Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 23: Human Hunting (4)

I slowly pulled out my finger. My blood and the girl’s saliva were mixed together on it. I wiped my finger on my sleeve. I did so casually as if this injury didn’t bother me one bit.

It seems that hearing the word demonkind had made her perplexed as Laura stared at me blankly. Despite clearly feeling her gaze on me, I pretended as if I didn’t notice as I calmly glanced down at my finger. I did this in order to allow the other party to look at me without reserve.

“Was I too quiet? I asked whether you have any personal grudge or hatred against demonkind. I am not asking this for laughs, Laura. Please answer me seriously.”

“I…… don’t.”

“Fantastic.”

I raised my gaze and looked at her. She flinched.

“I can see your pride. The pride of the strong. Do you not smell a rotten odor coming from somewhere? It is surprisingly similar to flatulence. After you had arbitrarily established your philosophy, you most likely had so much spare time that you could judge others using that philosophy of yours. I can feel it……. To you, the world itself is like a play,  so all who appear before you are actors and actresses that go on stage according to the roles you had given them before they eventually walk off stage. In other words, you consider yourself as the playwright. How envious!”

Even I could tell that my voice was drenched in hostility. I couldn’t live properly in my original world, but I suddenly died because of some transcendent being’s whim. Even in this world, the role of Demon Lord which I never wanted was forced upon me. I became an existence that has no other choice but to kill humans in order to survive. Although I don’t know when this world will reach its ending, at the very least, I have to live as a Demon Lord until then. My appearance and departure are nothing more than someone’s amusement.

Laura declared that at least her death belongs to her. I wonder if this little lady has ever imagined the possibility that there could be someone who couldn’t even bask in that such luxury.

“I have never once been able to think of myself as the playwright. I didn’t have the resolve. I may have had the opportunity to do so, but I had foolishly missed it. This is the price I had paid.”

I undid the turban that was wrapped around my head. The cloth fell to the floor. Once I turned my head slightly, I heard Laura let out a gasp. She most likely witnessed the small horn sticking out of the back of my head.

“T-The proof of a Demon Lord…….”

“Someone might hear you.”

I playfully pressed my forefinger on her lips.

I felt pleased. My head and heart became clear as if I had just smoked a cigarette after having quit for several years. I realized that I had gotten excessively worked up and I was letting out my anger on Laura. Regardless, I didn’t want to gag myself. I had to break her spirit right now. I had this feeling for some reason. It was as if another version of myself was whispering this advice to me.

“I will tell you how you will live your life from now on. You will be sold to the House of Wittelsbach, to a Count Palatine of the Kingdom of Britanny. The head of that family has a hobby of holding sluggish gang rape parties after gathering fallen noble ladies like yourself. You are beautiful and young. Moreover, you were also the heir of a high-ranking noble family. Truly, are you not a prey worth salivating over? Let me congratulate you beforehand! You will surely be sold at a high price.”

“Uu…….”

“The Count Palatine’s estate has several rooms in the basement. You will be imprisoned in one of them. You will not be able to go outside for 3 years. A daily life where you are rotated around by the Count Palatine and his subordinates will continue. Wait a moment. Laura, why are you turning away? What’s the matter?”

She kept trying to turn her head. I held the girl’s jaw.

“Y-Your gaze…….”

“Is there a problem with my gaze? Tell me.”

“Your gaze is…… too…….”

It seems that she’s extremely sensitive to the gazes of other people. She was about to say something, but she couldn’t finish her sentence. Even though I was holding her chin, she refused to look at me. I suddenly felt as if I may have acted a little drastically. I did intentionally make my emotions vicious in order to increase the liveliness of my performance, but it seems the effect was too strong.

I gradually began to believe that my <Acting> skill wasn’t completely useless. It might be thanks to this skill that I’m able to even talk this much.

“Please do not avert your gaze. Would it not be sad if I were to mistake you for such a weak individual?”

“……”

Laura struggled to turn her gracile eyes towards me. There was fear hidden there. I felt my sadistic side get stronger. Did I always have this sort of personality? This might be the essence of a Demon Lord to welcome the fear of others. In any case, this wasn’t something I had to figure out now.

“What good eyes. Now then, did my words sound like a lie?”

“……No.”

“Then allow me to ask. Do you want to be sold to a perverted, pedophilic aristocrat who has the hobby of torture? Or do you want to be sold to someone who may be of a different race, but is mentally sound and wishes to treat you as their subordinate and not a slave?”

“I don’t understand. W-Why does a Demon Lord need me?”

The girl’s voice trembled. Although she excels considerably compared to her peers, she’s still a teenage girl. It’s highly unlikely that she has ever encountered a Demon Lord or even a mid-rank demon before.

“T-The succession rights…… of the House of Farnese and my appearance……these two things are all that I possess. Do you intend to steal my soul?”

“I have no interest in an already fallen family, your appearance, or your soul. I have immense interest in your resourcefulness.”

“My resourcefulness……?”

The girl muttered weakly.

“Do you not wish to get revenge on those who had caused your household to fall? Do you not wish to get revenge on your relatives who had sold you off as a slave with such ease? Or perhaps, do you not want to get revenge on the entire world for having ruined your life in the first place?”

“……”

“I know that you can achieve all this. Oh, we will accomplish great things. Let us show the world that this is the result of throwing us away!”

I stuck my right hand out. Laura looked at me with a gaze that appeared as if she were entranced. She raised her hand as if it were being pulled by a magnet. However, that was it. It seems she was still irresolute as her hand stopped in mid-air.  It’s not like I couldn’t understand her feeling. I smiled gently as if I completely understood her circumstances.

