Demon Lord, Retry! Volume 2

by Kurone Kanzaki

  “Hm...”

  The Demon Lord was thinking about armor, or some kind of item, that would protect him against magic. He had gotten off scot-free so far, but there was no guarantee that he would next time. Even with his ridiculous amount of HP, he couldn’t be too safe. Even the Sleepless Castle, the most impenetrable structure in the game, had fallen in the end.

  (Something to protect me better from magic. That’s a must-have...)

  With that in mind, the Demon Lord exited the library.

  ——Streets below the Holy Castle, in the Holy City.

  (There’s much to do...)

  The Demon Lord reorganized his game plan. Fixing up the village of Rabbi, setting up his facilities, summoning advisors, looking for protection against magic: each of them were important tasks. As the Demon Lord returned to his inn, lost in thought, there was a pair of eyes watching him intently, almost as if to burn a hole into his back. The Demon Lord had noticed this immediately, but walked all the way back to the inn without reacting to it.

  “Head back to the room without me, Aku. I’ve got a little errand.”

  “Okay!”

  After watching Aku go in, he leisurely walked around town and found his way into an alley. Stopping there, he lit a cigarette. He had decided to just wait for whoever was watching him to show their face. Given how famous he had become, it was only natural he had people looking to find out more about him. Whether the person following him belonged to Holylight or another nation, they were undoubtedly some sort of spy.

  “I’m actually a lot busier than I look. I don’t have time to play cat and mouse.”

  He could sense the figure, just out of sight, becoming unsure of what to do for a moment, before they finally came around the corner for the reveal. It wasn’t someone the Demon Lord had expected.

  “You’re...”

  A girl with light blonde hair and red eyes.

  “...Found you.”

  It was the girl Zero had saved... Tron.

  The First Step

  (Why is this kid...)

  The previous day, Zero had gotten away saying he had a mission to complete. Zero must have considered it cool to make an exit like a passing hurricane. While that was true in the Bosozoku culture of yesteryear, the Demon Lord just saw him as an idiot... Despite the fact that he had roleplayed as this character for nearly a decade.

  (W-Wait, it’s different! I only did that stuff because I was playing a game! How could I ever act like that in real life!? In public!?)

  Even as the Demon Lord was fighting this strange inner turmoil, Tron just stared at him. Her eyes had a mysterious gaze, as if she was seeing something other than the Demon Lord. Considering his ever-growing to-do list, the Demon Lord decided to try and get rid of her.

  “So, what do you want, Kiddo?”

  He realized after he said. It was too late. The crimson gaze intensified.

  “...The same word as Zero. Same color.”

  “Color? What are you talking about?”

  He dragged on his cigarette, and slowly exhaled the smoke. Thanks to its Stamina-healing properties, perhaps, he felt his mind clear up. He had a bad feeling... that this could turn out to be something more annoying than he had thought.

  “...I see everything in colors. Emotions. Souls.”

  “Some kind of new-wave fortune teller? Try your luck on someone else.”

  He turned to leave, but something grabbed the end of coat with incredible force. Feeling her strength, the Demon Lord decided it was dangerous to judge this book by its cover. She even had something about her that wasn’t entirely human, but felt a little different from that of any of the devils he had encountered.

  “Give me Zero. Now.”

  “What are you going on about? You’ve got the wrong guy.”

  “Come out, Zero. Come right now. Come.”

  “Stop saying it like that! What if a guard overhears!?”

  It almost looked like the Demon Lord had pulled a little girl into the alley, having her talk dirty to him. After finally getting ready to start his business, the last thing he needed were some unsavory rumors.

  (But this kid...)

  She gripped the end of his coat even tighter, and she certainly wasn’t letting go. For some reason, she was convinced that the Demon Lord and Zero were the same person.

  (Not that anyone would believe a kid like this.)

  Even on appearance alone, the Demon Lord and Zero were completely different. Not to mention that they had different voices and were of different ages.

