The Blood Demon did not understand and accept everything I said.
Among them, in particular, he could not accept the idea of changing the doctrine that one would do anything for power.
“Power is everything. Only with power can one enjoy anything.”
“Enjoy what?”
“Is that not obvious? The world under heaven!”
To rule all under heaven.
It was an ambition any man might declare at least once, but.
“What is there in that world right now?”
“......”
“While eating a table of weeds and plain rice? Don’t you think that’s ridiculous yourself?”
The king of a garbage dump was merely worse off than an ordinary person in a normal world.
“If you are one who reigns, look further ahead. Broaden your view.”
“......Such things are not this Seat’s work.”
“Did you not say you would listen well? If you insist on clinging to that thinking, leave your visitation right behind and get lost.”
I threatened the Blood Demon, who kept stubbornly talking back.
For me, it would merely be a little regrettable.
When I pressed him hard, the Blood Demon furrowed his brow and groaned.
“If you truly cannot do it, delegate authority to someone capable. Someone whose head works well.”
“You mean to place a bookworm in an important post?”
“Power is not simply martial force alone. Intelligence is also power.”
Why had Jaegal Liang been praised all this time?
An outstanding strategist was more valuable than over ten warriors.
“First acknowledge and accept that. Otherwise, you will merely become the king of beggars.”
“To tell me to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of the Beggars' Sect. What an insult.”
“I am merely speaking of an insulting reality.”
The Blood Demon clutched his head, then squeezed his eyes shut.
Beneath his eyelids, his eyes rolled this way and that.
A little while later, he opened them.
“......I cannot accept all of the Proprietor’s words yet. However, I acknowledge one thing. The Proprietor possesses thoughts deeper than this Seat’s.”
“And I am stronger.”
“Most of all, are these not words spoken for this Seat’s sake?”
“They are words spoken for the sake of lodging fees.”
Everything was for my own goal.
If someone benefited in the process, then that was that.
The Blood Demon dragged a hand down his face and nodded.
“Very well. This Seat will trust the Proprietor.”
“You made a good decision. Then let us write the contract immediately. No. 100.”
“Yes, Master.”
No. 100, who had been watching the situation from afar, brought over a prepared contract.
I looked over the contents, and there was nothing to criticize.
As expected, when it came to competence among my clones, there was none like No. 100.
“Read it, and at the end, place your finge......”
THUD.
“......print. Good grief, what an impatient bastard.”
“If I have decided, there is no reason to hesitate.”
The contract stamped with a large fingerprint immediately went up in flames, and the embers split apart and were absorbed into the Blood Demon and me.
Contract established.
With this, the Blood Demon had, with difficulty, regained the qualifications of a guest.
“Now, the contract has been established. Therefore, as per the contract, I will receive your blood qi.”
I lightly touched the Blood Demon’s chest with a finger, and soon, the blood qi accumulated in the Blood Demon’s qi center was drawn out in a long stream.
“Urgh.”
“It hurts a little.”
“You should have...... said that...... in advance......”
“I thought the Blood Demon under heaven would not show pain over something like this.”
His brow furrowed deeply, but the Blood Demon no longer let out pained groans.
His pride, at least, had to be acknowledged.
Meanwhile, a considerable amount of blood qi was drawn out.
The blood-red qi swaying in the air looked as if it would scatter at any moment, but I had already seized the entire space.
I would not lose even one cycle’s worth.
Around the time a sphere the size of a human head formed above my hand, I removed my finger from the Blood Demon’s chest.
“You gathered quite a lot. Just how many people did you kill?”
“......Pure blood qi is formed solely from this Seat’s blood. Using another’s blood is something only lowlifes do.”
“Yes, yes. It is no different from having your blood drawn, so lie down for a bit. You will feel dizzy.”
I gathered the extracted blood qi into the form of a spirit pill.
True to the Blood Demon’s qi, it tried to spread out however it wished, but it was still within my palm.
With just a light application of force, it quickly settled into form.
“That is...... my blood qi?”
“That is correct.”
An ominous aura flowed from the blood qi, which had changed to the size of a finger joint, but that was all.
I placed the spirit pill into the wooden box No. 100 handed me and sealed it well.
“I will return this later if you pay sufficient lodging fees.”
“When would that be?”
“That depends on you, Lord Blood Demon. Now, take this.”
I threw him the artifact I had promised earlier.
“Whether you change the world or destroy it depends on you, Lord Blood Demon.”
“......I will remember that.”
“Engrave it not in your head, but in your bones. If you wish to drink with the Alliance Leader and Lord Heavenly Demon again, that is.”
“Keuhehe, I shall.”
The Blood Demon carefully placed the artifact he had received into his robes and stood.
“You are leaving already? You must be dizzy.”
“Did you not say I must change? I do not know where to begin, so it will take a long time. There is no time to waste.”
He was wise at times like this.
“Then, dear guest, I hope you bring good news when you visit next.”
“......What an unlucky Proprietor.”
“Your words are growing harsher, so please be careful. You know what happens if you irritate me, yes?”
“......”
The Blood Demon’s back flinched greatly before he stepped through the front door.
At any rate, what an ill-mannered bastard.
“Master, how should this be stored?”
“Put it in the storage. The time will come later to return it.”
“The time to return it? Do you believe Lord Blood Demon will change, Master?”
No. 100 was my clone, but perhaps because it had been so long since I separated him, he had developed a separate sense of self.
Now, he felt closer to a separate individual.
Because of that, hearing him say such things felt rather new.
“No. 100. Have I ever bet money on something I thought I would lose?”
“No.”
“That is what this is.”
He would not change all at once.
He would probably fail to use the artifact I had given him properly and continue the existing Blood Cult line for a while.
