Chapter 9 It has been a long two months for me. It feels like someone placed a huge brick inside my head. The huge quantity of information that I gained are there but I can’t seem to comprehend them. Sure I can remember the things word for word but I can’t understand most of it. Especially the metaphors and proverbs are a bit tricky since they mean another thing. I wonder why people created them when one can just say the actual meaning. Complications, so much complications but everyone accepted it. Maybe it was me who is different as elves also find them normal. Must be the different histories of me and them are making the difference in perspective. The one that strikes me the most is the treant’s final sayings. Burn as much as you needed to let the fire keep going. It sounded cool with the burning so it remains to me but the meaning? Nah I gave up after a few hours of trying to understand. I know I needed fuel to burn something but what has that got to do with burning so much needed? I will understand someday but for now let them be the inspiration to advance myself. I have some basic common sense even though the treant still find it a bit lacking. I wonder why he was trying to make me a good guy. I will never be one though. I find the act of giving something for free a vain thing to do. All should pay the price for the things they wanted. That is fair. “I thank you for imparting knowledge to me.” I said in a formal way to him. He seems to value formality and order. “I hope that you won’t end up breaking this world because you find us annoying.” The treant was having a bitter smile on his make believe face. This tree really is obnoxious sometimes. “As much as I want to promise, I never will be able to keep them if I find it clashing with my judgement.” I said in return. “Yeah your judgement…” he snorted at that. “That broken sense of yours needs a hammering.” The treant is flexing his branches again and he seems to want to smack me again. I wonder if I gave him so much bitterness this whole two months. There were so much occasion that he can’t provide answers that satisfies me. He only said that I can understand it in the future when situation presented themselves. He kept on repeating the blowing of head when there are lice. I finally understand that saying now. I understood that what I have done in the past was totally overkill. Like what happened to my past world, I ended up turning it into endless desert without life and water. I got my head blown up too in the end. I can only smile bitterly for my ignorance. Now I understand the feeling back then when I have no more water to drink and food to eat. In the end, I laid down on the ruins weakly and powerless. It was called regret. If I limited my actions back then, will my life differ from now? Will I manage to make a happier life back then? I only know what happiness means but I never understand it myself. The happiness of giving something without asking for any return. That means losing in itself but why can someone be happy? Well let’s just discover it along the way. For now I need to resume the duty the cool sister left me with. “I need to leave now and fulfill my duty.” The elves and the treant are eerily silent. They are only looking at me with weird expressions on their face like they realize something. “I nearly forgot that you are the demon lord.” The treant laugh lightly. “With how childlike you are, I wonder what made the goddess elect you to fill that role. I feel like you will get swindled easily.” Me get swindled? I totally see the chance of that happening with how ignorant I am but I will not be tricked easily now. I got the things I learned from the treant. In the end, I concluded that one need to live to make something significant. A dead man can only mean so much. A dead saint or a living devil, the choice is no competition. “Hey that was out of line right?” I said proudly as I tried to speak like someone wise. “Little chick is starting to grow some feathers I see.” I think he somehow get a wind that I am trying to show off. Well he is an expert so I guess I am too early boasting in his face. “Anyway, I am leaving now and I need to mess with humanity.” I smile deviously. “I love this part of the job.” The treant lowered himself into the same height as me and his eyes seem to bore into mine. He was a having a subtle expression which I can’t decipher. “You have been blessed by something that some have gone mad to have so please don’t waste it doing foolish things.” His eyes are somewhat scary right now. “I think the goddess did not send you here to be a mere bad guy. Go and live and not just to survive.” He made sure to make things simple as it is and I can understand it all for the first time. I think he was messing with me by speaking deep words but he can also speak like this. He was really cheeky for a mere tree. Though I appreciate what he is doing right now and the past two months. Even though the elves did not communicate with me much, they were kind enough to leave food which was delightful