kscans

Chapter 339 - Just Deserts

After hearing what Hypnos had to say, Hayato spent several restless days.

Amanda was trying to indirectly hijack the spaceship Aphrodite by destroying Diite and having Hypnos seize her authority. Her goal was world domination.

The specific method was unknown, but if she could make a request to Infinity, it would do most things, though it would take time. It was said that it could take over all the functions of a single colony in half a year.

It was enough to make him want to sigh that another troublesome thing had happened, but there was also good news.

The next event would be led by Hypnos, but it was designed so that defeating Amanda would transition her to a complete cold sleep.

He had been asked to defeat Amanda, but he had been worrying about how to actually do it, so that could be considered resolved. He just needed to defeat Amanda in this virtual reality.

However, there was a condition. It had to be Lunaria who defeated Amanda.

Hayato had asked why that was the case, but according to Hypnos, it was the only way.

The next event would be a power struggle called Conflict. Lunaria's Old Demon Lord's Army and Amanda's New Demon Lord's Army would fight over territory in the Demon Country.

If Amanda defeated Lunaria, she would become the true Demon Lord and gain enough power to destroy Diite. Amanda already possessed the AI Killer, but she would become a cheat character who didn't even need it.

When he asked why she would do something so troublesome, Hypnos had said that Amanda believed she couldn't lose and probably wanted to show off the difference in their power.

Amanda was also aware of the matter of transitioning to cold sleep if she lost to Lunaria, and had apparently laughed, saying that since she couldn't lose, anything was fine.

Hayato had suggested there might be a countermeasure against that, but Hypnos had said with an exasperated voice that she must be that confident.

Hayato had a lot to think about, but the person in question, Lunaria, who knew nothing of these circumstances, was cheerfully holding a meeting at Hayato's base again today.

Whether she was a big shot or just not thinking about anything, she didn't seem to mind that Amanda had taken the Demon Lord's Castle, and she was just having fun as usual.

"Tomorrow, Benny-chan is coming here with Simon-chan. Let's all think about what kind of hospitality would be good. Preferably in a Demon Lord-like way."

"I've said it many times, but could you please do this at your own base?"

"And I've said it many times, but I think this can be my base now. Another chocolate parfait."

"I'd like a refill on my coffee, if that's alright."

For some reason, Ney, who was participating in the meeting, asked for that while showing Hayato her empty cup.

It was Hayato's fault for preparing chocolate parfaits and coffee, but there was no doubt that the Demon Lord's Army's invasion was steadily progressing. At Hayato's base, that is.

"Was Ney chosen as one of the Seven Demon Generals too? Ney of Wrath or something?"

"Why Wrath? No, I'm not one of the Seven Demon Generals, I'm the leader of the Ten Black Dragon Claws of the Demon Lord's Army."

"Kokuryu Jussou..."

"You can think of us as a unit on par with the Ten Black Rose Saints and the Ten Dark Knights. We ended up with a similar name because of the 'black' connection. By the way, I'm an officer in the Demon Lord's Army too!"

"You sound happy."

Ney was in this mood even though he had told her the circumstances. It was a headache for Hayato, but according to Ney, "There's no way Lunaria will lose." It wasn't based on any particular evidence, but for some reason, it was persuasive.

However, she also said that procedures were underway to have other spaceships surround their ship in preparation for the worst-case scenario. That worst-case scenario was if Diite was destroyed, so even if they could physically capture the spaceship, it would be meaningless to Hayato.

Ney said that worrying too much wouldn't lead to a good result, but that was probably a matter of personality.

Just as he thought about earning money and restocking items to increase their chances of winning even a little, he realized something.

The Kokuryu clan only had nine members since he left. It might be a trivial matter, but he wondered if it was okay to call themselves the Ten Claws when they didn't have ten people.

"The Kokuryu clan only has nine members, but am I perhaps included in that?"

"No, Hayato, you're not. Actually, another person joined recently. Though they only joined to make up the numbers and aren't officially part of the clan."

"Ah, I see. Could it be Rosalie-san?"

Rosalie wasn't at today's meeting. She was scouting the Demon Lord's Castle with the members of Black Rose.

"No, it's not Rosalie. It's a mysterious bandit."

"Not mysterious at all. But, Jolt, huh."

He was the leader of the famous major clan Bandit, a former blood relative in the Foundation, and someone who knew the secrets of this world. And recently, news had broken that he had become an aide to the young blood relatives of the Foundation in the real world, in other words, Ney's aide, causing a stir in society.

"By the way, Bandit said they'd side with the Demon Lord's Army too."

"I thought they might help, but I'm grateful that they've actually said so."

In the next event, Conflict, players would have to side with one of the two factions. That was the condition for participating in the event.

