Chapter 306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 4)
306 – Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle (Part 4)
That day, when I was walking down the hallway of my workplace — that is, the “Western Demon King’s Castle” — I realized that one of the doors in a room was open.
「Hey, that doesn’t look good.」
Moreover, isn’t that the room of Valac from the Big Four?
「Good grief, if the Big Four are like this, what kind of example are they setting for their subordinates?」
While expressing my dissatisfaction, I decided to settle for closing the door for now.
As I approach it, I hear something coming from inside.
It seems that she forgot to close the door while she was inside, instead of leaving it open after going elsewhere.
In that case, I’ll scold her directly right now.
「Hey, Valac! What do you think you’re — !?」
I’m about to open the door wide, but isn’t Valac coming this way?
As soon as I dodge, Valac also notices me.
「Oh, hey there, Bar!」
The “Beast-Controlling Thief” Barbatos. That’s my dungeon name.
Valac and I are allies who fought side by side in the All-Heaven Festival Contest, but…
「We’re not friends. Or do you want me to start calling you “Va”?」
As coworkers, we ought to put a bit of distance between each other.
「Well, I don’t mind, but it doesn’t sound that good, does it?」
「That’s not what I’m — geez, fine. So what are you in such a hurry for? Is it your turn?」
「No, I have a date. Also, I’m gonna be away from the dungeon for a few days, so please take care of things around here.」
「Huh!?」
Valac is the third in order of appearance among this castle’s Big Four.
If the two that come before me aren’t there to lose, it’s never gonna be my turn… but still, what’s the meaning of this sudden urge to take a vacation?
Looking at her closely, I notice that she’s carrying her luggage wrapped in a large piece of cloth.
Her weapon, the club, protrudes from the cloth.
「Well, I’ll leave it to you!」, she says before running off.
「Hey, wait! Wait! What the hell? Did you get a job as a martial artist or something? Things are getting pretty busy here as well!」
Valac responds loudly as she runs down the hallway.
「Yeah, my childhood friend called me! We’re going to train! Yaaay!」
「Your childhood friend…? Oh, that girl from the “Impregnable Demon King Castle” you’re so one-sidedly obsessed with… Furcus, was it? — Wait! Don’t just take a break from work to go training whenever you want! Wait until your day off!」
「Wait for meee~! My fluffy~!」
「Your… fluffy?」
So selfish!
Still, it was precisely because she’s honest with herself that she was able to get a job as one of the Big Four here after leaving the “Impregnable Demon King’s Castle”, as well as being summoned by their “Black Sorcerer” Chief of Staff during the All-Heaven Festival Contest…
I guess I’m a bit jealous of that freedom of hers.
◇After the All-Heaven Festival Contest finished…
Dad caught me and took me straight home
Of course, my childhood friend Fran came along as well.
I could have resisted, but the “Unyielding Hero” looked over to the horizon and said, 「Mom wants to see you. So if I don’t bring you home, she’s gonna get very, very mad.」, so I reluctantly accepted.
On the road, in the carriage…
Josh and Melania said they had plans with their own families, so they went their separate ways.
There’s only the three of us in this carriage.
「Hey… why a carriage? You’re the former number one, so you should’ve prepared a dragon.」
「What are you talking about, Wraith? There’s no way I can afford a dragon ride with my allowance.」
「A former Ranked 1st, still running on an allowance…」
「That’s because your mother keeps a tight grip on my wallet. This reminds me, you seem to be putting money in the house… but a ten-year-old shouldn’t have to worry about doing something like that. So use that money for yourself.」
「But it might increase your allowance too, Dad.」
「Umm… Ahem. You too, Fran. I understand why you’d put out of your own money into your parent’s house, but why on ours too?」
「…Monthly fee」
「Monthly fee…? Ah, could it be that you’re trying to pay for using our training hall when you were little?」
Fran nods.
We used to have a training hall, which we used until we left our hometown.
「You’re a good girl… But you don’t have to worry about it. Use it to get yourself some cute clothes, or some cool-looking ones. And tasty food. Fun things. Use it to enrich your life. Saving money and taking care of your parents are important things to do, but the experience of being young is irreplaceable. I’m sure you two are smart enough to not get yourselves tricked into wasting your money, or spending it on things you shouldn’t spend it on.」
「And if you get married, you won’t be able to use your money freely either.」
「…Ahahaha.」
Dad looks away.
