We were on our way back to Avalon via the Darkness Dragons and their containers.
Right after drinking some golden apple potions, Kuina and Aura fell asleep.
The two of them had exhausted themselves in the [War]. They greeted me when I returned from my meeting with the Creator, but that was more likely them pushing themselves.
Kuina was currently leaning on me and breathing somewhat loudly.
She was too adorable. Thus, I decided to brush her head. When I did so, even though she was still asleep, I saw a smile form on her face.
Meanwhile, Rorono was busy inspecting the three knights that had evolved via [Create].
Her three knights were originally made of orichalc.u.m, but right now, they were made of a mysterious magic metal that surpa.s.sed even orichalc.u.m. Their golem cores now featured an evolved twin-drive golem core system that had increased output and stability.
Rorono was most likely busy working out those mysteries. Once she got a good handle on the theory, she could then apply them to make the evolved three knights even stronger.
"Master, what you made with your power is truly marvelous. I knew going in that the evolved three knights have become ridiculously stronger, but I don"t think I can fully understand their construction and the theory behind them within one, maybe even two days… how frustrating"
Rorono sat beside me and murmured so.
"Are you giving up?"
"No. If I can"t understand them with one or two days, I"ll just continue studying them… Master, I have a request. Please make more of that metal. If we have more, increasing Avalon"s war potential is more than possible."
"I don"t mind, but for the moment, I"ll try asking Marcho about it first. It"s her, so she might know about metals that are better than orichalc.u.m."
"Mhm, yes, please. In this match against this unknown metal, the manufacturing techniques I"ve cultivated with orichalc.u.m and mithril are rendered ineffective. I have to start from scratch all over again…. It gets me so excited"
Geez, this girl.
But then again, it was because she was like this that she had time and time again invented truly innovative things for Avalon.
She was the core of Avalon. And she was going to continue doing her best.
After the party, I must remember to reward her for the completion of the knights.
"It looks like we"ll be at Avalon soon."
The Darkness Dragons began descending.
They were instructed to pa.s.s the city and land on the [Plain].
When the container we were in opened, Kuina"s fox ears stood at attention. Immediately after, her eyes opened.
Aura woke up as well.
"Oto-san, we"re back!"
"Yeah, but are you sure it"s alright for you to be up and about already?"
"Yeah ♪! Kuina"s rested enough to enjoy the party! Kuina won"t collapse until it"s over!"
It was either frightening resilience or an insane obsession for parties. I was betting on the latter. Kuina did love parties, after all.
"Is that so? Then, go party "til you drop. Without a limit on the budget, Ruhe is sure to deliver a fun party that has excellent food and drinks."
For these kinds of things, Ruhe was highly reliable. For the sake of fun, that girl would leave no stone unturned. More importantly, she was great at delegating tasks.
Coupling those with a lack of budget ceiling, this party was sure to be one of the best.
"Let"s eat, drink, and make noise today!"
"Mhm, I"m in the mood for that as well, Kuina. Today I"ll drink a lot and distract myself. And tomorrow, I"ll work harder than ever."
"I want to drink some alcohol too!"
"Then, let"s go. We also have to help prepare."
Like that, my monsters and I exited our containers.
Ruhe was very capable, but I shouldn"t let her take all the burden if I could. So, I decided to visit shops I was familiar with and purchase food and drinks.
If we somehow wound up with too many, we could always find some other way to make use of it.
◇
I guided the monsters that came back with me to the so-called other face of Avalon, the Graveyard area. More specifically, we were headed to the factories located there.
Almost all of my other monsters were already gathered there.
The Ocean Singers were briskly transporting the food and drinks, while the Dwarf Smiths were quickly but also efficiently doing construction work.
Even though was an impromptu party, they had prepared this much already.
As though not to be outdone, the monsters that just came back spread and began to help however they could.
Well, except for Darkness Dragons who were too big to fit inside.
The Darkness Dragons had contributed a lot to the [War]. It would be rather poor of me to not reward them after such efforts, so I bought another [Forest] dungeon room using the large amount of DP I earned this time and temporarily allowed all of them to enjoy the privilege previously exclusive to the winners of the races. The said privilege was the feasting on the wild animals that sp.a.w.ned in the [Forest] rooms.
At around this time, the Darkness Dragons were probably ecstatically gorging on the wild animals there. They were probably more excited now than during the [War].
We also invited Marcho, who was currently busy killing time in the casino, to the party. After all, this time as well, we were helped a lot by her and her advice.
She had expressed she wanted us to act like lovers from time to time, so I thought that we should at least leisurely talk later.
At any rate, when Ruhe saw me, she rushed toward me.
"Ruhe, you really did a great job here."
