MSR-V3-8

“War,” the Madame uttered, matter-of-factly.

“That must be avoided. We have a long-lasting relationship with the

Tzardom of Light.”

“Sooner or later, it’s going to happen. It might become a huge war that involves the Northern Nations, too. Whose side will you take when that happens, little White?”

“...That’s not a fair question, Madame. That’s why we have diplomacy.

To prevent such things.”

“That’s the sane reaction. But there is no way that the Tzardom would let their most-wanted enemy slide with diplomacy. Worse yet, I can’t imagine him backing down from a fight... I think the entire Tzardom would turn to dust.”

While the Madame dropped a scary image here, the Demon Lord himself would have been dumbfounded if he had heard. ‘What do you think I am, some space Kaiju!?’ he might have asked.

“I agree. That’s why we must avoid that scenario.”

Even White seemed worried about the fate of the Tzardom. The Demon Lord, of course, would have completely disagreed.

“I see, little White. You don’t want his existence coming to light.”

“Not at this time, at least.”

“I’m not going to disagree with that, but it’s up to him at the end of the day. There’s a very scary man working for him, you know. I don’t know anything about war, but I have a feeling that all he’ll have to do to finish an international conflict is send his henchman out with a nod.”

This was accurate, at least. Tahara could easily gun down every last important figure in the Tzardom with his sniper rifle, rendering the country powerless. What Yu could do in his stead was more terrifying. She could turn the country into a lifeless wasteland, or maybe a field of flowers. In either case, the Tzardom would become a hellscape of human experimentation. While White and the Madame didn’t know exactly what the advisors were capable of, the Madame had perceptively picked up on a glimpse of it, and White considered anything to be possible by the hands of the Demon Lord who had performed the same miracle as the Ember Angel.

“You want to keep it quiet for their sake, then... I don’t think the Tzardom will reciprocate your kindness.”

“Still, I want to do everything I can.”

“I suppose you’re right. Unless he tells me to, I’m not about to blab about him... I will always respect and obey his wishes,” the Madame declared with no ambiguity.

Against White, the leader of the Holy Maidens, this was filled with intent to rebel. She had just brazenly promised to follow the will of an individual over that of Holylight’s national policy.

“I can’t blame you...”

White didn’t show any anger towards the declaration, but quietly closed her eyes. What law could stand a chance against that man? White herself no longer considered the Demon Lord evil, anyway.

“The Holy Church has already reached the consensus to keep it quiet and not ask too many questions. I just wanted you to know our intentions,

Madame.”

In fact, the Holy Church didn’t even imagine that the Demon Lord was the one who bestowed the Angel’s Ring to White. They were sure to only tell anyone (in and out of the Church) of the fact that a Holy Maiden was given an angel’s halo as it suited their agenda.

“And I have certainly heard them.”

The Madame stood without responding in one direction or another. She was demonstrating that the will of the Demon Lord dictated her choices, one way or the other. There was no point in further debate.

“By the way...” They spoke in unison. It was an uncomfortable overlap.

“Please, Madame...”

“...No, you first, little White.”

They silently stared at each other. White wanted to ask how the Madame lost so much weight in such a short time, and how her skin was brighter and healthier than before. On the other hand, the Madame wanted to ask how one could be given an Angel’s Ring from the Demon Lord. If she could have a beautiful ring like that, she would have given up all of her mines. Still, neither of them could ask it out loud. They both felt like they would lose if they spoke first.

“...N-Never mind, Madame. Please be careful on your way home.”

“I-I will... I think I lost my train of thought, too.” With them sharing a stiff laugh, the meeting concluded.

While the meeting didn’t generate any results that brought about national change, it was a significant step in the right direction that these two were able to discuss their positions and opinions. At the very least, they were able to take away that they wouldn’t become enemies to one another any time soon.

## The Demon Lord’s Return

Upon his return, the Demon Lord was amazed at how energized Rabbi had become. There were many people running back and forth in the streets carrying soil or lumber. Some could be seen smashing the Sand Snail shells he had obtained in the dungeon, mixing the shards into the soils.

(It’s really coming together...)

While the speed of construction in modern-day Japan was impressive of its own right, magic allowed construction even in this less-developed world to happen at least as fast. An experienced spellcaster would accomplish as much as a piece of heavy machinery.

“Welcome back, Master Demon Lord!”

“Aku. How have you been?”

Aku ran to him, and the Demon Lord picked her up and pulled her close to him. Aku then happily rubbed her cheeks against his, like a cat marking her territory.

“A lot has changed around here.”

“Yes it has! You really are amazing, Master Demon Lord!” “I didn’t do anything,” the Demon Lord chuckled.

