บท 11: What it feels like to be tempted by a poisonous apple
The land of greed.
Which means we were in his territory.
I gripped the railing and looked down, only to get attacked by a bout of dizziness. Okay, I wasn't afraid of heights, but I was still afraid of falling. Thankfully, there seemed to be some kind of magic that prevent the wind from coming inward, so I didn't have to get assaulted by an air current that would mess up my hair and clothes.
Like I was saying, we were high up in the sky, and the ground seemed so far away, to the point that the jungle looked like colorful broccoli. The outer wall of the tower itself was made of dark-colored stone with white marble, which made it quite in contrast with the vivid, colorful display of the landscape surrounding the estate.
Well, that might be the point.
Since we were in what seemed to be the highest building in the territory, could it be that we were in his castle? I looked at Natha that had been watching my expression, which I supposed was full of unbridle astonishment, since the Demon Lord smiled quite nicely at me. Perhaps he enjoyed watching people's awed expressions toward their collection—you know, like any other greedy collector.
"Is this your castle, my Lord?"
Natha chuckled and turned my face in a specific direction with his fingers, which were away from us. "The Lord Castle is there, can't you see it?"
I narrowed my eyes at the vast landscape far away on the horizon. But I couldn't see shit. "You're a battle priest, so you must know how to use enhanced sight, don't you?"
Oh.
Actually, no, I didn't. But I could tap into Valmeier's memory to extract the ability. Slowly, I gathered the mana from my core and willed it to flow through my vein.
But God, it was slow. So slow. It was like sucking a drink through a straw with fingers pinching on it. The small hole in the entire blockage could only deliver the mana in a small amount at a time. It made me jittery from impatience.
"Slowly," Natha whispered from behind, stroking my upper arms to stop me from shifting too much. "Your mana circuit is still damaged, so do it slowly. Don't be impatient and keep calm,"
Sir, it's hard doing it with your handsome voice right behind my ear, you know.
I inhaled slowly, and keep trying to focus sending the mana into my ocular cognition. Little by little, my eyes grew sharper, and when enough mana gathered in my eyes, my vision narrowed, and I felt like looking through a telescope.
"Whoa..." I let out a subconscious exclaim.
I saw it then—a massive city that almost looked like a metropolis. Tall, huge building and countless hubs. Roads that were maintained seamlessly. Vehicles of every kind, from the one trampled on the ground and the one flying in the sky.
And then in the middle of all those bustling; something that was akin to a palace more than a castle.
Were we still in the same genre?
I blinked continuously. Lenaar seemed like the typical medieval fantasy setting, but that city, which I believed was the Capital, looked like a cross between fantasy and sci-fi. Like a cleaner version of steampunk. Like if earth practiced magic.
It was fascinating.
"That is L'Anaak Eed, the Capital. Where the Lord Castle is." Natha explained as I retracted my vision, since my eyes were starting to feel strained.
Lord Castle...more like a palace. I closed my eyes to chase away the dizziness. It might as well be a palace, though. From what I heard, the Demon Lords each govern a territory that was almost like a kingdom, with a unique sub-race as citizens and autonomous systems that separated each of the Lord's territories into their own unique realm.
But all Demon Lords pledge loyalty to the Sovereign Demon King, which supposedly resided deep within the hidden realm, and only the Demon Lords knew where it was.
I vaguely remembered that there was a setting in which every Lord carried a key that could be used to open the Demon King's Sanctuary. This setting was a prompt that led to one of the Demon Lords betraying the others to obtain the key, opening the hidden realm, and turning themselves into the Sovereign by killing the Demon King. At the same time, the Hero also trying to obtain the same thing.
Or so I thought. I didn't really know if that setting was enacted too.
Anyway, it would mean that this place wasn't the Demon Lord's castle.
"Then...what is this place?" I lifted my head to look at him that was still towering behind me.
He lowered his gaze, and then lowered his face, handsome visage hovering above me, cold arms caging my figure. "This is my lair," he said, in a voice that could be nothing but scandalous.
But I was too caught up in the confusion. "Lair? What's the difference with the castle?"
Perhaps it was the genuine wonder and confusion on my face, but he did not continue speaking in that seductive tone earlier—not that I know if it was meant to seduce; it was just nice and made my heart skip a little bit.
Instead, he pulled away and leaned on the railing, facing me sideways. "Hmm, let's see," he tapped on his chin—there was a rune shaped like a crescent moon there, I realized. "The Lord Castle belonged to the realm, and the lair belonged to me,"
"Huh?"
