Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 12: Misunderstandings and Meetings
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- Felix -
It's been about a week since I named the Dragons, and Arcueid is still not back. I can only internally plead for Arcueid to hurry up, I don't think I can handle much more of this work, even if Odin is basically doing everything, it's just so… boring.
I would be worried about what is taking her so long, but I can tell that she is fine through my connection with her. The Daemon Realm is massive, so it makes sense that it would take some time to gather all the Daemons she wants to bring.
Along with that I still haven't gathered enough energy to give myself a power boost from receiving my second name, but Odin said that due to my current strength, quite a lot of belief is necessary to give me a second name. She estimated that almost the entire world's collective belief would be necessary to gather enough energy. It takes time for word of a new Demon Lord to spread after all, with all the mostly isolated villages and all. Information does not travel nearly as quickly here as it does in a modern world.
I ended up deciding to just leave it be, I'm not in urgent need of strength at the moment after all, there aren't many ways I can decrease the time needed other than terrorizing the world, which I am not particularly inclined to do.
I continued going over my plans for developing my nation, I have a few ideas on how I can improve the general state of living, the Central World isn't very modern, by no means is it caveman-like, there is some pretty advanced stuff in some kingdoms. Still a lot of things aren't as developed as Earth, the food isn't as good for most, in order to eat the truly good stuff you generally need to be strong or have a high status. The stuff that Guy's maids cooked was all from A Rank monsters, no human could casually eat stuff like that, not even a Monarch. But Guy handed them out like candy since it is so easy for him to get.
It is also easy for me to get, so I thought why not, I can also bring some modern cuisine back with me whenever I travel to another world.
'Speaking of that, how is the progress on figuring out the coordinates for the world I was summoned from?'
'Notice, the process of locating the coordinates for the world known as Jujutsu Kaisen is 83.721% done.'
'It's almost done then, you found it faster than I thought seeing as you basically need to scour the entire multiverse to look for that world, nice job.'
'Odin is simply doing its duty.'
'Yeah yeah, just accept the praise.'
'....'
Now how should I go about gathering the food that I want? I already have a rice farm, seeing as Rimuru already laid the foundation for it, it wasn't difficult to set up. Rice is a staple dish almost everywhere on Earth, so many things can be made with it so I'm looking forward to when it's fully prepared. For now I will have to get rice from Tempest if I want it. Thankfully Rimuru is generous when it comes to me so I was able to acquire a bunch for a low cost. From what I've heard he's been milking all the other countries for everything that they want.
I established a trading relationship with Eurazania for their signature fruits, I'm sure I could have asked for what I want for free, but I didn't really want to take too much advantage of them for something incredibly minor. I was able to make alcohol out of the fruits that I asked for, and boy is it amazing.
Probably the best alcohol I have ever had, I have made some wine and beer so far. Hopefully I can develop the alcohol business far enough for it to be something that other nations can be interested in.
I currently have some subordinates producing all sorts of alcohol and storing it in a cold warehouse, cooling isn't something that is super well known in this world so chilled alcohol will be something new to them.
I turn my attention towards Raiden who is massaging my shoulders, "So Raiden, how are the new Dragons? Anything you need for them?"
I felt Raiden pause her massage for a moment before continuing, "No Master, it did take some time for them to get used to their new abilities but they are hard working so they were able to learn quickly. Now that they have felt what true strength feels like they are eager to grow stronger."
Huh, it seems my Haki had quite the large effect on them. Though it makes sense, if I wasn't even capable of standing in someone's presence I would be eager to grow stronger too.
"I see, that's good, what about Porunga? How is he doing?"
I remember Porunga was in a bad state after his fight with Megumin, if it wasn't for Self-Regeneration then he would have needed a Full Potion to fully heal up. Though it seemed like Megumin took a liking to him, she said that he just kept on getting up so he was a useful punching bag.
I sense a lot of pain in Porunga's future, though he didn't seem to mind, it seems he is a bit of a battle junkie himself.
"He is doing well, he listens to my commands, he is also respectful now that he knows his place. He has been training with Megumin, and according to Megumin he is growing stronger due to their fights. His rate of improvement is slow but it is still there." Ah, if Porunga had a zenkai he would be overpowered by now huh?
"Hmm? Do you and Megumin talk often? I didn't know that you two were close."
