Chapter 7 – Republic of Zontark

 

 

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“Bah, such a troublesome job…”

“It’s a decree by His Majesty, so it cannot be helped.”

“I know, but still…”

Ina, you may say so, but troublesome stuff remains just that, troublesome.

“A man shouldn’t keep whining about things, once he made up his mind on something.”

“Yes, I know.”

Well, if Amalie-san says so…

“Wend, you sure listen closely to what Amalie-san tells you, don’t you…? Are you a kid?”

“No! I’m an adult!”

 

 

After traveling westwards for one week on our small airship, we finally reached the demons’ country. Starting with next time, I’ll be able to come here with Teleport, but at present I don’t think I want to visit this place again.

As far as I’ve heard from Mall and his friends, I feel like it’s going to be a fairly dull and uninteresting country.

The country with the name Republic of Zontark was located on an island, or rather, a subcontinent with a fourth of Lingaia Continent’s size. In the past, most of the subcontinent had been inhabited by demons, but as their population slowly decreased, many regions were abandoned, resulting in nature taking back the land.

Therefore, you can find many ruins in no-man’s land. Arnest apparently did some excavation work in those ruins. But, given the government’s budget deficit, large-scale excavation had been impossible in recent years. The dissatisfaction over this led to Arnest smuggling himself to the Lingaia Continent.

“Arnest, it’s your dearly missed homeland.”

“It has a highly efficient society, but it is quite boring,” Arnest answered indifferently as he stared at the port, visible outside the window of our airship.

And he was right. This port, which served as docking place for airships and regular naval ships at the same time, consisted of nothing but orderly-arranged, cold concrete, containers, cranes, and prefab buildings. One short look at it all made you get bored of it right away.

I think it’s quite amazing from a technological standpoint, but…unlike Sirius with its old-fashioned feel, this place prioritized efficiency, lacking anything that could serve as a tourist attraction.

I’m sure only a few tourists would want to look at this place. Though the higher-ups of the Empire and Kingdom would probably love to observe operations over here.

Taking efficiency to the limit wasn’t limited to just the port either. Even the townscape visible beyond was the same. Rows of identical, box-shaped homes lined up neatly with the streets between them extending in straight lines, making the whole area look almost as if this was a huge Go board.

“You did well to have obtained permission to come with us. Won’t you be treated as a traitor by your motherland?” Doushi asked Arnest.

As a matter of fact, not only Arnest, but Mall and his two friends were accompanying us as well. They were treated as our mediators and advisors.

As might be expected, the demons were no idiots and had long noticed their presence, but currently they were apparently hesitating to punish Arnest for his flight and Mall’s group for their desertion. Arnest’s flight had stopped being a felony after the demons stopped interacting with the continent. As such, they didn’t regard it as much of a reason to actually punish him.

Even nowadays, almost no demons thought about leaving their own country, and I heard that Arnest was the first person to actually flee the Republic of Zontark in a very long time.

As Urquhart and the Helmut Kingdom should deal with any illegal immigration onto the continent, it’d end up becoming an intervention, if the Republic spoke up about this. Having said that, neither of those countries were inclined to punish Arnest, I doubt they’d do so in the future either.

Since he’s now under the protection of House Baumeister, them not being able to meddle with him easily anymore also plays a role.

『They stayed behind for the sake of friendship between both countries!』

Moreover, the party members of the Civil Rights Party (CRP), who were accompanying the diplomatic delegation, covered for the three young men under military employ, making it impossible for the defense forces to say anything about it. The CRP didn’t regard the defense forces as real army and many of its members also held aversions towards them. As such they restrained the defense forces who tried to punish Mall and his friends for having deserted.

Then again, the defense forces didn’t hold any high hopes for the young people in military employment who were only hired for a short term as part of a publicity stunt of the politicians in power. Even if such people deserted, it’d be a waste of time to force the issue of punishing them.

Given that the defense force has been busy as of late, they probably have no time to be preoccupied with Mall’s group. Hence, it was decided that they had an accident during their vacation and got rescued by us.

As for their employment with the defense forces: it was officially handled as them having finished their employment period after getting hired by us.

To be frank, I do have my doubts about the diplomatic corps of the CRP, but on this matter, that delegation actually saved Mall and his friends.

『Uuhh…I will give permission to you guys…to freely act as escort of Earl Baumeister and his retinue…』

The commandant of the defense forces had no choice to disregard the escape of Mall’s group while looking very bitter about it. It’s the boon of civilian control, or rather, they probably thought that the public would condemn the government if the defense forces punished those three. Newspapers had apparently written criticism about the youth corps in military employment being used as disposable due to their irregular employment.

“Mall-san, all the buildings are identical.”

Ina apparently felt uncomfortable about the city looking so orderly, contrary to the Kingdom.

“The only ones able to build their homes with unique designs are very rich people. The property market is dominated by a few major players, and no matter the company, all are building the houses in almost the same way,” explained Mall.

Just like in modern Japan, the building materials were processed in factories to a certain extent, before being assembled on-site. The house builders apparently managed to survive by selling lots for small profits, putting their highest priority on efficiency in everything. Because of that, smaller and medium house builders and carpenters have drastically decreased in numbers of the past few centuries.

“Always building the same houses is more efficient and cheaper. You can also construct them quicker.”

I feel like they look quite cheap, but it seems like the interior is spacious, sturdy, and easy to live in.

“Still, everyone is buying them by taking a loan.”

It’s just like a certain salaryman has bought his house. Recalling my previous life, I felt slight pangs of melancholy. Back then, I didn’t buy a house just like I didn’t marry, but I often heard my married bosses and older colleagues whine about the loans during company-sponsored drinking parties.

“People with lots of money get palatial residences or custom-ordered homes. But, even if you’re unemployed, the state provides you with cheap rented apartments.”

“Those people don’t live in the district with the identical houses, though. That area is a residential district for fairly affluent people.”

“It’s unrelated to us. Jobless folks can’t buy houses.”

On the other hand, poor people are apparently allowed to rent units in apartment buildings, which have become deserted due to the depopulation, for free, even if they can’t buy houses as they don’t have money and job. Given that the state also provides their basic necessities of life and a small amount of pocket money, it’s not like it’s a disaster even if you’re unemployed.

In exchange, the number of those people marrying remains low. They won’t starve, but without a job and income, they can’t marry. I wonder whether you could call this a state of limbo where you don’t die but don’t live either.

“I think it is a wonderful society though…”

“True.”

“It might lack competition, but it’s much better than the poor in the Kingdom.”

Elise, Ina, and Luise might believe the demon country to be a great place since you can eat even without working for it. And certainly, the state of the slums, which definitely exist in any bigger city of the Kingdom, is terrible. Since those slums are unsanitary, and given the bad food situation, children often die. The number of people dying from starvation is low, but it’s still easy to fall ill over there.

Compared to that, the demons’ country might definitely appear like paradise.

“But, welfare recipients can’t really marry. Children cost money after all.”

“Education expenses until they become adults and so on.”

“Children might be more of a luxury than a house or a magic car.”

Given the long school time for demons, you can’t raise a child unless you can provide money for a long time. For this reason, many poor people are singles, regardless of gender.

“Well, you can somehow manage, if you live alone while following your hobbies for a bit.”

“The ratio of divorces among demons has already exceeded 40%.”

“That’s definitely a lot of divorces…there’s some among my friends, too.”

As I was listening to the conversation between Mall and his two friends, I experienced the hallucination of having returned to my previous life.

“So we landed in the army’s port, huh…?”

“Burkhart-san, the demons’ country has no army. It’s a defense force.”

“Even though they have so much military equipment? I kinda feel like that’s no more than a word game.”

The battleships are made out of sturdy metal that cannot be produced by the Empire or Kingdom, and their ships are faster than ours, too. They come with loads of magic cannons, so they’ll likely eradicate the air force of both countries in an instant, if it comes to a war.

In Burkhart-san’s eyes, saying that this country here has no army must sound like sophistry.

“Please think of it as them having developed into an organization in charge of public safety since they don’t have the concept of neighboring countries over here.”

“Earl-sama, you sure have adapted unexpectedly fast.”

Rather than adapting, I just didn’t see much of a difference between the image I had of the defense forces here and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

Just as we had consulted before, our airship landed at the base of the defense force.

 

＊

 

“Thank you kindly for taking the effort to make this long trip, Earl Baumeister. My name is 2nd Field Officer Lage,” a young officer of the defense forces greeted us with a smile, but once he saw Arnest and his three former students, his expression turned grim.

There must be many things he wants to say, but because of his and their position, he couldn’t do so. Having said that, it didn’t mean that he could make such a clear cut that would allow him to lock away his feelings completely.

“Good work on guiding out guests…”

“You might harbor many thoughts and doubts about this, but it is impossible to punish me. If you look it up, you will find that it is a law so full of holes that it is actually laughable.”

Even though Arnest had illegally fled the country, he didn’t feel a shred of remorse. In reality, he had apparently checked the law in his spare time and discovered that illegally leaving the country wasn’t punishable.

I can understand his attitude, but I think the young officer would show his approval as well, if only Arnest pretended to repent a bit. Well, I think it’s asking too much to expect Arnest to show any such consideration, though.

