Evening arrived in Niflheim.
"Th-this is enough, Your Highness! Truly, this is more than enough!"
Ivar's face was flushed as red as the evening sunset. The girl had already undergone a complete transformation compared to when she'd walked out of the trading company building. Literally from head to toe.
"Yeah. But I still have the most important shoes left."
"You said the most important bracelet was left before that, and before that you said the most important earrings were left. I won't be fooled anymore!"
Ivar whipped her head around and shot me a sideways glare.
Adorable.
I want to buy them for her. I want to shower her with gifts.
Never before had a woman opened my wallet so effortlessly. A goddess descending to the mortal realm — even that wouldn't be an overstatement.
Then there was the power of a heroine making her official debut in Dungeon Attack... I thought this Dantalion, worn ragged by Sephirot, had become a middle-aged man beyond saving, but with Ivar by my side, it felt like I was being healed without even realizing it.
Impossible, though.
"In the first place, I am wealthier than Your Highness."
Ivar pouted her lips.
"Every rare gem there is lies dormant in my vault. I even have accessories crafted by dragonfolk artisans. If you thought I was the sort of person who would be swayed by a barrage of gifts, you are sorely mistaken."
"Hmm? I wonder what gave you that idea."
I waved my hand dismissively.
"I'm not buying a gift for the wealthiest person in the Demon Realm and the owner of the Kunkuska Trading Company. I'm giving a gift to Ivar Lodbrok — simply as a woman."
"What?"
Ivar blinked. She clearly hadn't realized it.
I let a faint, bittersweet smile cross my lips.
"You were buried beneath the eternal snow for thousands of years. Until you met me. No matter how much wealth you accumulated and how lavishly you spent it all that time, not a single coin was ever spent for yourself. It was an investment in 'the person everyone else sees.'"
All to disguise herself as the owner of the Kunkuska Trading Company.
The tiny vampire girl known as Ivar Lodbrok had been sprinting through life, hiding her true self — all so she could succeed more easily in society, so she would never be looked down upon by others.
I gazed out at Niflheim without blinking.
The city was gradually being swallowed by a deep crimson sunset.
"You told me today that luxury only has meaning when people can recognize it. But what about you? No matter how closely anyone examines you, all they see is a doll wearing a mask."
"……."
"No one can see who you really is. So what meaning could any of it possibly have?"
Niflheim was a city born from the deepest wish of a girl named Ivar Lodbrok.
A place dedicated solely to the interests of merchants. Not even the Demon Lord's reach extends here. Regardless of origin, race, or class, hundreds of species — from Goblins to Elves — pour in and fill the streets with life.
But what a cruel paradox this was.
In the very place where the girl's most desperate wish had been fulfilled, she herself could not exist as her true self.
Everyone else had cast off the Demon Lord's dominion and was living by their own convictions, yet Ivar Lodbrok alone was the outcast — endlessly performing behind the mask of a doll.
"Ivar. Bael is dead. Agares is dead too."
Without realizing it, my voice had turned gentle.
"No faction has the power to conquer the Demon Realm alone anymore. Going forward, when Demon Lords seek to overpower one another, political legitimacy will matter above all else. How well they present themselves to Demon Realm society will determine their claim. The days of freely controlling Demon kin will become exceedingly rare."
"……."
"You don't have to live like a doll anymore."
I reached out and gently stroked the girl's golden hair.
"You still haven't realized? Today is the first day you've spent entirely as yourself."
"The first day I've spent as myself…"
She murmured dazedly.
"First time in three thousand years. If that isn't cause for celebration, what is?"
I said with a broad smile.
"What do you think, Ivar? Seeing your city with your own two eyes?"
"……."
Ivar pressed her lips tightly together.
"Ah. Of course, there's something I have to apologize for. I'd originally planned to deal with Vassago as well, but she conducted herself so impeccably that I couldn't bring myself to kill her. In exchange, I sent three Spirit Kings down the River Styx, so she won't be able to make any moves for the next few centuries."
I scratched the back of my head.
"I know it's not much, but could you let it go for that?"
Ivar lowered her head.
After a brief silence, she murmured.
"This is so unfair… After a day like this, a moment like this, how can you just say something like that? I have no choice but to forgive you…."
