An Unexpected Stroke of Luck - Part 1
In the underground prison beneath Devata Castle, the Demon King’s stronghold on the 72nd floor, countless humans were held captive while still alive. Their ages varied widely, and gender made no difference. Everyone was locked away in the order they had arrived, left to endure each passing day.
“…When do you think we’ll be able to leave?”
Eri, one of the members of Luke’s party who had been captured while hunting the Ram tribe, muttered quietly. Beside her, Dane shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Dane’s face looked gaunt. Several days had passed since they were thrown in here, yet there was no sign of rescue. Instead, he had watched even more people get dragged in. Their friend and comrade Luke had been taken somewhere, and he still hadn’t returned.
“…Do you think we’ll make it out alive?”
“Don’t say that, Dane! We’ll survive…!”
“Luke was taken and never came back. Do you really think those bastards plan to keep us alive?”
Eri couldn’t answer. Thinking of Luke, who had never returned, she began to cry without realizing it. Seeing her tears, Dane spoke in a slightly apologetic tone.
“…Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“Hic… sob… I want to go home…”
At that moment, the previously quiet underground prison began to fill with noise. Footsteps echoed, accompanied by the sound of people talking.
“Have you finished sorting them?”
“Yes, the list has been prepared here.”
“Good. I trust you handled it well.”
The ones who had descended were the bearded butler who had previously inspected the prisoners and a man with black hair and golden eyes.
“…Who is that?”
“No idea.”
Though Eri and Dane had never seen the man before, they both felt an inexplicably ominous presence from him. The man strolled through the prison, sweeping his gaze over the imprisoned humans.
“Kain, move only the humans listed here to this cell. Send the rest to the other one.”
“Understood.”
The butler called Kain gave orders to the guards.
“From now on, move the humans I point to into this cell. The rest go to the other cell.”
“Yes!”
Kain began singling out the prisoners one by one. The guards opened the cell doors and started dragging people out by force. Among them were Eri and Dane.
“Eek! Be gentler…!”
“I’ll stand on my own, so please put your weapon away…”
Once they were pulled out, Eri and Dane froze in confusion. The black-haired man who had given Kain the orders was staring at them with wide eyes. His expression was one of someone who had unexpectedly spotted an acquaintance in the last place they expected.
“Wait. Stop right there. I have something to ask you two.”
The man called out to them. The guards halted, and Eri and Dane exchanged glances before looking at him.
“U-us?”
“Yes. What are your names?”
“I-I’m Eri…”
“…My name is Dane.”
Upon hearing their names, the man’s face hardened even more than before, clearly shocked. He then asked carefully.
“Among the people you know, is there anyone named Luke?”
The moment Luke’s name left the man’s mouth, both Eri and Dane unconsciously stiffened. The very people who had dragged Luke away and refused to return him were now pretending they knew nothing.
Dane was furious enough, but Eri’s emotions boiled over. Forgetting her fear, she shouted.
“You’re the ones who took Luke! You won’t even tell us if he’s dead or alive, and you refuse to send him back…!”
“Took him? You mean he was captured with you?”
“You captured him and now you’re asking—!”
The man listened to Eri, fell into deep thought for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“Heh, hahaha!”
“…W-what’s so funny?”
“Haha… So that’s how it was. Now that I think about it, that guy was originally active in Soter City.”
“Do you… know Luke?”
At Eri’s question, the man’s golden eyes gleamed like a predator that had found its prey. He turned to Kain beside him and ordered.
“Put these two in separate cells. Pick two more humans who weren’t on the list and isolate them as well.”
“Understood, Lord Nahen.”
Kain bowed respectfully to the man. So his name was Nahen.
Eri and Dane blinked in shock at the command to be placed in separate cells. Kain instructed the guards.
“Lock those two in the solitary cells over there.”
“Yes.”
The guards dragged the pair into individual solitary cells. They had at least been able to rely on each other before, but now that they were completely separated, Eri trembled with anxiety. The only comfort was that their cells faced each other, so they could still see one another’s faces.
While Kain and the guards were busy with the sorting, Eri cautiously whispered through the iron bars.
“W-why are we being locked up separately? What are they going to do to us?”
Hearing the fear in her voice, Dane slightly furrowed his brow. He recalled the man named Nahen’s earlier reaction and said,
“That demon… seemed to know Luke. Could he be an acquaintance of one of the demons Luke hunted in the Demon Realm…?”