  “What do you want, anyway? You want some money?”

  “Zero... No, you... Saved me.”

  ‘It wasn’t me who saved you,’ the Demon Lord almost said, but kept his mouth shut. He felt like he was digging his hole deeper with every sentence he uttered. The girl in front of him seemed homeless. Rather than trying to play dumb, he thought he could turn the tables to his favor.

  “This is pretty much Nobody’s Girl... You’ve got nowhere else to go, is that it?”

  “...Mm-hm. I want to see Zero.”

  A girl nodding with small teardrops in the corners of her eyes was a more powerful attack to the Demon Lord’s heart than he had expected. He was only joking, but the girl seemed dead serious.

  (I don’t know how old this kid is, but there’s no sense letting her die on the streets after Zero fought to keep her alive... Made she can even be of use?)

  After some internal back and forth, the Demon Lord made up his mind.

  “I see. I’ll let you see Zero... But I have some conditions.”

  “Conditions? I’ll do anything.”

  While the Demon Lord thought that wasn’t something she should go around saying lightly, he figured it came out of childish innocence. Moreover, even if he hadn’t felt pity for this girl, she still could be of use. He considered her abnormal strength and the strange power to see things in colors.

  “If you obey my orders and work for me, I’ll consider letting you see him.”

  “What kind of work? Do you want me to kill a bunch of humans?”

  “No! What kind of monster do you think I am!? All of you!”

  The Demon Lord covered his face as if to deal with a migraine.

  “Pretty soon, I’ll be in a place where I’ll never have enough hands on deck...”

  He stopped there. While he hadn’t counted them, the village of Rabbi probably had a population of three hundred, at most. Considering that most of them would be working on the farm, he needed extra hands. Once there were a good number of guests coming in every day, he wouldn’t be able to always keep his guard down. Even for security, this girl seemed useful.

  “If you’ll use that strength and your color stuff for me, I’ll take you in, Kiddo.”

  “My name’s Tron... Not Kiddo.”

  “You’re still a kid. Let’s go.”

  The Demon Lord quickly started walking towards the inn. He feared that if he spent any more time in a dark alley with a little girl, some weird rumors may arise.

  (Yet another girl... The ratio’s getting out of hand. Maybe my next advisor should be Mr. Babysitter.)

  One of the male advisors came to his mind. More importantly, he really wanted another dude around who was close to his age.

  “Hey, Kiddo... You can let go of my coat, now.”

  “Mm...”

  The kid, Tron, obediently let go. Just when the Demon Lord patted himself on the back for including the ‘obey orders’ clause, the same hand wandered over and wrapped around the Demon Lord’s right hand.

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  “I don’t know this city. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Idiot! I’m too old to be walking like this.”

  Scooping up the girl with one arm, the Demon Lord continued toward the inn with bigger strides than before. Walking hand-in-hand with a little girl with his villainous face? Unbearable.

  “You smell just like Zero...”

  Ignoring the girl’s ramblings, th
e Demon Lord sped up. He could feel some stares, but this had to have been better than holding hands. Some people in the crowd would whistle, or holler ‘thanks for saving our asses!’ Ignoring them all, the Demon Lord finally arrived at the inn.

  (I’m so tired... I just wanted to go back to the inn...)

  ——An inn in Holylight.

  “Everyone’s ready, right? Let’s go!”

  Back at the inn, the Demon Lord clapped his hands loudly. He had to hurry back to the village of Rabbi and make some preparations. There were too many unexpected events and roadblocks in the Holy City.

  “Mister Secretary, who is that child...?”

  “Wow! Your hair is so beautiful!”

  Yu didn’t seem too surprised to see Hakuto Kunai bring someone home. All of the advisors had been hand-picked by Kunai, after all. Some of them were even practically kidnapped against their wills. Aku just seemed enamored by Tron’s cuteness.

  “H-Hey... That girl’s half...”

