Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Everything for the Demon King
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Spiders.
Orcs.
Goblins and trolls.
Kobolds and knolls.
And many other monsters began flocking to Mir City.
Mir, which had been human territory until just recently, had now become a hub for monsters.
"Eek!"
Humans who encountered goblins recoiled in terror.
In Mir, now occupied by the Demon King, monsters and humans coexisted.
"M-Mommy..."
Children clung tightly to the adults, hiding their frightened faces.
Mir's city clerk, Rozison, sighed as he watched them.
Damn it.
Powerless.
So utterly powerless.
The streets of Mir, once bustling with people, were now dominated by monsters.
Humans had been pushed to the sidelines, forced to merely watch as the monsters roamed freely.
That didn't mean humans couldn't walk the streets, of course.
But who would want to?
Share the road with monsters.
Rozison's wife and children had barricaded themselves at home, refusing to go out among the monsters.
It was the natural choice.
Any human would instinctively recoil from monsters.
The very first thing the Demon King's army had done after occupying the city was to enforce coexistence between humans and monsters.
The Demon King's monsters didn't kill humans. They merely made examples of those who resisted.
Like the heads hanging in the square over there.
"......"
Those were the heads of the resistance leader who had organized the rebels and his subordinates.
Even before the Demon King's occupation, heads of criminals had sometimes been displayed there.
But that had been due to human infighting!
Humans killed by monsters!
Rozison couldn't accept it.
Why did people have to cower and sneak around in fear like this?
He couldn't believe it.
And not everyone was gripped by fear.
"Ahh, thank you, Demon King."
They had been the city's slum dwellers and back-alley rats before the occupation.
Now, they worked eagerly for the Demon King, their eyes shining as if this was the greatest joy in life.
Rozison had once tried to enlighten them, seeing something off-kilter in their fervor.
It was pointless.
They had been brainwashed by some bizarre cult called the Demon King Church.
"Let us all work for the Demon King!"
Even today, they toiled for the Demon King under the words of the priestess in black robes—the one they called a saint, Amy.
Filthy traitors.
Just then, an orc brushed past Rozison.
"Hngh!!"
Monsters were still terrifying, even if they didn't attack humans.
The fear didn't just vanish.
Monsters could change in an instant, after all.
Two days ago, the vice mayor had gone missing.
Villat.
The politician who had been the first to kneel before the Demon King and pledge his loyalty.
The head of the same party as Rozison himself, he had cast aside all human pride to become the Demon King's lackey.
And now Villat had vanished.
Starting with him, one politician after another who worked in the inner castle had disappeared.
Why?
Did the Demon King eat them?
If not that, then...
Fled?
Had they run away to request reinforcements from the kingdom?
He had no idea.
A powerless city clerk like him could only drag himself to the office as usual.
"I need a way."
A way to drive out that Demon King who occupied Mir and all his cronies.
So today, too, he had come to work an hour earlier than usual to dig for information on the Demon King's army.
It could take as long as it needed.
Little by little, steadily.
When he arrived at the office, Villat was sitting in the vice mayor's room, reviewing documents.
"V-Vice Mayor Villat?"
"Oh, Rozison. You're early."
"Where have you been? We were looking for you."
"I took a short break due to health issues."
Not eaten, not fled?
Rozison eyed Villat carefully.
Something was off.
"By the way, I see you've been working hard in my absence. All the key officials were out sick, so you must have had it rough."
"Ah, yes... But what illness did you have?"
"What do you mean?"
"If it was bad enough to rest, maybe the plague? We should be careful, or..."
"A mere plague can't stop me."
"Pardon?"
"I've come to realize the grace of the Demon King. I'm no longer afraid of such things."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
"Ah, right. You haven't yet, have you?"
His eyes were strange.
Villat's gaze as he looked at him was eerie.
As if he had become something other than human.
A stranger possessing something unknowable.
"Wh-what happened to you?"
Rozison instinctively stepped back.
This was human instinct.
For survival.
"I just received some simple education. The Demon King told me the truth about himself—the truth for a poor, suffering soul like mine."
"Vice Mayor, you're being deceived! Don't you know what those creatures are? Ugly, filthy monsters!"
"Watch your words. To live together, we must understand each other."
Something was wrong.
This man had changed too.
He'd seen that look before.
Yes.
The ones brainwashed by the Demon King Church.
They looked exactly like that.
"Y-you've fallen too... You've joined the Demon King!"
"Is it so bad to follow the strong?"
"Damn it!"
There was no way.
This man had changed completely.
He had to run.
If he stayed in this city, he'd end up the same...
"My, where are you off to?"
A sinister yet warm voice echoed from the shadows.
A voice that sent chills down his spine.
Yet also soft enough to crave an embrace.
"Wh-what? From where...?"
"Lady Vivian."
Villat knelt and bowed toward the shadows.
"No need for formalities with me, Lord Villat. We both serve the Demon King."
"You are the one who taught me of the Demon King's greatness, Lady Vivian. It is only right. But what brings you here?"
"Hee hee hee. It's our city clerk's turn now."
From the shadows emerged a woman with a human upper body and a spider's abdomen and legs.
