Chapter 99: Sexy ☆ Reina ☆ Beam!

Orbie.

Alex, who had become the lord, was once again caught up in scheming… or rather, things weren’t going well for him.

“I don’t know what’s going on… Tripol, where I was supposed to import drugs from, is in chaos—maybe the Demon Lord’s army is responsible. The neighboring city was also punished by the Second Prince’s faction and is finished… It seems their reach hasn’t extended this far yet, but if I stir up more trouble here, I might get caught…”

With his short, brown hair and sharp, fox-like black eyes, he was a man who looked like he was good at plotting just by looking at him. Having once made a contract with Reina to assassinate his own father, he was far from a normal person. Today, too, he was planning to scheme cunningly, but managing the territory itself was more difficult than leading a band of bandits.

‘Above all, creating a land dedicated to desire, hidden from the nation’s eyes… With war imminent, the surrounding atmosphere is so tense that it’s hard to make a move, no matter what I do. If I’m not careful, I could be mistaken for a pawn of the Demon Lord’s army and end up with a noose around my neck, which would be a problem. But if I just stay put, I won’t be able to keep my promise to Reina.’

His promise to her.

To turn this land into a domain of desire that met Alex’s standards, and to bind Reina there.

Using his privileges as lord, he could strip her of her human rights. He could cut off her arms and legs, command her not to wear clothes, or bind her with a formal contract… If he made her the most insignificant being in this city overflowing with desire, Reina, with her desire for ruin, would happily close her eyes as if she were in a cradle.

But…

“The prospects are bleak. Once the war ends and the new system is in place, the Second Prince will lead the charge to root out all darkness. I thought now was the only chance to change this land, but Tripol, the most important piece, has collapsed. And Bere, which I planned to use if that failed, has become an enemy nation. It’ll be a problem unless a business partner just falls out of the sky… As it is, I can’t even entice the merchants operating within my own territory…”

He slammed his head on his office desk and lamented for a moment that his time as a bandit leader had been more enjoyable, but he quickly shook his head as if he didn’t truly mean it.

“My lord, are you in?”

In that same state, he responded to the woman’s voice coming from outside his office.

“I’m here. I’m up. What is it all of a sudden?”

“A guest has arrived.”

“A guest?”

The voice was flat, almost rude for not even knocking, but he paid it no mind and simply expressed his confusion.

“What? Who is it, and from where? No one requested an audience today.”

“He says he’s a merchant from Bere. He wishes to meet with you, my lord, to speak in detail. What are your orders?”

‘Bere… The fact that he specifically mentioned that city must mean he’s one of those merchants who traded between the Empire and the Kingdom… This situation is difficult for the merchants who acted as intermediaries, too, so it’s not strange that they’re getting anxious. But why come to a backwater place like this…?’

“—My lord?”

‘…No, it doesn’t matter. I wanted to talk to a merchant from the other side anyway. I’ll just consider this a good opportunity.’

Nod.

“Let him in for now. Given the circumstances, conduct a thorough body search.”

“Understood.”

The woman’s voice from beyond the door disappeared, and some time passed. Though he was the lord, perhaps because he had few servants, he got up and poured some tea himself. He moved from his work desk to a chair meant for guests and waited. Soon, a maid, who was rather unsociable for her profession, left after saying a single line, “This is Lord Alex’s office,” and departed.

“So you’re the merchant who wanted to see me.”

“Yes, Lord Orbie. Please forgive me for arriving so unceremoniously, given the situation.”

The middle-aged man, who had no distinguishing features, sat down, dressed in thin clothes that left no place to hide a weapon. The formal conversation that followed was almost grating to Alex’s ears.

His name, where he came from, what kind of business he was in, why he had come all this way…

Every answer was formal, perfunctory, with nothing to latch onto—the gist being, ‘The situation being what it is, I came here hoping to scrape together some money before things get worse.’ Then, once the conversation seemed to open up a bit, he finally brought the tea to his lips, looked around, and smiled.

