I know Demon Kings have rather strange thought processes. But sometimes I'm still surprised by the conclusions they can draw.
Like earlier, when I said I wanted to get married and have kids before I could fight with all my strength and willing to die in the process. A normal person would wish me luck in finding a family or something. But no, they decided to organize a wife-finding contest for me.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, a hundred beautiful girls appeared, lining up from my bedroom to the end of the hallway, waiting to be chosen as if I were a Chinese Emperor!
"Here are all the beauties of Vasile! Take your pick, Dragon Child named Atur! Ke ke ke!!! It took us four days to collect them!"
"What the hell!? I don't need this!" I flipped the table. "And what do you mean 'collect'! You clearly kidnapped them!"
Even though they were all fresh and cute. But except for the castle maids whose faces I recognized, the majority of the remaining girls were tied up and struggling wildly!
"This is the tradition of the Blood Race when finding a wife." Suddenly Lord Lan Xin crossed his arms and glared at me. "As a Demon King, not knowing these things is truly irresponsible. You disappoint me, Dragon Child named Atur."
"That's right!" Atofe, appearing out of nowhere, nodded in agreement. "Even I know that, and you don't? Are you stupid!?"
What is this? I'm being called irresponsible by the most irresponsible person in the world? And called stupid by an exceptional idiot? This irony is truly exceeding the allowable limit. If it weren't for the fact that they are absurdly strong Demon Kings, I would have punched them a few times.
And why does he call me Dragon Child now!? Does he really consider me as his kid!?
"Alright, it's my fault for not knowing, okay?" I sighed. "But I have a fiancée, so I won't touch these girls."
"So what if you have a fiancée? Who forbids you from taking more than one wife? At your age, I already had ten wives."
"Good for you, I guess." I unintentionally replied sarcastically; luckily, Lord Lan Xin didn't feel insulted by that. "But I swore to my heart that I would only love that girl. And I don't believe I will love anyone else in this life."
Ha ha! I suddenly said something really cool. Look at those tied-up girls; they were already moved by my pure love. I have a feeling that if they weren't tied up, they would give me a round of applause.
But why are you frowning so unpleasantly, Lord Lan Xin? And Lady Atofe just turned her back and walked away!
"You? Faithful? That's a good joke." Lord Lan Xin smirked. "I heard from Nin Nin that you occasionally stare at her chest and butt."
"Ack! That's because-"
"And it seems it's not just Nin Nin; it seems you look at every maid in this castle. You don't even spare Luciano's teenage daughter."
"That was just an accidental glance... Do you know what puberty is?"
"And last night you—"
"No no no no! Please don't say it out loud! I only did that because—"
"Enough talk!" Lord Lan Xin suddenly roared. "From now on, you must start choosing a wife! I won't allow you to leave this continent until you have a partner!"
"Can you please not be so unreasonable!?"
But no matter how hard I tried to resist, I was still forced to go on blind dates with every single girl on Lord Lan Xin's selection list. Truly, now I look like an old son being forced by his family to marry because he's over thirty and still single.
Come to think of it, I'm 43 years old now, aren't I? Even though lately I haven't quite acted like a guy over forty. It must be puberty affecting my personality.
As for the matchmaking, of course, I refused them all, then had to pay monetary compensation and take them all the way back home. Basically, the treasury is running low, yet Lord Lan Xin is burning money meaninglessly.
But my problem isn't going to go away that easily.
…
Two weeks later.
Although everything related to territory management is progressing quite well, and I also completed the trade agreement with the Gaslow side along with many other important things like setting up a proper road for both paries. However, this forced marriage situation is starting to stress me out excessively. Especially since the day Lan Xin declared I should have a wife, every morning the castle maids or Nin Nin take turns bothering me in my room with revealing outfits to provoke me. Once, they even stripped completely naked!
If it were me from many years ago, I would have just looked and been fine. But now I'm at the age of puberty, hormones are clearly rushing out like a waterfall. Especially when the 'side effect' related to physiological needs makes me only able to think about boobs and butts all day, unable to focus on anything!
Not only that, since that day, he constantly grabs me by the neck to go with him to peep at women everywhere to see who catches my eye. Honestly, as a man, peeking at girls bathing or changing clothes is quite interesting. But I'm starting to worry that gradually I'll get a reputation and people will nickname me the Perverted Dragon Demon King.
