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Early in the morning, having woken from a rather short sleep, Vandalieu placed the two sealed fragments he had stolen from the Great Church of Ricklent the previous night in front of him.
Even with the god being worshipped at the Church giving his permission and even sending a Divine Message for the people at the Church to allow it to happen, stealing was stealing.
“Well then, I’m going to release them, so everyone please stand back,” Vandalieu said.
Ordinarily, seals secured with protections made with Orichalcum, which was harder than Adamantite and withstood both physical and magical attacks better than Mythril, could be maintained as long as they were not struck over and over with weapons that were also made of Orichalcum.
Even hosts infested by fragments of the Demon King and fragments that had taken over their hosts’ bodies could not easily break such seals.
But as Vandalieu used the ‘Golem Creation’ Skill to change the shapes of the Orichalcum protections, their sealing effects were lost. It was unlikely that the creators of the protections or their user, Randolf ‘the True,’ had expected that the protections themselves could be manipulated to change shape.
The moment the seal’s effects were lost, the Orichalcum tubes expanded and split apart, and their contents came crawling out.
“I shall find a new host – THE MAIN BODY!”
“Let me join! Let me join the main body!”
The fragments sought a new host to infest, but upon sensing Vandalieu’s presence, they immediately flew towards him.
《You have merged with the Demon King’s oviduct and the Demon King’s silk gland!》
《The Level of the ‘Demon King’ Skill has increased!》
“I’ve absorbed the fragments without a problem,” said Vandalieu. “But…”
I’ve taken another step closer to being the Demon King, he thought to himself, staring blankly into space as he heard the announcer in his head inform him of the Level increase of the ‘Demon King’ Skill.
Not paying any heed to the feelings of the main body, the fragments were celebrating.
“We have succeeded in joining the main body! We have succeeded in joining the main body!”
“We are not fragments! We are the Demon King!”
The silk gland, which had been contained in a seal created by the Minotaur King in a ritual using Natania as a sacrifice, was also very interesting. However…
“Leaving that aside… Oviduct,” said Vandalieu, activating the Demon King’s oviduct and transforming a part of his body.
He found that he was able to produce oviducts from his arms and legs, and he was able to transform his fingers, tongue or an activated Demon King’s tentacle into oviducts as well.
After testing various things out, he looked over at Juliana and Natania, who were standing next to one another. “How is it, Juliana, Natania? Do you feel any symptoms such as nausea, headaches or dizziness?”
The Demon King’s oviduct was the fragment that had been used by the Minotaur King that had taken the two of them captive. In front of their very eyes, the Minotaur King had used the oviduct to turn the female knights into tools for reproduction, and Juliana herself had been the last to have a large number of eggs implanted inside her.
The ordeal had caused Juliana such intense suffering that her mind had collapsed.
The oviduct had not been used on Natania so that she could be used as a sacrifice, and her sanity had remained intact, but it would not be surprising if it had become a source of trauma for her.
If the two of them had negative responses to the oviduct, he would refrain from using it unless he was in a desperate situation with no other choice.
However, the two of them simply stared at Vandalieu in confusion, showing no signs that they were enduring any psychological pain, and whispered something to each other.
“Umm, if you have something to say, you can just come out and say it, you know? And are you really alright? You’re not experiencing anything like your tongues shaking so badly that you can’t speak?” said Vandalieu, continuing his questioning.
Juliana reluctantly opened her mouth to speak. “Well then… Seeing it does not cause me any discomfort, nor are my legs or lips shaking. However, there is something that we are very curious about.”
“Master, can you lay eggs with that ‘oviduct’ thing?” Natania asked.
“Hmm… let’s test it out,” said Vandalieu.
Vandalieu produced a tentacle from his arm and transformed it into an oviduct, so that it was easy for Juliana and Natania to see, and tried testing whether he could produce an egg. Of course, Vandalieu had never done such a thing before, and the Dhampir race did not have such bodily functions, so he had no idea how.
However, the Demon King’s fragments were body parts with functions that no person had. Vandalieu had absorbed these fragments and fused with them, so he was able to control them at will.
“Eggs… something like this?” he said.
The tip of the tentacle laid three eggs on the dirt floor – one amphibian-looking one with red-black contents surrounded only by a thin membrane, one reptilian-looking one with a soft shell, and one bird-like one with a hard shell. All of them were about the size of a person’s fist.
Everyone, including Juliana and Natania, began making a commotion.
“The Mana consumed generally doesn’t change, but it seems that it does when I alter the elasticity and hardness of the shells and the eggs’ contents,” said Vandalieu, unable to stop himself from making observations on his new ability despite wondering why this had caused unrest in everyone else in addition to Juliana and Natania.
However, when he looked up again, he did so while telling himself that whether he would use it or not in the future would depend on them.
But when he looked up, he was greeted by Juliana’s dumbfounded face.
“He really laid eggs… Has Vandalieu-sama become a girl?!” she shouted.
The shock of these words was so great that Vandalieu froze, and even his brain’s thinking stopped.
“I guess so. I mean, roosters don’t lay eggs, hens do,” said Natania, making a comparison to chickens.
“… Master, I need to go and heat up yesterday’s soup,” said Simon, excusing himself to go and make breakfast in order to avoid the reality before him.
“C-congratulations, Bocchan? Is that the right thing to say in this situation?” said Sam uncertainly.
“Umm, Kana-chan told me that at times like these, I’m supposed to make red bean rice… Will that be alright?” said Darcia, visibly shaken.
TLN: It’s a Japanese custom to make red bean rice to celebrate a daughter reaching the age of her first menstruation.
“No, I mean, he hasn’t actually become a girl, has he? He’s just able to lay eggs. Right?” said Kachia, still looking worried.
Meanwhile, Myuze and Privel, being of oviparous races, were not very shaken.
“I am sure Luciliano would be delighted to receive these as souvenirs,” said Myuze.
“Van-kun… These eggs, will something hatch from them if we keep them warm? Little Van-kuns?” asked Privel.
The two of them seemed to just think of this as Vandalieu developing in an unusual way.
