Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 173

 "…⁉ Hey, Seria. I'm back."

"…Boring."

Standing in the entrance hall to welcome Riesel, Ceriana seemed dissatisfied with his reaction. Well, if he was already floating, she might have been more surprised if he had been upside down right after entering from the entrance, but since he was floating boldly in front of her, anyone who knew him wouldn't be too shocked.

"Well, never mind… I'm just glad you're back safe, Sera."

"Yeah."

Seriana handed over the floating orb, and he got on. Yup, at the usual height. Sometimes when he walks on his own feet, his perspective is too low, and it's uncomfortable.

"I have a lot of luggage, so let's deal with that first."

"Shall I help?"

"Yeah… Oh, no. There's a gift for you too, so wait in your room."

"Oh? Okay."

During this exchange, luggage continued to be carried into the mansion. When he looked out the window as they descended, there were four carriages. He was sure there had only been two on the way out… What had he brought back?

◇

The Demon King Catalogue and the Adventurer Catalogue.

Although taking them out is prohibited, he now had copies of them. These were souvenirs from Riesel.

The Demon King Catalogue contained information on all the named Demon King species that had been confirmed or defeated so far. A "named" Demon King is one that has repelled subjugation teams multiple times and has been observed for over five years, after which it receives a name.

For a territory or a country, it's a disgrace not to be able to defeat a Demon King that has been at their feet for that long, so they gather all the forces they can after three or four years. As a result, it's rare for new names to be added, perhaps one every few years. Even so, there are still many living individuals listed.

There are many old records, but if you read them together with maps and history books of the continent, it seems like they could last you through an entire winter.

"Red Ogre"

A red ogre that rampaged in the western part of the continent over 500 years ago. It was said that the empire could not expand its territory because of it, but later it was discovered to have been merely moving around when it was sighted causing havoc in another place. Demon Kings don't have a lifespan, so it's likely still alive and remains one of the continent's strongest.

The empire insists it was a different individual, and its existence is treated as taboo.

I think Alex's nickname "Red Demon" is meant to provoke the empire and the west. How much does this country hate the west...?

"Dead Marsh"

There's a creature called a land jellyfish, which I've never seen but is like a slime. It probably looks like a jellyfish.

It decomposes and absorbs dead bodies in the soil, but one of them turned into a Demon King, grew larger, and eventually expanded to cover an entire swamp in the northwest of the continent. It continued to grow, swallowing any living thing that approached it, including whole villages.

It was defeated by a group of alchemists who later founded the "Tower of the Sage."

They first burned everything around it, killed all the creatures above and below ground, and then kept adding fuel until the entire swamp evaporated, using a dynamic method to finish it off. They then made the site their headquarters.

The entire land is like the remains of a Demon King, surrounded by a very powerful barrier. It's said they left it that way on purpose for this reason.

And "Ragiora"

A dragon-type Demon King that the Kingdom of Ruzele literally fought to the death to defeat. Its naming sense is different from the other two, but apparently, at that time, they sometimes named them after the discoverer, which was the name of the leader of the scouting party who first encountered it.

These three are super-major Demon Kings known across the continent, but there are many other Demon King stories packed in here.

The reason taking this out is prohibited is because it contains their locations, and they don't want common adventurers aiming for a rise in status to challenge them without any chance of winning, causing unnecessary provocation and casualties.

Apparently, they are basically only placed in the libraries of noble academies or the mansions of lords. Come to think of it, there was a room I wasn't allowed to enter in the library at the Müller family mansion. It was probably there.

But… Demon Kings, huh? If there are demon realms, there must be a lot of Demon Kings around here too…