Chapter 162 Fairy and Man Welcoming a Group
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(What is it… just what is that monster…!)
Without suffering so much as a scratch from Guru Esrain’s¹ heat flash, we were being effortlessly scattered by that giant spider-like demon monster.
With a single sweep of its massive limbs, it didn’t just blow away the knights—it pulverized the surrounding trees as well. Worse yet, its speed was blinding.
Even if we were at our absolute peak, with both spirit and stamina fully replenished, it was a demon monster we could never hope to defeat. That much was painfully clear. As I feared, the Demon Forest was still a domain where no human should ever set foot.
(My… my foresight was completely and utterly naive…!)
With the demon monster hot on our heels, we continued our desperate flight through the forest. Four of the most elite members of the White Lily Knights² were sprinting alongside me.
”Alvia-sama! The forest opens up ahead!” Barnail shouted.
”…! The plains Barnail mentioned…!” Alvia said.
According to the reports, a building serving as the residence for the King of the Magic Labyrinth stands in the center of those plains. A moment of intense hesitation gripped me.
(What should I do…!? We came here to rescue Princess Liliarette from this King of the Magic Labyrinth, the man who dared to declare war on the kingdom…! But if we throw ourselves at his mercy, perhaps he has the means to deal with that demon monster…!?)
After all, he is an entity dwelling deep within the heart of the Demon Forest. There is no doubt that he possesses some method to counteract such monsters.
In fact, by entering his protection under the guise of seeking aid, the chances of successfully rescuing Princess Liliarette might actually improve. Having reached that conclusion, I barked out my orders.
”We’re breaking out into the plains! Keep moving toward the residence of the King of the Magic Labyrinth!”
”Yes, Ma’am!” the knights replied.
Finally, we burst through the treeline. But the very instant we dashed onto the open plains…
”What!?” Alvia cried out.
Myriad arrows of light rained down from the heavens. They pierced the earth in a perfect horizontal line directly in front of us, effectively sealing our path.
”What is the meaning of this…!?”
I looked up toward the sky, and an unbelievable sight met my eyes. Two beautiful young girls with identical faces were floating effortlessly in the air.
”…! Flying sorcerers…!” Alvia muttered.
There were rumors that a sorcerer capable of flight had abducted Princess Liliarette. As I suspected, there was no longer any doubt that the King of the Magic Labyrinth was the one who had taken her.
One of the sorcerers held a bow that pulsed with radiance. She must have been the one who unleashed that volley of light. The beautiful girl with the magnificent bow spoke.
”Halt. You have already stepped into the Dominion³ of the King of the Magic Labyrinth.”
Immediately after, the other long-eared beauty with the same face announced:
”What is your purpose here? Depending on your answer, do not expect to leave this place with your lives!”
Their words were proof enough that this King of the Magic Labyrinth truly existed. If that was the case, I had even more reason not to retreat now…!
”We are the White Lily Knights of the Emmeld Kingdom⁴! We were pursued by a monster while exploring these lands and ended up here! We request the protection of the King of the Magic Labyrinth!”
First, I must demonstrate that we are not hostile. They are mere children; it should be trivial to lower their guard and infiltrate their inner circle. Or so I believed, until the woman with the bow spoke in a quiet, chilling tone.
”Is that ‘demon monster’ the one you are referring to?” she asked.
”Eh…?”
The woman pointed behind us. I looked back, only to see the giant spider demon monster that had been hunting us finally emerging from the forest’s edge.
”T-that’s right!” Alvia said.
”Ahahaha! How pathetic!” the long-eared girl laughed mockingly.
What…!?
”That thing is just a pet belonging to the King of the Magic Labyrinth! It was released specifically to flush out and eliminate intruders like yourselves!”
”Ha…? Wait, what…?” Alvia stammered.
A pet… of the King of the Magic Labyrinth…? What…? A… a demon monster like that…? A creature that defies human comprehension is just a pet…?
”The King of the Magic Labyrinth was aware of your intrusion the very moment you arrived.”
”You should be glad we didn’t just kill you, you know? Look over there.”
Right on cue, a line of maids emerged from the forest. They had already captured our accompanying sorcerers and the rest of our comrades.
While a few were unconscious, most were simply incapacitated by shock. Everyone was frozen, staring in disbelief at the flying sorcerers.
”Wha…!?”
”You’re the leader, Alvia, aren’t you?” the girl asked.
She even knows my name…!? Just who… just what kind of being is this King of the Magic Labyrinth…!?
”Since you’ve set foot on this soil, you all now belong to the King of the Magic Labyrinth. You should be pleased. As a reward for surviving long enough to reach this place, you’re all being invited to the King’s residence.”
”What are you…”
”However, the King of the Magic Labyrinth is quite fond of cleanliness. We can hardly invite guests who reek of sweat like you do.”
”For the time being… why don’t we have everyone here lose consciousness?”
”…!”
A new figure appeared at the front of the group. It was a tall maid with both of her eyes closed.
