Chapter 5
──In the throne room after Thor had left──
"──What do you think of him, Kelv, Mabel?"
Demon Lord Lukie asked.
"It was unexpected enough that a rare alchemist came from the Empire, but his abilities are even more extraordinary. Is it really true that he created mithril without any materials?"
"Yes, Demon Lord-sama."
Mabel held out the pendant Thor had repaired.
Chancellor Kelv, standing beside the Demon Lord, accepted the gleaming silver pendant.
"──'Appraisal.'"
Chancellor Kelv activated the Skill and immediately opened his eyes wide.
"Mabel!"
"Y-yes!"
"This pendant was your mother's keepsake, wasn't it?"
"...Y-yes. It has been passed down through my family for generations... but its abilities should already have been lost. The magic stone inside it was damaged, after all..."
"It has been repaired."
When the chancellor imbued the pendant with magic power, mist began to gather around it.
At the same time, the pendant began to shine with a pale blue light.
"The 'Water Spirit Stone Pendant' was beyond the repair capabilities of the Demon Lord's Territory. Yet Thor-dono appears to have repaired it."
"...I can't believe it."
"It is a fact. And we must consider what his coming here means."
Chancellor Kelv looked at the Demon Lord.
"Thor Rigas's arrival has two implications. First, there is an alchemist capable of repairing a precious magic item in an instant. Second, the Empire likely has many alchemists of that level."
"I know. Otherwise, the Empire would never have let someone of his caliber go."
The masked Demon Lord nodded solemnly.
"Which means the reason the Empire sent Thor Rigas here is──"
"There are countless alchemists like him in the Empire. Resistance is meaningless──in other words, it is a threat."
Chancellor Kelv thought for a moment before speaking.
"It is also possible that the Empire was foolish and failed to understand his abilities..."
"Do not say something so foolish! The Empire could not possibly be that naive!!"
"──My apologies."
"Our ancestors looked down on humans and let their guard down. That was why we nearly perished! What good will it do us to fail to learn from that!? Seeing the Empire's current momentum, how can you possibly use the word 'foolish'!?"
"I apologize. I spoke out of wishful thinking."
"...As long as you understand."
The masked Demon Lord Lukie was born a king.
From childhood, Lukie's parents had taught Lukie the history of the demonfolk.
Most of all, Lukie had repeatedly been told that the demonfolk had lost to humanity.
The war between the demonfolk and humanity had begun with a minor skirmish.
It had been nothing more than a trivial accident that occurred as both sides expanded their territories.
But the demonfolk, convinced that they were strong, did not know how to retreat.
As a result, it became a full-scale war between the demonfolk and humanity.
The demonfolk had been thoroughly defeated.
The demonfolk had once come close to extinction because humanity had superior numbers and technology, along with the power of heroes summoned from another world.
Even after signing a truce with humanity and retreating into the Demon Lord's Territory, they had never forgotten that history.
Humans are terrifying.
Never underestimate humans.
Never make humans your enemies.
Those were the slogans passed down through the generations in the Demon Lord's Territory.
"There aren't any weapons in the warehouse we gave Thor Rigas, are there?"
"Please rest assured. There is nothing but junk in there."
Chancellor Kelv shrugged at the Demon Lord's question.
"Tools and books brought here by heroes from another world, mostly. There shouldn't be anything that could serve as a weapon."
"It should be possible to make weapons with alchemy, though."
"I'll have him watched. That way, we can restrain him immediately if he tries to attack us."
Chancellor Kelv looked at Mabel, who stood behind him.
"Then, Mabel Refrain, I order you to watch over and look after Thor-dono."
"Yes. I would be delighted to."
"...Why do you look so happy?"
"I feel that Thor-sama is a very good person."
Mabel pinched up the hem of her skirt and curtsied.
The Demon Lord and the chancellor tilted their heads in puzzlement at her smile.
"You only just met Thor Rigas, did you not? And yet you seem to genuinely trust him..."
"I owe that gentleman a debt of gratitude."
"Because he repaired your pendant?"
"That is one reason. The other is my intuition as an elf."
