Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 13: Pave 10 Paths and Earn a Penny (3)

“Hm.”

I tapped the floor with my left foot twice. It was a habit that formed after being unable to use my right foot for a while due to my injury. It wasn’t a particularly good habit.

I responded in a tone that sounded as if I expected to be refused but I wanted to know the reason anyway.

“Why’s that?”

“For starters, there is no guarantee that an epidemic will occur. Sir Dantalian, you proclaimed that an epidemic will manifest itself soon and that it will spread across the entire continent and wipe out a third of mankind. However, this is not a claim. There is no basis. The firm does not invest in prophets.”

Yes, this was an impasse that I expected.

I was certain about my information because I knew the game’s setting; however, trying to convince others of this was an entirely separate matter.

Think about it. What would you do if someone declared that the worst plague in history was going to happen in two months and that half the population on the continent was going to die because of it? It’d be a relief if they weren’t arrested under the pretext of trying to start a revolt. Even I wouldn’t loan any money to me if I were in Lapis’ shoes.

‘It’s all going as planned up to this point.’

Regardless, if I let this information go to waste, then I would be a fool among fools.

A thin smile appeared on my lips.

“How about this? Simply inform the firm that I’ve requested a loan. Also, tell your superiors what my business plan is. It doesn’t matter if you don’t loan me any money.”

“Pardon me?”

“I’ll only receive a loan of the 1,000 gold which I can immediately borrow as emergency funding.”

“Sir Dantalian, the interest rate for emergency fundings is incredibly…….”

“It’s probably astonishingly high.”

It didn’t matter.

“It’s fine if the firm doesn’t loan me any money this time around. If the epidemic that I mentioned truly does happen, then the firm will, at that time, realize that I, Dantalian, had devised an accurate business plan. Then their interest in me will rise.”

It’s unfortunate, but I have to give up on my plan to use the epidemic to make a large sum of money.

In return, I’ll obtain the Keuncuska Firm’s trust. There are occasionally times when Demon Lords are gifted with the ability of foresight. The thought, ‘Maybe Demon Lord Dantalian has it?’ will most likely cross their minds. I’ll take advantage of this misguided trust for the next opportunity I get, for the extremely lean years which were going to follow afterward.

“I cannot comprehend your actions. Sir Dantalian, your tone sounds as if you⎯⎯⎯.”

Lapis spoke in a fairly agitated tone.

“It sounds as if you know everything that is going to happen in the future. It is difficult for me to distinguish whether you are truly a prophet or an extraordinary gambler.”

I grinned. There was no reason for me to go out of my way to answer her. It was better to leave these sorts of misunderstandings alone. If the other party overestimates me on their own, then what more could I ask for? Especially if their job is related to lending money.

“…….”

Lapis avoided my gaze.

Huh? This was the first time she ever averted her gaze. Lapis has always looked straight at me when she spoke. I could sense that she was feeling conflicted.

‘What’s wrong?’

Although I was overflowing with the desire to check what she was thinking through her status window,, unfortunately, her affection towards me hasn’t reached a point where it would show me her inner thoughts.

For the past 15 days, I did all I could to try and raise her affection, but Lapis was an impregnable fortress. If you consider how stupidly easy it was to raise the affection of those Jalsen Village males, then the difficulty of this task was outrageous. Should I call her the chicest modern woman on the demon continent?

“There is something that I have not told you, Sir Dantalian. In truth…… my right to speak in the firm is not very high. No, it is incredibly small. Therefore, even if Sir Dantalian did have a good business proposal, there is a large chance that my superiors will not even listen to what I have to say.”

“Well, you did say you’re a rank 5 personnel.”

She was at the lowest rank, so it was only natural that her right to speak would also be small.

Lapis shook her head.

“It is natural for even rank 5 personnel to possess the minimum amount of discretion and speaking ability. The Keuncusa Firm is a company that advocates talent. They allow their employees to have a lot of discretion as a way to test their ability.”

“Oho. Then does that mean you also have the ability to loan a reasonable sum at your discretion?”

“No, it is the opposite.”

Eh?

“I am only allowed the minimum amount of discretion. To be honest, I am like a heretical existence in the firm. Most of my superiors and colleagues do not have a favorable opinion of me.”

“That’s surprising. You may be cold, but you seem very competent. Is it because you lack social skills?”

Lapis’ eyes became sharp for an instant. I hastily changed my words.

“Ah, if they advocate talent, then that must not be the only reason.”

