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

The Aftermath — Part 2

The influx of experience that the dragon had brought me came with a side of skill points. And of course, I did the usual and immediately threw a bunch of them into Analyze. With plenty of newfound power invested in it, the skill finally hit its maximum level.

I still had a fair number of skill points remaining, but I decided to save them for later. Using them immediately felt like a waste. I would only be able to max out one or two of my skills at best given their current levels, and it was possible for skills to level through use, so I figured that there was no harm in letting them grow as nature intended. I might consider spending my points if something gets to level 8 or 9 and ends up being too much of a pain to grind, I guess.

Maxing Analyze had proven to be quite the choice. It now showed additionals and even enabled me to see more of Lefi’s character sheet.

***

General Information

Name: Leficios

Race: Ancient Dragon

Class: Supreme Dragon

Level: 987

HP: ???3?1??/???3?1??

MP: ?9???????/?9???????

Strength: ????8?

Vitality: ?7????

Agility: ???1??

Magic: ??4????

Dexterity: ????0

Luck: ???

Titles

Supreme Dragon

Demon Lord’s Spouse

***

Oh, who am I kidding? It’s honestly not all that different. The most important bit of information my level 10 skill provided me was the number of digits Lefi had in each of her stats. Her mana pool lay somewhere in the tens of millions, while her health pool was one order of magnitude less. It was such a ridiculously high number that I felt she may as well have been immortal. I didn’t really see any way anyone could put much of a dent in her.

Her other basic stats were equally as incredible. Her dexterity was in the tens of thousands and her magic in the millions, while almost everything else rested somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. Seriously? Holy shit, those are some inflated as fuck numbers.

I had no doubt that Lefi was in the realm of abominations and that standing by her meant entering it myself. Well, I guess I better work hard to make myself out to be some sort of freak of nature as soon as I possibly can. I mean, turning into a world-ending abomination does sound kinda like the sort of stuff a demon lord would be up to anyway, doesn’t it?

While Lefi’s stats had more or less turned out as expected, the same didn’t quite go for her skills. I was anticipating well over a hundred, but it turned out she only had a few dozen. Oh, I get it. It must be because a specialized build where you use a few skills really well is much better than an allrounder build where you have so much shit you can’t even use it all. Though, it might also just be that I can’t see all of them quite yet. The text is still garbled, after all.

Likewise, all but two of Lefi’s titles were unreadable, and of them, only one was new. It read as follows:

***

Demon Lord’s Spouse: A title granted to a bride that has chosen a demon lord by the name of Yuki as her groom. Not a single one of this world’s denizens would have ever imagined that the Supreme Dragon would actually manage to find herself a mate.

***

“…”

Anyway, moving on. I suspected that the only reason I could see the Supreme Dragon and Demon Lord’s Spouse titles was that Lefi had intentionally made them visible. So I guess she wants people to know. Oh man, I’m blushing. I can totally feel it. You know what, I’mma just stop thinking about this and move on.

Lefi hadn’t actually explained much about what had happened, whereas I had passed out after returning to the dungeon. As such, I only managed to update its residents after I woke up the next day. I told everyone about both the fight and the fact that Lefi and I had started a relationship.

Everyone was thrilled by the news. The maids reacted with girly cheers, while each and every single little girl immediately asked to be made into wives themselves. I had expected as such from Illuna, Shii, and the wraith girls, so I wasn’t really all that surprised. Enne, on the other hand, had completely blindsided me by making the very same request, albeit in her usual shy way. Aight, now hold the phone and stop trying to call the FBI. Just sayin’, I did, in fact, turn them down.

Of course, I was glad that the girls liked me as much as they did, but the way Lefi was smiling told me that she wouldn’t forgive me humouring them. In the end, I tried to gloss the whole thing over by telling them to wait until they got older. Oh man, I’m pretty sure that’s going to come back and bite me in the ass in a few years. I just know it. But like, what the hell else was I supposed to say? Ahahaha… hahaha… haha… Help.