Her sharp spider legs clicked against the floor: clack, clack.
Rozison collapsed at the sight of the arachne Vivian approaching him on those legs, clad in black priestly robes emblazoned with the devil's symbol.
"Ah, already like that? Congratulations, Rozison. You've been chosen too. Not everyone receives this blessing. The Demon King desires only the capable."
The arachne drew near Rozison.
Her sharp spider legs pinned his arms and legs.
No escape.
"Sp-spare..."
"Don't worry. I won't kill you. It might sting a little, though."
The arachne's face loomed closer.
Rozison wept and snot dribbled down his face.
His crotch felt warm.
As the stench of urine filled his nostrils, the arachne's sharp fangs pierced his nape.
"Grrrk!!!"
His vision darkened.
Cold.
He needed warmth.
Anything...
In his fading consciousness, Rozison glimpsed two holes in Villat's neck.
As if bitten by sharp fangs.
Ah.
Only then did he realize.
He would become like Villat.
He should have run...
When he opened his eyes again, spider silk enveloped him.
Spider silk?
And that silk wormed into his ears.
...What is this?
His limbs bound, he couldn't resist.
Only his eyes and mouth could move.
You must know this too.
The voice rode the silk into his mind, resonating directly in his brain.
"Stop this, you bastards! You promised not to touch humans! Why?!"
We won't touch them. The Demon King is merciful. So dashing. He said he'll embrace all humans under his rule. But...
The silk cocoon unraveled, stroking his body like separate fingers.
...we can't just leave filthy doubters who dare question the Demon King.
"Ughhh."
Don't worry. The pain is only temporary. You'll be like Villat soon. Incapable of betrayal. A faithful servant thinking only of the Demon King.
The silk threads burrowed into his skin.
"Grrrk!!! Stop it. Stop! I-I won't anymore. I won't doubt. I'll pledge absolute loyalty to the D-Demon King! Please..."
Those who betray once have no guarantee against a second time.
Don't worry. You'll be happy too.
Rozison thought of his wife and children left at home.
"I-I have people to protect. My wife and family... Without me..."
We won't kill them. No harm will come to them. We're just helping them realize. So accept it. Quietly.
The seductive voice tickled his ears.
All he could do was curse.
"You bastards!!"
Powerless. Hollow.
An unknown liquid injected from the silk embedded in his skin.
Psssh!
His vision blurred, dizziness setting in.
Loyalty.
Kingdom.
Aslan.
Mir.
Peace.
Regime.
Preservation.
Promotion.
Power.
Desire.
Family.
Wife.
Daughter.
Home.
Countless words swirled in his mind, mixing with the liquid.
His gaze grew vacant.
10%
Unfamiliar numbers floated before his eyes.
What did this mean?
The strange symbol after the number.
18%......
The number rose steadily.
27%......
As the number climbed, his consciousness blurred.
Like floating in clouds.
Half-asleep, even.
An inexplicable calm enveloped Rozison.
Yet he continued summoning words.
His desires, life's goals. And what he had to protect.
98%
All the words and concepts he recalled merged into one.
99%
The clay-like mashed concepts...
Loyalty to the Demon King.
...fused into that single phrase.
From the fully brainwashed man's lips burst the absolute truth.
"Loyalty... to the Demon King..."
Crack.
The cocoon split open.
He had been reborn by the arachne.
A faithful servant for the Demon King.
"Ahhh, thank you, Lady Arachne..."
Covered in the silk's viscous fluid, he bowed blankly toward the shadows.
"For granting this foolish soul such profound enlightenment."
"Work for the Demon King's army. That's all."
Ah, Mother.
I thank you for your unconditional grace.
"Is Rozison the last one?"
I asked Vivian's report while scanning the roster of names.
"Yes. Everyone in Mir who might think of rebellion has now been brainwashed."
"Impressive work."
"It was possible only because you kindly guided us, my Demon King."
To rule the city, there was no need to brainwash everyone.
Just the essentials, kept to a minimum.
The mayor and vice mayor, the party councilors and elders. And finally, the military and the merchant guild heads.
Brainwash the heads, and the bodies and legs follow on their own.
That was all I needed to do.
Now, just watch as the brainwashed minds moved themselves.
I gazed out the window.
Monsters, brainwashed humans, and unbrainwashed humans.
They hadn't yet harmonized, living in fear, dread, and awkwardness, each in their place.
There were several times more unbrainwashed humans, but it didn't matter.
They had lost the will to resist.
To preserve their lives, they would live on as part of the Demon King's army.
That'll do.
They'd live out their lives in peace.
I wouldn't concern myself beyond that.
No reason for unnecessary killing.
Slaughtering them doesn't give me any great fame points anyway.
On the contrary, keeping them alive would aid the Demon King's army's growth far more.
Even if they weren't expendable pawns, they could serve as manpower or craft high-quality weapons.
"I wonder if Alcom has arrived."
He would become an excellent diplomatic envoy to the Aslan Kingdom and fulfill his mission.
I had sent him knowing the enraged king would kill him.
Having granted youth's joys to a man dying of old age, he had to pay the price.
Unless he survived, but that would be his fortune.
"Sad, really. Losing a capable subordinate."