  Luna was staring at Tron with a serious expression much unlike her.

  (Half...?)

  The Demon Lord was curious, but guessed that she was something like a half-elf, a race found in many fantasy settings. Tron looked completely human to him, but perhaps Luna had some powers to pick up on these things as a Holy Maiden.

  “I need her to develop the village of Rabbi. Give her a pass.”

  “Give a pass to a Firebrand...? Are you kidding me!? I’m a Holy Maiden!”

  “Help that village flourish, and you can prove your sisters wrong about you.”

  “Urgh... Th-That’s...”

  Just as the Demon Lord thought, Luna held a strong sense of rivalry for her sisters. Seeing an opening, this cunning man went in for the double tap.

  “How can you expect to rule a nation without some open-mindedness? As long as you keep thinking about everything in monochrome, you won’t get any closer to the top.”

  “What? You got preachy all of a sudden...”

  “...It just means I’m counting on you that much.”

  “Hrmph...! A-Alright! But I won’t tolerate any crimes on my watch!”

  Luna’s finger pointed at her face, Tron nodded in compliance. The Demon Lord figured that Tron shouldn’t cause any problems as long as he explained things later, since she had nowhere else to go. The carrot of seeing Zero was still dangling, too. Whether Zero was good for the eyes was another story.

  Yu, can we use Quick Travel?

  Yes, sir. I feel that one of the restrictions was lifted.

  Very well. Let’s head for the village of Rabbi.

  Quick Travel was a command that any player could use, even Kunai and his advisors. With enough Stamina, it could be used right off the bat. This seemed to confirm that the command was unlocked for Yu as well.

  (The question is, who’s the one locking and unlocking these commands...?)

  He seemed to have too little information to pursue that answer at the moment. These were the kinds of basic questions that should become apparent as he researched the Ember Angel.

  “Then grab onto me. We’ll jump to the village of Rabbi.”

  While Aku and Luna were confused as to what he meant, they still did what he said without any objection, since the Demon Lord had displayed magic-like powers time and time again.

  The Demon Lord noticed Yu reaching out, too. Strange.

  Yu, you can jump there yourself.

  Why should we spend 60 SP to accomplish the same result as spending 30, Mister Secretary?

  Hm... You have a point.

  Firmly holding his arm, Yu explained to the Demon Lord like a math teacher tutoring a student. Unlike the children in the party, Yu’s body was fully and beautifully developed. Even the Demon Lord found himself dizzied a bit.

  “Th-Then, let’s go... Quick Travel: the village of Rabbi.”

  In an instant, the world shifted around them. They landed in the strangely familiar village of Rabbi. Everyone had made it through safely. While Luna and Aku were astonished after traveling here in a flash, the Demon Lord was more interested in the Bunnies, working tirelessly. Bouncing their rabbit ears, the Bunnies were dedicated to their work on the farm. They were all sweaty and their clothes were all dirtied. Still, the Demon Lord couldn’t help but find the sight beautiful. Perhaps indicative of their far-from-wealthy economy, even the Bunny children were working on the farms. Despite some of them being at an age where their whole lives should be fun and games, the children acted as if they didn’t have enough time in the day. While they now had unlimited water, there were many more problems the village was facing: villagers moving out, the damaged soil, the lack of rain. To boot, Holylight didn’t take kindly to demi-humans, although the Bunnies were the demi-human species treated the least harshly.

  “Yu. Let’s jump into setting them up.”

  “Yes, Mister Secretary. You can leave the rest to me.”

  Noticing their presence, the Bunnies came running up to them, waving at them. The Demon Lord seemed to have earned some trust from giving them water and fertilizer. Still, he could see in their faces that the Bunnies were exhausted, and their clothes were tattered.

  (Just you wait... I’ll turn everything around and rain more gold onto this village than you can wrap your head around.)

  Field Hospital

  “Hm. Around here would be perfect.”