“By the way, this room is certainly red. How should I put this… I don’t know if I should say this, but it’s rather… unique. Are you perhaps aiming for the throne?”

“It was the former lord’s taste. I’ve renovated as much as I could, but there were limits. A truly filthy hobby, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t go that far… I just thought it was a bit flamboyant…”

He had removed the corpses, replaced the floorboards, aired out the smell, and renovated all the areas decorated like a throne with red lamps and ornaments, but even so, he couldn’t get rid of everything. The red color that remained, especially on the walls and among the leftover ornaments, was a trace of the past. Even the unsociable maid he currently employed was a victim of his father, Lawrence, whom he had kept on, so there was a somewhat warped air about the place.

“So… enough with the pointless chatter. Let’s get down to business. I assume you vaguely introduced yourself as an herb merchant just to see my reaction. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not wrong. I apologize for beating around the bush, but my life is on the line. But I feel I can have a frank discussion with you, Lord Alex, so I’ll get to the point.”

The merchant smiled with a friendly face. It was the kind of smile Alex wished his maids would learn from.

“I wish to sell a large quantity of hallucinogenic herbs and their detoxifying counterparts.”

“I’m listening.”

This was exactly what Alex wanted to hear. The timing was so perfect it was suspicious, but he had no choice but to press on. He remained on guard, but the man, as if anticipating his suspicion, began with an explanation.

“In the current Imperial capital, demi-humans and monsters have suddenly appeared, and the situation is beyond chaotic. It seems information has been cut off over here, but the Imperial Royal Family issued an edict, spouting something about a symbiotic relationship, ordering everyone to coexist with them.”

“And?”

“A symbiotic relationship. It sounds nice, but even this kingdom still has discrimination against demi-humans. And now, suddenly, it’s all monsters and demi-humans… Thanks to that, the inside of the Empire is a mess. With monsters and demi-humans running rampant, even us merchants in the underworld who deal in drugs are starting to suffer losses, so everyone is leaving.”

“Aren’t merchants the type to do business with anyone, even a demon, if they’re a customer? I don’t think monsters and demi-humans are enough reason to flee.”

“That’s only if they have money. Most of them are just a bunch of thugs, so looting is rampant in the poorly secured outskirts. Right now, with war imminent, they’re gathering soldiers, so public security is at its worst, and there’s no one to stop them. Worse, even if we try to make them customers, most demi-humans and monsters have poison resistance, so the drugs don’t work well on them.”

In other words, he was fed up, saying they weren’t even customers.

“Where did you hear about me?”

“There’s a merchant connected to Tripol. He passed the information to me when he came over this way. I can’t give you his name, just in case, but he’s got a potbelly and is an incorrigible womanizer…”

“…The slave trader?”

“You know him! Yes, that’s the man.”

He recalled the merchant he’d often dealt with during his bandit days. The same one who had left in disbelief after hearing Reina’s moans.

“For now, I’ve brought everything I have and came here by way of Bere, but I wonder if we can make a deal…”

“That’s tricky… What I want is the cultivation method. I want to grow the crops myself and produce the drugs right here.”

“I have that information as well.”

“Oh? Can you sell it?”

“I want to wash my hands of this business, so if you’d be willing to buy everything I’ve brought…”

‘He’s trying to offload all his stock. He just looked pitiful, but at his roots, he’s still a merchant, I see.’

It would be a huge expense, but it was exactly what Alex wanted, so he nodded and was about to shake the man’s hand.

“Lord Alex.”

“What is it? I’m in the middle of something important. If it’s not urgent, do it later.”

“It’s not that.”

“It’s so loud and noisy… Is there some kind of town festival today?”

“No, it’s not that…”

BOOM!

Before she could finish, a loud explosion echoed from around the mansion. Alex’s eyes narrowed, and his gaze fell on the merchant before him. The timing was too perfect; this man was the only one to suspect.

