~
"This is delicious!"
"I agree."
"Will pass me that one."
"Here you go, Quin."
Why am I looking at this couple idiot eating you might ask? Despite knowing that it is extremely bad staying here for so long, they proceed to ignore the fact decided to enjoy the food. Increase the temptation of staying inside the illusion room for a very long time.
I initially thought they might have lash at me for doing such things but…
"You were expecting us to get angry at you is it?"
"It's understandable though…"
"You look at their expression. What does it say?"
"They look satisfied, but that is because they do not know about the harsh truth about this illusion room."
"First it is not confirmed that they will die instantly after being inside the room, second even if they know about it, where do you think they can go? No one would accept them anyway."
He is partly right. There was a total number that suddenly appeared as I am curious about the total number of people in the illusion room. Minus the people I know including the maids, there is about exactly two thousand three hundred and fifty-one refugees that I have saved.
"I rather you make your way out after you had enough of these imaginary foods."
"When are you going to open this as a restaurant?"
"…. How did you know?"
"Your maid chief has told us about your decision. She wanted us to spread the word about the opening of your restaurant."
"Sigh* I didn't know that she is thinking that far…"
"She bluntly said that she won't have any food to eat if this continues. You have such a great maid. Hahaha"
"…."
I'm speechless, but it's true though. Before I gave them these imaginary foods of mine, I forced them to eat these food supplies so that if there's a chance that they decided to go out during this week, they won't end up dead as soon as they go out from the room.
After I have settled them down to their respective houses, I told them to gather inside the stadium that I created. I am a god in this room after all. It's a stadium that closes thus we won't be affected by the weather outside, we won't be affected, but I rather have a place that looks this cool rather than saying out in the open.
After looking satisfied, William and Quincy said their goodbyes and went out from the illusion room. I can only imagine how Quincy look when she realizes that the food that she has eaten disappear from her stomach.
Hopefully, William can stop her from coming back inside.
"Ahem*"
The crowd looked spooked and the surrounding went quiet. Silence prevails as not a single living being have the courage to make any kind of sound including the maids. What do you expect when I use this terrifying weapon in front of me.
A microphone, and a huge number of speakers that are placed all around the indoor stadium. They probably surprised at how clear they could hear my voice.
"I have something to tell you all. I do not intend to keep you guys in the dark as it involves your life's."
As soon as I said the word life, everyone gasps.
"Everything that you see in this room is an illusion. Maybe you feel like you are in a paradise where after your hardship, you finally found a place to settle in, you are wrong. This place is something similar to a jail or a trap. The more time you spent in here, the higher the chance that you would not be able to go out."
Each and everyone face started to go pale.
"You are given two choices, firstly you abandon this place and somehow or another find a location that would take you in, or you could even work off as a mercenary. Working under risky condition but you might gain something valuable at the same time. Second, you work under me for life, and as a reward, you can live and enjoy your life inside this place."
Sigh* Looking at the expression of each one, I felt disheartened, but this is the fact, and I can't lie to them. I can't possibly just take away their freedom. They might want to meet their love ones once more or even find a husband to take care of them. I might as well become a true demon king if I forced them to work for me.
"I will give you guys three days to think about it. You are dismissed for now."
The maids as if on cue, immediately proceed to do their work. They stood at the exit location and informed the people to leave in an orderly manner. It took more than twenty minutes before everyone is out of the indoor stadium. Mostly because they were depressed as I had happened to crush their hopes.
They thought coming here is salvation after overcoming the various hardship in life, but now they are expected to make their own choice. Honestly, there were some that look very young, and I do not intend for them to stay coup up in this room.
It might be a paradise for now, but once they are bored, they will feel that this happiness does not exist if they could not live with the one that they love. It would be like living as a slave, working non-stop till they die, without doing anything productive. Their life would be very boring.
But the good thing about it, there won't be any things that could endanger them. No monster can sneak into the illusion room. Aria is a demon, but I doubt she would kill any human being. A unique being that accepts human despite their hatred for each other. She probably felt tired of killing humans after humans without gaining anything in return.
At the same time her curiosity grew over time, and now she felt grateful and is currently trying her best to blend in with them.
I walked out from illusion room with the rest of the maids, I've already tried and known that I can go out from the illusion room without breaking the magic inside it. Thus, the decision of making them settle in comes to view.
If I hadn't done this, I would have rejected accepting all the refugees. Though the only problem is how long will the magic last, I wouldn't want to find out the hard way. All of them might die if I make a wrong choice. Thus, I decided to show my face once every day at the same time I can build some entertainment for them to enjoy.
"Master, someone is here for you."
"That's a surprise. You let William and Quincy in. Who is it?"
"The general."
"Eme… Anderson?"
"Affirmative."
"Thanks."
"Master… We do not have enough resources for dinner today. What is your decision?"
"… Make a trip to the mercenary guild, here. This should be enough for them to provide us with food for the next twenty days."
Aria nodded and suddenly whispered something to my ear.
"You could have just told me to kill a few monsters and bring them in."
"Aria, I hire you as a maid not as a mercenary, let those guys work for us. If anything happens, you might be targeted."
"Hmm… You are the first…"
"First?"
"Master, the general, is waiting."
"…"
Aria didn't want me to know, she quickly walked out from the room and guided me to where Emelia was. Upon stepping into the room, I am surprised, firstly by her appearance, she is wearing make-up and secondly the clothes that she is wearing.
It is in civilian clothing. This is my first time seeing she dress up as a civilian. She looks beautiful in the outfit. It's a pity that she still is in disguise as a man. I think I know why Aria did it. She couldn't keep up with how Anderson looked.
Her respect for me might be worse though. Now she will think that I am a gay demon king. Anderson gave such a gorgeous smile after knowing that I had arrived. She stood up and give me a three sixty turn, consciously to show me her clothing.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes… My love."
"Is Eliza angry?"
"Princess, mind you, I do not want you to be misunderstood."
"My, such a jealous person."
Anderson came up to me and gave me a big hug. Her arms are strong, strong enough to almost crush my ribcage. As I struggle, Aria gave me an indifferent look and said.
"Master is dying?"
"S-Sorry my love… Are you alright?"
"Cough*… It's alright… Thanks, Aria."
"Muuu…. Sorry I got too excited. Now I can stick with you everywhere we go!"
"That helps, though there might be some troubles in the future."
"I know… Your wedding ceremony has been decided and confirmed. Do you want me to eliminate the duke daughter? We could even travel to the demon continent so that we won't get in trouble."
What's the point of killing someone and run, we might as well just run and need not worry.
"I apologize dear, I have decided to help out the refugees…"
"You are such a kind man. This is partly the reason why I love you so much."
"… Master, I don't think I can handle such news, please fire me."
"Rejected, please follow up with my instructions to get the food from the mercenary."
"…Right away."
Emelia is trying her best not to laugh while I am having an important conversation with Aria. If Aria disappears, who is going to protect us if the demon decided to invade the orphanage? Aria finally relents and come out of the room but not before glancing at me once more.
Sigh*
"Dear, I can't wait for the moment that you can come out from the disguise…"
"I could do it immediately."
"Hahaha, please be patient my love. Someone might kill use if you do that."
"…"