  Walking around the village, with the map of the entire village in mind, the Demon Lord contemplated where to set up his hospital. The village of Rabbi was guarded by tall mountains on one side, and faced a highway that led to the Holy City on the other. As far as locations went, this wasn’t too bad. If he could only give the village a good draw for people to visit, things could really turn around. Since the village was halfway between the Holy City and Yahooo, a trading hub, he would have to advertise his business to both.

  (I just have to take out our Base from earlier...)

  The Demon Lord extracted the vanilla Base the party had been using. By combining a Base Improvement or a Base Evolution item to this, its Armor and Defensive Power would increase, morphing into a Base with various utilities. When strictly boosting a Base’s Defensive Power, it would evolve as follows:

  —Base (10 Defensive Power — 50 Armor)

  Negates Cannon Fire. Prevents 10 Damage from all attacks. The essential Base. It has various features, and these characteristics are carried on to any Base it evolves into.

  —Mid-Size Base

  It was a pain to evolve a Base this far, but it prevents 20 Damage from all attacks. If the player crafted this Base in the game, their safety was practically guaranteed until the last day. The exterior and the interior were drastically different from the vanilla version, providing players with luxurious amenities found in high-class hotels.

  —Large-Scale Base

  The Base with the best Defense, barring a few exceptions. As it prevents 40 Damage from all attacks, this was practically a fortress. Even in the Game, penetrating a Base like this was no easy feat. A player could evolve the Base into a different line entirely by improving its Armor instead.

  —Hideout

  While its basic stats were the same as a vanilla Base, it drastically reduces the player’s chances of encountering enemies. +25 Armor. Considering the massive effect of the Stealth Stance the Demon Lord had used earlier, he imagined that most people would struggle to even notice a Base like this. In the Game, this was only a stepping stone for bigger Bases, but it could come in handy in this world.

  —Natural Fortress

  A counterpart to the Large-Scale Base, this Base boasts the best Armor out of all iterations. While it loses the effect of decreased chances of encounters from the Hideout, with an Armor of 100, this Base is practically indestructible. With 15 variations of traps laid around it, just approaching this fearsome Base could get players in a serious predicament. Damage to the head after slipping on oil, poison from venomous snakes, damage to the legs from pitfalls, attacks from the Power-up Bird, Stamina damage fro
m fake treasure chests, etc...

  (I’ve made some pretty heinous stuff...)

  The Demon Lord couldn’t help but think about what he’d created. These were all fine in the world of a video game, but setting these up in real life would seriously damage anyone who approached them. What’s worse, these were only examples of Base Improvement. By Evolving his Base, the Demon Lord could make them even more despicable.

  (I’ve got to be careful what I set up if I don’t want people to label me the Demon Lord forever...)

  Shaking his head, he denied his imagining of that particular outcome. He would never use any of these Bases as long as he didn’t need to build them. All the Demon Lord could do was hope that he would never be in a situation where any of these Bases would be needed.

  “Everything all right, Mister Secretary?”

  He answered Yu, standing beside him, with some nonsense.

  “Just reveling in our glorious first step. Once we start treating people here, we will garner support from the masses.”

  “At your service, sir. I shall be your wings so you may soar to great heights...”

  “R-Right...”

  The Demon Lord was taken aback by Yu acting like a completely faithful advisor. This wasn’t exactly true to her character in the game. Kunai and Yu’s relationship had always been only that of a boss and his subordinate. Very business-like. In the game, she wouldn’t have been caught dead saying something as selfless as this.

  (I guess it’s better than being hated or shut out, though...)

  Yu was one of the cruelest advisors he had. The Demon Lord had to strive for a good relationship where he wouldn’t earn her wrath or hatred.

  “Oh, Master Demon Lord... Just a second! Can we grab the crackers?” Aku said, running over from the distance. The Demon Lord was about to ask why, when he realized that evolving the Base would renew its contents entirely, crackers and all.