“I will be watching over you from now on. If you require my assistance, then feel free to call out to me. My name is Dantalian.”

I retied the turban around my head before exiting the carriage. I was certain that the girl needed me. Although I intended to summon my unit of monsters and wipe out everything around us if she took my hand……there’s no reason to rush. I hadn’t set up only one or two traps in order to obtain Laura.

I could hear an owl in the distance. Jack was lying on the ground. The hired soldiers were playing cards indifferently. Once they saw me come out, the color in their faces returned. I was wondering what was the matter, but they entered the carriage as if they were rotating with me. Shortly after, the carriage started to shake. The crude voices of the hired mercenaries leaked out from the carriage.

‘Sex slave education, huh.’

It was easy to guess why they didn’t seem happy about Jack’s visit. More importantly, is she not amazing? She has most likely been raped under the pretext of education every night. This ridicule and tyranny should be unbearable as a noble lady, no, as a girl. Despite this daily occurrence, she still has not lost her arrogance. Even though she is only a 16-year-old girl.

I scratched the back of my head as I returned to my quarters. I could hear the carriage shake behind me. The more I walked, the less I could hear from the carriage before I could eventually hear nothing. Only the sound of an owl hooting filled the empty air.

A merchant’s day starts early.

The light of dawn covered the plains. The merchants had already finished their preparations to depart. People chatted happily about being able to arrive in the city today. Even peddlers found sleeping outside arduous. The company of merchants moved quickly. It seems that the thought of being able to lie comfortably on a straw bed once they’ve reached the city had restored the strength in their legs.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Lolita!”

Jack spoke pleasantly. We were moving side by side. While Jack was riding a horse slowly, I was on my cart. It appears that he really took a liking to me as he asked if I could be his friend this morning. I had no reason to refuse.

“I’m not always weak to alcohol, but I became like that last night.”

“You were walking all day, so it’s natural that you would be exhausted. Don’t worry about it.”

As I was having trivial conversations with Jack, I glanced behind us. A black carriage was following right behind us.

We reached the city after half a day. Guards began to pour out in order to search us. I became nervous because of the excessive number of guards, but I became relieved once Jack spoke up.

“They’re doing this to receive a little more bribe money. Guards that usually slack off all day on the rampart only come down and act like they’re guards when a merchant arrives. They basically want us to pay up if we want to get through the gate faster…… tsk tsk.”

Jack furrowed his brow. There’s no way that a high-minded person like him would be pleased seeing the guards behave like this. The merchants had a war of nerves against the guards for a moment before they came to a compromise. Everything was already predetermined anyway. The guards waved their hands as they let us in.

“It was a good trip!”

“I was able to travel comfortably thanks to you.”

“May the blessings of Hermes be upon you!”

After getting through the rampart, the merchants gave their farewells before splitting apart. The hired soldiers received their hefty pay for successfully accomplishing their jobs before disbanding. Compared to them, Jack and I stuck together for a while longer. However, once we reached the center of the city, we also had to go our separate paths. Jack and I hugged.

“Lolita, it’s a bit embarrassing, but…… if you perhaps have the time, then can you come to the market that I’m participating in?”

“Of course. I don’t doubt that you will become an excellent merchant. Although we may be treated like flies attached to gold, what does it matter if we can face the sky bearing no shame?”

Jack looked incredibly moved.

「Lower class Merchant Jack’s affection has risen by 11! The other party now ‘trusts’ you.」

「The other party’s affection has reached 50. You can now persuade them to become your ally.」

He looked at me with wet eyes.

“Truly……. You’re right! My father’s intentions aren’t important. What’s important is how honorable I am to myself. How could I have lived my life forgetting such a simple fact?!”

We hugged once more. Jack held my shoulders tight with his delicate arms. He’s naive, but this was the greatest affection he could show to another person as a pure individual. I didn’t exactly have a favorable opinion of Jack, but I couldn’t help but be moved. Even the slowest of people have moments in their lives where they show their sincerity, and this was that moment for Jack. This was something amazing that can’t be encountered often in life. The two of us reluctantly went our separate ways.

As the lingering feeling of awe towards humans which I hadn’t felt in a while filled my head, I went towards the northern city gate. The northern gate, at the side of a stable, a hooded figure stood there as promised. The figure approached me once they noticed my arrival.

“Thank you for the hard work, Your Highness Dantalian.”

A clear, cool, and level voice. It was Lapis.

“It seems you’ve chosen the second plan.”

“It became like that. Well, it doesn’t really matter which plan we use.”

There are a total of 2 places in this city with a barrier against Greater Summoning magic. One is at the official residence of the city lord and the other is at the temple. The auction where the slave market will be held is positioned in the outskirts of the city, so even if a state of crisis were to occur, the guards will not be able to respond immediately.”

As expected of Lapis. She gave me the exact information that I wanted. I was satisfied.

“An exceptionally fine place to play with fire. I’ll add an additional 10 gold for the commission fee.”

“Thank you for using the Keuncuska Firm’s services once again.”

I grinned.

“There’s also one more thing I want to add to the commission.”

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter. It’s rather hard to translate bad things that happen to certain characters, but Laura being assaulted has always been an established fact even in the early phases of the LN. I just have to hope Dant does a good job raising her in the WN as well since things really have changed vastly.

Don’t expect a release over the weekend since I’m going to be rather busy with a semi-full schedule. It’s sort of why I translated these last two chapters quickly.