I Became the Level 999 Demon King

“Heu, Heuk!” 

Itʼs not that she’s going to kill him. He’s just too noisy, so she thought she’d lock him up somewhere until he calmed down.

Thankfully, due to the threat, the coachman finally nodded vigorously.

After a moment’s hesitation, he quickly got up.

“T-Then, I-I’m going!”

“Where?” Reina asked, as if it was absurd.

“I-I want to go back to the Duchy of R-Rubelite…”

“Will that be possible?”

She pointed outside.

The inside of the mansion was warm thanks to the flames, but it was freezing cold outside, probably at the level of Siberia.

‘I just passed out because I couldn’t stand that moment of practicing my strength, and where do you say youʼre going?’

The coachman, who understood what she meant, took a step back, beads of sweat collected on his forehead.

“B-But I have to go back to get paid and see my family!”

“Weren’t you paid in advance? My destination is this place, but you still have to go back to receive it? How much were you going to get?”

It was outrageous. The Duke sent them to a land where there is no way to go back no matter where you look, and he said that he would pay him back.

It was the same as not giving him the payment. No, the fact that they were sent here in the first place must mean that they’re supposed to die together.

‘…Everyone who knew Reinaʼs identity had been replaced, so I guess heʼs going to get rid of them at the same time. Whatʼs with that scumbag?’

She shouldʼve known what kind of person he is since he locked up his 8-year-old daughter.

After his wife died, it was strange that she immediately took a second wife.

(t/n: the translations says the first wife died, but in the synopsis and in the first chapter, it says that she changed her name. Iʼm confused as well.)

As soon as she started the game, she died quickly, so she didnʼt know what kind of character she was, but she thought the Duke was a strange guy in many ways.

While the angry Reina was immersed in her thoughts, shaking her dark energy, the coachman, who realized his situation late, slid to the floor.

Devastated, he looked like he was about to cry.

She didnʼt want to see an adult crying. His situation was very pitiful.

Reina kept her image far from a Confucian girl so that he wouldnʼt be surprised and opened her mouth.

“No, no. I canʼt let you go back like this. Iʼm uncomfortable without a servant, so youʼll have to serve me until I find someone. I will compensate you, so stay here.”

She had never lived with a servant before, but the coachman stopped crying when she looked at him.

It was a face that was confused as to whether she cared or not.

But it was by no means a bad suggestion, so he nodded his head vigorously.

“Yes, yes! I-Iʼll do that! I’ll do anything!”

“Hmm, very well. By the way, your wife and children—”

Reina, who was about to ask if his family knew that he had left as per the Duke’s orders, immediately closed her mouth shut.

She knew that was a big problem. If it was ‘him’, he surely wouldnʼt leave the coachmanʼs family alone.

‘No, wait a minute. Even if his family didn’t know, he wonʼt leave them still.’

He was afraid that his secret would leak out, so he would have to cut off any shoots ahead of time.

(t/n: referring to bamboo shoots. He would cut off any shoots before it grows and leaks his secret to the world.)

But what should she do so as not to remind him of that? It would only increase his concerns.

The moment he realizes this, he could freeze to death while trying to get back through the blizzard. She didn’t want that to happen.

‘What should I say?’

Reina pondered for a moment, then asked an odd question.

“…How old are they?”

“Ah! My daughter is fifteen this year, and my wife is forty!”

It was a great age. Her daughter will soon be an adult, fulfilling her dream, and her wife will be able to spend peaceful days with her husband.

She felt uncomfortable about it so she turned around and ordered him roughly to hide her discomfort.

“What are you doing? Don’t just stand idly by. Get the luggage from the carriage.”

She thought it would be good to leave the troublesome work to the coachman and start exploring the mansion, like she wanted to do earlier.

Then, she worried about what she would do if the coachman collapsed while moving the things from the carriage.

Reina added as she turned her back.

“Those are things that we have to sell and add to our living expenses, so it would be difficult if they break. Be careful. And youʼre the only servant, so it’ll be hard if you’ll break down as well. I trust that you know what to do.”

