Lapis's expression turned cold.
"Dantalion."
"Ah, I know what you want to say. I know. You're going to tell me I shouldn't take out loans recklessly?"
I waved my hand dismissively.
About a year ago, I had asked Lapis for a loan. I wanted to raise seed money to buy out Black Hub. Back then, too, Lapis had flatly refused. She'd advised me to save up patiently, one hundred years, two hundred years, bit by bit.
For a merchant, she oddly hated the very idea of loans. Even though handling large sums of money inevitably meant going into debt. No — perhaps it was precisely because she was a merchant that she was so wary of loans. That could very well be the case.
"Yes. Of course, Dantalion, your credit has improved significantly. Just being known as a close associate of Lord Barbatos would be enough for any trading house to lend you money. But that doesn't mean you should take on debt without a plan. In the end, that will only lead to ruin."
"That's true. But there's always a way in this world. Hehe. Well, just wait and see. Anyway, don't worry about the budget."
"Sigh."
Lapis glanced over at me with skeptical eyes. But she didn't bring up money again. I had told her I had a way. She'd take my word for it, at least for now. Lapis was a nag — but she was the kind of nag who trusted me.
Raora spoke.
"My lord. I've come to understand the structure of the Demon Lord's Castle. In my assessment, you are not simply focused on defeating adventurers. You spoke of a human wave strategy, but the idea of bringing the entire monster settlement in and establishing a residential zone there — that's less a Demon Lord's Castle and more something you might as well call a city."
As expected of Raora. She may lack political talent, but her instincts are razor-sharp.
"In other words... my lord, you don't simply want to build a fortress called the Demon Lord's Castle. You want to build a city and reign over it. Have I understood correctly?"
"Well done. That's right. I'm not simply looking to take a handful of monsters under my command."
A self-sustaining ecosystem.
That was what I wanted.
For example, imagine monsters attacked a human village. That village has no chieftain. There's no one who serves as its master. Does that mean the villagers wouldn't fight back against the monsters?
Of course they would. To protect their families, to protect their neighbors, to protect the land they call home... no one would need to tell them to fight. They would resist of their own free will. Not because they possessed some noble morality. If that place were destroyed, their own lives would be destroyed along with it. Defending the village meant defending their own lives, and so they would fight.
Even when the village was on the verge of destruction, they ran? Then that meant they were confident they could survive without the village. They could separate the existence of the village from their own lives and think about them independently.
When I, as a member of the Crescent Alliance Army's Sixth Legion, invaded the Margrave's territory, the subjects simply surrendered the moment their right to survival was guaranteed. It didn't matter to them whether Von Rosenberg or Barbatos held the position of Margrave — they saw it as having nothing to do with their lives.
Von Rosenberg the Margrave, on the other hand, resisted to the very end. He wanted to drive out the Crescent Alliance Army and reclaim his territory. Why? Because Von Rosenberg could not separate his life from his position as Margrave...
Whether a society functions as a proper ecosystem is determined by how willingly its members act of their own accord. Von Rosenberg may have been an excellent soldier, but he was not an excellent lord. In this era — no, in most eras — rulers were probably all like him.
I want monsters to guard the dungeon of their own free will.
I won't issue orders commanding them to defend it. If they want to flee, I'll leave them free to flee whenever they please. And yet, if an adventurer intrudes, I want the monsters to bare their fangs and flash their claws of their own volition.
That's the only way it's convenient for me too.
How many more years will I live going forward? Unlike humans, a Demon Lord has no lifespan. A hundred years, a thousand years — I'll live on for as long as heaven permits. Over that vast stretch of time, countless adventuring parties will invade. Am I supposed to agonize over how to repel each one every single time? I'll pass on that heavy labor.
Let the monsters handle it themselves. If any exceptional talent emerges among them, I'll relocate them underground. I'll arrange for them to live somewhere with a dense concentration of mana. In the rare event that some unjust incident occurs, I'll render judgment as an impartial judge. Rewards, punishments, and trials — just those two responsibilities alone are already more than enough. To add governing on top of that? I'd have to be out of my mind.
Laura was right to point it out. I'm not simply trying to build the Demon Lord's Castle. I want to construct a city for monsters — a city for my own comfort.
It will truly come to pass just as I desire.
The next day, a visitor arrived at the Demon Lord's Castle.
It was Sitri, ranked twelfth among the Demon Lords. She had been invited by Lapis, who acted in secret on my orders. Since a Teleport Scroll was used, the travel time was negligible.
"My, my. So this is Master's castle."
Sitri looked around my room. At first her eyes sparkled, but they dimmed almost immediately. My Demon Lord's chamber had long since crossed beyond the threshold of modest and into the realm of outright shabby. By the aesthetic standards of someone who owned a lavish Demon Lord's Castle, it fell far short.
I smiled with a touch of embarrassment.
"It's rather plain, isn't it?"
"Mm. I figured Master would live a bit more like a noble prince. This is unexpected."
"There probably aren't many Demon Lords less suited to the word 'prince' than I am."
On the other hand, I was supremely confident that no one could pull off the word "pauper" better than I could.
Sitri tilted her head as if to say "Really?"
"Anyway, why'd you call me? Sorry, but the war's still in full swing. Master summoned me so I came, but I can't stay more than an hour."
She wore a genuinely apologetic expression.
"If you want to have a go with me, I hate to say it, but I'd recommend putting it off. You'd need to set aside at least four hours comfortably for any real pleasure to..."
"Absolutely not! What kind of stallion do you think I am, summoning someone in the middle of a war just to bed them?!"
"Huh? No?"
Sitri's eyes went wide as if she were truly surprised.
"You called me here in such a rush, so I was absolutely sure it had to be that kind of request."
