A lot of things happened but we have successfully finished the party.
The guests were able to get a taste of the charms of the Avalon I have built.
…I was also forgiven by the [Time] Demon Lord for the traitorous thing I did.
It was all thanks to his kindness. However, as he had suggested, I intended to pay back this debt of grat.i.tude someday.
"That"s pretty much it. Was it helpful? Did you learn anything from it?"
As of the moment, I was in a guest room telling Stolas about my experiences on war thus far.
It was required of us new Demon Lord to experience [War] at least once within the year.
I had already cleared such a requirement but Stolas was only about to experience her first one and thus requested that I give her some advice.
There were currently three people in the room: me, Stolas, and Rozelitte, the angel-type monster that Stolas lent to me.
"Yeah, thank you, Procell, it was very helpful."
Stolas said so and then stretched.
When she did so, my eyes were drawn into her unusually white nape.
She was currently wearing a silk pajama she bought here in Avalon. Its texture was great and it was undeniably a first-cla.s.s item. She had tried it on and liked it so much that she bought duplicates.
"It was my pleasure."
When I said so, a Mythological Fox serving as a housekeeper brought in black tea.
"These are good tea leaves. It"s very calming."
"It"s actually my favorite. A lot of things can trouble a Demon Lord, after all. I"ll prepare some for you as a gift."
"Thanks. Fufu, you"re so kind, Procell."
It was the first time for us to make small talk and I felt strangely tensed.
"Well, this is the only way for me to return the favor I owe you, you see. I"d like you make you a happier, even if by only a little."
When I was challenged into a [War] by three other Demon Lords, Stolas acted as my insurance and stood guard in my crystal room.
And at such a crucial time where I decided to go on a campaign to save Marcho, she lent me Rozelitte who was one of her [Monsters of the Covenant]—one of her trump cards—regardless of the risk of losing her should I fail.
"Hey, Procell, I…"
Stolas began saying something but then stopped.
To disguise the fact that she did so, she pretended to drink her black tea.
Looking at such a Stolas, Rozelitte shrugged her shoulders and sighed my, my.
"It"s because you"re so half-and-half that Procell-sama is s.n.a.t.c.hed away by someone else. Now, go all out, push him down, and be one with him."
"Pfft, w-w-whatever are you talking about?"
With a red face, Stolas sprayed out her black tea and said so.
"This is what I"m talking about, master. Well, it is cute as well though."
The two acted totally like sisters.
When I thought so, I unconsciously let out a slight smile.
"Rozelittle, this is goodbye. Our time might have been short but it was fun."
"I should be the one saying that; I"ve learned a lot. I"ve actually been taking some lessons from Wight-san and I intend to use my newly acquired knowledge to make Stolas-sama even more powerful."
She sure is shrewd and dependable. As long as she"s around, Stolas should be fine.
While thinking so, I did the procedures for transferring monsters and then extended my hand toward Stolas. Upon Stolas grabbing it, the transfer would be complete and control over Rozelitte would be returned her.
Just like with Fel, I was about to part with Rozelitte as well.
"Procell, thank you for training Rozelitte. Though you might someday regret making your rival stronger."
Not making the other person feel indebted to her was a good trait of hers.
"I"ll be careful not to let it come to that. I would like us to continue to be rivals, Stolas. Racing against one another to be a first-cla.s.s Demon Lord and whatnot. I"d rather there be no bloodshed among us though."
I wanted to avoid a fight to the death with her because win or lose, it would leave a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
"Yeah, I"d also like us to compete against each other but without us killing each other. …oh, I"ll grab your hand, now."
Stolas and I had the same sentiments.
She then grabbed my extended hand and thus completed the transfer of Rozelitte back to her.
"Stolas-sama, I"m back."
"Welcome back, Rozelitte."
The two said so and then embraced.
Parting with Rozelitte might have been lonesome but, as one would expect, by Stolas"s side was where she belonged.
"Procell, I"m heading back to my room. I really enjoyed this day."
"Oh my, Stolas-sama, you"re not going to sleep in Procell-sama"s room tonight?"
"It"s much too soon for that. Not that that will ever happen. Anyway, we"re going."
"See you tomorrow, Procell-sama! You should make a move on Stolas-sama. She"s the ideal candidate to cure you of your weird fetishes in no time!"
""That"s none of your business!""
Stolas and I both retorted so.
We aren"t in that kind of relationship.