"Fufun, like I said before, music, dancing, and parties are my specialties! Alright, here"s the report for the money used in this party. I asked Duke to take the needed gold coins from the warehouse."
Ruhe said so as she handed me the report.
Looking at it, I was surprised at the amount spent… the amount splurged for a single party was easily what the casino would earn in three days.
This amount can"t be just because of food and drinks…
When I looked around me, I noticed several unfamiliar furnishings. And because Ruhe was a connoisseur of fine things, each one was of high quality.
Thanks to those furnishings, the venue became extravagant.
"You"re unbelievable. And what do you propose we"ll do about these furnishings once the party"s over?"
"Just let them stay here and let them enhance the place"
"…why would a bread factory that"s run by Skeleton need these furnishings?"
We usually hold our parties in the bread factory. It was better than the weapons factory, but I still didn"t see the sense in decorating the place.
"Now, now, patron. Don"t be so stiff. They"ll enhance our parties! Following that, we just have to make this place our official party venue. So, you see, this is an investment, an investment!"
"I"ll going to say this just in case, but if I find out that you carry these out of here and use them to decorate your home, their entire cost will be deducted from your salary."
"Ghh!? Ahahaha, patron, there"s no way I"ll do something like that, come on. Ohh, ah-ah, well, I"m busy, busy, busy. Still have to prepare for the party. See yah!"
Ruhe said so and then ran away.
Good grief. I can"t let my guard down around her.
The food I ordered on the way here should be ready by now, so I decided to go and pick it up.
For Kuina, I got her extra-large spare ribs that she absolutely loved. For Rorono, I ordered her favorite stir-fried, gigantic shrimps. And for Aura, cakes with lots of fresh cream from her favorite store. Moreover, I told the stores to make as much as they could until a specified time.
This was to reward my [Monsters of the Covenant] who contributed greatly to the war this time as well.
Of course, I was also going to reward Duke who protected Avalon. However, instead of giving his reward in the party, I planned to visit his marital home later and give it to him there. His reward would also be for becoming a true [Dragon Emperor].
I"m sure he"ll love it.
◇
Thanks to my monsters who worked really hard, the preparations for the party were finished sooner than expected.
The bread factory was extravagantly decorated for the party. Delicious food and alcohol were served and waiting to be consumed.
As soon as Ruhe confirmed that the preparations were done, she immediately instructed the Ocean Singers to give a musical performance. Their music filled the place with an extravagant atmosphere more so than before.
My monsters were tired from the [War], but their desire to have fun exceeded even that. Still, letting them wait more than necessary would be cruel of me.
And so, I decided to declare the start of the party.
"Everyone, we won again! The one we beat this time wasn"t a new Demon Lord, but rather one with a few years of experience under his belt. This victory officially turns us from being strong for a new Demon Lord"s army to simply being a strong army. And it"s all thanks to all of you. I am proud of each and every one of you. This party is your reward. We"ve prepared even more food and drinks than usual. So, tonight, eat, drink, and make merry as much as you can!"
My monsters cheered in reply.
Once all of them had a drink in their hand, I raised mine.
"Cheers!"
"""Cheers!"""
They said cheers back in chorus as they clinked their gla.s.ses together.
In no time at hall, the venue was filled with laughter.
These were the moments I love, and I would do everything I could to protect them. I wouldn"t let anyone take away my precious monsters.
"Oto-san, you"re not eating!"
"Master, come get some food too"
Kuina and Rorono called out to me while carrying plates full of food.
Seeing them take almost nothing but their favorites filled me joy. Thank goodness I ordered those.
"Yeah, I"ll get some for me too."
After saying so, I went to where the food was being served.
Ruhe"s excellent taste was apparent in the selection. As expected of her, she knew stores in Avalon that even I was not familiar with. There was even food I was seeing for the first time.
The centerpiece among the ones served was probably the dim sum. Thanks to the use of rice flour and the steaming of it, the dim sum"s outer layer became translucent. And somehow, seeing the content made it even more appetizing.
When I finally ate one, I found it to be amazing indeed. It was filled with lots of delicious crab meat. And thanks to the crab miso paste as dressing, it had a deep, rich flavor.
Satisfied, I decided to go for another. This time, it was filled with beef and dressed by high-salt miso. Its saltiness greatly stimulated my appet.i.te.
Each of the dim sum was different, and that was really exciting.
"Oto-san, are they delicious?"
"Yeah, they are. Plus, each one having a different taste makes it fun to eat"
"Oh. Then, Kuina will try some too!"
Right after declaring that, Kuina began eating them too. Judging by the pace she was taking one item after the other, it seemed like she also enjoyed the new taste each one offered.
While watching her like that, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
It was from beautiful woman that had white wolf ears and a white wolf tail.
It was from Marcho.
