Chapter 19 — Reconstructing Affection (4)
Chapter 19 — Reconstructing Affection (4)
"You are like insects. You devour fruits, animals, humans, and even us forest elves without distinction."
Roan, who had seen Rauka's story in the game, felt a strange sensation.
Originally, she was a heretic even among the forest elves. That was why she couldn't return to the forest even after being rescued alongside the princess. After drifting aimlessly in the human world, she was persuaded by the princess to form a party with the hero and return to take revenge on the demon king.
Yet according to Rauka's words now, she seemed to possess a strong sense of kinship with the forest elves.
"So you resorted to slaughter?"
If he didn't know something, he would ask. She wasn't a main romanceable character anyway, so there was no need for him to max out her affection.
However, he at least wanted to eliminate the possibility of her becoming the hero's companion. By learning about her, information that hadn't appeared in the game, it would open up more ways to raise her affection.
This was a conclusion he had reached after spending nearly a fortnight with Grünent, Diobe, and the demon sword Fiora.
These individuals were 'living beings.' They were not just 'characters' defined solely by CGs and in-game text.
And the living, breathing Rauka now poured out a fury so intense he could feel it prickling against his skin.
"Slaughter? Slaughter?! It was you who committed slaughter first! How dare scum like you demonkind even utter the word slaughter! The humans who cared for me, my own kin who were my friends... you killed them all!"
Her cry was desperate. The demon king stared down at the screaming Rauka without emotion. The demon king's crest, engraved above the office door behind her, glinted as if it were Roan's own eyes. As if it were observing her along with the demon king.
The demon king spoke in a low voice.
"My subjects were there."
"...What? You're insane..."
"I heard that at dawn, they raided a family's home, locked them inside, and set it on fire."
"Do monsters like you even grasp the concept of subjects? You bastards who would even devour your own kind!"
"There were children inside as well."
"What..."
For the first time, Rauka's voice faltered. She made no sound, but he felt Diobe, standing behind her, draw in a quiet breath.
The demon king rested his chin on one hand and spoke.
"It is a tragic thing that your acquaintances and kin were eaten. However, let us swap perspectives. From where I stand, you are a murderer who killed my kin while they were out hunting to feed their young. You even brutally murdered the children."
With a furrowed brow, Roan locked eyes with Rauka, who stared back at him blankly. The demon king's right hand, which had not been supporting his chin, flipped through the report about her.
"After that, you killed every single resident of that village, one by one. And after being captured by the guards, while being transported to the capital, you killed several more guards. Do they not have families? Are they truly all evil?"
"...What kind of nonsense are you... spouting! You're the ones eating other people!"
"Because there is nothing to eat."
Roan's confession, spoken with a light sigh, caused Rauka's expression to contort even further.
"So you're saying it's fine to eat people if you have nothing to eat?!"
"The forest belongs to the forest elves. The fertile lands belong to the humans. Only barren lands, where nothing grows even when farmed, were left to demonkind. Since you massacred the entire village, you would know. Did those people have any proper means of livelihood?"
At this unexpected remark, she recalled her memories while listening to the demon king's words. The village was definitely located in a secluded spot on the edge of the forest.
It was land the forest elves had abandoned because nothing could be cultivated there.
And it was that very remote place where she, cast out by her own kin, had been forced to stay.
A flustered look arose on Rauka's face as she realized the demon king was not lying. Roan noticed through 'Detection' that Rauka's mood had shifted from moments ago.
"To those who starve, those weaker than them are akin to prey. You, a forest elf, are the one who best understands and accepts the law of the jungle, aren't you? Because it is nature. Yet you are oddly different from other forest elves. Do the forest elves even acknowledge that attitude of yours?"
The final sentence was a line the princess had originally spoken to Rauka in the game.
Rauka was unlike a typical forest elf. Her hair color, her emotional behavior. That was why she was shunned by her own kind.
