Chapter 11 - What Is Planned for the First Floor

Beautiful flowers have thorns.

Sweet honey has bees to guard it.

Magical herbs were worth more than flowers or honey. They were something more beautiful, sweeter, and more precious.

Naturally, many coveted them.

Naturally, many wanted to claim them.

And so, naturally...

"Those are Poil Orcs."

There were other hunters seeking the magical herbs as well.

Snow-white fur covered their entire bodies. The creature—no, the creatures—were Poil Orcs, said to inhabit snowy mountains.

"What should we do? Even most knights are no match for them."

"And the one standing beside you happens to be a Demon King."

Berge rose and slowly approached their settlement.

GRRR—

GRR?

The monsters' growls carried through the blizzard. He could feel their eyes on him.

One, two, three. More and more golden eyes appeared, filled with wariness and hostility.

"... Demon."

The word emerged roughly from an orc's mouth.

Berge had made no attempt to conceal his aura, and they had recognized what he was.

"As a Demon King, I command you: leave those behind and go quietly."

Monsters were, ultimately, lesser versions of demonic creatures. The demonic creatures the Demon Realm had scattered throughout the dimensions had settled in the Middle Realm and developed into a distinct form.

Tens, even hundreds of generations had passed since their ties to the Demon Realm were severed, but a faint imprint remained in their flesh.

Loyalty to demons, and to the Demon Realm.

But...

"... We refuse."

"These are ours."

"We do not obey demons."

The Poil Orcs bared their teeth. Their wariness and hostility turned to murderous intent and rage.

"These bastards..."

Berge had overlooked two things. For monsters that had lived cut off from the Demon Realm, that connection had faded almost entirely.

And to creatures ruled by instinct, the magical herbs before them held an absolute value they could never surrender.

Enough to defy some nameless demon.

But the Poil Orcs had overlooked something too: Berge was not merely a demon, but a Demon King.

And he enjoyed a fight.

FWOOSH—

Black flames rose. The heavy snowfall did not dare encroach upon their domain.

"Kill...him!"

"Protect what is ours!"

The orcs gripped their weapons and kicked off through the snow.

The black flames opened an enormous maw. The two sides met.

BOOOOM—

The leading orc was blown apart on the spot.

That was only the beginning. Explosions, screams, and monstrous howls erupted everywhere.

"... Ah."

Ernyan stared blankly at the spectacle.

It was hot.

The heat was so intense that the snowy mountain's blizzard felt like no more than a warm breeze.

The black flames seemed like a living creature.

They melted the snow, scorched the earth, and devoured the orcs.

The orcs screamed.

They rolled through the snow, but the flames would not go out.

Their teeth never reached the Demon King, and their blades melted helplessly before the infernal blaze.

It was a one-sided massacre, a slaughter.

["Just five Poil Orcs together can tear an ogre apart. In the mountains, even the strongest knight cannot stand against them. If you encounter them, you must flee."]

["Would I ever have any reason to visit a mountain with Poil Orcs?"]

["True enough. Still, I merely thought you ought to know. Ha ha."]

A fragment of memory from the past surfaced.

She had ended up coming after all. Though this was hardly a dangerous situation.

'So this is a Demon King...'

The spirits trembled in terror. Faced with the majesty of an absolute power, they hid behind her back.

But she did not look away. It was beautiful. That strength. That might.

'If I were that strong...'

Perhaps she would not have had to live a life like a prison.

At that moment, darkness fell. The paradox of black light vanished.

HAAH—

The Demon King let out an exhilarated breath.

The chieftain in his grasp hung limp as a corpse.

Was it dead? No, it was not.

It was still breathing, however faintly. But that was all.

The chieftain was in no condition to do anything. Its twisted limbs bled, and its once-glossy fur had burned away without a trace.

Its companions lay embedded in the frozen ground, slowly being covered by snow.

"Say that again."

"... I-I will give them to you."

"You see..."

The Demon King ground out the words.

"I utterly despise being disrespected. And I absolutely loathe being mocked."

How dare mere orcs, not even heroes, treat the Demon Realm's vanguard commander like this?

"How do you think I feel when you forget your place and defy me?"

"M-mercy..."

"Do you think dogs that bite their master deserve mercy?"

"I-I will serve you, Demon King."

The living creatures that filled a Demon King's tower fell into three broad categories.

Demons.

Demonic creatures.

And monsters.

Demons were the intelligent beings of the Demon Realm.

Demonic creatures were everything else.

And monsters were a branch of demonic creatures that had taken root in the Middle Realm long ago.

There were two ways to use these monsters as inhabitants of a tower.

Either brand them as slaves using demonic energy points and the tower's power,

or subdue them by force and make them submit of their own accord.

But Berge had no intention of taking them in.

Even without spending demonic energy points to brand them, bringing them into the tower would mean feeding them at least some of its demonic energy.

He had no demonic energy points to waste on creatures like these right now.

And a dog that had bitten its master once should not be left alive.

"That is not for you to decide."

CRUNCH—

He took its life.

* * *

"Wow... The mana is incredibly pure."

At the center of the Poil Orcs' settlement stood plants that positively reeked of mana.

GULP—

The princess swallowed without realizing it.

"Don't get any ideas."

Berge snorted and pushed her aside.

He carefully dug up three magical herbs and tucked them inside his clothes.

These pure-white flowers, called Iasinths, were cold herbs that grew only on snowy mountains.

Possessing extreme cold, they were treasures that water spirit summoners and ice mages would pay a fortune to obtain.

For a first haul found in a mere thirty minutes, this was an incredible windfall.

'I never imagined there would be an area so rich in mana this close by.'

Berge clicked his tongue at the princess, who had already gone from dejected to running excitedly around with her spirits.

