Dungeon Defense

* * *

“…… ”

“…… get up……. ”

Beyond the crowded ritual, you hear a loud noise. You knock on the skull in succession with your voice cut short. I hardly opened my eyes while trying to make an impression. My skin was heavy.

“Rise, Dantalian. ”

“Ugh. Lapis? ”

You turn your head back, and there's a half-circular girl in a suit. Laffith bends at her waist and sags her pink sheep head down.

I yawned and said,

“What's going on? ”

“I have a very urgent matter to report. I can't talk about it here. ”

Lapis was not the type to report every little thing. I took matters into my own hands and asked my decision and physician. It was also because I trusted her competence.

“Damn, that's serious. ”

Lapis never exaggerated expression or raised the importance of work. It was a really, really urgent matter if she was very urgent, even if she was blunt and expressionless.

How long has it been since I defeated the Class E Adventure Force?

As trouble approaches, Lapis speaks in a tone of silence.

“The emergency I'm about to tell you about doesn't look as bad as it is right now. ”

“Huh? What do you mean? ”

“Put some clothes on first. As the Demon King, please protect your body. ”

Oh, I see.

It was only then that I clearly realized that I was in the water naked. In addition, Laura, who is naked, has been sleeping in my arms ever since. It was like someone had discovered the hostile aftermath scene.

I opened my mouth.

“Ugh……. ”

“Ugh?”

Laffith tilts his head with his expressionless face.

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

Screams echo through the underground pond.

"…… didn't the roles of men and women change," Laffith muttered.

* * *

Laffith and I sat across from each other on the Crown Prince's table. We spread out the maps completed by the dwarf craftsman and discussed the current situation. Laura was sleeping on the other side of the bed, and I was considerate of her because she struggled with her first experience.

“Hmmm. Please forget what happened before. ”

“I've already forgotten. It's not worth remembering. ”

“ ……. ”

I'm not interested in this body. I always feel it, but Lapis, you're so bitter...

I checked the psychology of Lapis because I was disappointed in my poor operation.

‘Status window.’

━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

Name: Lapis Lajuli

Race: Half Circubus: Kunkuska High Prize

Attribute: Neutral (-10)

Level: 24 Reputation: 134

Occupation: Merchant (A-), Witch (B), Swordsman (D)

Tong: 59 Power: 32 Power: 55

Politics: 74 Charm: 50 Skills: 2

Likeability: 50

Current Psychology: '…… fool. ’

━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

"Man, I thought I was an idiot! ’

I was blushing. I thought I'd be a fool if I started hanging out with a girl in the morning. Luckily, it didn't go down or anything, so I had to make it up to you. In the future, I need to be a healthier and more exemplary Demon King in front of Lapis, someone who will never flirt with women.

Either way.

We stopped talking, and we started discussing. Laffith told me he found evidence on Reef. And I warned him that I might be facing a higher rank Demon King than I am.

“The Demon King's order is not absolute; even if the 60th place wins the 50th place, sometimes the 40th place wins the 30th place. e.g.”

Lapis' thin finger finds a parchment. From the documents she brought, 72 Demon King symbols were drawn in sequence.

“Rank 29, Astarot. A hundred and fifty years ago, I fought the 23rd Annihilator and surrendered. Seventy years ago, the 32nd Asmodeus defeated the 30th Porneus. Normally, two Demon Lords could win on the battlefield where they were defeated. ”

“Faction fights. ”

“ ……. ”

Laffith's eyes slightly widened.

“… That's right. They use their faction's power against the Demon King, who is more powerful than they are. ”

“I learned it all at night in Valpurgis. There's a huge battle between the Demon Kings. Pymon, who was humiliated by me, was probably the leader of a faction. And maybe.”

I pointed to a piece of parchment. 68th Place of the Demon King Belial. It was the symbol that was found on Reef's body.

“This Belial belongs to a faction led by Pymon. ”

“That's also true. ”

Laffith is astonished. I can read her emotions, though she may not seem to have changed at all before.

“How did you know? ”

“That way the story becomes plausible. ”

“A story, you mean? ”

“Ah.”

I nodded.

