Birth of a Demon City

by Hyougetsu

“You killed one of my messengers! Do you really think I’ll show you mercy just because you surrendered?”

  “I understand you’re angry, but...”

  Still in my werewolf form, I strode into the room.

  “How’re the negotiations going?”

  Upon seeing me, the viceroy fell to his knees.

  “I beg of you, please forgive us! I’ll do anything if it means you’ll spare our lives! Please, have mercy!”

  Did he start crying just from seeing my face? While Thuvan’s viceroy was the one who’d sentenced Yuhit to such an inhumane punishment, it was also true that Yuhit had committed a grave sin. I was willing to let that issue slide. So seriously, stop crying. The remaining negotiations went incredibly smoothly. I just had to glare or click my tongue, and the viceroy instantly acquiesced. After he’d accepted all of my conditions, the only thing left was to decide how to deal with him.

  “Vaito, what do you think we should do?”

  “I wouldn’t want to sit at the same table as someone who orders the torture and death of unarmed messengers.”

  I bared my fangs, and the viceroy toppled out of his chair. Firnir clopped over and pointed her short spear at his neck. In a low voice, she snarled “You killed one of my messengers too. I hope you realize I don’t like you very much.”

  “Eeeek!”

  “You’re not welcome in my government. Understand?”

  The viceroy nodded fervently. Thuvan’s viceroy was neither an incompetent man, nor an evil one. But both Firnir and I agreed that he couldn’t be trusted. Average rulers weren’t fit to use as allies. The only people we’d let join our side would be those who were exceptional.

  We gave him the choice of retiring here or leaving for another city, and to no one’s surprise, he chose to leave. Anyone who would abandon their subjects out of fear wasn’t fit to work with us. I couldn’t care less where he went. It’d be nice if he didn’t end up like Yuhit, but if he did it wouldn’t be my fault.

  I’m glad Airia turned out to be one of the good ones. I should probably be nicer to her. Maybe I’ll get her a souvenir from Thuvan. I wonder which she would prefer more, the ballistae we plundered, or the mounted combat strategy books we found?

  I couldn’t afford to leave Ryunheit unguarded for long, so I ordered Kurtz and his dragonkin engineers to pack up as soon as possible. As all the undead soldiers fighting at the southern gate had been destroyed, I’d only be able to take half the Bone Spears I’d given Melaine back with me; a mere 1000. It’d be nice if Master could make more, but considering her condition...

  The remaining Bone Spears were needed to guard the city walls and the viceroy’s manor. Their presence probably terrified the citizens, but the kentauros couldn’t fight well in the city, so they were a necessity. It appeared Melaine would be staying behind for some time as well in order to help Firnir organize the city. I should probably say goodbye to her and check up on Master before I go.

  As I walked into the main office, I found Melaine perusing Thuvan’s most important reports. Master was lying on the bed nearby.

  “Melaine, how’s Master feeling?”

  “As you can see, sleeping soundly. She won’t wake up for a few days at least, I don’t think.”

  During the battle, she’d expended all her mana supporting the kentauros and healing the injured. She was quite the terror on the battlefield. But in her sleep, she looked like nothing more than a cute, innocent child.

  Though she was a powerful mage, Master’s body was weak, and her heart wouldn’t even beat without a steady supply of mana. Apparently long ago, back when she’d still been human, someone had almost killed her. She’d used magic to resuscitate her heart. One side-effect of that spell was that she’d stopped aging ever since.

  Anyway, since she needed mana to survive, burning large quantities of it left her physically drained like this as well. There was a complex magic theory that explained the details of how mana interacted with her body. I wasn’t able to fully understand it, but the way I interpreted it was basically that her HP and MP were the same now. I wasn’t sure if that was technically correct or not, though. I’m a pretty shitty apprentice, huh?