"Say, Procell, I was wondering, if you have the time, do you want to watch my [War]? There"s no way my fighting force would lose but your moral support would be appreciated."
"Sure. I guess should watch you fight from your crystal room, just like you did in my war. But wouldn"t this put me in a very advantageous position? Being able to see for myself the scope of your fighting force and all."
I returned to her the words she said to me back then so that I would not feel overly thankful.
Upon hearing it, she smiled wryly.
Aside from being head and shoulders above other new Demon Lords, Stolas was the bearer of an A rank medal. There was no way she would lose.
I could lend her one of my monsters to further secure victory but I knew her pride would not allow that. And so, it was my decision that I would just watch her fight and act only when her opponents were trying to do some foul play like mine did. To that end, I had preparations to do.
◇
Stolas and Rozelitte left, leaving me alone in the room.
I was lying on the bed, totally exhausted. Exhausted not physically but mentally.
"Master, I"m coming in."
"Yeah, enter."
Rorono the Elder Dwarf asked so and then entered the room.
Each night, one of my [Monsters of the Covenant] slept with me. They had dubbed so their Father"s Day.
Of course, when I said they slept with me, I meant it in its literal meaning. I was not a lolicon and these girls were my daughters. I don"t have any abnormal fetishes whatsoever.
"My reward starts now. Until tomorrow evening, father would be together with just me. Also, from now until my reward ends, I"ll keep calling you father."
Rorono said so and then gave her usual reserved smile. Upon seeing that smile, all my tiredness faded away.
"Understood. As promised, after we see Stolas off, the two of us are going outside."
What Rorono asked for her reward was my time.
To be more specific, a full day spent only with her.
If I were to give Wight his name, I would lose my magic power for a long time. While in that state, going outside was not advisable and so, I had decided to grant Rorono"s reward first.
"Mhm, I"m looking forward to it."
"That being said, are you really fine with a trip to that place?"
"Yes. Travelers have said that the blacksmithing techniques there are amazing."
The destination of our trip was also decided by what she wanted.
Due to the fact that it was located at the foot of a mine and that materials were thus easy to get, it became a sacred place for master blacksmiths—and those wishing to become one—to further hone their craft.
"But even if you see for yourself the humans" smithing techniques, I don"t believe there would be much benefit."
"Humans indeed do have unrefined techniques but to make up for that, they try out all sorts of ideas. Sometimes they even stumble on a new approach. I"m quite excited for it."
Even when going on a pleasure trip, she still thought about blacksmithing; she really did love it.
She was currently lying on the bed with me so I decided to hug her. Hugging my girls as though they were hug pillows were one of my greatest source of satisfaction. Their warm body temperature and fragrant scent simply erases the fatigue in both my body and mind.
"Say, father,"
"What is it?"
"Why don"t you do to us what you did with Fel? Is it because you like Fel more?"
Upon hearing it, I unconsciously leaked out a weird voice.
I have to calm down and look good in front of my daughter.
"No, it"s not that, but rather, it"s because you girls are my daughters and I love you too much for that. Also, in the first place, I didn"t even mean to do what I did to Fel."
"Mhm, okay. Then, between your daughters, your bride, and all other else, which would you say is the most important?"
"I think it"s you girls. There"s no one more important to me right now than you."
After I said so, Rorono then buried her face in my chest.
"I"m relieved to hear that. Lately, Kuina has been worried, saying things like you"ll be stolen away from us and that you"re so charmed by Marchosias-sama and Fel that you"ll forget about us."
"Kuina has been thinking those things? But there"s absolutely no way those"ll happen."
"Unless you put it into words and actions, we had no way of knowing. In fact, when she said those things, I also became a little worried. For those reasons, make it up to us by showing us a lot of love."
Rorono said so in a spoiled manner. In response, I brushed her head.
It was only until she said so to me that I was made aware of such things. Certainly, I had been spending less time with the girls compared to before so it was perfectly understandable for them to worry.
"Yeah, I will. Thanks for telling me about it."
"Mhm. But while it"s fine to show your affection to Kuina via your actions, it might be too soon to say it directly to her."
"Why is that?"
"Kuina is under the impression that you love her the most because she was the strongest amongst us. However, now that Marchosias-sama—someone stronger than her—has appeared, that confidence of hers has crumbled. To regain it back, she"s undergoing special training that will benefit not only her but father as well. And I want to help her conquer her weakpoints."
"Her weakpoints?"