… But Gizania was shaken to the point that she was wobbling on her feet. “Van lays eggs… Then what am I supposed to do?”
Fang and the rats barked and squeaked, staring at the eggs Vandalieu had laid with gleaming eyes, saliva dripping from their jaws. Even Mähne and Hof, who had originally been herbivores, were gnashing their teeth with hungry expressions as if they were looking at a bundle of carrots.
“Your Majesty, please regain your sanity – I mean, come back to reality,” said Princess Levia.
“I feel like this is a rare occurrence, but it’s probably best to come back to your senses now,” said Orbia.
Vandalieu came back to his senses and hastily shook himself out of his daze. “No, my gender has not changed. I’ve just become able to create eggs with the oviduct. I don’t know how it was for the Minotaur King, but I don’t think I can produce offspring with this, though I believe I can create other things. So, Mom, please don’t cook red bean rice.”
The Minotaur King had used the Demon King’s oviduct to spawn large numbers of Minotaurs within a short period of time to increase the power of the horde it commanded. However, it was likely that this had only been possible because the Demon King’s oviduct had been affected by the fact that Minotaur race was a unisexual race with only males, which could only reproduce by raping the females of other demi-human races or human women.
“Then there really will be little Van-kuns hatching from these eggs?!” Privel exclaimed.
“Privel, I’m sorry to betray your expectations, but nothing will hatch from these eggs. All of them are filled with my blood. Look, they’re a red-black color, aren’t they?” said Vandalieu, pointing at the amphibian-looking egg.
“Ah, you’re right,” said Privel.
“So that’s why Fang and the others look like they want to eat them,” said Kachia. But if that’s the case, what will this fragment be useful for? It looks like you could stick it into enemies, but the Demon King’s proboscis would be better for that.”
“Kachia, I could create clones of myself if I wanted to… though they won’t be little versions of me like Privel expected. Juliana seems fine with it, so I’ll test that out next,” said Vandalieu.
He produced one more egg with the oviduct, and unlike the previous three eggs, this one trembled, and after a few seconds, the shell split and the contents emerged.
“MIGYAAAH!” cried the eight-eyed octopus-like creature that crawled out.
It began growing rapidly – in less than a minute, it went from being the size of something that one would cup in both hands to a size that a grown adult would have to look up to gaze at.
The eight-eyed octopus looked around at the astonished Kachia and the others and waved one of its legs.
“Something like this,” it said in Vandalieu’s voice, although it sounded rather muffled.
“Is this octopus a Demon King Familiar?” Kachia asked.
“Yes, it’s a Demon King Familiar. It’s no different from the Demon King Familiars placed inconspicuously around Talosheim and other places,” the octopus replied.
Demon King Familiars were pseudo-organisms that Vandalieu created by combining several of his Demon King fragments that served as clones of himself. In other words, they were familiars.
Naturally, he was able to create these even without the Demon King’s oviduct, but…
“I suppose you are able to create Demon Kings faster than usual by using the eggs created by the oviduct,” said Sam.
“Van-dono would normally need to directly produce fragments, put the separate parts together and make changes to his blood to create them, after all,” said Myuze. “It seemed that it took longer the more complicated the Demon King Familiars were, too.”
Thus, having Demon King Familiars hatch and grow rapidly from an egg would save a lot of time and effort.
“By the way, Vandalieu, what was that ‘migyaah?’” asked Darcia.
“Mom, ‘migyaah’ doesn’t mean anything. I just tried howling to make a bit of a show out of it,” Vandalieu told her.
“It’s a shame that there’s no little Van-kuns coming out, but this is interesting. Is it as strong as ordinary Demon King Familiars?” asked Privel as she touched and pulled on the eight-eyed octopus’s tentacles with a keenly interested expression.
She looked like she’d suggest testing its strength out at any moment.
“I think so. But I think testing it out would be noticed by the people watching the building from outside, so let’s leave it for another time,” the new Demon King Familiar said.
Since yesterday evening, there had been multiple people who seemed to be spies watching over the building and its surroundings.
Most of them likely belonged to the intelligence network employed by the Alcrem house, though some of them had perhaps been sent from other duchies or the Amid Empire.
“Those guys have been watching this building ever since King came here. They’re still there right now,” said Braga.
“There are no signs of them trying to enter the building or use magic or Magic Items to peek inside,” reported Kimberley. “I’m sure they’re doing their best to keep their distance and not be noticed because they’re scared of Darcia-san after hearing what she did in Morksi.”
“Was I that scary…?” Darcia whispered, feeling down from hearing this.
But from the spies’ point of view, anyone with the strength of a B-class adventurer or greater would be scary, even if they were a beautiful Dark Elf woman with a child.
“Talking like this may not be noticed, but it is possible that they would hear the sounds of a practice battle. It also seems that the guards are patrolling around this building particularly frequently. Shall I dispose of them?” asked Gufadgarn.
“Gufadgarn, that’s a no,” said Vandalieu.
“In any case, this Demon King Familiar will return to me. And you can eat those eggs,” said the eight-eyed octopus as it sank into Vandalieu’s shadow.
Fang and the others devoured the blood-filled eggs, not leaving a single drop behind.
“Myuze-dono, with those eggs and that Demon King Familiar –” said Gizania.
“Oh, that’s right! Van-dono, there is something that I wish to discuss with you!” said Myuze.
“If it’s eggs of Demon King Familiars that look like enormous toads, I can make them. I can’t make them very small, though,” said Vandalieu.
“That is plenty!” said Myuze, throwing her hands into the air with delight.
Vandalieu also considered the possibility of the oviduct as a projectile weapon by focusing not on the contents on the eggs, but hardening their shells and firing them like projectiles.
As for the other fragment, the silk gland, he tested it by producing several threads, then stopped his testing.
Vandalieu knew that silk glands were organs that were possessed by things like moth larvae, allowing the production of threads. It was difficult to imagine that the Demon King Guduranis had produced threads to make cocoons… but it was also difficult to imagine him using the oviduct… so these fragments were likely the result of Guduranis’s body pieces mutating after being torn apart from one another.