He had only given an outline to Tahara, to whom he left the entirety of the project. Yu was the one running the hospital with her talent, and the Demon Lord had this feeling that his advisors should have been the ones praised, not him. Of course, he was undervaluing himself. Without him, his two advisors would have never even appeared in this world, never leading to the development of the village. The Demon Lord was the one who came up with the money to hire all of the extra people, too.

“I was in a hurry, so I didn’t bring you anything. I’ll get you something good next time.”

“All I want... Is for you to come home safe.”

Aku’s red eye stared directly into the Demon Lord’s face. Her green eye, shaded by her long bangs, shimmered in the light. The Demon Lord saw something mystical in Aku’s mismatched eyes and enjoyed looking at them.

With his hand, he brushed Aku’s bangs aside.

“Master Demon Lord...?”

“Yep. Your eyes are still beautiful.”

“...I-I don’t really like my eyes.”

She didn’t like her eyes because she had become a pariah in her village because of them, to the point where she was forced to hide half of her face. While the Demon Lord knew first-hand how Aku was treated in her village, he stayed true to his heart.

“I like them. They’re calming to look at.”

“Urm...”

As if to hide the blush on her face, Aku wrapped her arms around the Demon Lord’s neck. The Demon Lord didn’t mean any of it in a romantic sense, but just as if he was looking at a pair of mystical jewels. Still, Aku must have been embarrassed.

“I’m almost done with my errand up north. Maybe we’ll go on a vacation once I come back.”

“Vacation...?”

“It’s hot here. I’m seriously considering building a pool, or something.”

“...Pool?”

“Don’t worry about it yet.”

Aku could not even imagine such a thing. Where a cold bath was the height of luxury, overflowing a place with precious water just to swim in it, not to drink, grow crops, or even clean yourself with, was the height of wastefulness, and totally unproductive. For people of this land, most didn’t even consider the concept of swimming in water.

“Now I’ll go take care of business. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay!”

After gently brushing Aku’s golden hair, the Demon Lord headed to the hot springs resort. In front of it, Yu welcomed him with an attractive bouquet.

“Welcome back, Mister Secretary.”

“Thank you. These are the flowers you were telling me about?” Yu held a variety of vibrant flowers, in red, yellow, purple, and pink. They were so beautiful as to dissuade one from even touching them, to the surprise of the Demon Lord. He had no appreciation for flowers whatsoever, but even he could tell that these flowers were amazingly beautiful.

“These are even more amazing than I had thought... I appreciate it.”

“Y-Yes, sir! I continuously performed modifications to grow ones to your liking.”

“I see. This is a wonderful hobby.”

As Yu smiled gleefully, the Demon Lord did as well. He was overjoyed that Yu, whom he had designed with a mind to create hellscapes, had started such a dainty hobby. Then he went one step too far.

“This purple, especially... I tremble at its beauty.”

The Demon Lord only knew the names of ubiquitous flowers like tulips and dandelions. He had mentioned this without much thought, except that he didn’t remember seeing many purple flowers in the few floral shops he had seen.

“I thought you might say so...”

For some reason, this put a brimming smile on Yu’s face. It was amazing how cute a woman of her natural-born beauty could appear when she wore an innocent smile. Of course, if one were to imagine how the purple hue was created, they would see a much different meaning behind her smile.

“A great hobby. Keep it up.”

The Demon Lord had said so with almost a prayer-like tone. That kind of sincerity couldn’t help but exude into one’s voice.

“Y-Yes, sir! I will continue to make improvements on them.”

Yu clasped her hands and looked up at the Demon Lord’s face. It almost looked like a schoolgirl giving a bouquet of flowers to an older student she admired. Yu was on the taller side for a woman, but was still considerably shorter than the Demon Lord, making them a picturesque pair when standing together.

“Now, keep up with the hospital, too.”

With a gentle pat on her shoulder, he left. Yu stood there quivering for a while, but after repeatedly touching the same shoulder the Demon Lord put his hand on, her lips curled up in a twisted shape.

“I have to bloom the little ones some more. Purple was electricity and boils, I think.”

Her eyes were glowing in a kindling light, with too much malice for someone with a doctor’s title. Further improvements would be performed on her flowers, and very soon. However, no one pitied Milligan the test subject, nor would come to save him. For every little girl he tortured, the agony was coming back to him now a million fold.

(It seems so long since I was last here...)

Once he reached the hot springs resort, the Demon Lord went to the office in the back. Tahara was waiting for him there, and without so much as a greeting, the genius said:

“Hey, Mister Secretary. Can’t we build an inn already?”

