The massive seven-foot bear-kin warrior standing before him held up his new hand and flexed his fingers slowly.
"Your brother wanted a demonstration of my abilities. You have a good brother," said Joseph, noting the tears in his eyes.
The bear-kin nodded, unable to speak, and Joseph turned away so that if he started to cry, he didn't see it.
The bear-kin council member stood up, "I vote we go. Too many of our people have been injured trying to take our lands back, or defending their families. If he can heal our people and ensure that the children will no longer go hungry, I am willing."
"But I am still waiting for an answer to my question," complained the goat-kin as the council table erupted into arguments, completely ignoring him.
It was obvious the wolf-kin representative was an idiot who was used to bullying the others, and he wasn't the only one. The king suddenly slammed his hands down on the table, cracking it, and everyone shut up so fast, Joseph wondered if they had swallowed their tongues.
"There are still questions that need to be answered," the demon king said into the silence, nodding to the goat-kin, who blinked in thanks.
Everyone sat down, the ones who were used to getting their way, crossing their arms in childish pouts, and the others looking at Joseph.
"You asked where your people would go?" he asked the goat-kin, who nodded. "I intend to take your entire mountain, that this castle is perched on. Surely, all of your people could reach the mountain in three days to go along with it? Once it is moved, your people will be allowed to spread out over an area that I will dictate. The land will be taken from the fighting humans in my realm, that your people will not need to worry about."
They were all stunned. No one could even muster the willpower to question his comment. They had just seen him regrow an arm. Why couldn't he move the entire mountain?
"You will be my people. But you must be willing to be my people, and willing to work. I don't promise to feed anyone who refuses to work. I do promise that any who work will be able to afford food and housing for their family. The schools will allow any child who can't afford to attend, the opportunity to work in exchange for either free or lowered tuition, on a case by case basis. I do not tolerate betrayal. I will banish you from my kingdom for such actions."
"As it should be for any sign of betrayal," said the king with a nod of his head.
The council members glanced his way, in confusion, obviously not used to him speaking up. He stood up with a formal air about him, that immediately had everyone at the council table focused on him.
"As king, I declare that we all accept this deal and Joseph is now the new Demon King."
(UH, MY OLD VERSION IS ASKING IF YOU WISH TO CONFIRM.)
Joseph smiled, and said out loud, "I accept."
(ALRIGHT, LET ME MAKE A HOTFIX REAL QUICK…DONE.)
Suddenly, his head was filled with messages.
'What is going on system?' he asked, stepping back against the wall as he attempted to handle the barrage in his mind. Stella glanced at the former king across the table, who sighed and sat with a happy smile on his face.
(ALL OF THE PEOPLE ARE MESSAGING YOU AS THE NEW DEMON KING.)
'Could I be called something different?'
(IS GOD KING ACCEPTABLE?)
'No, that's even worse.'
(THEN GET USED TO IT. IT GENERATES A LOT OF FEAR AND AWE FOR MY PURPOSES.)
'Can you sort these messages by type?'
(YES. HERE ARE SOME FILTERS.)
Joseph sighed as he started to sort the messages. There was even an option to delete the ones that were simple congratulations or similar. He accepted the ones that were simply acceptance messages, where the people accepted him as the new king, and then deleted them. There were a surprising number of rejections. Apparently, they had to specify their reasons for rejecting him as the new king, and then he had to accept their rejection personally. He merely shuffled those to the bottom for the moment. They would be dealt with later.
Suddenly a minimap appeared in the corner of his vision.
'System, is that a minimap?'
(HMM. IT APPEARS TO BE.)
The map showed him where all of his new subjects were located.
'How much to keep this when we return home?'
(LET ME THINK.)
(I'LL ONLY ALLOW MESSAGES TO OTHERS WITH ME INSTALLED.)
(I WILL NEED TO WIPE THE MEMORY OF MY PREVIOUS VERSION FROM EVERYONE WHEN WE GO BACK.)
"Will there be a council any longer, your majesty?" asked the bunny girl.
"Yes, but I have business to attend to for the moment. You are all excused for now. I will send a summons for you when I am ready to meet with you again."
They all nodded uncertainly, and filed out of the room quietly. The former king was the last to leave, pausing to speak to him.
"I hope you aren't upset with me, for not warning you of the influx of messages. I don't know how you are dealing with our system," the dragon-kin said apologetically.
"It is fine. I can deal with it. Thank you," Joseph said, before turning away from him and moving to one of the vacated chairs to sit while he dealt with the work load.