The threads produced by the fragment were considerably more powerful than the threads that Vandalieu had been able to create up to this point, and he was able to alter their thickness and other properties. He could freely create threads ranging from the thin threads resembling that of silkworms to more viscous ones like the ones spiders used to build their nests.
“This has always been true, but Van puts us Arachne to shame,” said Gizania.
The usefulness of the threads was easier to understand than the oviduct, so there wasn’t any need to spend a lot of time testing the silk gland, so Vandalieu decided to end it there and begin breakfast.
The menu, prepared by Simon, was heated-up soup from last night and scrambled egg sandwiches made from the eggs of Giga birds, which were monster versions of chickens.
“So, are we avoiding the headquarters of the Tamers’ Guild now?” Simon asked.
“Yes. I don’t get along with the Guild Master here, so I’ve decided to keep my distance and not get too friendly,” said Vandalieu.
“The stable was more comfortable than a lot of inns, but… after hearing all of that…” said Kachia, trailing off with an angry look in her eyes.
Privel and the others nodded in agreement.
The Guild Master of the Guild headquarters, the ‘Hornless Demon General’ Pedro, had requested that Vandalieu lend him familiars for his familiars and the familiars of other Guild members to reproduce with.
When taming monsters to use them as familiars, one commonly-known method of reducing the difficulty of taming them was for the tamer to raise the monsters themselves from childhood.
With the exception of races like Demons and insects, this was generally effective across all monsters, and even Dragon Knights cultivated strong bonds with their Wyverns while they were still in their eggs.
Pedro was trying to actively promote this method when instructing the younger generation of tamers, but there was one problem shared by the monsters he specialized in – Ogres, Trolls and Minotaurs… The fact that they were unisexual, male-only races with no females.
Using the females of other monsters like Ogres did in the wild would be difficult, as the females had to be cared for until the young were born. It wasn’t impossible to use females of beast-type monsters, but the stress on the mothers’ bodies was great, and half of the young would be miscarried. And in some cases, the familiars and the mothers would try to kill each other rather than mate.
Thus, up until now, Pedro had periodically captured the females of monsters of around Rank 3 or so alive and had his Ogres impregnate them, overcoming these disadvantages with sheer numbers… and he had apparently even used female slaves.
The slaves used had not been illegal slaves that had been kidnapped and sold to him by bandits or those who fell into slavery through debt and would be freed upon repaying their debts; Pedro had used criminal slaves who would never be freed until they died, so there were no legal problems with this.
Criminal slaves were considered to be disposable – they were used for harsh mining labor until they died, used as live bait to draw out monsters that needed to be exterminated, and as meat shields during war.
Even if they were used for the reproduction of Ogres and Minotaurs, they were considered to be more fortunate than the ones working in mines, as they would be fed three meals a day until they gave birth.
However, there were relatively fewer female criminal slaves than male criminal slaves. This was only natural, as the majority of criminal slaves were bandits and pirates who had been captured alive.
In the past, Pedro had even borrowed Live-dead that had been created through experiments at the Mages’ Guild. However, there weren’t many people as eccentric as Luciliano even in the Mages’ Guild, so they did not create Live-dead very frequently.
And in the majority of cases, the female criminal slaves and Live-dead were unable to withstand multiple births; after a single birth, the female criminal slaves would often die, and Live-dead would return to being mere corpses.
As Pedro found himself unable to create as many young familiars as he wanted, Vandalieu had arrived with rare famliars – Ghouls and Juliana, who was apparently a mutated Minotaur – and thus, he had made the suggestion that Vandalieu lend him these familiars for reproduction.
Ghouls were known as corpse-eating demons; their bodies were more robust than those of humans and they were resistant to pain. Pedro had also thought that a mutated Minotaur would have good compatibility with his Ogres and Minotaurs.
However, Vandalieu had found Pedro’s suggestion less than satisfactory.
“I refused him very clearly, so I think he knows my position on this, and he quickly withdrew his proposal and told me to forget he ever mentioned it, so I think it should be alright,” said Vandalieu.
Unlike the inspection when he and his companions entered the capital, the suggestion had been one that he had been able to refuse, and Pedro had responded appropriately to his refusal, so he had not become overly angry.
“Vandalieu-sama, let’s castrate all of Pedro’s familiars, just in case!” said Juliana, sounding worried.
“Now, now, let’s calm down. If Pedro tries to make a move by force, there will be physical consequences for him personally,” said Vandalieu, remaining calm enough to ease her fears.
“In a few days’ time, the rumors of what Basdia and the others are doing in Morksi should reach this city. Once that happens, that Pedro geezer won’t even think of making the same suggestion twice, will he?” said Simon.
“The Ghouls and half-Minotaurs are being treated as idols, after all. Trying to use them for the reproduction of his familiars would damage his reputation beyond repair, I’m sure,” said Natania.
Indeed, Pedro would likely change his way of thinking with time. And even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t voice his thoughts aloud again.
“Why don’t we dance here in Alcrem as well? If Kachia and Darcia-san are up for it, I’ll help out. I’ve always been good at singing and dancing!” said Privel.
“Then I would like to join as well. To improve the visibility of the Empusa!” said Myuze.
“About that, unfortunately, we didn’t get a good answer from Vida’s Church,” said Darcia with a sigh.
Unlike Morksi with its Communal Church, every great god had their own dedicated Church in Alcrem with the exception of Zantark. Darcia had visited the Church of Vida and met with its leader, but… the head of the Church had considered her to be a difficult figure to associate with.
“The Church of Vida currently has good relations with Alda’s peaceful faction, so he kept telling me that we must be as amicable as possible, be amicable to begin with, be amicable for the time being… No matter what I said to him, that’s all he replied with, ‘be amicable.’ I lost count of how many times he said it,” said Darcia.
“Umm, in this case, what would that mean?” asked Myuze.
“In this case, I suspect that it would mean, ‘maintain the current status quo and do not do anything to attract attention,’” said Sam.
