A reply to the letter I sent to the [Despair] Demon Lord had co. He had agreed to a eting that was to be held three days later here in Avalon. Once again, he was the one coming to visit.
Just from listening to people’s voices, Ruhe could accurately read their feelings to the point she could tell when soone was lying. Given that, I decided to make her attend the eting as well. That ant that we had to make adjustnts to her church tour schedule though.
At any rate, it was currently breakfast ti.
My [Monsters of the Covenant] have assembled around our dining table. anwhile, Tiro was already munching on the food served in her bowl.
"Everyone, breakfast is ready! I was able to get so fresh eggs so I thought today we could have so bacon and eggs."
Aura announced so and then served the food she made on the table.
There were fresh salad, the aforentioned bacon and eggs, and so consommé soup. The nu could be called simple, but it was utterly appetizing.
"Yay♪Kuina loves this"
"...although bacon and eggs always present the dilemma of whether to pair them with bread or rice."
The staple food in Avalon was generally bread, but once rice began being imported, there were more and more people preferring rice instead.
In our household, we ate according to our mood at the ti.
"Aura-chan, Kuina wants rice!"
"And I’ll have bread"
Kuina and Rorono requested so.
"How about you, master?"
"I think I’ll have rice today"
"I’ll get so, then"
As soon as Aura said so, she skillfully served rice in bowls for and Kuina, as well as toasted bread for herself and Rorono.
When the table was set, we all took a seat.
"Well then, let’s dig in."
"Yay ♪"
"Mhm, I was getting hungry"
"There’s more, so eat a lot, okay?"
Our fun al thus began.
Kuina imdiately grabbed an egg and so bacon, and put it in her bowl full of rice. She then broke the egg’s yolk and spread it to the bacon and the egg whites. After dipping so of it in sauce, she thus begun eating it with the rice. It might be seen as inelegant, but her bowl sure seed delicious.
anwhile, Rorono spread butter on her bread; added bacon, eggs, and so salad; and then folded the bread in half. Her sandwich looked delicious as well.
As for Aura, she carefully placed an egg’s yolk on her sliced bread.
Much like how different their personalities were, each of them had their own way of eating their breakfast. I found that quite interesting.
After that, Aura brought out peach slices as dessert.
"Oh, right, Oto-san, we visited Duke’s house the other day."
"Oh, you did too?"
"Aura and I as well. Duke invited us."
Apparently, when I talked about the al Duke’s Dwarf Smith wife prepared for , Kuina wanted to try it too. Duke, perhaps after much consideration, gave in and invited the girls to co over.
My boasting of their ho might have done more inconvenience to Duke’s family than good.
"And then, we saw the baby. He was so cute!"
"Agreed. He’s so little and squishy, he just makes want to protect him."
"Yeah, my maternal instincts kicked in too"
When the conversation turned to Caesar, Duke’s child, Kuina and Rorono beca excited.
Caesar... not only was it the title given to the great emperors of an ancient civilization, but also the na of a previous [Dragon Emperor].
Duke’s child might be small, weak, and could only utter unintelligible sounds at the mont, but if he was anything like Duke, he might soday also beco a [Dragon Emperor].
"Yeah, Caesar sure is cute. In the future though, I think he’s going to be a fine, handso man."
His features resembled Duke’s, so him becoming a handso man in the future was pretty much guaranteed.
"Oto-san, I have a request!"
Kuina said so while looking at with such sparkling eyes.
I have a bad feeling about this...
"Kuina wants a baby too! Dwarf Smith’s baby is giving her so much joy and Kuina wants that too!"
"Kuina, no fair, stealing a march on again. I want a baby too... Actually, master, I still have an unclaid reward. I want to use it to get a baby."
I found myself in cold sweat.
Both of them seed serious.
Kuina might not fully know what having a baby ant, but there was no doubt Rorono at least knew how to make them.
What if I pretended like I can’t make babies?