The girl's shoulders trembled slightly.
"I believed all Demon Lords were liars… that this time would be no different… but Bael and Agares both truly disappeared. Everything came true just as you promised, and I was already confused enough, and then you go and say something like that… in that way…"
A faint tremor of moisture crept into her voice.
She was a girl who had cultivated her long life solely on hatred for the Demon Lords.
"If I don't have to hate the Demon Lords anymore… what am I supposed to do from here on…?"
"That," I said, "is a problem you'll have to start working out now."
I spoke quietly.
"No one else can worry in your place, and you can't just run away from it as you please. In other words, that's a problem only you have. It's a problem that comes to everyone at least once in life, and it's something you must handle with care."
I added, however.
"That kind of problem always begins with reflecting on yourself. If you keep wearing a doll's mask, you'll only be able to answer like a doll. You are a girl. You mustn't forget even the simplest fact like that."
"……I already threw away any thoughts of living as a woman long ago."
"Is that so."
I gently lifted Ivar's chin. There was no resistance.
There it was—the face of a young girl, covered in tears.
"But now you must have a reason to pick back up what you've discarded."
"……You, Your Majesty, are a liar too!"
Ivar shouted. Her voice was a mess because she was speaking while crying. The pitch was uneven, and her words were buried in sobs.
"Trying to seduce this lowly one with sweet words……when I'm nothing but a one-night partner, and now……you don't truly love me anyway!"
"Hm."
"I know everything! Who do you think reads the reports from Lapis Lazuli? A deal must always be fair……even if I devote the rest of my life to Your Majesty, you would never give me your life, so I'd rather……!"
When faced with this kind of situation.
Men always react differently.
A truly good man would affirm the other person's words here. *I cannot give you my love. Please forgive me.* Even though it might deeply hurt the other person now, in the long run, it's better.
A somewhat bad man would cleverly deny it here. *No. I love you. Why would I not love a beautiful woman like you? Driven by some irresistible force, I've finally opened my eyes to true love for the first time. I want to treat you as a precious person…….*
And a truly bad man would.
"……!"
I kiss her.
I gently cradle the back of Ivar's head with my right hand. With my left, I tilt her chin up ever so slightly. Then I lean in, looking straight into her violet eyes, and steal a kiss.
Her pupils dilated. They looked exactly like amethysts drenched in moisture.
At first, Ivar tried to push my body away, but the strength gradually drained from her arms, and before long she closed her eyes. Tears traced thin, elongated streaks down her cheeks.
The evening glow of Niflheim cast its quiet light upon us.
A sound pierced through the utterly still air.
""Ivar Lodbrok's Affinity increases by 9.""
""Ivar Lodbrok's Affinity has reached 100.""
""Everlasting love! Your partner now regards you as a complete lover. This extraordinary love has generated a new title for your partner.""
I smiled to myself.
—I'm not letting this one go.
Ivar Lodbrok is not only the wealthiest being in the Demon Realm but also the head of a massive trading company. Her innate combat prowess is considerable as well. And the Ivar who appeared in the game was the type who, once she gave her heart to someone, would stay faithful no matter what.
Wealth, power, strength, and loyalty. Only a fool would let someone like that slip through their fingers.
I pulled Ivar closer, more tightly. In response, she—likely without even realizing it—extended her slender arm and wrapped it around my back. I could feel her touch distinctly along my spine.
Evening was settling over the city.
Having wrapped up all my business in Niflheim, I had finally returned to the Demon Lord's Castle.
I deliberately used the teleportation scroll in the dead of night. At the very least, I didn't want to see anyone tonight. Fortunately, my bedroom was as silent as could be. I let out a sigh of relief and lay down on the bed.
"……."
Without a doubt, I was feeling jealous of Ivar Lodbrok.
For Ivar, nothing lay ahead but a bright future. She no longer needed to wear a theatrical mask. Little by little, in her girl's body, she would come to see the world as herself. Even if tragedy were to come, it would be entirely her own tragedy.
I am not.
I had already reached a point where I could no longer throw off my mask. The excuse of "I was acting to survive" had long since stopped holding any weight.
