The next day, the third round of negotiations was held in the Niflheim palace.
On that day, the Demon Lords were stirred up for somewhat different reasons. The female Demon Lords, in particular, were chattering away without a care for who might be listening—though, to be fair, Demon Lords as a species never had brains designed to care about such things—all because of a single scandal.
"Yes, I heard too. Apparently, last night around evening, Dantalion went to Lady Gamigin's villa..."
"One of them had her interest piqued enough to place a familiar at the front gate, apparently. But you know, Dantalion didn't slip out until well past dawn! The rumors turned out to be true!"
"Whether the negotiations go well will determine whether the rumors are true or..."
I had openly used the front gate when entering Gamigin's villa. Naturally. From the very start, my purpose had been to spread these particular rumors about Gamigin and myself. The more oil I poured on the fire, the better.
The news that the Neutral Faction had entered the war arrived a step late, setting high society abuzz. I'd already sparked suspicion by dancing with Marbas at the ball. Some were even beginning to suspect that Marbas and I were truly in a relationship.
And then there was Sitri on top of that.
When the ball had first been held, Sitri had run up to me without a shred of hesitation and linked arms. There was no way the Demon Lords would miss that kind of movement. When Sitri entered the war leading a portion of the Mountain Faction, suspicious gazes inevitably turned toward me.
In other words:
"So when you add Lady Barbatos to the count..."
"How many people exactly is Dantalion seeing?"
There were currently three rumors trailing me.
First, that I was in a passionate affair with Gamigin.
Second, that I had some sort of relationship with Marbas.
Third, that Sitri and I were an extremely hot item.
Three scandals, no less. They weren't mere baseless gossip. All three had solid circumstantial evidence. The name "Dantalion" was rapidly ascending to the status of juicy tabloid fodder.
When I took my seat at the negotiating table, the female Demon Lords whispered to each other in rather loud voices.
"Oh my! He's won over both Lady Barbatos and Lady Gamigin, so he's got a taste for both young girls and mature women—and now he's even conquered Lord Marbas, so he doesn't even care about gender!"
"That's not all. Lady Sitri is, well, you know. In other words, he's cast his net wide—women, men, and even hermaphrodites..."
"I've never heard of such a pervert, let alone seen one!"
"For real!"
Incidentally, in the Demon Realm, being called a pervert was something of a badge of honor. The female Demon Lords stared at me with oddly reverent eyes.
Now hold on, why am I being called a pervert? Of those three Demon Lords, only one had actually been to bed with me. And to be precise, we hadn't even used a bed—we'd been going at it on the open lawn.
Gamigin had been a good one.
She'd clenched her teeth the entire time, refusing to let a single moan escape. She apparently thought that moaning would please me.
Sorry, but that was a monumental miscalculation.
I wasn't the type to derive satisfaction from making my partner moan—thereby confirming my own sexual prowess. There might have been a time in the past when I was, but not anymore. The sight of her face contorting as she desperately tried to hold back was far more exciting.
Man, the way Gamigin held out was really something!
It stoked my competitive fire. When a seemingly impregnable fortress stands before you, don't great tacticians find themselves willing to pour their entire lives into bringing it down? It was the same here.
About an hour had passed since we'd started. She must have reached climax six or seven times by now, yet Gamigin still never let out a hot breath.
Her face was only slightly furrowed at the brow; otherwise she remained composed. That was some impressive willpower.
I put on an expression of genuine admiration and said:
'Impressive. A single-digit ranked Demon Lord really is something else. Actually, even Lady Paimon wasn't at this level.'
'...Paimon? Don't tell me you did it with Paimon too?'
'Indeed.'
A lie, of course.
'Now I have a question. Did you really think Lady Sitri would betray Lady Paimon's wishes to help me?'
'...'
Gamigin fell silent. The fact that Sitri was Paimon's loyal hunting dog was widely known. That was precisely why the Mountain Faction Demon Lords had nominally removed Paimon from the leadership position and installed Sitri—Paimon's most trusted subordinate—in her place.
In reality, Paimon still wielded influence over the Mountain Faction. Sitri was nothing more than a puppet. Therefore, the person who had actually helped the Plains Faction in this civil war was none other than Paimon.
She'd think exactly that!
I'd led Gamigin into believing I was some sort of formidable figure. The more formidable she believed me to be, the harder it would be for future me to backstab her. If she understood that to attack Dantalion meant turning Barbatos, Marbas, and even Paimon into enemies at once, then that suited me just fine.
'Lady Gamigin. Would you care to make a small wager with me?'
'A wager?'
'To be honest, I'm quite confident in my sexual techniques. But you, Lady Gamigin, are a fortress that simply cannot be conquered easily. It's firing up my competitive spirit.'
I raised my index finger.
'From here on, exactly one hour. Within one hour... let's see. How about this: if you cry out and beg me to stop, I win?'
Gamigin's expression turned odd.
'Of course, if you hold out for the full hour, I lose.'
'And what are you putting up for the wager?'
'Well, I'll fully recognize your current territory, and on top of that, I'll add the territory that Lord Agares has currently seized. How does that sound?'