Allow to go off on a bit of a tangent here. By destroying another Demon Lord’s crystal, one could obtain that Demon Lord’s unique skill. Sadly, one could only keep up to three unique skills beside their own.
Below were the three I decided to keep. All the others were discarded.
[Viscosity]: grants the ability to produce a viscous liquid that held various properties. It’s possible to harden the viscous liquid.
[Evil]: grants the ability to conceive a child with a female of any race. The child’s strength would be in accordance to the mother’s. However, from conception to childbirth, a terrible burden is placed on the mother’s body.
[Pig]: grants the ability to continuously reinforce the user’s physical strength and endurance. It’s possible to increase the output further, but only for an instant. Furthermore, this unique skill allows the user to gain the right of control of a female monster through intercourse with said monster.
A Demon Lord, by default, couldn’t produce children. We could wholeheartedly treat the monsters we produced via dal synthesis as children, but if we wanted a more orthodox definition of an offspring, we had to rely on so other way.
Hence, why I decided to keep [Evil] instead of another unique skill.
Sure, it placed an incredible burden on the mother, but such a downside was sothing that could be worked around. For example, by giving proper checkups to ensure the mother was in perfect condition during pregnancy. And during labor, we could prepare potent potions as well as monsters capable of using healing magic.
...all that said, I had no intention of using this skill or anything like it on my precious daughters.
"Sorry, girls. I’m a Demon Lord, I can’t grant that. I can make monsters with dals, but I can’t make babies."
"A Kuina really wanted a baby."
"If it’s not possible, it’s not possible. I won’t push for that as the reward anymore. Such a sha."
Kuina and Rorono both hung their heads.
anwhile, I felt Aura’s gaze on . A smile could always be found in her face, but her smile this ti was one full of aning.
"Co on now, it’s almost ti for work. Kuina-chan, Rorono-chan, can you help clean up?"
"Leave it to Kuina!"
"Mhm, I’ll give it my all"
Kuina and Rorono said so and then proceeded to wash the dishes.
Making the food might have been Aura’s job, but cleaning afterwards was left to Kuina and Rorono.
While the two were away, Aura ca closer to and whispered in my ear.
"Master, you have quite the habit of fibbing, don’t you? You can make them, right? ...I’m looking forward to it."
Upon hearing that, I choked up.
From ti to ti, Aura liked showing off her frighteningly sharp perception.
"I have no intention of doing that kind of thing to any of my daughters."
"Fufufu, but unlike Kuina-chan and Rorono-chan who have called you Oto-san and Father since the beginning, I’ve always called you master. And that’s the kind of relationship I think we have, not the one you’re saying."
Aura smiled teasingly and then suddenly announced she was off to work.
I had asked her to replant a golden apple tree to the Recovery dungeon room. According to her, the task should be done two days later, give or take.
My girls certainly have grown. They have beco stronger not only in combat, but also emotionally.
Not to ntion, they have beco quite adept at teasing .
"Well then, I’m off to work as well!"
After declaring so to the two who were still washing the dishes, I went out.
My destination was the casino. Over there, I intended to have a very important conversation with soone.
◇
I had no idea when or if the casino’s popularity would stop.
But at the mont, it was so popular that even though we were regulating how many guests at a ti we allowed inside, we still were being overwheld.
We tried increasing the number of dealers, which ant an increase in the number of guests we could entertain. Additionally, I had approved the construction of various types of businesses around the casino. Hopefully, this would reduce the dissatisfaction of those waiting to be accommodated by the casino.
While walking, I saw a paper fly by. I picked it up and looked at it.
"Isn’t this Ruhe’s newspaper?"
It started out as a joke, but Ruhe’s rather accurate analysis on the flying dragons’ races made her newspaper print a thousand copies each issue. All of the sales went to her, but sohow, she still was as broke as ever.
Well, considering her inco all went to gambling and alcohol, aning it all went back to Avalon’s treasury, I really couldn’t complain. Still, I kind of felt sorry for her.