"Sigh... This isn't good." So I held my head and groaned in exhaustion.
Perhaps understanding my current situation (somewhat), Luciano, who was sitting next to me, spoke up to advise. "I think you can just marry anyone, Lan Atur. Then as long as you don't do anything, there's no problem."
"Sounds reasonable, but I have my principles." I shook my head. "Besides, if I did that, what would the girl I marry think? Not everyone is willing to be a wife just for show like that."
"My daughter is available."
"Et tu Leciano?" I frowned.
"Even if you don't plan to take her as your wife, making her your concubine is enough. She told me that she's more than willing. Besides, you do have interest in her right?"
"Please, don't mention it. It's not that kind of interest, okay?"
I knew it would be like this. Since the day Lan Xin decided to find a wife for me, aside from the girls interested in me seeking me out, my other subordinates with daughters also immediately came around intending to marry them off like this.
Luciano's daughter is the same age as me and is named Marissa. She's a bird-like demon race like her parents, she also does have a cute face too so the monster girl charm like in anime sure tempts me quite a bit.
But what catches my attention is that she's a talented mage (by normal standards) having used elementary magic at ten years old. In many spare moments, I also taught her a few elementary spells I knew. Basically to test a few things I suspected before, like incantationless magic and mana enhancement.
The result was quite similar to our hypothesis back then. Those over 9 or 10 years old cannot learn incantationless magic or mana enhancement anymore.
Besides, there is another piece of information: if taught and explained thoroughly about the nature of magic in a scientific direction, it helps the user learn it faster. That is the reason Marissa learned intermediate fire magic after I tutored her for two months.
And because of that 'test', Luciano misconceived my intention and is actively pushing me toward his daughter now.
I don't have much time to teach her everything though, mind you, I'm very busy lately. So Marissa will soon set off for Sharia to enroll in the Magic University there to continue advancing on her path as a mage. She even told me that she wants to be more useful and will be a good governor in the future. Maybe I won't marry her or anything but I do think she would be a good heir for Luciano.
Come to think of it, the name Sharia brings back many nostalgic memories. Back then, Rudeus and Sylphiette also planned to go there to study before coming to Roa.
Recently I just started learning about what actually happened to me nearly two years ago. Turns out everything was just as Jikiki once said (may she rest in peace); actually, it wasn't just Ken and me who were teleported straight to this Demon Continent.
A mana calamity occurred and it seemed to cover almost all of Fittoa, causing the citizens to be teleported all over the world.
That means everyone in Roa that day like Philip, Hilda, Rudeus, Sylphie, Ghislaine, and even my Eris could have been teleported somewhere in this world.
However, not everyone was wonderfully unlucky like me to be thrown into a labyrinth. Many people were also sent to the Demon Continent and were lucky enough to be taken in and lived here ever since. Specifically, in a town on the edge of Vasile, a tailor was teleported there and married an innkeeper. They are quite a happy couple I heard.
And a few days ago, while on the road 'finding a wife' with Lord Lan Xin, I stopped by an adventurer's guild and discovered notices searching for missing persons. I don't know if I should be surprised that the person responsible for this search is Paul, yep, it's my Uncle. And it seems like he's in Milishion - the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Millis to manage the whole thing.
Seeing that, I felt somewhat relieved because if someone with experience like Paul is involved, the search must be going well. Perhaps his whole family is already safe in Millishion.
Because it seems people near each other get teleported together, right? I hope so. And because Millishion is his wife's family home too, I think it must be the reason for him to choose that place as the headquarters.
On that same occasion stopping by the adventurer's guild, I also heard rumors about an adventurer party named Dead End - sharing the nickname of a monster of the Superd race that is extremely infamous. Normally I wouldn't find it problematic, but when I heard the party had a mage as short as a halfling and extremely strong, always carrying a magic staff with a large blue gem, I suspected it was Rudeus.
It seems that person and their party left the Demon Continent months ago, so I have no way to verify, so I'll tentatively assume it's not him.
Anyway, that's all I know about the mana calamity in Fittoa and information on the people I know.
Unfortunately, I don't have any information about Eris, and that worries me quite a bit. But I hope she is still okay.
Ah no, of course she will be fine. We will meet again, get married, and have a bunch of kids together, he he.