“Smuggling yourself out of the country might be illegal, but it is not punishable. You were 2nd Field Officer Lage of the defense forces, right? It is wrong to cut corners on the law’s intricate, multi-layered structure.”

In a way typical for a scholar, Arnest directly attacked the part about it not being punishable by the law, causing the demon officer’s face to cramp up drastically. However, it’s not like he wrote the law, so I think Arnest is barking up the wrong tree here.

“Because the defense forces are no army, the government regards desertion as not punishable.”

“To be precise, the punishment for regular defense force personnel goes up to one year in prison and up to one million Yen as penalty.”

“But, this law doesn’t apply to the young corps under military employ.”

The students were just like their teacher. Because they were pointlessly smart, they relentlessly stabbed at the shortcomings in the law.

2nd Field Officer Lage’s face furthermore started to twitch.

“You people have merely been deemed as innocent because of political circumstances as you were chosen for the role of guiding Earl Baumeister’s party around. Let me give you the warning that it’d be better to not get carried away. In the first place, your attitude could potentially hurt even Earl Baumeister’s image.”

The politicians seem to have quite a few rotten apples, but it looks like quite a few capable people were working among the elite officers of the defense forces. He responded to Arnest and his former students’ smart-assing with a firm attitude.

“Excuse my rudeness then. I could not excavate ruins in this country. Hence, this was no more than the complaints of a humble archaeologist. I would be happy if you could forget them.”

“I will carry out our job, but I wanted to at least make a single comment on this.”

“Unlike an elite like you, we used to be unemployed.”

“The work as a young man under military employment lacked any dreams and hopes. We will act properly in public.”

“Got it. I pray that you will be able to carry out your duty of supporting Earl Baumeister’s party during their stay here.”

It’s good that all five managed to reconcile. I thought things would become a hassle if they started to argue here, but it looks like Arnest and his former pupils were better adults than I thought. Or rather, I feel like it’s a big loss to keep personnel of such level unemployed…

Then again, there’s also the precedent of Roderich, so maybe the Kingdom is no different?

“Sensei, I was on tenterhooks here,” Lumi apparently got scared by the actions and words of her former teacher and juniors.

She clearly complained to Arnest who had provoked Lage.

“Please keep it off the record.”

“I won’t write anything about it in my articles! Well, I got permission from the main office to exclusively report on Earl Baumeister-san. Since I can write articles about other stuff anytime, it won’t be a problem.”

Lumi planned to write articles about us from now on. This was an exceptional treatment for a rookie reporter, but it was a fact that Lumi had been quick-witted enough to offer to cover us as the very first. Given that the main reporters of the politics department were currently on the archipelago to watch the negotiations, the other reporters wouldn’t get jealous of Lumi, even if she was in charge of covering me as a rookie.

“Reporters who are gung-ho with their little fights over achievements…”

“Using articles as a tool for career promotion…newspaper reporters are completely corrupt as well.”

“A newspaper is a business, too. It’s meaningless for them if they can’t make a profit off it.”

“I sure got some peevish juniors…”

Lumi started to calmly prepare her material while complaining to Mall and his two friends who were dissing the media.

“So, what are we going to do here?”

“Friendship diplomacy,” I answered Erw.

“Right…”

We don’t have any authority to negotiate, but the government of Zontark had been eager to release the Lingaia and its crew. However, if they suddenly released them unconditionally, the government would be blamed by its voters for its weak stance.

Accordingly, we’re going to act friendly in Zontark, trying to shift the public opinion towards a good impression of the Kingdom. This is His Majesty’s idea.

In the eyes of the demons, who consider them highly advanced in politics, that way of thinking might come as a surprise, but kings and emperors rely on public support just as much. It’s only natural for His Majesty to come up with an idea of such a level.

“The article about you, Earl Baumeister-san, has been extremely popular. You’re just like a commoner, contradicting us demons’ view of nobility quite a bit. You’re kind to your wives, and if you find some time, you also look after your children.”

The people of the demon country seem to think that I’m an extremely affectionate young noble. That peace between demons and humans is at hand if the nobles of the next generation are like me.

I feel like they’re having a huge misunderstanding here, but His Majesty apparently felt that it might make the negotiations a bit easier if he sends us here. And I was to take my wives and children with me to engender a peaceful mood.

“Over here, politicians are basically required to bring their wives if they visit the provinces. If they bring their children with them on top of that, it gives them a boost in popularity.”

My wives and children accompanying us were also influenced by Lumi’s opinion, who was basically collaborating with us.

“Erw’s and my children haven’t even turned one year old yet, and they’re already experiencing traveling abroad, huh?”

“But, isn’t that dangerous?”

Erw seemed slightly worried since we had entered Zontark, which could be described as hostile territory, with our children.

“In Wend’s case, there’s also the danger of his entire family being discontinued.”

If the demons tried to harm us, my wives and children could all get dragged into this as well.

“We are here for this very reason.”

“Yep, to buy time.”

Doushi and Burkhart-san would protect us while I would let Elise and the others escape by using Teleport.

“Probably because my mana rose during the Empire’s civil war, or maybe because I intensified my training of magic accuracy as I was told by Master, I have reached a point where I can Teleport fifteen people at once, so I could get everyone out with two trips.”

Because of that, we left our maids and retainers behind.

“I’ve been telling you, our country isn’t such a savage place that we’d kill a special diplomatic envoy or his family.”

Lumi seemed to harbor various discontent about her own country, but that didn’t mean she hated it. As such, she firmly stated that the demons wouldn’t violate diplomatic rules.

“Well, it’d be nice if you’re right about this.”

“Erwin-san, please trust me a bit.”

“In the worst case, it’ll be fine as long as Wend manages to get away. Wend is still young after all.”

As long as I survive, my House won’t die out since I can produce new children. Usually Erw has some parts where he does and says silly nonsense, but that way of thinking is unexpectedly pragmatic.

“I suppose it’s good that no maids are with us since they’d become hindrances in such a case.”

“Oh my, I am here, am I not? Anyway, what will be will be, correct? It’s my first foreign trip, so I’ll enjoy myself.”

“Women sure are tough…”

Erw admired Amalie-san who didn’t feel worried about the visit to Zontark.

“The demon country looks kind of dreary. But, I’m able to visit various places as long as I’m with Wend-kun, and that’s fun.”

“That’s because it’s an exceedingly efficient society. Since the Empire will need to negotiate with the demons as well, it should greatly increase the workload on Peter-dono as well.”

Just as Therese says, the Empire must get in contact with the demons in the future. As such, it will cause Peter more work while he’s still busy getting his domestic issues sorted.

“How would you deal with it, Therese?”

“No one could have anticipated contact with the demons. I would have no choice but to slowly keep negotiating while watching the situation. Usually thou don’t find a plan to break through a complicated situation easily.”

“Politics are definitely not easy.”

Amalie-san continued to chat with Therese while looking down at the defense force’s base.

 

＊

 

“Welcome and thanks for visiting our great country.”

We were greeted by a big-shot said to be the commander of the base, but I wonder what the intention might be behind receiving us in a tasteless base. I mean I heard they got a civilian airport in Zontark.

When I asked the commander about it, he explained with an apologetic face, “As a matter of fact, the airport has…”

『Take down the Kingdom which upholds an evil system of monarchy! Teach Lingaia about our superior form of democracy!』

『It’s time to revive the national army for this! Increase our forces by ten times and have the soldiers march on the continent!』

『Welcome, Earl Baumeister-san. We will teach you about the beauty of democracy. And then we will have your Earldom spearhead as breeding ground of democracy on the continent』

After telling me about the protesters, the commander further added, “It would turn into a huge disgrace for our nation if we could not guarantee the safety of you and your retinue, Earl Baumeister-dono…”

Political and citizen groups had apparently intruded the airport, loudly proclaiming the beauty of their own democracy and demanding to teach the humans about it by conquering the whole continent.

“So the defense forces are the most rational ones…”

The protesters are free to make political claims towards us under the banner of democracy. But, that didn’t give them any right to yap about 『liberating out land because your country sucks』 or 『teaching you democracy』.

Other nobles might have lost it at that point.

“As far as we are concerned, we are relieved to see that you have been chosen as special envoy, Earl Baumeister-dono. I hear you do understand the circumstances in our nation quite well…”

“You won’t remove those weird people at the port?”

“You see, Mrs. Baumeister, many of them are sympathizers of the CRP…”

I heard many people, who used to be activists, are now politicians in the CRP. Since the CRP is in danger of immediately losing in the next election if they complain to those supporters, it seems even possible that those politicians would actively help them, if things go badly.

“The defense forces will definitely protect you during your stay in this country, Earl Baumeister-dono, so please do not worry.”

“Umm…that sounds like you have quite a hard job ahead of you, so please take care of yourself.”

Due to the fact that the defense forces were the ones whom I could trust the most in Zontart at this point in time, I ended up realizing just how unexpectedly challenging this task of being a special envoy would be.

 

＊

 

After we finally arrived at the demon country, we were led to our inn. Right after storing our luggage away, we were told by a certain, elderly demon, “Earl Baumeister-san, you will be appointed tourism ambassador of Celtnia City.”