"I'm honestly quite curious what kind of impression of me is lodged in Lady Sitri's head."
The corners of my mouth trembled.
"Well, but... I heard Master is really good at sex. I've heard the rumors."
"Rumors? What rumors? You're saying there are rumors that I'm good at sex?"
"Yeah. Barbatos keeps bragging about it to all the female Demon Lords."
This was the first I'd ever heard of it.
"Says things like, 'Spend one day with him and he'll make you finish a hundred times. He's mastered every position so there's a real thrill in being devoured. He learns fast so it's rewarding to teach him.' Pathetic, the way he flaunts his lover."
Barbatos!
I could picture it with startling clarity—Barbatos flashing that sleazy middle-aged grin while spewing dirty talk in front of the female Demon Lords. He'd have been gesticulating obscenely without a moment's hesitation, bragging about how the sex the other day was incredibly satisfying. That damn loli bitch!
"Oh, I heard that too. Apparently you've recently gotten into SM."
Fine. I made a vow right then and there. Someday I would absolutely kill that loli bitch.
I'd tie her entire body up with ropes and tickle her until she died. I'd tickle her until beads of sweat formed on those white armpits.
Sitri's revelations, however, were far from over.
"I was seriously shocked. Who would've thought Barbatos would play the masochist role? I was absolutely certain he'd be a sadist for life. Even Barbatos himself was surprised! What was it he said? Something like, 'Getting dominated by a piece-of-shit like that guy makes me feel like I'm even lower than trash, and the thrill is incredible.'"
"……."
You're like a sow with a motor bolted to your mouth. How dare you go around blabbing the intimate details of their private play to other people?
Can you imagine if I'd snickered in front of the other Demon Lords, saying something like "Barbatos was crying and begging for forgiveness the whole time, and honestly it was pretty hot"? Without a doubt, Barbatos would've shown up the next day and whipped me senseless, screaming about how I must've lost my damn mind. But instead, the bastard had thrown me onto the chopping board of dirty talk for everyone to carve at.
Because I said it "felt special," huh? Fine. You pitiful wretch. I'll grant you your wish personally. Next time, look forward to it. I won't forgive you even if that cute little rear end of yours turns bright red.
In my head, I was hard at work developing a "Piece-of-Shit Special Course." Meanwhile, Sitri had taken a seat in a chair.
Then I noticed it—bloodstains along the edges of her armor. For someone of Demon Lord caliber to be unable to even keep her armor properly polished meant the war with the Crescent Alliance Army was brutal. Sitri was acting relaxed in front of me right now, but… perhaps she had pushed herself to the limit just to make it here.
Well, of course. Sitri was the vanguard commander of the Mountain Faction. With Paimon injured, Sitri was effectively the head of the Mountain Faction. Since the Mountain Faction was taking the lead in this war against the Crescent Alliance Army, she bore a heavier responsibility than anyone. I had, in effect, summoned the busiest person among all the Demon Lords.
"If it's not a booty call, then what is it? I'm not really sure what to make of this."
"Allow me to be direct. I need money."
"Sure, no problem."
Sitri answered without a shred of hesitation. She propped her chin on her hand and muttered to herself.
"My entire fortune is six hundred thousand gold. That's what it was when I sorted it out two hundred years ago, so it should be roughly the same now. Hmm, if I include physical assets, it could go up to around one and a half million… if I strip the gem warehouse and the other warehouse bare… I could probably scrape together a tight one million six hundred thousand."
She finished her calculations and flashed a beaming smile in my direction.
"So. How much do you need? Just say the word. I can go up to one million six hundred thousand."
"……."
How should I put this.
It felt like the river inside my heart had swollen just a little.
The rank of twelfth was not something you won in a card game. It took overwhelming personal strength, willpower, and a dash of fortune—layered upon one another over centuries—to hold such a position. If one truly set one's mind on falling, one could plummet all the way to the very bottom of hell.
She promised she would grant any wish. That meant she would grant anything without hesitation. That was probably Sitri's way of thinking. But how many people in the world could actually live up to that "anything"? Especially among those with power on the level of a Demon Lord…
Over the past year, I had resorted to every trick in the book just to survive. And that was only for a single year. Sitri must have lived for hundreds of years, yet in some sense she had preserved a certain purity.
Was it because she was born so powerful that she never had any need to become wretched? Or had she walked the ugly path but still stubbornly chosen to walk the straight one? Or was she both wise and foolish to the point where she couldn't even distinguish purity from ugliness?
I couldn't know which was the truth. What I did know was this: the woman sitting before me had maintained her character against staggering odds. Just as there was no need to question how a masterpiece was painted in order to appreciate it, I didn't need to know the entirety of her life to be quietly moved by her attitude.
"Lend me one million gold."
"All right. Hmm. But this is a problem. I have assets stored in my Demon Lord's Castle. I can't hand them over right now."
She looked crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, but could I give it to you once the war has settled down?"
A wry smile crept across my face. What an airhead. A total airhead.
"You've misunderstood me. I'm not asking you to give me money. I'm asking you to lend it to me."
"…Huh?"
"I'm requesting that you lend me one million gold. I will absolutely repay you someday."
Sitri furrowed her brows.
"You know I could just give it to you, right?"
"I appreciate the thought. But if you did, I could never say that Sitri and I were standing on equal footing. That's not the kind of relationship I want."
I wanted to win Sitri's heart. Not a relationship where we simply used each other—I wanted to stand together as true comrades. This world was harsh beyond harsh. If a pure Demon Lord like Sitri became my ally, I couldn't imagine anything more reassuring.
I clasped Sitri's right hand in both of mine.
"Wh-whaat?"
"Sitri. I want to spend my life together with you."
For some reason, her cheeks flushed a deep red.