She entered deep thought.
Gamigin controlled the Schlesien region. If she could also obtain the Moravia region that Agares had plundered, her territory would double in an instant. It was an absurdly sweet offer. It was absurdly sweet, which was exactly why Gamigin was deliberating carefully.
'And if I lose?'
'From time to time, continue to spend time with me. When I tell you I want to get physical with you, I'd appreciate it if you didn't refuse.'
'...'
What was given to Gamigin as material for judgment was my sexual technique over the past hour.
She would consider whether she could endure another hour. Despite how well she'd held out so far, an hour's worth of stimulation had made her erogenous zones as sensitive as they could be. It was not an easy game.
But the prize for victory was far too sweet.
One hour. She only had to endure a single hour, and a massive territory would fall into her hands. Meanwhile, the cost of losing was relatively insignificant. Dantalion was admittedly a detestable person, but being intimate from time to time was hardly a catastrophic price to pay?
'Fine. Easy enough.'
Gamigin snorted.
'Don't even think about breaking your word, brat.'
'Even I wouldn't break a promise with someone ranked fourth.'
Though I would, of course, use every dirty trick in the book.
I pulled a flask from inside my robes and flashed a bright smile.
'Please, enjoy.'
It was the <Special Potent Aphrodisiac Crafted by Jeremy> that I'd once used to bring down Daisy. A single drop on the tongue, and the entire body would burn as though every inch of skin had become a clitoris.
I needn't say how the match turned out.
Thirty minutes later.
'Hah... aah... nngh... aahh...'
Gamigin lay sprawled across the lawn like a broken toy, her entire body twitching. She'd lost all control; her hips and shoulders rose and fell at random. She looks like a fish washed up on shore, I thought as I stroked her backside.
The mere touch of my palm made her cry out—'Hngh!' Her body had never been more sensitive.
'Oh my. Did you just climax? From a single touch? Lady Gamigin, you truly are an outrageous masochist pervert. I, Dantalion, am genuinely impressed.'
'Hnghh... hah... hnngh...!'
'Now then. I still have another flask. Open wide.'
Gamigin looked up at me with a tear-streaked, ruined face. In my hand was the flask of aphrodisiac.
'More... there's still more...?'
'Indeed. I happen to have a truly exceptional apothecary. A single drop is enough to make an ordinary person experience hell as their entire body becomes hypersensitive. But you, Lady Gamigin, are truly different! You downed an entire flask and you're still going!'
I smiled sweetly.
Even Daisy, a Hero candidate, had been brought down by a single drop. And Gamigin had drunk an entire flask of the stuff.
By now, her brain must have felt like it was about to burst from the heat. The fact that she could still speak was remarkable. Truly, she was among the supreme Demon Lords.
'Oh dear, oh dear. I might actually lose this one. I'm getting quite nervous. So Lady Gamigin, please, do have another flask.'
'...'
'Or perhaps—could it be? I don't want to assume, but...'
I shook the flask left and right. The purple potion sloshed pleasantly inside.
'Could it be that you're about to ask me to stop?'
'...'
'I have no objection whatsoever. If you tell me to stop right now, I'll cease administering the substance immediately. I'm no heartless monster—I wouldn't take pleasure in watching you suffer, Lady Gamigin.'
For the record, I was enjoying it immensely.
'Come now, Lady Gamigin. Say it. Tell me to stop giving you the drug. Tell me to stop.'
'...Give it.'
Gamigin glared at me with a venomous look.
'I haven't lived a boring life to be brought down by something like this.'
'Oh-ho! Magnificent! Bravo, bravo!'
I uncorked the flask.
'Then, as you wish, I shall promptly present you with the second dose.'
I trickled the substance between Gamigin's lips. Jeremy had spent a fortune crafting this single batch, but it was absolutely worth it. If you weren't willing to spend it on a fourth-ranked Demon Lord, then who on earth would you spend it on?
'...!'
A moment later, Gamigin's face twisted violently. 'Ah, ah, ah...'—staccato moans squeezed through the gaps between her lips. A breeze swept through the garden, and her moans intensified. She had become so sensitive that even the wind could elicit a response.
'Hah, aahh... nnghh...'
'Truly remarkable. You're still holding on, aren't you? What incredible willpower, what incredible endurance! Now then, Lady Gamigin. Open wide.'
'Hah... ngh...?'
Her unfocused eyes looked at me. It was a look that asked why. I beamed a radiant smile.
'I still have six more flasks.'
Gamigin's pupils wavered for an instant.
'Ah...?'
'You're so extraordinarily resilient that I'm afraid I'll need to bring out my full reserves. You're the strongest opponent I've ever faced.'
'Wa... it...'
'Oh, there's no need to say anything! You can still take more, can't you? That's Lady Gamigin for you. Now, allow me to present these with my utmost respect.'
Before Gamigin could even respond, I shoved a flask of potion into her mouth.
---
Author's Afterword:
Q: Is "this kind of guy" really the protagonist?
A: Yes. "This kind of guy" really is the protagonist.