Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 241
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 241
53. Not Just Anyone Can Be a Villain (4)
'You're Arc Scarlet, right?'
The great demon called the Crimson Demon King cowers before a dragon, and greets me a human with servility?
At first, I thought there might be some ulterior motive.
And understandably so 1,200 years ago, when Arc Scarlet descended, she alone slew countless dragons, crushed the allied forces formed by the church and the great nations, and burned entire countries to the ground.
She was eventually driven back by the Heavenly Tribe, summoned at the cost of the Holy Son and Saintess's lives, but I heard that even the Heavenly Tribe, backed by Rondel's allied forces, nearly found themselves in danger.
In other words, Arc Scarlet had pushed things right up to the brink of world conquest.
Yet this being, even when a master-servant contract was brought up, only panicked and did nothing.
That naturally raised questions.
[Arc Scarlet / Crimson Demon King (abilities sealed)]
Race: Pureblood Vampire Lord
Age: 7,520
Talent: -
Traits: Ruler of the vampire race, blood sorcery, word sorcerer
Relations: Loathing / Hostile Faction
Status: Irritated / Embarrassed
-Current abilities are greatly reduced
-Possesses Master-class combat power and 8th Circle magic ability
But the questions naturally resolved themselves as I examined her abilities in detail.
'Abilities sealed? Meaning she can't use her original powers?'
Possessing Master-class combat power and 8th Circle magic is impressive, but frankly, at that level, Brangish and I alone could subdue her.
Naturally, the look on my face as I beheld the dreaded Demon King could only change.
"You like what you see, don't you?"
The corners of my mouth curled up on their own like a Pierrot mask.
Seeing me like this, Brangish, who had dragged the Demon King over as a gift, asked with satisfaction.
[Can you make the master-servant contract so tight that even the Demon King can't break it?]
Brangish tilted her head at the way I kept using Telepathy Magic whenever the word Demon King came up.
[If we use a 9th-circle-grade binding spell, structure the contract so she accepts your offer, and I back it up with dragon words, there's a chance.]
[Then let's go with that.]
Arc Scarlet kept glancing between us, rolling her eyes, busy sizing up the situation.
With a girl's face, she seemed to sense the unease I could see she was thinking of fleeing if things went wrong.
So I tipped Brangish off to make sure Arc Scarlet couldn't escape.
"Lady vampire, do you know who I am?"
I approached Arc Scarlet and asked.
Shrinking back, she shook her head.
But I knew every one of her actions was an act, and knowing her true identity was that abominable Demon King, I felt not a shred of sympathy.
Well, from her perspective, this situation was probably no different from a calamity.
But for me, this is an opportunity.
A great opportunity I cannot afford to miss.
"I am Adrian Lawrence, king of the Duchy of Lawrence. And I am the disciple of Grand Duke Manuel Lucas."
At that, her expression changed.
A faint curiosity seeped into her wariness.
She must have reacted to the name Manuel Lucas.
After all, she was an ally of the Demon King Lord Exceed.
There was a strong chance she knew that Lord Exceed was the reincarnation of Manuel Lucas.
"An impressive man."
"I was merely fortunate. At present, I have a great many things to do. Few know of it, but a crisis is approaching this world. So I established an international organization to respond to it, and I became its head."
Arc Scarlet's eyes widened.
Even without a detailed explanation, she must have understood what I meant.
And also, that I was someone who fit her plans.
"Our organization is currently suffering from a shortage of manpower. So even if you are a vampire a being hostile to humanity I wish to take you in if you can be of help. If you're willing, would you assist us?"
So I threw out a hook of interest so that Arc Scarlet would make a choice at least somewhat favorable to me.
This is what makes Myriad Mirror so remarkable.
By grasping the other's identity and thoughts first, I can take the upper hand in any conversation.
And as the conversation stretches on, the other party inevitably ends up biting the hook hidden inside the bait I'd cast.
"To humans, a vampire is no different from a monster or a lesser demon, isn't it? What do you plan to have me do after bringing someone like me in?"
"There are also demon worshipers among the subordinates I employ. Don't worry about that."
"Demon worshipers?"
"A woman with combat power comparable to a Lordmaster. You'll likely be assisting her."
"...Surely you don't mean someone named Selin?"
"You know of her?"
If it's a Master-class demon worshiper woman, there's only one.
So the fact that Selin a follower of Lord Exceed she thought dead was working under me must have surprised her while also bringing her relief.
"Understood. It seems I don't have much of a choice."
With the board laid out, she ultimately took the bait.
She judged it better to temporarily take the hand I offered while keeping her own plans in mind.
"I'm sorry about this, but as per Lord Brangish's proposal, we'll need to form a master-servant contract for your safety."
"I suppose there's no helping it."
Arc Scarlet accepted it with a resigned air.
She clearly wasn't keen on it, but she seemed to think she could break the contract whenever she wanted.
Well, that's only natural.
After all, she thought we only knew her as a Named vampire.
"Then, we shall now enter the master-servant contract."
I said with a friendly smile.
"Do you, Adrian El Lawrence, accept me as your master?"
The question came once more.
Unlike the previous one, this time it was a formal question accompanied by a 9th-circle binding spell, and the Mana I held coiled around Arc Scarlet.