Mabel smiled gently.
"Elves are a race that once communed with many different spirits. There are fewer spirits now, but the blood that remains within me tells me this: Trust Thor Rigas-sama. We must not let that gentleman slip away."
"I trust Mabel's intuition, but..."
"Of course, as a direct subordinate of the Demon Lord, my loyalty to Your Majesty is unwavering."
"...I-I see."
"However, I have a feeling that Thor-sama will change the Demon Lord's Territory."
With that, she clasped her hands together as if in prayer──
"I am grateful for the opportunity to witness it. My dear Demon Lord Lukie-sama."
Mabel smiled happily.
──Thor's perspective──
"Ooooooooooh! A-amazing..."
The moment I entered the room prepared for me, a strange sound escaped me.
This was a warehouse in the Demon Lord's Castle.
It was a windowless stone room about the size of a small hall.
And──the floor was piled high with countless books and items.
I could see why they called it a junk heap. Nothing had been organized at all.
A sword scabbard lay on the floor; beside it were armor with broken joints, a warped shield, and farming tools.
The broom, bucket, and metal tub were probably for cleaning.
There wasn't any dust on the floor. Someone must have cleaned it regularly.
But if that was the case, they could at least have classified the books... No, that would be impossible. The writing on the covers wasn't in the script of this world. The letters and illustrations were too elaborate.
These were books left behind in this world by heroes who had come from another world.
"Amazing... The Demon Lord's Castle... Amazing."
Almost nothing from the era of Hero Summoning remained in the Empire.
The ritual for summoning heroes was no longer performed, either.
According to what I had heard as a child, heroes stopped coming even when the summoning ritual was performed. No one knew why.
Perhaps the ritual had lost its meaning because the world had become peaceful.
"No, the Empire's affairs don't matter. I need to investigate the warehouse first."
The Demon Lord hadn't given me the warehouse purely out of kindness.
This was like an advance investment, made in anticipation of my becoming useful to the Demon Lord's Territory.
If I failed to live up to expectations, it would be taken away.
To prevent that, I needed to create something that would please the Demon Lord and the people of the Demon Lord's Territory.
"I wonder what would be good. Something practical, maybe."
This is exciting.
I looked around the warehouse, thinking about what I might be able to make.
There were all kinds of things in the warehouse. In addition to shields and armor, there were coats and boots whose owners were unknown. All of them looked as though they could be used as materials.
The books were unusable for now.
I couldn't read the language of another world, after all──huh?
"...'Mail-Order Catalog.' Is that the name of this book?"
I could read it just fine.
The book in my hands was made of a smooth material.
What's more, every page was in color.
The pictures were so detailed that they could have been mistaken for real objects. The people from another world had called these 'photographs,' if I remembered correctly.
There were photographs on every page, introducing all kinds of items.
"But why can I read the writing from another world?"
Could it be the power of 'Appraisal Comprehension' from 'Creation Alchemy (Over-Alchemy)'?
That Skill could read an item's abilities.
So perhaps it had allowed me to read the language of another world.
I turned the pages while thinking about that──
The first thing that caught my eye was something called 'health products.'
They were probably recovery items from another world.
There were things to relieve tired eyes, things to ease stiff shoulders, and things to help you sleep soundly. There were all kinds of products.
"I see. Now I understand why the heroes from another world were so strong."
They had probably used items like these to increase their recovery abilities.
Beside the items were descriptions like 'Twenty times better eyesight with two minutes a day (from 0.1 to 2.0)' and 'The effect of ten hours of sleep with only two hours of sleep.'
If the heroes had boosted their abilities with items like these, it was only natural that they had been so strong.
"...I wonder if I can make the same things."
When I asked the 'Creation Alchemy (Over-Alchemy)' Skill, an answer came back.
'I can.'──was the answer.
I probably couldn't make something exactly identical.
But I felt as though I could make something with similar abilities.
In that case... I would give it a try.
With 'Creation Alchemy (Over-Alchemy),' I would catch up to the technology of another world.
I would use every item in this warehouse for that purpose.
