This Isn’t My World, And It Pisses Me Off

Chapter 17

“Ok, so you sent some people to get some wood?” Ikari asked, standing in the middle of a group of creatures, Madyline closely hugging his side. Amber was right next to them.

“Yes. Several ogres and goblins went to gather wood from a nearby forest.” The Dullahan gestured to where a mountain could be seen, one covered in trees. It was far enough away from the castle that the surrounding rocky landscape turned into fresh grass.

“Alright. Good. Now, where are those human women?” He asked, looking around briefly. “I want to get them back to wherever they came from.”

“They’re still in the castle.” Madyline told him. “The clothes that the Demons found, weren’t exactly very covering. And they didn’t want to be seen like that.” The maids words caused a frown to grow upon Ikari’s face.

“Get them some, I don’t know, really big cloaks. Then bring them home.” He instructed.

“Um, can I bring them home. I can guard them.” Madyline asked, hefting her mace. Ikari stared at her in surprise for a moment, before noticing her bright blue eyes glancing nervously around at the rest of the Demons and Monsters.

“Right. She’s probably really uncomfortable here. Maybe she wants to go home…” A part of Ikari felt sad at that, wanting to keep her by his side. “If that’s what you want.” He nodded. “But, can I have my bag. I might need a potion for something and it’ll be easier for you without it.”

The maid nodded immediately, taking the bag off and handing it to Ikari. She then bowed, annoying Ikari, and quickly made her way back to the castle, holding her mace tightly. Ikari let out a sigh, wondering if she’d ever return.

It would hurt if he lost his only friend in this world. He decided to focus on such thoughts at a later point, turning to make his way where he wanted the wall. Though as he turned it felt as though Ikari had already walked into a wall.

He took a step back to look up at the wall he had walked into. The wall had four arms, green skin and two swords strapped to it’s back. Oh wait, it wasn’t a wall. It was an Ogre. “Hello.” Ikari said, not really sure what else to say.

“You say you new Demon King.” The Ogre sounded male.

Ikari sighed inwardly. Knowing the cliches, knowing the tropes, he prepared himself for a fight. “Yes.” He nodded.

The four armed Ogre seemed to stand even taller. “Then Demon King. I have question.” Two of his four hands came together, and the tips pressed against each other. “Can Iron paint?”

“No I will not fight- I’m sorry, what?” Ikari stopped himself, the words catching up with his mind. “You want to paint?” He waited and the Ogre, apparently called Iron, nodded while looking away from the human.

“Beezlebub not let us do what we want. Only let us do what help us fight. Painting not useful for fighting.” Iron explained, and a few other creatures approached the two. Ikari noticed that despite apparently being meant for war, they were all severely underweight.

“You’re uh, not gonna paint with blood are you?” Ikari felt like he needed to clarify.

“Blood is only colour around.” The Ogre responded, scratching his head with one of his many hands. Ikari bit his lip and inwardly screamed. He then remembered what he had in his bag.

“Not any more.” He flipped his bag around and set it on the ground. He zipped it open and was about to reach out and grab what he was looking for and saw the black hole. “Uh, Ingredients.” He asked the bag.

Ikari swore he heard a rumble, as several different items shot out of his bag. It was only thanks to his Reaction Speed enchantment he was able to catch them all and set them on the ground without issue. There were several dozen objects, and Ikari scanned them for any with noticeable colours.

Eventually, he narrowed it down to a few different items, all of them berries, petals and a few aqua beads. He set those aside, as Iron and the others around him watched with interest. He put the rest back in his bag.

“Mortar and Pestle. Sieve. Measures.” The three items he requested flew out one after the other. Ikari then stretched out his fingers and got to work. He had a vague idea of what he was doing. He recalled studying a game where you went around painting pictures for a project.

He got a B+ but he also learnt a lot about paints. After a few minutes of grinding, sieving and squishing, he presented Iron with six different small containers, each holding a different colour. “How about these colours?”

Iron’s jaw was hanging open. It contained two tusks and several molars. His four arms reached out, trembling and took the colours. “I don’t have a brush unfortunately, there was nothing like that in the Alchemy place. I’m just glad I took everything else.”

His words fell on deaf ears, as Iron quickly made his way over to a small stone, Ikari guessed you could call it a building. He set the colours on the ground, and dipped a finger into each. The new Demon King watched, as the Ogre drew a single finger across the stone, a blue streak following it.

Iron’s eyes sparkled, and Ikari swore he saw a tear. The dropped jaw turned into a wide smile, as Iron’s hands flew across the stonework. It wasn’t the best canvas, though Ikari considered that mute as he watched Iron work.

It was amazing. Ikari recognised it. Someone experiencing artistic freedom for the first time. It was beautiful. The Demons and Monsters surrounding him seemed to agree, thought as Ikari looked out he didn’t see Monsters and Demons.

He saw people. People who were ruled by a terrible King. And as they all looked to Iron, doing what he wanted for what might have been the first time in his life, he knew he needed to help them.

“I’m the Demon King now. Guess that makes these guys my, subjects?” The thought bothered him somewhat. Should he really be putting himself on that high a pedestal? He knew he was powerful, and that he killed the Demon King.

But did that really give him the right to rule? “Done.” Ikari’s thought’s broke as Iron spoke aloud, stepping away from the stone building, panting heavily out of happiness.

“Holy shit.” Ikari let out. The painting was amazing. It seemed to be a rendition of the castle that wasn’t but a few hundred metres from them. It was put against a bright blue sky, but the castle seemed to reach from top to bottom.

“It’s amazing.” He said breathlessly. “It reminds me of Van Gogh.” The style was very close to the artist. Almost immediately, those around him showered Iron with praise and marvel. The Ogre smiled widely, one of his four arms rubbing the back of his bald head.

“They’re just, people. People that look different. People that act different. Even if I shouldn’t consider them as subjects, I should still protect them.” As he was thinking this, he could hear a different kind of yelling over the shouts of admiration to Iron.

“MONSTER!” The yells finally overtook the ones surrounding him, and they looked to see a group of Goblins and Ogres running towards them. Ikari quickly ran up, getting there in less than a second thanks to his Mobility.

“What happened?” He asked immediately, the group skidding to a halt at the sudden appearance. If the people living here considered something a Monster, it was bound to be bad news.

“W-We went to go gets the wood. Likes you asked!” A smaller goblin piped up from an Ogre’s shoulders.

“But the woods was mean. They hurt.” The Ogre continued. “And they kept hurting, and turned into a bigger woods monster.”

Ikari ran over the information in his head. Using the Isekai tropes and cliches he was all too familiar with, as well as common sense, he figured out what it was. “A Dryad. Or an Ent.” He spoke, bringing a hand to his chin in thought.

The group before him got to their knees and bowed low, surprising Ikari and making him feel rather uncomfortable. Before he could speak, the Goblin that first spoke up did so again. “We is sorry Demon King! Please do not be chopping off our headses!”

“Well that was a fucking clash.” He blinked twice. “Would Beezlebub have executed you for failing this?” He asked. When he saw the numerous nods, he frowned. “Well, good thing I’m a better King than him.”

With that, he walked forward through the group as it rose. This was his fault. He should have known that a forest so close to what was essentially the end game area would be full of strong monsters. “I didn’t intend to put you in danger. I’ll fix this. I’ll make sure you are protected.”

He crouched down slightly, and set off, dust kicking up behind him as he ran to the forest. He did not go his full speed, as he needed time to think of what to do. He wanted to be a good King. And that meant helping his people.

He would help them. He would keep them safe. Red eyes hardened as he sped up. And he would never, lose anyone again.