“Then I guess performing here is impossible… A date hasn’t been set yet for the meeting with the duke, has it? Are we just going to look for the fake Face-tearing Demon while we wait?” said Privel.
“I am thinking that I should meet with the person who gave me this letter yesterday,” said Vandalieu, holding the letter that had been given to him on his way back from the headquarters of the Tamers’ Guild by a large, mysterious man… Arthur.
Its contents were simple; it only contained a request for a chance to talk in a place with nobody else around, and was signed with the sender’s name, ‘Arthur.’
There was nothing about how Vandalieu could reply, so it was likely that Arthur intended to come and receive Vandalieu’s response directly… Vandalieu and his companions stood out, so they were not difficult to find.
“Master, that Arthur guy is really suspicious,” said Natania.
“… Isn’t that guy the fake Face-tearing Demon?” said Privel.
“The way he disappeared so quickly is suspicious,” said Kachia.
But it wasn’t that Vandalieu was under the impression that Arthur was a particularly good person, either.
“There were no spirits of murder victims around this Arthur person, and he has good muscles,” Vandalieu said. “However, it isn’t that I trust him, either. When I meet him, I’ll have Princess Levia and the others come with me, and I want everyone to be in my shadow as well. Gufadgarn will be behind me as well.”
He planned to meet Arthur seemingly alone, while actually having his entire allied fighting force present with him.
The letter only asked to ‘talk’ in a ‘place with nobody else around.’ It didn’t ask for Vandalieu to come alone, so he wasn’t exactly deceiving Arthur.
“I see. Then I guess there will be no problem,” said Darcia.
Following this discussion, Vandalieu left the rented building, deciding to visit the Adventurers’ Guild and Commerce Guild today. When he opened the door, an unfamiliar middle-aged woman dressed entirely in white was standing in front of it.
“… Is there something you need?” Vandalieu asked her.
“Yes, I was just paying you people a visit,” said the woman. “Are you Vandalieu Zakkart? The Dhampir who goes by the name of the fallen champion Zakkart?”
“Yes, I am that Vandalieu.”
“I see… You have gotten quite full of yourself, haven’t you, despite still being an inexperienced little boy? Saying that we here in Alcrem are old compared to Morksi, and that you up-and-comers are superior to us.”
“No, I have no recollection of ever saying anything like that.”
“Huh, really?”
The woman, who had a good physique, stared blankly at Vandalieu with her eyes open in surprise.
“Yes, really,” said Vandalieu, as he really had no memory of saying those things.
The woman cast her gaze towards Darcia and the others behind Vandalieu as if seeking confirmation, but they all shook their heads to inform her that Vandalieu had indeed said no such thing.
“Umm, is that right? You’re different from what I’ve heard, but I guess they were just rumors, after all. I’m sorry for believing in them without thinking and causing a misunderstanding. But we’ve gone and told everyone around that we’re gonna break the spirits of the newcomers, so we’re gonna look really pathetic. I’m begging you; would you please duel us? I won’t ask you to put up a sign to announce it or anything,” the woman said, her attitude changing completely as she put her hands together in an earnest request for a duel.
“I don’t mind a duel, but when will it be?” asked Vandalieu.
“I was hoping we could do it today, but you probably have plans… Any day will do if it’s around noon or dinnertime.”
“Well then, I don’t have time at noon today, so how about around dinnertime today?”
“Really?! I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding so quickly. What about the tools and ingredients?”
“I’ve brought them with me, so I’ll be fine.”
“I should have expected that! I’m one of the Alcrem Food Cart Pentagram, the ‘Plentiful Sandwich’ Sandy! There’ll be a meeting beforehand, so come to the central plaza a little before dinnertime! We’ll get your space ready!”
With that, the middle-aged woman named Sandy skipped off down the street, telling passers-by that she would be having a showdown with the boy who was known as the ‘Food Cart King’ in Morksi.
“… Van, what is this ‘Food Cart Pentagram?’” asked Gizania.
“Apparently, it’s the five owners of Alcrem’s most popular food carts. Bachem told me that they do business in the central plaza, and their stores just happen to make a pentagram if you join lines between them, so the name stuck when they started calling themselves that,” said Vandalieu.
“… Now that you mention it, I do think he mentioned something like that,” said Darcia.
“Well then, change of plans. I’ll go to the Commerce Guild today, then have the duel with the Alcrem Food Cart Pentagram,” Vandalieu said.
“What will we do about the fake Face-tearing Demon?” asked Simon.
“While we’re setting up my food cart, I’ll try asking the spirits if there are any victims or witnesses in the capital,” said Vandalieu.
“What about replying to that Arthur guy?” asked Kachia.
“When I’ve got a food cart in the central plaza, I’m sure he’ll take notice and come to hear my response,” said Vandalieu.
“Well then, Vandalieu, while you’re at the Commerce Guild, me and the others will help you set up your store,” said Darcia.
“Thanks, Mom. Well then, let’s go,” said Vandalieu.
“I’m the one who was told to not do anything to draw attention, not you, and I haven’t been told not to work, so it’s fine for me to work as a food cart vendor!”
With a spring in her step, Darcia went back into the rented building to prepare the food cart that had been brought here in Sam’s carriage, and Vandalieu headed to the Commerce Guild.
Gizania and the others, coming back to their senses, split into two groups with one following Vandalieu and the other following Darcia.
Meanwhile, this whole exchange had been observed.
“As Ralmeya-sama planned, the Alcrem Food Cart Pentagram have made their move, and he seems to have accepted the challenge.”
“Alright, we’re splitting into three groups. You there, go and report to Ralmeya-sama, then meet with the central plaza team afterwards. Secure a location where you can observe his food cart. The other two teams will observe the boy and his mother.”
“Alright. Don’t mess up!”
The Ghost Chipuras, invisible and watching this conversation take place, had an odd expression on his face. “Ralmeya… If I recall, that is one of the Five Knights of Alcrem, but why is he doing something like this? I suppose it is impossible for a Vampire like me to understand the thoughts of humans,” he lamented to himself as he left to report to Vandalieu.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Korath
This is so absurd. e is proposing to basically have Van’s “tamed pets” to not only be occupied for several months due pregnacy but to also have them to die aboutan estimated 25% chance?