The Demon Lord had said that we should learn from humans.
They couldn't complain if I made copies of items from another world.
The people of the Demon Lord's Territory could use my creations however they liked. If I could make the Demon Lord's Territory a more comfortable place than the Empire, I couldn't ask for anything more.
It was what you might call a win-win arrangement.
"All right."
"...Um, Thor-sama."
"────!?"
I thought my heart was going to stop.
When I turned around, Mabel, dressed as a maid, was standing in the doorway.
"I-I'm sorry for startling you. I brought you some tea, but... you didn't answer."
"No... It's all right."
"You seemed very absorbed. What were you looking at?"
"A book from another world."
I opened the 'Mail-Order Catalog' and showed it to her.
Mabel followed the pages with her eyes for a while, but then──
"──I'm sorry. I can't understand what any of it says."
"You can't read it after all, can you...?"
"The things here were collected as a hobby by the Demon Lord before last. That person... apparently collected anything and everything, regardless of whether it was readable."
The previous Demon Lord had collected all kinds of things in order to learn from humans.
Apparently, the demonfolk had picked up or been given the things here when they fought the heroes.
The heroes from another world had a tendency to boast, 'I'm super awesome!' Apparently, they would proudly give away books from their own worlds and things like that.
"The Demon Lord before last had apparently put everything acquired into this warehouse, thinking it might be useful someday. In the will, it was said, 'It might be useful someday,' so everything was left as it was."
"That's something a person who never cleans their room would say."
"In any case, would you like to take a break, if you don't mind?"
Mabel held up the tray.
"I made some tea. I don't know whether it will suit your taste."
"I'll have some."
When I said that, Mabel looked relieved.
Afterward, Mabel and I moved to the room next door.
The room beside the warehouse was my private room.
Mabel seemed to have come here ahead of me, because the tea was already prepared.
A copper cup sat on the table, and the scent of tea rose from it.
There were baked sweets as well. Perhaps they were sweets from the Demon Lord's Territory.
"From now on, I will be taking care of you, Thor-sama. I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise."
Half of this was probably surveillance, though.
The Demon Lord was a good person, but he couldn't possibly leave an alchemist from the Empire unwatched.
Still, I somehow felt at ease with Mabel beside me.
I wondered why. I barely knew anything about her.
All I knew was that she looked very good in a maid's uniform and that she held a position that allowed her to enter the Demon Lord's throne room.
Her pointed ears were beautiful. She had a large bust.
And... when I looked closely, I noticed that she was wearing extremely thick socks.
They were made of fur.
The maid uniform's skirt was short, leaving her long legs bare, so the socks stood out all the more.
"Ah, these?"
Perhaps she noticed where I was looking.
Mabel pointed at her feet.
"I'm sorry... I actually suffer from poor circulation."
"Poor circulation?"
"The doctor said it was probably because the magic power in my body wasn't flowing properly."
"The magic power in your body?"
"Is that kind of knowledge not available in the Empire?"
"There are mages in the Empire, of course, but I've never heard of magic power causing poor circulation."
Actually, Imperial mages didn't think about the body at all.
When you joined the Mage Corps in the Imperial Capital, the first thing they had you do was cast fire magic one hundred times in a row.
After that, you ran with the Knights, then cast water magic one hundred times in a row, or something like that.
They had no concept of magic power affecting one's health.
"Because of that, I can't use magic properly."
Mabel murmured quietly.
"Elves are supposed to be good at magic, but... that was why I was cast out by my fellow elves. Fortunately, it seems I had a talent for cooking and housework, so the Demon Lord-sama took me in."
"...You've had a hard time too, Mabel-san."
"Ah... I-I'm sorry! That just slipped out..."
Mabel hurriedly covered her mouth.
"A-anyway, these socks aren't very stylish, are they? If they're unpleasant to look at, please tell me. I'll take them off."
"No, they don't bother me. It's just..."
I remembered the 'Mail-Order Catalog.'
There had been something in it that might be useful.
"Could you be my test subject for a little experiment?"
"Your test subject?"
"I'd like you to try out an item from the heroes' world."