And because she was different, unlike other forest elves, she was able to involve herself in human affairs and stand against the demon king to protect the world.
"Forest elf."
Rauka, who had been gritting her teeth with her head lowered, snapped her head up. Her name was not yet written in the report. Roan decided to wait until she told him her name herself.
"The value of the lives of your deceased friends and my subjects will differ between you and me. Even so, asking you to understand us is likely hard for you to accept. But at the very least, I seem to grasp what you hold valuable and how you differ from other forest elves. I had heard that forest elves originally do not make friends with or seek revenge upon anyone outside their own race."
"..."
"It seems you truly cherished humans."
A single tear trickled down from the corner of Rauka's eye as she glared murderously up at the demon king.
She was probably recalling some happy moment from her past.
Roan spoke in a low, subdued voice.
"I, too, find it regrettable that our demonkind must resort to cannibalism to survive. For our own people, as well as for humans and your forest elf kind. That is why I have prohibited cannibalism within this castle. If possible, I intend to give the human slaves a chance to live."
"...You speak quite eloquently, demon king."
Rauka's words, chewed up and spat out, came a beat too late after a moment of hesitation.
"Believe it or not. That is your freedom."
Roan slowly shrugged his shoulders.
"I intend to give you, as well as the humans locked in the dungeons, an opportunity. Seeing as you were strong enough to kill demonkind and guards alike, you must be quite powerful for a forest elf. I saw potential in you. If you work and assist, like the slaves in my castle, I guarantee your life and a proper livelihood. What say you?"
"...What?"
It had been quite a while since anyone had questioned him like this. The very notion of freeing a hostile combatant and offering her a job would have been an absurd proposal to Rauka.
"Among the humans in this castle, there is a princess from Merde. She is my concubine."
Rauka's brow furrowed. Her revulsion toward the demon king was laid bare in her expression. Yet Roan's voice was unwavering.
"Within my castle, human slaves are receiving education. Soon, they will be dispatched throughout the castle. However, there are subjects who dislike these sudden changes. Even within my own household, I cannot keep an eye on everywhere. And the one with the highest status among those humans is that princess."
Rauka studied the demon king and then the face of Diobe, the human standing behind him, as if trying to discern his true intent.
Diobe quietly nodded. It was an acknowledgment that everything was true.
"There may be demonkind who target her. As you know, humans are frail. An average demon could kill a human with just a few downward strikes. Thus, I need someone to watch over her by her side. That is why I have been searching for someone who is female, possesses strong martial prowess, and is not a member of demonkind."
Diobe at some point realized that Rauka was no longer saying anything. The red-haired forest elf was listening intently to the demon king's words.
She gazed at the demon king's back and inwardly marveled.
"I propose to you the task of escorting Princess Grünent, forest elf. If you are willing to accept, you will be placed under a spell that suppresses your power for a time and then stay with the princess. If you find that you get along with the princess, we will lift the spell at that point and provide you with a weapon. Naturally, you will also receive a salary for the work."
"...And if I refuse..."
"Then you must return to where you came from."
Rauka's expression turned venomous as she recalled the dark, gloomy dungeon. Roan waited silently for her answer, reading through the incarceration report that detailed the tortures she had undergone.
After he had turned a couple of pages, Rauka spoke with a tone completely different from before.
"...I'll do it. That job."
"Diobe."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Convey the decision just made to the soldiers outside. Report to Shwikviena and tell her to process the forest elf's..."
"Rauka."
At the unexpected interjection, both Roan and Diobe turned to look at Rauka. The forest elf was staring at the floor, so the demon king and the handmaiden could not see her expression.
"My name. It's Rauka."
Watching her affection drop to -99, the demon king smiled. It was a soft and elegant smile.
He turned his gaze back to Diobe.
"Have them process Rauka's custody. Diobe."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Diobe naturally led Rauka out of the office.
'It worked! It worked!'
