in his wildest dreams did Raymond think his information-gathering through monsters would be uncovered.

However, it was precisely because Rofus had uncovered it that Raymond could effectively use the mining cards that Rofus desired.

Now, three of the five people who had nearly brought the kingdom to the brink of collapse were gathered around one table in the guest room.

Raymond stared at the pitch-black coffee placed before him with a troubled expression, not touching it.

“Rofus…do you have any milk and honey? I’m not very good with bitter things…”

“What’s this, Raymond? The one who claimed to be the strongest in the kingdom can’t even drink coffee? Ha, this is priceless!”

Rofus pointed at Raymond and laughed loudly.

Raymond didn’t lose his smile, but a vein bulged on his forehead.

“Rofus, not everyone likes black coffee. In fact, isn’t it rather rare? It’s just bitter, after all.”

“You don’t even understand the flavor and aroma, you fool. Rare? Look at Vallum. He’s drinking it without saying a word. The minority with childish tastes is you, Raymond.”

Rofus grinned, while Raymond forced a smile despite the twitching of his face.

Vallum, on the other hand, was drinking it straight because there was no milk or sugar available. In fact, he preferred coffee with lots of milk and honey.

However, mentioning this now would likely spark another intense argument with Rofus, so Vallum quietly sipped his coffee.

“Yusurika, bring some milk and honey. And make sure it’s a lot. After all, it’s for a child.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

At Rofus’s command, Yurika headed to the kitchen to fetch milk and honey.

Raymond, with veins bulging on his forehead, somehow managed to keep smiling.

“…What’s wrong, Rofus? I apologize for the sudden visit, but you’re unusually antagonistic today. Is something bothering you? I’m here to listen.”

“Will you really listen, Raymond? I know someone who can’t even drink coffee yet talks about being the strongest and conquering the world. It’s embarrassing to listen to. Can’t you do something about it?”

Rofus exaggeratedly held his head, acting dramatically.

Something snapped inside Raymond.

“Do you want to settle this once and for all? I wouldn’t mind if that’s what you desire.”

“Didn’t you want to establish an equal relationship? In the end, you resort to force. How small-minded.”

“I think it’s not bad to establish the power difference once.”

“A power difference? Do you really think you’re stronger than me?”

“I am. Shall we test it?”

“Fine. Step outside.”

Both stood up, tension crackling between Rofus and Raymond.

Yurika returned with a tray of milk and honey, her face paling at the tense atmosphere.

Vallum calmly took the milk and honey from Yurika’s tray, preparing a sweet coffee for himself and sipping it.

Vallum looked at Rofus and Raymond with an exasperated expression.

“What are you two getting so heated about over coffee? You’re troubling the maid.”

Vallum’s interjection earned him sharp glares from both Raymond and Rofus.

Ordinarily, the pressure might make someone faint, but Vallum remained unfazed, sipping his milky coffee.

“Vallum, why are you drinking like a child too?”

Rofus’s atmosphere suggested an immediate spell if Vallum responded incorrectly, but Vallum remained unperturbed.

“In the cold lands of Steria, there are no bees. Honey is rare and precious. Naturally, one would want to savor it when available. I understand your irritation, but don’t overdo it, Rofus. It makes you look petty.”

“Ugh…”

“And you too, Raymond. You came here to negotiate, didn’t you? Starting a fight over words doesn’t make sense.”

“Ugh…”

Faced with Vallum’s exceedingly reasonable words, both men reluctantly sat back down.

Moved by this resolution, Yusurika clapped, only to be glared at by Rofus, and she quickly stopped.

“We’re here to discuss the mines and trains, aren’t we? If you can’t have a calm conversation, I’ll leave, Raymond.”

“That would be problematic. I apologize for getting heated, Rofus.”

Prompted by Vallum’s words, Raymond apologized sincerely.

Rofus, turning away in a sulk, responded.

“Fine, I admit I was somewhat immature. This time, I’ll listen to what you have to say, Vallum.”

Rofus leaned back in his chair with a haughty air.

Raymond, watching this, shrugged as if to say, “Why so arrogant?”