Dungeon Defense

Ο* * *Ο

It seemed that the man disliked me.

I realized it two days after meeting him. It wasn’t an act—he truly avoided and recoiled from me. Whenever I got even a little close, he reacted as if I might pass on some contagious disease.

“……Haa.”

I let out a sigh and tilted my head.

Why did he hate me?

I wasn’t being conceited, but I thought I was rather cute.

I was only ten years old, but even this ten-year-old appearance had been enough to make the village adults torment me as a group. Up until then, I had been under the impression that all men in the world were sexually attracted to children—of course I would think that—so the man’s behavior was, to put it simply, inexplicable.

See? The man looked at me again, shook his head in disbelief, and—

—let out an even deeper sigh. Sometimes, instead of sighing, he would mutter things to himself like, “I’m definitely going to regret this,” or “There was also Jack Aland,” or “I’m the biggest fool in the world……”—things I couldn’t make any sense of.

For some reason, it made me angry.

In the end, the man granted my request and spared the villagers. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less whether the villagers lived or died. My parents and Luke were precious to me, but more important than them was the man standing before me.

The man was exactly the kind of person I had imagined.

If he committed a wrongdoing, he never tried to justify it. He didn’t exaggerate his own worth, nor did he look down on others unnecessarily. He was upright. A man who faced the world head-on.

I was nervous and excited, thinking I had finally met someone of my kind—but the man’s response was disappointingly indifferent. It felt like he deeply regretted saving me. He was strange. If he was going to regret it, he shouldn’t have saved me in the first place. And if he did save me, then he shouldn’t be regretting it. Should he?

Even as he regretted it, the man still saved me.

He could only be described as a strange man.

“Little one.”

“My name is Daisy.”

“Would you be so kind as to just die?”

Correction.

The man wasn’t just strange—he was seriously strange.

I blinked in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“Think about it. Living on as someone else’s slave is hardly a happy life. If you and Luke would simply take your own lives, I promise wealth and prosperity to the rest of the villagers. I’ll ensure your parents are treated with the utmost care. What do you say?”

The man was asking me to commit suicide. With absolute seriousness.

From that moment on, my impression of the man shifted—from a kindred spirit to a kindred spirit whose brain had clearly gone a bit off. What kind of nonsense was he spouting with such a serious expression?

“If I absolutely must die, then please let me kill Luke with my own hands first. And allow the villagers to take their own lives. My stance will not change.”

“Of course. It wouldn’t change.”

The man nodded somberly. It was cute since he looked just like a puppy soaked through with rain.

“Sigh. Why must the world contain oddballs like you, just to torment me even more? Truly, my life is cursed. I don’t even know anymore. Whatever happens, happens.”

“…….”

In short, the man was feeling something entirely different from me.

While I was thrilled by the thought of having met someone of my own kind, the man was horrified, even despairing, at having encountered someone like him. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by his reaction. It was like confessing your love only to be flat-out rejected. Eventually, I found myself responding with equal bluntness.

And then came the surgery.

The operation to engrave the slave mark was excruciatingly painful.

Even though I had been given a heavy dose of anesthetics to dull the pain, it didn’t matter in the slightest—the agony was enough to rip through my very flesh. Even now, I find it hard to understand. The man—he was genuinely terrified that a little ten-year-old girl might actually kill him.

Why?

Why would he think that?

I was nothing more than a pitiful slash-and-burn farmer. All I had was a frail little body. No matter how I looked at it, the chances of me posing any threat to the man were extremely low. And yet, for some reason, he treated me as his equal.

Not just as someone of the same kind—but as someone of equal standing.

―Though I only came to realize it later.

The man regarded himself as trash, and he recognized that I harbored immense potential. That’s why the two of us had completely opposite views.

I thought I was the worthless one, and he thought he was the worthless one. I believed he was extraordinary, while he believed I was extraordinary. It was ridiculous, really. We had perfectly mismatched evaluations of each other and ourselves.

Of course, at the time, there was no way I could have understood any of that.

The slave branding surgery had been so unbearably painful that I ended up complaining a little to the man—saying things like “I’ll kill you” or that I wouldn’t forgive him. Honestly, I thought I was entitled to that much. My heart had felt like it was being torn apart and stitched back together raw—wasn’t it only natural?

As I glared at him in irritation, the man said,

“You’re officially my adopted daughter now. When necessary, refer to me as Father. Basically, when we’re in a city or town, or when there are strangers around, call me Father.”

That’s right. He became my father.

From that moment on, I began calling the man named Dantalian “Father.” We were of the same kind, but paradoxically, because we were the same, we couldn’t recognize that the other saw us in the complete opposite way. And so, we became father and daughter.

Ο* * *Ο

The days went by as I wondered when Father would violate me.

It’d be troubling if people were to think I’m weird. Since the age of eight, I had been used by men like a plaything. It’s not my fault that I mistook every man in the world for a pedophile. He—Father—was the first man who didn’t show even the slightest bit of interest in my body.

Was he a eunuch?

“Ah, ah, haah, Your Highness! Harder! Please do it harder!”

“Hahaha. What a perverted swine. Go on then. Cry out like a swine!”

“Oink, oink oink, hggh!”

He wasn’t.

After I accidentally witnessed Father having wild sex with Teacher Jeremi, the theory that Father might be impotent was completely scrapped. Far from being impotent, he had a sex drive more intense than any man I had ever encountered.

So then…… could it be that he was only aroused by adult women?

“Mmm, Dantalian. I can’t, hold it much longer…… Hahh! My body can’t handle it anymore……!”

