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Chapter 306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 1)

306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 1)

「Hah…」

After the meeting was over, I quickly left the building.

I had been summoned by roughly the same members that were there during the report on the Original Dungeon some time ago.

「Good job, master.」, said my secretary Irune in appreciation for my efforts.

The sky may be blue, but it’s hard to say whether my heart is enjoying the same clear weather or not.

「Thank you. Even so, it was pretty rough up there.」

I figure I’d whine to her for a bit until our carriage comes to pick us up.

「Are you talking about the situation with Mr. Lem?」

「Well, yes. See, they were talking about 『what if he were to fall into evil』…」

「The big shots were terrified back when he cleared the Original Dungeon. Considering how the Festival Contest turned out, we should think that they’ll consider him even a bigger threat than ever.」

「That’s right.」

Someone said something like this some time ago —

–『Not only he is the closest friend of the Ranked 4th “Flame Hero” Fenix… The Ranked 1st “Storm Hero” Aerial holds him in high regard, he is close to people such as the Ranked 99th “Silver Hero” Nicola to the point that he would pose as a monster in order to help them, and even helps people like the Ranked 95th “Undefeated Hero” Ellie providing defense as if they were a party! The “Water Hero” Wraith said that he wanted him in his party, and this time he even became the benefactor of the Ranked 2nd “Jet-Black Hero” Ex…! Don’t tell me you don’t know what this is! 』

That was the overall feeling.

This time, however, an additional element was added.

It goes without saying that the topic of his contract with “Demon King” Lucifa was brought to the table, but there were also talks about how he was allied with the ruler of the “Southern Demon King’s Castle” – the “All-Seeing Demon King” Paimon – as well as the ruler of the “Northern Demon King’s Castle” – the “Six-Horned Demon King” Asmodeus – and about how this meant that, leaving the “Impregnable Demon King Castle” aside, he had contracts with the Five Great Demon King’s Castles.

He is also a contractor to several names in the adventurer industry, such as the “Undefeated Hero” Ellie, the “Immortal Demon” Bennu, the “Deep Forest Archer” Stolas, the “Silver Sands Strong Arm” Berith, and so on.

With such a wide network of contacts, he will likely continue to form contracts with promising talents, regardless of whether they are humans or demi-humans.

In addition, he is one of the three people in the world who have mastered the ability to absorb Magical Energy that doesn’t belong to anyone into their horns.

And since he had inherited the horn of the strongest Demon King in the world, there is almost no limit to the amount of Magical Energy he can possess.

He is also able to create a “Perfect Horn Armor”, which is something that only four people in the world have achieved.

Although it was in exchange for allowing his Avatar to decay rapidly, he had temporarily transformed into a Demon King himself.

As a result, despite not being a “Hero”, he was able to instantly receive a Spirit’s blessing — and not only that, the Spirit in question seemed to be beyond the Four Great Spirits.

He somehow managed to use Black Sorcery as well as Esoteric Arts through his own efforts.

And yet, his true identity is that of a young man, a mere “Black Sorcerer”.

Such a list of abilities sounds like some kind of joke.

Is this the “strongest in the world” that a child of about five years old would think of?

No, if anything, it might be the “strongest in the world” that a teenage boy would think of.

That’s how large his list of abilities is.

The fact that he turned such a joke into a reality head-on is what makes him so amazing…

「If memory serves, your father has already persuaded them before, Master.」

「That’s right. So the board settled on watching Mr. Lem’s activities for the time being, but…」

My father had lost.

Of course, any sane person would know that such a miraculous battle is not something that can be replicated.

It’s like when a miraculous play happens in sports, a one-of-a-kind piece of art that can only come to be in extreme situations, although such a thing is only possible thanks to the strength of the player who makes such a play.

It’s not something that can be mass-produced.

However, there are many people in the world who see what happens and talk only about the results rather than the details.

Roughly speaking, there were complaints such as 『He said that he would stop his disciple should he fall into evil, but his disciple has defeated him. He cannot stop him if such a thing were to happen. So what will he do, then?』

If they’re going to have such complaints, I wish they would at least voice them out in front of my father.

「How did you bring this to a close?」

I smile back at Irune’s question.

「The challengers have gathered the world’s most powerful players, and won a victory that was very close to a tie, all against my father alone. So all I could say was that if Mr. Lem were to fall into evil, I would work with my father to deal with him.」

My secretary’s eyes grow wide with surprise, then she smiles faintly.

「Certainly, that should be good enough to satisfy them.」

「Yeah.」

My heart is not ready for battle.

I never could see myself wanting to make a living out of dungeon defense.

But I’m still my father’s son.

And as such, I have inherited all of his talents.

I’ve never shown it to my father or his subordinates, but I can use the “Perfect Horn Armor”.

In other words, there are actually five people in the world who have learned how to use the “Perfect Horn Armor”, but… I won’t go out of my way to correct that.

At any rate, I, who am regarded as a “businessman who knows his worth for a Majin” by the big shots, promised to deal with Mr. Lem in case of an emergency.

And this promise was quite persuasive.

If Mr. Lem were to turn evil, just him rampaging around would be enough to cause enormous damage throughout the country.

Naturally, I, who has spread my business all over the country, would be hit severely by this.