Contrary to his stoic exterior, the core of the demon king was doing a victory dance.
Even in the game, Rauka originally had no affection for the hero. Instead, perhaps because she clicked with the princess who had escaped jail with her, the princess and Rauka soon became close.
If she stayed with the princess, Rauka would become much more docile than she was now. The princess, whom he had met a few times, had visibly increased her affection for him. She would be a good influence on Rauka.
'When and how should I even arrange her salary? The HR person will handle it... right?'
Roan watched as Diobe re-entered the office, thinking about later details, when a question suddenly popped into his mind.
"...Diobe?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The soldier has taken Rauka."
"How much salary do you receive?"
At Roan's question, Diobe, whose affection was -80, made a subtle expression. At that moment, the affection score also began to fluctuate noisily around -80, emitting its characteristic beeping sounds.
Roan panicked.
'Uh, did I just touch something I shouldn't have...?'
Soon, Roan understood the reason.
"Your Majesty. I am a beastman. Therefore, room and board are provided in lieu of salary."
'Gasp! Wh-what... Ah, damn! Did I just step on a landmine?!'
The demon king's exterior merely showed a slight furrow of his brow. After a brief silence, Roan finally managed to speak.
"...How long have you worked?"
"About four years and two months."
"...I apologize. I shall inform the head handmaiden. Ensure that you receive a salary from now on. I will also make sure you are compensated for what you have not been paid so far."
And then! Her affection rose dramatically!
It went all the way up to -60!
Roan struggled to suppress the smile threatening to break out.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
There wasn't much change in Diobe's expression, but her affection was honest.
'As expected... money is truly great.'
*
"And then, a skeleton dressed in fancy clothes! Appeared out of nowhere!"
"Barbara, that's the fifth time you've told that story..."
"Let her be."
Grünent laughed and stopped Carol. Barbara, who had returned from the dungeon, was recounting how a skeleton wizard had saved her. The first version was crude, but the description had become increasingly detailed, and now it was practically an epic poem.
In this castle where joyful events were rare, it was a sensational story.
Had the subject been not a skeleton but a human knight, the story's genre would have long since turned into a romance.
'So even within the castle, it's being observed to some extent.'
Grünent was once again impressed by the demon king's power. Changing a policy was no easy task. Making up one's mind, and then making one's subordinates carry it out, were both difficult things.
But the demon king was doing just that. If one tried to implement a similar change within the royal court of Merde, how long would it take? It required the power and logic to overturn the nobles' opposition. It also required money for the actual groundwork, and trustworthy vassals to handle the practical affairs.
Above all, it required a monarch who possessed righteous conviction and kept his word.
'And it seems the demon king is capable of that.'
Sitting on the sofa, Grünent tilted her teacup. The quality was far inferior to what she drank in Merde. Yet Grünent had come to like this aroma. A simple cup of tea, humbly enjoyed, was now enough to satisfy her.
"Your Highness. Please, you must tell this story to the D-Demon... to His Majesty!"
"Hmm?"
"I couldn't thank him properly last time, so I want to find that person. You'll help me, won't you?"
"Hm, I wonder."
"Your Highness~."
Barbara held the position of the youngest among the handmaidens. At her adorable wheedling, Grünent let out a small laugh.
'Yes, perhaps I should... I suppose it would be good to express my thanks after all.'
Thanks to him, her handmaidens' lives had been saved several times. Grünent fell into thought about what she could possibly gift him from the supplies obtainable here.
That was when it happened.
"His Majesty has arrived."
The voice of the demon handmaiden came from outside the door. The handmaidens jumped up in surprise, and Grünent, having set down her teacup, slowly rose as well.
The demon king, cloaked in a black cape and uniform, entered the room. Though dressed entirely in black, his face and eyes seemed to glow like a well-polished statue. With a light but measured step, Roan made his way to the sofa opposite Grünent.
The princess, whose affection was +12, bowed her head to the demon king.