"Lan Atur is laughing to himself again." Someone whispered.
"Every time that happens, something is bound to happen..." Someone else added.
That reaction isn't strange. Because every time I remember Eris and feel happy, I force everyone in my sight to work enthusiastically for four straight days without sleep to speed up progress. But today is different; I think it's time for a change of pace.
"Let's call it a day! Today I'm going into the kitchen!"
…
After months of struggling to solve the food security issue, now most of the areas I control have stable food.. They have meat from monster hunts, vegetables from caves, and thus meals are much richer. No one has to starve anymore, which is a good sight.
However, unlike vegetables, the meat here makes me understand why Lord Lan Xin decided to be a vegetarian. Because they are smelly and tough, just like the mole meat I once ate down in that ant nest labyrinth. Everything is like that, just straight to shit tier. If we have anything different, it's just tougher and smellier.
So the only way to eat them is to grill them with a pile of chili peppers... And that is why the people of the Demon Continent prefer spicy food.
But also because of that, I started to have an idea.
It all started with using vegetables and mushrooms to cook for a long time to make a sweet broth. I would use chili and other kinds of spices to season a pot of soup to the standard taste of what I intended to make.
As for the meat, instead of a big chunk thrown in, they were cut into the thinnest slices possible. And...
"Ta-da!"
Here comes a Sichuan spicy dipping hotpot!
The bright red, savory pot of hotpot with just the right amount of spicy heat emitted a fragrance that made anyone within a kilometer drool.
As for the meat, the stink was easily resolved by the sweetness of the broth. The foul smell was also overpowered by the scent of the spices. And thanks to being cut so thinly, it wasn't tough anymore.
Thus, I succeeded in creating a hotpot culture in the Demon Continent. But that is a longer story for later that I don't think I should dig deeper into right now.
Besides, early that morning when I went to sleep, my 'honored guest' appeared again.
…
Oh, this place again.
"Yo."
Ah, of course, the blurry god is here too.
"Hey, that's too rude."
Sorry. I can't control my thoughts. I absolutely didn't mean that. I'm so sorry!
"Well, it's fine; I'm used to you being a rude person at heart anyway."
If we could talk normally, I guarantee I would be much more polite.
"And you will still think rude things, won't you?"
Well... let's put that aside. First of all, I want to thank you for your recent advice. Thanks to that advice, Vasile has become much better than before.
"No need to be formal. You are my friend so of course I want the best for you. And it all depends on your determination and effort after all. I just gave advice. I must say I am very impressed with what you can do. People from another world are indeed different."
Perhaps so. After all, I already knew some necessary miscellaneous things. And mostly thanks to Lord Lan Xin too.
"That's right. You persuading the Great Blood Demon King is truly unbelievable. And even being able to persuade Atofe with words."
He he, I'm embarrassed to be praised by a weird pixelated god. Oops, he can hear my thoughts. Sorry about that.
"I don't mind. It would be weird if you are not rude for more than two lines anyway."
By the way, you just said 'people from another world', so you contacted Rudeus too, right?
"Yes. And before you ask, he was indeed with two others in the party Dead End. Now they are preparing to arrive at the Dragon King's Kingdom."
Oh, so it really is true. And he sure is fast huh? Just two years and he's already almost back home now.
"That speed is quite slow if you know who he's currently with. It's a man of the Superd race, exactly the one bearing the nickname Dead End."
What!? A Superd? Aren't they all dangerous homicidal maniacs!?
"Actually not quite, that man has a very sad past too. Perhaps in the future, you will meet him and understand."
Oh, if you say so, I believe it. By the way, do you know where my other friends, and especially Eris, are and how they are doing now?
"Unfortunately no. The world has so many people; I can only see special people like you and Rudeus clearly. If there is anyone else, it's those who have a connection and are about to influence your life."
I see. So you're like a player watching a part of the walkthrough on the internet, then deciding to reload the save and make choices to change things for the main character, huh?
"I don't understand what you're saying."
Ah, never mind, I'm just trying to understand the mechanism of this advice-giving thing. But didn't you say the first time we met that she was with someone very strong? Why say you don't know now?
"Because at that time your fiancée was near Rudeus before teleporting, so I had a part of her future before losing vision."
