Chapter 138: Rich Autumn (6)

I was able to make 100,000 gold again. Although it can’t compare to the 1,000,000 gold that Sitri had promised to lend me, it was enough to start working on the construction of my dungeon. My plans were pulled ahead of schedule.

This was like an initial capital for my business funds……. There’s no way I would return this. I have never returned something that was presented to me once. If it’s in my hands, then it’s mine!

‘But I don’t want to work……!’

I have sex if I want to have sex. I mess around if I want to mess around. I farm if I want to farm and if I’m not in the mood for farming, then I leave the work to my monsters. This is quite literally heaven itself. 100,000 gold may be great, but asking me to leave heaven with my own two feet is outrageous.

I spoke with the utmost serious tone.

“How about taking the money and pretending we don’t know them?”

Lapis’ eyes became cold. It felt like she was looking at a piece of non-burnable trash. Kuh.

It’s impossible, huh? It’s a matter of course. As long as the influential people of the demon world aren’t idiots, they’ll do whatever they can to retaliate. Damn it.

“Why did you act on your own without my approval in the first place?”

“If I did not act first, then you would have slacked off until the very end, Sir Dantalian. You have become a leading member of the Plains Faction, so making connections throughout the demon world is unavoidable.”

Lapis lowered her head.

“Sir Dantalian, you can blame me all you want; however, I wish for you to listen to my reasoning. You said this to me during the <Minerva Operation>. ……It would only be beneficial for you if the enemy chooses to be passive. You can go on the offensive if the other party decides to be defensive.”

Minerva Operation. It was the plan we used to lure in Barbatos and start the 8th Crescent Alliance. I called it by this name when I was devising this plot with Lapis. It was supposed to have the meaning of flying forward while everyone else was sleeping.

“Everything truly did carry out as Sir Dantalian wanted. Nonetheless, what have you been doing recently? Under the pretext of rest, you are spending your days obscenely. You are killing time simply because you have yet to gather enough funding.”

Lapis pointed directly at me.

“The one being passive right now is you, Sir Dantalian. Every nation on the continent is currently fighting desperately. The Demon Lord army and the human forces are fighting in their own way as they engage one another in neck-to-neck battles.”

I felt a pang in my chest.

Lapis continued in a flat tone.

“The main culprit behind everything is sitting back in his territory and spending his days peacefully. To me, this does not look like peace, but a calm before the storm. Sir Dantalian, you must be aware of this as well, but the humans will become genuinely hostile towards you once the war is over. What exactly are you doing?”

“…….”

I was at a loss for words.

I prepared a blueprint for the sake of preparing for the future. I spent my time leisurely for the past few months because I didn’t have enough money yet. Was I really prepared for the future? I gained the trust of my people and strengthened my position as the lord, but was that the best I could do?

No.

I know the truth better than anyone else.

“Stop acting like a child. Your influence is still unimaginably weak, Sir Dantalian. It is so weak that it would fall apart if you did not have Her Highness Barbatos’ trust. Sir Dantalian, you are the one who said that you should be the one to determine your own fate.”

These were the words I said to Lapis a year ago. I had definitely said this to Lapis when I was trying to convince her to join my side and she was refusing because she believed that a lowly succubus would be of no help.

– I am the one who will determine how I will live my life, not you, Lapis Lazuli!

What am I doing right now despite having shouted those words so confidently? What did I appear like to Lapis?

“Nothing is over yet. Sir Dantalian, please stand up by yourself.”

“…….”

I became silent.

She was right a hundred times over. It has only been a year since I got caught by Riff’s party and almost died. At that time, I trembled in fear as I made the resolve to survive. However, this resolve of mine had become soft after only a single year. Did I get overconfident because my scheme worked? Did I lower my guard because I figured it would be okay to rest a little?

How pathetic.

“You are right, Lapis.”

Nothing is over yet.

“There is still much left to show those who hold us in disdain and those in power. ……Who would have thought that I of all people would forget this. Is this what you would call a tumor of the mind?”

Lapis raised her right hand to her chest and bowed.

“I have gone out of line and reprimanded you. Please punish me.”

“I would not be here if it were not for you and any future form of myself would not exist either.”

I forgave Lapis with those words and also thanked her at the same time. Lapis bowed even further. We did not have to talk any more than this.

It was silent, but the air around us was heated. Something has begun. No, something will be made to begin. Similar to when I made my decision to use the Black Death and drop the entire continent into hell, this was the same type of atmosphere that was lingering over us.

That’s right. I’ve always been the person to start things. Before I knew it, I had drifted away from this and Lapis had brought me back……. It seems the number of things to thank her for will continue to increase.

A word of gratitude is most likely not what Lapis wants. I know. That’s why I will have to show her my gratitude through my actions from now on.

“The leaders of the demon world, was it? They gave me 100,000 gold in order to meet me once. They would probably be disappointed if I do not meet their expectations.”

I stroked my chin.

“Lapis, tell me who gave the most money. Let us contact them in that sequence from most to least.”

“I knew you would say this.”

Lapis smiled slightly. The smile was so faint that you wouldn’t have noticed it at all if you weren’t used to seeing her face. Lapis slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a scroll.

“This is a list of those who have invested in an opportunity to meet you. Among the 26 archdukes currently residing in the demon world, 20 of them are on this list. You must meet them first.”

“Excellent.”

I complimented her finesse.