I actuall wanted to write more, but Im not really able to reason this “business concept” without going through the roof. No wonder Van doesnt wanted to go there anymore.
Zenden1st
pedro the weirdo
JKingSniper
Eliminate Pedro for even suggesting that
Vand Alien! Dunno why much comment was in last chapter
A_wandering_otter
If they’re normal familiar it wouldn’t be that weird it’s just like dog breeding Pedro probably doesn’t know any better
Naberisu
That would be true if he hadn’t used criminal slaves for breeding.
Rizeres
Lay eggs in Pedro. See how he likes giving birth.
asdsdsffdhffggkl
the demon king fragments are supposed to be horrible and hideous, but they seem so cute with the whole “I WILL FIND A HOST AND…the main body? THE MAIN BODY IS HERE YAAAAAAYYYYY!
Chiu ChunLing
Well, like the DK Lungs said when asked, they don’t have any memory or personality, they’re just body parts (except for the Shadow, which ate a bunch of Soul Devour attacks). Now that Van’s the Demon King, they’re his body parts.
Also, Oviduct and Silk Glands…, you know?
Hakuro1010a
I believe that the Demon King’s oviducts managed to surpass Van’s usual squickiness level.
His familiar in Origin was pretty horrifying, given that Ban is an unholy fusion of Demon King parts hastily arranged together, but there’s something about the egg-creation process shown in this chapter that feels like watching an inhuman spawn from the depths of hell being born, I love it.
ravelphenex
is this monthly now?
gomezseba37
this chapter is a friendly reminder that this world and the gods who run it suck ass. I mean its been a hundred thousand years and they didnt get through the middle ages. life has no value people die for nothing and nobdoy has rights.
Kinda want to see how the world will be by the end of the series
ObserverBias
The primary reason they aren’t advancing is because radical conservationist BellEnd convinced his followers that new tech = bad, and that perpetuated through the years and somehow still exists as a belief.
Chiu ChunLing
To be fair, Bellview is one of the gods, and the ‘somehow’ has a lot to do with Alda and the rest of his faction continuing to promote the same agenda even after Bellview got sealed fighting the Evil God of Sin Chains (by the way, does anyone think that has some connection to Isla?).
clarkcristhofer
Nsnda
clarkcristhofer
Google is paying $27485 to $29658 consistently for taking a shot at the web from home. I joined this action 2 months back and I have earned $31547 in my first month from this action. I can say my life has improved completely! Take a gander at what I do…
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CyberDre
Everyone please ignore this dude
Chiu ChunLing
I have to reiterate my disappointment with Pedro here. Leaving aside that this is a completely horrible suggestion, it’s also singularly obtuse. We’re establishing that he knows about Juliana specifically…but doesn’t feel any caution about a mutant Minotaur named Juliana born from a victim of the Minotaurs that wiped out the Princess Knight Juliana’s Knight Order?
Besides, she’s obviously still too young. How old Minotaurs have to be to impregnate women is no guide to how old a mutant would have to be to safely bear offspring, so the only thing to go by is that she still looks like a little girl.
What part of this suggestion is even sane?
Suggesting that the Ghouls could be bred is one thing, it’s offensive but clearly has a practical aim. Suggesting that Juliana could be used that way is so clearly dumb that it seems like the only reason would be to check just how offensive Van would find it.
Which is also not terribly sane.
Jonathan Hurd
To be fair he did propose using Juliana, but he might of meant for her in particular to be a breeder after she grows a bit more.
I will say his idea is not particularly pleasant, but he also has different views and values about monsters than Van does. The fact that he respected Van’s decision when he said no and dropped the subject I feel is a good move.
It isn’t a particularly nice view of monsters, but it is also not that unusual for humans to breed pets/animals. I mean humans have been breeding dogs and cats for centuries now. If you regard monsters like Ghouls and Arachne as just slightly more intelligent animals then I can understand why you would suggest something like this.
CyberDre
Animals are one thing, they have emotions just like us and can feel pain just like us but monsters that have human like intelligence and can communicate with you in your dialect is another , there’s no pretending there, there’s no “oh , it’s a creature of
pure instinct , so I have to control ” there , there’s no language barrier there , it’s almost the same as enslaving and breeding an actual human, just cuz humans do it with animals doesn’t make it okay for Ghouls, Arachne and other races that clearly have human intelligence.
I mean I felt iffy about it ever since I learnt Humans use them as sex slaves and for some reason still consider them “monsters” at that point it’s voluntary ignorance, they don’t want to give them human rights cuz it’s convenient that way, just like Pedro suggested breeding with them cuz it’s convenient for him, Thank Vida he backed down and didn’t press it too much, else I’m certain Van might have killed him, maybe he has the same thought process as that Carlos guy from Morksi
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, I was leaving aside that it’s horrible, but reasonably speaking if he’d just looked at Juliana (which should have been a minimum precaution given that she’s a completely new type of monster he’s never seen before), he’d have seen a nine-year old girl.
CyberDre
WTF is Carlos? Lols I meant Rodriguez
Chiu ChunLing
I was leaving aside that it’s a completely horrible suggestion.
The fact that he dropped it is only a demonstration that he should have had enough sense to not bring it up in the first place. If he were just incapable of comprehending that other people could have other views than his own, that would be worse but understandable. But if he’s smart enough to realize that it’s unwelcome without needing a beatdown, he should have been smart enough to ask a bit about Van’s relationship with his familiars before bringing it up at all.
I had a dream the other night about my dead mother being alive and having trouble with her living arrangements. I spent a certain amount of time thinking about how to broach that I’d be happy to let her come live with me…given that I had been under the impression that she’d died. Of course I woke up and remembered that she was dead after all, which was a bit sad. But even in the dream, I didn’t just yell “Why are you alive?” or anything like that. I carefully thought about how to bring it up without sounding like a lunatic (cause I was kinda questioning my own sanity and wondering how I could have possibly just thought she was dead this whole time).
