It was the shopkeeper, greeting me with a kindly face.
Seeing me look around, he approached and asked,
“What are you looking for?”
“Fruit trees. Something worth planting in the human world. Do you have seeds?”
“...Something like that, in the Demon Realm…?”
The shopkeeper looked troubled, but I took out a single coin, showed it to him, and said,
“Find them. A lot.”
“Huh… A-An adamantium coin!”
“If you search with all your heart, it’ll be yours.”
At those words, the shopkeeper hurriedly contacted somewhere. And not long after, he answered with a broad smile.
“I believe I can procure them!”
“Good. Make sure you bring them quickly. It’s about time for me to leave.”
“Yes, I will bring them at once!”
After that, I looked around the shop and began grabbing everything I thought I might need.
I even picked up items that promoted plant growth, and upon seeing that, the shopkeeper eventually failed to overcome his curiosity and asked,
“By the way, are you planning to farm with all this?”
“I’m going to work slaves. It wouldn’t be efficient to work them until they starve to death.”
“An excellent choice! As expected…”
He did not say much else, but his gaze was one of pitying contempt.
It was only natural. A Demon King was in a position to rule and destroy the world. Never someone who acted for the sake of slaves.
But I was giving an utterly absurd answer, so he could not understand.
‘Theory and practice were completely different. So… no matter what anyone says, right now, I’ll walk my own path.’
Before long, I saw a goblin arrive with a heap of seeds. After taking the seeds from him, I immediately returned to the Demon King Academy.
Was it because I had managed to obtain so many things?
At least my unease seemed to have eased a little, but when I entered the plaza, I found the atmosphere quite murderous, and I could roughly guess what had happened.
‘It was because that bastard who ranked first volunteered for the worst dimension….’
I knew full well how confident he had been. In truth, even if he went there, he would probably do well.
He was an existence completely different from me in every way.
‘Well, he was a promising talent, someone evaluated as material who would lead the future.’
The expectations placed on us were different from the start.
I had heard that there had been much talk within the Demon Realm because of it. But it had nothing to do with me. I found my seat and sat down to continue watching the graduation ceremony. Just then, after the oath was finished and the assigned dimensions were being announced, I recalled that those with lower grades would be notified in writing, and waited for the documents being distributed.
A short while later, the goblin handed me the last remaining document with a sneer.
‘He really thinks a Demon King’s authority is worth a goblin’s cock.’
I wanted to beat some manners into him on the spot, but considering that the one handling this goblin was a Grand Duke of the Demon Realm, I could only remain silent.
Right now, I had no power.
[ This is a notification to the Demon King candidate. You are hereby informed that you will be heading to the dimension “Avalon.” ]
- As support, you will be provided with the Demon King’s Tower and an orb storing 1,000 demonic energy.
‘As expected, the list is stingy. I know investing in someone with the lowest grades is a luxury, but seeing it again still pisses me off….’
It was the result of my conduct all this time.
If I had managed my grades even a little, I could have received support completely different from this.
But it was my own doing. The price I had to pay.
“With this, the Academy’s graduation ceremony is concluded. I hope all Demon King candidates will become great beings. You are dismissed.”
With the Grand Duke of the Demon Realm’s concise declaration, guidance began for moving to each dimension.
Before, I had no idea how much I had waited for this moment.
A peaceful life of simple comfort—I had thought the life I wanted was waiting for me, and I had judged that there was no particular reason to rule that world.
But now, my thoughts were a little different.
‘I have to do everything I can. Only then… can I survive, return to the Demon Realm, and live in peaceful comfort!’
I did not want anything grand.
I simply wished for peace. I hated a fierce life, but through death once already, I had realized that in order to be at peace, I had no choice but to be fierce.
‘Let’s go. I have to be diligent. Move, Granz!’
I moved my feet, and since the place I had to go had not changed, there was no hesitation.
Afterward, I arrived at the place that assisted with dimensional travel. When I handed over the documents, a demon relayed the instructions to me.
Letting them go in one ear and out the other, I accepted the orb he handed me and immediately stepped onto the magic circle. A short while later, by the magic of that demon, who looked at me with pitying eyes, I crossed dimensions.
* * *
“...Hoo, so I’ve come here again.”
With a blank expression, I looked up at the enormous tower.
The Demon King’s Tower, which surged upward the moment a Demon King descended. Because of this, a monster wave would occur in the area.
For now, the chaos was not too great due to the demonic energy spreading nearby, but this was only the beginning.
Once the monsters began moving, they would clash and fall into confusion again and again, surging in stages.
Because of that, in the end, an enormous number of monsters would become a wave and spread in every direction.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
I ran into the Demon King’s Tower.
Then, using the convenience magic that allowed me to head to the top floor, I went straight to the top and placed my hand on the tower core.