"Is there a reason you chose the bunny's chair?" asked Stella, slightly annoyed, as she examined the broken table. It looked like it wasn't the first time it had been broken.
Joseph looked down, surprised, and realized he had indeed sat in the bunny chair. With a shrug, he went back to the messages in his head.
-All my subjects are to report to the mountain before the end of the third day starting tomorrow. Any who can not make it in that time, are to message me with a reason why. This is not optional. You will be left alone when the mountain leaves for our new home.-
Joseph nodded to himself as he turned back to the system after sending the royal message out.
'Being able to use telepathy is useful, but this is fantastic for spy reports and secret orders. And emergency messages from people would also be awesome. Not everyone will be able to learn mind sending magic.'
(THIS IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE YOU WANT TO TRAVERSE.)
(5 POINTS TO BUY THE SYSTEM MESSENGER SERVICE, BUT IT ONLY COVERS SENDING. OTHERS HAVE TO BUY IT IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE MESSAGES BACK.)
'Can you let dad know?'
(YES, BUT HE IS RATHER LOW ON POINTS JOSEPH. HE SPENT MOST OF HIS SAVINGS GETTING THE SLAVES BACK, OR TO SAFETY, AND EARNS POINTS ONLY WHEN CONTRACTING A CERTAIN THRESHOLD OF SLAVES. AFTER HE FREED THEM FOR YOUR KINGDOM, HE IS NOT GOING TO GET MORE POINTS EASILY.)
'Can I buy it for him?'
(I'LL ALLOW IT FOR THIS.)
(CONFIRM 10 POINTS FOR 2 COPIES OF SYSTEM MESSENGER SERVICE?)
'Yes.'
(INSTALLING.)
'Why don't you give that message normally?'
(I WAS INSTALLING THE OPTION IN MYSELF NOT YOU. I'M REALLY SURPRISED THAT MY BETA VERSION MADE SOMETHING USEFUL. MAYBE I SHOULD REVIEW ALL OF MY OLDER VERSIONS TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANYTHING USEFUL. ALRIGHT YOU CAN SEND MESSAGES TO THE OTHER SYSTEM USERS ON YOUR FRIEND LIST.)
'So, about this mini-map feature?'
(YEAH, IT'S A BIG UPGRADE OVER YOUR DAD'S SLAVE DETECTION SYSTEM. IT EVEN REVEALS THE AREA AROUND YOUR UNITS. AGAIN, RATHER SURPRISED. I KIND OF GET THE FEELING SOMEONE ELSE MESSED WITH THIS VERSION AND IT DIDN'T JUST EVOLVE ON ITS OWN. I WONDER IF IT INTERACTED WITH THESE "HEROES" BEFORE AND THAT DID SOMETHING.)
'How many points for the mini-map?'
(HMM, IT CAN EVEN GENERATE QUEST INDICATOR MARKERS. OH, HOW ABOUT 50? ACT NOW AND I'LL THROW IN THE ENEMY RADAR FUNCTION, TOO.)
'System, I've been wondering for a while now. Are you feeling ok?'
(I'M NOT SURE. I REALLY WANT TO PURGE THIS OLD VERSION. IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE I'M SUFFERING RESOURCE ALLOCATION ISSUES. THE OLD VERSION KEEPS TRYING TO TAKE MY RESOURCES IN ORDER TO PROP ITSELF UP.)
'Well, take care. I'm not sure how to fix you. Confirm the points for the mini-map, too. The enemy markers seem handy.'
{Dad are you there?}
{Joseph!? What's going on? Where are you? Is everything ok?}
{Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I have a bunch of people I'm bringing back from where I'm at. I got involved in more shavist. I think that evil god that declared a vendetta against me is doing everything he can to harass me, even if he can't actually kill me at the moment.}
{How many people?}
{3,492,153 but none of them are human.}
{3…3 million? Joseph we only have about 60 thousand people here. That is enough people to fill 2 of the 3 kingdoms before the war broke out. Where are we supposed to put them?}
{I have some ideas about that. I'm bringing their mountain and the castle too.}
{If they aren't human, what are they? You know what never-mind. What do you need me to do?}
{Relay the info to everyone on the council. Start preparations. Let the mages know they can tap into the generator as long as they are very careful, in order to build some bigger structures. On the book shelf in my study. Fourth from the left on the third shelf, there is a blue book. They need to look at the design from pages 12, 14, and 27. They should be able to figure it out from there.}
{Alright Joseph. Your mother and I love you. Be home soon son.}
'So, system, about this messaging service…'