The change in my relationship with Lefi was something that the dungeon itself picked up on immediately. It began considering her as a part of my family, which meant that the DP she generated had vanished into thin air. She gave a lot, so the change had dented my wallet a fair bit. Still, I wasn’t exactly complaining given that it was a part of a comprehensive package that I very much desired. The realization that she no longer provided DP really made the fact that we had become family hit home. Oh, great. I’m blushing again. And smiling like an idiot too. Anyway, I might as well think of all the time I spent getting DP from Lefi as something along the lines of a bonus stage in a game. You know, the kind with lots of free loot. Besides, the dungeon’s pretty big now, so we’re still pretty well off, I’d say.

“Hey Master! Hey Master!” The more obnoxious of the dungeon’s maids pulled on the hem of my shirt whilst wearing a shit-eating grin. She, Leila, and I were the only ones present still awake. Illuna and Enne had fallen asleep on my lap, whereas Shii had clocked out while leaning against the throne. Being as good at her job as she was, Leila had immediately noticed and put all three girls to bed.

“What, Lyuu?”

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask you ‘bout that thing you’ve got on your finger there, Master. Is it what I think it is?” She pointed towards the accessory I had on my left ring finger, one that would read as follows if analyzed:

***

Engagement Ring

MP: 1002

Quality: S+

Description: A ring that the Supreme Dragon, Leficios, carefully crafted over a long period of time.

***

The design was similar to that of the ring I had bought Lefi when we visited the old dude’s city; it was a simple silver ring with a line running across the center and another perpendicular line that intersected with it to form a cross. There was a gem, a green emerald, embedded right where the two lines met. Unlike the ring that I had given her, it was made of dragon scale as opposed to silver, so it didn’t quite feel anywhere near as metallic to the touch.

As Analyze had been completely maxed out, I was able to see the raw materials that had gone into the item. Specifically, they were Lefi’s fangs, Lefi’s scales, and a magic stone—a rock made of crystallized magical energy. I wasn’t exactly sure where she got the last of the three ingredients, but I remember seeing her pick up a few of her own fangs and scales back when we were at her nest. Does that mean she was planning to make this for me all this time? Wow.

Lefi didn’t have any skills that aided her in the crafting process, so she had instead constructed the ring by channelling her mana through the raw materials and forcing them to change their form. It was an act only made possible by the fact that, magic stone aside, they all used to be a part of her.

Lefi’s fangs and scales were quite literally the best materials that this world had to offer, so the ring had ended up with an absurdly high S+ quality rating. It even had its own mana pool alongside a pair of slots in which I could carve magic circuits. The item was something on the grade of a national treasure. Even the ring that the prince wore had only a single slot on it.

Seeing the difference between the ring she gave me and the ring I’d gotten her, which I had quite literally purchased off of a random vendor, made me feel like I hadn’t done her justice. I had offered to make her something new, something that actually had a special effect or two, but she had turned me down. The dragon had taken quite a liking to the one she already had. Oh well. I guess I can always just get her a nicer one as like a random present or something sometime later. It’s not like there are any rules stating that you can’t give a girl more than one ring, after all.

“Oh? That? Yeah, it’s probably exactly what you think it is,” I said. “I got it from Lefi.”

“Wow Master, good job! And Lefi’s really shown’ her stuff too, huh?” Lyuu grinned as she poked me over and over with her elbow. “So Master, how does it feel to be a lady killer?”

I found her behavior irritating, so I grabbed her cheeks and started pulling them in all different directions.

“Aaahh! My face! That hurts, Master! I’m sorry! I’m real sorry, so leggo already!” The maid screamed a series of distorted words. “Y-You really gotta stop, Master! My cheeks are tearin’ right off! You’re gonna ruin my face!”

She started hitting my arms with a teary look in her eyes, so I finally forgave and released her.

“Ughh…” She groaned as she massaged her cheeks. “You’re so mean, Master. How could ya go ahead ‘n do somethin’ like that? I think you’ve just about ruined my chances of makin’ myself a bride.”

“Yeah, totally.” I rolled my eyes. “Because having someone mess with your cheeks totally ruins you and makes you too impure for marriage.”

