The times had changed. The days when the different races were at odds with each other, killing each other, and antagonizing each other were over. Although the current framework was crude, they had joined hands with the common goal of working together. Some were bewildered by the change, but whether they liked it or not, the world had entered its next stage. And so, in order to stabilize the instability of this new era that had just begun and further strengthen the bonds between the various races, the rulers had put a plan into action—the Magical War Games. A joint competition for all the races.
While it was definitely not in character for me, I was also lending a hand with the event as the twenty-third emperor of Reauxgard. Naturally, that meant my days were much, much busier than before. But this was something I wanted too. The shifts in this world were no longer something I could ignore. They’d become important to me as well. Iluna and the other girls’ growth. Lefi’s and Lew’s pregnancies. With those things in mind, which energized me every day, I was fired up to help with the preparations.
Unfortunately, things never seemed to quite go to plan. Monsters had suddenly appeared at the under-construction stadium. Two of them, out of nowhere. We’d managed somehow because I’d happened to be there. If I hadn’t, the damage would have been devastating. It might sound conceited, but the fact was, without me, dozens of people would’ve died, and more than half of the construction site would’ve been destroyed. That was how powerful the monsters had been.
There was a troublemaker in the empire. I’d never actually thought everything would go smoothly, but either way, whoever it was had serious cojones. Sure, I might’ve just been a figurehead with almost no authority, but I was still the emperor. They wanted to use underhanded methods like that to attack this country? Bring. It. On. If the bastard thought we’d give up just ’cause of stupid crap like that, boy, did I have another bridge to sell ’em.
✦ ✦ ✦
We put a strict gag order in place to prevent rumors from spreading about the incident at the construction site. After a thorough investigation of the monster corpses, I converted them into DP, short for Dungeon Points, erasing any trace of them. Then, the craftsmen immediately set about fixing the damage. They worked through the night and completed the repairs in less than three days.
Despite our best efforts, though, there was no pretending that the incident never happened. No matter how much you tried to keep this kind of stuff hush-hush, people wouldn’t be able to keep their mouths shut, so of course, word would spread. Especially with how many folks were involved with the project. It was only a matter of time before the incident became a hot topic of conversation. Apparently, rumors were already swirling, to the point that even I knew government officials everywhere were up in arms about it.
As for me, I couldn’t exactly abandon everyone here and traipse back home, so I’d popped back into the dungeon to give them a quick rundown of what was going on, then come back to the Reauxgard Empire to keep doing what I could. I’d never imagined the day would come when I would be trapped by obligation to the world of mankind. Honestly, though? It was starting to be a real pain in my ass. This was not my style. It wasn’t how I rolled. I wasn’t even a regular guy, just a regular demon lord. I couldn’t lead humans.
So. Lately, I’d been thinking about the problem, and I might’ve found a solution. It wasn’t something I could pull off alone, so I’d probably have to ask for the Demon King’s advice and hash things out with him. I was hopeful, though...
Just as those thoughts were running through my head, one of my imperial subordinates approached.
“Your Demonic Majesty, the Demon King has arrived.”
“Oh snap, really?!”
I busted my wings out and flew off to my destination: an airport in the imperial capital. I arrived in less than ten minutes and saw an airship that looked like it’d just landed, with people disembarking and luggage being unloaded while the maintenance crew got to work. My eyes scanned the crowd before spotting one particular group that included the Demon King.
“Demon King!”
“Why, Yuki. I didn’t expect you to welcome me personally.”
“Yeah, well, with how complicated things are getting, I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here.”
I knew very well just how damn busy the man was. Hell, even I had a ton on my plate now. In fact, I would’ve bet good money that there wasn’t a single ruler in my network who had free time at the moment.
“Quite true, quite true. Problems just keep popping up one after another. I must admit, I’m very much looking forward to exposing the mastermind behind all this bother once we catch them.”
Despite the usual enigmatic smile on his face, he looked tired to me. And also fed up.
“You haven’t been sleeping, have you?” I asked pointedly.
“I’m busy enough as it is, and now this nonsense on top of it. When I’m engrossed in my work, my wife will come over to me with a smile. Of course, she knows there’s nothing I can do about it, so she doesn’t complain, instead merely expressing her concern. However, the truth lies in her eyes. Every time she does this, she’s telling me to read her mind.”
Yeah, Fynar and his wife were getting along just fine.
“You’re now an official member of the club exclusively for husbands who are under their wives’ thumbs. Congrats, buddy.”
I cackled at him.
“Thank you. Do you know what the worst part is? That I’m actually rather enjoying this state that grants me membership.”
He shrugged back at me.
“Nice having a family, huh?”
“Yes. Confusing at times, certainly, but yes. Now I myself understand that unique sense of comfort, of belonging.”
Now that we were done with the small talk, Fynar’s expression turned serious.
“Allow me to get straight to the point. I’ve heard the details, and...I believe you may be the target.”
“Beeecause of how those monsters came outta nowhere?”
The Demon King nodded.
“Indeed. Powerful ones, no less. To be perfectly blunt, when I first heard about it, your face immediately came to mind.”
“Huh...”
Keeping and controlling monsters. It wasn’t all that common an activity, especially for those above a certain power level. Yeah, I’d taken them down, but with all the rumors already making the rounds, that fact was irrelevant. There were plenty of ways to use this latest incident to go about undermining me, like saying that I must’ve done something wrong to incite a rebellion among my subordinates. Basically, this attack was part of an information warfare strategy.
What was more, I knew that those monsters were a demon lord’s summons. I hadn’t actually shared that information with the others yet, including Fynar. I planned to tell him later.
“The sea serpent aside, I don’t have any turtles.”
I did have Orochi, but he looked nothing like the monster I’d taken down. He was way smarter and way cuter. That said, I couldn’t deny the one thing he had in common with that thing: they were both intimidating snakes.
“That doesn’t matter to people who don’t know you. If they associate you with the sea serpent monster, they’ll naturally think of it as your subordinate. Besides, you’ve been going to all sorts of places with your fenrir lately, haven’t you? In other words, the impression that Demon Emperor Yuki and his pet monster make as a set has spread quite far.”
Rir was my partner, albeit in a different sense from my wives. I didn’t want him to be lumped together with just any old monsters, but from an outsider’s perspective, I guess no one could tell anything other than that he was a powerful monster.