Ah.... I woke up this morning totally refreshed. It was a very relaxing holiday.
I wonder if it was the fact that the bed was as soft as a cloud, the warm feeling of the sun in the morning, or the effect of the several magical items that are installed within the room.
Whatever the cause, waking up this morning was the most enjoyable morning of my life thus far.
After looking around for a moment, I noticed Dhammi-chan, Redhead, and the Sisters lying on the bed nude.
They are quite sexy, only making this morning even more beautiful.
I wonder, what shall I expect of today...
Morning training was held in the Palace Courtyard after we received permission. Some of the soldiers started gathering to watch and study our fighting power.
Ah right. Both Auro and Argento's growth have already passed over a meter tall. They simply continue to grow and are already able to do simple physical exercises.
Kumajirou and Kurosaburou joined in the training of those two today. While tame, training against powerful monsters is always important battle experience. My two familiars will be holding back of course, or so I strictly informed them.
The Boy Knight had already done this with us, so I decided it would be fine to let him join in.
After the Boy Knight joined in, the guards that had been observing joined in as well.
I pitted Redhead with her [Job - Sacred Beast Eater] and the three Lords against various elite guards assigned to the defense of the Royal Family and the palace.
With this, both sides increased in combat ability, but our end was far more beneficial, our side rarely suffered defeat and gained valuable experience.
One on one, my subordinates never lost, though when it was two or more on one, there were times where they would be overtaken. It's a normal result, considering who these soldiers were. In general, this setup wasn't that bad.
After that, we went back inside for breakfast.
Using only the words I am able to use to describe this breakfast... Delicious!
Even tastier than the Sisters' cooking...
What am I ever going to do after eating a meal that is the same level as that of Kings!?
Whatever this meal is, Dhammi-chan and the rest fell into a stupor with silly smiles after eating some of the food. This, I can understand.
If I'd not known tastes similar to this from my past life, I too might have been standing there with my face like that.
Though, while the quality is always important, the quantity is even more so!
After a workout, the more you work, the more you want to eat. Normal Royal members usually can only eat this much, so there isn't anything you can do about that.
Since this was the case, I made an additional order of a huge pile of meat and vegetables, no special preparations, just base items. With that our appetites were satisfied.
Last night over dinner, the Princess had, as promised, presented me with a [Proof of Belonging to Royal Authority], and informed me of the terms of being able to use it.
"If you use it for evil deeds, it undermines the credibility of the Royal power, therefore you will be treated accordingly if discovered. You will be executed on the spot without trial should this be the case."
Quite a useful item. The terms were something similar to what I expected so there wasn't any surprise there.
In this case, the item itself is far too useful, it really is better to own it than eat it.
Well, it's not as if I plan on becoming a vassal of the Royal Family or anything, but I gladly accepted the [Proof of Belonging to Royal Authority], together with collecting the award for the mission to escort the Princess.
There was even an additional third in gold past the agreed amount offered, so I needed to ask their reasoning.
While we have been here, we've gained a vast treasure trove of information, I kept it to myself, but just that would almost be worth this entire trip.
Their reason was that we had trained the Boy Knight.
Hmm? I wonder if this was a normal situation. I suppose this reward came from the employer. As such, I received their thanks and gratefully accepted.
Ah, simply to note, while I do possess [Overcharge] and [Discount], these two were not activated during this time, so these gains are not actually associated with my abilities.
To mention, I ended up thinking that the Princess was leading me by the nose, but she finally smiled at me with a smile that was completely pure and without ulterior motive.
Sigh... It really is as if she was one of my children or a relative. Seeing her smile immediately put a smile on my face.
However, I could say this over one hundred times: Something is bothering me.
Mmmm... I'll leave this be for now, it's best not to worry about things when it isn't clear what they are. I'll just keep my guard up.
Soon after, we left the palace.
After leaving, we decided to head to some institutions that I had noticed yesterday.
