Chapter 129: Morning in Rome (5)

ΟΟΟ

I suddenly felt worried. I abruptly remembered my mother’s advice to not give out blank checks no matter what happens in life.

‘Especially, son, although it will probably never happen to you, in the rare chance a woman approaches you.’

My mother continued.

‘Never say the word <anything> thoughtlessly. Something big might happen.”

‘Something big? What do you mean?’

‘Mm. You might end up having a child like you.’

I realized what she meant after a while and shivered. At the time, I was in high school and in the middle of enjoying my rebellious phase. I raised my voice and complained.

‘That’s mean. If I knew it would be like this, then I wouldn’t have been born as your son.’

‘If I knew my son would end up like you, then I wouldn’t have given birth to you either.’

‘…….’

I was beaten down mercilessly. I set my needless rebellious phase aside and focused on studying for my exams afterward. Thanks to this, I ended up getting into a fairly decent university. Although I basked in a trashy unemployed life after that.

Why did I suddenly remember my mother’s advice? I’m certain that a certain part of my subconscious was trying to coax me into taking back my words. I was a second late as I turned to look at Lapis so that I could rephrase my sentence.

However.

“…….”

My spine became cold. The other party’s eyes were way too serious.

If you go back on your words now, then I’ll show you whether you have guts inside your stomach or shit water―.

That’s what her eyes were saying.

Words spewed out of my mouth like a leaky faucet.

“Y-Yeah. Anything.”

“Very well, then.”

Lapis nodded her head in a restrained way. It might have been my imagination, but it felt like there was an air of satisfaction lingering over her emotionless face.

“I am fine with a small reward, but if Sir Dantalian is willing to go out of his way to offer anything, then it cannot be helped. Not only am I an employee of the Keuncuska Firm, but I also serve Sir Dantalian. I cannot possibly refuse Sir Dantalian’s kindness. I am obliged to accept your order.”

“Uh, huh……? S-Sure.”

The sense of worry grew heavier. What sort of wish do you intend to ask me that you have to flourish your words to this extent like some sort of skunk? Were you given secret orders by Ivar? I timidly added an unnecessary comment.

“I’m telling you this beforehand, but it has to be a wish that I can grant, okay?”

“Of course. I know better than anyone else about Sir Dantalian’s limits. There is no way that I would want something that you cannot grant.”

“Mm. That’s right.”

Lapis has known me since the day I only made 2 gold coins a day mining in my cave. My tie with her is the longest I have in this world. From the day I mistook pyrite for gold (My mind still yells at me to stop thinking about this), to the day I spent money like water at a casino in the demon world, she knows everything about me.

We may be bound by the fundamental bond between a Demon Lord and a demon, but I personally feel a deep connection with her.

It’s different from Laura. Honestly, Laura sort of looks at me with rose-tinted glasses. No matter what I do, she would always respond with ‘As expected of Your Lordship. You are amazing!’. Her eyes would shine brightly as she praised me.

On the other hand, Lapis would widen her eyes as if she were surprised and say ‘How impressive’ in a tone that genuinely sounded shocked. The spoken words may be similar, but the emotions underneath them were like Heaven and Earth…….

Well, I prefer Lapis’ response. It’s more reassuring. It’d only become troublesome if you constantly receive someone’s unconditional support. Wouldn’t a friend be someone who can point out your stupidity regardless of your relations? In this regard, Lapis is my friend.

There are people who believe that a man and a woman can never be friends. I can’t help but laugh at them. Sex isn’t everything between men and women. We aren’t animals or something.

True friendships can be established between anyone. My relationship with Lapis could probably be considered a prime example of this. I’m partially a Demon Lord while Lapis is a half-breed that’s ostracized within demon society.

It’s because we have these similarities that we are able to become companions regardless of our genders and positions. Sexual desires had no place between us. Was this not truly a platonic and beautiful story!?

I changed my mind. I already promised her, so let’s grant whatever she asks with a smile.