“…Yes!”

She said that coldly, but she had the illusion that the coachmanʼs voice had become much brighter than at the beginning.

She seemed to have lost her way back to Confucianism.

***

The day after Reina left the Dukeʼs residence, the butler, who visited the Duke of Rubeliteʼs office, bowed his head deeply.

“Your Grace, everything is done according to your orders.”

The Duke laid down the book he was reading and raised his face.

He looked dignified. His trembling appearance in front of Reina is nowhere to be seen.

“The mountain beasts didnʼt come down and dig all the ground, did they?”

Ten years ago, they killed all the servants who witnessed Reinaʼs power and buried them in the back of the mansion.

However, the mountain beasts who smelled the blood came down, dug up the ground, and took out the bodies to eat.

Thanks to that, he had to deal with those who witnessed it. It was a very troublesome memory.

Moreover, it was such a terrifying event that it sometimes appears in his dreams.

“Yes. After burying them deeply, I sprinkled a bunch of herbs that the mountain beasts hate.”

When the butler answered, the Duke nodded his head.

The butler then handed the papers he was holding to the Duke.

“This is the application form of the new servants. A total of five were selected based on their home environment and education level.”

“Hmm.”

The Duke carefully examined the documents. For the Duke who rules the eastern region, every servant have to be perfect.

Fortunately, the five servants selected by the butler are all qualified.

They received basic education and came from a well-to-do family, so it seemed like they would be able to understand what he is saying.

“It’s not bad. Hire them.”

Since the Dukeʼs permission, which was very difficult to get, was granted, the butler bowed deeply once more to announce his departure.

“Thank you, Your Grace. If you need me for anything, please call me and I’ll come to you right away. Then, I—”

“Wait.”

The Duke stopped him.

The butlerʼs heart sank. He wondered if he had done something wrong.

“You didn’t forget to take care of the family of the coachman, did you?”

He meant the family of the coachman who took Reina to the Duchy of Wintersnow. 

‘I should report in advance.’

The butler swallowed his dry saliva and answered calmly.

“Yes, Your Grace. I apologize for the late report. All work related to ‘it’ has been completed.”

“Very well, you can go.”

At that, the butler left with silent footsteps.

Tak.

As the office door closed, a bead of sweat trickled down from his forehead.

He witnessed the commotion and was the only one who survived. That was the case 10 years ago, and that will be the case in the future.

Mistakes are not tolerated. No, if you make mistakes, you should never be caught.

The butler, who had finished thinking, could not hide his nervousness and hurriedly disappeared over the hallway.

There were still things he didn’t tell the Duke.

***

Reina, who went on an expedition to the mansion, was able to obtain an unexpected harvest.

The mansion, which looked very much abandoned, was loaded with winter clothes, thick blankets, and even fruits, grains, dried jerky and frozen meat.

The problem was that everything she found was frozen solid.

‘No. It’s better that it was frozen, so it’s safer to eat. Defrosting the clothes and the blankets is enough.’

For her, there was a science-based philosophy that food in the freezer could be eaten for the rest of her life.

The taste and quality will be a little off, but it was much better than nothing.

Reina thawed a piece of jerky and put it on her mouth, setting fires everywhere as she wandered around her mansion to fill it with warmth.

Then she found an unexpected room. It was a dressing room in which luxurious dresses and accessories were neatly arranged.

‘Why is there such a thing? Why would you dress up in such a cold place?’

Swallowing the jerky she had chewed, she picked up a red dress.

It wasnʼt just the usual fabric that fit snugly on her hand. There were dozens of other things.

Shoes, hair ornaments, gloves, stockings, and even parasols that are useless there.

‘Whose clothes are these? Has anyone else been kicked out here besides me?’

Seeing that the dress design is not too flashy, it seems like an older noble woman owned it. In a way, it also looked sophisticated.

‘Hmm. But where is she now? Leaving all her things behind…’

As she tilted her head and unconsciously brought the dress to her body, she was astonished to see her reflection in the mirror.

‘What… what is this?!’