“What was that just now?”

“It’s a raid. A group of assassins is wrecking the mansion.”

“A raid! Is my carriage alright?! That’s my entire fortune…!!”

‘What? So it’s not his doing?’

The merchant seemed to be genuinely panicking, not faking it. Since he came from the Empire, he could have been a vanguard for the Demon Lord’s army, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“What’s the situation? The enemy? If you’re going to report, do it properly.”

“It seems to be a group of dark elves belonging to the Demon Lord’s army. The guards are currently engaging them, but the enemy is skilled and will likely reach here soon.”

“Are they that strong? What are their numbers? Hey, why did you stop talking… I told you to report properly…!!”

“My apologies. There are about fifty of them… I’m observing the mansion with detection magic, and the guards are being swept away like fallen leaves. Perhaps it would have been better to spend the money and hire more skilled guards.”

“Don’t talk so calmly in a situation like this! I already blocked all the secret passages while renovating the building… Thanks to that, we’re like rats in a trap!”

“From my perspective, it’s not a situation worth making such a fuss over…”

“…What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ll cut contact for a moment. Excuse me.”

“Hey, hey! You’re not running away, are you?! Hey! You cheap, fake maid!”

He knew she had a blunt side, being one of the victims his father, Lawrence, had kept, but he found it strange that she would speak that way even in a situation like this. Her tone was as if she were reporting on something that was already over. Wondering what on earth was happening outside to warrant such a comment, he actually calmed down, and the explosions he’d just heard quickly subsided.

“I don’t know what happened, but it seems to have gotten quiet…”

“She spoke of such danger, yet she was so calm… Is something happening that I don’t know about…?”

Just in case, he cautiously approached the window and looked down to see the mansion’s garden pitted with craters and lined with corpses. For a battle involving his guards, the place was so spectacularly destroyed that he couldn’t make sense of it.

‘There’s no one in sight…’

That was all he could see from the window. He was feeling an eerie chill at the fact that nothing but corpses could be seen so soon after the battle had started, when he heard the sound of something running down the corridor—th-th-th-th-th-thud.

‘-An enemy?’

Despite appearances, he was a former bandit boss. As he grabbed a decorative sword hanging on the wall, the door was kicked open and an enemy burst in.

“Huk! Hah, heoh, heooooh! Heo!”

A single dark elf with black hair, her body covered by a brown robe. She was covered in wounds from head to toe. The way she rolled forward from her kicking stance and then scanned her surroundings was somehow desperate.

“Hik?!”

“An uninvited guest. I don’t recall accepting a filthy wretch like you as a guest.”

The merchant hid behind the sofa, and as Alex stepped forward with his sword drawn, the dark elf’s eyes finally registered him. The fact that she hadn’t noticed him immediately suggested she was being chased by something, and she looked like she had no composure left.

“Y-Y-You’re the lord of this place, Alex Orbie! I am the leader of the Black Mist, an assassin group under the Demon Lord’s army…! I’ve come to take you!”

“I don’t know what happened to you, but seeing you so exhausted, you’re not scary at all! Here, have a seat! I’ll even brew you some tea myself!”

“You small-fry boss! Don’t act so smug! My life is on the line here!”

CLANG!

‘Ugh, what the hell is this situation…’

The sword Alex had drawn shattered instantly. After all, it was a decorative sword wielded by a mere bandit, while his opponent was a genuine assassin who had crawled through the mud… Despite her victory, the dark elf assassin hastily turned around and pressed a dagger to his neck. Her anxiety was palpable, which paradoxically made Alex feel calmer.

“Hah… haah… hah… hah… Hey, you’re there, aren’t you! Come out! You monstrous bitch!”

Holding Alex hostage, she shouted toward the door she had kicked in, and soon, all of Alex’s questions were answered.

