A Demon Lord’s Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss

looking men suddenly flooded into the bar.

“The idiot up there is the one that thought he could get away with picking a fight with the boss! Get him and kick his ass!” The man barking orders was the first I had thrown off the balcony.
He had apparently gone to get backup while I wasn’t looking.

His orders caused all the other grunts that joined him to momentarily look in my direction before marching towards the stairs. Oh greaaaaaat.
Seconds! Yeah, I totally ordered those.
Siiiiiiigh… Well, I mean it is actually my fault this time.
I guess I’ll make up for my mistake by making sure I have all these new friends of mine get sent right home, I guess.
Haaaaaaaahh…

I stepped forward in order to dive right back into the fray, only to find that I didn’t need to.
The bar’s other customers had stepped forward and gotten in the punks’ way.
Though many of them were drunk, their eyes seemed to brim with a sort of wild enthusiasm.

“Come on boys, you ain’t new to this.
This may be a brawl, but it’s still got rules,” said one of the bar’s customers.
“If you want him, then you’re going to have to go through us first,” added another.
“W-What the hell kinda beef you have with us!?” asked one of the confused punks.
“It isn’t beef,” laughed a drunk.
“But did you seriously think we could just sit around after watching a fight like that? Hell no! Our blood’s boiling, brother! And our fists are itching for a go!”
“Oh, hell no! No way I’m letting you get a march on me! These punks are mine!”
“Damned drunks!” The punks seemed to falter in the face of the raw enthusiasm emanated by the crowd.

The situation was an odd one to behold.
I couldn’t help but feel as if the drunks were actually the bad guys, and the punks were the protagonists given that one group was just trying to be loyal, and the other was actively getting in their way for naught but their own selfish desires.
But whatever the case, the results remained the same.
The two groups ultimately ended up clashing in a massive melee.

It was a mess.
People punched each other, kicked each other, grappled each other, and threw each other all over the place.
And it wasn’t as if the bar’s customers had actually stopped drinking either.
They kept pouring liquor down their throats and smashing the empty bottles against the people they were fighting.
There was even a pair of guys going around grabbing punks and literally removing them from the store by chucking them out the front door.

The already lively atmosphere, filled with shouts and laughter, was only emphasized further by the band.
They had shifted to playing another fast, upbeat song in light of the situation. Dude.
What the hell? Is this supposed to be a bar owned by pirates or something?

“So what exactly are we supposed to do about all this?” asked Nell.

The hero and I were standing by the second floor’s balcony and looking down on the mess below.
Rather, that was what I was doing.
She was instead taking the opportunity to stare at me reproachfully. You ask me, who do I ask? Like, seriously.
Iunno.

“…” I paused for a moment to contemplate the alternatives.
“What do you say we just get the hell outta here?”
“Huh!? You’re just going to leave!?” She was completely taken aback by the fact that I was just going to avoid resolving the situation despite being responsible for causing it.
“Hey, barkeep!” I didn’t bother answering her.
I instead turned towards the bar’s owner, who was situated downstairs, and shouted in his direction.
“I’m going to leave what I owe you for food and drink over here! Have the guys that got their asses beat in pay for the tables and shit!”
“Sure thing, brother! And good job kicking those brats faces in! Made my day, right there!” he shouted back as he smashed an empty bottle into a random nearby punk and broke into a cackle.
“You’re always welcome here, so I’ll hope to see ya soon!”

Oh, great.
Even the barkeeper thinks I was just out for a fight. I know it might’ve seemed like it, but I really wasn’t trying to mess with them or anything.
That was all just a huge misunderstanding…

For a moment, I felt awful.
All Braidy and his buddies wanted was to go out and have a meal somewhere, but they were subjected to a horrible experience the moment they arrived at their destination.
Some random guy came up to them, made fun of their boss, and beat them all black and blue. Wow uh… yeah, that makes me sound like a terrible person, doesn’t it? Yeah, yeah, I know.
I did something that I maybe, okay, fine, definitely shouldn’t have.
But whatever.
Fuck it, I don’t care anymore.
I’m a fucking demon lord.
Why the hell do I care about what other people want or think? I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.
Well, with a few caveats since I basically got myself collared and whipped, but whatever.
Doesn’t change shit.
If people start trying to hit me, I’ll hit them right back.
And if they don’t like that, well too fucking bad.
It obviously isn’t my fault.
It’s always either theirs or just a case of bad luck.
Screw feeling bad about it.

