Lusteria's Leisurely Afternoon (1)
A salad whose main ingredients were crisp lettuce and chicory. It was mixed with the sharp aroma of mustard greens and the sweet fragrance of apple mint, topped with plump, fresh cherry tomatoes. Lusteria liked the excellent composition of this salad and scooped up a generous portion with her fork to take a bite.
“Mmmmmm!!!”
Until recently, a salad had meant nothing more than chopping a few kinds of vegetables and tossing them together. The fact that such a refined salad now graced the table filled her with fresh emotion. Especially the mayonnaise generously drizzled over it. Lusteria adored the salty, rich, and sweet sauce. It felt as though every kind of happiness had melted into its sticky texture.
Ever since discovering Caboni Forest and Taego Forest, the food situation at the Demon Lord Castle had improved dramatically. Previously, they had been forced to draw supplies from Under Barkus to feed the castle, but those provisions had barely been enough for the residents there alone. It had been a constant headache. When the Demanians of Under Barkus were mobilized for the reconstruction of the Demon Lord Castle, their physical labor increased their food consumption even further, and the addition of the goblins made supplies tighter still. They could hardly tell the goblins to go back to scraping moss from the sewers as they used to.
But everything changed once Caboni Forest and Taego Forest came under their influence. While Caboni Forest’s food supplies had also been barely sufficient for its orc and ogre residents, they discovered many of its specialty products. In particular, ingredients such as the sugarcane cultivated by the orcs and the meat of big boars were luxuries that could not be enjoyed under the current conditions of Terraris. Taego Forest, meanwhile, was a veritable treasure trove of food resources. Hestinia had not practiced large-scale agriculture there, so there was no massive stockpile, yet she had preserved countless species of flora and fauna while managing the forest. By collecting those diverse varieties and incorporating them into agricultural production plans, they gained access to such a wide range of ingredients. Furthermore, as the reclaimed land for agriculture around the Demon Lord Castle steadily expanded, food production flourished. By mass-producing various species of plant and animal foodstuffs across the growing reclaimed areas, Hemonigent’s tables grew richer by the day.
A month had passed since Taego Forest entered Hemonigent’s sphere of influence. With her workload considerably lighter than before, Lusteria’s days had become so leisurely that she could take unhurried walks instead of skipping meals. The task of overseeing the reconstruction of the Demon Lord Castle, which had once occupied a large portion of her duties, had been entrusted entirely to Nella, who commanded the orc engineering corps. Nella had been given not only supervisory authority but also the power to plan and operate the project. While major decisions such as planning and design were discussed with Neromeltia, who held full authority over Hemonigent, Neromeltia generally respected Nella’s opinions, allowing the reconstruction to proceed smoothly without setbacks.
The transportation of supplies had also been Lusteria’s responsibility, but it was decided that Beatrice, who now controlled the Demon Lord Castle’s kitchen, would take it over. This stemmed from Neromeltia’s reluctance to keep a high-caliber talent like Beatrice idle at her side; she had instead ordered Beatrice to teach cooking to the castle’s kitchen staff. As the training progressed, Beatrice began pouring her energy into culinary education, muttering sharp remarks such as “How did you ever think to serve something like this to Master?” Eventually, she even took charge of managing ingredients, overseeing the transportation and storage of supplies not only from Under Barkus but also from Caboni Forest. She went further still, organizing regular lectures where all the cooks from the Demon Lord Castle and Caboni Forest gathered for instruction. The cooks, initially intimidated by Beatrice’s ruthless teaching and scathing criticism, gradually threw themselves into mastering their craft with a mixture of passion and stubborn pride. Whenever Beatrice was present in the lecture hall or kitchen, her distinctive barbs would ring out: “This egg is so undercooked the chick inside will complain it’s lukewarm!” or “This meat is so overdone it belongs in a forge as charcoal!”
Of course, none of that was Lusteria’s concern.
“Hm-hm-hm, hm-hm-hm, hm-hm-hmm!”
Lusteria hummed a little tune as she strolled, feeling not the slightest urgency. Once the various executives of the Demon Lord Castle had divided the work according to their specialties, almost nothing remained for her to do. She had not even been assigned any new tasks. Personnel management at the Demon Lord Castle had always been Crawford’s domain. Not only had he long served as the administrator of Under Barkus, but his incorruptible and fair demeanor had earned him the favor and respect of many, making him exceptionally skilled at mediation as well. His title as Sword Master of Hemonigent and Commander of the Black Knights had become less familiar than his role as the Demon Lord Castle’s personnel manager.
