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Part 4 

---Ancient Vampire Citadel, Outer walls 

At the centre of the wind eroded ruins, the Pumpkin head that gave a cheery call---Jack-O’-Lantern stood before the children, who had been captured and brought to this Citadel, and called for their eyes to be upon him. Amongst the children were Beastmen, Dryads, Naiads, and many others, who comprised of mainly children who had been born locally in [Underwood]. 

What were they trying to do by gathering at the centre of the ruins? Yō and Garol sat on the rubble as they quietly watched the procession although they were sceptical about Jack’s weird behaviour. 

“That pumpkin head……What’s he going to do?” 

“I don’t know. But he said that he hoped for the children to be able to help us happily. I think it shouldn’t be something bad.” 

“It would be good if that were true~”Garol looked on with a mixture of doubt and trust in his voice. 

At that moment, Jack was taking out an umbrella and raising it before the children. 

“Yahoho! Good~Everyone focus here yo! This is a magical umbrella crafted by my friend! It’s a masterpiece crafted by the hands of the famous sleep demon Ole Lukø Senior[26].” 

Jack laughed cheerily as Ayesha started to twirl the umbrella that she took from his hands. 

Upon hearing the name of Ole Lukø, a look of surprise crept over Garol’s expression. 

“OiOi……The umbrella of Ole Lukø?” 

“You’ve heard of it?” 

“O…..Hm I’ve only heard of the name before. According to the tales told about it, it is a magical umbrella that allows one to enter various types of dream worlds……but how did that kind of treasure fall into that Pumpkin Head’s hands?” 

*Hm*Garol folded his arms as he tilted his head, puzzled. 

---But what the both of them did not know about was that Ole Lukø was a Sleep demon that appeared as a youth in his prime that roamed near Denmark. 

Ole Lukø would wear a rainbow coat and place one of the two magical umbrellas at the side of the pillow of the sleeping children. 

If the child was good, he would place an umbrella that would give them good dreams. 

If the child was naughty, he would place an umbrella that would give them bad dreams. 

Jack spread his arms and bobbled his Pumpkin head as he announced: 

“Yahoho! As long as everyone helps to gather the clues in the Outer walls, I will present this Dream umbrella made by Ole Lukø Senior to you guys!” 

“HmHm~This time we are sure giving away a huge present ne~!” 

Ayesha parted her lips as she smiled, showing her sharp incisors. 

The downcast expressions of the children had immediately brightened up at the announcement. 

And one of them had raised a hand to pose a question to Jack: 

“Excuse me…… Jack-san. Can this umbrella induce the dream that we want to dream?” 

“Yahoho? Nn! Although it can be described in that way……but if it isn’t bothersome, may I know what kind of dream you wish for?” 

Jack tilted his Pumpkin head as he asked. 

The child who raised her hand---Most likely a Naiad teenager answered coyly in a hesitant manner: 

“I want……to dream a dream of our flag flying high in [Underwood].” 

“………?” 

“Currently, [Underwood] has come under the protection of the [Draco Greif] Alliance, so the flag has been kept in our treasury……We had originally planned to fly our flag once more after the Harvest Festival has been successfully hosted……but now the Harvest Festival is ruined……” 

“So even if it’s just a dream, I hope to see the sight of the flag being flown from the top of [Underwood].” The teenage girl shyly ended it off at that and many other children had nodded their heads in agreement. 

Jack was momentarily stumped and his reaction was off by a beat. 

Garol had also turned away his face to hide his pained expression. 

Whereas Yō only looked on at the children’s faces with a sincere attitude. 

“……Garol-san. For these children, the flag seems to be a very important thing to them right?” 

“Nn. All of the children in Little Garden’s Cities have been growing up while looking up to their flag. And the feelings of not allowing their flag to be humiliated is deeply entrenched into them from young, so they know that every action that they take must be one that does no harm to their flag……For these children, the Harvest Festival can be counted as an important ritual that decides their futures.” 

But, this important ritual was destroyed. 

And it was all due to the Demon Lord and the Titan tribe---and a few other people behind the scenes who were cruel and unfeeling about these feelings when they made their moves. 

“……Is that so?” 

Yō lightly replied as she continued to look at the children. 

Looking through all the faces of the children, Jack nodded his head cheerily as he replied: 

“……Yahoho! That’s right, of course you can dream that. But if you win by cheating, that would be pointless yo~. This umbrella is one that will give sweet dreams to good children and bad dreams to naughty ones. Children who win by cheating will have a bad dream of scary pumpkins waiting for you oh~” 

As Jack snapped his finger, the candle holders and lantern-carrying dolls sprung up at once. 

Upon the delighted screams and shouts of the children, Garol squinted his eyes at them. 


And Yō was reminded of Gry’s words on the day of their arrival at the Harvest Festival plaza. 

[We hope to let the North and East Side to know of the news of [Underwood]’s revival---] 

The ‘him’ who had said those words had also brought her and the others along for a tour of the place in high spirits. 

The time that was spent when they had first arrived for the Harvest Festival was really interesting. 

Thinking of the residents who were full of energy and the many activities that were scheduled to be hosted, one would be abound with the excited feelings in anticipation for the events. 

Be it the finding of the saplings and seeds for the revival of the [No Name]s, or the choosing of the local produce for presents to the children of their Community…… those were all experiences that were new to Yō. 