And in that event, PvP, player versus player combat, would be possible. You couldn't fight within the same faction, but if you were in different factions, you could fight within the Demon Country.

That announcement had already been made, and people were getting excited about which side to support.

At the same time as that announcement, clan expansions were also implemented. Clan members were still limited to ten, but a feature called Alliance was added, and forming an alliance made you treated as the same clan.

Bases could also now be built large enough for a hundred people to live in. It required a decent amount of land, but many players were currently looking for spacious, empty lots.

Aside from that, Jolt would be on Lunaria's side. And the clans he was on good terms with, Imperial, Over the Top, and Starkest, would probably side with them even without knowing the circumstances. That alone was a considerable force.

In the end, it would be a one-on-one duel between Lunaria and Amanda, but there was also a system where their stats would fluctuate based on the number of territories they held at the end of the event, so they wanted to capture as many territories as possible. Thinking about it that way, it could be said to be the best possible outcome.

The problem was that the other major clans were likely to become their enemies.

The players they fought in the Eastern Country wanted to prove they were stronger than the veteran members. If the veteran major clans were on their side, it was highly likely that the newly established major clans would side with the enemy.

There was another problem, which was that there were no restrictions on factions. In a normal game, there would be a system to divide the players evenly, but this time there wasn't. It was said that it didn't matter how much of a difference there was in strength.

There was prize money in this event as well, but there was a rule that you couldn't get the prize money unless the faction you sided with won. Also, the prize money would fluctuate based on the number of territories the winning faction held in the end.

The prize money was determined for each territory, and the total amount would be divided by the number of people. If they captured all the territories, the total would be five billion.

It wasn't possible to decide on a faction at this point, but it would become possible before the event started, and it was also announced that it would be made public which clan sided with which faction.

People were also getting excited about whether to join the side with fewer people to increase the prize money they could get, or to join the side that was more likely to win even if the prize money decreased.

(I have a rough idea of the tendencies of the major clans, but I don't know which side the regular players will join. If the difference in strength is too great, I'd like to request a do-over.)

As Hayato was thinking about such things, Lunaria had, at some point, drawn Arondight right in front of him.

"Whoa, you scared me. Is something wrong?"

"I was thinking of making you rust on Arondight's blade because you ignored me when I spoke to you."

"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Yes. I forgive you. And with that, the plans for Benny-chan and the others' hospitality have been decided, so I'll leave the rest to you."

"Leave it to me?"

"We're just going to have a regular banquet. So it's a chance for you to show off your skills, Hayato-san. Make the best food."

"Well, that's fine, but where are we doing it? Your base? Or this one?"

"Ah, on a slightly different note, I want you to hear about a Demon Lord's pet project."

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Let's connect this base and the one next door."

"What are you talking about?"

According to Lunaria, since bases could now be made larger, she was suggesting they connect them.

And this included Ney's ideas.

Apparently, there was a promise that once they retook the Demon Lord's Castle, Ney would be given the base Lunaria and her group were currently in. She had become an officer in the Demon Lord's Army on that condition.

Ney had originally planned to rebuild her current base, but with the clan expansion, she had said that if she could get the base next to Hayato's, she would want to combine it with his base someday.

When Lunaria heard that, the idea to just connect them now had apparently struck her like a divine revelation.

Lunaria said so with a smug face.

It wasn't an unpleasant suggestion for Hayato. His current base wasn't cramped, but there was no particular problem with the base getting larger. And it wasn't bad to think about a new floor plan and gather furniture.

There was the event to consider, but Hypnos said it was still a while off, so there was time. Rather than spending his days worrying about unnecessary things, it was better to work on strengthening their forces while expanding the base.

"Alright. I'll have to ask Esha and the others first, but I'd like to connect the bases too... no, I'll rebuild the one next door."

"I've actually thought of a floor plan. Also, make a hot spring in the basement."

"...The place marked 'Demon Lord's Room' is smaller than any other room, isn't it?"

"To tell you the truth, I like small rooms. The rooms in the Demon Lord's Castle are too big to be relaxing."

"Ah, I see. Also, a hot spring is impossible. I can make a bath, though."

"I'll compromise on that."

As they were talking, the other members present also started giving their opinions on what they wanted, and the meeting was extended.

The next day, early in the morning, Hayato and his group were waiting at the kingdom's port for the ship coming from the Eastern Country.

Benitsuru and Simon were on that ship.

Last time, when they went to the Eastern Country, Benitsuru and her group had welcomed them at the port, so this time, Lunaria had suggested they welcome them.

The entire Demon Lord's Army was assembled at the port to guard Lunaria, so they were quite in the way, but other players were watching from a distance, wondering if there was some kind of event.

When Benitsuru and the others on the ship were close enough to be seen, Lunaria waved. Benitsuru also waved back with a smile.

