Here is the translated text:
The New Chapter Begins.
Another Side
Some time has passed since that disturbance.
However, various events were processed and resolved in that short span of time.
On the other hand, many events could not be resolved in that short period.
War disaster reconstruction is probably the prime example.
A gathering was held to resolve one of the topics within it.
The large conference room within the company.
Sitting at the magnificent wooden desk and in the high-grade leather chair were not the management of the Demon Lord’s Army, but nobles of the Demon Lord’s Army who exuded a sense of history.
“…”
Wrinkles creased the brows of these distinguished members from a wide variety of species.
The room was dark, and they appeared troubled as they looked at the content projected by the projector in the center.
“Now, gentlemen, this is my concept. Ah, I know it might be unnecessary words for you wise individuals, but I will state it for the record. This is material created based on investigations that incorporate the insights and views of various researchers, those on the front lines, and generals. Please understand that this is not unrealistic or mere armchair theorizing.”
The Demon Lord, Insigne Runallos, seated in the seat of honor, addressed the elders before him with his usual smile, sitting boldly in his seat.
This briefing was held to make these stubborn old men understand and agree to his ideas.
He had made thorough preparations for it, including countermeasures for any excuses or criticisms he might receive.
This silence was the result.
Those seated chose silence. The heavyweights did not waver in their gaze, but the insecure nobles shifted their eyes as if gauging the reactions of those around them.
Insigne remembered who they were and how many displayed such behavior.
Originally, Insigne was too young to hold the position of Demon Lord.
He had placed his trusted generals and civil officials who handled politics under his wing.
While these were necessary actions to solidify the Demon Lord’s Army, they inevitably caused friction.
The act of disregarding the seasoned veterans who had supported the country since ancient times signaled a rebellion for a time, but it was Insigne who showed his prowess then.
The result-oriented Demon Lord’s Army.
He quickly quelled the signs of rebellion, showed them their fate, and then, by bestowing his favor, he won over the people’s hearts.
“Well, I know you’ll want to think about this kind of talk. You won’t have much time, but yes. If there are no questions, we will adjourn. I look forward to your devotion?”
The darkened conference room brightened, and the heads of the nobles, who remained silent, quietly rose, bowed to Insigne, and then exited one by one.
The meeting, which lasted for several hours, involved matters that could be called more than world-shaking.
It was a matter that could change the very foundation of the nation.
“Even the veteran soldiers are silent, aren’t they?”
There were nobles who had opposed the topic.
At the beginning of the meeting, the nobles had been so energetic that one might have thought it was a meeting to condemn the Demon Lord Insigne’s response to recent scandals.
He had diligently disarmed each of their points, and it took time to get to the main topic, but Insigne felt the result was commensurate with the effort.
“Was that alright?”
“What was?” Nōraifu.
Even with a strong body and spirit, it was tiring to move stubborn old men. From the shadows behind her chair, darkness wriggled, and from it, Nōraifu, whom Jirou thought of as the Skull Gentleman, emerged.
“You gave them time. Those individuals. The longer it takes, the more they will interfere.”
“Ah, that.”
The Undead King, who had appeared, surprisingly criticized the Demon Lord’s decision.
The hearts of the noble families, who had been active in the shadows for so long that it could be said that demons and monsters roamed freely, were stained black beyond mere description.
Neither the Demon Lord nor the Undead King believed that they sincerely pledged loyalty to the Demon Lord.
What they had was a stake in the profits within the nation’s definition.
They cooperated because they were given benefits, a stance that could pull the rug out from under them at any moment.
The Undead King, thinking it should have been obvious, asked the Demon Lord why he made such a decision, framing it as a point of advice.
“Hehehe.”
“Oh? Did I say something strange?”
“No, I’m sorry, Nōraifu. It’s that I suddenly remembered your words. I wasn’t making fun of you.”
However, the Demon Lord’s reply was just a suppressed chuckle.
The Undead King was slightly taken aback by the Demon Lord’s change, wondering if he had ever shown such emotion. However, when he calmly asked if there was anything strange about his words without showing emotion, the Demon Lord waved his hand dismissively and apologized.