and they have not messed with me. I think I like this kind of environment compared to my lonesome against the harsh downpour of rain. “I will make sure to do that then.” I said affirmatively to him. “Though I need to deal with the demon race that appeared when I am not aware of it.” “Yeah those guys have been terrorizing our lands too. I will mobilize the army to assist you in any way they can.” “That is not needed.” I shook my head and smiled to him gratefully. “I have my own army.” “Your army…” the treant seem contemplating about something by himself. “I guess you can also do that.” I nodded to him and picked up the bag which was now fuller than it used to be. There were some fine cups which was made in ivory gifted to me by various elf and some bottle of the drink that I like. The bag which only contains clothes and the crystal ball is now adorned with various things. I like the sight of it. “See you when I can then.” I waved them goodbye and ripped a portal with my hand. Magic can be convenient. The coordinates I have is somewhere far and I got it when I was tracking the minions of mine. I drew a simple map with coordinates and made some basic landmarks which I use to determine the place. I stepped into the portal and arrived into a desolate place once again. It was outside of the western endless forest. The only thing I can recognize is the mountain that looks like a face on one side. It really was shaped like a face. I am not kidding. Not at all. Really. “I guess the first order of business is to build an army huh.” I have ready-made summons. I learned that summoning can also be done as long as you offer your mana and call a random being. Those that will respond will be forced to obey you for a time limit as long as the both party agree. It can somehow be dangerous since the beings called this way have their own intelligence and personalities. Sometimes the beings would go crazy if the caster commands something that pushes the summoned being to death. I try gathering mana in my hand and try to summon a random being. The world is vast and I know some creatures would not survive in the open as they were not meant to exist in this plane. The only way for them to come here is to be called and offered a link. The mana which I am providing is like a beacon for them. They will find this place and once I offered the link to them, they could keep that in them and remain in this world. If I cancel the link then they will lose their beacon and they will be sent back to where they came from. I felt a little tug on the source as if beings were competing to see who is fit to take the beacon. In any world, it is still the law of the jungle. I waited for a bit before the tugging became more forceful. I held my mana strongly to not get stolen by the being and have a free pass in coming into this world. The treant warned me about this. I held the mana in my hand and soon I can feel the surrounding tremble for a bit. Then the space cracked and a pair of slender legs ripped open the small slit in the space. I waited for the being to come and soon a humanoid figure but legs like that of a spider proudly sprout at the back of the female figure in front of me. I can feel the tremendous power radiating from her but she somehow look ugly. The combination of humanity and insect is somewhat disgusting for me. Why does it have to the combination of the two species I hate the most? I waited for the creature to settle down as she was looking all around her surroundings. She has a delicate looking face. It was a bit pale contrast to her deep black hair and piercing golden eyes. I somehow doubt if creatures with human as a base basically have pretty faces. “I thank you for calling me but can you give me the contract fast?” her voice is a bit inaudible but the cold and piercing vibe I get from it is catching. “I have not even said that I wanted to form a contract with you.” Her head tilted to the side as if in wonder. “Then why did you call me here?” “I called somebody… Not specially you” “…” I think she is getting to my point. I am only buying time if I wanted to form a contract with her since she looks a bit too much for me. A human, an insect like a spider… Urhhhgg... I think she can fill the blank space of what I need but will I last working with her? Is this the price I am going to pay if I want to make trouble with humanity? I take it back... I want free lunch… “Then what is it that I should do if I wanted that contract?” Finally! Someone that understand that there is no free lunch! “I want you to make trouble with humanity while I deal with the demon race.” “Aren’t you a demon yourself?” “So? Is it a rule a demon should babysit all the demons?” “Fair enough” “So should I burn them to the ground?” That is the kind of person I can relate to huh… “Not to that extent. Make them suffer enough to the point that they will wish death.” “You are truly wicked huh… As expected of a high class demon.” “High class huh…” I am a bit smiling in my head. “If you agree to what I stated then you are free