From what I've seen so far, the Human to Non-human ratio is roughly five to one, with humans in majority.
There really isn't anything you can do about it. Judging from what I've heard from some conversations I've had, the prices for non-humans are very high compared to humans. Because there are so few Non-humans, there are just that type of bad people that seek to make money off of them.
In this case, I had no problem activating [Overcharge], [Discount], [Golden Rule], and [Luck] all at once. I wanted to see the effects on a trader, and as a result, I received a 40% discount from the human price without any issue.
In this case, I'll have no issues trying it out on all of the merchants in this city for profits. Whenever I would look back, the traders and merchants would have their mouths wide open wondering what they had just done. I found this highly amusing and laughed several times.
In this way, we proceeded through the Royal Capital. This time, no shady characters ended up tailing us or making contact, probably because of the Royal ties that we just established.
I'll have to come back here after some time, but for now, we really should be looking to return to the base. I want to make further improvements, and get the general living conditions improved.
But... Before we even managed to leave the Royal Capital, I got the feeling that we were being watched.
Not long after, we had already traveled to the hill from the day before. It was at this certain point that I found my scout clones waiting, and with their data, my brain now has a complete map of the area as well as information on the Royal Capital.
I had also sent clones to scout the route we would take towards our settlement to check for risks or targets that would prove difficult for us to handle. For the time being, it didn't seem like that would be the case.
The road ran through the forest. Since it was filled with monsters, I decided it was best to go through. As expected, the individuals who were most likely tailing us seemed to have given up.
When I was convinced that there was no one else following us, I let Kumajirou and Kurosaburou in to the carriage and released several skeleton horses. With this, we can travel at maximum speed with very few breaks.
Even with top speed and a direct route to the base, it will still take a few days. I have no problems with encountering new prey.
As far as the information gathering in the Kingdom is concerned, I will leave it to my brainwashed spies that were captured during the Human Invasion of the forest to get information. I have to say though, most of them are ineffective due to low contacts. Only a few of them are high enough in status to actually be in the know.
I also have spies within both the armies of the Kingdom and Empire for various reasons. We are not as powerful as the full combat force of either nation. Thus, we need to be prepared.
The information I've gathered thus far is that the most powerful individuals of the Kingdom are the [Four Symbolic Heroes] and their retinue. On top of them, there are the Royal Sages of the court who have large political power and, from the sounds of it, are also quite powerful in other regards as well.
I really want to know the details of each of these figure's combat capabilities, the extent of their political power, their equipment, I want to know everything about them.
Especially their weaknesses. If I could discover these, it would facilitate my life tremendously, and might even lead to a delicious meal and many new rare items. Though for now, that's off the table due to my improved relations with the Kingdom, but in the future, who can say what might happen.
For the Empire, it seems that they too have a special group of fighters, though only roughly the same strength combined as the [Four Symbolic Heroes] of the Kingdom. This group is called the [Eight Great Knights], as well as a [Divine Priestess].
I have only just begun my investigation, but the Kingdom comes first. I have left many clones within the Royal Capital, so I decided to slowly investigate the nation's underbelly for all of its secrets.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not actually plotting anything against them. It's just an effective way to kill time while gathering useful information.
Two birds with one stone.
This also helps with gathering information in the future, figuring out how to gather information from the people of this world.
Hmm, I wonder how these Four Symbolic Heroes taste.
I was so caught up in the thought of it that I got caught in some cobwebs.
I quickly killed the monster spider that attacked me by eating it in one bite.
That evening, I heard a mysterious voice in my head.
"Character of the World of Legends [Dark Legends of Origin], Assistant of the Important Existence has reached a milestone. Servant Ogakichi has fulfilled requirement [Rank-Up]"
"Condition {1} [Rank-Up] has been satisfied."
"The Demigod of Fire has granted additional rewards. The item [Great Gleaming Axe of the Fire Emperor] will be sent to him"
As soon as I heard this, I used the wrist cuffs to connect with him to confirm this information.