When the ship arrived, Benitsuru immediately disembarked and approached Lunaria.

"Lunacchi, yeah!"

"Benny-chan, yeah!"

They said, slapping each other's hands repeatedly, and then struck a final pose. And then they both looked at Hayato.

"Ah, yeah. You two are really in sync."

They must have practiced a lot. It was much sharper than last time. Their practice partners were probably Rosalie and Simon. The two of them had slumped shoulders, but when their eyes met, they exchanged a firm handshake. Hayato thought he had seen something like this in the Eastern Country too.

Benitsuru, who had been talking with Lunaria, approached with a smile.

"The Eastern Country has calmed down, so I could finally come! I'm super pumped, like, totally!"

"That's good. Was the sea voyage okay?"

"No problems at all. Ah, but some of the guards I brought with me got a little seasick."

Hayato only then noticed. There were other members from the Eastern Country besides Simon, and they were in the middle of disembarking from the ship. Judging by their equipment, they were samurai, ninja, and shrine maidens. There were about thirty of them.

As if noticing his gaze, Benitsuru's expression became a little more serious.

"I said the Eastern Country has calmed down just now, but actually, a problem has occurred. I brought them for that reason... but an even bigger problem is Lunacchi's castle! I thought you'd need forces to take it back, so I brought a lot of people. Due to ship capacity, I could only bring this many this time, but about seventy more will be coming."

He was concerned about the problem in the Eastern Country, but he was grateful for their support for Lunaria.

"That helps a lot."

"It's unforgivable that someone would take Lunacchi's Demon Lord's Castle. I was planning to visit her room!"

"Ah, that's what you're upset about. Anyway, you must be tired, right? Um, where are you planning to stay?"

"Umm, where was it...? Ca, Cabba... ge?"

"Cabbage?"

"That would be the luxury hotel 'Camelot' in the Royal Capital. I asked the Maid Chief, so the reservation should be fine."

Simon said that as she approached and smiled at Hayato.

"Hayato, I'll be in your care for a while, so I'm counting on you."

"Same here. You must be tired from your long journey too, Simon."

"What, I've been here several times, so it's no problem. Now, there are many things I want to talk about, but first we must go to what will be our base. We must go to the Maid Guild once and... to the Maid Chief..."

Just as Simon said that, Lunaria approached.

"Lunaria-dono. We will be in your care for a while. I ask for your favor for both myself and the Princess."

"Yes. And with that, Simon-chan, you will from now on be known as Simon of Wrath. A pleasure to have you."

Everyone except Lunaria froze.

"W-what might be the meaning of that...?"

"It has been decided that you, Simon-chan, are Simon of Wrath, one of the Seven Demon Generals of the Demon Lord's Army."

"W-wait a minute, Lunacchi! You can't take Simon! She's like a teacher to me!"

"It's alright. Benny-chan, you have become Benny of Lust, one of the Seven Demon Generals. You will belong to the Demon Lord's Army along with Simon-chan."

"That came out of nowhere!"

"Princess, that would be 'out of the blue'. Something like that would be more than just surprising."

"...That's how surprised I was! In the first place, why Lust!?"

"Your kimono shows off your legs, and the underwear I saw in your room seemed a bit like you were trying too hard to be grown up."

"I-if you're going to say that, Simon was walking around in a sarashi!"

"W-what are you saying! I'm not doing that anymore!"

"Yes, and because of that, Simon-chan is short-tempered, so she's in the Wrath slot."

"Um, we're standing out too much, so can we move first? Also, Rosalie-san, who designed the kimono, seems a bit shocked, so please follow up with her properly."

While thinking that things were going to get noisy, Hayato had a smile on his face.

After a lot of commotion, Benitsuru and her group finished checking into the hotel Camelot.

It was probably because the Maid Chief handled it personally. They finished the procedures without any problems and were now resting from their journey at the hotel.

Hayato hadn't known, but the Maid Chief and Simon were surprisingly close. They had cleared the Necropolis dungeon together, and Simon had once stayed at the Maid Guild for a time, so they had become friends through that relationship.

Even so, they only talked on voice chat occasionally. While he was curious about what they talked about, he also felt a little scared, so he didn't ask for details.

In the end, both Benitsuru and Simon became Seven Demon Generals of the Demon Lord's Army. Or rather, it was more like they were just playing along with Lunaria's game. It wasn't something with any binding force, they were just saying it.

However, this game had a title system. Not wanting to get a strange title, Hayato had made it a point not to look at that information. Ever since he got the Savior title, he had considered that system to be nonexistent.

And tonight, a banquet would be held to welcome Benitsuru and her group.

As expected, they couldn't invite nearly thirty people to the base, so they decided to use Camelot's banquet room.

They got permission to bring their own food, and Hayato was cooking for it.

