ARRIVAL AT THE DEMON LORD’S CASTLE
We stayed at the Colonel’s place for a few days, then headed out.
We may have finally reached the demon realm, but it’s a pretty big place, so we still have to find a place where we can actually settle down. The Colonel’s lands border human territory, so it’s not an ideal place for royalty like the Demon Lord to set up camp.
I was feeling pretty low about having to take another long journey in that stupid bouncy carriage, but it turned out I was wrong. Our destination was super-close to the border.
I mean, it took us several years to cross the span of humanity’s domain, so wouldn’t most people assume it would take just as long to cross the demon realm?
But apparently it takes only a week—just seven days. And that’s going at a mellow pace, too.
Hmm. Yeah, I guess seven days by carriage is a bit of a distance, but since I was bracing myself for a year or more, this seems easy by comparison.
“The Demon Lord’s not your average ruler, y’know? I gotta fight on the front lines. So obviously my castle has to be close to the border for that reason, among others.”
That’s straight from the Demon Lord’s mouth.
Right. I guess in this world, the Demon Lord doesn’t just wait around in a castle like the final boss of an RPG.
In fact, this one leaves her castle all the time!
Can you imagine what kind of impossible game would have a demon lord who leaves the castle and chases you down on the overworld map?
Just stay in the castle, dammit!
Otherwise it’s not a demon lord’s castle at all!
Plus, this one didn’t even leave the castle to kill a hero—she left to kill ME!
Remembering that kinda makes me mad, so I try to smack the Demon Lord on the head, but she dodges me easily.
Grrrr! If only I still had power! Then I could slap that smug little head of hers!
Power! Give me powerrr!
“And what exactly are you doing?”
As I reach out longingly for power, Vampy gives me a cold glare.
Stop! Don’t look at me like that!
If a pretty little girl like you glares at me, it might awaken some new darkness within!
No, just kidding, it won’t.
Anyway, while I was having that stupid exchange in my head, we arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle.
In total defiance of the image that phrase evokes, it’s actually super-gorgeous.
The place is so beautiful and magnificent that if it was on Earth, it’d probably be officially recognized as a World Heritage Site.
Magnificent is one thing, but why is it beautiful…?
Isn’t a demon lord’s castle supposed to be more, y’know, spooky?
“Some demon lord’s castle that is.”
See? Vampy’s not feeling it, either.
Incidentally, there’s a lovely little castle town, too.
Although the atmosphere’s a bit dampened by the giant wall around the outermost perimeter. It’s like a fortress wall, really.
But can you blame them?
There are monsters and stuff in this world. It’s dangerous not to have walls to keep them out. Besides, this is the Demon Lord’s turf, so they might even get attacked by humans.
So it makes sense that they would need a nice, sturdy wall for defense.
Anyway, the castle town inside those walls is the biggest I’ve ever seen, I think.
The towns and cities in this world are pretty tiny, since they have to be walled in and all.
You gotta make the walls first, then the rest of the town.
So of course the size of every settlement is limited to the size of the walled area.
They can add on to the walls to expand, but that has its limits, too, so most towns and even cities in this world are pretty small.
From that perspective, the Demon Lord’s castle town is actually so big, I don’t even know what to make of it.
The biggest place I’ve seen so far in this world is the capital of Sariella. Being the capital of a major country and all, it was pretty darn big.
But this castle town puts it to shame.
I don’t know exactly how big either of them is, so this is just an estimate, but I think the castle town must be at least twice the size of that capital.
And that’s just my impression from going from the outer wall straight to the castle, so it might be even bigger for all I know.
It’s times like these that I wish I could still look at the map with Panoptic Vision.
Back when I had my skills, I could use Panoptic Vision and other sense-enhancing skills to find out the measurements of distance around me without even really trying.
But now, no matter how hard I concentrate, I can see only as far as my average field of vision—until something blocks it, that is.
In a town like this, that means I can pretty much see only what’s right in front of my face.
I feel pretty helpless, to be honest.
I know that’s just how it is, but I can’t help being frustrated that I can no longer do all the things I used to be able to do.
Gotta hurry up and master the use of my power so I can get my old abilities back.
While I’m busy being lost in thought, we arrive at our destination.
The Demon Lord’s castle—no, a fancy house nearby.