That demon, whose entire appearance screamed petty official, seemed to be the mayor of a region troubled by depopulation, out in the countryside of Zontark. The region’s main features were agriculture and sightseeing. They were quite troubled by the outflow of young people, so they apparently put in a lot of effort to somehow stop the population decline.

“If our country and the Helmut Kingdom conclude a trade treaty, it’ll make free travel possible as well. Accordingly, I would love you to come sightsee our Celtnia by all means…”

“Wow───Earl Baumeister-san, you’re quite the celebrity.”

No, that’s because you write an article about me in your newspaper, right?

Lumi was talking about it as if it was someone else’s affair altogether.

“The city of Celtnia is a lovely place, Madams.”

With those words, the mayor handed us a tourist guide pamphlet. The demon’s printing techniques were superior to those of the Empire and Kingdom.

“It does look like it has an abundance of nature…,” Elise didn’t want to criticize it too straightly and thus she chose a roundabout way to express herself, but she had a point.

Celtnia was a rural city with plenty of nature, or rather, it was a rural place with nothing but nature. The mayor was talking about sightseeing, but I couldn’t imagine that the people of the Kingdom or Empire would pay high travel expenses to go to a city like that.

“(Is the abundance of nature the actual tourist attraction there?)” Erw asked me in a whisper.

As far as Erw was concerned as someone who had grown up in a place with lots of nature, he probably couldn’t understand why anyone would deliberately invest the time and money to visit something like that.

“(Hmmm, I wonder?)”

You couldn’t say that no humans would visit for the reason of it being a foreign country, in case the demons and humans deepened their relationship.

Well, they’d likely reach the conclusion that it was more than enough after visiting that place once, so tourists might eventually stop flowing in.

“Earl Baumeister-san, I would love to welcome you for a sightseeing tour at Celtnia at least once.”

“Okay……I’ll take it into consideration if I find some time…”

As a matter of fact, I was treated as diplomatic envoy, but hadn’t been told a thing about our schedule thus far. It seemed the government was unsure how to handle us as well.

“I see. That’s regrettable to hear. Please take it into account during your stay,” said the mayor, before handing us some souvenirs and leaving the room.

The souvenirs were agricultural produce that had been produced in Celtnia. All of them were very common types, but even so, it was clear that demons were superior in selective breeding and cultivation techniques.

“Those are great vegetables.”

Given that Elise said so, there was no doubt about it.

“What did that man come here for?”

“He appointed me as tourism ambassador for publicity, but since he didn’t want to pay a proper reward, he couldn’t ask anything unreasonable. I’d call it a sort of name loaning.”

Therese explained to Katharina in my stead.

“Is there any meaning in that?”

“Well, if that mayor is truly capable, the depopulation issue of Celtnia City might have been resolved by now.”

Therese’s comment was scathing, but it was definitely hard to believe that using my name would resolve any of their region’s issues.

“For starters, should we first carry out the job we can do, hubby?”

“What job?”

“Confirming the safety of the Lingaia’s crew.”

“Oh right.”

Having this pointed out by Katia and Wilma, we headed to the defense forces’ prison. The crew of the Lingaia had been held there since their arrest.

Because the number of people allowed to visit was limited for security reasons, Elise, Doushi, Burkhart-san, Lisa, and I went there.

“Just when I wondered why Blizzard is accompanying us, I have to hear that you’re acquainted with the magician who fired the spell?”

“Yes, I taught him for a bit in the past.”

“Somehow it totally throws me off, you know?”

Lisa, as Burkhart-san knew her, was the big sister type wearing flashy outfit and makeup while using a very rough language. Apparently he still felt quite uncomfortable with her having now transformed into a normal, pretty lady.

“Should I put on my makeup again?”

“No, it’s fine as it is right now,” Burkhart-san shook his head at Lisa’s offer.

No matter how much her current appearance might feel out of place for him, he still preferred the current version compared to her old self that was hard to get along with.

 

＊

 

“You are Earl Baumeister-dono, right? This way please.”

We headed into the prison while guided by a defense force member. Although the building looked very inorganic as it was made out of concrete, the interior was nice and it didn’t look like the crew of the Lingaia had to suffer.

When I commented on this, I was told, “Violence or mistreatment of prisoners is strictly forbidden.”

I could trust them on that since the demon country is a civilized nation.

After passing through several barred doors and corridors, we arrived at what appeared to be a visitor’s room. Four men were waiting over there. I knew the captain and the vice-captain of the Lingaia from back when I defeated the bone dragon. The other vice-captain was said to have given the weird order to attack.

And yes, he was the son of the Earl Platte, that annoying pig.

The last of the four was the magician who had fired the spell. Going by the amount of his mana, he failed to reach intermediate level, making him having less mana than any demon.

“Oohh! Earl Baumeister-dono! Please look at the unreasonable treatment of the demons towards me, the son of the distinguished Earl Platte House! You have to inform His Majesty at once and attack the demons!”

He might be happy over being able to meet a countryman in a land full of demons, except for the crew of course, but I don’t think that this is something you should say right off the bat.

Everyone but him noticed how the faces of the guards inside the room darkened upon hearing his remark.

“Also, have them release me right away. If you can do that for me, I’m sure my father will be grateful.”

“(Why is that guy acting like such a bigshot anyway?)”

Even if asked, I cannot really give an adequate answer either.

“(Isn’t that because he’s an idiot?)”

I whispered to Burkhart-san what was the best answer I could come up with. It was a reply completely devoid of any ingenuity.

“I’m sorry to tell you, but I just came here to confirm your safety and don’t hold the authority to negotiate your release. Please wait for the outcome of the negotiations which are being held at this very moment.”

“Can’t you somehow handle it one way or another!? Even if it’s just me!”

“What a waste of air you are as a man,” Doushi openly criticized Earl Platte’s son without even trying to keep his voice down.

“You bastard! Who do you think…Doushi-dono?”

“For you to have forgotten my face clearly shows that you are unqualified to engage in the defense of our Kingdom! Or did you become a tottering fool after being imprisoned for a long time?”

The son of Earl Platte shrunk away under Doushi’s merciless onslaught like a slug that got sprinkled with salt.

 

 

This guy is an idiot, but even he seems to understand that it’d be a bad idea to piss off Doushi.

“Now, now, Doushi. He should be released once the negotiations end. By the way, I’ve got a question for the youth called Anakin.”

Anakin was the name of the magician who had fired the spell.

“Yes…?”

Even a child could tell what he’d be asked next. Believing that he’d be punished, his expression was quite gloomy.

“Sorry, but the one wanting to ask you actually isn’t me.”

Burkhart-san then introduced Lisa to him.

“Huh? Did we possibly meet somewhere before?”

Anakin couldn’t identify Lisa because she wasn’t wearing her flashy get-up from the past.”

“You cannot tell?”

“Umm, was there someone as pretty among my acquaintances?”

Lisa coughed, “Let me return to my old way of speaking for a moment to help you remember… Anakin, you fuckin’ shithead! I took all the trouble of busting my ass off to teach you magic for a year, and yet you get carried away and just randomly fire off some magic! I’m going to fuckin’ freeze you to hell!”

“Aa───hh, Big Sis!” Anakin apparently realized Lisa’s identity at last. “Sorry! Sorry! Please forgive me!”

“Come on, now spit out the truth.”

Anakin repeatedly bowed in front of his former magic teacher so much that it actually looked like a comedy act while beginning to explain the full account of what happened.

As a matter of fact, His Majesty asked me to find out.

『It will be enough if you can make sure of the Earl Platte’s dumb son’s safety for me. Also, please find out the details of the incident just in case』

After being ordered like that, we decided to hear about the full account of the incident from the offender who had fired the spell without permission.

“It was Vice-Captain Platte’s order. He told me that he would punish me for disobeying orders if I were to refuse.”

“You piece of shit! Are you trying to pin all the responsibility on me!?” Earl Platte’s son shouted after hearing Anakin’s testimony.

It looks like this guy had planned to blame it all on Anakin and escape all liability by himself. It made me wonder why he didn’t desist from going through with this in the first place then.

“Could you stay quiet?”

“What!? Who do you think I am!?”

“The son of Earl Platte, right? I’m Earl Baumeister. So, do you have any complaints?”

“……”

It’s a bad way of handling things, but you don’t have much of an option but to use your rank to make stupid nobles like him shut up. He’s just the heir, and as such he doesn’t hold any title. Hence, his standing is far below mine.

“Besides, a protocol has been long handed over to the Kingdom from the defense forces.”

Earl Platte and his gang are kicking up a fuss about the demons falsely accusing Earl Platte’s son for being responsible, but most of the nobles have started to believe that it must have played out just as it’s written in the protocol.

Apparently he’s a fairly excellent son, but as soon as something unforeseen occurs, he tends to take weird actions. As it also happened in the past. But, these incidents would cause his hidden, arrogant side to come out in an extreme way. In a certain sense it might be his bad luck to have boarded the Lingaia.

“Earl Baumeister-sama, do you have an idea when the negotiations might end?”

“Probably soon?”

