TPDGR 08

Chapter 8….

“Joanna.”

I almost blurted out some uncle-like compliment like, Wow, even her name is as pretty as her face.

Yeah, yeah. Joanna.

Just looking at her made my heart soften without me realizing it.

Gyu came over and firmly stepped on my toes.

“Ku-rug.”

“What? Mesmerized by her face? When did I ever?”

While I feigned innocence, Joanna and Griffith exchanged a brief scuffle.

But in the end, Joanna won, stepping closer to me.

“I’ve heard how much you agonized over accepting the three orcs into your dungeon, Demon Lord. I was also told it was a very difficult decision for you.”

Number One, huh. This guy’s got a loose tongue—he spilled everything.

While I shot a side-glance at him, Joanna approached and suddenly clasped my hand.

“Uh…”

Flustered, I opened and closed my mouth like a fish. Strangely enough, where her skin touched mine, I felt a tingling sting.

What was that? My imagination?

Why did it feel electric?

Joanna gazed at me with her pale, almost white eyes filled with desperate sincerity.

“We may not be of much use to the almighty Demon Lord, but if you would grant us shelter, I swear in the name of God to repay this grace with our lives.”

“Uh…”

“And this is a token of my sincerity.”

Joanna reached into her cloak’s inner pocket and pulled something out.

The orcs standing behind her audibly gasped.

[Tears of the Goddess ‘Lasra’ (Artifact)
A Saintess’ essential item.
Stolen from the temple in the name of Saintess Joanna.
Amplifies divine power.]

Wow!

It was a platinum bracelet, gleaming with a sacred aura. Even without the blue status window floating in front of me, I could tell it was priceless, beyond measure.

The jewel set into it—was that… a diamond?

And if it’s an Artifact… then it’s a legendary-grade item!

I remembered reading about this in Hundred-Year Hunter.

This world contained jewels imbued with special powers. Items crafted so that those powers could be activated in times of need were called “Artifacts.”

Hunters would buy them for astronomical prices on the black market, or sometimes stumble upon them by chance in cliffside ruins, where they would conveniently appear to aid the protagonist, Han Hyunjin.

So Griffith and Joanna’s world had Artifacts too!

While I stared blankly in astonishment, Joanna smiled gently and offered the bracelet.

“The Goddess herself hopes that you, the virtuous Demon Lord, will wear this bracelet and use it to protect many people.”

This was dangerous. With someone that beautiful offering a bribe, it didn’t even look like a bribe.

I held out my hand, ignoring Gyu bouncing indignantly on my toes.

Why not? Trying it on was free.

“It… It wouldn’t hurt to just try it on, right?”

“Of course. Please do.”

The saintess smiled warmly, like a luxury store clerk, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Ahem. Well… it is pretty.”

The bracelet didn’t suit someone like me, dark as a crow, but it was undeniably beautiful—and tempting.

So this was what they meant by coveting what you see.

Rumble.

As I grinned foolishly while accepting the bribe, a chill ran down my spine.

What was that?

The dungeon sky, clear just moments ago, suddenly filled with storm clouds.

A strange wind picked up.

The people around me tilted their heads in confusion as the gale swept through my dungeon.

I stared up at the sky, dazed, when lightning began flashing between the clouds.

That’s… lightning?

Since ancient times, lightning was said to be the wrath of heaven.

The thought of foreboding just struck me when a bolt of lightning suddenly came crashing down—

Right on top of my head.

“Argh!”

“D-Demon Lord!”

Thud!

I collapsed on the spot, struck by the bolt that speared straight into me.

Dizzy.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar ceiling of my bedroom.

The black ceiling with its tiny etched patterns blurred above me, and from the edge of the bed, Gyu leapt up and down frantically, sensing I was awake.

“Kyuu! Kyuu!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I got struck by lightning.”

My head throbbed, and my skin stung.

Grimacing, I touched my cheek and felt the poultice stuck there.

“Ahh, stings…”

It was the same crushed herb I’d once used on Number Three.

While I lay there, Gyu whimpered miserably, explaining what had happened.

“So, I got struck because of that damned platinum bracelet, huh?”

That beautiful, luxury-looking bracelet had turned into a cursed thing.

Because it was an object tied to divine power, it was completely incompatible with me, the Demon Lord.

Apparently, the Goddess got furious when I dared covet her bracelet and hurled lightning right at me.

What injustice! I only wore it because they said I could try it on for free!

“Did the saintess know it would happen?”

“Kyuu.”

“No? She didn’t?”

Turns out, that was the only valuable item she’d managed to bring when she fled the kingdom.

She offered it just to win me over—she swore she had no idea it would blast my skull with lightning.

Luckily, I survived, perhaps thanks to being a Demon Lord.

Number Three had been treating me, while Numbers One and Two tied up the refugees and kept them under watch.

I liked how they divided the roles without me even needing to order them.

Yes, it was a good decision to take in those orcs.

As for the saintess—whether she meant to kill me or not, I had already decided to send them away.

Really, farming and guarding were enough. The three orcs could handle that easily, and there was no urgency. No need to take in more people.

And no, it wasn’t because I still held a grudge about the lightning strike. Absolutely not.

…Yeah. Totally.

Of course, I knew that food and safety weren’t the only needs in life.

Philosophy and culture were important too.

But come on. You can’t just conjure culture out of thin air in the middle of nowhere.

It’s not like rural villages suddenly get massive cinemas.

When I left the Demon Lord’s castle with Gyu and Number Three, I found the refugees kneeling with grim faces.

Numbers One and Two stood over them with clubs, keeping guard. Among them, the saintess and hero looked especially devastated.

“D-Demon Lord…”

The saintess gazed at me with a tear-streaked face, utterly at a loss.

Her already white hair and pale complexion made her look like one ghostly blur.

Tears welled in her eyes.

“I-I am truly sorry, Demon Lord! I swear I had no intention of harming you. Please believe me!”

“How can I believe that, you cursed saintess!”

Number One brandished his club furiously at her.

Gyu dropped the bracelet he’d been carrying on his head onto the ground before them with a sharp thunk.

A clear display of displeasure.

The hero’s face went pale as well.

“I won’t hold you accountable for the Goddess’ bracelet incident. I only intended to try it on, not to accept you in. I never had any thought of taking you in to begin with.”

Speaking firmly, my words drew a groan from the hero’s lips.

Gyu, on the other hand, looked at me with wide eyes as if asking, Really?

“Even though you harmed me, I’ll let you live and leave. That is my final mercy. Don’t waste your time—go find another land to take you in.”

“…Yes. We understand. Forgive us, Demon Lord.”

At last, both of them bowed their heads in defeat.

“Stand.”

The refugees staggered to their feet under guard.

And then—

Something dropped at their feet.

What’s that?

It was a small doll.

Dirty, patched over and over again.

I picked up the worn, well-used ragdoll. A middle-aged man jumped in alarm.

“This yours?”

Why was an old man carrying around a doll?

“Ah, y-yes, it is. I’ve made my living performing puppet shows…”

“Puppet shows?”

“A kind of theater… performed with dolls.”

Even while fleeing for his life, this man had been lugging around a huge wooden box.

At first, I thought it was just luggage. But it turned out that box was a puppet stage.

He was also carrying all sorts of props for plays.

Theater, huh.

“Um, Demon Lord…?”

The other refugees stopped in their tracks too, hesitating at the dungeon’s exit.

And suddenly—

A memory from a hundred years ago resurfaced in my mind, one I had long forgotten.