TPDGR 03

Chapter 3….

“What did you just say?”

“I mean, come on. At the very least, you could harvest the seeds and try cultivating them, right? Why go through so much trouble for nothing?”

The orc snorted back.

“Hey, that’s not possible. You think we haven’t tried? Look, this tree is at least a few hundred years old. Its roots run so deep that no one could ever transplant it. And even if we scatter the seeds, they won’t grow in our dungeon. The land we live on is way too barren.”

“Really? Then what if you just killed the sleeping Demon King and claimed this land instead?”

“The Demon King? Our boss?”

“Yeah. It’d be many against one. The Demon King’s asleep, after all.”

At that, the orc scoffed through his large green nose.

“Our chieftain himself couldn’t beat him. Who do you think we are, picking a fight with him? And if you accidentally wake the Demon King by attacking—how in the world would you handle his wrath?”

“Ah, well, that’s true.”

“Don’t even joke about that. Unless you’ve got nine lives to spare.”

That answer should have been enough, right?

The orcs were just about to sink their teeth into the fruits again when—

“But hey.”

“…You’ve got another question?”

“You guys are working in the orc dungeon right now, starving while you do it, right?”

“That’s right?”

“So what if another dungeon master offered you these fruits in exchange for a little work? What would you say then?”

“…Huh? You mean, giving us fruit?”

“Yeah. For chores like cleaning.”

“Cleaning?”

“Freelance cleaners.”

“Free… what?”

“My castle’s a total mess, you see.”

The orcs exchanged bewildered looks.

It wasn’t just about the audacity of someone daring to hire orcs for such a menial job…

“Wait a minute. Who even are you?”

They finally looked properly at the one asking all these questions.

When had he appeared?

A mysterious figure was sitting right there between the three of them, gnawing away at fruit with the small mouth showing beneath a bone mask.

Only belatedly realizing, the three orcs tensed and stared at the intruder with full caution.

“Huh? You mean me?”

“Yeah, you!”

“I’m…”

The stranger, whose lips were stained red with juice, raised his head.

Chewing the pulp that had dyed his mouth crimson, he finally said:

“I’m the Demon King.”

“…”

“The owner of this land.”

Crunch.

I bit into a fruit the size of a soccer ball. The crisp skin and tender flesh filled my mouth.

From its scent and color, it was basically like a gigantic, extra-sweet cherry.

I marveled while eating.

“This is delicious. What’s this fruit called?”

“They say it’s called a Belio-Traipe…”

“Belio—what? Too long a name.”

“Uh… well, yes.”

“How about something simple, like ‘The Demon King’s Crimson Eye’? Sounds cool, right?”

“…”

“Not to your taste, huh?”

“Well, it’s still kind of a long name—ah, no! Forget I said anything!”

As the shadows behind me writhed and rose, the orcs flinched in terror.

I lifted the fruit again—no, not Belio-Traipe, let’s call it Crim-Eye—and drank down the cherry-like juice.

“Wow, that’s sweet. So you’re telling me you’ve been sneaking into my land every day, stealing these delicious, juicy fruits? On other worlds, that’d be breaking-and-entering, you know.”

The orc pinned beneath my weight trembled, begging for forgiveness.

“M-M-Mighty Demon King, we are truly sorry for trespassing into your dungeon and stealing your fruit! We’ve committed a mortal sin! Please, we beg you, forgive us just this once…!”

This was the same guy who had brandished a club at me earlier, only to get smacked around by my shadow tentacles and knocked unconscious.

Naturally, the other two knelt the moment their comrade collapsed.

They clearly thought I was about to tear them apart.

See how much they’re trembling, even while being punished? Their shaking’s making me shake too.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“Hic, l-liar.”

“You don’t believe me? Then maybe I should kill you after all.”

“N-no, we believe you won’t!”

“Hehehe.”

My laugh made them tremble even harder.

“We’re so sorry. We were just too hungry… hic…”

“I told you, it’s fine. I won’t say anything more about it.”

I dismissed the tentacles back into the shadows and looked down at the orcs, whose heads were flushed red from hanging upside down.

They looked just like tomatoes.

“So then. What about my proposal?”

“…Sorry, what?”

“The freelance cleaning job.”

They still didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about.

So I explained how my Demon King’s Castle had gone a hundred years without cleaning and desperately needed it.

Now that I was king again, I didn’t want to clean with my own hands.

So I wanted to exchange fruit for labor with these hungry orcs.

But instead of answering, they just glanced at each other nervously.

“Well… that’s a bit… After all, we’re orcs of the Orc Dungeon. If our chieftain found out…”

They were clearly trying to dodge responsibility.

I narrowed my eyes at them.

“Is that so? Then I guess there’s no choice.”

“Uh…”

With a sigh, I extended my shadow tentacles again. They swayed dangerously, ready to smack.

If they got hit this time, they wouldn’t just faint.

As a warm-up, I stretched the tentacles and skipped rope with them.

The orcs’ faces turned pale. Flattening themselves to the ground, they shouted:

“We’ll do it! We’ll clean!”

“Wow, looks nice and tidy.”

As expected, the castle was far too large and had been abandoned for a century, so there was no way three orcs could finish the job at once.

With only three workers, they limited themselves to sweeping off the layers of dust for now, which still took half a day.

I handed them a basketful of Crim-Eyes as payment, telling them to return later for mopping and scrubbing.

Even then, they eyed me suspiciously to the end.

“A-are you really giving us all of this?”

“Yeah. Come back and clean again, and you’ll get more.”

“…And you’re just letting us off the hook for stealing your fruit before?”

“Yup. I forgive you. Your sins are absolved.”

“…What if you’re just waiting until we turn our backs at the gate to attack us…?”

“Want me to attack you right now instead?”

“N-no, sir!”

Still doubtful, they tiptoed backward through the gate, moving like they were doing the moonwalk, refusing to expose their backs to me.

“Ha! Have they been tricked all their lives or something?”

It was ridiculous, but thanks to them my castle was cleaner, and I had discovered how delicious Crim-Eyes really were.

“All’s well that ends well.”

“Kyuu.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if they came back again, don’t you think?”

“Kurururu.”

Even Kyu purred happily, rolling around at the sight of the tidier Demon King’s Castle.

Truth be told, I worried they might be too scared to ever show up again.

But survival needs win out over fear.

A few days later, the same three showed up again, sheepish and rubbing their empty bellies.

And the routine became set:

Sweep, scrub.
Payment: one basket of fruit.

Over several days, the orcs mopped every inch of the castle floor, took down and washed 300 old curtains, replaced 100 creaky hinges, and even cleaned the roof and chimney.

Thanks to them, my once dust-choked Demon King’s Castle regained its stately appearance.

“Hmmm.”

Wearing a white glove, I brushed a finger across the windowsill.

Hands behind my back, I rubbed thumb and forefinger together. Not a speck of dust.

“Yes, at this level…”

“…?”

“Pass!”

“Yay!”

The orcs clasped hands and jumped up and down so hard the floor shook.

“You guys really have a knack for cleaning. Look—there’s not a speck of dust left!”

“Hahaha, thank you!”

These burly brutes giggled like schoolgirls at the praise.