EP9. Minotaur
“Territorial war?”
“Yes!”
“A messenger from another territory is currently at the Demon King's Castle.”
“Let's go see.”
Jae-jun returned to the Demon King's Castle with Citri.
Inside the castle, even without Citri pointing it out, a demon who clearly looked like a messenger was visible.
It was dressed in the flashiest clothes of anyone there and chattering noisily.
“It stinks!
How can they not even manage basic hygiene?!”
‘An elf?’
Pointed ears and the distinctive beautiful features of an elf stood out.
It looked very similar to Nariel, whom he'd seen in the arena.
However, its skin was overall darker, and it talked a lot.
[It's a dark elf.]
“A dark elf?”
[Elves who have fallen into corruption. They're infamous for their dirty tricks.]
Jae-jun nodded.
The dark elf kept badmouthing the Demon King's Castle right up until Jae-jun approached from behind.
Beside it, Baphula kept bowing its head repeatedly, listening to the tirade.
“My lord!
You've arrived!”
The moment Baphula spotted Jae-jun, it assumed a posture of submission.
But the dark elf, upon seeing Jae-jun, scanned him up and down with provocative eyes before elegantly bowing its head.
“...My lord.
A pleasure to meet you.
I am Dviel, the faithful retainer of Demon King Lerajie.”
“Nice to meet you.
You've come for the territorial war?”
Jae-jun cut straight to the point about the territorial war.
Dviel's brow twitched.
“...Quite direct, aren't you?”
Citri's face twisted at the way it scowled and glared at Jae-jun.
“Indeed.
But rather than calling it a territorial war, think of it as Demon King Lerajie's magnanimity.
For a rundown Demon King's Castle like this that can't even manage its retainers properly, simply not driving them out is already a tremendous act of grace.”
It hadn't given the place a second glance when it was a desert, but now that it had become a swamp, it was scheming to take a bite. That much was obvious.
Dviel extended a hand, pointing at the Demon King's Castle.
“Well, there's nothing proper here anyway, is there?
A filthy Demon King's Castle, incompetent retainers.
And...”
Dviel pointed at Jae-jun with its hand.
There was no way Jae-jun wouldn't understand what that meant.
“What did you say?
This dark elf bastard's lost his mind?”
Citri bellowed and stepped forward.
Dviel smirked with a knowing expression.
“A mutt of an uneducated Demon King—big bark as expected.
What? Planning to attack me, the messenger?”
Jae-jun's brow twitched.
“A mutt of an uneducated Demon King?”
“Ah.
I suppose my wording was a bit strong.
If it offended you, I apologize.
Though it's not wrong, so I hope you'll forgive me out of magnanimity.”
Jae-jun curled his lips upward in a smile.
He could feel Tarasa watching from behind with keen interest.
‘Hoo.’
“...You don't know much about me, do you?”
“About you, my lord?”
Dviel blatantly scanned Jae-jun up and down as it spoke.
“...I know you're a barbaric human in form who somehow lucked into owning a Demon King's Castle.”
Jae-jun's smile deepened.
The word “barbaric” was one he hated most.
Dviel met Jae-jun's gaze and smiled back.
“This won't do.”
Jae-jun strode forward.
“Mad dogs need a good beating to come to their senses.”
In an instant, Jae-jun grabbed Dviel's neatly combed hair and slammed its head into the floor.
BAM!
“Wha—what the—?!”
Dviel immediately got up and retreated backward.
But Jae-jun had already shadow-stepped behind it.
“What do you think? Catching a mad dog.”
WHAM!
Jae-jun smashed the back of Dviel's head.
Dviel's head hit the floor, and it rolled several times before staggering to its feet.
Its hair was already disheveled with dirt and dust, blood trickling from its mouth.
“How dare you!
Lay hands on Demon King Lerajie's messenger?
And expect to get away unscathed?”
“Now it's informal speech too.
Sheesh.”
Jae-jun moved leisurely.
But his eyes blazed fiercely.
“Tch!
Teleport—Urk!”
Before Dviel could cast its spell, Jae-jun seized its throat.
“Why waste precious mana?
I'll send you off nicely.
Tell that Demon King Lerajie or whatever his name is—I'll be there soon.”
As Jae-jun tightened his grip, Dviel's neck snapped like dry twigs and went limp.
The haughty, beautiful dark elf was gone, leaving only a disheveled corpse with its tongue lolling out.
“Oh.
But when retainers like these die, they respawn with their Demon King, right?”
“...No, they don't.”
“They don't?”
Apparently, that was just Jae-jun's assumption.
Jae-jun tossed Dviel's corpse to the floor like filthy trash.
Thud.
“No wonder it fought so hard not to die.”
Jae-jun looked at the stunned Baphula and Citri.