“If you beg, ‘Please forgive me, Master,’ I might consider stopping. Come now. Say it. Get on your knees and beg like a dog.”

“Master…… uaaah, Master, please forgive this filthy slave…….”

That wasn’t it either.

If anything, it seemed Father preferred childlike physiques. Compared to when he did it with Teacher Jeremi, he was more earnest and seemed to enjoy himself even more while doing it with Barbatos. Sometimes, when Barbatos came to visit the Demon Lord Castle, they would easily spend two whole days doing that, so I had no choice but to discard the “Father-likes-older-women” theory.

The situation only grew more confusing.

One day, I stared seriously into the mirror. It was to evaluate my appearance objectively. I carefully compared myself to all of Father’s dazzling lovers—Laura de Farnese the Minister of Military Affairs, Barbatos, Teacher Jeremi, Paimon, Sitri, and the like.

……No matter how I looked at it, I was definitely prettier.

It wasn’t arrogance. It was an undeniable fact. My black hair was more beautiful than the night sky, my fair skin was so smooth, it seemed it would slip away at the slightest touch, and my eyes were more deeply alluring than obsidian. I could say with certainty—I had never seen a woman more beautiful than myself.

“…….”

Then why won’t he lay a hand on me……?

Laura de Farnese, the Minister of Military Affairs, would wander around the Demon Lord Castle all the time, grumbling things like, “My lord just does it way too much!” and “My body can’t take this anymore!” but honestly, it all sounded like nothing more than the complaints of someone who had it too good.

She’s just a blonde woman who can’t do anything except fight wars.

I had disliked Laura de Farnese for a long time. She didn’t seem to know her place. Both the vassals and the people of the domain treated her like she was Father’s wife, and the Minister of Military Affairs didn’t seem to dislike the misunderstanding either. She’d walk around with her nose in the air, all haughty and smug.

Even though she’s dumber than me.

Laura de Farnese only knew six languages at most. Meanwhile, I had mastered eight languages within two years of becoming Father’s adopted daughter. The Minister of Military Affairs couldn’t even begin to compare to me in terms of intellect. And yet, she strutted around as if she were the greatest philosopher in all of history.

Well, I suppose idiots don’t realize that they’re idiots.

I decided to be generous and forgive her.

But there was one thing I absolutely could not overlook. The fact that this woman’s skull seemed to have no concept of hygiene.

When the Minister of Military Affairs got pounced on by Father while wandering around the Demon Lord Castle—and this happened quite often—they would spend about three hours in intercourse. Afterward, she would shuffle weakly toward the underground spring.

All the while, drops of Father’s semen would drip along the corridors of the castle.

What a horrifying sight it was.

Laura de Farnese was, in short, a woman who knew no shame. On some days, she would even say, “There’s no point in wearing clothes if my lord is just going to tear them off anyway,” and go about her day completely naked.

It was hard to see her as entirely sane.

Cleaning up the hallways that Laura de Farnese left in disarray was always my job as the head maid. After she passed through, I would quickly grab the cleaning supplies and scrub away the semen she left behind. Anyone who hasn’t experienced just how deranged this task is wouldn’t be able to understand.

What I really wanted to do was collect every drop of semen she spilled into a bucket and someday dump it all over her face.

Unfortunately, that was impossible because of an order Father had given me. As a rule, I was forbidden from harming Father or any of his lovers. If it weren’t for that command, Laura de Farnese would have taken a semen bath hundreds of times by now.

“Your hands seem somewhat sluggish today, head maid.”

While I was cleaning Father’s office, Prime Minister Lapis Lazuli spoke to me. I placed the cleaning tools on the floor and immediately bowed respectfully.

Lapis Lazuli was a figure of a different rank compared to Laura de Farnese. The Prime Minister held Father’s full trust. What I liked most about her were two things: first, Lapis Lazuli never once acted pretentious, and second, she was genuinely competent enough to earn Father’s favor.

For reference, she was also someone who didn’t engage in sexual relations with Father.

It wasn’t really important information.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“Is there something on your mind? Miss Daisy, you are Sir Dantalian’s daughter. If you have any concerns, feel free to share them with me.”

The Prime Minister almost always referred to Father as “Sir Dantalian.”

The only person allowed to use such a title was Prime Minister Lapis Lazuli. Other subordinates mostly used titles like “Lord,” “Your Highness,” or “O Demon Lord.” However, despite being a subordinate, the Prime Minister addressed Father by his name.

It was somewhat presumptuous, but I decided to forgive this as well. Compared to the Military Minister, the Prime Minister was practically a paragon of virtue. Moreover, the title wasn’t even particularly special—if anything, it seemed a bit pitiable.

“Yes. I have a concern.”

“Please, tell me.”

“Why doesn’t Father take me as his lover?”

“…….”

Lapis Lazuli looked at me with a clear look that said, “What nonsense is this child saying?”

It was a bit rude.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’m actually suffering a lot right now. Work somehow got even worse lately. I had to work two back-to-back weekends and a couple of days of overtime. I did get PTO as compensation for working weekends, but it’s still been so busy. One of my EN team coworkers is going on his honeymoon starting this week and won’t be back to 2 weeks, so we also have to get through heaps of work with 1 man down. 

I only managed to translate this chapter cause I was able to squeeze in a PTO last Monday. First time since mid March that I was able to use my PTO… I just need to survive another 2 weeks… God please…

I’ll hopefully see you guys in the next chapter. If I don’t, I’m in a work coma.