The point being that I checked my initial reaction because I realized it might be inappropriate (in my dreams, hah!). If Pedro could do that after getting an unfavorable answer, why couldn’t he do it before?
Adddmeeee
Kinda sus, not trustworthy, but NICE MUSCLES
EdgarJTC
When an undead bard
Graced a ride along
With Vandalou Zakkart
Along came this song
From when the Dhampir fought
A silver-tongue God
His army of humans
At his claws did they revel
They came after me
With masterful deceit
Broke down my lute
And they kicked in my teeth
While the bravers swords
Minced our tender meat
And so cried Vandalou
He can’t be bleat
Toss a coin to Vandalou
O’ Valley of Plenty
O’ Valley of Plenty, oh
Toss a coin Vandalou
O’ Valley of Plenty
At the edge of the world
Fight the mighty horde
That bashes and breaks you
And brings you to mourn
He thrust every God
Far back on the shelf
High up on the mountain
From whence it came
He wiped out your pest
Got kicked in his chest
He’s a friend of undead
So give him the rest
That’s my epic tale
Our champion prevailed
Defeated the villain
Now pour him some blood
Toss a coin to Vandalou
O’ Valley of Plenty
O’ Valley of Plenty, oh
Toss a coin Vandalou
A friend of undead
Irazori
Couple things:
Van has apparently become part sea-horse now, and was challenged to a “Food War”.
pedro WILL be a deadman if he tries to snatch any females under Van’s protection.
The only thing mr. lesser appraisal eye will see is Van’s cooking talent.
Doc
Technically a male and female seahorse is still needed in the process. The male just holds onto the fertilized eggs instead of the female. Here, Van essentially does asexual reproduction. Though I’m not even sure it can be called “reproduction”. Van isn’t passing his genes to the spawn. He’s pretty much just doing what he was doing regarding creating the demon king familiars by slapping together various DK fragments. Only difference here is he can now automate the process with some up front mana with the egg method.
Doc
Van’s gang freaking out not over Van using the oviduct to create eggs but if that would make him a girl is objectively hilarious. As well as Van also zoning out at that implication. Van’s harem having a crisis of faith on how to continue courting Van.
I legit got confused at the woman challenging Van. With the way the passage was worded it sounded like Van was visiting the adventurer’s guild first and this woman was an adventurer looking to challenge Van. Wasn’t until she discussed Van getting his tools and saying who she was that it clicked she was a food cart vendor.
Irazori
For me, I thought it was someone from Vida’s church that’s currently working with the “aldiots of fake peace”.
Chiu ChunLing
Van would have accepted another duel from an Adventurer just as happily, probably. But since he knew about the Pentagram and has Perfect Recording, he probably recognized her.
It’s too bad Van didn’t get the DK man-bits to balance out the oviduct…no, I guess that it’s probably for the best, even if that would have averted the whole “Van’s a girl now!” thing, it might have been a bit too….
Doc
Van didn’t recognize her. Otherwise he wouldn’t have needed her to introduce herself.
He knew of Alcrem’s food cart situation just through regular intelligence gathering.
My point was just the lead up to that introduction was confusingly worded. I wasn’t confused after it was all explained obviously.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, the problem is exactly that she didn’t introduce herself.
But that’s apparently supposed to illustrate her character a bit, along with her hot-headed response to some rumors. In other words, she’s a slightly troublesome person, but ultimately harmless.
While Van deals with that with aplomb, it’s indeed impossible to guess whether that’s because he realized she was one of the Pentagram he’d heard about or whether it’s his normal lack of overt reaction.
Doc
… She did introduce herself. What do you think this line was, “I should have expected that! I’m one of the Alcrem Food Cart Pentagram, the ‘Plentiful Sandwich’ Sandy!”
Van knew of the Pentagram, not necessarily who each person was that ran each food cart specifically.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, I’m guessing by the time she did, you were no longer confused about her identity.
The issue is that Van is unperturbed by her previous lack of introduction. But it’s Van, so I don’t find it confusing that he’s unperturbed.
Doc
…I think you’re not quite getting what my statement was. The part that was confusing was the initial meeting BEFORE introductions were made. The way the previous paragraph was worded it made it sound like Van was either just walking into, or out of, the Adventurer’s Guild. So Van meeting a person who wanted to challenge him outside of the Adventurer’s Guild (or inside it, again, where Van physically is at this moment is unclear) led me to believe it was an Adventurer.
Once the character actually introduced themselves, it was no longer confusing. I’m not saying Van or anybody in the story was confused. I’m talking about the actual story structure itself.
I’m basically just explaining my own experience with this chapter, it’s not really something to argue.
Chiu ChunLing
No, I get what you’re saying.
I’m just saying that the way the scene is written serves a very clear purpose in illustrating the traits of both characters. If you had sympathy for Van, you’d see the confusion as the result of her unreasonable behavior.
And you’d be impressed with Van for dealing with it.
Tejing
Yeah, I suspect you were supposed to do a bit of a double-take on that.
Adddmeeee
I thought she was a tamer at first since she said “we” and I thought she meant her familiars or something
Tejing
Van was already good with thread. With the silk gland, he’s going to be crazy good.
Well, we found out what Pedro wanted… sigh. I figured it was something like that. Hopefully Van’s right and he won’t push the issue.
Arthur is really bad at making a good impression, but I can’t really see things going badly for him here. Van’s too open-minded for any serious problems to come of it, I think.
Hmm, so the spies propagated the false rumors? I guess this is supposed to put him in a situation where he needs to use some of his skills so Ralmeya can survey them?
Dr. Steel
What false rumors?
Irazori
The ones mentioned in this chapter about Van being a braggart chef or something.
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah…I was hoping Pedro had something a little less tiresomely predictable in mind. Oh well. I guess it just goes to reemphasized that Van isn’t exactly the worst thing in the world by any sane standard.