Of course, that’s a huge lie. But, even if I honestly tell them that the negotiations are kind of stuck, it’ll just make them worry more. Or rather, I’ve noticed since coming to the demon country, but the authority to negotiate a release of the Lingaia and its crew seems to only lie with the folks on the archipelago.

But, if you asked me why I came here then, I wouldn’t know how to answer either. I think it’s no more than me showing my face around here.

“Is it possible to give them some things?”

“Sorry, but if those objects are used for a jailbreak…” A defense force member told me while looking very apologetic.

It’s possible that a book can be used as fuel for fire, and it was likely for a wine bottle to be used as a weapon, so you could call it a fair reason as to why they didn’t approve of giving the prisoners supplies.

 

＊

 

“I want to drink the wine made in the Helmut Kingdom though.”

“””””…”””””

 

Only the son of Earl Platte alone was unable to read the mood and said something so selfish that even Doushi became speechless.

“Umm, Captain Fulger, Vice-Captain Begim, please contact me if anything should be troubling you.”

“Thank you kindly. We have been imprisoned heer as you can see, but it’s not like they’re treating us badly or anything. We will simply pray for the negotiations to fish as soon as possible so that we get released in due time.”

“That’s right. The food and hospitality isn’t bad, but in the end, nothing can beat freedom.”

The same applied to the other crew members as well, but as could be expected of the staff chosen to man the Extra-Large Magic Airship Lingaia, all of them were outstanding sailors. Without revealing any weaknesses, they endured this situation in a stout-hearted manner.

“Have me released without further delay. Otherwise, you’ll turn the Earl Platte House into your enemy.”

Just one guy was unable to fully grasp the situation…

“Give it a rest with the annoying yapping of your useless flap!”

“Ugh!”

Earl Platte’s son lost his consciousness after Doushi chopped him――while holding back to the utmost――since Doushi got fed up with the other man’s terrible conduct. The defense members couldn’t even react because Doushi’s movements were so quick.

They ended up frozen on the spot.

“This guy apparently fainted and fell down all by himself. I would like you to toss him onto his bed.”

“Understood…”

The defense members were apparently fed up with the noble heir’s attitude as well. Without even blaming Doushi with a single word, they picked up Earl Platte’s son with several members and moved him to an isolation cell.

“Bloody hell, what a hopeless fool he is.”

“Doushi, won’t that result in the Platte House becoming hostile to you?”

“Burkhart-dono, if they desire a duel, I will humor them at any time.”

Doushi had a reason why he would be fine, even if he vented his anger or disgust at nobles he didn’t like without holding back anything. After all, he could always accept their duel requests if they felt like complaining. And since everyone would likely avoid a genuine duel with this guy, only very few people would dare to publicly criticize Doushi.

Though I think Doushi is about the only one who can use this sort of means…

“Forgive us for this idiot causing you so much trouble. We don’t have many of such idiots, luckily.”

As I’ve ended up becoming a noble myself, I excused things to defend the honor of the Kingdom’s nobility. I feel like I’ve come a fairly long way with this.

Considering my previous life, I feel a strong affinity with the culture and political system in the demon country, though…

“You will find anywhere a fixed percentage of idiots. I doubt that the demon country is all that different in this regard.”

“That’s true. The idiotic sons of politicians, high-ranking bureaucrats, and the owners of large enterprises are repeatedly causing disturbances and scandals as well.”

There seems to be no difference between monarchies and democracies when it comes to things like this. It’s just that the transgressions of those dumb children are usually covered up with money and political influence.

“It’d be best to not let that guy starve to death, so place keep him alive until the negotiations end.”

“Of course. We will keep treating him in accordance with our regulations.”

It sounds like the demon politicians, who are currently negotiating with the Kingdom, could be seen as rather questionable, but it looks like many decent demons are doing their job on site. They’re giving me a hundredfold better impression in comparison to that dumb noble son.

As I was thinking about this, there was one more idiot who was being punished for being unable to read the mood.

“But, Big Sis, I heard the rumors. You married. So you were finally able to find a guy, Big Sis.”

“……gh……”

“Ah…idiot…”

Because I hadn’t been in time with covering his mouth, Lisa snapped in silence and let loose her magic which had given her the nickname of Blizzard. However, Anakin wasn’t frozen, but locked up in a cage of super-hard ice.

“Big Sis, I feel cold here.”

“Humans won’t die even if they’re cold for a whole day.”

“Big Sis, forgive meeee! I’ll rephrase my words! For you to take Big Sis as a wife, you must have way too much male spirit, Earl Baumeister!”

“This guy is seriously an idiot….”

As he said something needless once more, another lay of ice was added to his cage, and he ended up stuck in there for two days with no heating.”

 

＊　　　＊　　　＊

 

“Now then, this finishes our work here.”

“That’s a serious problem, hubby.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what we should do next.”

 

After wrapping up our meeting with the crew members of the Lingaia, we went back to our hotel, but so far we haven’t been told our schedule. Erw was looking at the wrapping paper of the sweet that had been provided in the hotel room as he was chewing on it. Because Haruka had gone back to the Baumeister Earldom, he was probably pondering whether it’d be possible to reproduce this sweet.

Elise, Amalie-san, Ina, and Wilma were taking care of the children. Although I came here as a special envoy, I had no idea what to expect. I was sitting on a sofa while brooding, but just like me, Katia seemed to be wondering what we should do here as well.

“In the first place, we do not hold any authority to negotiate anything!”

To say nothing of them dragging their feet and not making any decisions, the negotiations seem to be at a point where they could break down because of the differences in values. But, since we’re no diplomats, there’s nothing we can do about this.

However, then it was decided that we’d be taken around to various places, starting with tomorrow morning.

After finishing our breakfast at the hotel, we were taken to a senior citizen’s home in a bus-type, magic four-wheel that seemed to be wide-spread in Zontark.

This is usually a standard part of a schedule, if a celebrity from overseas visits Japan. It creates nice pictures for the TV of the celebrity amiably interacting with the elderly, and thus causes the populace to hold a good impression of them.

“Earl Baumeister-san and his retinue visited a special retirement home and spent some pleasurable time with the elderly people living there,” Lumi talked to herself while taking notes for writing an article later on.

She had been exclusively attached to us as a reporter for this trip.

“(You really think so, Lumi?)”

“(No, it’s just that the politicians over here like those sort of pictures. Those are popular with the general public, right?)” Lumi answered, but Arnest and his three pupils looked rather frosty.

To begin with, I feel like Lumi also sounded somewhat cold when she was talking about popularity with the general public.

“(Some people still fall for this stuff, but half of the populace knows that this is just a political play).”

The demons around Arnest have been avoiding interacting with the elderly while pretending to be our guards.

“(Mall, help me out here)”

“(E───eh, I don’t want to)”

“(At least take a look, will you?)”

The meaning behind this seemed unclear, but everyone was doing their job by listening to the old people’s stories or playing ball games with them. The picture of Doushi playing ball with old people was especially surreal at best.

Seeing how Mall and the others had been hired by me and the government, I forced them to work by telling them that they must keep the elderly some company.

“(I know….)”

“(You guys sure seem to hate this from the bottom of your hearts…)”

“(I mean…)

It seems like the idea of cherishing your old has existed since old times among demons. Just as it does among humans. For this reason the retirement homes are being expanded all the time, but nowadays the increase in elderly is quite considerable, resulting in the young demons get the short end of the stick because of it.

“(The consumption tax has gone up to 30%, and because no politician will be able to win any election if they suggest a cut of the elderly welfare budget, they don’t even mention it. Yet, the decline in birth rate likely won’t be solved unless they allot more money to the young folks)”

Seeing how their politicians are elected through votes, political measures are advantageous towards the many old people who have a very huge influence on elections. For this reason, the voter turnout among the younger generations has been recently dropping as well.

“(Everyone has become apathetic, huh…?)”

Even so, work is work. Mall and his friends did enough at the retirement home so that Lumi had the necessary material to write a newspaper article.

“This is a political activity? I do not understand the point behind it.”

After leaving the retirement home, Doushi couldn’t quite grasp why we had done all this.

“Don’t nobles and wealthy merchants donate to orphanages or participate in the Church’s charity work? I think this counts as similar. Well, it’s also related to the old people’s votes…”

“The parliament members, who are chosen through an election, give me the impression of resembling nobles.”

“They get their votes by securing concessions for their region, and it often happens that the children take over the parliament seat, right? So yeah, they do feel similar…”

“Doushi-san, Burkhart-san, our press is watching them,” Lumi said, but she might also harbor doubts about the current state of her own country.

After all, she used to be Arnest’s student.

“Miss Reporter, even the Kingdom will imprison nobles who mess around too much.”

“But, nobles won’t be out of a job if they lose in an election, right? Ah, oops…there’s no point in us arguing about this here. Our next, scheduled visit is a day nursery. Excellent facilities that were provisionally established to raise the birth rate by supporting the working mums make for a great story.”

While leaving my babies’ care in the hands of others, my next job was to show the reporters how I was playing and nursing the children of other people.

If forced to say, I’d admit that I possess some familiarity with this society as it’s similar to Japan, but no matter what I do, I find it difficult to like the demon country.

