The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 128: We need to crawl before we can walk, folk

Chapter 128: We need to crawl before we can walk, folk

Urk--I bit the inside of my cheek, as I almost blurted out ’yes!’ out loud, as if I was totally understanding the word he said.

Which I shouldn’t be, if I was to pretend that I was a native of this world.

So, with what I hope to be an Oscar-worthy performance, I tilted my head and asked. "La...ser?"

"Oh...ah, right! You wouldn’t know about it!" the elf exclaimed, and started to explain it to me and at this point...

Yeah, there was no doubt about it, wasn’t it? He definitely came from another world.

As he gushed more and more about the laser, I had to press my lips hard to not make any obvious reaction aside from being astonished at the avant-garde explanation...or something like that. I even took Jade and hugged the little bird just to make my hands occupied and not do questionable things like...fanning myself or something.

"Uh-huh, yeah, something like that would be great, right?" I nodded religiously to show my excitement. "Is this...laser...something from the elven tribe?"

"Huh? Of course not! They wouldn’t accept anything too modern like that!" he answered with a scoff, and again, I had to press my lips.

[Master acting weird] Jade wiggled in my hold, probably because I embraced the bird too tight. [But Jade like hug] the bird giggled, and I patted the green head for a praise and apology.

"Then, is it your own? That’s cool..."

Oh, gosh, look at me. Award material, am I right? He even looked flustered as I stared at him with wide, bright eyes. "N-no, I’m not exactly the one who..."

"Then who?"

"Who..." he looked so taken aback, and even grown a bit pale. Oh, Val, you were so evil!

But I also wanted to make sure, you know. Because there was also a possibility that he received knowledge from someone else, and it was this someone else that actually transmigrated, or reincarnated, or summoned.

"Yeah," I blinked my eyes as innocently as I could. "Maybe your Master taught you this thing? Or someone from your travels? If that’s the case, it would be nice if we can invite them here too..."

"No, I don’t have Masters! I teach myself everything on my own!" he snapped instantly, as expected of someone who took great pride in their art. But then, he immediately realized his blunder, and shrunk in panic. "Uhh...that’s...umm..." he stammered and averted his eyes profusely, clearing his throat and grabbing the piece of paper containing the circuit design as he changed the topic. "A-anyway, I think this might be doable. I’ll...I’ll look more into it while finishing the revolver and your bullet."

"Alright," I smiled brightly in agreement. And triumph, I guessed.

Because now, I was positive that Izzi came from another world. He was probably suspicious of me too, on that first day. But looking at his reaction, he must have concluded that I was just a native with a good head.

But that was the extent of it--I wouldn’t do more probing for now. At least, not until I found at least another otherworlder’s soul. I wanted to wait until I could meet the other two inventors or the one creating the Midas. It would be even better if one of them turned out to be the author girl.

Also, because we weren’t alone right now.

"You know...why don’t you make that carving tool for the enchanter first?" we suddenly heard Lesta’s voice, and the demon was already there, leaning on the cabinet casually.

I actually already noticed his presence quite some time ago, but was too preoccupied with controlling my facial expression to acknowledge it. Izzi, however, didn’t appear to be so, and was quite jumpy when he heard Lesta’s voice.

"When did you get here?!"

"When you talk about that lah-sher or whatever," the demon shrugged and walked toward us.

The meeting room, which was originally designed like one of the rooms in the library, had been slightly changed by us. We pushed the table to the wall, and emptied the center, placed a huge, comfy rug that filled the floor. That was where we usually stayed, laying down drafting formulas and reading atop stacked cushions.

Jade liked the place very much, because the bird liked rolling around on pillows, and for some reason, so did Lesta--which was why he often came here. Perhaps that was why they had been close these days. Like right now, when Jade jumped to my shoulder and waved the turquoise wings to the demon.

Or perhaps it was because Lesta always had candies in his pocket. He jokingly said the candy made his blood sweeter. I had no idea if that was true, perhaps I should ask Eruha one day, as the one who actually had a taste.

But anyway, regarding that carving tools...

"Do you think it’s possible?" I asked the demon with raised brows. I actually only made a passing comment about that concept, but now that Lesta mentioned it...that seemed like a lucrative business prospect.

"It sure is," Lesta stretched out before laying down with a sigh. I could see the puncture marks on his neck, so he was probably feeling anemic today. But he still remembered to take out a piece of candy for the waiting little bird. "There’ll be a few dozens eager customers in this building alone. Do you know how hard it was to renew enchantment in the Castle walls? Not to mention the soldier’s armor and weapons? And that’s only the concurring task. There would be new equipment to enchant every week, especially when there’s an event or new workers coming in..."

Oof--that did sound exhausting. For enchantment--that was, carving a spell formation into something--the caster needed to concentrate not only on carving the right spell, but also maintaining the mana used to create that laser-like carving magic on the tip of their finger. It was an exhausting process, especially on a new enchantment, because they needed to trace the shape for the first time. That was why, magician license for enchanters was hard to get, and they were the highest-paid supporting magicians, even higher than alchemists.