“Okay. I already declared that I would grant you a wish, so let’s do it now. What do you want? Hm? Do you want me to kill all those bastards who treated you like an outcast? Should I ask Ivar to promote you to a 1st rank employee?”

Lapis glanced at Laura.

“……No. I cannot think of anything right now. I will tell you when I do.”

“All right, sure. Tell me whenever you want. I’m more than able to grant your wish now.”

Laura, who had been listening to our conversation quietly, tilted her head.

“Miss Lapis? I could pardon myself if you want. As you can see.”

Laura gestured to her lower body as she spoke. She was naked. There were clear signs on her lower body of my member going in and out of her earlier. To be exact, there was semen smeared everywhere.

“This young lady has to go wash up anyway. I plan to go to the underground pool and submerge my body. You could continue your discussion while this young lady goes to wash herself.”

“Haah.”

Lapis let out a deep sigh.

“It has only been a few days since we last met, but I see Miss Laura has also fully become an animal. Even the harem of the Infernal Hell’s archduke is most likely not as promiscuous as this. Is this your true colors?”

“Mm……you would understand this young lady’s situation if you were here together with His Lordship for the past 15 days.”

For some reason, a sad smile appeared on Laura’s face.

“Embarrassment is nothing more than incense that boosts your enemy’s desires here. It is like adding spices to some grilled meat. If anything, behaving shamelessly is at least the second-best tactical option to take. This young lady had no other choice but to throw away her honor for the sake of survival.”

“Is it that bad? ……To be exact, how many times a day?”

“Mm. It is different every day, but the average is four times a day.”

Lapis opened her mouth slightly.

“Climaxing four times is impressive, but that much should not…….”

“Miss Lapis? I think you are misunderstanding something.”

Laura chuckled. There was a shadow cast over her eyes.

“I am not climaxing only four times, but we are doing it four times. If I were to make a rough estimate of how many times I climax, then at least ten times. Ten times each round. Therefore, forty times in total. You could say it happens at least forty times a day.”

“Forty……times?”

At that moment, I witnessed something very rare. I witnessed Lapis’ impassive face change to that of shock. I realized that they were talking about my stamina, so I used this opportunity to slip away. I went to the water canteen in the corner of my room and grabbed a bowl.

“That is ridiculous. Something like that should not be possible.”

“This young lady thought it was impossible as well. This young lady also thoroughly realized how futile human common sense is……. Fufu. Looking back at it now, it is impressive that I managed to survive for this long. Fufu, fufufu…….”

“But, if a man goes that far, then the woman……as long as you are not someone who climaxes prematurely, their experience should be three times stronger.”

I could hear their voices while I was drinking water. Mm. Having one’s stamina as the subject matter is a rather embarrassing thing. I pretended to not hear anything as I drank some water.

“Indeed. It more than easily reaches that intensity.”

“If that is the case, then that would be comparable to thirty times each round, so a hundred twenty times a day. I cannot believe it.”

“That is on average. There are some days where it goes beyond two hundred times.”

“…….”

“Do you understand, Miss Lapis? This has continued for half a month.”

The two of them lowered their voices so I could only make out some words every so often. In any case, they were having a rather serious conversation.

“Impossible……divided……just the two of us.”

“But if you resolve yourself……an estimate…….”

“I cannot wait any……will break before then! ……quickly…….”

“……start……at that time. I cannot concede more than this.”

“Very well, then. Hope has finally arrived for this young lady.”

It seems they had reached an agreement.

“Haha. Are you two finished talking?”

I approached the two of them happily since it seemed their conversation was over.

“…….”

“…….”

However, what I received in return were cold gazes that looked as if they were staring at a monster.

Eh, what?

* * *

There are seven human villages and eight goblin tribes around my Demon Lord Castle. Thus, there are a total of fifteen settlements in my domain.

