AN: Maybe you’ve seen the previous chapter and are thinking about this.
「Why does Lean, the vampire, hate human blood so much that it’s dirty?」and so on.
But let’s apply this to humans.
No matter how much you like them, you wouldn’t like it if they smeared meat, fish, or alcohol all over your body right!?
Weapons like staff and swords, medicine, books, scrolls, clothes, drinks…
It was a surprisingly messy place.
「Umm, Demon King-sama, what is this place?」
「Hmm? Ah, I didn’t explain. This is one of the warehouses where the Demon King’s Army maintains several special items.」
「Special items?」
「That’s right. Some call them magic items.」
Magic items.
Magic items, a term that is familiar to my knowledge of modern Japanese otaku culture.
It is a tool that contains magical power, and releasing it, causes magical events to occur.
「However, the items in this room are not exactly magic items.」
「Eh?」
「Lean, have you ever heard of a『Sacred Artifact』?」
Oh~, here we go again with that exciting word.
Sacred Artifact. A series of the most powerful weapons with god-class performance.
It may be made by a god, or by a god-class blacksmith, and the setting differs from work to work, but in most works, it is treated as a trump card.
「Umm, just the word…」
「I see. The king of ancient times, when the human race and the demon tribe did not fight, but walked the path of coexistence and co-prosperity. The king of ancient times gathered blacksmiths, apothecaries, and scholars from all over the country and had them create 99 items so that his country would not be endangered.」
「Are these the sacred artifacts of ancient times?」
「Yes. The country gained a variety of benefits from the sacred artifact. The country prospered and became an ideal country where both human and demon tribes resided… However, a mere 300 years later, the country was destroyed. It was by the hand of a single man, the leader of the country’s Kingsguard at the time, and the only one allowed to possess more than one sacred artifact in the country.」
…Oooh, what an amazing story.
Only one man destroyed a country, is this a manga?
But in my previous life, I loved that kind of development.
Maybe the man destroyed the country to protect the people who were suffering from the oppression of the country or something like that…
「By the way, it is said that he was the first man to be brainwashed and educated by the goddess Misery. And the country that he newly established is the Holy Land of Mercurius. Incidentally, it is said that the great country that was destroyed had a good government.」
I take back what I said before, this is the most ridiculous historical fact in the world that makes me sick to my stomach just listening to it.
「Now, back to the beginning.」
….What were we talking about?
Ah, the magic item here is a magic item that can’t be called a magic item… The magic item is about to collapse.
「It’s not a magic item… No way, everything here… Sacred Artifact!」
「No, they’re not.」
No?
「It is true that the Demon King’s Army possesses some sacred items, but they are not here. What you see here are imitations made based on the sacred artifacts… It is a degraded version of the sacred artifact, so to speak. They are similar in performance to the sacred artifact, but not as powerful. They are called『Vessel』.」
「So it is a degraded copy of a sacred artifact? Does that mean that its performance is not so good?」
「No, it is a powerful item enough, just not as powerful as the sacred artifact. The item is a degraded version of the sacred artifact that is outside the framework of a magic item… It’s a bit of a stretch to call it a magic item, isn’t it?」
I see. I agree.
「…By the way, who made this? There are so many of them.」
「When the Dwarves were chased by the humans and came to the Demon King’s Army for help, we asked the Dwarves to make a replica of the sacred artifact when we hid them. Since then, the Dwarves have made it their great desire for generations to create something with the same level of performance as the sacred artifact.」
The Dwarves are a race led by『General Forge』Gareon, the tenth-ranked executive.
Certainly, even in my previous life, I had a strong impression that they were a race that excelled at blacksmithing.
「Now now, we’re getting very far off-topic… I brought you here to reward you.」
That’s right. I almost forgot.
「You may choose one of these vessels of any kind.」
…What?