“Hm...”

Hanging up his trench coat on the wall, the Demon Lord took a seat on the luxurious genuine leather chair. There was a heavy desk in front of him, making him look like a dictator or some major mafia don.

“Our word-of-mouth start-up’s just about over the hill. Thought it’d be more efficient if we finish that up and have them live closer. We’d need to put up marketing people in the Holy City and Yahooo, though.”

“Good. I was going to suggest the same.”

The Demon Lord solemnly lit his cigarette and gazed up at the ceiling. Tahara took out numerous blueprints, explaining in detail how they should go about advertising in big cities, like flyers in bars, having a street performer orate in the plaza, and even performing little stories to children. All of them came with required costs and manpower, as well as an estimate of guests, required number of rooms for them to stay in, the appropriate level of those rooms, the number of carriages used for their transportation, etc. The Demon Lord felt terribly dizzy at all of these numbers.

“Take care of those as needed. I trust your judgment.”

“I-If you say so...”

“In any case, you reserved a lot of room for the roads.”

“Well, I figured we’d need at least two lanes. I think it’ll be more convenient to separate the carriage road and the sidewalk with metal fences. Since we’ll need intersections down the road, I’m thinking about putting in flaggers for signals.”

Hearing the modernity in some of these ideas, the Demon Lord felt cold sweat trickle down his back. “What in the world is he going to make?” was written all over his face. When the Demon Lord exhaled the smoke of his cigarette, a knock came at the door and Kyon peeked her head in, just popping in her rabbit ears and half of her face.

“Mister Tahara, they told me they need water buckets and barrels, hoppity.”

“We ran out again...? Alright, I’ll put another order in.”

“Thank you... Hoppity.”

Hearing the conversation, the Demon Lord mumbled “water buckets.”

The farming quarter had a simple well just for show that pulled up water with the Bucket. However, for the other quarters, they were carrying water over from the hot springs resort using buckets and barrels. The fact that infinite clean water (hot or cold) could be drawn was already impossible in this world, but simply not having taps felt incredibly inconvenient to the Demon Lord.

“It wouldn’t be bad to set up some Springs of Healing in important parts of the village.”

Tahara whistled in response to the Demon Lord. A Spring of Healing, just like a Field Hospital, was one of the Evolved Bases. Fight in that base, and it automatically healed the HP of the user. Palm trees sprung around the spring and exuded a tropical atmosphere that he thought was well-suited for the year-round hot climate of this country.

“In that case, Mister Secretary, can I ask you to set up a Forest of Healing, too? At this rate, the hospital’s going to overflow. The forest wouldn’t ruin

the view, and would take some work off of Yu’s hands.”

“All right. I’ll set it up once I fully return from the north.”

Hearing this, Tahara wrote something onto a map, and added a notation with a red pencil. Most likely, things were already expanding in Tahara’s mind.

“Pretty soon, this will be the number one destination on the continent.”

“Mm. Then we will be one step closer to achieving our goal.”

“It’ll be the true capital that the Holy City’s got nothing on. Just like you thought, the neighboring villages are making some noise. Sooner or later, they’ll beg for us to invade their villages.”

“I have no such ill intentions... I only want their money, and perhaps a good reputation.”

To conceal his nerves, the Demon Lord lightly brushed the bouquet Yu had given him. His hand seemed to quiver, ever so slightly. What he had only started to make some money and garner a reputation had transformed into talk of an invasion before he knew it, and now there were ideas about building a new capital. If he had been drinking anything, he would have done a spectacular spit take. On the other hand, Tahara, who knew what those flowers were, could only see him as a Demon Lord ready to drain the blood of the people in order to bloom something spectacular.

“Yeow! Can’t believe you said that with a straight face. How do you do it...?”

Naturally, Tahara reacted this way. It was as if the Demon Lord had calculated all of the chemical reactions to follow, and used his every move to plant explosive landmines all around his enemies while they didn’t have so much as a clue. No ill intentions? It wasn’t even funny at this point.

“Now, about the noble named Dona Dona...”

After reintroducing the topic, the Demon Lord slowly exhaled smoke. He looked like he was scheming something, and Tahara kept quiet. Of course, the Demon Lord had nothing to scheme about. He had never even met the noble.

“He just had to tell me he wanted the music box. I would have sold it to him.”

The Demon Lord just blurted out his honest thought. But, everything about their history prevented Tahara from taking it at face value. It was just a work of dark humor to him.

“Aha ha ha ha! In exchange for all of his mines, right?”