While thinking of things like that, I walked inside of the casino.
There, a bunny-eared Mythological Fox guided to a waiting room. The presence of both bunny ears and fox ears on her was baffling, to say the least.
I had tasked Conanna with the recruitnt of the casino’s employees. He had agreed, but also asked to dispatch a couple of Mythological Foxes. As I was told, the mature charm of a fox-eared beautiful girl wearing bunny ears on her head was going to help increase the number of the casino’s guests.
At any rate, there was already soone in the room where the Mythological Fox guided to.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"No, not all, I just got here myself."
The person waiting for was [Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove. He was a Demon Lord whose appearance was similar to that of a bipedal frog.
The frog-shaped cakes he made were so popular in Avalon that it could now be called one of Avalon’s specialty products. Both his main store and his casino area branch store were thriving.
"W-what did you want to talk about? P-procell, it can’t be about revoking my store’s license to operate, right?"
Anxious and shaking, Ronove asked so.
My invitation was rather out of the blue, so I really couldn’t bla him for imagining the worst.
"Nothing of the sort. I have no reason or desire to drive you out of Avalon. Your frog-shaped cakes have encouraged a lot of humans to co to my city, and for that, I am very grateful."
"T-thank goodness. I have no idea where to go were you to drive out of Avalon."
Ronove’s frog-shaped cakes were indeed delicious, but that wasn’t enough to make humans ignore his appearance. It was only because Avalon was a place where humans and demi-humans could live side by side that he was able to find success.
"...I invited you here today to talk about your plans for when your crystal has returned."
In a past [War], one against at that, Ronove’s crystal was broken.
Originally, once a crystal was broken, it was gone forever along with our abilities as Demon Lords, our dungeons, and our monsters.
However, us and only us new Demon Lords were an exception in that we were going to receive a replacent crystal once a year has passed since our birth. That day wasn’t far from now, so even Ronove must be contemplating what to do from that point onwards.
"I want to keep on baking and selling my frog-shaped cakes... even if I have to break my new crystal myself, I don’t want to live as a Demon Lord anymore"
Without a crystal, one couldn’t use their abilities and such, but as bad of a situation that was, it didn’t necessarily an death.
So long as he could feed on the happy emotions of those that ate his frog-shaped cakes, he could sohow survive.
"Are you sure? I’m not stopping you, but what if I lose to sobody and Avalon vanishes? Could you confidently say that you could still survive then?"
Ronove’s eyes beca wide open.
His was the face of soone who haven’t considered such things.
Avalon was my dungeon. If my crystal was sohow broken, Avalon would vanish as well.
"That... that is troubling for sure. I’m so happy here, I don’t want Avalon to disappear."
It would seem that he had grown attached to Avalon more than I expected.
He must have grown attached to the people he hired and vice versa.
"Which brings us to my proposal. I would like you to help make sure that Avalon doesn’t vanish. You could build your dungeon sowhere near here, run it like an orthodox dungeon, and build up war potential."
I had run it past [Ti] Demon Lord Dantalian and he gave his approval.
"T-that life again? But even if I agree, starting from scratch would be tough. It might even be impossible"
"Don’t worry, I’ll support you until you’re back on track. I’m not offering just my advice, DP and dals as well."
"You’re willing to go that far for ? Why? What do you get out of this?"
Ronove asked so after suppressing a smile.
It would seem that he has learned to doubt people. Compared to when he got tricked by the [Steel] Demon Lord, this was incredible growth.
"Like I said, I want you to help protect Avalon. If you agree to enter my faction and a [War] happens, we will fight together."
"But I’m weak. And because I’m going to start from scratch, it’ll take a long ti for just to be as strong as I was."
"That’s why I’ll support you. Let list a few of what I have in mind. First, I’ll allow you to continue your business here in Avalon. Then, like I’ve said earlier, I’ll give you dals. That includes my own [Creation] dal. I’ll also throw in about a hundred imitations of A rank dals. I’ll also lend you the needed DP to start the construction of your dungeon. I’m thinking 50,000 should be enough for now. I could also lend you so Avalon-Ritters to act as guards, if you want them."
