Chapter 157
Chapter 157. What a Nice Bath!
— In the end, I killed three more.
†††
One of the training facility’s specialties is the natural hot spring.
After washing away the sweat, mud, and blood from my body, soaking in the hot, viscous water is like gradually releasing all the fatigue.
This hot spring is said to be effective for nerve pain that the teleportation spell struggles to heal, making it quite popular as a healing resort.
“Ahhhh, this feels amazing on my tired body!”
“Whoa, there’s even chilled sake here, big bro!”
“I can’t take it!”
From a little distance away, the voices of the three idiots echoed from the men’s bath below.
“Hey, you guys, take it easy. The food here is delicious, so you’ll regret it if you get too full,”
said Kuvirtar, sounding serious. The three idiots responded honestly with a “Sure thing!” It seems they’ve come to rely on Kuvirtar, no matter what…
… Huh? Where am I, if not in the men’s bath?
I’m in the personal open-air bath above. What can I say? My family is wealthy.
“Ahhh~~~ this is divine.”
Antendeixis, transformed into a human, splashed into the water, letting out an old man-like voice.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Splashing as she swam, Liliana crossed in front of me, dog-paddling.
“…………”
Meanwhile, my right side, slightly spaced out, is occupied by Leila, sitting cross-legged and soaking.
“I can see why mortals choose to come here willingly.”
And there’s Sophia, solemnly enjoying her first hot spring experience. Without her trademark monocle and with her usually ponytailed hair down, it’s hard to even recognize her. Her skin has turned from a reddish hue to a normal color.
— After I had my bones smashed by that civilian woman…
I had been desperately suppressing my emotions so as not to reveal my killing intent towards the demon race. It seems it was misinterpreted as me being “depressed after screwing up,” which resulted in my women (from another perspective) preparing a personal bath for me.
By the way, Garunya was almost thrown in too, but apparently declined due to her shedding fur.
Likely, Platy and Gorirashia are also relaxing in similar personal baths. That’s the perk of being wealthy.
“Heh…”
Being rich means you can prepare slaves just for the sake of killing…
In the autumn open-air bath, as steam softly rose, I sighed and looked up at the sky.
The first woman… My hands and thoughts had completely frozen. Being taken by surprise really was like that—just shocked, as if time had stopped.
… And then, I heard Gorirashia murmur something unsettling like, “No matter how excellent your training, if you can’t kill when it matters, it doesn’t mean much.”
So I shifted my mindset.
If I show any signs of weakness here, Gorirashia might determine that I’m fine and keep forcing me into senseless killings.
… So, when that civilian role showed up afterward, I finished her off instantly before she could plead for her life.
I didn’t give the others any chance to interfere.
If she was going to die anyway—
I might as well make her my nourishment.
“…………”
Ah. I really don’t want to think about anything right now.
“Hey Sophia. The three idiots mentioned it earlier, but they say drinking chilled sake in the bath is a one-of-a-kind experience.”
“Um… Sake, you say…”
As I was zoned out, Antendeixis brought a chilled bottle of wine and a glass from the ice room next to the changing area and presented it to Sophia.
Sophia hesitated, extending and pulling back her hand as she fidgeted, but in the end, she couldn’t resist her curiosity and the allure of the alcohol, taking the glass.
“… Oh… this is quite good…!”
Once she took a sip, she began to gulp it down like rolling down a hill.
“… Huh?”
I felt something push against my chest. Liliana, floating on her back, bumped into me.
“Woof.”
Those jewel-like blue eyes stared at me, shimmering with worry. Then, as if flipping over gracefully, she started to lick my chest, which took me by surprise.
“Haha, that tickles.”
I gently pulled her back and hugged her to sit in front of me.
“… Your hair has gotten long.”
The short blonde hair I rescued her with now waved gently in the water.
Thinking that Liliana is properly alive made me feel a swell of affection and sadness. For some reason, my heart ached. … Perhaps that’s why she was licking me.
— Then, I felt a presence on my right shoulder.
Unbeknownst to me, Leila had closed the distance while still sitting cross-legged.
Her golden eyes flicked towards me, filled with curiosity but quickly shyly averted.