The population is about 400 humans and 1,100 goblins. A census had never been performed, so this wasn’t an accurate value. However, it was clear that the total wouldn’t even reach 2,000 if you combined the two races. It would be laughable to go around claiming to have a barony if the number of citizens you have doesn’t even exceed 2,000.

This is an era where your national power is proportionate to your population. Originally, the limit of my Demon Lord Castle was clear, but…….

“This is going to increase drastically from now on.”

Laura, Lapis, and I held a meeting around a round table. Not only were we the highest-ranking members of my Demon Lord army, but we were also the only members. Therefore, the scale was a bit small, but it was like we were holding a National Assembly.

“I spoke quite well during the ceremonial speeches, after all. The wild rumor that you could harvest whatever you cultivate if you go to the land of a Demon Lord named Dantalian should have circulated. Therefore, deserters, there is a high probability that deserters from the human army will come here.”

“That is a plausible conclusion.”

Lapis agreed.

“This location in the Kingdom of Teuton is within walking distance from the northern region of Habsburg where the war is currently taking place. Two or three people out of ten will most likely come here. I believe that at least two hundred people will be arriving here soon.

That wasn’t a difficult number to handle.

There are five ruined villages in my territory. The fields that were being cultivated by the five villages are still intact as well. Of course, the crops that were being grown there were now gone, but the ridges between the fields, the furrows, and the state of the fields had been preserved. There was no need to reclaim the land. Someone could just come at any time and start using the fields.

These fields should be able to cater to approximately three hundred people. Therefore, my territory has the leeway to accept about three hundred more people.

“The issue is the fact that immigrants will continue to increase.”

I commented.

“The poison I sprayed throughout the human world is tenacious. The longer the war with the Crescent Alliance lasts, the more taxes the nobles will force onto their people. These are people who are already exhausted due to the Black Death. There will be a point where they cannot bear the war funds.”

It might even happen very soon.

“At that time, many humans will be tempted by the idea of not having to pay any taxes and flee to land owned by Demon Lords.”

“Lord, why would that be a problem?”

Laura furrowed her brows.

“Is it not a good thing if the population increases?”

“An excess of anything is a bad thing. Right now, we must train our stomachs to allow us to consume a large amount of food at once.”

Additionally, immigrants aren’t the only ones that will come here. The number of adventurers aiming for me will increase as much as my infamy as a Demon Lord has increased. ……Not F or E Rank adventurer parties, but D and C Ranks. Perhaps even B Ranks.

This is my opportunity while the continent is being swept up by the flames of war caused by the Crescent Alliance. I have to prepare for the not-so-distant future.

“In any case, I am thinking about establishing a special dungeon city.”

“A special dungeon city……?”

Laura looked at me quizzically. 

“A dungeon is what adventurers call Demon Lord Castles, right? But a special dungeon city? This young lady has never heard of such a thing. What is that?”

“In other words, it is a city that develops while relying on adventurers and dungeons.”

I smiled.

“Normally, Demon Lords think of adventurers as enemies. However, if you change your perspective a little, adventurers are the biggest suckers in the world. You could establish a somewhat decent town if you wring their pockets dry.”

Every adventurer is technically a soldier. No matter how poor they are, they will always have weapons and armor. Just taking their metal weapons and leather armor should be enough to make a fairly decent profit. And this would be the minimal profit. More than this, it would be…….

“You will create a small town by using adventurers?”

“I apologize, Sir Dantalian, but I do not understand.”

The two of them looked even more confused.

I guarantee that if things go as planned, then Demon Lord Dantalian’s land will become an unprecedented land of adventurers.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. It’s city building simulator time. On a slightly more serious note, I’m still fairly sick. This stomach issue has lasted for 4 days so I ended up going to the hospital this morning. I got some medicine and I’m hoping it helps. Thankfully, I don’t get sharp pains in my stomach, but there’s still this uncomfortable feeling I get at times and waves of nausea. Forgive me if the next chapter takes a day longer than usual to translate (although this chapter came out at a pretty regular time despite my sickness).

I’ll see you guys when I hopefully get better.