Chapter 91 - New Members of the Family

Lavinia Akan ran her hand over the core the dwarf had made.

"A dud."

"Pardon?"

"Garbage."

The dwarf looked ready to cry, but she was not making it up. Demonic energy and mana were mixed together strangely, severely degrading the demonic energy's quality. Nor did the core work properly. The clumsy modifications meant to accommodate demonic energy had made it little more than expensive scrap.

"Mana cannons. How?"

"Well, mana cannons and golem cores are worlds apart!"

For a mana cannon, all one had to do was place a sphere of refined mana inside a shell. Its power would then fire the cannon. The process was so simple that it hardly mattered whether mana or demonic energy served as the power source. If anything, the more violent demonic energy increased its destructive power.

"... Hmm. I'm sorry, Master Logger, but this is waste material so bad it's embarrassing to call it a core..."

"You're not sorry at all, are you?"

Raymon avoided Logger's eyes.

"That's not true. I respect you, Master Logger. But this core's design is a little antiquated. The sort the kingdom might have used about thirty years ago..."

"That's because I'm not a professional golem controller!"

The dwarf who had installed hundreds of mana cannons on the first floor of the Demon King's tower roared. The golem controller hastily tried to undo the damage.

"But it's incredibly sturdy! Just what I'd expect from Master Logger!"

"Too late!"

Logger switched on a mana cannon standing to one side. Its lights began to come on with a hum.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Be more careful next time. Understood?"

Raymon begged profusely. Logger snorted and patted his shoulder.

"Golem. Quality?"

"Are you asking what quality of golem we're going to make?"

"Yes."

"The very best, of course!"

"You."

"Yes, Princess," Raymon answered.

"Blueprints."

"Yes, I'll come up with something right away..."

"Latest."

"... That's a royal top secret. Perhaps something a little less advanced..."

"Latest."

"... Give me a little time, and I'll draw them up for you."

As he said, the blueprints for the latest golem model were strategic assets classified as top secret, and could not be carried around. But Raymon was a golem controller who had personally participated in its design and production. It took him three days to put the complex structure in his head onto paper.

"Oh, so this is..."

Logger marveled at the blueprints. He was an outstanding craftsman, but not a professional golem controller. Naturally, his understanding of golems was limited, and the blueprints containing the essence of Akan's expertise set his craftsman's passion ablaze.

"Beautiful! Utterly beautiful! To think I'd get to see something like this...!"

"Make it."

"Of course! Akan may be the best at designing golems, but no one can match me when it comes to building them!"

Logger tossed contaminated mana stones into the Demon Realm forge. The bloodfire stone swallowed the demonic energy and began to radiate intense heat.

"Join him."

"Pardon?"

"Inscriptions. Circuits."

Making a golem core was not simply a matter of hammering metal. Magical circuits and inscriptions had to be constructed around highly pure mana stones (contaminated). That part of the process was the golem controller's job.

"Ugh... Understood."

The dwarf and the golem controller shut themselves away in the workshop. Until the core was finished, Lavinia had little to do. She instinctively knew her role in the golem's creation: completely replacing mana, the only power source ever researched for golems, with demonic energy. She would have to identify and correct every problem that arose in the process. To do that, they first needed a complete core to put through a series of experiments.

"Cher."

Lavinia called her friend. The titan lumbered over and bowed his head. She stroked it.

"This."

"Grr?"

She opened her storage dimension and took out a twitching tail. It was the succubus queen's tail she had received in exchange for her cooperation.

"Let's attach it."

Cher shook his head furiously. He had known Lavinia for a long time and had become a chimera, but at heart he was still a demon—a titan. The macho titan instinctively recognized the tail as a succubus's and did not want one of those sex demons' tails attached to his body.

But...

"Attach it."

He had no say in the matter.

GROOOAR

Cher began running away at full speed.

"Stop there."

Lavinia chased him with the tail in hand.

* * *

It had already been over a year since Berge descended upon Arain. A great deal had happened.

Ernyan Hilderan of the Kingdom of Hilderan.

Elena Hilderan of the Kingdom of Hilderan.

Kaede Jespine of the Jespine Empire.

And Lavinia Akan of the Kingdom of Akan.

He had kidnapped three princesses, struck a deal with one, repelled one hero's journey, and made Hillen Cargill—the hero who had slain two Demon Kings—his servant. Compared to before his regression, he was certainly doing better. Except for the tower.

Back then, by the end of his first year, Berge had kidnapped princesses from two kingdoms and devoured countless foolish heroes and raiders who underestimated him for being newly descended. Thanks to them, his tower had reached six floors in no time. He had started with a thousand demonic creatures as his reward for graduating at the top of the Demon King Military Academy, along with countless graduates of the Demon Training Academy drawn to his abilities. His starting point had been different.

It had been a virtuous cycle: he killed the heroes who underestimated him, summoned stronger demonic creatures, and strengthened his tower. Back then, he had truly been like a sun that never set. That did not mean he wanted to go back, though. He knew better than anyone how it ended.

'The first floor is nearly finished.'

The mana cannon installation was in its final stages. Once the golems were built and deployed, everything would be perfect.

'The second floor...'

On hold until he accumulated enough demonic energy to summon a balrog. The third floor was even further on hold, since he had no ideas for it yet.

'The fourth floor...'

It was the princesses' floor, but more precisely, it was Ernyan Hilderan's floor. The environment she had created with spirits and the spirits she had summoned dominated it.

'What incredible talent.'