It was an exceedingly favorable offer.
50,000 DP was enough to build a competent dungeon.
And with my [Creation] dal, he could make an extrely powerful monster. Moreover, that monster would unlock another high-rank monster that could be mass-produced via a [Maelstrom].
Imitation dals had a lower power value than the original dal, but an imitation of an A rank dal was still as powerful as a B rank dal. If he had a hundred of them, he could produce about 30 B rank monsters and 20 C rank monsters, give or take a few depending on his luck.
Last but certainly not least, the Avalon-Ritters could be deployed in the deepest parts of his dungeon while the rest of his war potential was catching up. There weren’t many that could get past them.
After I explained the details of my [Creation] dal to Ronove, he was left speechless.
Just giving this explanation carried significant risks for , but if I truly wanted to gain an ally, I had to risk at least this much.
"...your offer, it’s, it’s too good to be true"
"That’s how much I want you as an ally. Once you make an S rank monster with my [Creation] dal and then make [Maelstroms] for the corresponding B rank monster, average Demon Lords will soon be no match to you. I for one am looking forward to you being like that. At least think about my offer. Well, I’ve said what I ca to say. I’ll be going ahead of you now... I hope you’ve made up your mind within three days."
I purposely didn’t address the scenario where he has refused my offer.
I could have said sothing like imdiately expelling him out of Avalon and he would have little choice but to ally with . However, threatening him like that would destroy in an instant whatever bond we have already ford.
The reason I didn’t mind offering him as much as I did was that I knew he wasn’t the kind of Demon Lord who would betray another on a simple whim. But if I threatened him, he would for sure betray soday.
There was just no point in forcing him. If he was going to agree, it must be of his own free will.
As I stood up to leave, Ronove’s face was serious as though he was deep in thought.
"Procell, please wait. I’m ready to give a response right now. Your offer, I accept it."
"Are you sure you don’t want more ti to think on it?"
"As far as I see it, relying on you is my best bet. I an, once I get my crystal back, it’s a given that other Demon Lords would imdiately target . Between that and being indebted to you, I will definitely choose the latter. Besides, I want to continue selling my frog-shaped cakes in Avalon! Oh, the joy of being told my cakes are delicious!"
Ronove had such pure eyes when he exclaid so.
Unlike Ruhe, I didn’t have any special abilities that allowed to tell if a person was lying, but I had no doubt his words were genuine.
And so, the corners of my mouth slackened.
"Ronove, I’ll be in your care."
"And I in yours."
We said so and then shook hands.
Like that, Ronove was officially part of my faction.
Having an ally in addition to Stolas was reassuring indeed.
Suddenly though, Ronove beca fidgety.
"Ahm, well, actually, I have a request."
"What is it?"
"...in addition to your [Creation] dal, would you mind giving an original A rank dal? My [Viscosity] is only a B rank dal, so a Synthesis of that, your [Creation], and an imitation dal of any kind could produce nothing but an A rank monster. What’s more, the ones I could mass-produce with [Maelstroms] would be only up to the C rank monster of that lineage."
What a high-maintenance guy. On the other hand, now I know he’s not an idiot.
"Alright, but I’ll make you pay it back with hard work, you hear?"
"Yes, I’ll repay you with interest!"
It was a steep investnt, but if soone between the two of us was to receive an S rank monster, it was objectively better for our whole faction if he was the one to receive it.
The next question was which A rank dal would blend well with my [Creation] and his [Viscosity]. His dal could produce sli-type monsters which held trendous potential, especially at the higher monster ranks. In my opinion, that’s the kind of monster he should make.
I was actually a little bit curious of what sort of being an S rank sli would be. So much so that I was going to make Ronove show it to as soon as it was born.
While thinking of such things, I shook Ronove’s hand again.
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