 

＊　　　＊　　　＊

 

“In the first place, what is the meaning of our presence here?”

The negotiations were going quite roughly due to the differing opinions, so we’re being treated like some sort of star attraction.

“Should we go back to our babies…?”

“Right…,” Elise answered.

My wives had also become worn out by the weirdness of the demon country. We decided to head back to Amalie-san who was taking care of our children at the moment.

“Welcome back, everyone.”

We traveled to all sorts of places after this for around a week. We visited many different places, met with politicians, and attended banquets. And Lumi turned all of those events into articles published in many newspapers, including her Everyday Journal.

“Wend, you can see me in this picture.”

Luise was apparently happy to find herself in a picture used for a newspaper story. But, once ten days of our visit here had passed, articles about us started to disappear from the newspapers.

“Well, I suppose we’ve served our purpose as interesting material.”

“Earl Baumeister-san, that’s a fairly pragmatic and cynical assessment!”

A noble had visited from a human country for the first time in more than 10,000 years together with many wives in tow. Him and his family going around the regions had offered a great topic for the people, but the demons have probably gotten tired of this kind of story.

Now the front page of all newspapers was covered by 『Twins of Black-White Bears have been born at the National Zoo!』.

“How terrible. What do the people of the demon country take us for?”

“Ina, we’ve still got the better treatment over here.”

The diplomatic corps currently negotiating at the archipelago had been devalued to such a degree that they were only mentioned in a corner of the politics section of newspapers. Even if it only lasted ten days, we dominated the front page all the time.

“I mean, the diplomatic corps isn’t even taking the top of the politics section…”

Articles about the lack of elderly homes and their servicing, a revision of the laws as fake production areas of foodstuff have been increasingly cropping up, and budget cuts for the welfare programs dominated the politics section.

Most of the demons prioritized problems close to them over foreign countries they’ve never seen. And given that they hadn’t even been aware of those foreign countries up until now, their sense of danger was weak, too.

“The demon country sure is blessed much more than ours. But…,” Therese said.

Many are jobless, but it’s not like they’re starving out on the streets. The bare minimum of life necessities is being guaranteed by the state. But, Therese has also noticed that a feeling of hopelessness permeated this country for some reason, despite all its riches. Somehow I was unable to calm down here as well, despite it being a place similar to my previous world.

“Wendelin, thou work as special diplomatic envoy is mostly done, right? I think it’d be best for us to withdraw from here as soon as possible.”

“It’d be great if we could do just that.”

Therese was speaking what I was thinking. We had come to this country while the negotiations were stuck, but it was unclear what sort of role we had over here. We didn’t participate in any conference of substantial relevance and were mostly handled like some exhibition show as we were sent around various areas in a way that suited the demons.

But, I had come here on His Majesty’s order. Seeing how the negotiations remained fixed in place, it was hard to imagine that we’d be able to leave this land until the prospects for the negotiations picking up again had improved somewhat.

“I really want to go back home.”

“Erw, you know that it’s impossible, don’t you?”

Since this place resembled my previous world, I thought I’d want to look around a bit more, but it looks like I’ve become accustomed to this quite a bit by now. (T/N: Yet you compare everything to your previous life…)

I didn’t feel a shred of attachment to the demon country, but it was a fact that I couldn’t just pack my luggage and head back home on my own accord. Since this fact couldn’t be changed, we ended up spending every day in the hotel while prioritizing baby care.

“Say, wouldn’t a normal government set up all sorts of programs for guests such as us?” Burkhart-san asked Lumi who was still staying with us, but her reply was something unexpected.

“I think the utility value of your group has vanished during the first week.”

“What’s with that?”

“The negative effect of a change in government.”

The demons had voted the CRP into power after the NSP (National Sovereignty Party) had somehow run the administration even while being criticized quite harshly for their ways. Most of the new government members were amateurs in politics. Moreover, the CRP was split into conservatives and reformers, each side saying and doing whatever they pleased.

The ones shouting the loudest stood out. Those people then disorderly stated their own opinions to the media. Hooked by that, the government couldn’t decide on a policy. As such, they had, according to Lumi, tried to use us in order to gloss over their internal disorder.

“Their alibi was them getting things done by saying that they had welcomed a diplomatic envoy. This was a move to cover up that the negotiations weren’t going anywhere.”

“Quite a nasty story, I gotta say.”

“Many of the news people are supporters of the CRP, so it also plays a role that those people have difficulties to simply criticize the CRP.”

“People working in the media somewhat possess a disposition of being anti-government and anti-authority after all. Because the CRP leans closer towards supporting the citizens, the media people want to back them, I guess.”

“Oohh! You understand the circumstances quite well, Earl Baumeister-san,” Lumi praised me.

But that was knowledge from my previous life.

“It’s unclear whether there are people with ability as statesmen among the CRP.”

Going by what I’ve seen so far, I’d say no. If you read the newspapers, you’ll immediately find many articles stating that people should give them some time since the CRP members were still beginners. This would be no issue during times of peace, but currently when Zontark is at odds with a human country, the view of giving them some qualifying period because they’re rookies comes with a lot of problems.

“Well, it’d be hard for me to criticize the politics of another country. I’m a noble of the Helmut Kingdom, so it’d be regarded as an intervention.”

“The demons seem to be brimming with the will to meddle with our domestic affairs, though,” Ina commented.

As of late, citizen’s groups and political organizations have been showing up in front of our hotel every day. However, they get quickly expelled by the defense forces. According to the defense force members, it’d be a waste of time to deal with them seriously.

Given that I don’t have the authority to accept their demands either, it’s probably better for me to not meet them. But before that, Helmut Kingdom and Holy Empire Urquhart are both feudalistic states, so both countries would be hard pressed if you told them to suddenly have their populaces elect their politicians in votes.

In the eyes of Ina, the will to intervene in other people’s affairs by these demons was quite extreme.

“Those people are no politicians, so it does not amount to anything even if you talked to them.”

“Huh? Who are they then?”

“People with too much time on their hands because they are jobless.”

According to Arnest, many of those who were unemployed used their free time for political activism since they didn’t need to worry about their necessities of life.

“They’re killing time with this?”

“Many such people exist as well. They feel like they can become important if they criticize the authorities, and that alone already serves as a possibility for them to vent some stress. Another reason is to be found in them having plenty of time, too. Some of them were also able to become members of the parliament after running for election like the politicians of the CRP. This is also work.”

“Work?”

“Of course, some people genuinely wish for the lives of the citizens to improve as much as possible. Though it is also true that such people are few in number and that such serious people do not stand out.”

Ina became dumbfounded by Arnest’s extreme explanation which we couldn’t verify from our side.

“Anyway, it looks like nothing good will come out of getting involved with the demon country. It’d be best to leave the negotiations to the foreign minister and his diplomats.”

We had visited this country on His Majesty’s order. Wasn’t this fact alone already plenty?

“Arnest, I got tired of the hotel food.”

“I can guess. Earl Baumeister, you have a tendency to be quite interested in the food of normal people.”

“Well, it’s because I can only eat at the hotel and whenever we visit some place.”

Given that our treatment has gradually become sloppier and since we had nothing to do, we decided to go out in the city. I felt sorry for the defense force who would need to guard us, but I’d die if I had to stay cooped up in the hotel any longer.

“Sensei, are you going to guide Earl-sama to a chain restaurant?”

“He is tired of the high-class food provided by the hotel. Personally, I have always liked the hamburger set at this place.”

Arnest had led our big group to a restaurant resembling a family restaurant. He gave the others the impression that he had guided a foreign earl to a commoners’ eatery, but in reality, Arnest simply wanted to eat the food here.

“It’s a fairly pretty place.”

“There is a lot to choose from on the menu, too.”

The family restaurant over here closely resembled the ones in Japan. It has a lot of different dishes, and most of the prices remained below a thousand Yen. All of the food served was above average, too.

However, since it was ready-made, you couldn’t call it super delicious either. All the dishes overflowed with a feel of retort food, making them taste so-so.

I just sampled it and passed the Doria plate towards Erw.

“I’d say it’s so-so. It might have felt a bit more delicious, if we had this while hunting. Haruka-san’s cooking is much better.”

Erw’s palate has apparently leveled up quite a bit ever since getting married. Next to him, Haruka looked very happy to hear that he regarded her food as delicious.

“Erw-san, the dessert is quite good.”

“Oh, right. There was no need to force myself with the main meal.”

Erw got fed with a crepe by Haruka.

“Die! Erwin, die!”

“Right now, the flames of jealousy are burning me to the cinders.”

“Right now and here you stopped being our friend.”

Seeing the happy couple, Mall and his friends got pretty pissed. I can understand their feelings since I was the same as them in my previous life. Though I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be told, 『We don’t want to be pitied by YOU!』.

“You sure are intolerant…” Lumi commented.

“Whether you are married or unmarried, what difference does it make either way?”

“””Senpai, Sensei, you simply don’t understand!!”””

Mall’s group objected to Arnest and Lumi with tears in their eyes.

“Getting back to our original topic: the demon country only has restaurants like this one here or special, personal restaurants. Since they allow me to eat my meals without reserve, I do like such places.”

