I undid the black cloak draped over my body.
"..."
The girl squeezed her eyes shut. She seemed resolved to accept whatever was about to happen next. That was the vibe she was giving off. It seemed like, with me taking off my outer garment, she had gotten the wrong idea about something.
I suppressed the urge to laugh and approached her. When I closed the distance to within a single step, I was struck once again by just how dazzlingly beautiful the girl was. Well then. Perhaps girls really were dazzling based on looks alone.
I took only my pipe from the cloak and tucked it separately into my trouser pocket.
Then I carefully draped the cloak over her bare white body.
"...?"
Ivar Lodbrok gently opened her eyes. She looked up at me. Her eyes said she had been caught completely off guard. I casually smiled at the corners of my mouth.
"It would be a shame if the lady caught a cold."
"...I was absolutely certain you were going to take advantage of me."
"Huh? It's not like I'm some sort of rogue—why would I take advantage of you?"
I was dumbfounded.
At that, Ivar Lodbrok furrowed her brows slightly.
"Forgive me, but aren't young girls to Your Excellency's taste? Given that Lord Barbatos is no different, and considering the young maid you keep by your side, I was certain that was your preference."
"Not at all."
Why on earth did slander and idle gossip run so rampant in this world? I couldn't understand it.
"I prefer mature women. Even if that were my taste, I'm not so lacking in judgment that I would grope the master of Kunkuska. Goes without saying, doesn't it?"
"Hmm. So the reports were wrong after all."
Ivar Lodbrok stroked her chin. As though she had a beard there.
I stared at her blankly. Only then did it dawn on me what I'd done, and I pulled my hand back with a whoops.
Ivar Lodbrok let out an awkward cough and swept her cloak over her nakedness.
It wasn't just the gestures — every word out of her mouth was pure old geezer talk. It was almost endearing, like a little girl stubbornly trying to imitate how adults speak.
"No matter. In fairness, I bear some responsibility for having made you come out like this. Well — that aside. Your hospitality toward guests is absolutely dreadful."
I plopped down onto a nearby sofa.
"You haven't even brought out a glass of wine yet! Good grief, how are we ever going to become close like this?"
"Your Majesty. Are you telling me you came here in earnest just to have a drinking contest with me?"
Ivar Lodbrok stood there clutching her cloak with both hands, staring at me blankly. She still didn't seem to have a proper grasp of the situation.
"Well, what? Did you think I wanted to meet you in your true form so I could exploit some weakness of yours? I've told you over and over — I want to get along with you."
I flashed a grin.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of fine wine the master of Kunkuska produces when entertaining a guest. Do try not to disappoint me — I have very high expectations, you know."
Now then.
Let the game begin.
Here's something quite surprising — I had never once come face to face with a heroine from Dungeon Attack!
Of course, I had met plenty of female characters who appeared in the game. But not a single one of them — not one — was an actual heroine.
Sadly, every person I had formed a connection with belonged, without a single exception, to the antagonist faction opposing the Hero protagonist...!
Laura de Farnese was openly part of the Kingdom of Bretagne, which was hostile to the protagonist.
Barbatos, Paimon, Sitri, and Gamigin were naturally Demon Lords who couldn't even be courted in the first place.
I had courted every heroine who appeared in the game. I knew better than anyone how to toy with them. But — however — I naturally had no idea how to court women who weren't heroines!
I downed my wine and smiled bitterly.
'All thanks to that, Barbatos, Paimon, and Sitri are all stuck at Affinity 50.'
Dungeon Attack is one hell of a game.
Every heroine has something called an "Affinity Lock" hanging over her. It's a fairly complex system, but to put it simply, you need to complete a special quest to break past Affinity 50 and reach Affinity 99.
These quests are different for every heroine. There are almost zero hints, so if a player wants to conquer a heroine, the only option is to grind endlessly until the conditions are met.
But I know them all.
The main heroines are notoriously difficult to figure out — walkthrough methods barely appear on fan sites, and dozens of posts would show up every single day from people whining to catch a glimpse of an H-scene.
But I know them all.
If you count every heroine who appears in the game, both main and supporting, there are 72 in total. And among them, Princess Elizabeth's true ending has the worst requirement of all — you have to defeat the hidden boss, Bael. So yeah, saying I've figured out every heroine's route is completely absurd.
But I know them all!
I'm the kind of shut-in gamer who ground and ground again, replaying the game over and over, just to see that one Princess Elizabeth true ending.
"Haha, the wine tastes especially fine today. Truly a Kunskas vintage."
"I'm glad it meets your standards."
What is there to hide?
The man guzzling top-shelf wine right in front of my eyes — Ivar Lodbrok — is, naturally, one of the heroines whose Affinity Lock I have memorized inside and out.
Oh, Goddess!
I couldn't help but be moved. As one of the priests taken in by the Goddess Artemis, I could only bow my head in humble gratitude for the blessings and good fortune that filled this world to the brim.
I had been waiting for an opportunity like this to come along, truly. I mean, I'd entered the world of my favorite game and hadn't so much as gotten intimate with a single heroine — did that even make any sense?
"Heh. It's been a while since I've gotten properly drunk. Come now, have another glass!"
"Of course, Your Majesty."
The night was growing darker.
Ivar Lodbrok and I, the effects of alcohol were growing stronger for us both.