“Basically, Lapis, you're right. Now that I think about it, it was weird. How could a leaf that was just a minor adventurer have equipped heavy infantry gear? Not without the support of some rich man. No official evidence of Reef borrowing or sponsoring money from anyone has been found anywhere. However, the 68th mark of the Demon King Belial was found on his corpse ―. ”

Anyone can doubt it.

Belial was the one who sponsored the Leaf from the shadows. "

“Why Belial supported the Reef. This question is easily solved. Belial was part of the Pymon Faction, and Pymon was recently humiliated by the Demon King in the 70s. Belial attacked me, Dantalian, to avenge my insult to the leader of his faction. Nothing out of the ordinary. ”

“That's what I thought. ”

Laffith nods.

“Belial is widely known for his fierce devotion to King Pymon. I'm fascinated by King Pymon's heart, thoughts, and beauty. Everyone knows that. It is natural for him to antagonize the Dantalian Empire. ”

“Hmm.”

I smiled.

“Isn't that strange? ”

“Yes?”

“Think of the unsub's position. Reef has always been at the forefront of combat. It's not weird to die all the time. Would he want to leave evidence against a human being like that? This is where you'll find out you're the culprit. In fact, now we know who the killer is. ”

Lapis holds his chin in his hand. I was lost in thought.

Her eyes narrow.

“…… That's a trick. ”

I smiled. I stared at you to keep talking.

“A plot to tear the Demon King apart. He's not the Demon King. ”

“You're right about the trick. He's wrong to say he's not the Demon King. ”

“…… Why? ”

“Simple logic. Very few people knew what had happened in Valpurgis' night. The only people who knew the truth when the Reef invaded were the Demon Kings who participated in Valpurgis' Night. ”

As long as it's true.

Pymon had to publicly apologize in front of the witches for framing me.

But I've forgiven Pymon in the spirit of not ruining the event. It was meant to be favored by the fifth Demon King Marvas, who played the role of moderator at the hearing. As a result, Pymon apologized to me once at the ball.

As soon as the incident is over, the Leaf Adventure Force approaches.

It may take at least a day or two for rumors of 'Pymon was humiliated by the Dantalians' to spread among the Demon Monarchs or forces who had not participated in Valpurgis' night.

After the hearing, I stayed a week in Nibbleheim, and two days after returning to the dungeon, I immediately heard of Reef's Adventurers. At that point, the Reef was already forming an alliance of villages. So the time for the Reef to form an alliance was right after the hearing, no matter how late it got!

An outsider hears the truth of Valpurgis Night in just three or four days, and conspires in connection with it? Not only do you create conspiracies, but you actually sponsor the Leaf Adventure Party?

I insisted.

“Physically impossible. ”

I declared that I felt like a high school student with superpowers to cause murders everywhere.

“The unsub is in about 30 Demon Kings attending Valpurgis' banquet. ”

“Amazing.”

Laffith admired it purely.

“Dantalian is absolutely right. ”

“Well, Ivar Lodbroke, the chairman of your council, is also on the suspect list.... ”

Ivar, an old man on the outside, but in fact, Lori, the Vampire, is now firmly weakened by me. I blackmailed her for her identity.

Ivar is extremely cautious, as you can imagine from how many of his identities he has. Seeing the bitterness at the hearing, she was unlikely to conspire carelessly. I boldly excluded her from the number of cases.

“Let's reduce this step by step. Lapis, do we know exactly who the Demon Kings of Valpurgis Night were? Who belongs to which faction. ”

“Yes, I would like it to appear in the list. ”

Lapis pulls the quill out of his arms. She did not hesitate to check the participant on the parchment list.

‘As expected, Lapis. ’

I was satisfied. I don't know if she noticed, but I just gave her some kind of test. How can one merchant always remember who participated in Valpurgis Night and which faction they all belonged to?

But now Laffith was checking the list naturally. It meant that the faction had perfectly organized the information they needed before coming to me, knowing who was at the banquet. It was evidence that I responded directly to my demands that I wanted to be a little overwhelmed. Not a great readiness.