Because the competition was fierce due to the population decline, chain stores aimed at the masses and private restaurants that were supported by regular customers were the only eateries left in this country.

“It’s great that they also got booze.”

“Burkhart-san, please don’t drink too much.”

“It’s just a bit. Right, Doushi?”

“Young Lady, please bring us a bottle of wine.”

It was supposed to be just a little, but Doushi suddenly ordered a full bottle of wine. In addition, he also ordered fried potatoes, stir-fried spinach and other side dishes to go with the wine.

“Having no joy in life but alcohol; that is quite a lacking life, I must say.”

“Shut it, demon. Not drinking any alcohol despite being old enough to do so is the real proof of a lacking life.”

Arnest and Doushi’s compatibility was somewhat bad.

“Now, now, don’t fight. You’re only troubling the other guests.”

For some reason it resulted in me having to mediate, but our big group of my whole household, Doushi, Burkhart-san, and five demons monopolized the inner section of this restaurant. Of course we drew the attention of the other guests and clerks.

“Sensei, wouldn’t you choose a place with private rooms in such a situation?”

“Hmm? I wanted to eat the hamburger set here.”

“No way, it’s not that delicious that you’d feel a dire urge to eat it, is it?”

“This cheap taste is great.”

Mall criticized Arnest’s choice, but there was no way that Arnest would care about the looks of others.

That’s fine and all, but don’t say that it’s not delicious or cheap in front of the clerks!!

“Well, it’s not all that bad, so it’s okay.”

“Still, sometimes I get a craving for the doria sold at this place.”

Ramul and Silas were slightly dissatisfied as they’d hoped to go to a slightly better place, but they seemed to know this restaurant here. They quickly finished up their dishes and went to get some drinks at the self-service drink area. Seems like family restaurants in the demon country have those as well.

“Being able to drink as much as you want for one and the same price is incredible. What’s the trick behind this?”

“Well, even if you can drink as much as you want, no one can realistically drink dozens of cups. And since the customers fill the cups themselves, it saves the restaurant personnel costs.”

“Earl Baumeister-san, you sure are well-informed about the details of the restaurant,” Lumi commented in praise, but it all stemmed from me having sold ingredients to family restaurants in my previous life.

“It would be great if you could drink as much alcohol as you want!”

“That’s an unreasonable demand since this place isn’t a bar.”

“You’re also aware of all-you-can-drink bars, Earl Baumeister-san?”

“Ahaha…it was written in a newspaper.”

“I see.”

What, so all-you-can-drink bars also exist? It’s good that I managed to dupe Lumi successfully.

“So it’s not all-you-can-drink? What a bummer.”

“Let us limit ourselves for now!”

Doushi and Burkhart-san were unhappy about them not being able to drink as much as they wanted, but in reality both had already downed one bottle of wine each. We were lucky that this place didn’t allow for endless refills on alcohol.

“Earl Baumeister-sama, will we be fine on money?”

“Yeah, I did convert enough.”

I didn’t possess any of the local currency, so I handed a gold nugget to the hotel staff, asking for a conversion. The employee exchanged the gold for Yen at a broker for me.

If it’s only this much, I shouldn’t have any problems footing the bill.

“Is 8700 Yen per gram a lot?”

Back in my previous life, the price for gold was around 5000 Yen per gram. If the currency here and Japan’s Yen have a similar value, I feel like gold is somewhat expensive, but I don’t know how much gold Zontark possesses to begin with.

“It has increased drastically compared to the time before we were hired by the military.”

“Indeed. Previously it was approximately 7500 Yen per gram.”

“Back when I still lived in this country, the price for one gram of gold was around 6800 Yen.”

“Well, that’s because gold is an object of speculation, sensei.”

According to Silas’s explanation, the people couldn’t hope for economic growth and a rise in their income with the population decline, so things like stocks, credits, and futures have gained a lot of traction, and gold has apparently been rising in value as well because of its scarcity on the market.

“The contact with the humans plays into this as well.”

“Yes, because trade might start soon.”

In such a case, the payment for trade goods will be done in gold and silver.

Arnest suspected that enterprises and such were buying up the gold on the market in order to secure it ahead of the crowd, pushing the gold price upwards.

“Quite the hasty bunch of people…”

“The current Zontark is ruled by those people.”

“And the politicians are just puppets for those guys, huh?”

“That is why it does not matter which political party comes in power since it will not change anything about the country’s system.”

Even in this world, the rich hold all the power, I suppose. Royalty and nobles have fallen in the demon country, just to be replaced by merchants, enterprises, and banks as new rulers. The politicians are no more than their lap dogs.

These parts completely align with my previous world.

“Dear, it is about time…”

“Oh right.”

The food over here was normal. If I had to give them points, they’d receive 65 to 70 out of a 100. The taste isn’t bad and the food is cheap, so the restaurant is packed with quite a lot of customers despite it being a normal weekday.

Groups of female demons were eating, and amusing themselves by chatting about gossip while ordering desserts and drinks. We had been featured in newspapers and since we had nine babies with us too, they apparently realized our identity right away. They were talking quietly while watching us from a distance, but I suppose our guards simply prevented them from addressing us directly.

As we’re only adding burdens on our guards, we’ll go back to the hotel as soon as possible.

“Somehow, we’ve got a lot of free time on our hands.”

“Those were my thoughts as well. Arnest got it nice since he seems to be quite busy.”

 

＊

 

It didn’t become much of a recreation, but we had nothing to do once we went back to our hotel.

My babies had their diapers changed and got their fill of milk. Currently they were focusing on the main job of babies – sleep. Elise and my wives were talking while drinking tea. Meanwhile Arnest had begun to sort his material about the various historical ruins while getting his former four pupils to help him.

“All of you have completely forgotten the charm of archeology.”

“I’ve been without a job for a long time.”

“Me too.”

“We told you, archeology doesn’t earn you enough money to put food on the table.”

“I would like you to put some spirit into excavating some place since you can live on the welfare program and thus do not need any money. You are my pupils, after all.”

“Sensei, we simply attended your classes because we joined the archeology faculty by chance. It was all part of the moratorium until finding a job.”

“That period has become quite long, though.”

“At this rate, we’ll stay unemployed until our death.”

As might be expected, even Arnest saw that there was no chance to make Mall and his friends divert from doing everything at their own pace. For a change, he voiced some complaints.

“You guys are truly lost cases,” chimed Lumi in.

“Lumi, why did you not set your sights on archeology?”

“I did request to join the culture department at the time of entering the newspaper. But, it was rejected by my superiors and I was sent to the politics department.”

“What a tragedy, I must say. Certainly, demons do not die from hunger. But, they completely lack energy as well. At this rate, the decline of our race will be set in stone. What do you think, Earl Baumeister?”

“Even if you ask me about this…”

Or rather, why is he dragging me into this topic? It’s not like I can’t understand his feelings, but even the humans on the continent, who Arnest praises as being full of energy, have their fair share of troubles…

Many people live in slums, and although many children are born, they’re being treated badly.

A lot of demons cannot marry, but I think it’s still better to have your minimum necessities of life taken care of, if you don’t have a job. Life isn’t easy.

Thriving societies with growing populations might have many members who become unhappy without anyone caring or realizing, and if they lost their anxiety over starvation like the demons, their vitality as a race would plummet. In the end, this might actually be a law or the nature of all living beings.

“Anyway, even if I were to say this or that to the demons, they’d very likely interpret it as meddling by an outsider.”

I’m Earl Baumeister, so I must be careful about what I say when and where.

“As far as I am concerned, I do not plan to support the Republic of Zontark. As long as there exists another country or community, I can live over there without any issues.”

“Don’t be so unreasonable…”

The demons have taken many years to consolidate their entire race in one state called Zontark, and yet Arnest was talking about founding another state. It was obviously very likely that he’d be labeled as a rebel and hunted down.

“If they believe the Helmut Kingdom or Holy Empire Urquhart to be behind this, it could very well lead to a total war between demons and humans. Be a nice guy and do your ruin explorations in the Baumeister Earldom.”

That blasted Arnest. It was the same during the matter with Duke Nürnberg, but every once in a while dangerous thoughts appear on the surface from deep within him. Since he’s no politician, I’d like him to avoid thinking about weird stuff.

“When it comes to land, there is more than enough available. The Republic of Zontark does not redevelop abandoned areas that have been completely reclaimed by nature, nor do they avail a budget to excavate underground ruins. That is the very reason why I fled this country.”

“It’s not like I don’t understand where you’re coming from, but isn’t that mostly based on your own desires?”

“Humans and demons evolve because they have their desires. But currently the demons do not follow their desires,” answered Arnest.

He’s right. Many of the folks in this country seemed to be indifferent to stuff. I haven’t met a single demon full of desires and lust as I had imagined them to be.

“Looking at it pragmatically, it’d be a pain if they started a war with us, so I’m fine with them lacking desires.”

At long last, the development of my earldom was proceeding, so I’d be troubled if someone came to steal my land or lay waste to it. For the sake of my wives and children, I must focus on remaining conservative with my moves.

“We came here because of the decree by His Majesty, but it’d been a waste of time so far.”

