Chapter 137: Rich Autumn (5)

* * *

In the end, we finished the harvest in one day. I had a casual look around the village the next day.

There was a merry mood flowing around everywhere thanks to the abundant harvest. Laura saw this and gave a satisfied smile.

“The people are happy, so that makes this young lady happy as well.”

“It is the same for me as well. This is all a part of my wealth, after all.”

“……What a tilted point of view.”

Laura looked at me with dead eyes.

“Did you know? Your Lordship occasionally uses foul words deliberately. Hypocrisy receives scorn, but dysphemism is equally deplorable. This hides your sincerity and creates excuses, after all.”

“Ehem.”

I twisted my mouth awkwardly. Recently, the number of occasions where Laura criticized me had increased exponentially. The timing coincides exactly with when those obscene days started. People say that women nag less when men start to work harder, but why was it the opposite with us……?

“In any case, Your Lordship, why do you not lend your golems to the farmers?”

Laura changed the topic. What a spiteful girl!

Different from Lapis, Laura’s nagging never lasted long. She would give a single cutting remark before changing the topic completely. This prevented me from giving any sort of retort.

“It was proven that golems display an overwhelming efficiency when it comes to farming. If you loan them to the farmers, then the harvest should increase accordingly.”

“Of course they are efficient.”

I shrugged.”

“But they go against fairness.”

“Fairness?”

“Yes. Think about it. A certain rich farmer decides to use a lot of money to borrow a golem. Farming will then become surprisingly easier.”

This much is fine, but what would the other farmers think?

Our lord prioritizes people who have money. Whether you have money or not is our lord’s discerning factor……. This is how they will take it.

“This would be troubling. The power of unity will decrease if you only try to pursue efficiency. This would basically be splitting the people up into two groups. Intentionally weakening the total strength of your land just to earn a little more money is not something a monarch should do.”

“Mm.”

Laura tilted her head.

“Is the lord’s strength not the strength of his territory? It is the rich farmers who will be of great help to Your Lordship, not the poor ones. Would it not be more beneficial for Your Lordship and the region if you set up a policy that gives those rich farmers a slight edge?”

That was possible. Excluding republicans, the people of this era believed that domains belonged to lords. Laura seemed to contemplate various things related to her, but she wasn’t interested in things like society and republicanism.

Even though she was someone who was supposed to become the chancellor of a society-.

I told you there’s a reason why the Kingdom of Brittany falls in <Dungeon Attack>.

I gave her an answer.

“Well, everything is a matter of efficiency. In society, there are those who rule and those who are ruled. There should not be a lot of rulers in this situation. If one person follows one ruler and another person follows a different ruler……then it will only appear as if they are united on the outside. However, there will actually be many different societies.”

There will be a split in public opinion.

There can only be one ruler, one Demon Lord Dantalian, in my territory.

“Let us say that wealthy farmers are treated better. I can think of several immediate consequences. First, people will think that money is the only way to succeed in life.”

When building reservoirs and ramparts, they will all have to do it together. If an external threat invades, then they have to all stand side by side and risk their lives together. Why should the rich gain more benefits?

Loyalty isn’t what is important to our lord. It isn’t dedication either. Isn’t money the most important thing……?

“In the end, people will become less loyal to me as they desperately try to increase their own wealth. Laura, do you understand? This would be creating two rulers in one land. Two rulers known as Demon Lord Dantalian and ‘money’.”

This can’t be allowed to happen.

Whether you have a lot of money or not should be a personal matter. You accumulated a lot of money? Congratulations. Enjoy it. But that will not sway the decisions I make as your ruler.

This is because you are only a citizen and I am the sole monarch.

“I want to become the absolute ruler. This does not mean that I wish to get involved in everything. I have to become a mountain which the people cannot possibly look over. This will make things convenient for me as well!”

“Surely.”

Laura was in awe.

“Wealth is not what is important, it is how loyal they are to you and that alone.”

“I am basically the representation of this territory. It would be fine to also describe this as them showing how dedicated they are to my land as a whole.”

“Mm.”

Laura seemed to have inferred something from these words as she fell into deep thought.

A few of the women working in the fields noticed us and gave us a wave. I waved back at them with my right hand. They appeared to get excited about something as the old ladies abruptly started to giggle. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them.

Once we followed the path and eventually got close enough to the group of ladies, they stopped swinging their sickles and spoke up to us.

“Oh, you look so pretty today, Miss Queen!”

“You two truly look like a match made in heaven whenever we see you two together!”

Laura seemed surprised as she stammered.

“Q-Queen……? It is not like that.”

“Nonsense. You are His Lordship the Demon Lord’s wife, are you not? Then of course you are the queen.”

The other women agreed.

“W-Wife……?”

Laura’s face became red. She waved her hand frantically as she tried to deny this.

“This young lady is just, how should I say it? Not a wife, but a vassal……no, should I say that I am His Lordship’s partner……? I-In any case, I am not his wife! I am nowhere close to being a queen!”

“Eeh? We always believed that the miss was the Young Master Demon Lord’s wife.”

Their gazes focused on me.

It looked like they were waiting for an explanation.

“…….”

Laura fidgeted as well as she peeked up at me. Her head was lowered as she glanced up at me furtively, but she hastily turned away once our eyes met.

Oh?

There was no reason for me to read her status window. Laura is a 17-year-old girl with a lot of dreams. She was cynical of the world with her particular view of death, but becoming someone’s wife must mean a lot to Laura as well.

Setting aside whether we actually were a couple or not, we appeared like one to others…… This alone was enough to make Laura feel shy. Was she not acting cute like a girl her actual age?

“Laura, look here.”

“Pardon me?”

