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Extra Story 3 – Welcome to the Impregnable Beach Castle (Part 1)

Extra Story 3 – Welcome to the Impregnable Beach Castle (Part 1)

This is a story of a summer day.

The “Impregnable Demon King Castle” where I work is very busy.

The world is on summer vacation, but this is a period in which it’s easy for videos to get more views.

That’s because the people who are now on vacation will be watching more videos than usual.

And for that reason, the adventurers also put their heart and soul into capturing dungeons, and the monsters who wait for them are also working restlessly.

At the executive meeting of the Demon King Castle, the “Demon of Love” Sitri suddenly said:

「I haven’t been to the beach this year~」

Hearing that, our Demon King nodded with 「Hmm…」 and made a face as if she had come up with something.

And so our king spoke unto her subordinates.

「Then how about going for a swim in the castle?」

We didn’t understand at first, but we soon realized…

A dungeon is a space created by magic.

And through this magic, it’s possible to reproduce various environments.

Creating an ocean from scratch would cost too much, but… we already have an ocean, don’t we?

The 6th Floor, the Aquatic Monster Realm.

If we could use that space, we would be able to experience swimming in the ocean without even having to leave our workplace, let alone having to go on a long trip.

「It would be exactly like a beach… a Beach Castle!」, said our Demon King, somewhat proudly.

The “Demon of Time” Agares applauds loudly and exclaims, 「Splendid, Demon King!」.

「Nice, Lucy! That’s a very good idea! Let’s call everyone and go for a swim in the beach!」

Sitri is raring to go.

Carmilla and I look at each other, wondering what we should do.

『I wonder why humans like swimming in the ocean~. The ocean is full of dangers. I can understand things like going fishing and exploring the unknown, but I don’t really get the feeling of wanting to turn the ocean into a pastime.』, said the Spirit Dark while lying on her back on top of my head.

After the All-Heaven Festival Contest, it’s more common to see her in her child form than in her black chick form.

It would seem that Dark isn’t very interested in swimming in the ocean.

『I’m not interested, or should I say, it’s under the jurisdiction of that shotacon Water Spirit. I feel like it would feel quite strange to have my partner have fun in the realm of other Spirits. But I might want to see you in a swimsuit. Just put on a swimsuit once you’re alone in your room or something like that.』

Wouldn’t that make me look like someone who wears nothing but underpants at home?

『Is your swimsuit black as well, partner?』

I feel like this is becoming more and more like sexual harassment.

Time for me to start ignoring her.

I start looking around…

With her armor off, Furcus remains expressionless as she takes food from the “Culinary Cloche” she obtained in the Original Dungeon and takes it into her mouth.

「What do you think, Fuu?」

「A sandy beach… the sea… it’s good training.」

「Well, that’s fine too, but let’s all have fun together. Ah, that’s right. The food you can eat at the beach is also delicious.」

There are stalls that serve food by the beach, and each region seems to have its own characteristic dishes.

Before Sitri’s persuasion, the best warrior in the Demon King Castle, replied…

「I’ll go.」

Without even doubting it for a second.

It’s concerning how easy Furcus is to convince with food.

Still, she herself is incredibly strong, so even if she were deceived, she would be able to get through it without any problems.

Rather, I’m worried about the wallets of those who easily tempt her with food.

「Millie.」

Sitri has chosen Carmilla as her next persuasion target.

「What is it? I’m sorry, but I’m not very interested.」

Come to think of it, there used to be stories about vampires being unable to cross water and being vulnerable to sunlight.

This isn’t completely wrong, but it’s a little different from what humans imagined at the time.

Vampires have the ability to manipulate blood, but this is to manipulate their own blood through their own Magical Energy.

However, when it comes to bodies of water, a Vampire’s body can become wet, and so the blood they can bring forth ends up being mixed with water.

It’s simply a matter of Vampires not wanting to hunt near areas with big bodies of water because the water can interfere with their ability to manipulate blood.

