My mother’s sudden visit the other day.
Well, from my mother’s perspective, it was probably an inevitable visit, but I couldn’t help but be surprised when she told me I was going to have a much younger sibling.
I don’t intend to say anything to my pregnant mother, but I can’t help but wish she would at least hold back on her usual surprise habit in times like these.
“She’s a good person.”
“Not good or evil, but a good mother to me.”
Considering her chaotic nature, I’ve arranged for her to have a room prepared in my mansion for her safety.
Of course, there’s Suella, Himik, Evia, and Memoria.
I explained the situation to my wives living in the mansion, and the immediate problem was resolved.
I told my mother to take it easy under the doctor’s guidance until she gives birth. I have a feeling she’ll do something, but I’ll let it slide.
Keiri, who has surprisingly opened up, giggles with a hand over her mouth. It’s not funny to me.
However, it’s not something to get angry about, so I don’t point it out.
“It’s fortunate that you and Keiri get along so well.”
“I was surprised when she said she’d welcome any number of grandchildren!”
“I was more surprised when Evia honestly called your mother ‘mother-in-law’ during our meeting.”
“You know why, right?”
“Because it’s my mother.”
At the long desk in the captain’s room of the battleship Tufaris, I recall the events of my meeting at the mansion while efficiently handling documents.
Outside the battleship, the magic energy seems to be growing denser, and construction using magic and magic tools has begun.
Thanks to this, the land leveling was completed at an unusual speed, and construction has already begun on the foundation on the third day of work.
After all, it’s a world where war has raged for years.
Perhaps due to the need to repair damaged areas in a short time amidst devastating attacks, magical technological innovations in construction capabilities within the Demon Lord’s Army have occurred repeatedly.
There are areas where their construction technology is inferior to this world’s.
However, conversely, their greed for learning in those inferior areas dramatically speeds up their absorption of architectural knowledge.
Honestly, if you gave a bookstore’s architectural professional books to a Giant, who is generally known for such greed within the Demon Lord’s Army, they would be worn out from reading them within three days.
As a result, the earth and rock magic used by the Giants, who have absorbed the construction technology cultivated in Japan, a country prone to earthquakes, has become considerably stronger and more efficient, developing into excellent techniques for constructing structures.
What I’m looking at now is the construction progress report.
Neither Keiri nor I expected this much construction to be completed in just three days.
“It’s great that the Giants are supervising and there’s no worry of shoddy work, but isn’t this too fast?”
Honestly, the work speed is at a level where I suspect shoddy construction.
But the Giants have pride in their craftsmanship ingrained in their species. Their pride in creation is extraordinary.
They hate calling a project completed if they’ve cut corners, and they believe that only by giving their all will further technological advancements await them.
However, it seems they are working significantly ahead of the planned schedule, with a speed that reminds me of an unreasonable demand from a client who drastically moved up the delivery date.
It makes me worry.
“It’ll be alright. You saw it too, I’m sure. Did the Giants who were honored to work on the General’s base look like they were suffering?”
“No, it might sound strange, but they were sweating profusely and looked like they were enjoying their work.”
That worry was entirely unfounded.
As Keiri said, I’ve seen the construction work from a distance a few times during site visits, and not a single worker had an expression of suffering. Instead, they looked as if they were deriving pleasure from the process of creating something magnificent.
For a moment, I was reminded of my previous company, when we were pushed into a corner to the point where all we could do was laugh, during the end of a “Death March.”
“That’s the nature of Giants. They find pleasure in creating.”
“I can’t comprehend that realm.”
However, the actual workers weren’t seeking a state of enlightenment beyond suffering, but were genuinely enjoying the pleasure of creation derived from the act of construction.
I realize there are still many unknown aspects to this otherworld, even though I’ve learned a lot about it.
“But you know it doesn’t mean they aren’t tired, right?”
“Yes, I think it’s good that they’re having fun, but their bodies do get tired. We just need to avoid them working solely on impulse.”
However, there are parts I can understand.
Just like how you get tired after having fun, even if you have plenty of mental energy, your body still gets fatigued.
They need to take breaks appropriately and eat well.
Guiding these somewhat overzealous workers is also my job.
“And this is from Muil-san.”
“Here you go… Ah, the movements of the nobles.”
Is this lack of focus on the main work a flaw of the Demon Lord’s Army’s lack of unity?
I had sensed some unsettling movements.
While the pretext is preparations for the war with Isal next year, some nobles’ actions suggest they have a different agenda.
Furthermore, scraps of information have surfaced, hinting at manipulation by the richer nobles, as if they were puppets.
“Amili-san is pregnant, so you shouldn’t overexert yourself.”
“We have a contract with you, so we can’t say that, can we? Well, for Machine King, this much information might not even be a burden.”
“Worrying too much would be an insult to the General. We can only offer our thanks.”