It was too much for one person, so he borrowed help from the members of Black Rose who could cook and from the Maid Guild to produce a large amount of food.

He had work in the real world in the afternoon. Thinking to prepare early, Hayato began to cook at a speed that would make those around him recoil.

That night, when he logged in again, the banquet had already started, and everyone was enjoying themselves and chatting happily.

Cecil and the members of the Dragon Busters had also come from the Empire and were talking with Ash and Ren, who had logged in earlier.

Esha had also logged in earlier with Ren and the others, but she was somewhat subdued, perhaps because the Maid Chief was nearby.

Hayato also exchanged greetings with everyone, and after he had mostly finished, Simon approached him.

"Hayato, do you have a moment?"

"I'm fine."

"Actually, I have to apologize for our blunder."

"A blunder?"

"I will formally apologize later, but a few days ago, the members of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords disappeared from their cells."

"What?"

"We have no idea what happened. They shouldn't have been able to get out of their cells, let alone leave the Eastern Country, but at some point they all vanished and are no longer in the Eastern Country. That is no excuse. I am truly sorry."

Simon said that and bowed her head.

"I see... could it be that I'm in danger, or... no, wait a minute."

Hayato thought for a moment.

A few days ago, the Ten Holy Demonic Swords disappeared. It wasn't a case of them escaping in the confusion of the turmoil in the Eastern Country. And they weren't just out of their cells, they weren't even in the Eastern Country.

Hayato excused himself from Simon, moved to a corner of the room, and then sent a voice chat message to Hypnos.

"There's something I want to ask you."

"Hayato? What is it?"

"Did you get the Ten Holy Demonic Swords out of their cells in the Eastern Country?"

"You're quick to notice. That's right, I got them out of their cells. They are now under Amanda's command. However, unlike the Demonfolk, they are serving her of their own free will."

"Their own free will...?"

"Ah, I may not have mentioned it, but the Demonfolk who betrayed Lunaria have had their consciousness stolen and only their avatars are being used. They didn't betray Lunaria."

"How could you..."

"Tell that to Amanda. Right now, I can't go against her orders. Even if their consciousness is stolen, they are just asleep and not dead, so rest assured."

"But to do something like that..."

"Just win the next event. If you do, Amanda will be the one to sleep, and everyone can be awakened. Actually, there's something I want to ask you about that. Is now a good time?"

"...What is it?"

"What do you think about making Amanda sleep? She's certainly a bad person in general, but she will be asleep for a long time."

"Weren't you and Amanda the ones who decided that?"

"That's true. I'm not blaming you, Hayato. I'm just asking what you think."

"...Honestly, I think it's going too far. But we can't just let her run free, can we?"

To sleep forever. She might wake up someday, but it was impossible to know when. At worst, she might have to sleep forever. That was no different from death.

"I see. Well, it might not be something to worry about now, but if you win the event, you should think about what to do with Diite. I don't really care either way."

"Am I supposed to think about it with Diite-chan?"

"You could leave it to Diite. But what an AI thinks and what a human thinks are quite different, right? Diite will probably make the final decision, but she would listen to your opinion, Hayato... Now, it would be troublesome if Amanda found out, so I'm cutting the line."

Hypnos said that and cut the voice chat without waiting for Hayato's reply.

Hayato could only think, 'What was that all about?', but first he returned to Simon to talk.

"I asked around through some connections, and it seems the Ten Holy Demonic Swords are with Amanda."

"Is that true! Then if we win this battle, we can capture them again. I'll cut them down again next time."

Simon said that with a vicious smile.

Looking at Simon, Hayato had a thought.

"By the way, you captured the Ten Holy Demonic Swords and put them in cells, but what was the plan for them in the end?"

"In the end?"

"Ah, um, I mean, were you planning to keep them in their cells forever?"

"So that's it. We were planning to let them out if they repented and it was visibly clear. However, one cannot see into another's heart. It's not like we could know if they had repented, so it was a delicate matter."

"So you were going to keep them in their cells forever?"

"That's right. Even if they couldn't get out, that's what you call just deserts."

"Just deserts, huh... The problem is whether that's a reward that fits the cause."

"I don't know what you're worrying about, but you have many comrades, Hayato. Why don't you try talking to everyone?"

"You're right. Thank you too, Simon. That was helpful."

"Did you thank me? I came to apologize, you know."

"No need to apologize. In the first place, Amanda could have rescued them from their cells without anyone noticing. It's not your fault, Simon."

"She seems like a troublesome enemy. Well, leave the matter of the Ten Swords to us. We should be much stronger than we were then. Next time, we will win even without you, Hayato."

"I'm counting on you."

When he said that, Simon laughed and said, "Leave it to me," and headed toward the Maid Chief.

And Hayato, intending to consult with Diite, immediately sent a voice chat message.