“In this meeting, more than half of the nobles have suffered damage from this recent disturbance. That alone should make them quite dissatisfied with me, or conversely, some are undoubtedly planning to depose me from this throne, seeing it as an opportunity. Isn’t it strange that the exchange with them ended in just ‘a few hours’?”
“…Indeed, it seems strange.”
Discussions with nobles were basically a probing of intentions.
While they would not barge in rudely, nobles were adept at smoothly probing the other party’s weak points in a disturbingly smooth manner.
Normally, negotiations disguised as meetings would take several days, with breaks in between.
However, this time, it proceeded smoothly and ended much faster than imagined.
It ended unusually quickly, to the point that the Undead King tilted his head.
“What did you do?”
“No, I didn’t do anything. And they didn’t do anything either. A little unconscious interference happened to pierce their intentions more than expected.”
“Unconscious interference?”
While the wording was as unusual as ever, even the Undead King, who had a long association with the Demon Lord, could not grasp what he was referring to.
“Him.”
“Him? …Did Jirou do something?”
“Ah, I never expected him to provide support in such a way.”
The Demon Lord, looking as if a child’s prank had succeeded, explained the answer with a laugh.
The attack from the Sun God just the other day had caused extensive damage throughout the country.
While they had achieved great success by capturing several Seraphim as a result, the scars did not disappear.
Post-war reconstruction takes more time than war itself.
The longer the upper echelons delayed, the more dissatisfaction would accumulate among the common people, but at the very moment the Demon Lord was contemplating how to get the nobles to cooperate, a small treasure ship appeared.
“It’s your reward money, the Kiō’s magically powered warship, and a war disaster reconstruction team of one hundred royal craftsmen from the Uuor. He specifically requested permission through Evia, creating documents and plans. The backing was the signature of the chairman of that Toris Trading Company. Faced with such documents, I had no choice but to stamp my approval.”
“Ho, Jirou did something like that.”
The initial phase tends to be slow, especially in large organizations.
The more preparations that are needed, such as funds, personnel, and materials, the slower the progress becomes.
However, the reconstruction work began with a speed that made it seem as if the king himself was responding swiftly, preventing the country’s delay from being noticed by the people.
“Furthermore, it is being carried out under my name, not his. That way, it won’t cause problems when crossing territories. It’s also a great help to me.”
“Even with an esteemed company like Toris Trading Company, if Jirou’s unknown name were used, it would incur unnecessary resentment from the nobles. While it’s effective in forcefully creating a debt, the risk is also considerable.”
“It’s a double-edged sword that can be a strength depending on how it’s used, but it seems he came up with this because he was troubled about how to use the excessive reward money he received.”
“Kagagaga, he should have just put it in his pocket obediently. It’s a behavior wholly unlike his usual fighting style.”
Upon hearing that the support, funded by a huge sum of money, was merely an act of a commoner, the Undead King laughed, cracking his jaw.
Jirou usually fought like a raging demon or a fierce beast, but he was originally a commoner.
The Demon Lord thought that such feelings wouldn’t disappear in such a short time.
“But what will those who see through the deception think?”
When asked what he thought the nobles, who had received such a favor, would think, Nōraifu replied with a crescent moon smile on his lips, mirroring the Demon Lord’s.
“While it will be a godsend to the common people, to the nobles it’s a condescending forced sale. If they investigate to see through it, they will find a name they don’t know.”
“They must have been confused. When they tried to gauge my true intentions, Jirou’s image would emerge. They would wonder what his intentions were for doing such a thing.”
The Demon Lord and the Undead King spoke with genuine amusement, finding it very typical of nobles. The Undead King nodded, imagining the puzzled faces of the noble family heads.
“It’s the consequence of their minds being steeped in scheming. His actions are good intentions with no regard for profit. There’s no deception to see through. And they can’t use him because the Demon Lord’s name is in the way.”
“To them, it’s goodwill with no right to refuse. They must be at their wit’s end.”
Jirou’s actions, from a general perspective, were overly enthusiastic volunteerism, but it tilted in the Demon Lord’s favor.
“There’s a saying among merchants that nothing is more expensive than free, but to proud nobles, that saying is the most effective.”
