Proofreader: Xemul
“Your prospective groom is not quite right in the head, isn’t he?”
“Your Majesty, are you sure you want that to be your will?”
After changing his clothes, Loren was escorted by maids through the castle of the Great Demon King and led to a room with a long table, probably a dining room. A clean, pure white tablecloth covered the table, and on top of it was an array of food that seemed a little too much for breakfast, and the maids were still bringing in more food, as if that were not all.
Loren, back in his usual gear, scratched his head and looked around the table, wondering who could consume such a large amount of food. Just then, Gula, who was quietly inhaling the food at the end of the table, noticed him and looked up.
In contrast, the Great Demon King, who was dressed in loose-fitting clothes and Lapis, who was in her priestly attire, were discussing something at a distance from Gula and were unaware that Loren had entered the room. Loren wondered if the maids would announce him, but with composed faces, they moved away from Loren’s side and went to stand by the wall without saying anything to Foras. Wondering if this meant that he should keep quiet and watch what was going on, Loren gently pulled up a chair near Gula and sat down. Neither Foras nor Lapis seemed to notice him and continued their conversation.
From the content of their conversation, they had apparently known what had happened last night in some way. Loren listened to them more closely. It seemed like they had received a report from the maids.
“I’ve selected the best out of the countless maids in the castle and sent them to his bedroom, but he didn’t do anything with them. Is that guy a man or not?”
“He is a man. I can assure you that he had enough self-control and reason to not give in to women’s advances, so can you stop denying that just because it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, Your Majesty?”
“No, but it’s a pretty big deal even among us demons, you know? A mere human male would not even be able to have just a touch of their fingertips, you know? He was embraced by them, lied in their lap, and still had no reactions. Is he impotent?”
Gula looked at Loren’s face as if to ask him how he was doing.
Gula had forced herself on Loren once before, and he had managed to endure a rather close call. If she had remembered that, she would have known that Foras’ claims of impotency were baseless. Loren’s face turned bitter.
“Be careful what you say, Your Majesty. The only body parts that I am still missing are my legs, and I’m regaining a lot of my original strength. Even if I can’t beat you, I can at least have some revenge.”
“Wait a minute. I will manage if you go on a rampage, but the castle won’t be able to. And I did that for your sake in the first place.”
“My sake? What on earth do you think you were doing?”
Lapis was all smiles, but the aura she was giving off was horrifying. She tilted her head in wonder at Foras’ words.
Loren was similarly confused. He could not imagine how the act of spurring the maids of the castle on him would be beneficial to Lapis.
“Don’t you see? If he had gotten his hands on the maids, you could use that as a weakness.”
That made Loren wonder.
It was true that he would feel guilty toward Lapis, but he hardly believed it could become something like a weakness. If they had promised each other a future, it might be a different story. But aside from their internal feelings and emotions, Loren and Lapis were fellow adventurers, and the only relationship they had was that of debtor and lender.
“It seems a bit unreasonable to threaten Loren with that. After all, the fact that the other party is the maids here makes it obvious that they were sent by Your Majesty.”
Lapis thought that it being a ploy by the Great Demon King was a very strong excuse. At the very least, it was impossible for the human race to resist the Great Demon King, and exposing it as a ploy could very likely displease the King. If you thought about it, even if you recognized it as a ploy, you would find yourself in a situation where you had to go along with it. Even Lapis would have no choice but to show her understanding.
“Of course, that’s not all. Why do you think I went to the trouble of having different types of maid sneak into his bedroom?”
“Isn’t it because… you didn’t know what kind of woman Loren likes?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was after.”
Foras said so with a smug look on his face, but Lapis did not seem to understand what he was trying to say. She kept tilting her head to side.
Loren, too, did not understand what the King meant, but Gula, who was still eating in silence, seemed to understand Foras’ intention and lightly beckoned Loren, who had a question mark on his head, to get his attention.
“Alright. There are four fruits here, right?”
After seeing Loren’s eyes turn toward her, Gula stabbed a fork into four slices of fruit from the salad on the plate in front of her and laid them out side by side.
“If you ask me which one I prefer, I will choose one and put it in my mouth.”
Gula picked one of the fruit slices with the fork in her hand and threw it into her mouth.
“So, you can know what I like through this, can’t you? Then, when the cook wants to make a dessert that meets my taste, they can focus on the fruit I just ate and make a dessert that doesn’t deviate from my tastes.”
“And ? What does that mean?”
