One day, when I returned to the Demon Lord's chamber, Barbatos was there.
"Hi there? You still have an annoying face. Anyway, I was drinking this because it looked tasty."
"……."
I'm going to describe exactly what I just experienced. Well, calling it an experience isn't quite right—it was completely beyond my understanding.
I had finished my lordly duties in the village and clocked off for the day in a good mood. But when I opened the door to the Demon Lord's chamber, a white-haired girl was lying right there on the bed. She was chugging my prized, finest vintage wine straight from the bottle.
That wasn't all. I heard "You still have an annoying face!" as if it were some sort of greeting. If any tribe or nation used such a line as a salutation, they would surely be torn apart by civil war within three hours.
Was there something wrong with her head, this loli brat?
"Huh—uh—what?"
I walked over and poked at Barbatos's cheek. I half-hoped it was hypnosis or a clever disguise. Barbatos asked with her eyes what on earth I was doing.
"There are numerous things I could point out, but let's start with this question: Why are you here instead of playing regent in the Habsburg Empire?"
"Ugh, I'm sick and tired of fighting that bitch Agares and that bitch Gamigin. Fuck."
Barbatos swatted my hand away and let out a sigh.
The land that was once the territory of the Habsburg Empire was currently embroiled in a fierce power struggle. Leading the Plains Faction was Demon Lord Barbatos, with Demon Lord Agares ranked second, and Demon Lord Gamigin ranked fourth. Barbatos had the upper hand, but it didn't seem like things were going all that well.
"They keep demanding I hand over territory. How the hell am I supposed to put up with that?"
"So you gave it up? Good grief, you idiot."
"I'd prefer not to be called an idiot by a bigger idiot, you absolute moron."
Barbatos pouted her lips and passed me the wine bottle. I flopped onto the bed and took a long swig straight from the bottle myself.
Well, Barbatos had her own kind of stress. But she wasn't just a single Demon Lord; she was the head of a massive organization called the Plains Faction. She had to be mindful of other people's eyes. Even with stress building up, she couldn't just vent as she pleased.
She'd come to my dungeon with a feeling that was half-escape, half-rest, driven past her limit. I wasn't so heartless as to ask why a tired person was here and chase them away.
Barbatos spoke.
"By the way, your Demon Lord's Castle security is absurdly sloppy. I got all the way here without being caught even once? You dump millions of gold coins into it and I was expecting something impressive, but it spreads its legs for anyone like a ragged whore. From now on I'm calling your place the Ragged Castle, ha ha."
"……."
I still wanted to kick her out. What a bitch.
"Here's the thing, though. The moment I stepped inside, there was one little creature that actually noticed me?"
With a flick, Barbatos pointed her finger upward.
"Figured it was a pretty sharp one, so I caught it."
Following her finger, I looked up—Daisy was dangling from the ceiling, swinging gently back and forth. Like a moth caught in a spider's web. Daisy stared down at me with a blank expression.
"……."
"……."
What are you doing up there?
Like I know. Please stop looking.
We exchanged words without speaking. We were both equally dumbfounded.
For the record, after Daisy had reunited with her parents, she'd been living as a maid in my Demon Lord's quarters, taking care of food and lodging there. She'd ended up in this mess while I was away from the room.
Only Barbatos was here, chattering away with delight.
"I layered invisibility magic and concealment magic on top, and she still saw right through me? Looks like she's just barely past being a newborn, but her instincts are on the level of a sixth sense—a sixth sense. I got so fascinated I kept testing her from every angle."
Barbatos slapped my shoulder enthusiastically.
"You rascal. You've always had a good eye, a real good eye. That girl's a handful. Where'd you scoop up a talent like that, huh? So here's the deal—hand that little brat over to me. I'll raise her right and put her to good use."
"Screw you."
I spread my middle and index fingers apart to make a V. In this world, it roughly meant "go eat a dick."
"Do you have any idea how much effort I put into pulling that guy out?"
"I don't know about that, but I did figure something out."
Barbatos slipped her hand inside her clothes. She pulled something out. When I saw it, I was left speechless. In Barbatos's hand, a transparent slime was wriggling around.
She flashed a lewd smile.
"You planted something pretty interesting inside that little brat's body, didn't you?"
"......"
"Our dear Dantalion, what happened while no one was looking? Did you become a full-blown pervert?"
Sweat trickled down my forehead.
"Back when you were pestering me to play, you threw a fit crying and begging to 'please just do it like normal people,' swearing you'd never do anything that depraved, and yet here you are secretly enjoying this kind of game behind my back? Hey, Dantalion. Self-proclaimed most diligent and virtuous Demon Lord in the world. Care to explain to a lewd degenerate like me how this happened?"
"W-wait a minute, Barbatos. It's a misunderstanding. This is a misunderstanding."
I hurriedly reached for the slime, but Barbatos easily dodged my hand.
"There are circumstances here you couldn't possibly imagine... deeply personal circumstances! This is absolutely not some perverted thing!"
"Oh my. How deep must those circumstances be for you to feel the need to stuff a torture slime into an eleven-year-old girl? I'm personally very curious about that."
Barbatos leaned her body toward me. She was so close I could feel her breath. Damn it! Her eyes were already glinting with lust. My throat went dry.