Step… step…

Step… step…

As he watched the red-haired monster appear silently under the red lights, a remnant of the former lord’s taste…

“Hey there, my darling~♡”

“Reina… I see. No wonder everyone was so calm…”

“There’s nothing to be scared of when I’m here, right?”

“This is beyond that; it’s overkill. The assassin is trembling like a newborn deer.”

Not much time had passed since they’d parted, so there were no “long time no see”s. The same was true for Reina. Dressed in the bunny girl outfit he had gifted her, she acted like a friend who had just dropped by yesterday. Among the three of them, only the dark elf assassin had lost her composure.

“Why are you here! How did you even know! Did Lord Sloth’s plan leak somewhere?!”

“No, no, no~! Think about it! You guys always do this, don’t you?”

“Do what?!”

“Taking our precious people hostage to threaten us! It’s the same damn pattern every time! Phew, it’s stupid, but it’s effective… The Hero ended up in that mess because of it… I figured if there was a next time, it would be my turn, so I came back for a little homecoming… but I never dreamed we’d run into each other on the very same day! Ahaha!”

“A homecoming that just happens to coincide with our raid? There’s no such coincidence!”

“Our party survives because coincidences like that pile up. Well, even we think it’s an unreasonable stroke of luck. It’s almost like a god is watching over us from somewhere. Speaking of which, I guess our escape from the Empire this time was something of a miracle, too?”

Saying that similar things happened all the time during the war with the Demon Lord’s army, she smiled sweetly and took a step closer. To intimidate the approaching Reina, the assassin pressed the blade deeper.

“Don’t move! One more step and this man is dead!”

“Wasn’t your goal to kidnap Alex and threaten me? If you kill him, it’s over.”

“Like I give a damn! My life comes first!”

“But if you really kill him, you’ll just die at my hands anyway, so it’s the same result, isn’t it?”

“Even so…! No, don’t try to buy time by talking! I won’t fall for it!”

“Oh, really? Well, since I can’t get any closer, will you look into my eyes from there?”

“What about your eyes—”

“──Sexy ☆ Reina ☆ Beam!”

In that instant, Reina’s eyes glowed, and a beam shot out from her eyeballs—BWOOSH-!

“Mmph?! Mbuhoaaaaaa!!!!!”

Her head went POP-☆

Splat-splat-splat-splat-splat-!!

“Ugh!”

“That… that… that fucking bitch…”

The dark elf’s head was blown off while she was still holding Alex hostage. Brain matter splattered everywhere, eyeballs rolled across the floor, and Alex’s cheek, right next to her, was not just covered in blood but also caked with bits of what was (formerly) a dark elf.

“Sexy Reina Beam! Effect! Whoever it hits dies! But I have to charge it by condensing my breath in my eyeballs and tear ducts, so it really hurts me, too~!!”

The idiot dragon, who had just shot a beam out of her eyeballs while boasting it was the best for hostage rescues or surprise attacks, rubbed the smoke rising from her eyes with the back of her hand and laughed. Only Alex, who was now in a grotesque state beyond just being blood-soaked, ground his teeth.

“Are you even human…”

“Hmph, human? Of course I’m a dragon!!”

“As if there’s another dragon like you… You fucking… barbaric… crazy-headed bitch…”

“I went to all the trouble of saving you. Would it kill you to praise me a little?”

“Please just go die… you fucking bitch…”

With his eyes closed, blood trickled down his forehead, over the bridge of his nose, and dripped to the floor…

The corpse of the dark elf whose head had exploded right next to him was still holding onto Alex, a sensation that couldn’t be described by the word ‘unpleasant’. He cursed that being kidnapped would have been 100 times better. Reina, pouting at his reaction, refused to help him, so he was left standing there with the corpse until the maids returned.

A reunion after a long time… that didn’t feel like it had been a long time…

In this bewildering atmosphere, only the unrelated merchant looked on the verge of tears, but no one paid him any mind.