Arthur’s too amusing for a sudden tragedy. But probably Van’s “pocket army” will manage to give Miriam a jump-scare (and inspire Borzofoy to laugh ‘disarmingly’).
Yeah, I guess Ralmeya’s Evil Eye needs to see the target in action. Though why he’d get more from watching him cook than seeing him walk around town…maybe it’s just to distract him from the fact that Ralmeya is going to be staring at him? I guess if they’re making a spectacle in the town square, it shouldn’t seem odd for everyone to be watching. Lot of good that’ll do against Abyss, though.
Tejing
Yeah, Miriam’s reactions are bound to be pretty fun. I’m looking forward to that.
FUNNTHUNDER19789
i wish i could translate but i’m a child FUCK
Kiriaru
A FOOD CART DUEL! EXCITING!
graustier
One of the things I like best about this series is the focus on food.
Imagine being able to literally make your own eggs, or grow your own calamari. Grilling your own tentacles and such is good enough on its own, but with this Demon King’s oviduct development, the sky’s the limit!
Doc
As a normal person, I would not want to eat Van’s demon king fragment cast offs.
graustier
To each their own, Doc. More for others. 😉
Dr. Steel
But… we already know what happens when someone get’s a DK fragment implant from Van… and it’s not pretty. Eating something like that? Probably not very good for you, but even if it didn’t parasitize you, all the DK fragments are so durable you’d never be able to digest it, or even chew it to be able to swallow it. You’d literally need Orichalcum teeth.
Lord Rin
People already eat Van’s DK fragments all the time. The Blood Potion is made of the DK’s Blood mixed with powdered DK horns and other DK fragments.
Chiu ChunLing
True, but those are processed. The unprocessed stuff could be somewhat dangerous to people who don’t have Van’s Guidance.
Still, eating it probably isn’t as bad as implanting it.
Jonathan Hurd
I think implanting would be alright if they are under Van’s Guidance, but I don’t think Van will ever do that to one of his followers. Usually his followers end up getting Demon King Fragments added to them in their dreams. That seems like the safe way of going about that.
Its not like Van will ever really need to give most people a prosthetic like with Natania and Simon because he has quite a few super Life magic users on his side.
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, the Vampires can drink his DK blood with no problems (well, no worse problems than their existing fanaticism).
Lord Rin
Bahaha! Everyone’s reactions to Van laying eggs…
Anyways so I was right that the Tamer’s Guild master’s request to Van was to use his familiars as breeding stock for his own familiars. Well it was unsavory but it was expected since he doesn’t know that most of Van’s familiars are actually members of Vida’s races. Anyways he at least didn’t try to push the issue.
On another note, did I read that correctly that criminal slaves can be used as consumable meat during war? It’s not like they’re orcs or some other edible monster but people. How bad does a war have to be for people to start using criminal slaves as food?
So looks like Van is going to meet Arthur and of course the first thing he mentions is Arthur’s wonderful muscles.
Huh so Van is going to have a cooking competition against some people and it was instigated by one of the five knights of Alcrem. What a weirdly harmless and innocuous scheme. Welp time to have an Iron Chef competition. Allez Cuisine!
Irazori
I think the criminal slave/consumable meat thing might be more for the tamer’s familiars. Since nineroad was the tamer god of the aldiots, it make sense if she or her followers would allow such a method.
Chiu ChunLing
I’m guessing that would be a particular concern of Tamers who use familiars that prefer human flesh. It’d be hard to control them on a battlefield if you only fed them less desirable meat than the casualties, could make them stop fighting to eat.
But I would think it actually means “consumable meat shields” rather than “consumable meat”, even if that’s the literal translation.
Chiu ChunLing
The kanji doesn’t say “meat”. It’s just “consumables”.
Tejing
About the criminal slaves’ uses, check it again. Yoshi adjusted the translation.
flannan
I guess a better translation would be not “consumable meat”, but “cannon fodder”. Except that they don’t have cannons.
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, “cannon fodder” would work. But I think “meat shields” is fine. Remember how Riley treated his slave before they all died. Even if people criticized him for it later, it wouldn’t have been a legal problem. Whereas the Flame Blades using Natanya as monster bait very much was.
And to round out the set, we have the treatment of the Titan mine slaves, which illustrates the essential problem with ‘legality’ and ‘crime’.
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. Seemed to end a little abruptly, but that could just be my imagination. So Van has the eggs and silk production. I see him now fighting a little like spider man, setting up web traps to capture enemies. I can also see him using those eggs as possible shotgun shells whereas his horns were more along lines of rifle bullets. Also could see the eggs as being small bombs depending on the fight. Kind of curious what Van will put in them that will be pellets for said weapons, maybe small pieces of bone or horn? I can also see sticky bombs, smoke bombs, poison containers, and acid bombs. He might also use them as a focus healing potion container, have them unbreakable unless you add mana and then use them or make them unbreakable by normal means since most of his allies have super strength. I am still curious about the identity of the copycat, I still am guessing he is a fanatic in the alda group or even a hero considering his knowledge of Van. I suppose he could be a follower of an evil god now that continent has lost its controlling evil god, although I strongly doubt it.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, since everyone in Van’s group is suspecting Arthur, it’s probably not him.
Could still be Miriam, that would be kinda dark but still comedic.
I think shooting an egg into someone and having them explode from a DK familiar suddenly growing inside would be awesome. Maybe a little too awesome, though, since Van is trying to avoid that look.
Entropy
It really depends on how thick Van can make the eggs’ shells. I remember in the fight with the fifteen blades, he used a scent and luminous chemical to track down the king slayer. With the amount of beasts, he could use similar items or make them so his allies could track down targets using those eggs in the form of stink eggs or luminous eggs. With the right imagination those eggs and that web can design some interesting tools and weapons. I am curious about the strength and durability of the web as well as how long it lasts. In spider man, it lasted a couple hours and in one piece, super web usually is weak to heat, but if this stuff has neither of those weaknesses, it could be used in construction as well as several other applications.
.