‘Absorb the demonic energy. As quickly and cleanly as possible.’
There was no reason to spew demonic energy and announce my presence to the surroundings.
There were pros and cons, but the advantage was that as demonic energy spread and humans gained fear of the Demon King, we gained power.
But on the other hand, if I could not prepare enough, I would create enemies I could not handle.
So now was the time to buy time.
‘If I endure at least five years, I can return to the Demon Realm. But it won’t be easy. Besides, even if I go back, a Demon King who returns without achievements won’t even be treated like empty chaff.’
It was not as if I had some family backing me. I had merely been dragged to the Academy and educated for years because I had the talent to become a Demon King.
‘Enough idle thoughts. Let’s get to work. I’ve finished setting it to absorb demonic energy, so there shouldn’t be a major wave.’
I adjusted the tower core for the next step and grasped the characteristics of the tower, which consisted of five floors.
Before, rather than examining it in detail, I had wasted things here and there, literally groping in the dark and putting into practice only what I knew.
Because of that, I had squandered all the demonic energy I had received at the beginning and failed to use it properly when it truly mattered.
‘I can’t do that this time.’
First, I pushed the orb into the core as if feeding it, accumulating demonic energy points.
‘The usable demonic energy points are 1,440. I started with 440 points. It was demonic energy inherited from the previous Demon King, who failed to use it all.’
It would not be an exaggeration to call the facilities outdated, but the tower I was assigned stood on rather decent land.
It was a habitat where an enormous number of monsters lived, called the “Forest of Death.”
The Demon King’s Tower stood right in the center of it, but because of that, it was also an easy place to discover.
The first thing I had to do was, naturally, install a device that could generate demonic energy.
‘Threatening humans accumulates demonic energy, but the risk is too high. Even if the efficiency is low, it’s right to sacrifice one floor and build a Spring of Demonic Energy.’
The top floor was honestly close to my living space. So, to minimize waste, building the Spring of Demonic Energy here was the right choice.
I immediately adjusted the core and checked the cost to build the Spring of Demonic Energy.
‘It eats up 500 demonic energy. But I need it. The size… it takes up a quarter of the top floor?’
In the end, the choice here was whether to stop at one or build two.
‘It isn’t a waste. It can generate an average of 10 demonic energy per day. If there are two, that’s 20. It isn’t a small number.’
Twenty was enough to summon an intermediate monster.
That did not mean summoning one or two would have any particular effect.
Moreover, if the offering was poor, even if I tried to summon an intermediate monster, it was possible for some lowest-grade thing to be called instead.
That was why Selvia had taken the Behemoth’s eye.
‘Talos being summoned is guaranteed. I’m jealous.’
If one could summon a demon with power that immense, ruling and destroying several countries in a short time would not be difficult.
Looking at the average time until a Hero arrived, it was about one year. Three hundred sixty-five days, and if I installed two Springs of Demonic Energy, that was 365 x 20. In other words, by no means a small amount.
‘Invest boldly. And with the remaining demonic energy, I can still do enough of what needs to be done.’
After installing two Springs of Demonic Energy, I immediately moved to the first floor of the tower. Then I moved demonic energy and began drawing a summoning magic circle.
‘Death Worm keratin is the best item for summoning subterranean creatures. I don’t even need an advanced magic circle. Intermediate is enough.’
What I wanted were hands and feet that could grow crops in my place.
So I proceeded with the summoning without hesitation. Thinking that I would be grateful if a fairly decent fellow appeared, just as the superstition said that the first summoning was blessed with luck, I activated the magic circle.
The Death Worm keratin placed at the center of the magic circle crumbled into powder as the circle activated and was absorbed into it. At the same time, the summoning took place, emitting a murky black light.
‘Did it come? Is it coming? Did it work?’
As I watched nervously, a being slowly revealed itself. At its first appearance, I clenched my fist tightly and cheered quite a bit inwardly.
‘Is it a Cave Man?’
It was a being called a blood-dweller, extremely belligerent and powerful, but incomparably loyal to its master.
Its body reached three meters, and compared to its appearance, many of them had rather skillful hands, so they often served as blacksmiths in the Demon Realm.
With thudding steps, the creature left the magic circle, approached me, respectfully paid its respects, and opened its mouth.
“Blood-dweller Drak greets the great Demon King.”
I thought the start was excellent, and I responded while looking at Drak.
“I am Granz, the master of this tower and the one who will become your master.”
“I shall serve with all my heart. If you desire destruction, I shall destroy anything…”
“No, no. Nothing so grand. Just do what I ask well. So plant these. All around the tower, with proper spacing.”
Drak looked puzzled as he accepted what I took out of my subspace, but he was a fellow who moved without complaint at his first order.
‘A good start. Now then, shall we continue with the summoning?’