"Yes, I accept."
But the real deal starts now.
Because when I looked at Brangish, he drew upon the Mana of the Dragonheart and declared in the dragon tongue:
[I, Brangish, a member of the dragon race, hereby attest to this contract.]
The sudden reinforcement of the master-servant contract through the dragon tongue sent Arc Scarlet into great confusion.
"This contract cannot be escaped unless I, the master, revoke it or one of us dies. With this, the master-servant contract between me, Adrian El Lawrence, and the Crimson Demon King, Arc Scarlet, is hereby established."
When I brought up her identity and name as if I already knew, the red girl swallowed air.
-Whoooosh!
There's a vast difference between a master-servant contract bound by a true name versus an alias.
But ours was sealed with 9th-circle + dragon tongue + true name.
Which means...
She was completely and utterly caught.
Arc Scarlet slumped to the spot with a face full of despair and bewilderment, while Brangish, still not grasping the situation, voiced his confusion.
"Why do you keep calling her Arc Scarlet?"
I'm nothing but grateful to him.
Whether planned or not, he'd gone and gifted me a Demon King.
"Hey, Scarlet. Rub my shoulders."
I tested the waters by commanding Arc Scarlet, and sure enough, her body eyes glaring daggers moved like a robot and began massaging my shoulders.
"Oh, that's nice."
At my thoroughly satisfied expression, Brangish blinked his big eyes and then gaped wide.
He'd finally grasped the situation, now that a contract with such powerful binding force had been established.
That the being he'd dragged around like a pet was the fearsome Crimson Demon King herself.
"Wh-what the hell."
* * *
"I'm here!"
The ducal palace of the Duchy of Lawrence houses one peculiar department.
That would be the Future Security Department, headed by Bug, staffed with talented hackers and programmers from the virtual world.
Their job was to learn coding and program development from Bug using Earth's computers.
It was a department created in preparation for integration with Earth, aiming to adapt quickly to change and seize the 4th and 5th industrial revolutions in the new society.
The door to that Future Security Department burst open without warning, and Iris Maryagny with fox ears and a fox tail stormed in.
"Oh, you're here?"
She was currently back with the Elysian Coalition, but she frequently visited the duchy to see Bug, whom she'd grown close to during her time detained by Adrian.
At her visit, Bug who'd been sprawled out like a slime in the head seat acknowledged her with an annoyed tone.
In response, Maryagny hurried her short legs over to Bug and delivered a knuckle to the head.
"Ow! What was that for!?"
"Just because your attitude is annoying."
"You little bitch."
"I said I'm a fox."
The department members who had been diligently typing away couldn't help but take notice of the two's childish behavior.
They were a pretty pair, but appearances aside, they were both powerhouses representing their respective nations.
"I heard some weirdo crawled in? Said they're threatening your position."
At Maryang's claim that she'd come out of concern, Bug furrowed his brow as a certain figure came to mind.
"Who the hell is it?"
Bug quietly pulled Maryang along toward the window, and soon the two could see a red-haired girl fussily tending to the flower bed.
"That's her."
"A gardener?"
"No. I saw her sparring with Arcia recently she was strong as hell, almost evenly matched."
"Oh really?"
Arcia was one of the continent's top swordmasters, barring Blake.
Someone like that being evenly matched with that young-looking girl was a huge headline.
But why was someone of that caliber tending a garden?
She couldn't quite make sense of the situation.
"Not sure of the details, but apparently she can bloom a special kind of rose. So Adrian ordered her to produce a set amount of flowers every day."
Adrian was probably the only person in the world who could use a Master-class existence as a gardener.
"So how does she threaten you? You're not the combat type anyway, right?"
To that question, Bug answered with an utterly serious expression.
"Our character types overlap."
"What?"
"No, actually, maybe she's the superior version?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"This is a serious problem, isn't it!? If her character overlaps with mine, that means hers overlaps with yours too!"
At Bug's frantic outcry, the expression drained from Maryang's face.
Then Maryang turned away, saying she'd lost out by worrying, and Bug hastily grabbed her arm.
"I'm a busy man, you know. The elder of the Elisia Union isn't so idle as to play along with your foolishness."
No matter how cutely she said it, Maryang had zero authority.
At her demeanor, Bug put on a look of understanding and spoke with what passed for sincerity.
"This isn't such a simple problem."
"What do you mean?"
"Adrian recently established an international organization, right?"
"Yeah, he did."
"And that bastard is creating a new department centered around that girl and he intends to assign both of us to it!"
"Huh? Forget you for a second, but why me? Our Elisia Union hasn't even joined the organization yet."
"The Elisia Union's accession is still in the negotiation stage, but he's apparently requested that necessary personnel be sent first. You're included in that."
It was then that Maryang realized why Bug had called her.
She now understood that he was protesting having to serve under some rootless figure whose origins no one even knew.
As one could call him a close aide of Adrian, Bug's feelings were entirely understandable.
But Maryang still had to ask what kind of department could warrant all this fuss.
After all, she'd need to know what it did before deciding how to respond.
"The department's name is...."
"The name?"
"It's called the Blood Donation Department."
"Huh?"