Volume 4 Chapter 13 (1/2)
”The final notice, huh.”
As I ate breakfast, I read the letter that was sent early in the morning by the neighboring city's lord. I couldn't help but smile wryly at its content.
”Oto-san, what's wrong?”
Kuina the Celestial Fox tilted her head and asked me that question. There were some mayonnaise at the corner of mouth as she did so and it was so cute.
Aura took a liking to the handmade mayonnaise I prepared back then to kill some time and had since become a staple on our dining table.
I don't even know why I made the mayonnaise but it felt as though the world itself was compelling me to do so.
”Before that, Kuina, you have some mayonnaise on the corner of your mouth.”
”Oto-san, wipe it off.”
She then purposely stood up and walked over to me while merrily shaking her fox tail.
Even though it would have been much faster if she did it herself, I thought as I smiled a little.
”There.”
”Thanks, Oto-san”
When I wiped the mayonnaise off of her with my hand and then licked it, Kuina smiled.
”Buu.”
When I turned my eyes to the front, I caught sight of Rorono. I then noticed the thick patch of mayonnaise on her mouth and her unmoving gaze on me.
Yeah, I know what she's up to.
To tell the truth, the most spoiled kid wasn't Kuina but rather Rorono.
Add in that she was too shy to say anything and it was just too cute.
Nonetheless, it had to be done, I thought, as I decided to wipe the patch of mayonnaise. Before I could though…
”Rorono-chan, that's poor manners.”
The blond and stylish Aura hugged Rorono from behind and then wiped off the mayonnaise with a piece of cloth.
At that, Rorono made a complicated face. When I looked at Aura's facial expression, I was confident that was her desired result. She occasionally did this sort of mischievous things to enjoy the various faces Rorono made in response.
”Rorono, there's still some left.”
”Mhm, thanks, master.”
I wiped off the mayonnaise that Aura left unwiped. I believed she did so on purpose to see both Rorono's disappointed and delighted faces and thus have twice the fun.
As for Rorono, her cheeks slightly reddened as she gave a pleased nod.
With that carefree atmosphere, we continued with our breakfast. Demon Lords and monsters needed only to feed on the mana in the air and on the emotions of humans. We don't to eat food but it provided us comfort and nourishment to the mind.
In a sense, not being troubled with the provisions is a strength of ours.
”Let's go back to our previous topic. If you remember, some time ago, soldiers came to Avalon. According to the letter, to make sure we fall in line quickly, their leader is sending out another group of soldiers. If we seem like we're stalling for more time, those soldiers will demonstrate force.”
Today's toast was delicious and the cheese on top of it was great as well. Further on top of that were the pieces of tomato that, up until recently, couldn't at all be gotten fresh here in Avalon and they went really great with the cheese.
After the introduction of air transportation, more and more cheap and delicious products had begun to show up here in Avalon.
We were already popular with the adventurers before but now, even non-adventurers were beginning to flock to our city to buy and eat rare and great goods at a cheap price.
As the number of people increase, so too did the DP I earned. And as the quality of life increases, so too did quality of each individual's emotions.
I, a Demon Lord who fed on human emotions, felt so full of power.
”Do those humans want to challenge Oto-san and die? Or rather be killed by Kuina?”
”It won't be long until they run out of patience; just a bit more and we can show them their place.”
”Now, now, Kuina-chan, Rorono-chan, negligence is the greatest enemy. Their foolish heads have thought up various things and some of those just might bring us down if we're not careful.”
Aura reprimanded both Kuina and Rorono.
I smiled a little as I thought that my monsters, as ever, regarded the humans as the inferior beings, mocking them, even. Although given that they were monsters and overwhelmingly strong S rank monsters at that, such couldn't be helped, I thought.
In truth, Avalon is often visited by first-class adventurers who are barely as powerful as B rank monsters and so we had an idea of just how strong humans could be. And if we're talking about these three girls, it wouldn't even take them 3 seconds to kill one.
Given that, it was understandable they were overconfident a bit.
”It's as Aura says. Yes, humans are definitely weak but they have numbers and various tools at their disposal. More than those, they have wisdom. All those compensate for their lack of power. Besides, they also have heroes who seem to be outside the norm. So, don't let your guard down, okay?”
Even though they were called heroes, they were only as strong as A rank monsters. Still, it wouldn't be so strange for there to be heroes much stronger than an A rank monster so we couldn't let our guards down regardless.