So this must be why even when people beg, gods don't hear all their prayers, right? Turns out you aren't that omnipotent.
"That's right. Everyone has limits. Even a good god like me can't solve all the problems happening in the world."
Understood... Indeed, having no information about Eris really worries me. But if you say you don't know anything about her, it must mean Eris isn't on this Demon Continent. And if she's not on the Demon Continent, so the chance that she's alright is higher.
"Sharp as always. After all, the Demon Continent is the most dangerous place in this world. Actually, there is a reason I called you here."
Oh, you have some advice then?
"That's right, this is related to what Lan Xin told you. The thing about not letting you leave the Demon Continent if you don't get married."
Don't tell me even you are telling me to just marry someone randomly? Let me say this first, I won't betray Eris.
"Calm down. Let me finish speaking. You don't have to betray anyone in this."
Ah sorry, please continue.
"Alright. Listen clearly then. When you wake up, ask Lan Xin to take you to Uchihaha town. There, a friend of yours will need you to rescue them."
…
And that is why I am here, standing opposite Demon King Atofe and claiming Isolde is my fiancée.
Honestly, I'm quite surprised to see her here. As far as I remember, my fellow disciple should be in Shirone or the Dragon King's Kingdom or something. And although many years have passed, Isolde has matured and looks much different from before. But based on that silky blue hair and that incredibly beautiful face, there's no mistaking it.
But why are they fighting? Well I know the answer quite well because back when Atofe was in Vasile, she also suddenly got the urge to fight anyone she found interesting and then forced them to become her subordinates. Also because of that, I lost a few people to her. Back then I didn't do anything because I tried to maintain a peaceful attitude with the Immortal Demon King's side, and because those people seemed like they rather served a maniac than me, so I ignored it.
Then when I saw Isolde and some others being beaten to a pulp like this, I guessed they were facing a similar situation. And since she's a friend, of course, I can't turn a blind eye.
I had to come up with the excuse that she is my fiancée, hoping the Immortal Demon King would respect that and let this pass.
"Fiancée? You plan to trick me to steal my spoils of war right!? If you want her then fight me!"
But with this reaction, clearly, there is no respect given.
"Not at all! We really know each other, we have an engagement." I immediately turned my head and winked at Isolde. "Right, Isolde?"
Isolde frowned at me. "Atur?" But instead of a happy reaction upon seeing an acquaintance, for some reason, she threw a look of contempt at me. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, it's really me!" But having thrown the spear, I had to follow it. So I immediately sat down affectionately right next to her, patting my chest confidently and put on the smile of a white knight. "Rest assured. I'm here now! No one can harm you anymore my dearest love!"
"..."
Come on! Please don't look even more contemptuous like that!?
Ah right, I am lying that she is my future wife. How could someone who demands perfection like her agree to marry a guy like me, right? But please cooperate a little! Do you want to be a subordinate to that crazy Demon King forever!?
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Atofe pointed her sword at me. "So what if that brat is your wife!? Go get married in ten years. That girl lost to me so she has to join my ranks of subordinates. Quit your yapping! If you want to win her back, fight me!"
"Wait wait wait, hold on, before we get to the point of fighting, let me heal her first. Okay? She's bleeding right now."
I really needed to heal Isolde immediately; the battle with Atofe had left her covered in injuries. Blood was everywhere, looking utterly wretched. Even when fighting the Water God, Isolde had never been injured this heavily.
That hag Atofe really doesn't know how to treat a delicate flower.
When I just touched her heavily injured waist that was still oozing blood, Isolde immediately reacted. "Mmm… It hurts."
Is it because my sexual desire has been rising a bit too much lately that this moan makes me feel excited? Ah no no, gotta focus. This is Isolde; if she knew I had any intentions, she'd probably despise me for life.
"Bear with it a little." I tried to reassure both myself and my friend, then started using magic.
Isolde's injuries, while a bit heavy, weren't serious enough to leave permanent sequelae. Thanks to that, my intermediate healing magic still did its job well.
While I was healing Isolde, a short mage girl, perhaps around my age, also came over to heal the other two, one is an elf and a dwarf. They seemed to be Isolde's teammates. Adventurers huh? Though it's a bit strange, since with my rival friend's personality, she doesn't seem like the type to enjoy adventuring much.