“Uh huh, ’cause it’s like turnin’ me into damaged goods.”

Again, I felt the urge to roll my eyes. You know, sometimes, I think this girl’s acting all cheeky and shameless and shit, but then I always realize that she’s actually just an idiot.

“Why’re you lookin’ at me like that Master? You seem all tensed up and serious.”

“Nah, it’s nothing important,” I said. “I just happened to be thinking that you’re an idiot.”

“W-What the heck master!? You’re just straight up bad mouthin’ me now!” Lyuu’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

“Nah, not really. It’s more of an honest impression than it is an insult.”

“That just makes it even worse!” she shouted indignantly. “Would ya listen to this, Leila!? Master’s bullyin’ the heck outta me!”

“I’m sorry Lyuu,” said the demon girl, “but he does have a point.”

“Wow! Even Leila’s turned traitor!? I can’t believe you guys!”

Lyuu threw her hands up in indignation.

“Why is it that you feel the urge to make all this noise?” Lefi rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed. It seemed that the noise created by all our laughter had awoken her. Like the trio of little girls that had passed out on or near me, Lefi had also taken an early afternoon nap. In fact, she was the first to go to bed.

“Come on, Lyuu, inside voice,” I scolded the maid teasingly. “You’re going to wake up everyone at this rate.”

“Whaddya mean, Master!? How the heck was that my fault!? You guys were the ones makin’ fun o’ me!” Lyuu immediately started shouting again but I ignored her complaints as I turned to face the dragon girl.

“Morning Lefi,” I said. “You know, now that I think about it, you sure spend a lot of time sleeping, huh? How the hell do you manage that?”

“You may attribute my lack of energy to the form that I have taken,” said Lefi. “It expends little and thus promotes a desire for inactivity.”

“Uh huh… You know, I might have actually believed you if you never told me about how you basically sleep around all day even in your dragon form.”

“…”

“And I’m pretty sure not saying anything is basically the same as telling me I’m right.”

My response was met with silence. Lefi averted her eyes and said nothing—a response that prompted me to offer a wry smile. It’s okay Lefi, I understand. You’re just totally depraved and so lazy that you’ve gone far beyond the point of salvation.

Seeing my reaction caused the silver-haired maiden to cough as if to clear her throat and immediately moved the conversation past the accusation it had stopped on.

“I suppose I shall be off for yet another short nap. Do try to keep quiet if you would not mind it,” she said. “I believe that rest would be in your best interest as well, Yuki, as I know that you have yet to fully recover.”

Yeah, I figured she of all people would know.

Shii’s intuition, the part of her that told her I probably wasn’t okay, had been right on the mark. Though I had put on a show of being perfectly fine, the truth was that I had been forcing myself to seem that way because I didn’t want the girls to worry. I was still feeling awfully lethargic. My body was dull. I didn’t have full control of it just yet. The sensation was similar to the kind you got when you happened to catch a really bad cold.

It made sense, of course. I had gone through a series of cycles where it took an incredible amount of punishment and then was restored, only to take yet another round of punishment. I would have been more surprised if I hadn’t experienced any sort of side effect.

“Well, might as well then,” I said. “Hey Leila, could you wake me up in about an hour?”

“Of course, My Lord.”

“Thanks.”

I headed towards a nearby resting spot as soon as the maid responded. Specifically, I made right for Lefi’s favourite.

“Why is it that you are attempting to enter my bed?”

“Well, as I’m sure you can see, mine’s occupied,” I said with a shrug. “And I’d feel bad for the girls if I ended up waking them the moment I tried crawling in.”

“Then I suppose it simply cannot be helped.” Lefi sighed before patting the spot next to her. “Come. I shall allow you to rest by my side.”

“Thanks Wifey,” I said before turning back towards the saltier of the two maids. “And what, Lyuu? Why the blank stare?”

“No reason, Master, no reason at all…” she said, unamused.

And that was how everything had changed after I put down my good friend the Dysfunctionlord. Actually, on second thought, I don’t really think much of anything’s changed at all.