Chapter 30.1 : Melancholy of Maou[Maou Side 2]
I sank, weakly, on the chair in my office.
Bundles of doc.u.ments that needed to be checked such as the logistic management, revision of tax system, highway maintenance was forming a high mountain on my office desk.
The reconstruction of the infrastructure had been quite delayed due to the tyrannical act of Sunra.
And not just limited to Sunra, it seems that the successive generation of Demon King before me had zero talent in domestic affairs. And that was also the main cause of this mountain of workload.
Should I call Barlunt back to fill in his post…………
I missed the capable personnel who was stolen by Lefiya.
I recognized his talent in his work ever since his appointment as prime minister, but now that he had left his post, it made me realize the fact that I was in fact underestimating his capabilities.
The void left by Barlunt was somehow covered by me and Celazam, but we’re truly shorthanded. I never expected that his works turned out to be far more than I could ever imagine.
To be honest,I was having a headache right now.
Though I did consider abusing my power as the Demon King to call Barurun back to fill his post, I somehow lost the motivation when I saw the current him enjoying his days.
Or should I say, he’s rather happy to be able to dump all his works on us, huh?
And, he’d rather act as a pet tiger rather than be in the tigerman form, huh?
Meanwhile, I was worrying endlessly about what sort of face I should wear when I met Lefiya.
Though this matter was just known to me a short while ago, it seems that my naked statues were on full display in her living place.
That would make me no different from a pervert.
Seriously, please pardon me from such t.i.tle.
Though I didn’t know whether she had noticed or not, that part was made bigger than the original model. F$ck.
Please spare me from this shame…….. This kind of worries.
In fact, I really wanted to cry. I wondered whether I should mention the matter about “Size” to Lefiya or just play dumb.
Lately though, I noticed that I was always getting involved with the matter surrounding Lefiya.
And, in the first place what in the h.e.l.l was the matter with that Maou Ri name?
Even I was puzzled by that matter, you know.
「Ha~h………. As expected, I really should have just said my name before the misunderstanding grew deeper and deeper.」
Though I had yet to have the chance to actually do so.
As a matter of fact, if possible, the matter of introducing my real name should have been done a long time ago.
This might sound like an excuse, but somehow in a different sense…………….. It felt like I was fighting against powerful foes when I tried to inform her though.
I really hate this wimpy side of me.
「Your majesty. Are you okay?」
「OWAAAA! ? Ah, so it’s you huh, Celazam.」
It seems that I was too engrossed in my own train of thought. No good. No good.
I couldn’t keep dilly dallying like this.
I had to recharge my spirits.
「There is further report regarding the movement of Holy Alistar Country from before.」
「Alistair………..Lefiya’s Hometown. Surely it was led by the current saint」
「It seems the armies were led by the high priest.」
「…….. …… And their reason? 」
「According to their official announcement, it is to take back the poor girl who was kidnapped by the Demon King.」
…… …….. Seriously.
I grabbed my head with both of my hands.
「But then, moving an army of that scale just to save a village girl is too……… Celazam, what do you think about this matter? 」
「It’s normally impossible for them to rally an army just to save a mere village girl, but perhaps it’s an exception for this case. But one thing for sure, their armies are marching toward us.」
Surely. Marching such an army for the sake of one village girl was impossible.
But somehow, to me, it felt like there were more reasons behind their official reason. I vaguely guessed the reason, but.
So far, I had avoided contact with the human side as much as possible to avoid provoking them. Though it seems that the kidnapping incident set that dying ember ablaze. It’s possible that they would march their armies toward us even when they were only given one or two reasons.
The fact that they kept up their vigilance toward the demon country over the course of 13 years was something that could be easily concluded from the report.
「The probability of the other countries in cahoot was………. Low. I mean it’s only one month since we brought Lefiya to this place. And yet, their mobilization was really fast. Usually, they’d need at least three months to gather their manpower. So, is Alistar the only one making their move? Or, are the other countries showing movements similar to Alistar’s? 」
「At present, no countries other than Alistar have moved their armies. We have even confirmed the appearance of hero Jusis and saint Marielle along with the high priest.」
「The current saint and hero too huh. What a wonderful line up.」
「The estimation of their force is around 1500. And more than half of that number is composed of cavalryman.」
More than half is cavalry? Seriously.
Did they have no intention to enter the demon kingdom’s territory?
It might be difficult to capture a fort with just a cavalry force.
This…looked more like they wanted to overpower us by making full use of the marching speed of their cavalry.
Well, it’s not like I was gonna let them into the demon territory though.
I was just curious about how serious they’re to fight against us.
「Do you have any conjecture regarding their marching route? 」
「I’m expecting them to arrive near Fya fort or Aheart fort within a week.」
「Their marching speed is quite fast huh. Just what in the world is making them march that fast? Their force might be equivalent to my 300 royal guard+me. Let’s take it as if they’re going to come to both Fya and Aheart.」
When mounted on horseback, the power of my royal guard was equivalent to 5 human knight of similar position. Not counting the power of the current saint and hero. Though their power shouldn’t be able to exceed our side if we were to clash in a battle.
And we’d be in an even more superior position with fort as our shield.
「Your majesty, I think it’s better to leave half of the royal guards in this place. Since I received a secret intelligence from Barlunt-dono that those Farrats are making suspicious moves」
「Farrat. …… Those ratman huh. Barlunt even went as far as that, huh.」
If one were to say that all people were suffering under the tyranny of Sunra, it’s a wrong conception. A minority of them did receive blessings from that Tyrant Demon King.
And one of them was rat people called Farrat.
They’re at the bottom most rank amongst the race in the demon country, known as the weakest race. Even goblins could give a good fight and even more so to put an alert in the surrounding if a goblin king were born. Meanwhile, those Farrats was even weaker than the goblins. And their weakness was proportional.
But then, that weakness was also the cause for the sudden turn in their standing.
Farrat, who was oppressed and sneered up to that point, turned the table on the others. Being enforced by Sunra, they turned their noses up against the ones who were looking down on them before.
However, being left alone due to their weakness, they usually pillaged, kidnapped, and attacked the other races who were cornered by Sunra to the brink of extinction.
Naturally, they also received their retribution after the death of Sunra. Though it’s not like I couldn’t sympathize with their condition prior to Sunra’s government, they were just reaping what they sowed. I didn’t do anything to stop them from getting the retribution for their own evil deeds.