"Did you not know Master? All of your direct subordinates meet up once a week to discuss how we can better serve you and how we can help you accomplish your goals."
What the fuck!
That sounds a lot like a cult, they meet up every week? What could they know? Am I always being watched? No, I would have sensed it, and I'm sure Odin would tell me. Who even brought up having meetings?
…Okay that is kinda creepy, I am going to pretend I never heard that, hopefully Saeko did not reveal our escapades, even I would be embarrassed about that being talked about.
At least it seems like they are all friends, that's good, right?
"Is that so, anyways what's for dinner today? I always look forward to your cooking, you might be even better than Shuna now!"
Truly, her cooking has improved by leaps and bounds since I first tried her food, now I prefer her cooking to even Shuna's cooking.
"I see! I am glad that you enjoy my cooking master!" Oh, is that a blush? How adorable, the ever stoic maid gets embarrassed from her cooking being complimented.
"Today I will be preparing Black Tiger Stew, along with Grilled Horned Rabbit."
"Oh, I can't wait, I haven't had a chance to try Black Tiger Stew since the Walpurgis. But aren't both those monsters B Ranked? When did you have a chance to hunt them?"
"I ordered Porunga to hunt them down for you Master, once he heard it was for you he was incredibly eager, he truly has become a good subordinate."
Isn't that like way below Porunga's pay grade? He's a certified Disaster-class and he is hunting monsters for me to eat?! And why does Raiden look so proud?!
"Ah, I see, well if he is the one doing the hunting do give him some of the food as well, tell him to consider it his reward."
"Ah, my Master truly is a kind and gracious lord, I am sure Porunga will be delighted upon hearing your praise."
"Well then, I better finish up these plans so I can eat your delicious meal."
I'm currently working on making a bunch of blueprints for buildings from my past life, though it's more like Odin is doing everything. Odin is able to easily create the blueprints so it shouldn't take me too long. I bet all those Civil Engineers from my past life are jealous, it takes them hours, sometimes even days to make blueprints and here I am making them in seconds.
Odin truly is the best, umu.
I'm planning to make blueprints for modern housing, plumbing, sewage, stores, pools, basically everything that a modern country needs.
The only reason I didn't start this as soon as this territory became mine was because I wasn't sure how I should have it all built, Clayman didn't have enough people skilled in construction and I didn't want to rely on Rimuru for everything so I didn't want to ask for him to lend me some Orcs.
I ended up deciding to offer the former slaves the opportunity to construct everything, they don't have all that many skills so a bunch were eager to learn and become more useful.
They were quite thankful to me for releasing them so they wanted to pull their own weight, along with that they didn't really have anywhere else to go, and what I offered them was a good deal.
I sent them to the craftsmen that Clayman had already secured to learn from, last I heard they should be ready to work in about 2 weeks time.
Together with the former slaves and Clayman's original craftsmen I should have enough men to build everything I want, if at a slower pace than Rimuru's Orcs.
I've also made use of a few warehouses Clayman wasn't using to store magic ore, I'm hoping that after being exposed to the magicules everyone is releasing they will turn into magisteel. With the combined 'Aura' of Arcueid, Megumin, Saeko, Raiden, Kurumi, all the Dragons, and all the Daemons Arcueid is going to bring, it should be more than enough to mutate them.
And I'm sure the population of Azeroth will grow over time, causing even more magicules to be in the air, the only downside to that is that my territory will become more, and more hazardous to humans who do not have a high tolerance for magicules, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out if a time when humans actually want to come here comes.
I do already have a bunch of magisteel along with some Orichalcum and Mithril which is magisteel combined with Silver.
I also recently experimented with magisteel and learned about a new ore, Adamantite. Adamantite is formed when magisteel is exposed to an immense amount of magicules so it basically super evolves. It is harder than diamond but is also incredibly flexible. According to Odin it is almost like a living thing. Absolutely absurd.
I've been trying to create more but it is incredibly difficult to form, I only have about 5 kilograms worth so far. I'm considering getting a weapon formed for Raiden out of it, she said she doesn't really use weapons but is willing to learn. I also plan to upgrade Saeko's weapon with it, Saeko only has a Unique Grade blade after all.
"Alright, that's the last blueprint Raiden, could you start preparing dinner?"
