Chapter 4 — Our Majesty Has Changed (1)
Chapter 4 — Our Majesty Has Changed (1)
Shwikviena swallowed her words for a moment, as if choking down her anger. The Demon King said nothing either. A suffocating silence settled over the bedroom.
'That sound effect is annoying....'
An affection window flickered into view beside Shwikviena. A cutesy ping-ping sound effect accompanied it as the affection value rose and fell. The stat wavered from its original appearance in the high forties all the way up to a value near one hundred because both the effect of the skill "Mihon" and her own mental fortitude were equally powerful.
'At least I know for sure that she can't see that window....'
Honestly, right before Shwikviena got caught by the skill, the Demon King had been pretty excited that a name he recognized finally came up. At last, a character he properly knew—Erenier—had appeared!
The most difficult romanceable character in Legend of the Holy Hero. The Demon King's most powerful allied mage and also his woman. After the Demon King died, Erenier went half-mad and started slaughtering demons and humans alike.
That content was the real starting point of the story's latter half after the Demon King was eliminated. The only way to finish her route afterward was always to forcibly break Erenier's will through imprisonment, abduction, and the like.
Despite her vicious stats and behavior, she had a pure-love side that had surprised him, and that made it all the more disappointing that a normal lovey-dovey route was impossible.
But before he had a moment to chew over the character information, the Knight Commander broke the heavy silence.
"Your Majesty, forgive me. It seems the Correction Officer is envious of Your Majesty's favor, which we ourselves cannot dare accept. Please do not be overly wrathful."
"Commander...!"
Minoreus's flustered voice trembled. He spoke while struggling desperately to restrain himself.
"If it serves to divert Your Majesty's mood, even a little, then you can expend as many sex slaves as you wish. In the first place, every slave in this land belongs to Your Majesty. It is not our place to comment, Correction Officer."
"Do not wag your tongue at my loyalty, Commander."
Shwikviena threatened in a growling voice, but Minoreus's attention was fixed entirely on the Demon King. He had no idea when a roar of rage would erupt and send their heads flying.
"I said enough, Correction Officer."
"There are lowly creatures here who fail to hold Your Majesty's mercy precious, and I am speaking. Why do you interfere?"
Because of that, Minoreus himself didn't even realize he was acting in a way he normally never would.
Into the gap in Minoreus's thoughts, created by Shwikviena's impulsive actions, dread of the Demon King slipped in.
Minoreus, who was already struggling to endure the Demon King's aura, could think of nothing but stopping Shwikviena's part of the conversation by any means. The bull-headed knight commander opened his mouth a little and tried to steady his panting breath.
So Minoreus also didn't know that the Demon King had been flustered yet again because of him.
'No, seriously, why is the minotaur getting overwhelmed too?! If I don't figure out how to turn this skill off soon....'
Just from the Demon King's voice, the succubus's arousal had soaked through her underwear and was dripping down onto the carpet under her dress.
The minotaur's sensitive nose and the Demon King, using his Detection skill, had both already noticed the state of the succubus's body. And Shwikviena the succubus was barely suppressing a body that wanted to embrace her lord at any moment.
The Demon King and his two retainers were in a panic, so the slaves prostrated before them grew even more terrified. As a thought that they were pitiful suddenly struck him, a warm energy swirled through the Demon King's entire body, which had been hesitating in confusion.
As if gently pushing him forward from behind.
The skill "Will" helped the Demon King reach a decision.
Roan managed a light, deep breath. Then he opened his mouth.
"Enough."
At the Demon King's voice, which landed like a splash of cold water, both retainers froze in fear. They were vassals who served as pillars in maintaining the Demon King's realm, but when it came to the Demon King's selection of who to kill, official rank provided little protection.
But that didn't happen.
At the same time, the affection window next to the Correction Officer emitted a dispirited whirr, and her affection began to fall. The Demon King realized she was gradually breaking free of the effect of his skill "Mihon."
To completely draw his retainers' minds back, the Demon King spoke plainly.
"What do you want to do? Speak."
The Demon King was asking for an opinion!
Minoreus and Shwikviena simultaneously went wide-eyed. In all the years they had served the Demon King, this was a first.
Only then did the two retainers realize they were breathing properly again, that their thoughts had returned. Brief bewilderment crossed each of their minds, but Shwikviena adapted to reality a step faster.
Then her body trembled with emotion.
"Your... Your Majesty. Those things... humans only need to be used as humans."
"Meaning?"
"Humans are an important food resource for our Evirgio. Is it not sufficient for food to fulfill its duty as food? Since ancient times, it has been said that one must not play with one's food."
'...So they were an... important... food resource...? Surely not every meal...? No way...?'
One of the slaves swallowed her breath in terror.
It carried a rather grim air, but the fact that the demons and soldiers of Evirgio—the so-called Demon Nation—ate humans was content that already appeared in the game. And since that statement even had a certain logic to it, the Demon King, who had been curious about what exactly Shwikviena was trying to say, nodded in apparent understanding.
It wouldn't exactly be pleasant to watch someone attempt sexual intercourse with food. It might feel like watching bestiality with livestock. Thinking that way, the Correction Officer's vehement reaction wasn't strange.
There was a conscious aversion, but whether it was fortune or misfortune, because he inhabited the Demon King's body, his sense of kinship with humans had faded and he felt almost no horror.
As he was nodding along to Shwikviena's words, Minoreus spoke urgently.
"Your Majesty, I believe that humans have various uses in their own way. At the very least, would it not be good to sift out the ones worth keeping and find diverse applications for them? I feel it is slightly wasteful to expend them all as food."
"Hm?"