With a simple flick of her right hand, the comrades being held by the other maids were released.
”I shall be your opponent from this point forward. Oh, I would advise you to come at me with everything you have right from the start. Otherwise, if you let your guard down…”
”Ha…?”
The maid vanished from my sight in an instant. Just as I was wondering where she could have gone, her voice whispered from right beside my ear.
”You will die. Pray keep that in mind.”
”Aguh!?”
”…!?”
Before I could even process it, the maid with the closed eyes was standing at my side, having already sent one of my comrades flying with a kick. My subordinate collapsed and stopped moving immediately.
”…! You bitch!”
I swung my sword, which was fitted with a Secret Treasure Orb⁵… but despite the surprise attack, the maid caught the blade between two fingers with a single hand.
”Then… it is time to say goodbye. Little lady.”
* * *
”I wonder if this is really okay… doing something like this…” Shou said.
Standing in the chamber of the Great Phantasmal Soulstone⁶, I was monitoring the feed from the newly constructed basement.
This basement has its only exit located directly above, making it a space where only the flying Magic Girls⁷ or my battle maids with their supernatural physical abilities can come and go.
I’ve also rigged the place with a wide variety of gimmicks and traps. This was all based on Ami-chan’s suggestion.
…Well, I have to admit, it sounded like a bit of fun to me, too.
I made the basement itself quite spacious. Specifically, it was designed to be large enough that all forty-five people could be inside without it ever feeling cramped.
”It’s perfectly fine! Besides, Shou, you want to see this too, don’t you? I heard those lady knights are all high-born nobles. They’re the ones who absolutely adore Viorga—the same man who threw you away in this forest, remember?” Ami-chan said.
I’ve heard more than enough about the White Lily Knights from Cleonora and the others. I have a decent grasp of what they’re like.
”To trample on the dignity of women like that and eventually make them your own… essentially stealing them away from Viorga? Doesn’t that just make your heart race?”
”………. Yeah.” Shou replied.
Honestly, I feel like this could satisfy my darker desires quite thoroughly. Currently, forty-five female knights were being held in the basement, all in an unconscious state.
Every single one of them had been stripped of their clothing and left lying there naked. As expected of soldiers who spent their lives in heavy armor, their bodies were impressively toned and well-trained.
Especially their leader, Alvia. She was tall and muscular, with remarkably large breasts and nipples.
Because they are within my Dominion, I can see all of their names and physical stats, like height. However, since there are so many of them, I haven’t bothered to identify anyone by name other than Alvia yet.
Even so, I understood perfectly what Ami-chan’s ultimate objective was.
”So… you’re planning to turn all of them into Slave of Love⁸?” Shou asked.
”Hehe, ufufun…! Naturally, I’ll be selecting a few to become Slave of Love~! It’ll provide a massive boost to your strength, Shou, and it’s the key to breaking my seal!”
That’s the crux of it. From the moment she made a contract with me, Ami-chan’s number one goal has been breaking her own seal. And there is only one method to achieve that: increasing the count of my Slave of Love.
I’m in full agreement with this plan. Our pursuers are dangerous, and bolstering the defenses of the Dominion as quickly as possible is a matter of survival.
”Now… here’s a question for you, Shou. These women are in a strange land they’ve seen for the first time, and they have no idea if they’ll ever return home. Their opponent is a man known as the King of the Magic Labyrinth—a man who tames flying Magic Girls and bizarre demon monsters. What do you think their mental state is like right now?”
”Well… they’re probably paralyzed with fear…? Since they have no idea when they might be killed…” Shou replied.
Just a short while ago, they had been completely crushed by Vectra-san and the maids. They must have realized the overwhelming gap in power, whether they wanted to admit it or not.
And when they finally wake up, they’ll find themselves naked in an underground vault with no exit. Between their current location and their situation, total confusion is inevitable.
”Exactly! In other words, the perfect foundation for easy mind control is already in place!” Ami-chan said.
”…Is that so?”
”It is! Listen, Shou. The secret to controlling people lies in the carrot and the stick. Being too harsh is no good, but being too soft is just as bad. Pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin; that’s how a controller truly manipulates a subject.”
I could follow the logic, but…
”In this scenario, we’re the ones doing the controlling, right? What am I actually supposed to do?” Shou asked.
”Essentially, you should just toy with them however your heart desires, Shou. That will lead to Ego Point⁹ extraction~. But beyond that, I want you to use them as practice for your training as a Dominator.”
”Eh…!?”
”The name of the King of the Magic Labyrinth is starting to spread, after all! Ami-chan decided it was high time you had some serious education on how to be a proper Demon Lord!”
I really wonder if I need that kind of education…
But she’s right about the name of the King of the Magic Labyrinth becoming known. If people think I’m weak, they’ll keep coming to poke their noses into my business like this.
That would interfere with my dream of living a peaceful, carefree life in this other world.
”So! I’m going to give you a set of tasks, Shou.” Ami-chan said.