  In the end, it was two days later that I told Melaine to take care of the rest and hurried back to Ryunheit. Yuhit still wasn’t able to walk, so we put him in one of the dragonkin unit’s carriages. His family and most devout disciples followed after him. They had all asked to seek refuge in Ryunheit, and I’d found no reason to deny them. Apparently they’d been feeding him and treating his wounds in secret. It was the only reason he’d lasted as long as he had. Most of his disciples were engineers and former soldiers, so I figured they’d be useful to keep around. Now then, it’s time to get going. I was worried about how my city was getting along. I bet there’ll be a mountain of paperwork waiting for me. Maybe I shouldn’t go back after all... Well, no point in complaining about it.

  “All units, it’s time to go home!”

  1000 Bone Spears, 24 dragonkin engineers, and a couple dozen refugees safely passed through Ryunheit’s main gates. The first thing that happened after my return was Fahn marching up to me and lecturing me about not being so reckless.

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  —Melaine’s Drunk Ramblings—

  Fir! Firnir! Come over here for a sec. Eh, don’t worry about the paperwork, it’s fine. I’ll get it done in a flash later. Come on, just sit with me for a bit. Pour me a drink, will you? Good girl.

  You did a pretty good job today. As far as I can tell, the humans are being pretty obedient. It’s all thanks to your management. It’s nothing to get embarrassed about, really. Besides, if anyone tries to start trouble, I’ll turn them into a vampire and make them my slave. So don’t worry.

  I guess I could just take a leaf out of your book and threaten to bring Veight back here too. Oh, hmm. Yeah, I guess you might be relying a bit too much on Veight’s reputation. But honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Until you’re able to handle everything on your own, you may as well use his name as a crutch. Seriously though, when did Veight get so big? Was I really so unreliable that he had to grow up that fast? Oh yeah, that reminds me of this one story.

  You know how you kentauros have had it really hard these past few decades? Well, the vampires are the same way. Ah, thanks for the refill. 100 years ago, when I first became a vam... Err, nevermind. Basically, a while back, vampires were way more impressive than they are now. Our warriors were as strong as the best werewolves, and we could control humans just by staring into their eyes. And you know, back before I became a vampire, we were supposedly even more powerful. Ancient vampires could fly through the sky, transform into mist, and were like, totally invincible. Yeah, just like that.

  Anyway, we’ve been growing weaker over the centuries. Modern vampires can’t fly, and they can’t control people just by looking at them either. Well, I guess we are practically immortal now, and we’ve built up a resistance to the sun and holy crosses, but that’s really it. Because we got complacent with our strength, our race started this long decline. I actually went to Master’s place to learn magic because I was worried we’d have no future unless I did something about our weakness.

  That was when I first met Veight. He was just a little kid back then, a really cute little kid. But you know what he said when I told him all that stuff about vampires and how I was worried about our future?

  “Regression is just another form of evolution.”

  At first I was just like, what’s this kid yapping about? I thought he was just saying whatever because werewolves have always been strong and he’d never had to worry about stuff like that. The more I thought about it, though, the more I felt like I got what he was trying to say. Our ancestors had been really strong, but they’d been practically wiped out by humans. Meanwhile, we’re doing just fine. We can pass through gates that have crosses carved into them no problem, and the sun can’t hurt us. So we’re way better at surviving than the vampires of the past. We might hav
e lost a lot of our old strength, but we’ve become a lot more tenacious too.

  When I figured that out, I realized that little twerp was a way smarter disciple than I gave him credit for. I figured I’d look after him as thanks, but it turned out he was way more mature than I thought. When I told him I’d realized what he meant, he said something about natural selection or something that didn’t make much sense... And he said we were like the “Native Americans.” Is that a werewolf term or something?

  Anyway, the point is thanks to our Master, I found a way for vampires to survive in this world. Apparently most of our race has a strong affinity for necromancy. You know, I can make 5...no wait, 7...no wait, 10 undead soldiers in a day! And after I had some of my followers train under Master too, they were able to summon a single skeleton a day. You might not know this, but once you can summon undead creatures, you’re considered a fully-fledged necromancer. I know Master can create like 100 in a day, but she’s insane so it’s different. Point is, now there’s a way for us vampires to thrive. We just need to take our race in a new direction. Veight put it pretty well before; if we want to survive, we have to throw away our old selves. Have you heard of this saying? “Yesterday’s sun will never rise again.” I think it’s pretty apt.