My gaze fell on her flushed, pink nape, and my heart raced strangely. There was something… alluring about it…
Furthermore, trying to lean her head towards me, Leila and I bumped our horns together.
With a pop, a sensation unlike any other surged through, spreading from my head to my toes.
“What the…”
A strange sound escaped me. Leila seemed to have made a similar noise, widely blinking in surprise.
“…………”
Cautiously, Leila bumped her horn against mine again. With a pop—waves of sensation rippled through me…
What is this… It’s addicting…
“Hehehe. This is what they call having flowers in both hands.”
Antendeixis, boldly naked, walked toward me, having tossed another bottle to Sophia.
“Here, one more for you. You like that, right?”
She nestled into my left arm, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.
Hmm… Antendeixis has dropped her human form, hasn’t she? Looking at Sophia, who wasn’t in a flushly charming state but rather completely drunk, she was chugging glass after glass with a dazed expression.
“Do you want to know how much strength I’ve accumulated today?”
Antendeixis’s voice echoed through my mind.
… Ah.
Nodding, I suddenly felt my body swell up intensely. Magic power flowed into me from Antendeixis.
Whoa!! I didn’t say to give it all to me!!
“I thought it might be better to start giving little by little. It wouldn’t be right to grow suddenly like when you were with Faravgi, would it?”
That may be true.
I checked if the power felt balanced, gripping and releasing my fist. I can’t clearly feel the difference, but judging by how Liliana was blinking, my magic power must have significantly increased from an outside perspective—
“If you combine this with the forbidden power you have amassed through necromancy—your true power is nearing that of the Grand Duchess.”
I couldn’t help but look to the heavens.
Really… Is it already at that point? It hasn’t even been a year since I contracted with you.
The Grand Duke represents the upper tier of the Demon Lord Kingdom, second only to the Demon Lord. Given that the Demon Lord is strong in another dimension, the path from here is long…
Even so… The magical power of a mere human couldn’t match up, even in numbers.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. The first Demon Lord contracted with the Demon God Cannibal, gaining tremendous power—yet I, too, am a demon god of nearly the same rank. You possess the qualifications to become a Demon Lord as well, even without inheriting the Demon God’s spear…”
The demon god chuckled beside me, his throat vibrating with laughter.
“Time is on your side.”
The hand on my shoulder now affectionately caressed my cheek.
“From here on, you will continue to accumulate forbidden powers. The longer you take, the more your magic power will grow, eventually threatening even that Demon Lord—”
— I thought to myself that if too much time passes, the alliance might perish.
“I’ll assert as a demon god; it’ll be quicker for you to reach equality with the Demon Lord than for the alliance to perish.”
Only if you continue to grow as you are now, Antendeixis added quietly.
… Yes, that’s right.
It’s not just a matter of taking time.
There needs to be a torrent of blood shed in that process—
“—Don’t think too much about it, for that is the source of power.”
“—And I’ll spare you half-hearted consolation. You won’t have the time to wallow in complaints.”
“—But, you are indeed making progress. Their deaths will not be in vain. … I wanted to convey that to you. Even if an overwhelming amount of blood spills, it will be lesser than the sacrifices required for the alliance to perish. Therefore—”
I grasped Antendeixis’s hand tightly.
I get it— I understand everything.
Thank you.
“Hmph…”
Antendeixis snorted, pouting her lips. Despite having taken her human form away, her cheeks were slightly flushed.
… I’m happy. Everyone is supporting me like this.
I can’t afford to slack off.
I will… keep moving forward.
Once the new year arrives, it’s time for actual combat.
I shall make my name known as a Demon Lord’s Prince.
Strong enough that those around have hesitations to interfere— as a Demon Lord’s Prince, I will grow stronger.
On that dawn—
“…………”
With determination held within, I gazed up at the night sky.
“………… Huh? Where did Sophia go?”
But when I glanced back, Sophia, who had been drinking earlier, had vanished.
“Woof?”
“…? What’s going on?”
“I see a glass floating.”
… Feeling a bad premonition, I rushed to grab the glass and stepped onto something squishy in the murky water.
“… Isn’t she drowning?!!”
Panicking, I quickly pulled up Sophia, whose face was red and eyes rolled back.