The Harvest festival that was entrusted with the feelings of all the Participants, Host and the residents who have their hearts tied to this piece of homeland---had been completely ruined by the cold and heartless enemy. 

In addition to that, they had also used an underhanded evil method of using Leticia to do their nasty job without having to dirty their hands. 

“……This method sure is distasteful.” 

Yō muttered it sub-consciously and was also taken aback by her own words for she did not expect herself to say such a thing. 

But it was precisely due to speaking her thoughts out unconsciously, it clearly showed where her heart stood on the matter. 

Yō stood up abruptly and stopped short before Garol. 

“Garol-san. Garol-san said that you’ve fought Demon Lords beside Draco Greif previously…… Could you be a [Floor Master] as well?” 

“Hahaha, how can that be? The [Floor Master] was that guy, Draco Greif. I’m only one of his strategists. Information on the Vampires and the [Overall Floor Master] is all bits and pieces that I’ve picked up on the sly from working by his side.” 

Although his choice of words were very humble, they still seem to contain a bit of pride from his attitude. 

But for Yō herself, that was more than enough. 

“Garol-san is a learned man. So I hope that you will teach me……the techniques to fight against Demon Lords in battles and the necessary knowledge for the cause.” 

For the future encounters that she might have with Demon Lords from today onwards. Looking at Yō’s serious eyes, Garol had widened his eyes in surprise but in the next moment, he had stared back at Yō as he switched back to his serious expression. 

“……no, that won’t do.” 

“Eh?” 

“I mean that your line of thought won’t do any good……Listen up, Yō ojou-chan. The thought of [Fighting against Demon Lords] in itself is a mistake. When it comes to the basic rules about surviving in a Demon Lord game to achieve victory, you should be thinking along the lines of [How to avoid facing the Demon Lord in battle] as the premise.” 

Yō widened her eyes in surprise. And Garol leaned closer as he continued: 

“The following that I shall tell you about will be the common knowledge about Little Garden’s rules, so perk up your ears to listen up closely.” 

“O…Okay.” 

“Firstly, a Demon Lord’s game will always have two or more conditions to clear the game or conditions to end the game. And these two types are--- [Defeating the Demon Lord to clear the game] and [Rendering the Demon Lord powerless to clear the game]. 

---as long as there isn’t a set time or written rule of meeting a certain amount of the winning conditions, it would count as the Participant’s win as long as they clear even one of the conditions. When three or more winning conditions are given for the Game when it starts, the Demon Lord can add a section of Punishment that may be advantageous to their side of the Game, or even to hide some of the winning conditions.[27] For with an increase in the winning conditions, it also increases the advantage for the Participants……do you follow me?” 

“Nn.” 

Yō nodded her head as she could follow his words. The current game itself was a very good example of that. 

Although it also depends on the spirit level of the Demon Lord, what Garol wanted to say was that the [Number of winning conditions for the Participants], the [Number of winning conditions for the Host] and the [Number of Punishments] had their relationship in a specific ratio. 

“And that is what I meant when I mentioned about [How to avoid facing the Demon Lord in battle] earlier in the conversation. Having a direct confrontation with the Demon Lord is only the last resort. The famous Demon Lords are mostly of the Strongest Class---and sometimes are true Demigods who can construct their own Worlds. After all, the Demon Lords of the Mid to lower levels are all of the level of Great Demons or even God class. Only fools or rookies will want to try and solve the problem with a direct confrontation.” 

“……oh.” 

Yō seemed a little deflated as she nodded her head. 

---It was just as Garol had said. To have a direct confrontation with a Demon Lord and hope to win was an idea that did not fit in with common sense. After all, Demon Lords tend to possess Gifts that were of the highest tier and were incontestable in the Gift’s type while some of them also possessed the power to endow Gifts upon others. 

To shatter that sort of enormous Spirit level, just depending on a normal Gift wouldn’t be of much use. 

And with that new understanding, Yō was still uneasy about it as she said softly: 

“But, Garol-san having followed by the side of the [Floor Master] should have experienced and survived many Demon Lord Games till date. Even if it’s a little of those experiences, could I ask of you to share it with me?” 

Yō continued to press the matter and it was very out of her character to be so persistent. 

“Uu……About that……it might just be okay with giving you some pointers……” 

“Please…” Yō moved closer as she continued her cornering. 

And at last, Garol finally gave in as he raised both his hands to indicate his surrender. 

“I got it, I got it already……Although I don’t know if it will be of much use, but I will still teach you all that I know.” 

“……Really?” 

“Nn…… But Yō ojou-chan, I have to tell you first that there is no fixed method in the strategies of battling a Demon Lord’s game. And that is something that the Demon Lords themselves are very mindful about as well. In other words, all the strategies I’ve used in the past are all old battle plans that are outdated. It might even be just a waste of effort for me to recount them……” 

“No. Even so, it’s okay. Because I reckon that I must start from the step of [Understanding] to be able to get a better grasp on other tougher situations.” 

Understanding Little Garden, Understanding Demon Lords and Understanding the people of this world. 

Garol did not reject any further but parted his lips in a cheerful smile as he agreed to Yō’s request. 

At the same time, Jack and Ayesha had also seemed to have explained the task to the children. 

The total number of people trapped by the huge dragon in this place was fifty four. 

And so they started their search in the Ancient Abandoned Vampire Citadel that was covered with clouds and rumbling thunder. 



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