Even without receiving any magical herbs, this place itself must have been an enormous gift to a spirit summoner like her.

'What if I had been a little more careful?'

The tower absorbed mana from its surroundings and converted it into demonic energy, though only in tiny quantities.

Had he built the tower here, he would have gained at least a little more demonic energy. Not that he could undo it now.

'Now I'll have to give replacing the princess some more thought.'

He had considered monitoring the heroes' progress and, if necessary, sending the first princess back and abducting the thirteenth instead.

But the potential she had demonstrated made him hesitate.

The Erjest Mountains, said to be overflowing with magical herbs.

And a princess who commanded spirits, the finest search tools of all.

'At least for the time being... '

He felt the need to keep her beside him and exploit her.

Until he could reduce the dimension's interference as much as possible and regain his true strength.

Until the moment came when he could sever the heads of the heroes who had toyed with him.

'Humans need a suitable carrot before they'll put in any effort.'

"We're moving on to the next location. If you find more, I might give you one as your share."

"Yes. I'll do my best to find them!"

But beginner's luck never lasts. They found nothing else before she exhausted herself.

* * *

"The heroes have begun a hero's journey?"

"Yes. That is what the elf reported."

News that a hero's journey had begun awaited Berge upon his return to the tower.

A hero's journey. A phrase he had heard sickeningly often before his return to the past.

"... So it begins."

"Thirty-two heroes have reportedly formed a party."

"Who leads them?"

"A hero named Hillen Cargill. Rumors that he killed the Demon King of Lust are everywhere."

"Hillen Cargill..."

It was a name he had heard before. A genuine hero who had slain the Demon King of Lust.

Of all things, a major player was coming right from the start.

'Is this the price of building my tower in the Erjest Mountains?'

His means of filtering out as many heroes as possible seemed instead to have drawn an even more powerful enemy.

"Why don't we begin by hindering their journey as much as possible?"

"How?"

"Isn't this precisely why you purchased Granada?"

"I have more important uses for him. I cannot waste him for nothing."

"Then purchase demonic creatures with demonic energy points and send them."

It was not even worth considering.

Heroes chosen by a dimension grew stronger by hunting invaders. In other words, heroes developed through fighting demonic creatures, demons, and Demon Kings.

But that was indeed the prescribed approach.

Hinder the heroes' advance while simultaneously raising them to be stronger prey.

Which made it all the more revolting and repellent.

"Rejected."

"Then we have no other options. And once they arrive, we are certain to lose. Why not stop selling demonic energy points, at least from now on, and use them to reduce the dimension's interference?"

"We have a few months at most. Do you think that will be enough to defeat a hero who has beheaded a Demon King?"

Impossible. If it were, Berge would not have died in his previous life. Back then, he had abducted princesses from countless nations and stirred up strife, earning himself tremendous notoriety.

"Then will you simply watch them come and let them defeat you?"

"No. I will use them."

"Use them, how?"

"A hero's journey. What an event for humans to go wild over."

Berge understood the importance of a hero's journey very well. The impact it had, the renown its participants gained.

He had suffered through it countless times.

"It's the perfect stage for a mercenary company with little reputation but genuine skill to distinguish itself."

"You mean to send Granada?"

"If I had my way, I would use humans to eliminate humans."

But however much they loved money, they would hardly attempt to assassinate a hero who had beheaded a Demon King and captured the entire continent's attention.

"Then what else will you do? They will still be coming."

"Nothing."

Sending demonic creatures would only make the man stronger. There was nothing else he could send in their place. So he would do nothing.

That alone would limit the heroes' growth somewhat. A hero's journey was effectively a signal asking Demon Kings to send demons so the heroes could grow stronger. Cutting that off at the source would at least put him above average.

"To the heroes, that is."

"Then?"

"When the princess said she wanted to decorate the fourth floor, it struck me. Perhaps my thinking has been too rigid. Perhaps I am still a demon through and through, despite everything."

Questions had occurred to him.

Did he really have to use demonic energy points to fortify the tower?

Did he really have to keep spending demonic energy points to maintain its traps?

"What do you think about filling the tower with something other than demonic creatures?"

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

Gordon was horrified.

"Surely you don't mean to buy more slaves to fill it? Absolutely, absolutely not!"

"Why?"

"Because it's a tower! Because you are a Demon King! Do you intend to entrust a Demon King's tower to mere humans?"

"What if they're dwarves, not humans?"

"Even worse! You know how stunted those little runts are!"

"They are small, yes."

"Imagine those runts greeting heroes inside this magnificent tower! What would the heroes think?"

"Wouldn't they laugh?"

Berge imagined the tower doors opening to reveal dwarves around 130 centimeters tall. It was rather funny.

"Exactly! Even ranks of imposing demonic creatures would hardly be enough, and you propose that worthless race?"

What demons sought was terror and fear, rage and despair.

But would humans fear mere runts? Would they despair?

No. They would snort and mock them instead.

That was something that must never, ever happen.

"The throne at the tower's summit is not there for nothing. Besides, they would never faithfully obey your commands!"

"I hear dwarves are rather fond of money too."

"At least they aren't like humans, willing to sell their souls for money. They're more devious and more irritating."

"I hear many of them are stubborn."

"And above all..."

"Above all?"

"They're weak. As food for demonic creatures, perhaps, but I absolutely oppose using them as the tower's guardians. We must fill the tower with the strongest demonic creatures possible if we are to stand against heroes!"

"Indeed. The tower must be filled with strong creatures, after all."

"Quite right. At last, you sound like a proper Demon King."

Gordon nodded with deliberately exaggerated vigor. Thank goodness he had stopped his lord from going astray.

"So we'll fill the first floor with dwarves."

"Ack!"

Gordon bit his tongue.

He hadn't persuaded him at all!