Ivar and I would end up walking in exactly opposite directions. She, along the path of gradually finding her true self; I, along a path that held nothing but more lies and hypocrisy……
I felt emotions toward Ivar—jealousy, or perhaps admiration. There was someone walking a path I could never take. I didn't feel anger or resentment over that fact. Only a slight sense of melancholy……
—Knock, knock.
Someone was rapping at the door.
I furrowed my brow. Had they figured out I had arrived? How?
"Dantalion, sir."
It was Lapis's voice. I let out a deflated sigh.
"Come in."
"Pardon the intrusion."
Lapis had been given a device that would immediately send a signal if any magic were to break out at the Demon Lord's Castle. Since she was the prime minister who would stand in for me in emergencies, I had gifted it to her some time ago.
But this was unexpected.
I had deliberately returned in secret. The sharp-witted Lapis couldn't have missed the meaning behind that. It was my way of saying, *leave me alone for a while.* So why had Lapis gone out of her way to come visit……
"I thought you might be in need of a drink."
As always, Lapis was dressed impeccably, holding a tray.
"Might I offer you a glass of Valhalla 230-year wine, to help unwind from your travels?"
"His Excellency Dantalion is most pleased!"
That's so like Lapis.
I drank the wine straight from the bottle.
At that, Lapis produced a small bundle as though she'd had it prepared in advance.
"A new incense candle that Captain Jeremy developed recently. Might you care to try it, as a way to relieve the fatigue you've built up?"
"Hm. His Excellency Dantalion would be pleased."
I immediately stuffed the incense candle into my pipe and lit it. It was exquisite.
Lapis's visit, which had kicked off with a straight-up bribe, had somehow spiraled into me lamenting my lot in life. A drunk who'd fried his brain on drugs and then topped it off with alcohol. Naturally, my words came out in a jumbled mess, but Lapis just nodded along with a blank expression.
"So I burned them all! Haha!"
The story reached its climax.
I reached the part about massacring the residents near Parisiorum and burst into laughter. Even here, Lapis remained composed. She listened to my story to the end, then casually dropped a single remark.
"Lord Dantalion chose burning at the stake deliberately, didn't you."
"Ah yes. It's more efficient that way! I really am amazing!"
"I wasn't pointing out the efficiency."
For the first time since the conversation began, Lapis shook her head.
"Burning at the stake is certainly spectacular. But for all its appearance of cruelty, the actual results are surprisingly meager. It's one of the slowest methods of killing a human being."
"...Huh?"
"You deliberately chose an 'inefficient' method of slaughter, Lord Dantalion."
Lapis said with a blank expression.
"It inflicts extreme terror on people, while the actual number of deaths remains small. I understand. That is—"
As though reciting a self-evident fact.
"Quite fitting of you, Lord Dantalion."
"..."
I shut my mouth.
Lapis filled the empty wineglass. I drank the wine without a word. Lapis poured the wine again.
"...Lapis."
"Yes, Lord Dantalion."
"I hate that kind of talk."
Lapis nodded.
"I know."
"Then why did you say it?"
"I'll call it the privilege of the one who has to endure your drunken rambles."
"..."
I sighed and accepted the wine he offered.
For a while after that, neither of us said a word.
So, that's how it is.
Guess the world really does have guys like that.
"But, Lord Dantalion."
"Hmm?"
"A massive amount of invoices have flown in from Niflheim. It's not a matter of thousands of Libra. As your prime minister and Minister of Finance, I have absolutely no idea how this came to be."
"...Ah? Ah, that. So..."
"While you're out waging wars somewhere, I'm bustling around the Demon Lord's Castle trying to ensure the fiscal soundness of our kingdom, yet this is where the money is actually going. Please tell me how I am supposed to take this."
"..."
"……."
"I-I'm sorry."
"Remarkable. Did Lord Dantalion believe I've been saying all of this just to hear an apology from him? That I, who serve as both Chancellor and Minister of Finance, would place greater value on a single word of apology from Lord Dantalion than on the source of our treasury?"
"……."
"I was merely voicing a perfectly legitimate concern. Let me ask once more. What in the world are these invoices?"
"I am truly sorry……."
I'll just add that Lapis's lectures reportedly average around five hours each.
All I did was spend my own money.
The world is breathtakingly absurd.
============================ Author's Notes ============================
- End of Chapter <Only Two on This Continent>.