“Why don’t I have horns?”
Yong-Ho’s question was quite simple.
Why did he not have horns?
If the horn was such an important organ for demons and was essential for the accumulation of mana, how come Yong-Ho, a demon king, didn’t have any? Was it because he was half-human?
Catalina blinked in surprise, with a face full of astonishment, at Yong-Ho’s sudden question. Eligor also looked towards him with a surprised look on his face.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Uh… well… you do have a horn?”
Yong-Ho blinked at Catalina’s reserved answer.
Catalina carefully raised her hands and pointed to the small horns that protruded slightly above her ears.
“Look, they’re in the same position as mine.”
Yong-Ho was quite shocked. But, he understood it to some extent.
If he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a mirror since he’d moved to the demon world.
He had indeed felt something strange when he washed his hair, but he would have never guessed that they were horns.
‘This damn dungeon doesn’t even have a mirror.’
Yong-Ho mimicked Catalina and placed both of his hands above his ears. “These are horns?”
Catalina nodded instead of answering. Disappointment filled Yong-Ho’s face and voice.
‘How come a demon king only has two horns?’
Furthermore, they were both quite small. They were more like small rocks than horns. And even that was a compliment. Rather, it felt more like his bones were just slightly jutting out. No wonder he didn’t realize.
“You haven’t been a demon king for long. The power of the dungeon will become your power. As the dungeon grows again, so shall your power. Though, the opposite is also true.”
Eligor hurriedly explained. Catalina nodded her head once and turned into the initial calm and collected figure she was when they had first met.
“It’s true that the stronger one’s mana becomes, the more horns one will have. However, the number and size of the horns are not an absolute indicator of power.”
Yong-Ho now knew her true nature hiding behind that composed and cool mask, but since she was explaining with a serious expression, he decided to take her seriously.
‘Well, I’ve got a lot of things I need to work on.’
As Eligor had said, he had to become stronger. It was too early for him to feel disappointed.
After collecting his thoughts, Yong-Ho looked back towards Catalina. As she continued to talk, he was becoming more curious.
“You said that demons usually shrink or hide their horns?”
“Yeah.”
Yong-Ho continued to stare at Catalina, who fortunately quickly understood what he was asking. She spoke again after lightly coughing.
“Ahem. Then I shall now release my mana.”
There was no reason to stop her, so Yong-Ho simply nodded and folded his arms. After taking a step back, Catalina took a deep breath and released her mana.
A change in mana. Opening up.
Yong-Ho could feel the shift in mana in Catalina before him. This was what it felt like when a spirit of the dungeon released its power. It was as if he could physically see it. Catalina’s mana. Her soul.
He could feel her mana, her spirit’s color, and her attributes.
“Haaa, ha…”
Catalina stood up straight after catching her breath. Above her long ears, two yellow horns sprouted out, each roughly the size of the span of an adult hand.
Just as he had expected, they weren’t that big. It had more of a resemblance to an elephant’s ivory tusks rather than deer antlers.
Perhaps, it was because she had just released her mana, but Catalina seemed to have a different aura around her than usual. She now felt more like a sharp blade.
After examining her horns, Yong-Ho stood up from his throne and bluntly asked her.
“Hey, could I touch them?”
“Y-yes, master.”
Catalina accepted while blushing, causing the atmosphere of the room to take a strange turn.
She tilted her head forwards slightly, while nervously clenching her fists. She lightly bit her lips, and the way her eyes darted around the room indicated her anxiety.
After feeling the change in mood, Yong-Ho swallowed his dry saliva. He slowly extended his hand, and gently touched one of Catalina’s horns.
As soon as he touched her horn, Catalina flinched, causing her shoulders to tremble slightly.
Her horns felt cold and sturdy, accompanied with a soft texture. It was clearly true that the horns were regarded as a mana organ, as every time he moved his finger he vividly felt Catalina’s mana reacting. Perhaps that was why Catalina seemed to be continually flinching.
‘I should probably stop.’
Yong-Ho felt like he could get addicted to this feeling. The stimulus was too much for a man, such as him, who had attended an all-male high school.
Yong-Ho quickly pulled back his hand and stepped back from Catalina. Catalina breathed a small sigh of relief. He felt like a tyrannical boss, who would subjugate his employees to his various whims.
It was then.
“You’re welcome to touch my horn as well.”
Eligor spoke while sticking his head out with eagerness. Unlike Catalina’s, Eligor’s horns were light gray and located on his forehead, resembling more of a rhino’s horn.
Thinking back to Catalina’s response when he was touching her horns, Yong-Ho swiftly stepped past him without a second thought. He instead looked down at the two hobgoblins, who had been ignored for a while and spoke to them.
“Anyway, you two now have horns.”
“Master?”
“Shall I give you both a name?”
Yong-Ho had once again ignored Eligor’s question and inquired further. The Spirit of the Dungeon replied.
[Would you like to register names for the new dungeon spirits?]
Yong-Ho responded by nodding and then pondered for a while.
If what Eligor had said was true, then eventually this dungeon would be filled with dozens of spirits. However, these were the first two, so he wanted to give them special names.
‘Ah, I don’t know. I’ll just give them any name.’
A name had to be both easy to remember and unique. Furthermore, the hobgoblins weren’t exactly intelligent, so they needed names that were easy to memorize.