All matters of resource allocation and financial management fell under Artis’s oversight. After demonstrating remarkable talent for economic planning and financial administration during his trial a month earlier, Neromeltia had entrusted him with full authority despite his crimes, choosing to keep him close and make use of his abilities. It was such an unconventional decision that even her close aides had raised objections, yet Artis had been so moved that he shed tears and repeatedly swore his loyalty.
“Slurp! Slurp! Nom-nom.”
Lusteria walked along, savoring the lollipop Neromeltia had recently given her as a gift. She glanced at the research institute built on the site of the old Demon Lord Castle’s main keep before turning away. That place, too, had no connection to her. As a high-ranking mage capable of using ninth-tier magic, she had once wondered whether she might be assigned to manage the institute. However, with the arrival of Hestinia—who possessed magical prowess superior even to Lusteria’s legendary abilities, having reached the tenth tier and mastered dimensional manipulation along with pharmacology, biology, genetics, chemistry, and magical engineering—the institute’s management had naturally fallen to Hestinia. While Lusteria’s ninth-tier magic was a legendary achievement, Hestinia was a mythical existence who wielded tenth-tier magic. Moreover, she was versed in numerous disciplines, and with plans to involve Cardistella, skilled in magical engineering, and future dwarf recruits, there was simply no room left for Lusteria.
Of course, the dwarf plan depended on whether they had survived, but given Hestinia’s guarantee, the likelihood of their survival was quite high.
“Mmmph.”
Lusteria puffed out both cheeks with the large lollipop in her mouth. The candy was one Neromeltia had stored in her Dimensional Storage—a treat manufactured a thousand years ago. Thanks to the pocket dimension’s property of preserving everything eternally without the passage of time, the cherry-flavored lollipop Lusteria was currently enjoying tasted as fresh as if it had been made only recently, with no trace of discoloration. Although they currently lacked the capacity to produce such things, Lusteria felt cheerful at the thought that, given the Demon Lord Castle’s rapid development, they would soon be able to mass-produce high-class sweets requiring large amounts of sugar, like these lollipops. As images of portable sweets—chocolate, caramel, candy, jelly, taffy—floated through her mind, her face flushed with delight, and she found herself eagerly anticipating the exciting future ahead.
Then, suddenly, Lusteria took in the surrounding scenery. She saw everyone working hard, sweating as they labored. Ogres carrying massive boulders. Orcs cutting timber to precise measurements. Goblins grinding lime. Demanians digging and tamping the ground to reinforce the foundation. Realizing that while everyone else was working diligently she was merely strolling about sucking on candy, she felt a twinge of discomfort. She occasionally stayed by her master’s side to perform guard duty, but that amounted to nothing more than pouring tea or running simple errands whenever her master requested it. The work was so light that it hardly qualified as a proper duty. Even her master simply greeted her with “Have a good time” whenever Lusteria decided to go out on a whim, without trying to stop her. Though her beloved master had told her, “Just having you by my side is a great help to me,” Lusteria wanted to become someone whose abilities could truly be relied upon. At best, when she remained near her master, she received minor paperwork or errands, but she felt those tasks were something anyone could do and found them unsatisfying. Others had suggested that since someone always needed to stay by the Demon Lord’s side for protection, it would be good if Lusteria took on that role. In truth, because most of the powerful individuals around Neromeltia had been assigned their own duties, the Demon Lord spent more time without an escort than with one. Thus, guarding her master was, in a sense, the best position available to Lusteria—yet the problem was that she did not want it.
Recently, her encounter with Hestinia had reminded her once again just how formidable her master truly was. Lusteria herself had needed to construct numerous magic circles and spend considerable time merely to break a single barrier, yet her master had torn through dimensions with her bare hands and pulled Hestinia out. With so many individuals stronger than herself present, Lusteria could not see how guarding her master would be meaningful. If a situation ever arose where her master faced a genuine threat to her life and truly required protection, the ones who could actually help would be Hestinia, Cardistella, Crawford, or Beatrice. Moreover, since Hestinia, Crawford, and Beatrice were all within the Demon Lord Castle’s vicinity, they could arrive within mere seconds if trouble occurred. Lusteria’s presence as a guard would hardly make a difference.
Lusteria tightly clenched her slender, delicate hands and felt a rare surge of passion. She wanted to find something no one else had thought of and create a role that was uniquely her own. She longed to see her master smile and praise her. It’s all thanks to Lusteria that this was possible! I’m so proud of you, Lusteria! I love you, Lusteria! Just imagining that happy future made her heart soar. Lusteria was determined to find work that would bring her great merit. The first thing she did was go to find Nella.