Now, what if they could just concentrate on tracing the formation of the spell, while the carving process could be left to a magic tool? Wouldn’t that be more efficient? They would be able to do their job faster, and not waste mana on maintaining the carving magic, especially if the tool was mounted with magic stones as fuel.

And enchanters were rich, since, unlike alchemists, they didn’t have to waste money on raw ingredients. Rich customers meant we could sell it for a reasonably high price!

So I excitedly turned toward the engineer. "Izzi--"

"But I want to make guns!" the elf pouted, crossing his legs and arms in an act of defiance.

Lesta and I looked at each other, before asking together. "Why?"

"Because it’s cool!"

Huh...that was why? I thought maybe he was a gunsmith in his past life, but he was probably closer to gun enthusiasts, huh? Or was he just that person who liked fantasy with a flare of modern elements? Like...I don’t know...cyber-punk kind of guy?

"I even teach myself gunsmithing for it!"

"Okay, calm down," I raised my palms, because he was waving the revolver in his hand and while it wasn’t loaded, my instinct was still kicked in.

Don’t wave that shit haphazardly like that, dude, seriously...

"But you need capital for it, right? You’re already in debt to His Lordship," Lesta shrugged, propping his elbow on the pillow and popping a piece of candy to his mouth after unwrapping one for Jade. "Rather than just using Young Master’s fund endlessly, wouldn’t it be better to gain money from making the carving tools first?"

Being reminded of his debt certainly made the elf meeker. He pursed his lips, but also moved his gaze here and there; a sign of wavering.

So I pushed another thing while at it. "We can also make...you know...non-mana bullet?"

"Ugh--but that’s so basic!" the elf rolled his eyes. Yeah, it was leaning to steam-punk thingy right now. Or... RPG enthusiast?

"Wait, Young Master," Lesta suddenly got up and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "You mean making a mini, hand-size cannon?"

"Well, it’ll use the black powder, so...yes?"

Lesta turned toward Izzi immediately. "Do it, Elf!"

"I have a name!"

"Do it, Izzi," the demon quickly said. "Don’t you know if you paid your debt you’ll be able to shorten the working contract?" the elf paused and blinked at that, and Lesta continued. "And you won’t have to run away anymore if you paid back the penalty from your town."

Izzi blinked faster, before giving out a delayed exclaim, as if he had forgotten about that. "Oh...that’s right!"

"Is that true?" I turned to question the demon, who explained to me the main reason Izzi became a fugitive was because of the great damage he did while doing his ’experiment’ which I presumed happened from trying to create the bullet.

It explained why, despite being exiled, he also still getting chased everywhere. And apparently, he was too prideful to take a loan from Natha to pay for the debt. But taking an investment for his experiment and using the money to hunt artifacts in auctions was...acceptable.

Did I mention that he was weird? Yeah.

"Nothing to be done about the blasphemy charge, but that would only make him unable to receive the blessing from the Goddess of Nature," Lesta added.

Izzi scoffed in response. "Not that I ever need one!"

"So he said," Lesta smirked. He stared at the elf while absentmindedly stroking Jade’s plume, asking with a raised brow. "So?"

"Mmh...nggh--" Izzi then started to sway his body here and there, and we left him in his own contemplation while enjoying cookies by ourselves until he finally shouted in a defeated voice. "Ugh--fine! I’ll try! Happy now?"

I quietly made a high-five with Lesta as Izzi grumbled and started making sketches on the floor.

"By the way, are you just here to lounge?" I looked at the demon.

"No," Lesta laid back on the cushion again. "I just don’t want to see Eru around."

I raised my brow at that. "You’re fighting?"

[Darkie fight Whitey?] even Jade tilted its head in surprise. After all, we often saw the two demons together, and they always seemed cordial. So much that even Jade felt weirded out by that.

"No, fighting goes two ways. It’s just me that getting pissed," Lesta answered with a little cynical sneer that seemed to be directed at himself more than anything. "But it’s hard to keep angry if I see his face, so I’ll hang out with you guys for now."

"Oh..." I suddenly remembered the only two moments when I got angry...ish, toward Natha. It did get hard to keep being angry or even remotely annoyed at a pretty face, unless they made you really really pissed--like...insulting your ancestor level of pissed. "I kind of get that," I nodded in agreement.

Hmm...hmm? But like...Natha gave me that effect because I was obviously attracted to him, and simply looking at his face made me happy. So...were they...?

Unfortunately, before I could ask him that, he already spoke about something else. "Oh, I am also here to tell you that Lady Zidoa would probably come later tonight or tomorrow morning, and she might be...in a not-very-good mood."

"Huh, why?"

"Because the representatives from Lust will come tomorrow."

...oh?