It’s not as impressive as the castle, but it’s still a beautiful palace-like manor that would easily land on the cultural heritage list.
“So we’re not even going to the castle?” Vampy grumbles, but her mood quickly recovers as she looks at the palace with sparkling eyes.
At times like these, Vampy actually reacts the way a little girl is supposed to. It’s a lot more charming than the way she always sits around polishing her broadsword and grinning like a maniac.
What, me? Come on—I’m about function over fashion, that’s all.
Anyway, we’re being brought to a parlor room now.
It seems like we’ll be staying in here, actually, so maybe it’s more like a guest room?
From what I hear, we’re staying in guest rooms because the master of the house is away and might not be back for a while.
The butler in charge of the palace didn’t want to keep us waiting in the parlor forever, so he kindly prepared guest rooms for each of us.
Damn, this guy’s good!
I wonder who’s a better butler, him or Mera?
Well, he looks like he’s around his forties, just like the Colonel, but since he’s a demon, he’s probably actually lived a really long life.
He might have the advantage over Mera in terms of experience.
“All righty. Well, let’s figure out our plans for the future before the master of the house gets back.”
We all got our own rooms, but for now, we’re gathering in the Demon Lord’s room to talk about what to do next.
Although we already discussed it a bit on the way here, so we’re mostly just reaffirming that.
“Firstly, once I meet with the master of the house, I’ll be moving to the castle. Ael and Merazophis, you’ll come with me.”
The Demon Lord is going to the Demon Lord’s castle.
The person who lives here is currently in charge of the Demon Lord’s castle, or in fact all of demonkind, since the Demon Lord has been away. Once they meet up, the Demon Lord will probably take over those duties again.
Makes sense. That is her job, after all.
The problem is that she’s bringing Ael, who’s normally the one in charge of reining in her crazy siblings.
Are the other three puppet spiders gonna be okay without her? I’m a little concerned.
On the other hand, Vampy doesn’t just look concerned. She looks outright furious.
That makes sense, too. Mera’s going to the Demon Lord’s castle without her.
Normally, as her servant, he’s supposed to be at Vampy’s side at all times.
But I think because of Vampy’s attitude, the Demon Lord’s decided that it would be best to keep Mera away from her for a while.
Her whole yandere thing has gotten pretty severe over the years.
I think the Demon Lord’s probably got the right idea of giving them a little cooling-off period, then trying to raise the baby bloodsucker to be a bit more levelheaded.
Yeah, it’s a logical decision.
But logic doesn’t work on a crazy yandere, so I don’t know how well this is gonna go.
“The rest of you will stay here. I’ll assign a private tutor to Sophia and then have her start going to school once she’s old enough.”
At this, Vampy’s scowl gets even darker.
Evidently, the demon realm has schools and stuff, too, and the academy here is where all the kids of noble families go.
Vampy will have to start attending soon, so for now she’s going to be educated by a private tutor first.
She’s a reincarnation and all, so she was able to learn some things on the way here. I’m sure she’ll do fine in school, grades-wise.
But the main goal in sending Vampy to the academy isn’t to get an education—it’s to expand her circle of friends and cure her of her yandere ways!
Will it work? Probably not, but you never know!
But while I’ve already more or less given up, the Demon Lord seems pretty serious about her plan to rehabilitate Vampy.
Yeah, good luck with that. If anyone can do it, it’s you, I’m sure.
“And then there’s White, who’s sitting there like this has nothing to do with her! I’m gonna give you work to do, too, so don’t let me down!”
Wait…what?!
You’re gonna put ME to work?!
Okay, I’m overreacting, but seriously. You want me to work?
You know what I’m like now, right? I hate to admit it, but I’m a totally useless piece of junk at the moment, okay?
Huh? That’s weird. There’s some sort of strange, salty liquid coming out of my eyes.
“If you don’t work, you don’t eat—that’s how the rule goes! So obviously we gotta have you pay with your body, White.”
The Demon Lord grins wickedly as she comes closer.
Uh, hang on a sec. Between that phrasing and that face, are you saying you’re gonna sell me?
Am I gonna have to do a bunch of unspeakable things in some sketchy place?!
I get up to flee from the Demon Lord’s evil hand, but in my fragile state, the difference between our speeds is laughable.