She turned her head.

I naturally wrapped my right arm around her waist. I then used my left hand to support the back of her neck. Right when a puzzled look appeared on Laura’s face―I kissed her.

“……Mmb!?”

Laura’s eyes opened wide in surprise because of the surprise kiss. She kept making sounds as if she wanted to shout something, but it was pointless. I paid her retaliation no mind as I pushed my tongue between her lips. It was a deep kiss.

“Oh dear, oh dear!”

“Kyaaa! Dear me!”

I could hear the women let out a surprised sound. It was a sound of shock that was also filled with enjoyment. None of them reprimanded me for being shameful. They all cheered as they enjoyed the scene.

Laura flailed her arms as she tried to struggle. Her green eyes were fervently complaining, clearly embarrassed about doing this in front of others. Sorry girl, but I’m doing this because we’re in front of others. I moved my tongue more energetically.

Insert.

“Ubb, mm, puah!?”

Caress.

“Uub, ubb, kb……uuuum, hua, hb, ub!”

Suck.

“Huaaa, Lord, uub! Hmmmm……ah, haa, uuh, ah, hppuah!”

And intertwine.

“Uub, huub……mm, hnnnn……Lord, ah……n-ubbb, hmm, no, uuuuuh……!”

Laura’s knees gave out as she collapsed into my chest. Her face was red and she breathed heavily as if she had been deprived of oxygen. I turned to look around while holding Laura with one arm.

“…….”

“…….”

The women were no longer squealing. Even the older ladies looked embarrassed as their cheeks were red. They all avoided my gaze and fidgeted. One of the young ladies who appeared to be a maiden was covering her face with both of her hands.

I spoke with a smile.

“By nature, it is normal for a king to have three or four concubines. This girl is mine. Is there anything more that has to be said?”

The ladies shook their heads as they gave a meek response. They must’ve been too embarrassed to stay here any longer as they picked up their farming tools and hurried away. They had left their work behind and ran away even though the sun hadn’t set yet.

While I was chuckling at the innocence of the farmers, Laura muttered quietly.

“L-Lord…….”

She grabbed the chest area of my shirt and looked up at me with moist eyes. Her breath was hot. Oh dear, did I tease her too much……? It seems I had flipped a switch.

“You want to do it?”

“…….”

Laura’s head nodded by exactly 0.1cm.

I smiled gently. She’s in her blooming period. I don’t intend to tease her for getting turned on by an intense kiss. It’s my fault, after all.

“Please strip.”

“Eh?”

Laura became wide-eyed.

“What are you saying……we should go to the house and…….”

“I am telling you to strip here.”

Her face became pale.

“B-But we are outside…….”

“Right this instant.”

I pulled Laura slightly closer with a bright smile still on my face.

“I wish to enter Laura right here and now.”

“……N-N-No!”

Laura pushed at my chest, but there was no strength in her arms so it didn’t do anything.

“Beast! Orc! You rutting dog! H-How could you do something like that outside……I cannot believe you!”

“Hah. You were the one who was asking to do it a second ago, but now you are getting upset when I agree? You are contradicting yourself.”

I hugged her more tightly.

“If you are going to act like this, then even the generous and kind me will get upset!”

“H-Huaah.”

She was almost on the brink of tears.

“You mustn’t, Lord……. If you do, then how would this be any different from having intercourse with a beast? Please maintain your dignity as a Demon Lord!”

“Be it humans or demons, we are all originally animals. It would not be strange to have intercourse like beasts!”

“That is absolutely wrong―!”

My resolve stayed firm whether Laura despaired or not. I stripped Laura right then and there and did her from behind in the middle of the wheat field. Stalks of wheat were covering the ground, so my knees didn’t hurt.

I got overly excited about doing this outside for the first time that we ended up doing it until the sun set. I’ll just say that the glow of the setting sun radiating off of Laura’s bare white skin was incredibly beautiful.

Laura was the one to get heated up this time, so it took about a week for us to cool down. Someone most definitely saw us, but who cares? Does it not feel better when someone is watching, is what I thought in my mind. I never uttered these words out loud.

* * *

Lapis came to see me around the time the entire village had finished harvesting.

I expected her to come around this time, so I was going to welcome her happily, but to my surprise, she didn’t come empty-handed.

“……What is this?”

“These are yours.”

There was quite literally a mountain of treasure in front of me.

Jewelry boxes, chests filled with gold coins, and all sorts of ornaments and weapons that looked expensive. Dear Lord, what is all of this?

“This is exactly 103,504 gold.”

“…….”

Lapis handed me a piece of paper while my mouth was hanging agape. A list of names I had never seen before was written on it.

“W-W-What is this?”

“This is a list of the key figures in the demon world that you must meet.”

Lapis’ tone sounded as if she was simply commenting about the nice weather.

“I know that you have been spending your time comfortably. I considered the possibility of you becoming bored, so I created work for you to do.”

This girl?

“I’m going to rest a little longer!”

“How unfortunate.”

Her tone didn’t sound as if she thought this was unfortunate at all.

“I received this 100,000 gold under the pretext of letting them meet you, Sir Dantalian. If you do not wish to meet them, then we have to return all of this……. Should we return everything?”

Lapis asked with an impassive face.

A truly villainous girl. I have never met an opponent as formidable as you.

***

Author’s afterword

Lapis: Little sister, this is how you handle a man who doesn’t work.

Laura: (Sparkling eyes) Sis…….

Dantalian: …….

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Like I promised, this chapter came out in only a day. The schedule should return back to normal, although it hasn’t really changed that much to begin with. I honestly can’t tell. Nothing much else to say since this came out pretty fast, so I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.