There, I saw Ogakichi-kun slaying me.
EHHH? What led to this happening?
[Gossip: Great Emperor of the Destructive Axe's Awakening]
[? ? ? Perspective: Story between Days 90 and 113]
A Large Demon (Ogre) is, a brown Large Demon with an axe and shield is, in the deepest part of the certain Labyrinth (Dungeon), a bloodbath of a fight happens.
The enemy is a Demon. The same as the Large Demon, but this Large Demon (Ogre) had black skin and a silver left arm.
On their battle, the Black Demon was superior. While being an imitation created by reading the mind of the Large Demon, the Black Demon reinforced by the Large Demon's imagination knocks down the Large Demon with it's overwhelming force.
However, even if the Large Demon was being pressured, it didn't mean he was being one-sidedly defeated.
The halberd in the Black Demon's hand. Lightning shoots out from the tip, a water blade flies from the axe-head, flames flutter from the pick, the butt end has the ability to manipulate the earth, this halberd was about to decapitate the Large Demon.
The Large Demon succeeded in partially destroying it. Additionally, the Black Demon's body was cut by the sweep of the axe, its bones crushed with the massive shield, with a rock-hard blow he shocked its brain.
But is nowhere near to make the Black Demon surrender. The Black Demon uses carefully forged martial arts to corner the Large Demon with a myriad of beyond human skills.
Water bullets that flies trough the empty air gouge his meat. The raising ground becomes spears and wound his legs. Raging winds becomes blades tearing his flesh, cut off his horn.
Suddenly a knife is thrown and his arm is pierced. The axe which is boasted of its obliterating might is evaded and his supporting leg's knee is stomped on and bend over in a impossible angle.
The Black Demon's attack certainly shave off the Large Demon's life, however the Large Demon's attacks are healed by the Black Demon's superior regeneration ability.
Only the Large Demon continue exhausted, the Black Demon regenerate and doesn't show any fatigue as the battle continues.
But the Large Demon doesn't give up, and so he received destructive thorough blows.
His life was saved by his trustworthy shield's swing, parting from it and piercing it on the ground .
Out of obstinacy he didn't part from his beloved axe, however the pain felt from the destruction of his flesh, bones and organs was reaching a limit.
Blow after blow the Black Demon continue non-stop. At an almost imperceptible speed, fist as heavy as the Large Demon owns continue its barrage.
The Large Demon was blown away by the last blow, at the verge of death after putting a good fight.
Just a little more, if he had been a little slower he would be dead. The comrades that were watching the Large Demon's fight, before they could do anything to help, the Large Demon was about to die.
But, help was given.
God's, the Blessing of a great one. Comrades, helping the Large Demon who the Black Demon was aiming at. And to the Large Demon clinging to the last of his life, a new power was given.
There was thunders. Golden thunders.
There was flames. White flames.
Thunder and flames surround the Large Demon. The half-dead Large Demon on the floor start evolving.
Bull-head Demon [Minotauros]. With a huge frame and bull's head, a rank higher than the Large Demon (Ogre) from the [Oni] monster evolution line.
He slowly stands. The Black Demon is surprised by the Minotauros appearance, the Minotauros can't understand the current situation. But with a simple thought, the Minotautos with his beloved axe in his hand approach the fake Black Demon.
The Black Demon was a formidable enemy until now, but it was nothing before the overwhelming speed and power of the Minotauros. The axe blow split the earth, golden thunder and white flames flaring from the destroyed surroundings.
The fake Black Demon was exterminated without even leaving a body.
Thus victory was obtained. The exhausted Minotaur falls once again, but to sleep rather than dead.
Then in front of his comrades, the Minotauros is wrapped in deep peace.
- In the future together with the real Black Demon the world will know his name, this is the awakening of the [Great Emperor of the Destructive Axe].