"Should I die, the Lord Castle would be owned by whoever was to be the next Lord. But this tower would be inherited by my beneficiaries," his eyes gazed at the tower's wall. "Do you get it?"
"I see," so it was between having your own capital and managing investor money. "This place is your personal property,"
He flashed what I could infer as a smile of satisfaction. The blue finger pointed out to the forest—the colorful broccoli—surrounding the tower. "My estate is up to the end of the forest, before the plateau," he explained. It was honestly impressive, for personal property—which meant he had to pay the tax rather than obtaining it. Must be a rich motherfuxkers.
That being said, his tone didn't sound like he was bragging or anything, just informing, as if he was a tour guide. I soon knew why when he added. "That's the extent you can go outside this tower."
Ah.
"You asked what you should do from now on," he spoke again, looking at me with a serious gaze. So we went to the terms and conditions now. I straightened my back unconsciously like some soldier waiting for instruction.
"I can't bring you to the Castle yet," he said. "Your position is...dangerous, to say the least. With your condition now, it might be hard for you to survive in the demon realm."
Might? I'd be dead the moment I stepped out, more likely.
"But you'll be safe here, in my lair," his hand reached out and stroked my hair, rubbing my temple. "So just stay here and let your body heal."
His hand reached down to my back while he looked down, prompting me to follow his gaze. "It might be boring just staying in the tower, but bear with it. You can go for a walk, but never cross outside of my estate."
It was uttered with a gentle tone, but if we looked at it in another way, he just laid out the fence for my new prison. He might say that it was because other demons would treat me like a total enemy, but who said he wouldn't do the same if I tried to defy his orders?
That being said, the 'prison' itself was immensely huge. The tower was just like a skyscraper—I mean, it literally scratch the sky. There were magical, colorful clouds up there at the top of the tower. And then there were a whole cliff and a colorful forest at the foot of the mountain.
Got boring, huh? If there was one thing I could say I was good at, it would be staying still inside a confined space of a room. Perhaps because I did not have much experience with the outside environment anyway, I didn't have a strong feeling of missing going outside. I did have the desire to go to the places they mentioned on tv or the internet, but it never grew into an obsession or anything, since I realized my own limitation from the start.
I chuckled bitterly at this memory. It would be interesting if I could feel bored with this much space. Unless...
The tower itself was so big. But this was his lair, and I expected it was where he stored his secrets—well, it could be said that I might also one of that secrets. So there was a high possibility that the rooms I could stay in were limited. There might even be a possibility that I could only stay in this particular room.
"Am I allowed to go anywhere within the tower?" I turned my face, and suddenly realized that his face was so close that my vision was filled with blue and silver.
"Yes," his voice was clear and so close and...
…yes?
I widened my eyes, staring at him dubiously. "Yes?"
"Yes," he repeated, an amused smirk on his face. "Except for the private rooms of those that worked here, you may go anywhere, to any room. Some were locked, but you can ask Angwi for the keys."
"...even to your...library?"
I was so flabbergasted that I didn't realize he'd been pulling my body closer, and that his hand had been on my waist. "You can rummage through my study if you want,"
This guy must be crazy. To let a stranger—a former enemy—went through places that were supposed to be his secrets?
I was astonished for a moment, until my mind caught up. There was no way he would just let me do whatever with the lair of someone who got to be called the Demon Lord of Greed. Wouldn't that kind of lair would be filled with the treasures he'd been collecting all this time?
So it was either he didn't keep his secret here, or he was testing me.
But while my mind was busy making this conclusion, his bowed face was already at the side of my face, and he whispered with that low voice of his that made me think of seductive incubus regardless.
"I don't keep secrets from my bride,"
Oh, freaking author! Why did you have to make him like this?
I tried my hardest not to be affected by the proximity of our stark body temperatures brushing against each other but God! Author! There was nothing I could do about the rush of blood traveling in speed to my face.
Again, he grasped my chin, and stroked my pressed lips, brushing them with his cold finger. "I said it, didn't I? I want you to find out about my intention yourself. And I want you to think about me much more while at it."
Oh, fuckers.
"So go ahead, do everything you want, look for secret stash and everything. I will be waiting for your report the next time we meet,"
If that low voice wouldn't, then the moon-like eyes that narrowed softly might be the ones that would kill me one day. I felt like he could make me lose focus like this and just use the moment I got distracted to stab me or something. One side of my mind kept giving me a blaring alarm and warned me with caution, but the other portion of my mind just...wanted to fall into temptation.
So this was what it felt like to face a forbidden fruit.
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