EP9. Minotaur

The harpy flock became Jae-jun's kin without any issues.

From the harpy leader's perspective, she couldn't quite understand why Jae-jun would take in weaklings like them as his subordinates.

'Is he after our bodies?'

But once they actually received the orb of magic power from Jae-jun and became his kin, those thoughts vanished completely.

Through their partial connection to Jae-jun, they caught a glimpse of his overwhelming strength—just the tip of the iceberg.

'The Demon King didn't make us his kin for something so trivial!

There must be some profound reason we don't understand!'

In fact, some of the younger harpies blushed at the sight of Jae-jun.

If not for the scary-looking woman standing beside him, they would have swarmed him with affection in an instant.

There were a total of 52 harpies.

With the existing 295 demons in the Demon King's Castle, this was quite a significant addition to his kin.

"D-Demon King?"

As Jae-jun led the harpies back to the Demon King's Castle, all the demons' eyes went wide.

They all stared at the harpies with sparkling eyes, as if starved for something.

"Citri.

This should be enough female demons, right?

Whether it's blind dates or actual dates, do whatever you want."

Jae-jun dumped the harpy issue onto Citri with a single sentence and headed to his resting place.

'Whew.'

The demon count was still only 347.

'When will it reach ten thousand?'

It seemed there was a limit to Jae-jun running around alone to increase the demon numbers.

[Can I ask you something?]

"Yeah?"

Jae-jun, who had flopped down on the spot, looked over at Tarasa.

[Why bother taking in those kinds of kin?

With the master's overwhelming magic power and strength, you don't need them at all.]

Now that Jae-jun had become an incomplete Demon King, the gap in power had widened dramatically.

Excluding Hestia, they weren't particularly helpful in combat.

But.

"Tarasa, from my experience, individual strength can't overcome group strength."

Tarasa tilted her head.

[If I wanted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to, I could wipe out every demon here right now.]

"True.

But if we grow together instead, we'll have allies by our side when we fight Barak later, right?"

[Those guys?

Me fighting alongside them?

I doubt they could even withstand Barak's snort.]

Tarasa let out a small scoff.

To Jae-jun, it seemed Tarasa, having always been a lone powerhouse, didn't understand the power of a group.

'The toughest ones are always at the very bottom.'

"Well, you'll see later."

After that day, Jae-jun occasionally went out monster hunting but otherwise spent his time in the Demon King's Castle.

Besides that, he just talked with Tarasa.

'Not much time left.'

In another 12 hours, Hestia's secondary growth would complete.

Then, as Green Swallord had said, she would be able to use the red dragon's innate ability: dimensional travel.

'Not long until we return to Earth.'

It hadn't been that long since he'd arrived here, but he already missed Earth food like gukbap or instant meals.

'Should I go see Barik?'

Jae-jun sprang up from where he was lying.

"Citri!"

"Yes!

Demon King!"

Citri rushed over and assumed a posture of submission.

As Jae-jun glanced around the Demon King's Castle, he noticed the atmosphere had changed.

He'd been holed up in his room lately, so he hadn't realized, but the demons who used to crowd around annoyingly were nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd everyone else go?"

"Yes!

They're all out performing their assigned duties!"

"Duties?"

Citri bowed his head.

"With monsters increasing around us, ignorant ones occasionally wander near the Demon King's Castle, so..."

Citri glanced at Jae-jun nervously, wondering if he'd done something wrong.

"I see.

Good job.

Being systematic is always a plus.

Keep up the good work."

Jae-jun patted Citri's shoulder and headed outside the Demon King's Castle.

Once outside, Jae-jun was surprised again.

Where there had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing before, small village-like structures had sprung up.

He even spotted tiny harpies flitting between the trees.

"We greet the Demon King!"

"We greet the Demon King!"

The harpies who had been working stopped what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were doing and bowed in submission to Jae-jun.

"Yeah."

Jae-jun acknowledged them casually and headed straight for the mana stone mine.

From the entrance, the noisy sounds of mana stone mining echoed loudly.

"Whoa.

This place has truly transformed into a new world."