“So, if they can find out later which of the maids who snuck into your bedroom this time was touched and how much, they can naturally determine your taste in women, right? Then, in order for Lapis-chan to be intimate with you, she can’t be too different from those preferences.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to do! Gathering the necessary information to ensure that the search for a groom for the daughter of the Demon King under my command goes smoothly! That was the plan, and yet that loser didn’t even touch them…”
Foras, who had been so pleased with Gula’s words that he raised his voice, stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Loren watching him with a cold gaze from his seat near Gula.
Lapis followed his gaze to see what caused such a reaction, and it was then that she first noticed Loren’s presence. She got up from her chair in a rush, perhaps to greet him, but she moved so fast that she almost fell backwards. However, the maids around Foras caught her with blinding speed, preventing an accident.
“H-hello. Did you sleep well?”
Loren wondered how he should react to Foras, who raised one hand and spoke to him in a friendly manner. Should he pretend that he had heard nothing and respond normally? Or should he blame, or thank the King for his ploy?
After thinking about which of these would best resolve the situation, Loren decided that it would be safer to feign ignorance.
“I was so tired I couldn’t even dream.”
“I see. I’m sorry to hear that. If you had stayed awake, you might have been able to enjoy my castle more.”
In other words, ‘That was why I didn’t touch the maids. Sorry’. That was how Loren responded to Foras. He then shrugged at Lapis, who was watching him with a grim expression.
“I guess that’s just the way it is when you’re a human. Let us wait for the next opportunity.”
“Your Majesty, what are you talking about?”
Loren made a blatantly disgusted face, wondering if he was still going to try to do something. Foras didn’t seem to notice, and he puffed up his chest as if Loren had said something nice. Lapis gave him a light poke.
Gula watched the exchange while continuing to consume the food at the same speed. Then, perhaps thinking that the conversation was not going to proceed properly, she interrupted to take lead of the discussion while wiping her mouth with a napkin the maid had prepared.
“So, Great Demon King. You said you would help us with our trip to the north, didn’t you?”
“Of course. I’ll have it delivered to you as soon as it’s ready. I don’t care whatsoever about human conflicts.”
In fact, it would be a rather leisure trip.
Other adventurers departed from Kapha, even with the special transport, would need nearly ten days to reach the battlefield in the north. But Loren’s party, despite making a side trip to the Great Demon King’s castle, could travel with such speed that they would read their destination in few days. If they were to ride on the back of the Ancient Dragon Emery from the Great Demon King’s castle to the battlefield in the north, they would reach their destination extremely quickly.
“Once we pass the mountainous area, we will be on foot, so our speed from there on will be a bit slower.”
Their carriage had been returned to the city of Kapha when they boarded Emery. It was not that there are no carriages at the Great Demon King’s castle, but if they were to ride on Emery’s back to the northern border, there would be no way to transport a carriage. So, once they crossed the mountainous area, they would have to go on foot to the battlefield.
“Can we make it in time?”
“If the map is correct, I think we can get there in two days’ walk.”
Without a carriage, their luggage would be limited to what they could carry on foot. Loren wondered if the provisions they had prepared when leaving Kapah would be enough, but Foras quickly dispelled his fears.
“We’ll reorganize your luggage here, dispose of what is no longer needed and replenish what is needed.”
“That would be very helpful. Thank you for your help.”
“Just make sure you use up all the food and water you have before you reach your destination.”
When Loren asked what was meant by this strange order, Foras answered that this time he was preparing for Loren and his group something made with the technology of the demon tribe.
Demons had more advanced technology than humans. The same could be said for the food and water conservation technology, which would be obvious to anyone looking at them that they were not made with human technology. If their party was questioned about the origin of those items, Loren’s position could be very troubled.
“At worst, we could say they were given to us by a kind traveller passing by.”
“Would that work?”
“Not that it wouldn’t. After all, even though their number is few, there are demons who walk the human world like Lapis.”
Foras said that it was common for these demons to conceal their true nature as demons as they traveled, and that it was rare for them to provide supplies when they encountered someone in need. Their items were treated as if their origin was unknown, and some people say that there might be a hidden village somewhere on the continent with very advanced technology.
“I think that’s not far off the mark. The whole territory of the demon tribe is like a hiding place.”
“I see. I’ll let them know so that they can use that as a cover-up the next time.”
But more than the fact that his suggestion was accepted by Foras, Loren was surprised to learn that Foras, the Great Demon King, had a way to contact the demons traveling in the realm of the human.
“This whole continent, you know. If you guys get serious, the rulers could change tomorrow, couldn’t they?”
“I can only tell you that it is not impossible.”
Loren asked Lapis with a hint of tension in his voice, and Lapis answered with a face and expression as if it was nothing.
Loren was at a loss for words as he leaned back in his chair and wondered how a world crisis could happen so easily without the knowledge of the human race.