“Alright girls, let’s get back to the castle.
It doesn’t really look like we can get through the door anymore since uh… yeah.
So what do you say we take that instead?” I asked as I pointed to one of the windows on the second floor.
“My Lord, I believe a bit of a chat is in order upon our return.
Do make some time for it,” said Leila with an intimidating smile.
“U-Uhh… don’t be too hard on me, alright…?” I could feel myself wince in response to the maid’s dreadful aura. Oh boy.
“I can’t wait!”
“Uhm, Yuki? That’s a window,” said Nell.
“How are we supposed to leave through a window?”
“What do you mean how? A window’s still an exit.
You can pretty much use it the same way you use everything else,” I said before turning towards the pair I was travelling with.
“Mind if I borrow you two for a moment to demonstrate?”
“Okay,” said Enne.
“Please feel free,” said Leila.

The window was already open, so I beckoned the girls over as I approached it.
Once we were all accounted for, I picked up Enne in my arms and grabbed her sword form with the same hand.
I wrapped my other arm around Leila’s waist, placed a foot on the windowsill, and leapt right out.
The cool evening air rushed by as I experienced a moment of freefall.

I bent my knees right before I landed in order to direct the force into the ground before standing up and putting both girls down.

“See? Perfectly fine,” I said as I turned to face the window.
“Now come on, jump! I’ll catch you!”
“Uhhh… I don’t really know if I wa—Wait! Ronia!?”

Nell looked on hesitantly and even fought back against the idea, but she was the only one.
Ms.
Court Mage stepped onto the windowsill and leapt out without a moment’s hesitation.
And she did more than just that.
She had jumped out in a way that had left her sideways; she was sure to smash her face right into the ground if I failed to catch her. Damn.
She’s got guts.

I grabbed her out of the air before slowly letting her down.

“Thanks.”
“No problem,” I said.
“Well, just you now, Nell.”
“Ughh…Fine” she groaned hesitantly before finally assenting.
“O-okay! Here goes nothing!”

Though her stats were high enough to prevent any injuries even in the case that she fell, she still seemed a bit unwilling given the fact that she was literally jumping out of a two story building, so she closed her eyes, took a moment to muster up as much courage as she could, and jumped.

I gently caught her in my arms as one would a damsel in distress.
I had one arm under her thighs and another supporting her back.

“See? I told you you’d be fine.”
“Y-Yeah.
Thanks,” she said.
“Wait! Why am I thanking you!? You’re the reason I had to do this in the first place!”
“Yeaaaaaaah.
Can’t say I’m not.
My bad.”
“Don’t you worry, Nell,” said Leila.
“My Lord and I are going to have a nice, long discussion about his decisions as soon as we return.”
“Thank you, Leila,” replied the hero.
“I hope you’ll finally be able to drill some common sense into that thick skull of his.”
“Oh, come on, girls.
I already said I’m sorry.
I could really do without the lecture.” I forced a bit of a smile as I let the hero down.
“Aw…” said a disappointed Nell.
“Aw what?”
“N-nothing! Just pretend that never happened!” said the hero.
“Anyway, do you think that meeting here is still a good idea after all that?”
“Hmmm…” I deliberated for a moment.
“Yeah, I think so.
It’s the only place we both know.
I mean, I’m sure it’d be easy for you to find us if you just hit up the castle, but you don’t really know enough people to arrange for anything like that yet, right?”
“Not yet.
I’m pretty sure that we would be able to make peace with the demon realm’s king based off of what you and Leila have told us,” said Nell.
“In fact, we might even be able to forge an alliance.
But that’s not a decision I’m authorized to make, so I’d prefer to stay away from the castle for now.”
“Yeah, then I guess this is pretty much the only place we can meet up.
I mean, we don’t actually have to go inside if you don’t want to.
We could always just use it as a rendezvous point and head somewhere else after.”
“Okay,” said Nell.
“Then I guess I’ll see you later, Yuki! I’ll make sure I use the orbs you gave me to get in touch if anything ever happens!”
“Yeah, feel free,” I said.
“See ya.”

With our farewells said, Leila, Enne, and I made our way back to the demon king’s castle.

If you want to support us, please download our awesome cultivation game Taoist Immortal!