The tower naturally contaminated all mana, turning it into demonic energy. Yet the fourth floor remained lush and green. That was Ernyan's doing. She was suppressing the encroachment of demonic energy with her own power. He was fortunate that someone like her willingly sided with him. Thanks to her, he had persuaded Kaede and kidnapped Elena. Their combined effect was making his demonic energy points accumulate at a frightening pace. Even after paying off all his debts, he would be able to summon a balrog in less than a month.

'And Elena is just as promising as Ernyan.'

For now, she lay on the third floor like a corpse, but once enough mana had drained away, she would be able to start learning magic. And the moment she could control her own mana reserves through magic, the world would discover the emergence of a new archmage.

'First, though, I need to find a mage...'

Two had recently arrived, but one was a mad chimera maker and the other a golem controller. Neither was the right kind to teach Elena.

Just then, Gordon knocked on the door.

"My lord. Granada has contacted us. He says he's arrived near Hortonwork with the elves. He didn't enter the city because they would draw attention. What should we do?"

What Berge had been waiting for had finally arrived.

* * *

After parting with Cain, Granada went straight to the Golden Moon Trading Company. There, he met the elves who had been slaves. Their number had risen to thirty-three, but no more had been added before the move.

"We searched every slave market on the continent, but we couldn't find any more elven slaves."

That was not particularly surprising. Since the nations had agreed to ban the enslavement of other races, the number of elven and dwarven slaves had steadily declined.

"That's a relief."

Granada was rather pleased that there were only thirty-three. Seeing his own people enslaved was hardly pleasant. Besides, he now had to turn those thirty-three into the Demon King's subordinates. He sincerely hoped their number would not increase.

The thirty-three elves looked better groomed than he had expected at their first meeting. On the Demon King's orders, Aman had treated them as free people rather than slaves, easing their wariness a little. Aman gathered all the elves who had been working as members of the trading company in one room. Granada took a light, deep breath and opened the door.

"Good to meet you. I am Granada of the Maple Tribe."

"... An elf?"

All eyes turned toward him. Thirty-three pairs of pointed ears filled Granada with nostalgia, as though he had returned to Elven. But that was not all.

Just then, someone spoke.

"... Master Granada?"

"Charlotte?"

There was an elf who had actually lived with him in Elven.

"It really is you, Master Granada!"

"Why are you here...?"

"Well, I went out to look for you, and..."

"Good heavens."

Granada was aghast at the unexpected reunion. It was a reunion he had never wanted.

"So you're the one who saved us, Master Granada?"

"No. No, I'm not."

He rubbed his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Unfortunately, I have to force a choice upon you. I'll say this only once, so listen carefully."

After a moment's hesitation, Granada gritted his teeth.

"You must swear loyalty to a Demon King for the next hundred years."

"...!"

* * *

Charlotte, an elf of the Maple Tribe, felt devastated. Her head understood, but her heart could not accept it.

'To think we have to serve a Demon King.'

And the Demon King of Hellfire, the most talked-about Demon King these days, at that. As an elf, she ought to protect the World Tree and lead the fight against demons, yet here she was, going to swear loyalty to a Demon King.

The mood was troubled, as though the other elves shared her thoughts. They had agreed for now, but doubts kept surfacing.

"Is this really the right thing to do?"

"It is."

Granada made no particular effort to comfort them. His persuasion had played a major role, but ultimately they had chosen of their own free will. The responsibility was entirely theirs to bear, and the pain would dull with time.

"Does any elf here want to return to life as a slave?"

None did. The miserable life of a slave had been their reality until recently. Having briefly tasted the sweetness of being elves rather than slaves made that all the more true. No one wanted to abandon that sweetness and return to the nightmare.

It felt like betraying the World Tree, but knowing that another elf already served him eased their guilt. All the more so if their service was not for life, but for a hundred years, with a guaranteed future at the end.

"There you have it."

"Even so, if it hadn't been you, neither I nor the others would ever have agreed to become a Demon King's followers, even if it meant returning to slavery."

"I'm grateful."

"But to think that you, of all people, were serving a Demon King..."

"He's different from the ordinary Demon Kings you know. The tower has only one dark-skinned bastard for a demon, and no demonic creatures at all. Instead, there are a dwarf hero and princesses."

"That part sounds strange no matter how I think about it. Are you sure the person you serve is a Demon King?"

"It sounds a little strange even to me, but yes."

"So you lot were spouting nonsense while I wasn't around."

An unfamiliar voice suddenly cut in. Charlotte instinctively threw a punch, but Granada caught it.

"Stop. This is our lord, the Demon King."

"... The Demon King?"

Red hair and red eyes. He evoked blazing flames, and she sensed an intensely hot fire within him. She could not sense any of the demonic energy that was practically the hallmark of demons. If anything, he could have been a spirit.

"...?"

The elves turned their eyes toward Granada.

"It may be hard to believe, but he really is the Demon King. Circumstances require him to conceal his demonic energy for now, that's all."

"Is that possible?"

"How about this?"

In an instant, his red hair turned black, and his eyes became black as well. The pure mana that had evoked a spirit was gone. Dense demonic energy made his presence unmistakable.

"Do you believe I'm a Demon King now?"

"... How?"

"Does that matter?"

"No."

As though all her earlier worries had been a joke, Charlotte strode forward on behalf of the thirty-three elves.

"We've already decided to serve you, my lord. But before we do, I would like to ask one thing."

"Speak."

"Will you truly release us after a hundred years?"

"Of course."

"Can you swear it on the first Demon Emperor and the Guide, which demons hold sacred?"

He answered her bold question without the slightest hesitation.

"I swear on the great first Demon Emperor and the Guide that you will have your freedom after a hundred years."

Charlotte knelt.

"By the great World Tree, I swear to serve you loyally for a hundred years, my lord."

"We swear!"

The elves all prostrated themselves. The Demon King smiled in satisfaction.