She grabs me from behind easily, then gropes my chest.
“Hey, these are pretty nice!”
EEEEP! Stop it—let go of me! I didn’t agree to this!
“That’s enough.”
“Oof!”
All at once, I’m released from the Demon Lord’s grasp.
Turning around, I see her head, or rather her hair, being yanked back by Vampy.
I appreciate you saving me, but doesn’t that seem a little harsh?
You’re gonna do some serious damage to the Demon Lord’s roots, there.
But she did rescue me, and she also looks super-pissed right now, so I’m not gonna say anything like that to her.
I’m a girl who knows how to read the room.
“Ow, owww. Fine, that’s enough joking. I was just gonna ask you to make thread for me, okay, White? Just make as much of it as you can. If you could craft some high-defense clothes out of it, that would be even better.”
The Demon Lord rubs the back of her head as she reveals her true intentions.
…Come on—you’ve got Suffering Nullification. That probably didn’t even hurt.
Thread, though, huh?
During the Mystic Mountains incident, I regained the ability to produce thread.
It kinda reawakened when we were in a life-and-death crisis. Pretty cliché, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, it was sorta like an emergency-induced feat of supernatural strength, but I tested some things out afterward and found that I can produce it whenever I want.
Unfortunately, though, none of my other abilities have come back, and producing the thread is all I can do with it.
Yeah, I can make it move a tiny bit, but I can’t slice up an opponent or tie them up instantly like I used to be able to do.
And I can decide whether to make it sticky or not, but I can’t fine-tune it the way I used to with my skills before.
Why would the Demon Lord have any use for such a limited ability?
“Take a look at this. It’s thread that you made, White.”
The Demon Lord produces a piece of thread and starts pulling it with both hands.
“Hnnngh!”
Given how high her stats are, the thread instantly…doesn’t break?
“Rrrgh! Whew. So yeah, you see?”
After tugging red-faced on the thread for a little while, the Demon Lord gives up and wheezes.
I stare at her in shock.
“I can’t break the thread you make, even if I use all my strength. And its Appraisal results just say ‘Cannot be Appraised.’ That means that your thread exists outside the system, White. You made it this strong without the benefit of the system. Which also means that it’s resistant to any actions taken within the system. I don’t know exactly how strong that resistance is just yet, but it’s definitely really tough. Tougher than any thread I can make with my skills.”
Say what?!
My thread is stronger than the Demon Lord’s Divine Thread Weaving?
Now, that’s unexpected.
When I was experimenting, I was more concerned with what I could do with the thread than the properties of the thread itself.
But I guess the Demon Lord focused on the thread instead.
I was so preoccupied with the things I couldn’t do that I didn’t even realize that the thread itself was stronger than what I used to make.
Enough that it’d make exceptionally good material for armor.
“To start, I’d like you to make enough thread for everyone in this room. I’ll leave Riel and Fiel with you to help make the clothes themselves, so you can let them take care of that part. Also, it’d be great if you could make a little extra for research. Basically, I just want you to focus on making thread for a while, White.”
Ooh, I see. So that’s what she meant by pay with your body.
Well, that’s fine by me.
I still haven’t really done much research with it myself, since I figured I could make more thread later.
It’s hard to do much when you’re on the road, after all.
Now that I can settle down and do some experimenting, I might even make some new discoveries.
I used to do that kind of thing whenever I got new skills.
And this thread of mine is a completely new power, so the rules of skills don’t even apply anymore.
Since it’s not standardized like a skill would be, thinking of it in terms of what it can and can’t do might be wrong in the first place. Skills have clear limitations to what they can accomplish, but those limits don’t matter to me anymore.
Even if I can’t do certain things now, I might be able to in the future.
The possibilities are endless. It all depends on my own effort and creativity.
I guess when I think about it that way, it is a little exciting.
Besides, if I keep producing lots of thread, I might figure out how to use some of my other abilities, too.
Producing thread is a function the human body doesn’t have.
In other words, I’m using magic of some kind to create it.
Whether I’m aware of it or not, that means there’s some mysterious power at work.
If I can get a better sense of this power, then I might be able to reproduce other abilities, too.
However, I’m now able to produce thread as naturally as moving my body, so it won’t be easy to figure out how it works.