The inside of the mine was worlds apart from when Jae-jun had first arrived.

A massive space had been carved out in such a short time, divided into thorough sections.

[We greet the Demon King!]

Someone approached from the side, bowing low and shouting.

It was the lich, Merlin.

Merlin flinched upon seeing Tarasa, but she paid him no mind.

[The dwarves have always had skill.]

[Yes, that's right!]

"Where's Barik?"

[I'll call him—he'll be here soon!]

Jae-jun nodded and looked around.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The mana stones that had densely packed the entrance were mostly gone now.

Stone golems were visible hauling out the mined mana stones.

"Oh!

D-Demon King?"

Then, amid the stone golems, a familiar figure appeared.

Isis had been carrying large rocks alongside the stone golems.

"Long time no see."

Though it had only been a few days.

"..."

Isis looked like he wanted to say something, but upon seeing Merlin behind him, he clamped his mouth shut.

'What's with him?'

And then Barik appeared.

"Barik!"

"Ooh!

Newbie!

Hahaha."

Barik's face looked much healthier than before.

"Doing well?"

"Eh.

Been busy settling in.

Still a long way to go, though."

"It's changed a lot."

"Hahaha.

Of course!

Don't underestimate dwarven craftsmanship!

Honestly, if not for the statue work, we'd have progressed even faster."

'Statue?'

An ominous feeling flashed through Jae-jun's mind.

"...What statue?"

"Oh.

You didn't know?

Wanna see?"

Jae-jun nodded.

Barik guided Jae-jun around, showing off the cafeteria, multipurpose room, blacksmith for weapons and armor, and more.

Each room had unique decorations and designs, artistically stunning.

Tarasa eyed everything with interest.

Then Barik tapped Jae-jun's arm slyly.

"Newbie.

Girlfriend?"

"...No way."

"Why not?

Come to think of it, you're not married yet, right?

A guy like you should have at least ten wives by now."

"And you?"

"Me?

Eh, just five."

"..."

Jae-jun followed Barik, feeling oddly defeated.

And Tarasa as his girlfriend?

Jae-jun glanced at Tarasa.

Their eyes met—her intellectual gaze and all.

She had a beauty that wasn't quite human.

"Look, look!

Here!

What do you think?"

'Gah!'

Jae-jun's eyes widened; he was speechless for a moment.

"Th-this?

What the hell?"

The statue towered all the way to the cavern ceiling.

It depicted Jae-jun riding a dragon, crafted with such precision that even his facial expression was vividly lifelike.

Dozens of dwarves were still swarming over it, working away.

"Once it's done, we'll put it in front of the Demon King's Castle.

What do ya think?"

Barik eyed Jae-jun expectantly.

"...Impressive.

Cool."

He couldn't exactly say smash it now.

Honestly, it was flashy and awesome.

Mana stones were embedded generously throughout, making the whole thing sparkle and gleam.

"Knew you'd like it!"

Behind them, Merlin clenched his fist in silent cheers.

The dwarves working on the statue cheered together upon hearing Jae-jun approved.

[...Dwarves weren't originally such a pride-less race. Guess I was wrong.]

Tarasa muttered, tilting her head.

'Whew.

Headache.'

Jae-jun shook his head.

'...Already 1.5 million gold?

Expanded Demon King's Castle window?'

Jae-jun summoned the Demon King's Castle window.

'Demon King's Castle window!'

'...So many buildings.'

Jae-jun clicked on the Craftsman category.

[Carpentry Workshop] [Clothing Shop] [Custom Armor Shop] [Pottery Workshop] ...

[Stone Workshop]

A list of various buildings appeared.

'Plenty of money.'

Jae-jun tested by clicking on the Carpentry Workshop.

The map of his Demon King's Castle appeared, highlighting buildable spots in green.

'Cool.'

It felt just like a game.

Jae-jun closed the shop window.

There were too many buildings; he'd check them out slowly later.

"D-Demon King!

Big trouble!"

At that moment, Citri flapped his wings and flew to Jae-jun.

His expression was frantic.

Citri panted heavily as he shouted urgently.

"...Another territory has declared w-war on us!"