Chapter 91

“How many legs does Magirema have again?”

“Uh, ten.”

“Which means, at that time, I effectively revived eleven subordinates simultaneously. In other words, I haven’t lost yet. Wouldn’t you call that closer to victory?”

“Lady Fiona, you shouldn’t bother Magirema.”

“Oh, ahaha, thanks, Rey. I’ve got some cooking to do, so take your time!”

I rescued Magirema from Lady Fiona, who was pestering them as if she were drunk.

The glass in Lady Fiona’s hand contained carbonated water, not alcohol.

Which means, she was pestering them while completely sober.

“Please don’t. Magirema is busy.”

“What? Are you on Magirema’s side? Is it the legs? You like the legs, don’t you?”

“It’s not that…”

“Rey is mine, yet Magirema is stealing you!”

“They’re not stealing me. I belong to you, Lady Fiona.”

“Good, as long as you understand!”

Still, her clinging to me to prevent me from being “stolen” is… exhausting in so many ways.

“So, what were you talking about?”

“Ah, it was about my treasure chest gacha results. Since Magirema revived them, it counts as eleven revivals, so I think I still haven’t lost yet.”

“Then I suppose you haven’t lost yet, though it seems like the big hits might not come for a while, either.”

“I’ve lost! It’s my loss!”

Her voice was so loud… What would happen if her subordinates treated her like a demon lord who’d surrendered?

“Let’s take it step by step.”

“Ugh… The revival of the Demon Lord’s Army is still so far away.”

Now that I think of it, Pilkaya did mention they’d died twice.

In other words, they died and were revived once even before I came along.

“Lady Fiona, Pilkaya and the others have died twice, right? If the second time was due to resurrection medicine, how were they revived the first time?”

“Ah… if I work reaaally hard and share my magic power, I can revive them, technically.”

Wow, Lady Fiona is amazing.

She can even act as a substitute for resurrection medicine—seems like I’ve underestimated what it means to be a demon lord.

“Then there’s no need for treasure chest gachas, is there?”

“But it takes an awfully long time, and sharing my power weakens me, too.”

“I see…”

“If I revived everyone by myself, I’d end up being about one-fiftieth of a cute little demon lord.”

“That’s a significant power down.”

Lady Fiona’s stats are around 10,000, so being weakened would bring her to 200… Wait, that’s still plenty strong.

Actually, isn’t that closer to what her stats should be as a proper final boss?

She’d still be stronger than the heroes, but not unbeatable—it seems more balanced. Maybe Lady Fiona’s current state is the real anomaly here.

“That’s why it’s been a huge help that I can revive them without weakening myself, thanks to you, Rey.”

“Uh, sure… glad to help.”

Could it be that I’m inadvertently creating an unbeatably overpowered demon lord…?

Well, if that’s the case, it’s fine by me.

“I get why you’re aiming for more resurrection medicine, but are there any subordinates who survived?”

“Hmm… there are some, but they’re the ones who abandoned me and defected, so I don’t think they’d rejoin me now.”

“Oh, I see… then it’s probably best not to count on them.”

Anyone who betrayed Lady Fiona isn’t worth counting on. It’d just be a hassle if they betrayed us again at a critical moment.

Better to assume they’re enemies from the start.

“Honestly, they’re willing to accept defected demons, but why are they so stubborn about wiping us out?”

Is the goddess’s word really that absolute? But accepting defectors is technically aiding demons too, isn’t it?

…Maybe they’re judging us on a completely different scale.

“…Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.”

Only the sound of flesh being struck and numbers being counted echoed in that place.

Despite being warned by the captain of the guard, I ran into Hero Rick’s party while wandering the castle. They asked me to come along, and I couldn’t refuse.

Without much resistance, I ended up tagging along with the hero’s party, almost like I was one of them. That was a mistake.

“What… are you doing?”

The dimly lit, filthy room was stained with blood, smeared across the floor and walls.

With their actions, those stains only grew wider.

“Prince Jelmy. You no longer have any need for that.”

“Oh…? Tch, useless hero.”

“Jelmy, the second prince…”

An unpopular NPC, with power, whose strength rivals that of a hero.

I see, I’d thought his level was unusually high, but it turns out he’d been raising it this way.

“Who are you to say something like ‘unnecessary’? You weak heroes who were instantly killed by the Demon Lord.”

“That’s…”

Rick, too, seems to be unable to respond to Jelmy’s words, likely because he feels something about the fact that he lost to the Demon Lord.

“You heroes and I are not that different in strength. In other words, if things stay like this, I’m just another weakling to the Demon Lord.”

He swings the sword he’s holding.

The target of his attack is… a man who seems to be a demon, tied up.

“But they’re demons who’ve surrendered to us.”

“That’s why, as promised, I haven’t taken their lives.”

…Doesn’t that just mean they can’t even die?

I don’t know how long he’s been repeating this, but it seems he’s been continuously attacking the surrendered demons without killing them, gaining experience points, and leveling up.

I see, it’s incredibly efficient… But the mental strength required to keep doing this, I suppose that’s unique to him…

“Anyway… just because they surrendered doesn’t mean they get to live peacefully. It’s the Goddess’s command. Supporting demons is forbidden. These guys were done for the moment they surrendered.”

With that, Jelmy continues to attack the demons imprisoned in this room.

He must be strong… He’s likely been safely gaining experience against real demons for years.

Leaving aside actual combat experience, from the perspective of simple level-up efficiency, there’s probably no better way.

“Oh, and by the way,”

Without even looking at me, Jelmy continues to speak.

“You heroes, and that one relatively decent reincarnator over there—don’t follow me. Stay out of the way on the next dungeon exploration.”

“A dungeon town, you mean?”

“…I don’t understand why dwarves would want to build a town in a dungeon. But whatever. Anyway, that dungeon’s starting to become an eyesore.”

“It’s in another country, so isn’t it unrelated to us?”

True, if it was a dungeon in this country, it would make sense, but I couldn’t understand why Jelmy would take it upon himself to try and clear it.

“The reason it’s so busy there is because the dwarves are letting other races explore the dungeon. So, by clearing it myself, I’ll reduce the number of people who challenge the dungeon.”

It’s true that the reason the dwarves let all races explore the dungeon is likely to uncover its full scope.

And when people gather, more shops pop up too.

If he wants to reduce the momentum, I can understand trying to clear the dungeon.

Though, just that alone probably won’t completely stop the bustling there…

“Is it a problem that another country is bustling?”

“Of course. Once the Demon Lord is killed, the next issue will be which race will rule the world. At that point, if there’s a giant city full of other races, that’s just in the way.”

Jelmy spits out those words with disgust.

◆

“Oh… It’s because I don’t seem like a Demon Lord, because I don’t have power…”

They leave.

Those who once acknowledged me as the Demon Lord in the face of absolute power are leaving.

“I won’t lose.”

The situation is becoming unfavorable.

My comrades. My subordinates. Still, I will win.

“I’m sorry, Demon Lord-sama.”

And yet…

“You’ll just take a little nap on your throne.”

To think that you, the Four Heavenly Kings, would deceive me.

It should have been absolutely impossible for something like this to happen.

“When you wake up, either the enemy will be wiped out or the weaklings will be gone and you’ll have regained your full strength. Either way, this will ensure we have no defeat.”

I’m not a Demon Lord worthy of having you sacrifice your lives for me.