“As you may also know, Sir Dantalian, we demons are individualists by nature. Sociability is not a virtue that is specifically encouraged. Our value is determined by our ability and results.”

Lapis affirmed. It felt like she was fairly proud of her own ability. As expected of a cold city girl. Right after I clicked my tongue in my head, I came to a question.

“Wait, I don’t get it, then. Why are you being cut off then?”

“……I am a mixed-blood between a demon and a human.”

I waited for her to continue; however, Lapis shut her mouth after saying that one line. It was as if she thought that one line was enough to explain everything.

I felt annoyed, so I questioned her.

“So what?”

“……Pardon?”

“Oh, is that it? So you’re a mixed-blood between a demon and a human. How interesting.”

There was also a heroine in Dungeon Attack who was a mixed-blood between a demon and a human. A powerful mage known as Romei who was shunned by human society. It seems that if you’re a mixed-blood, then it was easy for you to be ostracized.

The hostility humans possess towards demons goes up to its peak after the Black Death starts to spread, but it was currently an era where there weren’t any big grudges between humans and demon yet. Lapis probably wasn’t being bullied that badly.

I continued nonchalantly.

“Why does it matter if you’re a mixed-blood? Humans and demons bully others all the time just because they’re a little different. It’s fundamentally the behavior of children. Don’t worry about these kinds of things.”

Lapis looked at me blankly. This was also the first time I saw her look at me like this. It felt like I was discovering a lot of Lapis’ new sides today.

“……I understand. I will return to the office and prepare your emergency funding, Sir Dantalian.”

“Good, good. Don’t forget to tell your superiors about my plans as well.”

“Please leave it to me.”

Lapis bowed to me politely. A pink magic circle lit up from underneath her feet.

The light wrapped around her waist like fog before her body disappeared in an instant. She had probably returned to the demon continent. As this all happened, she kept bowing the entire time.

Mm, how reliable. She may be a little inflexible, but she was a courteous and good girl.

I nodded with satisfaction. A sound effect rang in my ear the moment I got up and tried to pick up my pickaxe.

「Lower Succubus Lapis Lazuli’s affection has risen by 15.」

“Eh?”

I let out a sound.

Why was the affection, which I had been desperately trying to raise since half a month ago, going up now? I tried to look back at everything I had said during our conversation just now, but I couldn’t figure out which of my lines could have increased her affection.

I wracked my brain for a while, but I soon went back to picking up my pickaxe.

“Whatever. Let’s just mine some more.”

Who cares?

It isn’t a bad thing, anyway. I hummed to myself as I walked through my dungeon.

On a side note, Lapis is a succubus, huh? I didn’t know because her basic status window doesn’t show her race.

* * *

A pink light wrapped around Lapis before disappearing shortly after.

Lapis thought to herself. The color of a demon’s magic circle was determined by their race. Centaurs were gray, vampires were crimson, and succubi like her mother were a bright scarlet. However, hers was…….

‘A pitifully pale pink.’

She raised her head.

The room she was in was shabby. It was tidy and clean, but it had no decorations whatsoever. The one table in the center of the room was probably the only thing that could be called a luxury item.

This was the office that was assigned to Lapis by the firm’s branch office. Starting from rank 5 personnel, private offices were given to employees in the firm. Lapis had struggled for several decades as a probationer in order to obtain this small room.

Lapis sat down in her chair. There were dozens of documents piled on top of her desk.

Demon Lord Dantalian wasn’t the only customer she was in charge of. She was always being bombarded by customer orders; however, those other orders weren’t in her head right now.

‘Was this…… what people referred to as Demon Lords are Demon Lords?’ (TL note: I’m not exactly sure what she’s trying to say here)

Rank 71st Demon Lord Dantalian.

Her first impression of him was honestly as a very unreliable person.

‘B-But…… I don’t have any money.’

‘Is that so? Pardon me, but how much gold do you have, Sir Dantalian?’

‘406 gold.’

Demon Lords weren’t just individuals who were slightly stronger than others.

They were the only ones among demonkind that could possess an army. By seizing and reading the hearts of monsters, they were the only ones capable of uniting the demon continent where war and betrayal never ended. Demon Lords required charisma that was unlike any other.

On this standard, Dantalian was undoubtedly a flunky.

‘Sir Dantalian, may I ask how many monsters you have in your dungeon?’

‘……One.’

He even went as far as to speak to her in a formal tone. A Demon Lord using honorifics for a mere succubus was unthinkable. If another demon were to hear about this, then they would probably roll on the floor laughing.