There are 26 Hells in the demon world. The phrase ‘Hell’ is simply a figure of speech as it’s just another word for the territories. Therefore, the demon world consists of 26 territories.

The names of several hells were listed on the piece of parchment that Lapis had given me. She had written the names of the territories that were ruled by the people who invested in me.

Kalasutra.

Raurava.

Maharaurava.

Tapana.

Avici.

(TL Note: It took me a while to realize that the names of these hells are a reference to Naraka. In other words, the hells within Buddhism. All of the names will be adjusted accordingly. Inferno Hell = Tapana Poison Hell = Kakola)

The names of 20 other regions were also listed after these. The people who ruled these hells were referred to as archdukes, and the name of their respective territory would be attached to their titles. For example, the archduke that rules Tapana is referred to as Tapana Archduke.

The 72 Demon Lords with bases in the human world and the 26 archdukes that rule the demon world. These are the highest-ranking people that rule demonkind ideologically and substantially.

There are several methods to become a Demon Lord. You could either be born as a Demon Lord or live your life normally as a demon before suddenly becoming a Demon Lord one day. In other words, it’s fickle. On the other hand, there is only one way to become an archduke.

Survival of the fittest.

Those with incredible strength become archdukes. Your origin doesn’t matter. Your status doesn’t matter. You can only become an archduke after climbing up the ravine known as endless competition. Betrayal, schemes, and alliances are common occurrences in this ravine.

There are absolutely rotten individuals like Rank 72 Andromalius among the ranks of the Demon Lords……but the archdukes of hell are different. They are capable individuals. They are people who have transcended and know instinctively when to bow their heads and backstab.

They have concluded that right now was the time to lower their heads to me. Why? It isn’t because I’m powerful. They most likely believe I’ve risen up as a core member among the Demon Lords like Barbatos, Marbas, Sitri, etc.

A key individual like that doesn’t have any connections with an archduke yet. They have to move faster than anyone else to make contact with Dantalian. If they’re able to win me over, then they’ll be able to influence the Plains Faction, the Mountain Faction, and the Neutral Faction……. Did they think this far? They acted quickly.

Lapis had already seen through this.

She most likely dragged it out as long as possible to make the archdukes anxious. The archdukes had no other choice but to get pulled around by her despite knowing this. They couldn’t let themselves fall behind the other archdukes, after all. The more competent of a ruler you are, the warier you are about falling behind your competitors. In this case, their competence was used against them. They tripped over their own feet.

As expected of Lapis. She unquestionably possessed first-class skills when it came to handling money. Even if you put this skill of hers aside, the fact that she dared to manipulate the greatest people of power of the demon world despite her humble birth showed how much guts she had.

‘This might have also been her way of being considerate of me.’

Lapis wasn’t a foolish workaholic. She believed that one should rest when they had to. Back when I was experiencing a severe case of Demon Lord syndrome, she was the one who recommended me to go on a vacation to Niflheim.

She didn’t nag at me even once during that time as she allowed me to rest.

However, during that time, Lapis moved in my stead. She allowed me a moment of rest as she prepared for what must be done for the future. She must’ve only arrived today because she concluded that I had gotten enough rest now.

Was she not an amazing woman?

I slowly read through the scroll before suddenly looking up at Lapis. Her azure eyes were gazing right at me.

“Do you have any questions?”

She didn’t only judge wrong as wrong. She thought extremely realistically. She gave me time to regain my stamina and acted while calculating what she must do to persuade me. It’s because she acted this realistically that she managed to get this far from a low-ranking demon.

“No, it is just.”

I chuckled.

“I just felt that it was quite great to have you at my side.”

“…….”

Lapis paused as if that comment had caught her by surprise.

That also only lasted for a brief moment. She responded in her usual, flat tone.

“That is not the only document that you must check. I also researched each respective archduke’s tendency and the relationships between them. There are archdukes close to the Plains Faction and archdukes that are cooperating with the Mountain Faction among them. It would be troubling if you did not have a clear grasp of their political standings as well.”

“Dear me, I am going to die at this rate.”

I pretended to moan in agony. Of course, I felt grateful to her on the inside. These were obviously things I had to do myself.

I spent the rest of the day looking through the documents. Lapis’ reports only included key points. They didn’t feel like they were written in a way that was showing off how much information she had researched. They were ordered logically and only included the most important bits of information.

“This is a bit weird. Even if the Mountain Faction has been a powerhouse until now, there are way too many archdukes that are allied with the Mountain Faction. Is there an explanation to this?”

“Yes. A majority of the archdukes are skeptical about the idea of conquering the human world, so…….”

Furthermore, she would immediately answer my questions whenever I asked them like this. It would probably be hard for a person to be more competent than this.

Thanks to this, I was able to get a full understanding of the power structure within the demon world in only a single night. Laura dropped by and listened in on our conversation for a bit, but she quickly got bored and went to sleep on the bed. Lapis and I lit candles as we continued this exchange throughout the entire night.

“All right.”

It was around dawn.

“This should be enough to execute our plan with no issues.”

“I think so as well.”

Ah, Lapis smiled faintly again. I wanted to do my best to protect that smile. This thought went through my head.

“Then let us go out to meet these archdukes of hell.”

With a way and means that befits ‘Dantalian’.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. We’re back to scheming bois. Now we get to watch Dantalian mess with people’s heads again. Nothing much else to say. Life is still balancing on a very delicate string, but we’ll see what the future has in store for me.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.