“How do I get to that Demon King Lerajie's castle or whatever?”
Citri bowed its head deeply.
“...We need a portal.
But ours isn't installed.”
Just in case, Jae-jun opened the territory building window.
Displays buildings that can currently be constructed.
‘Where is it...’
Clicking through categories, Jae-jun found what he wanted in the [Other] section.
◈ Enables travel between territories.
◈ Can move to any territory with registered coordinates.
◈ Price: 150,000 Gold
◈ Mage Rental: 10% of usage fee
Jae-jun immediately clicked on the Territory Portal.
For safety, he also selected the mage rental option.
The portal had a fixed installation spot—no map appeared, nor could Jae-jun choose a location.
Territory Portal can be installed in the Demon King's Castle throne room.
Install the Territory Portal now?
‘Yeah!’
A circular subspace appeared, and various parts began emerging in sequence, assembling automatically.
By the time the mage emerged, the gate installation was complete.
“...”
The retainers in the throne room all looked bewildered.
[Fascinating. Is this one of your powers as master?]
Tarasa examined the subspace and portal as she asked.
‘One of my powers.’
“It's more like all of them.”
This was just part of The Gamer's abilities, after all.
The mage from the subspace was a skeleton mage with only bones, clad in a blue robe.
The mage politely greeted Jae-jun and stood by the gate.
“Can we use the gate right now?”
Clack.
“Yes.
But we need the coordinates of the destination territory.”
“Coordinates?”
Citri hurriedly pulled out a long parchment from somewhere.
“My lord, the coordinates are written here!”
Jae-jun took the parchment and handed it to the skeleton mage.
At the same time, a signal chimed in his head.
Blazing Ironblood Demon King's Castle territory coordinates registered!
“Registered.
Shall we move now?”
Jae-jun shook his head.
He wanted to charge over and sever that Lerajie—or whatever its name was—head right then, but there was something to do first.
“No.
Not moving yet.”
Jae-jun sat on the throne and opened the territory building window again.
He planned to buy all installable buildings before leaving.
Jae-jun opened the territory building window once more.
Displays buildings that can currently be constructed.
‘In case of invasion, defense buildings first.’
Defense buildings were all in the [Other] category.
◈ Deals reliable damage to small and medium monsters, but ineffective against large monsters or demons.
◈ Price: 50,000 Gold
◈ Fires mana shells to strike enemies. Covered in durable ore, withstands large monster attacks.
◈ Operates automatically without a user.
◈ Price: 150,000 Gold
◈ Housing for ruthless mercenaries who'll do anything for gold. Hire them for various tasks.
◈ Price: 100,000 Gold
◈ Hire 1 Mercenary: 5,000 Gold
◈ Trains death knights with high loyalty, unlike mercenaries. Slow but steadily produces based on population.
◈ Price: 600,000 Gold
‘This should do.’
Monster numbers are rapidly increasing.
Demons are too few in comparison.
Increase demon numbers and expand facilities.
Jae-jun had just over 1,500,000 gold in budget.
With plenty of funds, there was no need for the low-tier watchtower.
‘Bombardment towers, mercenary barracks, and knight barracks should suffice.’
He bought one 600,000-gold knight barracks, then used the remaining 900,000 for four bombardment towers and one mercenary barracks.
Bombardment Towers can be installed.
Install now?
‘Yes.’
A map of the Demon King's Castle appeared before Jae-jun.
He placed four bombardment towers at the east, west, south, and north of the castle.
Vrrrrm—
Just like with the portal, a subspace opened in the sky, and parts poured out.
They assembled themselves into towering structures.
Far larger than they appeared small, the tops blazed with mana.
The knight barracks went as close to the Demon King's Castle as possible.
Death Knights maintained at 10% of population.
Current population 347 → 35 Death Knights generated!
Thirty-five death knights—the same ones he'd seen before the giant gate—marched out of the knight barracks in formation.
Click-click!
They approached Jae-jun, assumed submission postures, and bowed.
[Loyalty to the Demon King!]
From the opposite side, forty mercenaries from the mercenary barracks approached Jae-jun.
Not quite as polished as the death knights, but they bowed politely enough.
“Citri!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“I'm granting you full authority in my absence.
Work with the other demons to defend the Demon King's Castle.
Develop the territory as much as possible if you can!”
“Yes!
I'll stake my life on it!”
Jae-jun nodded and headed to the territory portal.
For heading to another territory, Tarasa and Baphula would suffice.
Hestia could be summoned again in a few hours anyway.
“Hold down the fort.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Jae-jun stood before the territory portal.
Clack—
“My lord, where to?”
“Blazing Ironblood Demon King's Castle!”
Vrrrng!
The skeleton mage chanted, and a red portal materialized.
Jae-jun stepped through without hesitation.
—Afterword—
Thank you.