It was a natural reaction. It was as if he were speaking to a fish that took the bait on his fishing rod, telling it that he would have just given the fish the bait, if only it had asked... as he was positioning a knife to gut it. Anyone hearing him would have taken it as nasty sarcasm.

“In any case, we’ll deal with the noble later. I have an idea.”

“Alllll righty. It may be unnecessary, but Yu’s making a file about this

Dona Dona. She’s digging deep with her questions.”

“Hm. I’m looking forward to the results of that, too.”

The Demon Lord had chosen to postpone the matter. With his head spinning, it was excruciating to keep thinking. Since his name was Dona Dona, it almost felt like he was going to be carried away sooner or later.

“So, those are the pieces we got through the Madame... We just had the first wave of guests leave the other day, and apparently things are already really heated for the spots coming up.”

“Hm. Not a bad start.”

The Demon Lord took the vases and paintings in his hands, sharply inspecting them. His mafia-boss looks gave this scene undeserved reverence.

Of course, he had no eye for art whatsoever.

“By the way, that vase is worth five gold medallions, apparently. The painting you were just looking at is worth seven.”

“M-Mm...”

Hearing this, the Demon Lord gingerly placed it on the floor. He produced the scroll-shaped Item Folder from his pocket and swiftly began storing the art. Their names in the folder were The Vase of Aden and Portrait of Baroness Doryl. There was also cash among them, but the Demon Lord passed it all onto Tahara. He thought it would be much more effective this way than using it himself.

After that, they spoke about which restaurants and stores to set up.

“Hm... I have a few in mind. I’ll go scout them out.”

“It’s what you’re good at, Mister Secretary. I’ll just hang back and watch the magic work. While we’re at it, we’re constantly short-staffed... We can’t get enough workers. I just want to build an inn and rein in the entire workforce.”

“I’ll take care of that, too. You focus on work in the village.”

The Demon Lord pictured the faces of the various people he had met, and contemplated how to recruit them. Kunai’s backstory dictated that he must be an expert in scouting. Failure was not an option.

“Oh yeah, and this is an ‘ask forgiveness later’ thing, but I decided to use the bandit.”

(Bandit...?)

The Demon Lord didn’t recall any bandit acquaintances. However, Tahara was grinning at him, indicating that the Demon Lord knew him well.

“That old man’s got some connections, it looks like. Leave fishing to fisherman, right?”

“I see...”

“I know you only kept him alive for something like this.”

(W-Wait a minute... What is he talking about!?)

Tahara kept grinning, like he had read through the Demon Lord’s intentions. The Demon Lord scrambled his brain, but he couldn’t recall any old bandit. In fact, it was very possible that he had actively suppressed that memory.

“But we got to do something about that beard... He’s already got a ridiculous name.”

As Tahara said so, the image of a dirty middle-aged man with muscles and a beard came to him like divine intuition.

“Safety... It’s been a long time.”

“Ahah ha ha! I was holding it back all this time!”

Remembering the stupid name of Wo Wungol, the Demon Lord nearly did a spit take. At the same time, he remembered that he looked like someone he knew.

(Who was it... Where would I have ever known such a... Oh!)

The lumberjack look and the image of sports sprung an image in the Demon Lord’s mind.

“Director...”

“Huh?”

“I-I was saying your directive was correct. Use the experts to find out about the underground.”

“Right. That old man can dig wells, too. Seems pretty useful.”

“All right. Glad to hear.”

Who sprung to the Demon Lord’s mind was his old boss in the company he had worked at, Director Aoki. He couldn’t help but wonder why he had forgotten about someone that he had interacted with so closely.

(We butted heads a lot of times... But it wasn’t like I hated him enough to suppress my memories of him. Actually, he was even very reliable at times.)

With a nostalgic memory, the Demon Lord’s expression loosened. Seeing this uncharacteristic sight, Tahara decided to finally ask something he had always been wondering.

“Hey, Mister Secretary... Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Why Yu...?”

The Demon Lord immediately understood the subtext in the question. By any standard, she was not the right advisor to summon first. Even the real Kunai, Demon Lord of the Empire, would not have summoned her first. In more ways than one, it was too risky.

“I just thought that, if I was in your place, I would have summoned Ren.”

The Demon Lord couldn’t help but agree. In any other circumstance, he would have done so. He only decided to summon Yu first because of Aku’s injury. That was Akira Ono’s decision. Hakuto Kunai would have made a completely different decision.

“To heal her foot?”

“Yes.”

The Demon Lord gave his unadulterated, honest answer. He had thought that any excuses would have come off fake. Hearing this, Tahara appeared to contemplate something. The Demon Lord, fearing any more deep cutting questions, solemnly stood and sat down onto the couch opposite Tahara. Then, he produced a wooden box from the Item Folder and placed it in front of Tahara. Seeing the gun sitting inside, Tahara’s eyes flashed blue for just a moment.