"It would be my pleasure Master!"
I stare at an apologetic Milim as she tries to calm down a furious Middray.
What a pain, it all started when I felt Milim, Middray, and Arc approaching my castle at high speeds, I quickly stopped them as knowing Milim, she would crash into my beautiful castle and damage it.
I just got this damn castle, I don't want to have to get it repaired already.
It turns out that Frey has been forcing Milim to be an effective ruler, poor Milim, having to do actual work now, couldn't be me.
She ended up finishing up all the work that Frey was making her do so she decided to visit me with Middray as her chaperone, it seems Frey didn't think Arc could keep Milim under control.
I, of course being the generous host that I am, invited them to dinner. Who knows, maybe Middray will finally learn what real food is.
Unfortunately Megumin couldn't join us due to having some work to do, she has been sparring with Kurumi a bunch. It turns out that Kurumi herself asked for some training, she said she wanted to get stronger and become more useful.
Saeko joined them, thankfully I used 'Isolate' on their training field or they would end up destroying the entire country.
Such hardworking subordinates I have.
Back to the meal, as soon as the dishes were placed in front of Middray, he said, "This is not the kind of food Milim-sama should eat Demon Lord Felix-sama! " He kept going on and on with his criticism without even trying it. I can tell Raiden is holding back from trying to beat him up.
Arc has been looking towards me apologetically the entire time, poor Arc, he can't do anything.
I look towards Milim, "If he doesn't want to eat that's fine, we can't force him to. After all, people will generally do the opposite of what you want them to if you force them."
"Hmph, he is being mean to Raiden! My Bestie's subordinate made food for us, dumb Middray shouldn't say those things without trying the food!"
That's true, I myself want to beat him up, but I can control myself, it's his loss after all.
"To treat nature's gifts like this! Not only have you cooked it, but to add all these unknown spices?! It is fine to do this in your own territory, but please do not rope Milim-sama into this!"
These kinds of people are a pain to deal with, they will not admit they are wrong no matter what. I pity Milim if she has to deal with this whenever she gets food from somewhere else.
Midday continued going on and on about how meat should be enjoyed at its purest, I tuned him out as we all continued to eat. As I was eating though I saw Milim make an evil look on her face, she quickly grabbed some food and shoved it in his mouth as he was talking.
….
Midday's eyes widened, he looked like he didn't understand what just happened. "Thi-this is?!" Ah, it seems Milim got through to him, he will finally understand the greatness of Raiden's cooking, umu.
"Ghaha! See, I told you it was good Middray, stop being a big baby and eat!"
"S-so good! This one bite is more delicious than all of the vegetables I eat!"
Dude, it's obviously going to be better than raw vegetables. This guy really was living in the stone age.
After that we enjoyed our meal in relative silence.
"Hey Milim, I'm going to visit Tempest in a little bit, wanna come?"
I was planning to go later, but if Milim is already here I might as well go now, who knows when Frey will make her do more work?
"Umu! I can show Arc off! He has gotten stronger, I bet he can beat up all of Rimuru's subordinates!"
Hmm? Now that I take a closer look at him, it does seem like he got a tad stronger, he was already an Arch Daemon so he was pretty powerful. It seems like his magicule capacity grew along with his mastery over his skills.
"Haha, maybe he can beat some of them up but Diablo and some of Rimuru's direct subordinates would stomp all over him."
"Gah! I forgot about them!" How do you forget about one of the Primordial Daemons?! I can understand the others since their race isn't as well known, but seriously? You forgot about a Primordial?
"Oh yeah! Where is Arcueid? I haven't seen her?"
"Hmm? Oh I sent her to gather up some more subordinates for me, seeing as I now have a country I am responsible for, I thought I should get some more strong subordinates."
"Oh! Hmm yeah, the Dragon Faithful are quite useful, they are pretty strong too!"
"I bet they are."
"Gah! Milim-sama! Thank you for the praise! I shall increase everyone's training regiment in order to make them more useful to you!"
"Haha, great! Stronger sparring partners is always fun!"
I do not envy the Dragon Faithful, Midday's training regiment can be pretty brutal.
"I'll be ready to leave tomorrow, I still have something I need to do before we go to Tempest, I'll get you three rooms."
"Okay! Make my room right next to yours Felix!"
"Fine."
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