“Then he might be planning to take revenge on us!?”
“Hey, keep it down!!”
Because Eri had raised her voice, a guard banged his spear against the bars in warning. Eri flinched, then slumped her shoulders and murmured.
“Luke… I miss him.”
“……”
Dane felt the same. Luke, Dane, and Eri had grown up together since childhood; they were the closest of friends. It was only natural to miss Luke, who had suddenly vanished and never returned.
As the two of them drowned in a deep sense of loss, the sound of iron bars locking echoed from the other side. The sorting seemed to be finished. Nahen slowly approached the solitary cells where Eri and Dane were held.
Even though he was simply looking at them normally, every time they met those golden eyes, they couldn’t help but flinch. Eri and Dane stared at him with obvious tension on their faces.
“Your names are definitely Eri and Dane, correct?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Good… You don’t seem to be lying. The Luke you know—he’s a tall, blond man with a somewhat slender build, right?”
For some reason, Nahen knew Luke’s appearance exactly. Eri and Dane felt a chill run down their spines as they stared at him blankly.
“H-how do you know that?”
“He was dragged away by the guards, wasn’t he?”
“Y-you’re the ones who did it, so why are you asking again?”
“Hmm.”
Nahen called for Kain. Once the sorting was complete and Kain approached, he asked simply.
“About that ‘adjustment work’ Commander Lin did before.”
“Yes.”
“Was there a blond man among the humans who underwent that process? Blue eyes, slender build, rather handsome features.”
“…Ah, I believe there was. He was sent to Soter City. The very city you ordered to be the final destination, Lord Nahen.”
“He went to Soter City?”
Nahen smiled faintly. Eri and Dane, who had been listening to their conversation, felt a wave of unease at that smile.
“…This is quite the incredible stroke of luck.”
Nahen chuckled and gave Kain an order.
“Open the cells.”
“Pardon?”
“Then bring them to my office. Keep them restrained.”
After giving the short command, Nahen left the underground prison. Kain watched his retreating figure for a moment, then turned back to Eri and Dane. He ordered the guards.
“Take these two to the office.”
“Yes, Chief Butler.”
Eri and Dane looked at each other in confusion before they were seized by the entering guards and dragged away.
The reason Nahen had the two brought to him, and how he knew about ‘Luke,’ was simple.
Because in Evil Queen Maker, Luke was a major character.
While playing Evil Queen Maker, the enemies one had to be most wary of were naturally the Demon Kings of other floors. But the faction that required nearly equal caution was the Human Realm. And Luke was one of the humans a player needed to watch most carefully.
The Sword Hero, Luke.
That was the true identity of a mere C-rank adventurer named Luke. Although he was currently only a C-rank adventurer, if a player raised the humans’ hostility past a certain threshold, one of the three Heroes who would appear was Luke.
Nahen hadn’t known, but it seemed this Luke had been captured during the recent operation and dispatched as a spy to the Human Realm. And of all places, to Soter City—the one Nahen had been most wary of.
“To think I would eliminate one of the Heroes so early…”
Since he had gone to Soter City, Luke was undoubtedly dead. The guild master there, Adelbert, would have noticed the mental manipulation placed on him.
‘There’s no way Adelbert would leave a mentally manipulated human alone.’
Just then, someone knocked on the office door.
“Lord Nahen, I have brought them.”
It was Kain. When Nahen told him to enter, Kain came in with one guard and the two prisoners.
“You may leave.”
“Yes!”
After the guard saluted and left the office, Nahen looked at the pair. Dane and Eri were the most reliable allies of the Hero Luke. In the future, they would become an exceptionally skilled rogue and mage respectively, and would be the biggest obstacles to a player trying to eliminate Hero Luke.
‘Right now they just look young and weak…’
Considering how they appeared in the game, it meant their potential was that outstanding. Selling such individuals off as mere slaves would be an enormous waste.
“Dane, and Eri. I have a proposal for you.”
“…For us?”
“W-what is it…?”
“Join me.”
Kain’s eyes widened. It wasn’t just the idea of taking humans under his command. More importantly, Nahen had clearly said to join his command, not Seere von Devata’s.
“Lord Nahen? What do you mean by that?”
“I cannot bring them under Seere. If the other demons learn that a human is serving directly under her, there will be backlash.”
“Ah… That makes sense, but still—taking humans under your own command? Why would you bother with the likes of humans…?”
“I have my reasons, so don’t worry.”