"The ones with strength can be used as laborers, and some seem to have a bit of a head on their shoulders. Above all, I believe human women's genitals are more than adequate for bringing Your Majesty pleasure."
Now the women on the bed could no longer hide their trembling bodies. Someone desperately tried to suppress the sound of their teeth chattering.
They too knew that the palace servants and the Demon King's army ate humans. Since they were prisoners dragged from the hellish scenes of the battlefield.
But because they were slaves meant to be "presented," they had never been treated so blatantly as food before.
The horror of the human slaves, freshly aware of their position and that of their fellow humans, began to manifest as instinctive behavior beyond conscious control.
Minoreus spoke in a slightly elevated voice.
"Naturally, I believe the pinnacle of a slave's usefulness is as a sex slave... Ah, n-no, Your Majesty. I misspoke."
What?
Wasn't what Minoreus just said a little weird?
The Demon King furrowed his brow slightly.
Is that guy just into human sex slaves?
The succubus prostrated beside him was looking at the minotaur as though he were pitiful.
"Have you ever tasted a human woman?"
"You mean as a meal? Or..."
"As a slave, I mean."
"Ah, while on the battlefield, I violated a few among the captured prisoners. At that time, as I marveled at the sensation I was tasting for the first time, did I not think to myself: this is something that absolutely must be presented for Your Majesty to taste?"
His tone was different from his usual manner. The relaxed and chilly delivery had quickened slightly, as if excited. Seeing his faintly unfocused eyes, the Demon King realized instinctively.
'Looks like he really, really liked it.'
"Was it not joyful? The frail flesh that cannot even accommodate all of the soldiers, the slender bodies that writhe, and even their screams are delicate. I have always thought that the finest virgins among them must be presented to Your Majesty!"
A faint trickling sound was heard in that instant. In the end, one of the virgins had lost control of her bladder.
Becoming food like livestock, or being treated as someone's finest sex slave. Neither was a hopeful ending for a human. Despair and fear of the future stripped yet another shred of human dignity from the slave's body.
The slaves were crumpled in despair, weeping silently.
Minoreus scowled. Shwikviena, wearing an expression that said 'See!', shot him a glare.
But the Demon King was quicker.
"You there."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Take them away."
"Yes."
"?!"
"Your... Majesty!"
Desperate screams rang out among the women. And then everyone was shocked once more by what followed.
"I intend to look for them again later. Keep them alive."
At this unexpected stroke of fortune, the slaves wore dazed expressions. And someone among them threw herself prostrate at once and cried out in a trembling voice.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you...!"
It was Lisa. Beside her, an affection window reading +40, freed from "Mihon," blinked.
The Demon King looked quietly at the filthy, naked slave. Ruined by tears and other bodily fluids, she was overjoyed at nothing more than having her life spared.
He felt anew how tremendous a moment it had been when that seemingly worthless woman had resisted the Demon King's skill.
"These people...."
An inexplicable emotion choked the Demon King's throat.
"Have these people washed and give them proper clothes. And do not give them to anyone as food."
"Understood."
The slaves emptied the bedroom, and the servants hurriedly stripped away the soiled sheets. The Demon King turned his head toward his two retainers. The two of them were confounded by the sight they had encountered for the first time while serving their lord.
And they were afraid.
They had made a disgraceful show in front of His Majesty. What was more, His Majesty seemed intent on treating those humans specially. A blade could fly at any moment. Was there a way to evade death?
The Demon King, who sensed their confusion and fear through Detection, spoke after a moment of silence.
"Report."
Both retainers forgot propriety and raised their heads sharply to look up at the Demon King. Shock filled their eyes. Tears began to well at the corner of the Correction Officer's eyes, and the Knight Commander opened his mouth with difficulty.
"I am deeply moved by Your Majesty's gracious mercy."
"Mm."
Resting his chin on his hand, the Demon King listened to the report concerning Erenier's deployment. The details covered which city Erenier would pass through, how many soldiers and servants would move to the front, and where and until when she was scheduled to stay.
The reports from Minoreus and Shwikviena, who had regained their composure, were concise and essential, as if proving they were the Demon King's excellent retainers.
Listening to it, the Demon King recognized what point in the game's timeline this was.
Fortunately, it seemed the Hero had not yet properly begun his activities.
"I see. If there are no other matters, withdraw now."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"...Your Majesty."
When Shwikviena addressed the Demon King, Minoreus's guard went up and his eyes flared.
"Thank you for bestowing mercy. I will continue to serve you with all my loyalty."
But the Correction Officer merely hunched her body, pressed her forehead deeply to the floor, and once again swore her loyalty.
The Demon King nodded wordlessly.
Only after the two of them vanished did the Demon King let out a deep sigh.
"Aah-hoooo...."
He had been incredibly tense when his retainers suddenly barged in. And on top of that, he hadn't expected both of them to get hit by the skill like that! It was a brief panic, but he managed to get through it somehow.
'That really was all thanks to the skill!'
The newly acquired skill "Will" had activated and seemed to help him pull together his wandering mind. It was hard to describe the exact mechanism, but once it activated, the feeling was that he could tell 'Ah, it's been applied.'
'I've gotta learn how to turn skills on and off.'
The Demon King had seen those two retainers briefly in the game. They were two of the beings players called the "Four Heavenly Kings," the Demon King's Castle officers who came forward one after another to block the Hero.
Though, in the end, the Hero won.
Anyway, the Demon King's skill seemed to be an unbearable pressure even for them, some of his most powerful retainers. Then the servants or slaves weaker than them would suffer even more.
In that sense too, developing the ability to handle skills appeared important. Wanting to check the reward details and see if there were any hints about skill application, the Demon King opened the detailed description of the skill he had just obtained.
A small exclamation slipped from the Demon King's mouth.