Whether a Demon Lord or a Vampire, we were both beings with tremendous resistance to alcohol. Our bodies' regenerative abilities helped prevent us from getting drunk, after all. Because of this, a strange sense of competition arose, and we kept continuously pouring alcohol into our stomachs as if drinking plain water.
Ivar Lodbrok must simply think the drinking session is just continuing on its own. We had been chatting idly for over three hours already. She was waiting, ever vigilant, wondering when I would reveal my true intentions.
*'I'm sorry, Ivar. The game has already begun.'*
I smiled a smug smile to myself.
The first hurdle in pursuing the Vampire puppeteer, Ivar Lodbrok. There were a total of four conditions firmly set up as obstacles here.
Condition 1: The Player Character and Ivar Lodbrok must drink alcohol 'alone together'.
Condition 2: At least 'three hours' must have passed since the Player Character and Ivar Lodbrok began their drinking contest, according to the game's internal clock.
Condition 3: At least 'one year' must have passed since the Player Character and Ivar Lodbrok first met, according to the game's internal clock.
Condition 4: The Player Character must hear a 'particular story' from Ivar Lodbrok.
Originally, to drink alone with a heroine, your Affinity level had to be quite high. A man with no Affinity and a woman wouldn't possibly be drinking together late into the night, would they?
The problem was that raising Ivar Lodbrok's Affinity was itself extremely difficult. Look at the fact that even though I had been working with her in this world for nearly three years, her Affinity hadn't even reached 20. You could guess just how absurdly high the difficulty was.
However.
*'I possess a status that allows me to drink contest regardless of Affinity, don't I?'*
You might call it a trick. What was strictly enforced by the system in the game could simply be achieved here by taking a shortcut. For reference, how long the heroine would indulge in the drinking session was also related to Affinity, but I had easily satisfied this condition too.
*'Shall I go about fulfilling the final, fourth condition?'*
I pretended to be heavily intoxicated and spoke.
"Just between us... heh. The Demon Lord is truly a damn bastard. Truly damn."
"Your Majesty?"
"What is it. You don't know either? Look. It's been quite some time since the 8th Crescent Alliance Army campaign concluded. Yet I, who presumably performed the greatest deeds, am still ranked 71st... Do you understand what that means?"
Ivar Lodbrok pressed his lips tightly together.
It was a politically sensitive issue, and he probably couldn't tell whether I was truly drunk or not. I put on an even more convincing performance of a drunken rant, shouting at the top of my lungs. I was actually a little drunk, too.
"Bael is fair? That's a damn impressive piece of bullshit. For whatever reason, they just don't want to raise my ranking. Damn it. Bael or whoever—when you peel back one layer, Demon Lords are all selfish and do whatever they damn well please...!"
"......"
Ivar Lodbrok eyed me cautiously and opened his mouth.
"Please, don't be too disheartened. There are still those like Barbatos and Sitri, are there not?"
"Oh, listen to you. You're not hearing a word I say, are you? Didn't I just tell you? They're all selfish and do whatever they want!"
I pretended to be angry and held up my left hand.
"Look here. Two fingers missing, see? Barbatos took these. Insisted, and I had no choice but to hand them over."
"Excuse me?"
"Something about wanting a token of love. Or wanting to keep a vow that he's the most precious to me. He cut off my fingers citing those selfish reasons of his. And then he had them made into a necklace and walks around wearing it."
I grabbed the wine bottle and took a swig straight from the neck.
"Kuhh. What am I supposed to do about it? Barbatos is practically my master... I can't afford to upset him. Fingers, toes—if he wants my eyeballs, I'd just have to hand those over too... Every last one of them is selfish. Every single one..."
"......Your Majesty. You're going too far."
A shadow fell over Ivar Lodbrok's expression.
I could feel it. My mark was slowly taking the bait.
"Going too far? Not at all! If I'd had a choice, I never would have become a Demon Lord. A Demon Lord! A being who supposedly fulfills the ideals of all Demonkin on their behalf!"
I muttered.
"Isn't that the most absurd thing you've ever heard? People have to achieve their own ideals themselves... That's what makes ideals meaningful. A Demon Lord is flawed from birth—essentially, an error in this world... That's exactly what it is."
"......"
"Honestly, what difference is there between Demonkin and humans? Whether a Demon Lord can peer into their hearts or not — that's the only thing that matters... In other words, if you just remove Demon Lords from the equation, there's no difference between humans and Demonkin—"
"Your Excellency!"
Ivar Lodbrok shouted.
"If you say anything more, you will be going too far!"
"......Is that so? Have I gone too far?"
I laughed bitterly.
"But I mean every word. Truly, I cannot fathom why Demon Lords exist at all... They're just politicians. Scheming against rivals, throwing others into the pit, inciting the masses through speeches... That's all they are. Yes, perhaps that is going too far..."
I hung my head low.
"But isn't it the Demon Lords who truly go too far? Countless Demonkin and Monsters have been sacrificed to the nonsense they spew... Ivar Lodbrok. Even in this drunken state, I am quite certain which of the two is truly going too far... Quite certain..."
A quiet time passed. Both of us drank in silence.
How long had it been?
A voice came from where Ivar Lodbrok sat.
"......Your Excellency Dantalion, is that truly what you believe?"
*Excellent.*
Inside my mind, a broad smile bloomed across my face.