  Okay, enough gloomy talk! Fir, you got any interesting stories to tell? Come on, I’m sure you’ve got a few. If not, we can always talk about love. It’s obvious you’ve got a crush on Veight. You’re so easy to read. Huh!? Of course not, he’s like my little brother, there’s no way I’d be in love with him. Seriously! Besides...that guy’s way too dense...

  He’ll get reincarnated before he ever learns how to take a hint. Well, I’m rooting for you. If you ever need advice, you can always come to the beautiful Melaine. Big sister here’ll point you in the right direction. Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot about the documents. I’ll handle them tomorrow.

  Wait, you need them done tonight?

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  After helping with the conquest of Thuvan, I spent some time solidifying my rule in Ryunheit. I wanted to give my report to the Demon Lord too, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask Master to teleport me when she was still weak. I’d visit the Demon Lord after she’d rested up some. For now, I was making do by sending Kurtz to deliver any news to the castle. He entered my office after finishing his latest report and I turned to him and said, “Kurtz, you have no idea how grateful I am that you’re around. If I asked one of my werewolves or canines to act as messenger, I wouldn’t be able to explain what I mean by Dragon’s Breath.”

  Over the past few weeks, Kurtz and I had grown rather close, and I casually handed him a meat skewer I’d bought earlier. It was the same one with the delicious sauce that I’d tried some time back.

  “I’m partial to the skewers sold by the stall here. I hope you like them as much as I do.”

  “It’s scrumptious.”

  Dragonkin were carnivorous, so of course they ate meat.

  “I imagine this sauce would pair perfectly with locust.”

  “...Sure.”

  Though it seemed they still preferred insects above all. He downed a few more chicken skewers, and I treated him to a cup of my prized green tea afterward.

  “I’m glad we were assigned a trading city. The variety of food here is wonderful. Would you happen to know what seasoning is used for this, sir?”

  “It’s a salty seasoning made by fermenting a certain kind of beans.”

  Nice to know soy sauce has fans, even in another world. Though I guess this isn’t quite soy sauce. Kurtz nodded a few times then said, “I believe my lord might find this seasoning to his liking. Could you tell me where you purchased it? I think I’ll purchase some with my earnings.”

  As I suspected, Kurtz was rather close to the Demon Lord as well. At the very least, he was close enough to know the Demon Lord’s tastes. I better be extra careful not to say anything rude...

  “I am also curious where you were able to grow such a fragrant tea without fermenting the leaves. If possible, I’d like to present this to the Demon Lord as well. Would it be alright if I took a few leaves back with me?”

  “I don’t mind. I just hope the Demon Lord likes it.”

  Considering how much trouble I’d gone to find these, I was reluctant to part with them. It wouldn’t do to be stingy though. I could spare one box; I had another three hidden away, after all. Kurtz heaved a relaxed sigh and watched the steam swirling above his cup.

  “Oh yes, I took the liberty of harvesting soil samples from both Ryunheit and Thuvan. I was thinking of taking them back to Grenschtat on my next visit and having the engineers there run an analysis on them.”

  “You guys can do that?”

  “Some of my comrades have particularly sensitive tongues. Dragonkin have traditionally used taste to analyze the components of soil...it’s possible there might be valuable ore veins nearby.”

  While their approach to research was academic, it appeared their technology still hadn’t caught up to what they wanted to do. Hence why they still used methods like this for certain tasks. Afterwards, I handed Kurtz another pile of reports and saw him off as he left with his comrades through the south gate. Godspeed, Kurtz. I hope the Demon Lord likes soy sauce and green tea. May the love of Japanese food spread far and wide.