“That’s appropriate. For now, we maintain a mutually beneficial relationship, and those around us believe you and Machine King have formed an alliance, so maintain a sense of distance.”
“Understood.”
To launch a rebellion, I have too many allies around me.
Openly, my allies are Amili-san, the Machine King, and the Instructor, the Oni King.
Although they are both busy with their respective tasks on the anti-Isal front, they can at least keep the nobles in check. The nobles see me as a thorn in their side.
I am a high-ranking official born amidst constant conflict.
They traditionally reject figures who evoke disgust.
Moreover, despite being in another world, I serve as a bridge for interaction with humans.
Even if it seems logical and profitable, such ingrained dislike can override considerations of profit and loss.
“I want to tell them not to rush, but they can’t help themselves…”
“They can’t. From their perspective, they’re acting righteously.”
“…”
“You shouldn’t hold back your sighs.”
Calmly advising them to act logically would only pour fuel on the fire.
I’ve seen this happen so many times in my previous company that even sighing has become difficult.
Moreover, unlike Japan, in that world, military force and violence are commonplace.
I’ve often wondered why people can act so casually when they could easily lose their lives.
Even as I furrow my brow and stare intently at the report, the content remains unchanged.
Slender, graceful fingers gently massage the frown between my eyebrows.
“For now, I’ll urge Amili-san and Muil-san to be cautious.”
“Don’t you need to prepare soldiers? You’ve gathered quite a few, haven’t you?”
“I can count about two hundred as available troops. It’s fortunate that over half of them are experienced in wartime thanks to Muil-san’s connections, but we must be cautious about the numbers. Fortunately, my base is within Evia’s dungeon, and on this isolated island on Earth, which is a death trap for the Demon Lord’s Army. Eventually, an entrance connecting to this island is planned within the company’s and Kaden-san’s territories, so ordinarily, they wouldn’t be able to attack even if I prepared soldiers.”
As a result, my expression relaxes, and the tension in my shoulders eases.
When I think about it calmly, how do these nobles intend to provoke a fight with me?
Physically, my territory is too far from the continent to be suitable for launching an army.
Keiri’s concern is understandable, but…
“Even the Dark Elf village, where soldiers are stationed with permission, is within the Tree King’s territory. If they rashly send an army, it would be an act of hostility towards the Tree King. What are they thinking?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? This sort of thing is more about emotion than logic. They’re probably thinking, ‘I just don’t like him, so let’s find a way to bring him down. Gather soldiers, and we’ll talk from there.'”
“Are the nobles alright? Isn’t that a typical example of a failed impulsive action?”
I can feel a sense of security because the distance serves as a barrier, making it impossible for me to even conceive of any underhanded methods they might use to backstab me.
Of course, I won’t let my guard down.
What I should be wary of are not conspicuous soldiers, but inconspicuous assassins.
If my children were kidnapped, I would have the confidence to become a demon, and my mother is also in the mansion right now.
“They will suffer painful consequences and perish, that is the fate of nobles.”
“I wonder, is the President secretly orchestrating this to expel the ‘pus’ and become lighter?”
“It’s possible.”
It’s best to ensure safety, so I’m taking various measures.
“My father has also decided to work in the company’s public relations department. For the President, who intends to hire more humans, such ideologies are a hindrance.”
In a way, my biggest concern is that my mother declared she wouldn’t support my father and warned me not to rely on her either. This led to a peculiar situation where I had to find employment for my parents.
As a result, my father was assigned to the public relations department as an employee of our company.
Currently, the public relations department is mostly dormant but will become significantly busier once things settle down, so he seems busy with preparations.
“Even if they want to appeal, they’ll want to minimize any blemishes.”
My father, who was originally a globetrotting photographer, has top-tier camera skills.
In terms of conveying information from the other world through images, he is exceptionally well-suited for the role.
Keiri indirectly implies that the President believes such disruptive elements (the nobles) are unwelcome in the frame of my father’s lens.
“So, you’re using my weak position for that purpose?”
“Isn’t it good that they’re taking good care of you?”
“Yes, it is.”
Incidentally, there are no women in my father’s department.
One might think it would be better to have women in public relations for generating ideas, but my father belongs to the newly established Third Public Relations Department.
This department was specifically created by the President for my father and is a pilot division built over several days, allowing for future employees to be assigned there.
Therefore, the “care” Keiri mentioned could include assigning burly, muscular employees as bodyguards for my father.
The Third Public Relations Department exerts an oppressive aura that the old Nord-kun would have gone mad over, but my father’s desire to witness things he’s never seen before, coupled with the fact that his wife (my mother) likes him and there are no women in his department, doesn’t seem to be a negative factor.
So, I hear he’s surprisingly working at his own pace.
I’m very grateful to the President for making these arrangements so that I can work without worrying about my father.
“However, I still feel a bit strange working at the same company as my father.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
This sense of strangeness is something I still can’t get used to.
Today’s word:
I know I need to get used to it, but there are things I can’t.
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