People don’t normally need to put any thought into moving their hands and feet, and even if they did, it wouldn’t help them better understand how it happened, exactly.
But if I give up just because it’s hard, then I’ve already lost!
So from now on, I’ll be a thread-making machine!
Once I nod my affirmation, the Demon Lord addresses the last unassigned person.
“Sael, you’ll be Sophia’s bodyguard.”
Sael only does what she’s told, so she has to be paired up with someone or she won’t even move.
Since the role of bodyguard requires directions only in emergency situations, it’s the perfect role for Sael, as usual.
That said, Vampy doesn’t look thrilled being paired up with Sael.
Huh? Hey, wait a second.
Doesn’t that mean I’m stuck looking after the other two problem children?
My eyes widening, I look at Riel and Fiel in horror.
Riel is a natural weirdo, and Fiel is violent and energetic.
Even right now, Riel is wearing a smile that makes it impossible to tell what she’s thinking, while Fiel is smiling like she’s not thinking about anything at all.
I’m gonna be working with these two?
Will I really be able to get anything done?
…Hoo, boy.
The lord of the mansion wound up returning late at night.
He’s a young man, or at least he appears to be.
But since demons live longer than humans, it’s impossible to tell what his actual age is.
Since he seems very composed despite his young appearance, he might be a lot older than he looks.
“Always a pleasure to see you again, O Demon Lord.”
The man kneels in front of the Demon Lord.
His expression is calm, but it looks to me like he’s actually pretty nervous.
“Mm-hmm, good work.” The Demon Lord smiles cheerfully. “You been keeping busy?”
“Yes, quite. But I felt it of the utmost importance to prioritize greeting you upon your return, O Demon Lord.”
The man seems taken aback by the Demon Lord’s attitude.
Oh, I get it. He probably knows her only from before she got mixed up with my former body brain.
I didn’t exactly have any real conversations with the Demon Lord before then, but she definitely seemed a lot different.
If you were familiar with the old Demon Lord, then the difference probably seems a lot more drastic.
The fact that the Colonel didn’t even blink at that makes me think it’s likely he’s up to no good after all.
Although if just saying good work was enough to surprise the man this much, how exactly did she act toward him before?
“Thanks. Since I brought some new folks, y’mind introducing yourself to them?”
The man stands obediently and bows his head toward us.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Balto Phthalo, in charge of the Phthalo region.”
“Balto’s basically the archduke who mediates among all the demons, so if you need anything, he’s your guy.”
Hmm.
So he’s the second-most-important demon after the Demon Lord, huh?
The Colonel seemed like he symbolized the military might of the borderlands, so maybe Balto is more about politics.
He totally acts like a government official, for one thing.
After we’ve all been introduced, they discuss the future for a bit. Sounds like the group moving to the Demon Lord’s castle should be able to do that without a problem.
However, Mera and Ael won’t be able to work directly under the Demon Lord.
There aren’t any positions for them that report to the Demon Lord herself, and it’ll take some time to reorganize things for them.
I guess that makes sense, since the Demon Lord’s been away for years.
So for now, Ael will be stationed at the Demon Lord’s side as her assistant, and Mera will temporarily be assigned to the Fourth Army.
Mera himself is the one who wanted to be part of the army. I guess he thought he’d be better off there than at the Demon Lord’s side.
It must still be bothering him that he wasn’t able to put up much of a fight against Mr. Oni in the Mystic Mountains.
Balto is personally in charge of the Fourth Army, which is usually assigned to defend this area, the Phthalo region.
The reason the capital city’s army isn’t number one is that number one is usually stationed at the border abutting human lands.
In other words, the Colonel’s men are army number one.
Anyway, the rest of us leftovers get permission to live in this mansion. We even get to stay in the rooms we’re using right now.
Vampy’s personal tutor will be assigned in the next few days, too.
We’re all taken care of.
The Demon Lord’s got some serious pull.
Between her physical and political power, she might actually be the strongest person I know.
Thus, our journey came to an end.
From this point on, each of us will start working toward our own goals.
The Demon Lord will work to bring the demons together and start a war against the humans.
Vampy will work to grow up healthy, uh, both physically and mentally.
I’ll work to regain the powers I lost.
We each have a goal.
Our battle has only just begun!
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