Moreover, for the nobles, it would be bad for their reputation to refuse the help offered at such a crucial moment.
Therefore, they had no choice but to accept it with a forced smile.
This would create a significant debt to one person.
“Ah, it would be easy to dismiss it as something he did on his own. Normally, it would be.”
“That is correct. In normal times, it would just be a gift, with no need to repay it.”
Even though nobles would normally scoff at such a thing, with the backing of the Demon Lord and at the timing of post-war reconstruction, the Demon Lord judged this to be a good opportunity.
“However, things are different now, during wartime.”
“All nobles are more or less exhausted, and it takes time to recover. If that burden is reduced, they will likely become somewhat dependent.”
It was a good opportunity to further integrate Jirou into the Demon Lord’s Army, a human among the powerful nobles.
The Undead King’s voice also became more cheerful as he agreed.
“That’s right. If they can be saved without spending money to acknowledge it, they have no choice but to agree.”
Debts and favors play a crucial role in noble society.
Favor without compensation is the most troublesome in noble society.
If a favor is unilaterally given and not repaid, the noble will be perceived by other nobles as incompetent.
For nobles who uphold their pride, this is an outcome they must avoid at all costs.
This was the reason why the nobles reluctantly agreed to this meeting and settled on an exception, prioritizing their pride by using the pretext of wiping the slate clean. However, it created a stepping stone to employ Jirou, a member of the human race.
This was a trigger that the Demon Lord had deemed necessary for the future.
“However, it seems a bit too large for a first step.”
“It’s nothing. We are slowly but surely progressing in our discussions with that country. Ah, it seems it is true that you should have relatives.”
“Jirou must be working hard.”
“I will repay his efforts generously in return.”
However, in the brightly lit room, the Undead King, looking at the documents on the Demon Lord’s desk and surprised by the magnitude of this trigger, offered words of sympathy to Jirou.
“Trade with Japan? So, Jirou is essentially an ambassador of goodwill?”
“Hahaha, I certainly wouldn’t ask him to do something like that so suddenly.”
A major national project of the Demon Lord’s Army.
Diplomatic relations with the Japanese Government.
“For now.”
“For now, you say?”
“Ah, for now.”
Would Jirou, who was hired as a Dungeon Tester, have imagined himself getting involved in a national project like this in the past?
No, he probably wouldn’t have.
Because, far from this conference room, inside a dungeon.
Inside the dungeon of the Kiō.
“Bu-chu!”
“Whoa!? That’s gross!?”
“What’s wrong? Do you have a cold?”
“Hmm, my prediction is that someone somewhere is talking about the leader.”
“Stop it. That’s not funny.”
“Hmm, it’s true, with Jirou-san, it seems like someone really would be talking about him.”
Jiro sneezed loudly.
Kaidō, standing right next to him, dodged as if recoiling, while Katsu expressed genuine concern. Namin, on the other hand, grinned and muttered unpleasant thoughts.
Hearing that, Kitamiya frowned, and Amelia agreed.
“It’s noisy. I can’t help it if I suddenly got a chill down my spine.”
“But to be honest, Amili-chan’s dungeon isn’t that cold, is it!”
“Besides, the idea of a magic body sneezing is strange in itself.”
“Which means…”
“That Namin’s earlier remark has credibility too.”
“Jirou-san.”
“Stop it! Don’t look at me with such sympathetic eyes, you guys! It’s not necessarily trouble yet!”
They were in a dungeon, working their jobs as usual.
Jirow, shouting amidst the noisy but serious atmosphere of the “Moonlit Perch” group.
Namin said to Jirou, who was yelling, without mercy.
“Leader, that’s a flag.”
“Ah.”
With that one remark, Jirou realized.
Something was definitely going to happen.
Today’s Word
The heavier the expectations, the more worthwhile they are to bear, but they are also troublesome.
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*The first volume of the book is published by Hayakawa Bunko JA.
It was released on October 18, 2018.
The ebook version was also released on October 31 of the same year.
The second volume was released on December 19.
The third volume was released on February 20, 2019.
The content includes revisions and additions to the manuscript posted on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, along with the inclusion of unpublished interludes.
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