There are times when a normal demon is stronger than a low-ranked Demon Lord; however, even those demons still showed Demon Lords respect. Only Demon Lords can rule and win over the demon continent, after all.

When the head office ordered Lapis to manage Demon Lord Dantalian, she thought it would be a golden opportunity. She didn’t intend to rot away as a rank 5 personnel forever.

‘I will make a Demon Lord my customer. No matter what.’

The reason why Lapis was always impassive rooted back to the tragedy and bullying she experienced during her childhood. Underneath her never-changing visage, she hid her fierce desire for authority and revenge which was stronger than anyone else’s.

The very fact she had the blood of a human while living on the demon continent was an incredible demerit for her. For demons who believed in strength and stratagem, having the label of ‘child born after their mother was impregnated by a weak human’ was close to being a critical blow.

The shame of demonkind.

Throughout Lapis’ a bit over a hundred years of life, those were the words she had heard the most. Her muddy inferiority complex had at some point solidified over her face like a mask.

‘I apologize, Sir Dantalian. This may be discourteous of me, but I have no other choice but to say this.’

‘Go ahead…….’

‘This is the first time in my short demon life that I’ve seen such an ungainly dungeon.’

How disappointed she was once she realized the truth about Demon Lord Dantalian.

Honestly, it wasn’t that surprising. If anything, the thought ‘so that’s how it is’ was the first thing that went through her head. There was no way that the firm would leave a large business opportunity to a mixed-blood crossbreed like her. She was the foolish one for getting her own hopes up.

Immediately after meeting Dantalian, Lapis put a leash on her emotions and collected herself.

‘A customer is still a customer.’

Lapis reflected on herself for considering a customer as a tool to raise her own status for even a second. Deep down, Lapis was an earnest person. She put aside all of her own personal interests and began to listen to Dantalian’s requests. She personally visited his Demon Lord castle every day in order to buy something as trivial as magic-infused iron ore.

The average demon lived for hundreds of years. If she was in a difficult situation now, then she might prosper in the future.

Lapis suppressed her impatience and forgot about her urgency. Slowly, if she proceeded slowly…… then the day she becomes an executive in the Keuncuska Firm will one day arrive.

Would you truly be satisfied with just that? This question rose up from a corner of her heart, but she forced it down.

“……Today was different.”

Lapis looked up at the ceiling as she talked to herself. She recalled the conversation she just had.

At first, it wasn’t any different from the usual. When she went to the Demon Lord Castle, Dantalian was playing with his goblin.

Does he even know what the word dignity means? She has never seen or heard of a Demon Lord that doted on a goblin that much. Though, she had heard rumors about Her Highness, Rank 12th Demon Lord Sitri, using goblins as playthings for her unique sexual preferences.

‘You are interested in receiving a loan?’

‘That’s correct.’

Furthermore, he went and said something idiotic today. He wanted a loan?

Certainly, it may be difficult to feel fulfilled by mining ores endlessly. Regardless, borrowing emergency funds was, without a question, the most ignorant action one could possibly take.

Lapis had, in her own way, a favorable impression of His Highness Demon Lord who was eccentric and nice to even goblins. She did her best to persuade him to not take a loan. She also explained how vicious the Keuncuska Firm could be. Fortunately, it seems the Demon Lord understood.

‘An epidemic.’

It was then that there was a sudden change in his atmosphere.

Lapis felt the air inside the cavern change. The air that once felt like a calm lake had abruptly shifted into violent waves that normally occur at the dead of night. Tension gripped her spine. If she weren’t the always calm and composed Lapis, she would have most likely panicked.

‘……An epidemic, is it?’

Even this Lapis had no other choice but to speak slowly. She felt pressure on her chest. Just the very fact that her voice didn’t tremble was worthy of praise.

Whether he knew what sort of state the other party was in or not, the Demon Lord before her smiled boldly.

‘Don’t treat my prophecy lightly, young demon girl.’

His tone had changed. She had never seen His Highness Dantalian talk so prudently.

And yet, it didn’t feel awkward. It felt as if that was his true tone. Lapis didn’t even consider asking back as she held her mouth shut.

The Demon Lord declared.

‘A black cloud will envelop the continent. Within two months, every human on the continent will fall into despair and anguish. This is a Demon Lord’s prophecy!’

Lapis felt her heart sink.

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Same ol’ same ol’. My focus has been somewhat good lately since I’ve been able to just sit down and get an entire chapter done in almost one sitting. Hopefully, I can keep this up for a while.

See you guys in the next release.