The same goes for sunlight. It seems that Vampires simply don’t like fighting in the day of light because they’re throwing away the advantage of being able to see at night.

This behavior led humans to mistakenly believe that Vampires feared sunlight because it was their weakness.

「Are you sure about that?」

「What do you mean?」

Then, Sitri looks at me.

「Have you ever been to the beach, Lem?」

「Not a lot of times. Though I’ve gone out to the sea with my teammates a couple of times back when I was a member of the Fenix Party…」

Generally speaking, every time we went to the beach, it had been Alba’s idea.

Lily would often stay at the inn because she was reluctant to wear a swimsuit in front of everyone else, but whenever the Fenix Party appeared on the beach, its male members would be immediately surrounded by women.

Of course, I’m talking about the other three male members of the party, not me.

「Was that fun?」

「Honestly? Not that much. There were many times where we didn’t know what to do once we got there, and I’d get bored…」

With a 「Uh-huh」, Sitri nodded and turned to Carmilla again.

「There are two good points in coming to the beach with us for you!」

「…Do tell.」

「Number one! You get the chance to overwrite Lem’s old memories of him getting bored to death at the beach with actual good memories!」

「–! Oh, that’s certainly a wonderful idea. Replacing those boring memories of Lem’s previous beach outings — which were probably nothing but the “Warrior” Alba dragging you all out with him so he could pick up girls at the beach — with those of a fun beach date with me does sound like a splendid plan.」

「Y-yeah. But Sitri and the others will also be around, too.」

『This otaku girl is amazing. She’s already fantasizing about going on a date with you and erasing everyone other than herself and you from the world.』

Sitri has a strained smile on her face, and Dark seems to be fed up about something.

「So there’s a second good point as well, right?」

「Ah, yeah. Number two is quite simple. It’s the beach, so… swimsuits! You can enjoy looking at Lem wearing his swimsuit!」

「Let’s go.」

Carmilla was also quick to respond.

『…I’m not much of a fan of admitting this, but there are times when that girl and I are thinking about the same thing. I wonder if that’s because we both idolize the same person.』

Dark’s voice sounds like she’s having mixed feelings about it.

「Master Lemegeton… what do you think? Perhaps you don’t like the idea of enjoying some time on the beach with me…?」

Milla looks at me with teary eyes.

「It’s not that I don’t like the idea, but…」

「Then, would you like to go together? Of course, Cashew can come with us too.」

Certainly, the hard-working dog-eared secretary Cashew needs to have some time to relax.

I want to provide her with as many opportunities as possible to play and enjoy her childhood.

「Is that… a no?」

She looks up at me once again, as if to deliver the final blow.

「No, it’s not.」

As usual, I give in.

「Alright…!」

Carmilla clenches her fist with joy.

「Very well. Now that we’ve got the approval of all members of the executive staff, let’s move toward carrying out this plan. First, let’s call Vepar. It’s her floor, so we need to talk to her.」

The “Ruler of the Waters” Vepar is a Mermaid, a monster who serves as the Boss of the 6th Floor.

Since we’d be using her realm for this plan, even the lord of this castle ought to get permission from her.

「Okay, Sitri wants to help with the planning too~!」

「Don’t get impatient, Sitri.」

「I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m sure Vepar will agree to this. Even if she doesn’t at first, I have something I can persuade her with, so leave it to me!」

Vepar is a monster enthusiast.

If there’s any unreleased content from strategy videos that Sitri could get her hands on through her connections, it may not be difficult to use that to persuade her.

After getting acquainted with them during the All-Heaven Festival Contest, she seems to have become close to the members of the World Ranking 98th party, led by the “Singing Hero” Pacel.

It wouldn’t be strange for Sitri to be acquainted with other adventurers thanks to her high communication skills.

Could it be possible for her to obtain normally unobtainable footage from such people?

…If that’s the case, I’m also interested, as an adventurer enthusiast myself.

I’ll ask her about that some other time.

At any rate, that’s how the beach plans of the staff of the Demon King Castle got started.

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