He couldn’t explain that these two would later become the companions of a Hero. He could only tell Kain to trust him.
After brushing off the question, Nahen made his offer to the two.
“If you come under me, I will guarantee not only your lives but also sufficient compensation and proper treatment.”
“A-aren’t you a demon too?”
“I am.”
Dane swallowed nervously, clearly tense. He couldn’t understand why Nahen would want to take humans like them into his service.
As they hesitated, Nahen continued.
“Of course, you are free to refuse.”
“What?”
“If you refuse, you will simply be sent back to that underground prison. Nothing will change.”
At Nahen’s words, Eri and Dane looked at each other.
“…If we go back to the underground prison, what happens to us?”
“You will either be sold as slaves, or end up like your friend.”
“What?”
“Your friend. The one named Luke. He’s dead.”
At Nahen’s indifferent tone, Dane and Eri froze. It was a natural reaction—learning of their friend’s death from a demon’s mouth. The two who had watched Luke being taken away exploded with rage.
“How can you say that so casually!?! You’re the ones who dragged Luke away!!”
When Dane shouted in fury, Kain’s eyes instantly turned cold. Nahen raised a hand to stop him.
“Don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t us who killed him. It was a human.”
“…What?”
“I needed humans for something I was planning, so I asked your friend and a few others to run some errands. Luke went to Soter City, and I received a report that the guild master there killed him.”
Dane, who had been seething with anger until a moment ago, now looked even more shocked than when he first heard of Luke’s death. Because he had learned that Luke was killed not by a demon, but by a human.
“Luke… was killed by Mr. Adelbert?”
It was the truth, not a lie. In reality, Luke had been murdered by Adelbert Grantz. Of course, the reason Adelbert had killed Luke was entirely due to Nahen’s scheme, but he deliberately hid that fact.
The reason he had brought up Luke’s death now was for two purposes.
First, to threaten Eri and Dane’s lives.
Second, to make them harbor hostility toward humans just as they did toward demons—by using the death of their most precious friend.
Nahen spoke as if giving them a free choice.
“Choose. Will you have your lives guaranteed and work under me? Or will you be sold off as slaves like this?”
“Slaves…”
“Yes, slaves. The humans we captured will be sold as slaves to demons from other floors. It’s not hard to imagine what fate awaits human slaves sold to demons.”
Dane and Eri looked at each other. Learning that a human had killed Luke was already shocking, but hearing that refusing Nahen would result in them being sold as demon slaves left their eyes trembling.
In the end, it was Eri who broke first.
“Y-you’ll really spare our lives?”
“I never go back on my word.”
“I-I’ll do it!”
“Eri!?”
Eri whipped her head toward the shocked Dane.
“He said he’ll spare us and treat us well!”
“What value could we possibly have for him to treat us well? You actually believe that?”
“…Even if I can’t believe it, I want to.”
Eri let out a hollow laugh.
“When have we ever been treated well by anyone? All we did as adventurers was menial chores. Who would treat a C-rank adventurer who only takes odd jobs with any respect?”
“Eri…”
“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be sold as a slave either. So I’ll take this chance, even if it means making a deal with the devil.”
Eri’s eyes turned to Nahen.
“Even if I have to sign a contract with a demon.”
“…Then I’d like to hear your answer too, Dane. I won’t give you more time to think. I’m a busy man.”
Nahen looked at Dane. His eyes had already been wavering, and now that Eri had accepted first, his resolve shook even more. Most people would choose life over death. Dane was no exception. It was sad that Luke had died, but he had no desire to follow him.
“…Understood. I’ll do it too. You definitely said you’d give us proper treatment, right?”
“Yes. As long as you listen well and fulfill your roles properly.”
“What exactly will you have us do?”
Nahen answered simply.
“Study.”
“Pardon?”
“With your current skills, you can’t do anything useful. If you want to be of help to me, you must first improve your abilities.”
Dane and Eri had high growth potential, but they weren’t useful right now.
“I’ll give you three years. If you fail to show clear growth by then, your future will become very uncertain.”
At the chilling warning, both of them flinched. Nahen told Kain to prepare living quarters for Dane and Eri, then added one more thing.
“Keep an eye on whether they’re doing it properly. If they slack off, you may dispose of them at your own discretion.”
“Understood.”
Kain removed the shackles binding their hands and feet. Then he looked at them with a menacing expression.
“If you want to live, you will have to prove your own worth.”