”Understood!”
”If you say so, master.”
The two said so as they nodded.
”Moreover, while the humans truly are foolish and weak, they aren't trash. These delicious cheese and tomato, the alcohol, the songs, the dances, the stories, all of these are made and developed by mankind. Things that we Demon Lords and monsters wouldn't even bother to think of making. Think of humans as sweet little creatures that entertain us. Avalon isn't just a farm where we can harvest human emotions; it's a city where in exchange for giving them safety and peace of mind, they provide us with culture and entertainment. In a sense, they stand equal to us here. So, don't look down on them too much, alright?”
Kuina and Rorono looked down on the breakfast before them and nodded. I was happy to make them realize that although humans were weak, they were also useful.
”Master, what are you planning to do about that letter from the nearby city?”
”Of course, I'm going to refuse their demand, Aura. Although I am still going to negotiate with them one last time and give them my adjusted set of conditions. It would probably end up in war nonetheless though.”
”Oto-san, Kuina will do her very best!”
”For their crime of shaming master, I will make them pay with their lives.”
When the soldiers came before, I debased myself in order earn some time. I would say that it was worth it for I had increased my fighting force significantly from then:
The Darkness Dragons and their skills which had risen enough to get Wight's seal of approval; the much greater number of napalm bombs made out of materials that we could only procure through my [Creation]; and…
”How is the development of the Avalon-Ritters?”
”It's still impossible to use whichever pair of golem cores but the restrictions are now much more lax. Of the golem cores made so far, 12 pairs have been found to be compatible. So, including the very first one and the three made after that, there are now a total of 16 Avalon-Ritters produced. I estimate that from now on, as much as 7 Avalon-Ritters can be produced in a month.”
Yes, the last one was the success of the mass production of the Avalon-Ritters.
My initial estimate of producing 15 Avalon-Ritters a month was found to be impossible but nevertheless, having 7 A rank equivalent units per month is phenomenal.
For other Demon Lords, an A rank was enough to be regarded as a trump card. After all, the odds of getting an A rank monster from the synthesis of two A rank medals were less than 70%. Additionally, the number of Demon Lords whose personal medals were of A rank were just around ten percent of the population. That meant that to use two A rank medals in synthesis and thus to potentially create a single A rank monster, most Demon Lords would have to wait for two months.
Even the old Demon Lords could only make hundreds of A rank monsters in their lifetime.
And then, there was me who was able to create seven in one month. It was clearly cheating.
”Rorono, thanks to your efforts, I can be firm in the negotiations. You've really worked hard, thank you.”
”Mhm. It's because I promised to do better so that master never has to lower his head to those humans again. I will absolutely uphold that promise.”
The Avalon-Ritters were going to be our main force in the upcoming fight and with 16 of them already made, they were more than enough.
I then hugged Rorono tightly. As for her, she triumphantly smiled and hugged me in return.
”Uuuu, Rorono-chan's so sneaky. Kuina's envious but Rorono-chan's done something amazing so I can't really complain.”
”Now, now, Kuina-chan, let's just do what we can; if it's something awesome, master will surely praise us for it.”
”I know. Mine's in development already. Oto-san will surely be happy with it.”
Kuina said so as she looked as though she was scheming something. I had a bad feeling about it but she wouldn't do something that would put me in bad situation so I decided to let her be.
After a short while, I parted from Rorono's embrace. She looked as though she was reluctant to do so as well but in the end slowly parted away.
”Master, I am going to pause the research on mass production for now. Continuing might yield results that will improve the synchronization of the cores but it will take an awful lot of time regardless. So instead, it's more fruitful to focus on developing our weapons as well as optional parts for the Avalon-Ritters.”
What she said made sense. It's kind of like how it's easier to improve your test results from 50 to 80 than it is from 80 to 100.
It's better to choose the project that would give more fruitful results for the same or even less amount of time and effort.
”Okay, I'll leave it up to you, Rorono. I expect much from your work. It will play an important role in my plans. Also, for that and your successes, I shall give you a reward. Tell me whatever it is you wish and if it's something I can grant, you shall have it.”
”Anything, Father?”
I didn't know whether or not it was because she was startled but she referred to me as Father.
”Yes, anything.”
”Anything…”
She began to turn bright red; I was almost expecting fumes to come from her head.
Just what can she be thinking?
”You don't have to say it right now.”
”Mhm, I'll give it more thought.”