Even the number one “Hero” in the world was no match for his own wife.
For a while after that, the carriage kept on moving forward calmly. Then…
「Hey, Dad. 」
「Hm?」
「…Come out again sometime. After this last event… I’m sure everyone understands… how strong you are.」
Of course, the battle against the Demon King Lucifer was the biggest part of the event, but the final round has drawn attention to all the participants.
Besides, after it was discovered that Lem was Lemegeton, people’s opinion on the “Unyielding Hero” Altreed, who battled against three “Heroes” and their allies, all by himself, as well as actually being the one who took out Lem in the end, has risen considerably.
「Oh? What is it? Do you wanna see your Dad’s cool side again?」
Dad has a huge grin on his face as he asks me that. So annoying…
「I mean, I couldn’t have a proper fight with you this time. Even during our fight against Lucifer, I was outdone by Fenix and Lem’s combination, so I’m not quite satisfied.」
「You were pretty cool out there too, you know? That “Grief’s Hail” of yours… I had no idea that such an Esoteric Art even existed.」
It was thought that the Esoteric Spirit Arts were eight in total, one for each of the concepts behind each attribute — “destruction” for the Fire Spirit, “edition” for the Wind Spirit, “creation” for the Water Spirit, and “immutability” for the Earth Spirit, plus their respective “Assimilation”.
However, to be precise, we’ve realized that we’ve simply not been able to fully understand the Esoteric Arts that the Spirits had taught us.
The Esoteric Arts given to me by the Water Spirit were tied to the concepts of “creation and stillness”, but since I couldn’t understand them very well, I’d only been able to use the “creation” portion of it.
Old Man Air and Feni must have noticed that when I showed them the “Grief’s Hail” that day.
「Never mind that. Anyway, if you don’t come out again sometime, I’ll never have a chance to defeat you.」
「Right… Well, if my son asks me to come out again… I’ll think about it.」
「Absolutely.」
「But… Wraith. No matter how strong you are, there’s no way you’re defeating me.」
The pressure he was releasing at that moment was, without a doubt, that of the “Unyielding Hero”.
「Ha, bring it on! I’m gonna go wild, so you better be ready.」
「I’m looking forward to it. But before that–I have to do something about your party’s fifth member.」
「Ugh…」
「He’s become even more popular, so it’s going to be tough.」
「No no, if Lem chooses to, he’ll rejoin our party.」
「But it seems like he’s been giving you the cold shoulder, huh?.」
「…Well, he is both the Chief of Staff of the Demon King’s army as well as a member of Hero Party after all.」
Even if he did come back to the party, what will he do once we want to challenge the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”?
If he joins a Hero Party, the Boss of the 10th Floor will be gone.
If he stays as the Boss of the 10th Floor, we’ll have an empty slot in our party.
「Well, you should worry a little more about finding companions.」
Dad says that with a calm face, but suddenly his face goes pale as if he had just realized something.
「Ah… Wraith, Fran… Um… Can we make a stop along the way? See, I forgot that I had something to do.」
Fran and I look at each other and nod.
Then I look at Dad and say:
「You forgot to buy a souvenir for Mom, didn’t you?」
「Huh!?」
Don’t give me that “How did you know?” face.
How could he overlook such a simple thing when he is so smart on the battlefield?
Humans really are strange creatures.
「It’s okay. Fran and I already bought something.」
「…Y-you’re good kids… You sure you two aren’t doing a second run of your life? You know, like you’re replaying a game you already know how to beat… It’s worrisome how you’re too good sometimes.」
「It’s my first round. I just grew up watching you, Dad.」
「If that’s the case, then maybe Dad has been a good example of how not to behave, huh…?」
On TV, Dad has shown me the coolest a Hero can be.
At home, Dad has shown me how pathetically one can be no match for his wife.
Both of them are Altreed, and both of them are Dad.
「That’s right, if you promise to fight me the next chance we have, I won’t tell Mom that you forgot to buy her a souvenir.」
「W-what a tenacious boy…」
I start laughing. Dad’s trembling is hilarious.
◇
RELEASE RATE
Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 90 hours
i love that story