We were simply delaying the development of my fief without getting any results out of being here. I’m pretty sure that Roderich is eagerly waiting for our return. As soon as I get back, he’ll minutely plan my entire schedule.

“Oh well, let us hurry back to our territory and proceed with the development…”

There was nothing left I could do in this country. Everyone seemed to be bored and thus I started to plan our return to the Baumeister Earldom.

But, just as I thought all that, Mall’s group, which had been hired by us on the condition that it’d only last for our stay in Zontark, appealed with frantic expressions.

“I’ll be fine being treated as Arnest-sensei’s assistant, so please hire me!”

“Being without a job all the time is boring!”

“Being jobless is fine and all, but the looks of my parents do sting at times.”

“I see…”

It makes sense since they remained unemployed even after leaving university. Many of the young demons end up without a job, but since there are also people like Lumi who do find employment, they probably feel embarrassed about being compared to those people.

“There’s plenty of work in the human country, right?”

“Yes, but…”

These three are magicians, so they’ll be in great demand, if we just talk about their abilities. But, the fundamental question of whether humans will hire demons still remains unsolved.

“Earl Baumeister, you have hired Arnest-sensei, so we should be alright as well.”

“Working in a place completely unknown to us will be scary, but I think it’ll be okay if it’s your territory, Earl Baumeister.”

“As such, please hire us!”

They’ve started asking something excessive all of a sudden.

Or rather, don’t go shouting about getting hired in a place where the defense unit has its eyes and ears. The demons had already been fussing over the Kingdom with just Arnest, and yet I’d be hiring three more demons in such a case. It’s very likely that the demons might suspect me of scheming a rebellion in the worst case. How would they assess an extended stay in a human country?

“I believe you to have sufficient ability, but there exists a condition for you to work in a human country.”

“Which is?”

“The Republic of Zontark and the Helmut Kingdom must conclude their negotiations. Maybe they’ll even tie an agreement about immigration and emigration. It’s also necessary to decide on the rules for the working conditions, and since you’re going to work in a foreign country, taxes are an issue as well.”

“What about sensei?”

“Arnest is an exception. It’d only lead to problems if we increased the exception.”

“””No way…”””

Learning that they wouldn’t be allowed to escape their jobless status so easily, Mall and his two friends dropped their shoulders in disappointment.

After all, it doesn’t really look like the negotiations between the two countries are going all that well, as far as I can tell. Most of the reasons for that are to be found on the demons’ side. It’s only natural that they will receive strong opposition if they make such silly demands as telling the Kingdom to abandon its monarchical rule and shift to a democracy.

Besides, it’d only lead to chaos in society, if the Helmut Kingdom suddenly shifted to a democratic system. The folks of the CRP can’t understand this part…though it’s also possible that they’re planning to place the kingdom under their control after intentionally causing chaos.

“Democracy doesn’t help us in any way!”

“It doesn’t give us any jobs either!”

“I want to marry!”

The three young demon men shouted.

It’s not like these guys are idiots or slackers. They’re just having slightly bad luck. That’s all. They probably have a lot they want to tell the authorities, too.

“It’s quite amazing for half the youth to be unemployed. But, the island housing the Republic of Zontark has much more uninhabited land than inhabited, right?” Ina asked.

“Well, that’s because many places were abandoned over the years.”

Mall was somewhat well-informed on the history of this land since he had been studying archeology.

The population continued to dwindle among the demons who had reached a high level of prosperity. And with the decline of the population came a gradual desertion of habitats, explained Mall to Ina.

“How about you move there since it’s a waste to let the land lie idle?”

“But, in that case, the social security…”

If you live in the uninhabited lands that are outside Zontark’s jurisdiction, you’re free to do what you like, but you’ll lose the guarantee of being provided the bare minimum to live. I think demons could still pull through since they possess mana, but I suppose they’re against it because no one could guarantee them a civilized life.

“You want to leave since you dislike the life in the current Zontark, yet you cling to its social security? Isn’t that odd?”

“That’s…” Mall fell silent upon Ina’s fair point.

And she’s right. It’s weird for someone, who wishes to live freely by escaping Zontark, to depend on Zontark’s social security so much. Freedom also includes the possibility of starving to death or dying from illness.

“I think this country is quite blessed.”

Something like public assistance doesn’t exist in the Helmut Kingdom. Neither pensions or health insurance. With the final safety net being the church, one can easily guess the level of social security in the Helmut Kingdom.

“I think you won’t have any option but to choose.”

“A life where I’m not troubled due to public assistance, albeit jobless, or a life of being able to work freely but having no social security whatsoever, huh…?” I contemplated their situation.

In my case, I had to simply and earnestly claw my way up with the start point being the Baumeister Knightdom. If I had been reincarnated into this country as a demon, I might still be living the life of a student.

“Earl Baumeister-dono,” a young demon man, who had been standing guard in front of our room in the inn, called out to me as I was lost in thought.

“Is something the matter?”

“As a matter of fact, you have a visitor?”

“A guest? Who is it?”

I’d hate to be forced into dealing with those weird activists. Our guards have apparently been keeping those people away, but there was no guarantee that they could avoid any of them sneaking past.

“They have introduced themselves as Her Majesty the Demon Queen of the old Zontark Kingdom and her prime minister. They mentioned that they’d like to build a friendship with you as fellow nobles believing in noblesse oblige.”

“Umm…the ruler of the demons is still around?”

I was convinced that they had chopped off his head during some sort of revolution. Mostly imagining things based on the French Revolution.

If you look at the people of Zontark, they don’t really give you the impression of being tolerant towards the existence of a sovereign.

“So far as it goes, I have been aware of her existence… But I have never met her myself,” answered the young guard.

And since he had never met that king in person, his face clearly suggested that he wasn’t all that convinced about the girl in question being the real deal.

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to let such people through?”

Burkhart-san reacted quite excessively to the guard leader trying to allow such suspicious people to get close to us. After all, it’d be a disaster if something happened to me and the children.

“There is no danger.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Even if she is called queen, she does not possess any power or authority nowadays.”

According to the young guard, the Zontark Kingdom, the predecessor of the Republic of Zontark, stopped existing as a nation in a bloodless revolution. Neither the royals nor the nobles were killed, but the majority of their assets were confiscated by the new government and their statuses were lowered to those of commoners.

Thanks to the ideology of democracy, they were free to call them king and nobles on their own accord, but royals and nobles calling themselves as such while having the same authority as commoners was nothing but ridiculous.

Gradually the number of people adhering to those titles continued to decrease and eventually most of them stopped using their former titles, explained the guard to us.

“Although they lost their power, wouldn’t it be dangerous for us to become close with royalty and nobility over here? I’d hate to be suspected for no reason.”

It’d also loathe the idea of being regarded as instigator who tries to drop the Republic of Zontark into chaos by spurring on former royalty. Therefore, I see no reason that I have to meet them at all costs.

“They truly don’t hold any authority whatsoever. Besides…”

“You may step back. I shall explain things from here on.”

Pushing aside the guard, the king of the demons…the demon king, I guess…but, it doesn’t mean he’s the final boss of a RPG…showed up.

Well, she’s supposed to have shown up, but I don’t see anyone…

 

 

 

 

“Earl Baumeister-dono, below.”

 

“Below?”

Once I lowered my sight a bit, I found a girl in the outfit of a king standing there. So I guess it should be queen, seeing how she’s a female. ¹

She was quite small since her height remained beneath 120 cm. Her age should be seven or maybe eight? Given that I don’t know the growth speed of demons, she might actually be older, but no matter how you look at her, she totally looks like a little girl.

She might turn out to be a beauty in the future, but if I had to summarize her current appearance, I’d call her a cute queen.

“How small…!”

“Heeey! Don’t call me small!”

She apparently didn’t like to be called small, based on her immediately protesting my words.

“Your Majesty, please remain calm… Someone who is the demon queen wouldn’t get upset by something of this level. A ruler’s caliber isn’t reflected by the size of their body. It’s reflected by the level of generosity the ruler possesses.”

“I see, I was almost about to lose my calm there. It’s also possible that this Earl Baumeister-dono has deliberately provoked me to gauge my caliber, huh?”

“Keenly observed, Your Majesty.”

The companion of the cute queen had a height of around 165 cm. She had black, short-cut hair. The suite covering her body fit her perfectly and showed no openings. She was a very pretty woman with the air of a career woman around her.

She’s the prime minister…no, seeing how she holds no real power either, it means she comes from the family of the former prime minister. Because the queen is still a child, the prime minister would be the addressee for any serious talks.

“Earl-sama.”

“Earl Baumeister.”

“What an amazing amount of mana…”

As predictable, the demon queen and her prime minister had more mana than Arnest, even though he already possessed quite a substantial amount. Especially the queen was hoarding a ridiculous amount of mana. I could fully agree with her ancestors having performed outstanding in the wars of old as demon kings and queens.

“No matter how much mana you might have, it has no use in the Republic of Zontark.”

“Really?”

“All demons possess at least a certain level of mana,” the prime minister answered in the queen’s stead.