“Right, you’re Jon, and you’re Ron.”
At Yong-Ho’s declaration, the hobgoblins blinked and then broke out with ecstatic smiles.
“Jon, Jon.”
“Ron, Ron.”
The strength type was Jon, while the stamina type was named Ron.
The two continued to repeat their names several times and then bowed down to Yong-Ho.
“Master. Thank you. Thank you. Happy, Happy.”
[Spirits are content. The employee’s satisfaction level has increased.]
A smile was also drawn on Yong-Ho’s face. This time, Catalina asked.
“Excuse me, Master.”
“Huh?”
“Can the power of evolution be used on anyone?”
Of course, it was probable to Yong-Ho that this question was going to be asked, so he had already prepared an answer.
However, Eligor was different, he stared ferociously at Catalina, causing her to flinch with widened eyes. After recognizing the sort of question she had just asked, Catalina quickly knelt down in front of Yong-Ho. She bowed her head towards him.
“I apologize Master for such an invasive question. Please forgive me.”
Her long ears started to tremble slightly. Yong-Ho felt embarrassed at her remorseful behavior, but soon understood the nature of the situation.
The power of the demon king was the most powerful weapon in their arsenal. And Catalina had just asked one of her master’s greatest secrets.
‘It seems like the previous owner was a bit of a despot.’
After deeply sighing, Yong-Ho knelt down and helped Catalina stand up. She still couldn’t meet his gaze, so he softly spoke to her.
“You know, you two are part of my family. Unlike the other spirits, both of you are special. So, it’s okay to ask questions like that.”
‘The satisfaction level didn’t increase?’
He had expected to be notified of an increase in the level of satisfaction, just like before, but the Spirit of the Dungeon didn’t seem to say anything. However, Yong-Ho was still satisfied, as both Eligor and Catalina looked touched.
He continued to talk, with a smile on his face.
“Of course, the power of evolution can be used on you two as well. Both of you can become stronger.”
“Oh, so that’s why you asked that question before.”
Eligor spoke quietly as he seemed to realize something. He seemed to remember Yong-Ho asking a question about whether the strength or stamina type was better.
“Catalina, would you like to evolve?”
Yong-Ho’s sudden question caused Catalina’s face to turn a bright beetroot red, though only for a short time. Quickly turning around to take a look at the hobgoblins, Catalina hesitated and then timidly replied.
“Uh, I’m not sure I want to look like that… ”
As a woman, she still wanted to maintain her appearance. Yong-Ho jokingly moved his hands, and even though she had tightly shut her eyes, she didn’t back down. Yong-Ho laughed cheerfully, and then lightly flicked her forehead.
“I can’t do it right now anyway. I’ll let you know when you meet the correct conditions. And… evolution doesn’t just mean that you’ll gain big muscles.”
As soon as she felt Yong-Ho flick her head, she opened her eyes and nodded. Her two long ears were, of course, drooping.
‘I’ll become addicted if I’m not careful.’
Was teasing her always this fun?
Yong-Ho turned his attention from Catalina to Eligor. As if he was waiting for that moment, Eligor spoke. He looked like he was prepared to say something.
“Master, there’s something I must tell you.”
After seeing Eligor’s face, Yong-Ho adopted a serious expression and slightly nodded his head, indicating Eligor to speak.
“There are still some emergency funds available. They aren’t the assets of the Mammon family… but rather the assets that I’ve collected in case of emergencies.”
As soon as he finished talking, Eligor took a small pouch out from a pocket next to his chest. Catalina gasped in surprise, with widely opened eyes.
“It’s only a little bit of money. But, you’ll be able to purchase another one-star spirit with it. If it’s the lowest ranking spirits like goblins, you might be able to purchase three… no maybe even four of them.”
Eligor held out the pouch. Yong-Ho wasn’t sure how to receive it, so Eligor firmly placed it into Yong-Ho’s hands and bowed his head.
“Forgive me for showing you disrespect. This foolish old spirit was hiding this money in preparation for the worst outcome. However, I was convinced just now of the true power of master. Master is the only one who can restore the House of Mammon again to its former glory.”
As per usual, Eligor had tears filling his eyes. Catalina’s eyes were also turning a slight shade of red.
“Please. Master. Please spend this money. The dungeon needs more spirits.”
He now understood why Eligor had given him this money.
Yong-Ho lightly bit his lips. To be honest, he found these kinds of melodramatic situations to be quite awkward. But he understood how Eligor felt.
What thoughts did Catalina and Eligor have when they first met?
Were they dreaming of restoring the House of Mammon?
That’s probably unlikely. What they probably wanted was to just give their dying dungeon some last support.
Only
However, Eligor now truly dreamed of restoring the might of the House of Mammon.
Honestly, he did feel a bit pressured by Eligor.
Moreover, Eligor had hidden the money to plan for the worst outcome and even though it was his own money, the very act of hiding something would have usually been considered quite disrespectful. However, that didn’t mean that Yong-Ho was annoyed at Eligor.
Yong-Ho eventually put on a smile towards him.
“Thank you, I shall accept this money, Eligor.”
Yong-Ho sat on the throne, with the plan of once again visiting the Demon Market.
***
“Well, this is an unexpected visit.”
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