  After seeing Kurtz off, I went to check up on Yuhit. While his recovery appeared to be progressing smoothly, the days of exposure and abuse had left him permanently weakened. He could no longer walk without a cane. I tried to spend as much time as I could with him, but his heart had been scarred by the experience.

  “Is it really alright for a sinner such as myself to continue living? These old bones are responsible for the deaths of so many men, and the suffering of so many more...” Yuhit muttered sadly. I pondered his words for a few moments. Even in this world, where magic was real, the dead couldn’t be brought back to life. Master could reanimate the dead soldiers’ corpses if I asked, but they would still be soulless puppets. Not living people.

  Theoretically, it was possible to reincarnate someone’s soul into another life using transmigration magic, but as the reincarnated soul had no memories, there was no way to be sure it really did what it was supposed to. Besides, reviving someone without their memories in a different body kind of defeated the purpose of reviving them. No matter what anyone tried, the dead were dead. So in the end, all I could say to Yuhit was, “It’s true that thanks to your actions and mine, four hundred of Thuvan’s soldiers now lay dead.”

  Technically I’d just been doing the proper thing as a military commander while he’d committed treason, but now probably wasn’t the best time to mention that.

  “I don’t regret my actions, but if you regret yours, then the only way to pay for your crimes is to save as many lives as you killed.”

  What I’d told him was an adaptation of the demon army’s motto: Pay for your failures by succeeding as hard as you failed. Yuhit stared at me for a few seconds, then nodded.

  “Save as many lives as I killed, huh...”

  “If four hundred isn’t enough, then save eight hundred, or even four thousand if that’s what it takes. That won’t erase your sins, but it’s still better than moping around doing nothing.” I rose to my feet and nodded to the bishop. “Hurry up and get better. I need you to lead the people of the Sonnenlicht Order. They’re growing uneasy.”

  Without waiting for his reply, I strode out of the room. I hope that wasn’t too harsh. Well, it’s probably fine either way.

  Yuhit did indeed return to his post after recovering, but his teachings were slightly different now. Before, he’d preached unity through force, but his sermon the night before had been far less totalitarian.

  “I was foolish. To think that all humans need to possess the same values and same morals to coexist is the misguided wisdom of man. But the wisdom of God runs much deeper. After all, does he not give light to all, even those who believe in other doctrines? Surely that must mean...�
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  Apparently he’d begun preaching that coexistence with heretics and demons was the true path to enlightenment. I had no clue what had caused his change of heart, but thanks to him, the Sonnenlicht Order finally stopped causing trouble for the other sects. They started treating everyone they met with kindness, and even the coarse werewolves started to like them.

  Soon enough, there was no one left in Ryunheit who wished to oppose the demon army. Both the city’s garrison and its religious orders were happy to cooperate with us. The overall popularity of our rule also led to a most unexpected development.

  “Sir Veight, do you have a moment? There’s something I wish to discuss with you.”

  One evening, Airia came to visit my office. I finished signing the last of the documents for the day and looked up at her.

  “By all means. What did you want to talk about?”

  I waved at the chair across from me and she sat down. With a determined gaze, she looked right at me and said, “I was thinking of having Ryunheit secede from the Meraldia Commonwealth.”

  “You what?”

  Stunned, I shot to my feet. I scrutinized her expression carefully, trying to see if this was some kind of joke. Are you sure you’re sane?

  At present, the demon army had total control of Ryunheit. But in the end, we were just an occupying force. Ryunheit was officially a member of the Meraldia Commonwealth. In other words, we were holding Ryunheit hostage, and were really nothing more than an invading force. Unfortunately, as far as humans were concerned, we were neither a legitimate army nor a legitimate state. And now that we’d conquered all the nearby cities, the only hope Ryunheit had of liberation was from Meraldia’s main army. But if Ryunheit seceded from the Commonwealth, Meraldia wouldn’t bother to save them. In fact, Ryunheit would make themselves Meraldia’s enemy. Every city would turn against them. While I was still trying to formulate a response, Airia explained further.