“I found this in the dungeon up north. What do you think?”

“...It’s a gun.”

Tahara took the gun and closed his eyes.

“Hm...? It’s a SUN-F, with 13 Attack. It fires 16 rounds using sunlight as its energy source... Huh!?”

“Less Attack than I had thought,” the Demon Lord mumbled. Internally, he was surprised by the using-sunlight part. This technology couldn’t even exist in modern-day Japan. It was truly a work of fiction.

“What’s going on...? There are guns in this world?”

“Not quite, I think. This world has a secret.”

“A prehistoric civilization? Akane would have been all over it, calling it an OOPArt or something.”

“With that in mind, I’m going to keep working up north for a while. Keep up the good work here.”

The Demon Lord stood up and left the office. Tahara had been inspecting the gun with suspicion, when it floated into the air, rubbing its barrel against Tahara’s face. Regardless of what world he was in, Tahara was loved by any and all firearms.

“A prehistoric civilization... How far ahead is the Secretary...? Hey, you’re not soft, you know!? And you’re cold! Get off of me!”

Too bothered by the gun stalking him, Tahara hurriedly threw it into the separate dimension. Him and his boss had a few things in common.

## The Demon Lord Goes Scouting, Part 1

After exiting the hot springs resort, the Demon Lord entered Stealth Stance and walked through the village, glancing here and there. If he showed himself, he would interrupt people’s work everywhere he went. When he reached the Bunnies’ living quarters, Luna’s upbeat voice could be heard. It looked like she was barking orders from atop a pile of wooden boxes.

(The Holy Maiden’s servant, huh...?)

Remembering what Tahara had told him, he contemplated for a moment, but soon snapped out of it. He had to wait on further information for that matter, and there were many other things to take care of now. Oblivious to the entire situation, Luna kept shouting with self-grandeur.

“Do you hear me? I want it thick and long!”

“You never stop with the innuendos, do you?”

“Ahhhh! Stop appearing out of nowhere, Pervert Lord! You made yourself invisible to stare at me all this time, didn’t you!? Didn’t you!?”

“What are you going on about? Here. We’re going for a walk.”

As he half-ignored Luna’s gleefully thrown accusations, the Demon Lord grabbed her petite figure and yanked her off of the wooden boxes.

“H-Hey... Don’t touch me there!”

“You’re not going to wear a blazer, but a formal outfit.”

“F-Formal...? Where are we going?”

“Thought I’d borrow you for some good credit.”

“Oh, really. You finally get how amazing I am, do you? Then beg me.

‘Oh please, Lady Luna, I simply can not do without your—’ agghh!”

Two slaps echoed into the clear sky. The Demon Lord’s palm had struck Luna’s rear in a quick beat. A marvelous technique, ringing two smacks with one motion.

“We don’t have much time. Let’s go.”

“Don’t carry me on the side! Carry me like a princess!”

“Dream on.”

After getting Luna changed, the Demon Lord flew to the city of Yahooo via Quick Travel. He intended to finish everything he and Tahara had talked about by the end of the day. Distance meant nothing to him, and his bottomless Stamina negated the entire concept of exhaustion.

“We’re... in Yahooo. What are we doing here?” Luna asked, still clinging close to the Demon Lord and gazing up at him. Her hands, which had been wrapped around his waist for the Quick Travel, were still there. With her formally dressed as a Holy Maiden, she was drawing all eyes in the city.

“In short, we’re recruiting.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I want good establishments in the village of Rabbi. You just have to smile next to me. You might blow it if you open your mouth.”

“W-Who do you think I am...!? I’m a Holy Maiden, you know!”

“Of course, you’re the Hole-y Maiden. I have never doubted that fact.”

“R-Really...?”

“Yes. You should be proud.”

Despite the slight misunderstanding in their conversation, the pair seemed to be having fun. Thanks to their eventful first meeting, they had always been able to mostly be themselves around each other. The Demon Lord started walking toward McBonald’s shop, but Luna was still attached to him.

“You can let go now. Let’s go.”

“...Hand.”

“Hm?”

“...You have to hold my hand so you can escort me,” Luna said, looking the other way.

Imagining the Demon Lord, clad in all black, and the Holy Maiden walking down the street hand-in-hand, he felt a little dizzy. “Fine. If you insist, I’ll escort you properly.”

“Huh?”

Grabbing Luna’s small body, he started walking, carrying her like a princess in his arms.