"That"s another complete victory, isn"t it Procell? Against an enemy Demon Lord that has both an A rank medal and years of combat experience under his belt, no less. That"s quite an unbelievable feat for a new Demon Lord, you know"
"It was closer than I wanted it to be though. Now I realize I got too full of myself after the campaign to help you. The enemy Demon Lords then had been exhausted from fighting with you, so when we arrived, they were pretty much sitting ducks for us to take out."
If we were to fight those Demon Lords head on and while they were at top condition, we would most likely be defeated. After all, just one veteran Demon Lord gave us such a close fight.
"Just you realizing that makes the fight even more rewarding. You know, I still have a lot of advice to give to you, my adorable ward. If you have enough drinks and snacks, I don"t mind talking all night."
"Oh, yeah, please. …Kuina, Rorono, sorry, Marcho and I are going to talk for a while, so why don"t the two of you do something else in the meantime?"
"…understood"
"See you later, master."
Kuina and Rorono had disinterested looks on their faces for a moment, but they understood how beneficial a talk with Marcho could be to me, so they took their leave.
They were such good girls. I should make it up to them later.
◇
Marcho and I headed to the bar by the wall.
…I"m sure this bar is Ruhe"s idea. Ah well, it"s the perfect place for a leisurely chat.
The smile on Aura, who was going to be our bartender, as she approached got me feeling a bit anxious.
"Master, Marcho-sama, may I suggest this special c.o.c.ktail? It"s quite good for the body."
While saying that, she presented a dubious-looking liquid that seemed to be a mixture of alcohol and a potion.
I was hesitant at first, but decided to drink it nonetheless. And when I did, the fatigue in my body became much less. Also, as the alcohol spread, the better I felt.
"Ah, this is great. I like this taste. I"ll have another."
"Yes, right away. How about you, master?"
"I"ll have another too"
Aura quickly made another batch of the c.o.c.ktail.
Wait, is it my imagination or did she just increase the amount for the potion? Bah, whatever. Besides that, I wonder where she got that bartender outfit? It"s frightening how good it looks on her.
"Your parties really are fantastic, you know. The food and drinks are nice too, but what fascinates me the most are your monsters and the great facial expressions they make."
"Thank you. They"re my pride and joy. Each of them"s a really good kid."
"You know, monsters take after their Demon Lord. So, if they"re good kids, that means you"re one too."
From then on, Marcho gave me various advice.
She taught me new and unknown ways to fight other Demon Lords. Some were even borderline foul plays.
The rule that was protecting us new Demon Lords was about to expire, so for me, this was a most excellent gift.
"I"ve learned a lot. Thank you, Marcho. You"re really amazing."
"Well, I can only do this much for you after you stubbornly keep refusing to use my power. …I"m going to say this though, if you ever wound up in a [War] with multiple Demon Lords, I will not remain silent like I did this time."
Marcho was now my monster, and her dungeon was treated as my own.
According to her, when the [War] with the [Pig] Demon Lord began, she was given the choice whether or not to partic.i.p.ate as part of my faction.
It was quite surprising that the choice was given to her.
"Thank you again for abstaining. It"s still too early to show off my ace in the hole."
"I thought you"d say something like that."
If Marcho and her monsters partic.i.p.ated in the recent [War], it would have been a cakewalk.
I didn"t want that though. Not yet, at least.
It was already common knowledge that I came to Marcho"s aid when she was being attacked, but the only other Demon Lords who knew that I made her my monster through [Rebirth] and that her dungeon was now under my control were [Dragon] and [Time].
So, just having her, her monsters, and her dungeon show up at the start of a [War] would be enough to overturn the enemy"s strategies. As such, it wasn"t entirely an issue of my pride, but rather also a matter of reserving my trump card for when I needed it the most.
"Procell, I"m certain you"ll someday become the strongest Demon Lord there is. I am guiding you, after all… to that end, how about I teach you the charms of a woman? Say, later tonight?"
"…pfft, what??? Is that some kind of joke?"
"I"m serious. I want us to do things lovers do. Besides, you"re a virgin, right? That"s pretty unbecoming for a Demon Lord, you know"
She hit a sore spot.
I was a virgin, but I wasn"t some degenerate that would lay his hands on his daughters. I tried to visit brothels several times, but just couldn"t build up enough courage to go through with it.
"Alright, let"s do it. But let me be clear: I"m doing this not to get rid of my virginity. I"m doing this simply because I love you, Marcho."
"Fufuu, I love it when you say charming things like that."
Like that, what I would do for the rest of the party was decided.
First was to drink moderately. Drinking too much might ruin it all.
And then, around twilight, when the party has ended, Marcho and I would head to the carriage near the golden apples, which acted as my second residence. There, we would be uninterrupted to do whatever we wished.