Golden Experience

This was the announcement from the administration with the theme of cooperation, and I was looking forward to what seemed like a rare cooperative play event. Players were supposed to collaborate to fight against a horde of murder dolls, resembling the plot of a horror movie’s third installment where the director goes crazy and turns it into a panic movie. Then, in the fourth installment, they switch to a war action movie, followed by the fifth installment where they start battling against aliens.

“So, this is the third installment now, right? It’s the third event. We did war last time, so next is angels vs. monsters! We’re going to throw monsters at monsters!”

However, one could argue that this has already been covered this time. Angels attack all characters indiscriminately, so if you enter an area with a lot of monsters, angels and monsters are already fighting each other.

This holds true in Erntal as well. I gave up on directly fighting the angels upon seeing them, and I decided to leave all interception to my subordinates, so initially, Azalea, Magenta, Carmine, and Burgundy went out to intercept, but they soon realized that Burgundy alone was sufficient. Azalea and the others were found drinking tea with me.

Even one Burgundy turned out to be excessive firepower. Burgundy itself does not attack at all; angels that approach receive damage from the [Death Aroma] on their own and fall.

Anyway, monsters vs. monsters can be seen as much as you want in Erntal. There are probably similar situations in various parts of the continent, especially in the dominions of Rare and Lyra. They are probably killing angels without holding back.

Moreover, players who come during the intervals of angel attacks still seem to have not found a way to break through Burgundy’s defense and area damage over time. Taking advantage of the reduced penalty, they seem to be repeatedly launching futile assaults.

It’s a welcome situation for me, as I keep gaining experience points.

“What a situation… Wars and monster battles are already over; there’s no future in this angel movie series…”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’ve been saying since earlier.”

“It’s nothing.”

Anyway, my enthusiasm was considerably dampened on the first day of the event.

*

<Eh? Lyra-san, you became an Evil King?>

<Yeah, that’s right. It’s not a big deal, but I thought I should mention it. Anyway, Rare-chan probably won’t talk much about it.>

<Oh, well, it’s not like that. Somehow, it often comes up in conversations.>

<Oh, really?>

It’s interesting that the older sister of the Demon Lord Rare is the Evil King.

For humanity, these sisters are quite troublesome.

<So, Lyra-san, are you going to shut yourself in?>

<Huh? Well, I can’t appear in public anymore, so in that sense, I’m a shut-in. But why do you ask?>

<No, I just remembered the Count saying that the Evil King is a shut-in or something.>

The story was that she was too much of a shut-in to even cooperate with the sealing of the Golden Dragon.

But if you think about it, even in the human world, there are those who shut themselves in and those who don’t. Just because they belong to the same race doesn’t mean they’ll act the same way. This is especially true for beings with high intelligence like humans and Demon Lords.

For example, insects are said to have no worries.

They decide without hesitation and do what is necessary for themselves at that moment.

The fact that each of them has evolved to specialize in their own way makes them one of the most diverse categories on the world.

On the other hand, humans, through individual struggles, have gained diversity within their species, ultimately dominating the world.

It’s not a matter of one being better than the other, but humans, by struggling with their thoughts, sometimes fail and sometimes succeed.

Some were forced by their environment, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to the same outcome. Even in similar situations, people’s responses vary.

Most people consider this freedom.

Being a shut-in or not is Lyra’s freedom as an Evil King.

<──Is there anyone else that’s an Evil King?>

<It seems so. The Count mentioned something that sounded like he knew. I don’t know if they’ve met them before.>

<I see. Thanks for letting me know. Well, I’ve got something to do, so see you later.>

<Ah, alright. See you.>

I don’t know what she means by “something to do”, but in Rare’s style, it’s probably not something good.

“──So, is the little chat over? What about Lyra-sama?”

Weiss occasionally shows concern about my social circle. Azalea and the others, with faces that seem to have no worries, are in stark contrast, as if they were someone’s parents or something.

“Just a little update on the current situation. It seems she became a member of a race called Evil King.”

“What?”

Weiss looks down in thought for a moment, then says, “I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be away for 2-3 days,” and leaves. At that time, he said something to Azalea and the others, but Azalea and the others just gave a shudder as they watched Weiss leaving. You usually only see that kind of expression in dramas.

“Lately, people are decreasing more and more. Isn’t it a bit lonely?”

“It’s sad that Lord Deas and Lady Beetle are gone…”

“Not so much for Weiss.”

“Shall I summon a few lower vampires?”

It’s not about that, but well, I’ll just appreciate the sentiment.

During the event, parties of players who repeatedly made futile attacks have not been coming recently. Therefore, when there is no angel attack, even Burgundy seems idle.

In the square, there are also Giant Corpses and Flesh Golems, but they are just sitting around the Burgundy, curled up and sleeping.

“It’s decadent…”

“Well, they are undead.”

“Isn’t decadence healthier for the undead than being healthy?”

“…? I thought about it a bit, but I didn’t really understand. What are you talking about?”

This might lead to something bad.

“All right, since it’s the event period, let’s attack some city and expand our territory!”

“Huh?”

“No, when doing something big like that, it’s better to consult with Lady Rare or Lady Lyra first.”

What Magenta says also makes sense.

However, if I always do that, my own growth is not something to be expected.

If, for example, she accomplishes something significant here without relying on the two, they will surely be surprised.

“Don’t worry! I can handle a human city on my own! In fact, even a whole country is a piece of cake!”

At this point, my mind was filled only with visions of the praise I would receive after succeeding from Rare and Lyra.

“Um, normally, I wouldn’t want to say something like this, but at least when Weiss is around…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! I’m sure the Count will praise me too!”

During the Aural coup when Lyra lent me a hand, the Count smiled with a face Weiss had never seen before. If there’s a chance to see that face again, it’s enough to boost my motivation.

First, I unfolded the map Rare gave to me. Even though I say I’ll destroy a city, attacking Hiers or Aural’s cities might interfere with Rare and Lyra’s plans.

When you think about it, Rare effectively controls Hiers, and Lyra controls Aural. On the other hand, I only have control over cities like Erntal and Altriva. I also want to try ruling a country.

“Um, the nearest country from here is… Wells, I guess?”

The map only covers the internal areas of Hiers, so details about the country called Wells are unknown. However, the borderlines are marked. Entering Wells seems easy.

If she can fly, crossing over the Abon Mercat Highlands where the Count resides will lead her to Wells. She doesn’t plan to stop by the castle because she intends to act secretly without the Count’s knowledge.

“Well, let’s go and see what happens. The ones who can fly are me, the girls and Burgundy. Burgundy has to stay here to guard, so this time it’s just the four of us.”

The Giant Corpses and Flesh Golems seem to have nothing to do, so she wants to utilize them. After crossing the highlands, she can summon them there.

The players probably perceive only the threat of angel attacks during the event, and likely the NPCs as well. After all, angels attack both humans and monsters. In such a situation, there shouldn’t be anyone who ignores angels and attacks another faction.

“If fields and mountains are all weak, become a fool and buy rice!”

“What’s that? Rice?”

“It’s a quote from a legendary gambler! There’s also ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’, well, the main point is, if you do the same things as others, you won’t win!”

Rare and Lyra also seem to have played differently, just listening to them talk about things. So I figured I’d do the same.

“Um, you seem unaware, but probably your master has already──”

“All right, let’s go! Oh, by the way, I’ll take the sword I borrowed from Rare. It’s been a wall decoration for a while now.”

T/N: I think that with the gambler thing, Blanc is paraphrasing something Korekawa Ginzo, a famous japanese investor said. For what it’s worth, I’m not sure if it’s meant to make a lot of sense.