“Magic tools have been developed in the Republic of Zontark. And as these were improved on, the amount of mana they consumed steadily grew less too. Nowadays it’s regarded as meaningless to possess a lot of mana.”

A decrease of mana consumption…I’d say that sounds awfully similar to energy saving for consumer electronics due to technological advance…

All demons possess mana, so I guess individuals won’t be able to make a career unless they’re skilled at managing this advanced society or possess the engineering skills and brains to develop magic tools. The pattern of the demon kings and queens as well as their nobles with their big mana pools exhibiting their might in wars while many of the other demons obeyed them has become outdated nowadays, I guess.

“So, what kind of business do you have with me today?”

“It is just as you were told earlier. Let us establish a friendly exchange as fellow people believing in noblesse oblige.”

“In other words, this country has almost no one left who refers to themselves as royals or nobles. So we wish to get in contact with our kind.”

“Quite blunt, aren’t we…?”

Since it doesn’t seem like it’d be particularly harmful, I invited the demon queen and her prime minister into our room.

“Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Elisabeth While Zontark the 999th. This person here is Lyra, the prime minister who has been serving me well.”

“Greetings. My name is Lyra Mill Lyra.”

The demon queen had introduced herself while pushing out her own chest, but since she unfortunately had no chest to speak of, her gesture bore no meaning. Unless she grows up a bit more, I think it remains pointless for her to push out her chest like that.

“Uugghh…Earl Baumeister, all of your wives have big breasts…”

The demon queen looked at my wives, beginning with Elise while ignoring Luise, putting on a rather envious expression.

“Ah, as I thought…” Luise felt depressed being the only one left out by the demon queen.

“Your Majesty, you are still ten years old. Give it another ten years.”

“You’re right. Once I grow up, I’ll become a demon queen with an eye-popping figure who’s loved by all her citizens.”

Somehow she’s quite disconnected from things, or…is beauty and breast size related to rulership in some way?

“Can women become the rulers among demons?”

“You are?”

“Your Majesty, going by her conduct, she is no ordinary person.”

Lyra mostly perceived Therese true identity from just the aura she exuded.

“I’m a former Duchess and might have very well become an empress, if fate had been different. But, nowadays I’m no more than a plain woman.”

Therese appeared to be interested in the demon queen who has a position similar to her past self.

“I see, now I understand. During the era of the Zontark Kingdom, only men could wear the crown, but this is yet another change of times.”

“I aim to become a demon queen who is loved by all her subjects. Besides, this era has also seen some people who became politicians after winning elections for the sole reason of being female. A demon queen might be quite popular among the people.”

How should I comment on this…? In the end, it’s fairly cheap reasoning, I guess.

“Doesn’t that mean it’s no more than a public stunt,” asked Therese.

“My current situation isn’t overly pleasant. I cannot choose my means. Moreover, I’m the last, surviving direct descendant of the royal family.”

The fallen royal family had lived their lives while doing regular office jobs. However, Elisabeth’s mother died of sickness soon after giving birth to her, and her father passed away in an accident three years ago. Accordingly, Lyra, the sole daughter of the prime minister family, apparently took custody of Elisabeth as her guardian.

“Life is hard.”

“I cannot come up with any other words fitting it better…”

Just like Wilma and Amalie-san, I couldn’t think of any other way to comment on this either.

“So both your parents passed away? And yet you’re still so young…”

Maybe because she compared Elisabeth to our babies, who were currently sleeping next door, Elise deeply sympathized with Elisabeth.

“I’m grateful for you worrying about me. I don’t remember Mama, but when Papa died in a traffic accident, I was very sad. But, this was also the very reason why I swore myself that I must revive the royal family! This will be the perfect method to give Papa and Mama a peace of mind as they’re watching me from heaven.”

“Your Majesty, that is a wonderful mindset.”

“……”

It sure is wonderful, but…I doubt I’d have been able to look so positively at life in spite of losing both parents at a very early age…despite being the demon queen, she’s still calling her parents Mama and Papa, instead of father, mother, or Her/His Majesty, huh…?

“In addition, I’m an only child, so I’m right now receiving public assistance, allowing me to somehow make a living.”

“I have always seen it as a privilege to serve you.”

“I’m very thankful of your constant devotion, Lyra.”

“You are too kind, Your Majesty.”

This country’s social security is pretty good, and that’s probably the reason why Elisabeth has no problem with her livelihood. The prime minister also seems to look after her if she has some spare time. But, I think it must be quite a strain on her because she has her own job, too.

When I asked her about it, she answered, “I usually handle it with several part-time jobs so that I can keep some flexibility in my schedule.”

A demon queen reliant on welfare, and a prime minister hopping from one part-time job to the next, huh? In a certain sense, they’re a novel combination.

“So you’re jobless, huh?”

“Just like us then.”

Mall and his two friends appeared to feel compatible with Elisabeth, but she treated them coldly.

“I receive public assistance because I’m an orphan, but I attend school normally. I suppose your parents are still doing fine, and I dare to guess that you also graduated university. And yet you remain jobless. That’s deplorable.”

“Argh! It’s the same nasty way of speaking as society has been using against us!”

“You’re still small, and yet your tongue is already so wicked!”

“Despite being a washboard…”

“Don’t call me small! I’m set to grow taller soon! I’m sure my breasts will also become boin-boin soon like those of Earl Baumeister’s wives!”

A country full of unemployed youths bickering at each other over who’s better off; certainly, you can’t really expect much good for the future, I’d assume.

But, is Elisabeth really going to grow up like Elise and my other wives?

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“You’re right, Lyra. Forgive me. I came here because I have something very important to discuss.”

“Before that, please enjoy our tea and cakes.”

As it’d be rude to not even provide some tea after allowing guests into our room, Elise and Lisa prepared some tea. Today’s tea cake was a cream puff which we had bought at a local bakery. They cost 500 Yen each, but the cream possessed a refined sweetness and it was stuffed with plenty of puff. As their customers only consisted of rich folks, that bakery seemed to be for celebs.

“Ooohh! Those are the high-class cream puffs of 『Demoire Chou』, aren’t they!? It’s really been a long time since I last ate one.”

Elisabeth started to eat her cream puff while looking very happy.

“Your Majesty, you have cream at the corners of your mouth.”

“Aye, cream is justice.”

Elisabeth enjoyed the cream puff from the bottom of her heart while getting Lyra to wipe her mouth. Looking at her rejoicing over sweets so open-heartedly, it drives home that she’s still a young girl, despite being called demon queen. Lyra-san also looks more like her mother…err, sorry, her big sister than her prime minister.

“I cannot buy this as someone living on public assistance. In society, newspapers will start flaming, if welfare-recipients buy expensive goods or gamble around. Sounds very nitpicky, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I don’t really know how to answer that. Heh,” Lumi looked quite troubled after having been criticized by the demon queen while scratching her head.

“By the way, I have heard that it’s a common fact among the noble class, regardless of their race, that tea goes well with tasty cake. Isn’t that so, Layra?”

“I think it is just as you say, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, sure. I will refill your tea right away.”

It is definitely true that tea goes well with sweets, regardless of race. It’s a weird way to request a refill, but since it was charming and not disagreeable, Elise immediately started to pour another cup of tea. By the way, the tea leaves are our own.

“This tea seems to use good leaves.”

“Yes, it is a valuable forest mate tea. Those are precious tea leaves which have been grown naturally,” I explained to Elisabeth.

“Oh, I see! Certainly, this tea is excellent! Natural growth is great, isn’t it?”

I had Helmut-nii-san send them over the other day, but it’s great to hear that she has taken a liking to it.

“Oops, I almost forgot that we have something important to talk about. Yep, as I thought, the high-class cream puffs of Demoire Chou are exquisite.”

Once again Elisabeth focused on the cream puffs, and apparently liking them very much, she dirtied her mouth again, resulting in her having Lyra-san wipe her mouth once more.

“We still have more of them, so how about you take them back with you as souvenirs?”

“Oohh, sorry for appearing to be so demanding, Earl Baumeister-dono,”

Going by extreme logic, it means you can entice this demon queen with a cream puff costing 500 Yen, huh? The royals and nobles of this country sure have it hard.

“……”

“I don’t like sweet food overly much, so…how about it, Your Majesty?”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, Your Majesty, I hear you have something complicated to talk about with my Lord,” Erw asked for the true reason for her visit after yielding his cream puff to her.

As Erw says, it’s hard to believe that they only visited to deepen the exchange between fellow members of the higher class.

At once Elisabeth, who had been eating her second cream puff, started to look tense in response to Erw’s question, who acted like a proper retainer for a change.

Before Lyra-san could wipe her mouth again, she stood up on top of her chair and began something like a speech while hoisting her half-eaten cream puff into the air.

“At this rate, noblesse oblige is bound to perish among the demons. Therefore I made a decision. I shall become a demon queen in name and reality! Won’t you strive at this together with me, Earl Baumeister?”

“Haaah…”

Apparently a seed of trouble has visited us once again.

 

 

 

 

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Translation Notes:

1. JP is good at masking genders because the way the language is constructed. This doesn’t work well with English and it also makes little sense for the guard to know about her name and have seen the two upon entering, but not be able to decipther their gender, so I went with the proper pronoun early on.