”Tasks…?”
”Yes! And by the end, let’s select at least two candidates to become Slave of Love from among these forty-five.”
”Only two? If we’re thinking about the seal, wouldn’t it be better to just turn all of them into Slave of Love?”
”That’s true in a sense~. But the power of a Magic Girl is something special, isn’t it? We need to be very selective about who we grant it to.”
She had a point. If I just handed it out to anyone and everyone, the prestige and specialty of being a Magic Girl would vanish.
They have to be women I choose myself—women I genuinely want to keep by my side forever.
Otherwise, I might just end up treating the women who become Slave of Love like mere pets.
Ami-chan probably picked up on my internal concerns about that.
”…You’re right. I don’t think it would be good to make someone a Magic Girl just on a whim.” Shou said.
”Right? Now, back to the task~! They’re currently in a state where they’re incredibly vulnerable to carrot-and-stick manipulation. It’s also the perfect environment to leverage group psychology. By using those factors, I want you to efficiently harvest Ego Points, Shou.”
Ami-chan proceeded to give me a few more pointers. The possibilities for what I could do felt vast, and I started to feel a spark of genuine excitement myself.
”Do you understand the situation and the rules of the game?” Ami-chan asked.
”Yeah. I’ve actually already come up with a few ideas.” Shou replied.
”That’s what I like to hear! Of course, I’ll be here to support you every step of the way! Now… things are about to get very busy~!”
She wasn’t kidding… After all, these are the very first ‘guests’ to visit my kingdom as a group. I’ll have to make sure they receive the most… hospitable welcome.
(The fact that the knight order managed to penetrate this far into the depths was largely because the demon monster population in the area had been thinned out by the Magic Girls’ training and the battle maids’ patrols.)
—
Summary:
The White Lily Knights are decimated by a spider monster and flee to the Magic Labyrinth’s plains. They are confronted by Shou’s subordinates and effortlessly captured. Shou and Ami-chan observe the 45 captured knights stripped naked in a special basement. They plan to use psychological manipulation to convert select knights into Slaves of Love and gather Ego Points.
—
Character Insight:
Alvia shows a desperate shift from a proud knight leader to a cornered survivor willing to negotiate with an enemy. Shou experiences a growing sense of dominance, moving from concern about the ethics of his actions to a ‘willingness’ to indulge his desires. Ami-chan continues her role as the mastermind, using Shou’s past trauma and current isolation to guide him toward becoming a true ‘Demon Lord’ through systematic dehumanization of his enemies.
—
Behind the Scene:
This chapter marks a transition from external conflict (expedition) to internal dominion management and harem-building mechanics. The ‘carrot and stick’ approach mentioned by Ami-chan is a classic trope in dark fantasy light novels involving mind control or slavery elements.
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T/L:
Notes:
• Esrain – One of the four Great Gurus of the Emmeld Kingdom. She is the youngest among them and is considered to be at the peak of her magical power. She is quiet and conserves her energy for combat.
• Barnail – The only man in the kingdom capable of riding the Skygoon magical bird. He is a crucial asset for fast information delivery between the capital and the frontiers.
• Alvia – A Captain in the White Lily Knights, a private military force loyal only to Princess Viorga. White haired, long hair. She is deeply devoted to Viorga and views all others, especially the exiled Cleonora and the incompetent Heroes, with disdain and suspicion. She is on a mission to verify Cleonora’s safety and the progress of the exile camp.The protagonist’s classmate and long-time crush since middle school. She is charismatic, a bit strong-willed, and has strong leadership qualities.
• Liliarette – The other Princess, who sacrificed her ability to walk and her sorcery talent to save her sister, Cleonora. She is imprisoned in the East Tower and is being used as a political and monetary pawn by Viorga. C-cup, true golden hair, waist-length hair, the fringe was a slightly blunt, hair on her left side was braided to the chest.
• Ami – A palm-sized fairy-like being from a world separate from both Earth and the isekai realm. She has light blue hair tied in a ponytail, mischievous blue eyes, and tiny wings that flutter behind her. Her outfit consists of a provocative high-cut leotard and a short jacket that looks like a miniskirt from the back, leaving her legs bare. Despite her playful appearance, she is actively searching for a contractor who can protect her from dangerous pursuers in exchange for the powers she offers.
• Viorga – The First Princess of the Emmeld Kingdom. She is a beautiful, young woman with long golden hair and sharp blue eyes, always dressed in an elaborate crimson and gold royal gown. She is utterly ruthless, viewing all people—including the summoned Heroes and her own family—as disposable assets in her political games. Looks like Aileen Lauren from certain series.
• Cleonora – The second princess. Have a yellow blonde hair. Usually styled as hairbun. D-cup.
• Vectra – A Unique Individual maid with white skin and white hair. Height 170cm, Bust Size D. Class: Duelist. Attribute: Darkness. Weapon: Star-Strike Battle Axe Volkein
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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