But he would change.
“If he keeps chewing only weeds, he will change whether he likes it or not.”
Because he would be unable to forget the taste of the oily meat and hot fire wine he had enjoyed here.
Most of all, he had lost his blood qi, so even to survive, he would have to struggle.
“The first step is always difficult. Once the Blood Cult changes even once, it will change quickly. Wiping away the karma it has accumulated is another matter.”
“So you trust Lord Blood Demon.”
“It is more a matter of understanding than trust.”
Because I had seen many guests.
There were parts I could predict.
“At least, the Blood Demon’s conduct here was not that bad.”
***
That evening.
When I stopped by the tavern to have a drink, the Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Demon were there.
“Has the Proprietor come?”
“Lord Heavenly Demon, it has been a while.”
“It has been three days. Ah, I paid all the lodging fees.”
“I heard from No. 100. You paid with a treasure.”
The Heavenly Demon had brought a sacred treasure possessed by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and although it was a staff that did not suit Murim, its value was measured quite highly.
Thanks to that, he was able to pay all his overdue lodging fees and stay for a few more days afterward.
“Do you not find it a shame?”
“Within the cult, its very existence was something people hushed up. It was an unsettling object to dispose of as well, so it worked out nicely.”
“You are not treating this place as a garbage bin, are you?”
“Is it not good when the result is good?”
“Heh heh, the Heavenly Demon is right. Indeed.”
These old fogeys and the way they spoke.
“By the way, did the Blood Demon not come today?”
“Come to think of it, he should have been given the same three days.”
Their gazes naturally turned toward me.
Their eyes seemed to ask whether I had done something to the Blood Demon.
“I did not kill him. If you look at me like that, I feel wronged.”
“Heh heh, who said you killed him? I merely remembered how the Blood Demon trembled.”
“Do you know how firmly he told us to pay our lodging fees?”
“I do.”
Thinking back on what he had said, he spoke as if one would fall into hellfire.
Now that I thought about it, I was getting angry.
Just you wait until next time.
“Then the Blood Demon is now......”
“What the two of you are thinking did not happen. It is only that a small change was necessary.”
I conveyed the conversation I had with the Blood Demon today to the two of them without adding or subtracting anything.
After all, they were the two people who were close to the Blood Demon.
“I see.”
“The Proprietor is truly wise.”
“It was merely something necessary. Receiving lodging fees is an extremely important matter to me.”
“I understand. However, I am worried whether that friend, the Blood Demon, can do well.”
“Destruction is easy, but building something up is difficult.”
Because both of them were leaders who commanded massive groups, they seemed to understand that difficulty well.
Since they were from Murim worlds, their understanding would also be high.
That was why I said it.
“Lord Blood Demon will probably return soon. He will reach his limits quickly.”
Whether it was to catch his breath or to lament,he would come.
Though he would not be able to stay long.
“At that time, I think it would be good for the two of you to offer him appropriate advice.”
“Oh?”
“You mean us?”
“Do you not have long experience and knowledge? I mean your experience ruling the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
I did not know about other guests, but if it were words from these two, would the Blood Demon not listen to some extent?
The Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Demon looked at each other, then stroked their chins.
“It seems it will be difficult to make that head understand.”
“Would it not be possible to force it in?”
“Beat it into him?”
“Precisely.”
The two soon began exchanging opinions on how they would convey the message to the Blood Demon.
Yes.
This was one of the reasons I trusted the Blood Demon.
‘Both of them care for the Blood Demon.’
When the three first met, the sight of them fighting for days on end was nothing less than a scene of hell.
Now, after several years had passed, they regarded each other as friends they acknowledged.
It was probably because they shared many similar views brought by the position of being the strongest in their respective dimensions.
‘Whatever the case.’
The Blood Demon was not alone.
At least here, there were those who could understand his loneliness, and there were friends willing to put their heads together and share his troubles.
Therefore,it would be difficult...... no, it would be disgustingly hard enough to make him lose his mind,but he would accomplish it.
Because the position of Blood Demon was not something one could obtain with bloodline alone.
***
“By the way, Proprietor, I heard an amusing story from the Alliance Leader today.”
After the discussion about the Blood Demon continued to some extent, the Heavenly Demon suddenly brought up such a matter.
“What story would that be?”
“I hear you are educating a child?”
When I glanced at the Alliance Leader, he cleared his throat and subtly turned his head away.
“Several circumstances overlapped, so that is how it turned out.”
“From what I hear, the environment in which the child lives is also harsh. This sovereign found himself concerned as well.”
“Is that so?”
Those words were likely not entirely false, but they were not entirely true either.
So I became curious.
Why was this man saying such a thing?
“Therefore, this sovereign has one suggestion.”
“Let me hear it.”
“What about teaching the child martial arts?”
Martial arts?
To the little one?
Why?
“If she is not to stay in this place forever, the child must return to her original world, must she not? In order to survive in a harsh environment, martial arts will surely be of help.”
The Heavenly Demon’s words were quite reasonable.
Learning inner arts was rather difficult, and using martial arts in real combat was another matter,but it would help build basic physical strength and increase her chances of survival.
“Thus, I am making the suggestion. What do you think?”
It was a good suggestion.
Good enough that I could accept it right away.
But still.
“Lord Heavenly Demon.”
“What is it?”
“What is your real purpose?”
He was teaching her simply because he pitied her?
The Heavenly Demon was?
I had to believe in something believable.
“Ahem. It is merely this sovereign’s pure goodwill.”
“Three.”
“There is certainly no other reason......”
“Two.”
Before my raised finger became one,“Are you not curious whose martial arts she will learn first?”
the Heavenly Demon revealed his true thoughts.