But thinking about it, her making more friends makes me feel kinda happy. Finally, this ice queen has agreed to open up to others. So touching. I think I almost shed a tear.
"Hey Atur." While I was thinking random thoughts, Isolde spoke up.
"What is it?"
"My wounds are all recovered."
"Ah, right. Sorry." I immediately pulled my hand back.
"It's fine." Isolde chuckled. "I'll assume that you were just too focused on healing and forgot, not that you were taking advantage to touch me like a pervert, right? My fiance can't be that degenerate."
"Yes yes, of course." I nodded furiously. "I would never."
Although I really didn't intend to grope her or anything, thinking back, the feeling of touching her was actually really nice. Her skin is soft and smooth, the muscles are very nice to touch too. He he he.
Ah no no no! Calm down! This damn puberty! Arggggg!!!
"Anyway, about what I'm doing—"
"Don't worry. I know what you are doing. I won't judge. But please don't overdo it."
"E he he… I know."
Well yes that's Isolde for you. She clearly understands the situation without any explanation. So I don't have to worry about upsetting her or anything then.
"Sorry to interrupt." While I was flustered not knowing what to do, Moore, Atofe's mage guard, spoke up again. "Is this girl really the fiancée you mentioned before?"
"That's right!" I immediately stood up and gave a forced laugh, trying not to reveal the BS in my words and actions. "The girl I said I love most in the world."
I don't know how Isolde is reacting, but honestly, I was a bit scared when I said that sentence. Not scared of her, but Eris though.
"Didn't you say her hair is red like a crimson flower?"
Ah yes, of course I did mention this in the banquet huh?
"Well, love is blind isn't it? And losing an eye really made me color blind as well. To me her hair is red because it's the color of the heart. She's the princess I always long for."
I don't know what the heck am I saying anymore but I will stand on my point till the end. But of course, without a fight is more preferred.
"I see. Then she really is your fiancée."
Thank you Moore, Millis bless you for trusting my bull shits. You sure are the best!
"But even so, I won't let you take that brat back easily!" But the one who can decide everything isn't that captain but this Demon King. She's still pointing her sword at me like before. Ah yes she kept her position like that for almost 10 minutes now. "If you want her, fight me! No need to wait ten years or whatever! Get ready!"
Seems like expecting a Demon King to listen to reason is a bit too unreasonable, huh? And where did Lord Lan Xin go… Ah, he's standing behind a tree watching us. Looks like he wants me to resolve this situation myself.
I guess he will say something like: "You are an adult now. Solve your problem yourself." Like a real dad or something. Well he has a point but what should I do now? Honestly, I'm not very good at talking to Atofe. If I say one wrong thing, I'm afraid things will only get worse.
But I can't just stand here and test her patience.
"Erm… Can we skip the fight and solve this peacefully?"
"What!? But you said 'before we fight' when you are going to heal her right? Now she's fine, let's duel!"
Wait? Did I say that? Holy shit I did!
"Wait, Lady Atofe, I have something to say." While I was confused about how to react, Moore spoke up again.
Then he whispered something into the Immortal Demon King's ear.
"What!?" Atofe suddenly shouted. Then she frowned, nodding repeatedly. "I see. Good point!"
I didn't know what was about to happen, but suddenly I had a very bad feeling.
"He he he!" Atofe started to laugh. She points her finger toward Isolde. "So you are a princess."
The Water Saint confused, she shook her head in confusion. "No I'm not."
"E he he… Huh? But the boy said you are a princess?"
Isolde then looked at me.
I grinded.
"Well…" I scratched my head. I think I did say that right? "Yeah, she's my princess."
"Alright then!"
And sure enough, right when Atofe finished those words, she quickly dashed straight behind me, grabbed Isolde's entire body in the blink of an eye, and hoisted my friend onto her shoulder before anyone could do anything.
"Eh—?" Isolde let out a confused face.
"Mu wa ha ha ha!"
The Immortal Demon King flew straight into the sky with her wings, blocking the sunlight, her shadow spread over me and Isolde's adventure party. Atofe started laughing loudly like a villain from a freaking anime.
"Your love is beautiful! I admit it. But prove it to me, hero! If you really want to save the girl you love, come to Necross Fortress to win your princess back!"
So she flew away with Isolde slung over her back like a sack.
"..."
WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING NOW!?