A Realist"s Scheme
I am a Demon King who has acquired powerful soldiers.
This gives me several options, but I am a realist.
I don"t want to fight recklessly.
There is a saying in the other world.
"If you know your enemy and know yourself, in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated."
Those were the words of a strategist called Sun Tzu, and I had a respect for him.
And so I would follow those words.
"I hear that there are other Demon Kings in this world, but are there also humans?"
"There are. And they have their own kingdoms."
"Are they strong enough to go against the Demon Kings?"
"If the humans united as one, then perhaps they would be able to defeat the Demon Kings."
"In other words, the humans are not a monolith."
"That is so."
“Are there any Heroes? They typically exist in these worlds.”
"There are. Or to be precise, there should be. There are 72 Heroes in this world with special skills that are "Effective" against each Demon King. But I am not yet certain of the existence of a Hero who has a skill that is effective against you, my master."
“But he will be a threat if he does exist.”
"Yes. And so all of the Demon Kings send their minions out into the lands to hunt these Heroes."
"They are too soft. They should deal with them while they are children."
“That is a splendid idea. Leave nothing to chance. A first-rate eye for strategy.”
There were no Demon Kings in the previous world, but there was something known as "games" in the world that I was researching. In these games, there were villains known as Demon Kings, and they were always killed by the Heroes. And from what I observed, these Demon Kings always underestimated their enemies.
They would scatter their forces and always put the weakest monsters near the village that the Hero lived in. It was like begging them to grind for experience.
Throwing your forces out one after another. And they would never strengthen their army after the Hero was discovered. Instead, they would just wait in their castle without doing anything. It was idiotic.
And many times there would be a powerful weapon placed right in the castle that was the Demon King"s weakness. And so many stupid Demon Kings were killed by the Hero who used it.
And so I asked Eve.
"Eve. Is there any equipment hidden here that Heroes could use?"
Eve"s eyes widened.
"How did you know? It is only recorded on a hidden page in our inventory."
"A hunch. However, we do then. Alright, I want you to dispose of it now."
"Di-dispose of it?"
Eve said with confusion.
"But that is something that you are supposed to keep safe here. All the other Demon Kings have them. They are a symbol of the castle."
"A symbol of your authority? How boring."
"It is also the source of your authority."
"And it would be laughable to be defeated because of it. Dispose of it now. And I don"t mean that you should seal it away. Destroy it. Toss it into a volcanic mountain."
"…Yes."
There was a slight hesitation, but Eve obeyed.
She called a skeleton soldier and ordered it to dispose of the weapon in a volcanic mountain.
When she pa.s.sed the sword to it, she no longer looked regretful.
She turned around to look at me.