「…Umm? One of these? An item that you say is more than powerful enough, albeit a degraded version of a sacred artifact?」
「Mm-hmm.」
「……I just killed a bunch of prisoners, didn’t I?」
「It may be an easy job for you since you have a strong grudge against humans, but it’s usually a nasty job. Moreover, not all of them were directly harmed by humans. Therefore, it is very difficult to find people who can kill thousands of people.」
「…But, even so, this awesome-looking thing?」
「Just take it. It’s a fair reward for a job well done.」
「Seriously. And by the way, I’ve decided to raise your rank to the second intermediate. That means you’ll have to move out of the dormitory.」
The ranks of the demon king’s army are quite straightforward.
Strength, intelligence, leadership, and many other factors are tallied and determined on a nine-point scale.
The lowest rank is the third lowest. From there, it goes up to the second-lowest, then to the first lowest, and then to the third intermediate. The next is the second intermediate, and the highest is the first upper.
Technically, on top of this, there are the Demon King Army quasi-executives and executives, but honestly, executives who don’t suffer from the same race in one generation usually can’t make it. Therefore, the highest rank is usually the quasi-executive.
By the way, it seems that most of these are handled by Vinel-san.
…So, I’ve been third lowest, and now I’m suddenly a member of the middle class.
「If we only talk about her fighting ability, she is already at an upper level if we take into account the blessing of the moon. But she’s still very young and I don’t know her leadership ability yet. Therefore, I have kept her at the second intermediate… what Vinel said.」
Thanks for your hard work, Vinel-san.
Please don’t overwork me or anything, no seriously.
「So, anything with the vessels?」
「…Umm, is this the rest of my promotion?」
「I told you at the beginning, didn’t I? If she grows up, she can become an executive. If you are so excited about being second intermediate, you are going to get us in trouble.」
…I’m sure that’s true, but you know what?
「It’s more about the vessels. If you don’t choose it, that’s fine with me.」
「Uh… I-I understand.」
W-Well? If I have an awesome weapon, that will speed up my revenge against humans, right?
It’s not that I was tickled by the sight of an awesome-looking item. Yes, never.
◆◇◆◇◆
「What is this medicine?」
「When you take it, beams will come out of your eyes. But if you take too much, it will burn your eyes.」
「What about this spear?」
「It emits a shockwave in the direction of the thrust. However, its power is subtle and it can only be used at very close range.」
「…What about this scroll?」
「When it is spread out, it amplifies the power of fire magic several times. However, while it is open, no other elemental magic can be used at all.」
「……This ball……」
「It explodes when thrown. It’s high-powered, consumes no magic, and doesn’t harm anyone it deems to be an ally.」
「It’s good..」
「It is, however, disposable. Only one of them has been successful, by the way.」
「…………」
……No, I think it’s good, okay?
Certainly, many of them are good in terms of performance.
Just because the application is niche.
What should I do? There are so many subtle things.
Sometimes some things look really good, but then some things are race-specific, and they are just too quirky.
「Ah, there’s only this shelf left…」
If there are no good ones on this shelf, I’ll take that ball. The one that explodes.
Use it as a trump card when I’m in a real pinch…
「…Nn? This is…」
My heart, which had been slightly inclined toward the ball, was drawn to something else.
「Demon King-sama, what’s this?」
「Mm, that? It’s a―――」
◆◇◆◇◆
Hearing its performance, I,
「…I’ve made up my mind, this is the one.」
「…Is that good enough? Frankly, it’s on the lower end of vessels…」
「Yes, it is. But if I use it, I think it will be more effective than ever.」
「What do you mean…Hmm? …Oh, that’s what you mean! I see… It is certainly possible to do what you have in mind. Of course, experiments are necessary.」
Demon King-sama seems to have noticed.
If this can be put to practical use, it is even possible to fill one of my weaknesses.
I am one step closer to getting revenge on the humans.
Well, I have unexpectedly acquired a wonderful thing.
Perhaps it will become a trump card against the heroes.
I must polish it up in preparation for the coming battle with the heroes.
AN: From the next installment, the timeline will jump ahead three years.
The『Hero』chapter has reached its climax, and I look forward to your continued support.