"Mhm. If it was just her physical prowess and the amount of magic power, there"s no problem; my weapons can take advantage of those. But then, her forte is her flames and yet she almost never uses them. And so, I want to make her a weapon that"ll incorporate the use of her flames as well."
It was indeed a waste for Kuina not to use her flames despite being a high-end flame user. If she could then make full use of her flames, she would probably become even stronger. So much so that she could perhaps even match Marcho.
"It"s supposed to be your time but all we"ve done is talk about Kuina."
It was a little bit heartwarming. Even though Rorono didn"t often act like it in front of Kuina, Rorono really did look up to Kuina as her older sister.
"Yeah but whenever Kuina gets sad, I get sad as well. Well, enough of that. Father, about that special gun we talked about the other day, I"m quite curious about the amusing mechanism in it."
"Oh, okay, I"ll use my [Creation] to make it before I name Wight."
Naming one"s first three monsters—their [Monsters of the Covenant]—was different from naming the succeeding monsters. For the first three monsters, the monster and Demon Lord were bound by a connection that united them as one, thus making the procedure of naming cost almost none.
For the naming of the succeeding monsters, however, the Demon Lord would have to compensate for the lack of that special connection by one-sidedly expending an amount of magic power that far exceeded their own which then leaves them unable to recover any magic power for nearly a month.
Obviously, without any magic power, I would not be able to use my [Creation].
For all the risks it entailed, I was still more than happy to give Wight, who has always been supporting me, his name.
After that, Rorono and I talked about trivial things and then fell asleep.
Her small body and her warmth were very pleasant. It seems like I can sleep well tonight.
◇
The next day, after we saw Stolas off, we began our stroll toward the city well-known to blacksmiths.
Rorono seemed like in a good mood, I noticed during the journey.
"Father, look at this sword. It has undergone a peculiar process when it was forged. I want to tinker with it. Oh, and the tanned hide used for the armor over there is pretty too."
She said so as she praised the ingenuity of the humans.
Even if clothes and accessories were bought for her, she wouldn"t be too ecstatic about it, but buy her weapons and armors that might look promising for her research and she would be over the moon.
"Let"s buy it then. If it helps you improve your techniques in any way, then it"s essential for Avalon."
"Thank you, father!"
My [Monsters of the Covenant] each had different things that made them happy.
Kuina liked first and foremost food. Next to that, she liked cute clothes and accessories. However, because her body had grown recently, she could no longer wear her cute clothes and that obviously made her sad. I"ll go buy her a lot of cute clothes next time.
For Rorono, she enjoyed peculiar weapons and armor. The keyword there was peculiar. If the equipment was deemed mundane, she would be displeased. The next things she liked were ores, and then lastly, food.
As for Aura, she would be happy with pretty much anything but she loved getting girly things such as make-up.
At any rate, if shopping could make Rorono this happy, I would very much like to do as much shopping as she wanted.
After observing the town"s blacksmiths, we enjoyed a meal at around dusk.
Carrying a large quant.i.ty of baggage, we returned to Avalon.
Rorono was very happy, and just seeing her face was very well worth the trip.
◇
After arriving in Avalon, we enjoyed some sweets and tea.
Of course, it was still just the two of us.
Rorono happily talked about things. 70% of which were about the weapons under development; 20% were about Kuina and Aura; and about 10% were about her subordinates, the Dwarf Smiths.
She had a million other things to tell me when the alarm on the clock struck.
"……it"s already time. It"s regretful but my time alone with you, father, has ended."
Rorono said so in a somewhat sad manner.
In response, I brushed her head, almost unconsciously.
"Rorono, while it is true that your reward has ended, I enjoyed this day so I think we should do this again someday. I"ll be sure to make some time for it."
When I said so, Rorono smiled.
I wanted to make time not just for Rorono, but for Kuina and Aura as well.
"Well then, I"m going to the lower dungeon floor. The time for Wight"s naming is coming soon."
"I"ll go too."
Rorono usually grabbed only my cuff or sleeve, but this time, she reached for my hand.
Some kind of change of heart?
At any rate, from then on was the naming of Wight in the lower dungeon floor.
For precaution"s sake, I had informed my monsters that they were free to partic.i.p.ate. Seeing as how popular Wight was, I was quite certain almost all of my monsters would show up.
I hope Wight likes the name I thought up.
While psyching myself up and thinking of so, Rorono and I headed toward the dungeon floor beneath Avalon.