Even if they couldn’t believe my words, they were persuaded by the premise that 『if Mr. Lem isn’t dealt with, Fellow’s trade will suffer tremendous damage.』

「The rest would be to make sure we lay down the groundwork so that no one tries to meddle in his affairs. If we do that, that should be the end of this issue.」

The fact that anyone can inherit a Demon King’s horn is a big problem.

Even if the technique to pass down one’s horn onto someone else were exclusive to my father, if anyone who is aware of such a technique tries to conduct experiments, a tragedy could arise.

However, since I learned about the relationship between Mr. Lem and my father, I’ve taken measures.

I’ve visited Mr. Lem’s parents, and we agreed to make it so that their family and ours are distantly related on paper.

With this, we made it out to be that Mr. Lem inherited my father’s horn because, albeit extremely distant, they are related by blood.

As a result, although it may be somewhat irregular, it can be said that he simply inherited his horn from his ancestor, just like any other Majin.

A long time ago, for example, during the time of the war between humans and demons… If we trace human bloodlines back to those days, there’s evidence of their relation with Demi-Humans. And there is nothing strange about the bloodline of Majin without horns.

We publicized this information widely before speculation about Mr. Lem’s true identity could spread throughout the world.

And since my father didn’t deny it, everyone was sufficiently convinced.

So all that’s left is to prevent any fools from snooping around him and his family.

Well, this has certainly given birth to the question 『Then, when your distant relative Mr. Lem falls into evil, would you be able to make such a cold-hearted decision?』, but father said that 『Even if he is my disciple, if he makes a mistake, I will deal with him』, so blood ties have never been a problem.

If my father says he will do it, he will do it, and if I say I will cooperate with him, I will.

Trying to reassure people who are worrying unnecessarily is very exhausting.

But it was necessary.

「That’s very kind of you.」

「Ahaha, well, he is my daughter’s subordinate… but in the end, I guess it’s part atoning and part filial piety.」

「I can understand the atoning part since you have dragged Mr. Lem into your plans, but… filial piety?」

Irune tilts her head to the side in confusion.

Since I had prioritized my father’s return to the battlefield, I couldn’t take Mr. Lem’s circumstances into consideration.

Of course, he took part in the fight of his own free will, but aside from that, I also feel obliged to him for revealing what he had been hiding until now on the grand stage.

I wanted to do everything I could to thank him for showing me my father’s smiling face.

As for the “filial piety” part…

「Ah, he never played with me when I was a kid. But still, back then, I used to boast about him being the strongest in the world, so I owe him that much. I just wanted to return the favor.」

「Then… what are you going to do from now on?」

「That’s right. I’ll do what I have to do, and after that… maybe I’ll give my daughter a big hug.」

「I’m sure she won’t like that.」

Irune seems to be enjoying herself after answering that.

「No, I’ll use my father as a negative example, and instead dote on my child.」

As I reply, I smile as well.

「– Is that so?」, says my father’s voice.

「Huh?」

I turned around to see that, indeed, the voice had come from my father, the strongest man in the world, the “Red-Horned Demon King” Lucifer himself.

「…Father. What’s the matter? Were you worried about your disciple today as well?」

「I know I can count on you to handle such concerns without delay.」

It’s so easy for me to feel happy after being told something like that.

「Then, why are you here?」

「…」

My father has always been taciturn, but this silence looks like he’s hesitating to speak.

「Father?」

「About your last plan…」

「Y-yes?」

「Not bad.」

Though slightly, my father’s mouth definitely curved itself upwards in the shape of a smile after saying that.

He then turns this smiling face at me for the first time, and I freeze.

「…What are you making that strange face for?」

「N-no, it’s nothing… I-I’m glad you enjoyed it…」

— Did you come all the way here just to tell me how much you enjoyed the Festival Contest?

— Who are you and what have you done with my father?

「Right.」

Saying that, my father turns his back on us.

It seems that was really all there was to it.

「Ah… w-wait, wait, father.」

I call out to him in the spur of the moment.

「What?」

Father isn’t stopping, nor is he even turning around, so I have to say something quick…

「Would you like to go out to eat? We could do things normal parents and their children do together once in a while…」

This got him to turn around, revealing a very disgusted look on his face.

Then, he let out a very audible sigh.

「…What do you expect from someone like me?」

「I don’t expect anything in particular. You’re simply the strongest man in the world, father. I don’t show you off like I used to when I was a kid anymore, but I’ll be proud of you for the rest of my life.」

As a parent, he is a person that, far from seeing it as a problem, considers it fine to be unfit for the role.

And yet, the reason why I can’t hate my father is because I’m proud of his father’s strength.

「…Have it your way.」

「Alright! Let’s go!」

I push my father’s back and force him into the carriage that has just arrived.

Irune was still stiff from all the tension around us, but she has no choice but to get used to it.

「That’s right, there are so many things I want to ask you about, father. How well do you think my daughter did in the final match? She’s your granddaughter, you know. That’s right, Lu… I already know that she’s the cutest child in the world. But I wanted to hear your opinion about how she was as a “Demon King”. Because, you know, I’m not really into fighting, so I wanted to hear from a professional in that field.」

「Let me off.」

「Coach, please go to the usual restaurant.」

The carriage starts moving.

「…」

「This is okay, right? You should show some interest not only in your disciple but in your own grandchildren as well sometimes.」

Father lets out another big sigh.

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