to take the contract.” “Wait! I want to ask another thing.” Oh? “Is the deal not fair enough? I let you stay in my world as long as you trouble them. With the amount of power you have, I think it will be a piece of cake for you.” “I want to call my sisters here.” “Eh?” What’s this? Buy one take one? Or buy one take all? “I think that would be bad for this world though.” Wow I am talking about the well-being of the world. “Then I want to back down.” She was also too decisive in her decision. “Wait… then tell me why I should also call them here?” “We are escaping from something. Jumping here is one of the options I have but if I can’t call my sisters then there is no point in serving your whims.” I see. So it was for survival of her family. The escaping part sounds a bit problematic though. She does not seem to be a member of the demon race but of the half lings. I wonder how her parents look like. A spider and a human… That looks like a bad thing and I tried to erase that imagination in my mind… Urggg… I contemplate if the risk is worth the comfort for me. Calling more power sounds tempting but the trouble they may create might be too much. I wonder if I can pry better information and see if I can tolerate such risks. I wonder why after taking lessons to the treant I am now trying to consider risks which I would avoid like a plague if it were the past me. Am I changing little by little without me noticing? “Then what are you gals escaping from in the first place?” “Our father…” Pfft… what the heck is with that? You are escaping from a parent? Is that normal in their world? “Why would you escape from your parent?” “He was trying to sell us out to that hateful tribe.” Oh… now I see where is this coming from. A family feud huh. It does not sound too bad so maybe I can tolerate that much. “Fine… How many are them?” “Seven of them.” What a huge family. I gathered seven lumps of mana and now seven beings were fast enough to catch it. I held it firmly in my hands and soon cracks start to appear and the same events earlier repeated once again. One by one spider women (?) started to appear. They look eerily similar aside from the color of their irises and the shade of hair color. I thought they were all twins since there is only so little difference between them. If you look closely though, all them are different from each other too. What a weird family. “Sister!” “Mary!” All them started to hug each other in delight and forgot to ask me about the contract. I guess I should send them back? I think they look troublesome fellows. I want to send them but the earliest one of them kept on giving me deadly glares as if she can read my mind. Maybe this is a bad idea after all? Maybe I should use the mindless and obedient summons of mine after all? “Come take the contract first before fussing with each other!” The eldest of them all yelled at them and they timidly looked at me. Oy… You guys feel wicked so stop looking like cute little children. In the end, I did not fuss about it and let them have their way. I think this decision will come and trouble me later on but what can I do? They seem like hyperactive children running around the park. I slightly feel guilty while thinking that I should send them away. I think something is wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Maybe magic was used to me? I feel like giving anything they want if they ask me. What am I even saying? I try assessing the environment and somehow my mood starts to worsen. I feel the use of magic aside from summoning and I am thinking that that has got to do with these spiders. I glared at them while I ripped apart the contract from them and sent them all away back to wherever they came from. Sentient beings are too clever. For someone so weak to use charm on me… The worst part is me falling for it… I will be sure to not use this summoning again. Creatures with mind seek for advantages. That is natural but for them to take advantage of me… Not happening. I crushed the beacon which started to solidify. They will become a catalyst but I made sure to eliminate any sign that can be used by those spiders. They should not come here and whatever they are facing, they should face it themselves and not use me. I sigh and look into the sky thinking random things. Those spiders really did a mess of things. I realized that I am still a bit naive. If I continue to be like this then I will become someone that can be tricked easily. In the end I settled for summoning more of the eerie and small sized creatures. They are the faceless humanoid which came from the call of the ancients. I think they are pretty cool for messing with humanity. They are lethal enough but also not too strong and humanity can deal with it for now. I really want to annihilate them in one go. Why should I tolerate such problems…? I wonder why. Maybe I am not yet ready? Should I go back to the forest again? Nah... I don't want to face the onslaught of brances and the mischievous action of that old tree. I should just go and do my job on my own way.