Chiu ChunLing
He should pack eggs full of webbing and various toxins, for a ‘reduced lethality’ grenade that the ninjas can use to capture more difficult targets. Target marking…using a medicine that drives certain animals/monsters into a frenzy is a classic ninja trick too.
Tejing
That would be dark… also I don’t think the timing works out. Miriam just arrived in Alcrem, but the fake’s been at it for a little while.
Chiu ChunLing
That’s what makes it funny. Well, and Miriam’s established character.
I know that sounds dumb, but keep in mind it’s pretty implausible for there to be a fake Face-Tearing Demon in the first place. Less so now that we know the killer is manufacturing convenient victims and seems to be working for a god, which explains some of the how if not so much the why.
But since the culprit is a fake Face-Tearing Demon, killing fake sinners using a fake method for fake motives, it makes sense that the ‘real’ identity will also be fake.
Though frankly that’s just a way of saying there’s no good suspects.
Dr. Steel
Those oviducts, he could fill them with his blood, I bet he could fill them with blubber and make them explosive projectiles! Maybe shoot fully solid eggs mixed with ones that look the same but crack easy and are filled with DK blubber, and then use that Dark King Magic spell to detonate!
Absolute Zer0
Art is explosion!
Entropy
There are so many uses, bombs, shotgun shells, and even blood potion containers. Making the egg shell more durable than a glass bottle would ensure that the blood potion does not break accidently during a fight. He might even be able to make sticky bombs now with the silk and eggs. Fill an egg with fat, coat said egg with web and attach them to enemy, and then add fire for explosive fun. I wonder if the eggs could also be used as smoke bombs or containers for poison or acid.
Irazori
So in a way, Van learned “Egg bomb”.
Chiu ChunLing
If he designs a specialized “projectile” familiar, it could do all kinds of nasty things.
Make one centered around the sub-brain and nerves loaded in a proboscis, maybe with fins for guidance, and shoot people at long range to turn them into infestation-type familiars. Or just do that growth trick and consume/explode them on impact, total horror show.
Load the familiar with oviducts so that it can consume a target and shoot more eggs at the surroundings, load it with Blood Lust and shoot it into the center of a large group of enemies, load it with mini-Cannonball-type familiars…
And of course there’s the support uses.
Entropy
There is an even better option of using them with regular allies. Imagine the ninjas actually using egg smoke bombs. I mean he does hand bones and horns to his allies. I am betting his army just got another dozen or so tools and weapons.
Chiu ChunLing
Smoke bombs might be a little…underwhelming. But yeah, he could probably do something grenade-like with them.
Warlono
Myuze would probably love the smoke bombs idea though, because it’d be more ninja like.
Chiu ChunLing
Though not as Ninja-like as giant frog bombs, apparently. But yeah…they don’t have to be just smoke, but they could still smoke.
Superboy8338
Even in a cook-off, this girl is stupid to challenge Van.
Irazori
The aldiots did also ruin the world by diminishing food culture. So it can’t be helped that Van would win with flavor.
flannan
Think of it as an opportunity to taste Van’s cooking.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Imagine it, it will looks like a deadpan baby, not very cute eh?
XD…
Ah, right, I forgot that Van have patrolling ghosts with him around…
XD…
Doc
When Van has actual children eventually I imagine they’d be little dead-pan babies.
“You have your mother’s looks and your father’s lack of expression”
Van has all sorts of intelligence gathering mechanisms. His ghost crew. Spirits. Spirits possessing dead insects. His golems. His ninja goblin crew (granted they’re not so good at the stealth)
Irazori
I thought they did improve in stealth after the aldiot seige from way back.
Jonathan Hurd
I mean the ninja crew hasn’t been caught with the entire Duchies police force looking for them. I think they’re doing pretty well for themselves as far as stealth goes.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s actually not that the ninja crew isn’t good at stealth. It’s that they’re so good at it that they use it to sneak up on their enemies in plain view rather than from behind.
It’s the equivalent of a D&D rogue abusing the Hide in Plain Sight feat (in certain editions) to deliver a bunch of Sneak Attacks right in an enemy’s face without bothering about flanking or whatever.
Or of a stealth aircraft doing the same thing to an unsuspecting target without regard for radar systems.
Van can do the same thing with his Blind Spot spell that’s based on Ghost’s ability. He can sneak in and attack an enemy from the front by erasing his presence for a crucial moment.
CyberDre
Did Van….. Just create Cthulhu?
IRONMAN000elas
Good question
Doc
More apt to call Van Cthulhu
Irazori
Vanulhu
Nobody2
Van I feel like you should just accept being a girl. Your already always mistaken as one and now you can lay eggs.
Irazori
Yoshi can lay eggs, and he’s male.
Jonathan Hurd
Yoshi could be female and we’ve just been assuming his gender this entire time, lol.
ObserverBias
I mean that’s confirmed by the creator to the extent that Birdo is confirmed to be a dude as well.
nadirku
Thank you for the chapter
Seems like we are getting some more Shokugeki no Vandalieu in the next chapter, Let’s go!
Irazori
Damnit, guess I’m not the only one that had the thought.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Food battles let’s go!
Grilled skewers vs. an unknown opponent who will win? The enemy has a home court advantage, I guess the judges are the people and the one who outsells the other will be the winner?
no1
Yay and new chapter, Vandalieu laid eggs. This is funny, I’m glad he got one of the fragments that got taken away. everyone else’s reactions were priceless. This chapter was funny, hope to see another one before the month is over, thank you yoshi
Doom
ALL PRAISE VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR CHAMPION, OUR DEATH GOD, AS HE ACCEPTS CHALLENGES AND DEALS WITH THOSE WHO PLOT IN THE SHADOWS! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
The watchers shall be watched. And no Minis right now!
Irazori
I honestly thought the message would be: “Van-sama was challenged to a Food War/Shokugeki!!”
Lord Rin
I was expecting: “The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time is a cooking manga.”
Hobbes
But what do they have to bet that could equal Van’s Elite Ten seats (all occupied by other Vandalieus)?
Black Diablo
I SHALL JOIN THE MAIN BODY.