If Laffith had been incompetent, he would have never bothered to bring a list of all the Demon Kings that had been reorganized, remembered who had attended the Valpurgis Night, or known the faction's relationship. You must have just jumped in and found a massive conspiracy. Those idiots and Lapis ran the line.

‘Typical secretary style. ’

A person who has the ability and readiness to answer questions immediately if they have questions. That was Lapis Lazuli. As the force expanded, this talent was indispensable. Laura was also good at using information to make inferences, but there were limits to the information itself. Although I am now confined to the Kunkusa Parliament, I was sure that one day I would formally join the Demon King's army.

“You're done.”

He also met the requirement. Laffith said in a blatant way that he had taken matters into his own hands. With that expression, I coveted Lapis even more. Whew, just wait a little longer. The moment my horseman becomes a more attractive workplace than the Kunkusa High Priestess, you will be my vessel.

The characters checked in the list were roughly:

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

Rank 5th Marvas · · (Neutral)

Rank 8th Barbato · · · (Plain)

Rank 9th Pymon · · · (Mountain)

Rank No. 10 · · · (-)

Sequence 12 Citrus · · (Mountain)

Sequence 14 Lesage · · · (Plain)

Sequence 16 Zephar · · (Plain)

Rank 20 Purson · · · (Neutral)

Rank 21 Morax · · (Mountain)

Sequence 22 ifs · · (-)

27th Place Lonove · · (Mountain)

Rank 31 Forest · · · (Mountain)

33rd Place Garf · · · (Mountain)

·

·

·

Rank 50th Purcas · · (Plain)

55th Orobas · · · (Mountain)

57th Place · · · (Mountain)

62nd place in Balak · · · (Mountain)

68th Place, Belial · · · (Mountain)

Sequence 70 Series · · · (-)

71st Dantalian · · · (-)

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

It's neutral on the right, so I'm guessing it's the name of the Faction.

“A total of 32 Demon Kings attended Valpurgis Night. ”

I nodded.

“Good. Tell me more about the factions. ”

“Yes, first of all, the Demon Kings have three major factions. First of all, the Plains came from the ranking of eight in the order in which Barbatos placed Prince Marathon in the plains. ”

Barbato is the representative Demon King who insists on conquering the human race. In other words, the Plains, like the Demon King in the story, were a group of people who really hated humans, went extinct, and came together to conquer them.

“In fact, the vast majority of the Demon Kings of the Plains have the Castle of Marathon in the plains. In the plains, human beings live here. It is inevitable that there will be more discord with humans if we are in the plains of Marwan. ”

“That means a lot of old grudges with humans. ”

They were also a force that favored me. I crushed Barbatos' nemesis, Pymon. I have not explicitly joined a certain faction yet, but I suspect the other Demon Kings will see me as part of the Half Plain.

Most Demon Kings don't think I beat the ninth Pymon with my own speed. I'm going to infer that Barbatos is weak behind me. Whether this delusion works for me or not will depend on future events.

“Here are the mountain tribes. This faction is led by King Pymon. Of the 72 Demon Kings, 35 belong to the mountain tribe. It's the largest force in the upper room. ”

And it was my potential hostile force.

“Most of the Demon Kings of the mountains live in the mountains. It's a place where monsters dominate and where no human power can reach them. The Demon Kings of the Mountains have no reason to fight humans with their blood on their hands. ”

In short, they were in a safe and comfortable place, so they hated, were not interested in war. That's why Barbatos thinks they're scum who settle down.

“No wonder the Demon King reigns where monsters live. It's no coincidence that the mountain rangers are the greatest. It was not very wise for His Holiness Dantalian to turn the mountain tribes against them, even though he had no choice. …… but… ”

Laffith searches the list with cold eyes.

“The most powerful is not the most powerful. There's a bow that Dantalian can pierce. ”

Her blue eyes glow dark.

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Please note that ripple is being deleted periodically. For example, if 50 coins increase, the replica written on 47 coins and previous coins will be deleted. Deleting all three previous ripples. This is to prevent replays from lengthening the body.

As a reader of Joara novels, I also hate to see Ripples make me look like a multitude. It's also important to communicate with your readers, so we're only deleting the three previous ripples.