I struggled with all my might to resist the desire magic she was casting on me and spoke.
"So, that guy is incredibly dangerous, and... I needed to set up a psychological safety measure so he couldn't defy me... Hey! Don't touch that!"
"How does putting a slime in a girl's hole count as a psychological safety measure? I don't get it."
Barbatos grinned and slowly rubbed against my crotch.
"I told you I don't want to do anything here! There's a kid watching!"
"Coming from a man who tormented a kid with a slime, that's rich. And besides, why not? You know, there's that thing they say."
She whispered into my ear.
"The more people watching, the more it gets me going."
And so we did it.
With Daisy hanging from the ceiling, staring down at us the entire time.
What's more, this time Barbatos was playing the master and I was the slave. I was forced into that kind of play while an eleven-year-old girl watched the whole thing. What the hell kind of situation was this.
I begged her to spare me, but Barbatos only got more excited, cackling, "Ha ha ha! Keep screaming, you filthy mutt!" That's right. Barbatos had always been like that. She'd been a sadist from day one.
I realized that crying only made her enjoy it more, and I had no choice but to give up……
"All your women. Call them over here."
The scene was over and Barbatos spoke. She had commandeered my pipe and was elegantly smoking some tobacco. Meanwhile, I sat in the corner of the bed, thoroughly dejected. The roles of man and woman seemed grotesquely reversed, but then again, this was Barbatos. What could I possibly do about it?
"My women?"
"You know, the women you care about. The one you brought along as your adjutant in the Crescent Alliance Army, and the one who helped you move that Black Herb stock. And if there are any other women you've been sleeping with besides them, call them too."
Why on earth would you want that?
I shot her a defiant glare, and Barbatos scowled.
"I told you to call them, so are you going to call them nicely, or do you want to keep running your mouth?"
Being the weaker one made it all the more wretched.
A short while later, people began gathering in my Demon Lord's quarters.
Lapis, who had just started construction on the first basement floor of the dungeon, Laura, who had been busy drilling the Goblins in military training, and Jeremy, who had been slacking off on the Palatino Hills. Every woman I could even loosely call close to me had assembled in one place.
"This humble one stands before a great existence."
"Your Excellency the Legion Commander, I offer my respects."
"I greet the eternal and immortal Demon Lord."
They paid their respects to Barbatos most reverently. They pressed their foreheads to the floor in prostration.
As the eighth-ranked Demon Lord, she was practically the most noble sovereign in the world. For lowborn Demonkin like Lapis and Jeremy, this was a position far beyond what they could handle. Both of them were extremely nervous.
Especially since Barbatos was completely naked right now. After having sex with me, she hadn't even bothered to put clothes on. She welcomed the girls with every trace of our lovemaking still on full display. The girls clearly had no idea where to look and were visibly flustered.
"All right, all right. Raise your heads."
Barbatos spoke haughtily, resting her chin on one hand. She was sitting in my personal throne as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Who was the first woman here to meet Dantalion? Raise your hand."
"...That would be me."
Lapis raised her hand without expression.
"What role do you serve under Dantalion?"
"It is temporary, but I serve as the Financial Secretary."
"Mm." Barbatos nodded in acknowledgment.
"Financial Secretary — so that's the highest position. Then, among you all, which woman has slept with Dantalion the most?"
Laura raised her right hand.
"I am honored to say it is I, Your Excellency the Legion Commander. I serve as the Military Secretary."
"I had a feeling it would be you."
Barbatos nodded again.
"Do you roughly remember how many times?"
"At the very least, I would estimate it to be somewhere north of two hundred and eighty."
"Hmm. That's more than me, then."
Before my very eyes, the women were discussing with dead-serious expressions exactly how many times they had slept with me. This was so postmodern that I wanted to pass out. What was this? Some newly developed form of torture?
Who here has done the most perverted things with Dantalion?
"……The maiden has done things outdoors, though."
Laura spoke up cautiously.
Barbatos clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk, that doesn't even come close. You haven't even touched the edge of perversion. Anyone else?"
"I have had an experience in an opera audience seat."
Jeremy said.
"The audience seat where the opera performers were clearly visible head-on, Your Highness."
"That's somewhat better. But still far from enough."
"……."
Lapis stared at me in horror. She was expressionlessly horrified. She had the look of someone who desperately wanted to lay into me with a lecture but was holding it back because Barbatos was still present. Once Barbatos left, I was probably going to catch hell from Lapis…….
"You lovebirds. As you can see, this fellow Dantalion is—"
Barbatos pointed at the ceiling. Daisy was still hanging up there.
"A womanizer. Every time he steps out, he comes back having charmed some woman. For all I know, he might have two or three lovers hidden away that none of us know about. Of course, I'm a free-love advocate. But everything in life needs clear boundaries, doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does, Your Highness."
All three answered in unison.
Barbatos grinned.
"Let me make one thing clear here. The principal wife is me."
"……."
"All of you are concubines. The Minister of Finance, the Minister of Military Affairs, and you, Elf — I'll recognize these three as concubines. If Dantalion takes any additional women in the future, he must obtain the permission of me, his legitimate wife."