Chapter 84: The Sage Watches the Growth of His Subordinates

At the audience room.

I read through the piles of reports.

I felt that the number of reports had increased recently.

It seemed that our spies were very enthusiastic.

I tried not to overlook even the tiniest bit of information.

It was fair to struggle within reasonable limits.

At present, I hadn’t heard about any spies getting caught or revealed.

All of them were very talented people.

I doubt they would make a mistake in deciding when to withdraw.

Luciana was by my side.

She was organizing documents in front of the office desk.

It helped with reducing my burden as much as possible.

At the same time, she was also creating instructions for espionage-related matters.

It was exactly because Luciana was capable as the command center that her spy subordinates operated so smoothly.

Even so, instead of functioning as one, this is an audience hall in name only…

I looked around the room, which was filled with even more desks and filing cabinets.

As time went by, it had half-turned into an office.

It was wide and convenient after all.

At present, no outsiders visited this room.

Since I rarely used my private room, I naturally ended up working here.

Thirty days have passed since I murdered John Doe.

Several changes have occurred in many parts throughout the world since then.

The first place that could be mentioned to have undergone major changes was the Empire.

The Empire, whose capital had been obliterated by the furious Great Spirit, was currently paralyzed as a nation.

With nobody to lead them, it could be said that their aristocrats were seeking asylum in other nations one after another.

Furthermore, due to invasions from other nations, their territories had been stolen and they had shrunk in size.

They had lost their standing as one of the most powerful nations of all time, and was currently in a state of near desctruction.

The Demon Lord’s Army had also invaded several times and seized adjacent territories.

The Empire could no longer return.

Even if I had left it alone, it was destined to eventually disappear from the map.

Whatever remained of them would be assimilated into other nations.

It could be said that it was a suitable end for a warring nation that expanded through aggression.

The Magic Kingdom, which had fought against the Demon Lord’s Army the other day, had also gone through a significant change.

The damage caused by the battle in the capital was enormous, and one could say that it had practically been destroyed.

It seemed there was no prospect for its reconstruction.

This was partly because of the invasion of the Demon Lord’s Army, though the main reason for its destruction was the giant golem.

The ultimate weapon that John Doe had developed had carved an indelible mark on the capital.

Such was the scale of that weapon.

It had probably been manufactured with the government’s support.

The people involved must have never expected it to end up like that.

The upper echelons of the Magic Kingdom had underestimated the dangers of the giant golem.

After being convinced that they could attain great power through it, they had only focused on that point.

It was the result of their greed blinding them.

At the moment, the Magic Kingdom’s Army was being invaded by the Holy Scepter Kingdom.

The Holy Scepter Kingdom took advantage of the situation with the destruction of the Magic Kingdom’s capital and started attacking them at various locations.

They probably wanted to regain their power through this opportunity.

They had lost the Saint and their main forces during the war against me.

Since they had recovered somewhat from the damage they had received then, it seemed they decided to invade the Magic Kingdom this time.

The Magic Kingdom, on the other hand, resisted with what remaining forces they had.

Of their remaining territories, one of the larger ones was designated as their new capital and they had begun to reconstruct it.

Since their intelligence group had managed to survive during my battle against John Doe, they were able to quickly respond to the situation.

I didn’t pay any particular attention to the survival of the intelligence group.

At the time, John Doe and the mystical stone were my top priorities.

The Magic Kingdom was not much of a threat once they lost their extreme technological advantage.

The war between the Holy Scepter Kingdom and Magic Kingdom was likely to last for some time.

This matter couldn’t be overlooked.

My wish was to stop the conflict amongst humans.

The situation of the two nations was exactly against what I wished for.

Even so, I didn’t want to take sides with either of them.

Therefore, I decided to adopt a compromise.

In the near future, I would create either a huge rift or wall which would separate the two nations.

Once I did that, it would be physically impossible for both of the nations to keep invading each other.

Such a feat could easily be achieved with my ability. 

Furthermore, I would destroy the surrounding cities and demand a sacrifice to the Demon Lord’s territory.

Both nations wouldn’t want to provoke the Demon Lord.

They had already tasted the horrors of what followed once the Demon Lord was hostile to them.

With that, their attention would inevitably be directed at me instead.

Once I demanded sacrifice from both of them, they wouldn’t have any leisure to invade each other.

On the surface, it would look like the Demon Lord was making fun of them, the losing nations.

First and foremost, it would cause a bad impression of the Demon Lord.

They would be reminded of a threat known as the Demon Lord.

Since I would go this far to show how mean I was, nobody would notice my true intentions.

Such a decision had many inherent advantages.

This sabotage plan was proposed by Luciana.

It was something she had thought of while considering my wishes and objectives.

Luciana was the right person for this kind of secret maneuver.

I would make full use of the talent that she had displayed during her days as one of the four Heavenly Kings.

I had suffered a lot because of it back then, but now that she had become an ally, she was extremely reliable.

“…Fumu.”

As I read the report, I felt the need for relevant documents.

I wanted to refer to past cases.

If I neglected the step of confirmation for such tasks, then there could be problems during unexpected situations.

It wasn’t something I could just ignore.

As I got up from my chair, I spoke to Luciana, who was working silently.

“I’m going to the library.”

“Ah, then there are some books I’d like you to bring…”

Luciana raised her face and gave me the titles of a few books.

I remembered them and nodded.

“Alright. Wait for a while.”

“Thank you Demon Lord-sama. Please take care of it.”

After the exchange, I transferred myself to the library within the castle.

There were already some visitors there.

I paid attention to the two who had their backs turned.

“Discovered an object — Confirmed the height shortage for the acquisition of the target object. Request some assistance.”

“Which one is it? I’ll help you take it. Is this the book you want?

“Negative. The object on the left of it, within a two book distance.”

In front of the bookshelf which covered the entire wall, there was a humanoid figure in blue light stretching itself.

It was the offshoot of the Great Spirit.

The one who stood next to her was Grom.

He picked up the book located on a higher tier and handed it over to the offshoot.

“Is there anything else you want to read?”

“Commencing self-inquiry of my own interest — answer confirmed. Requesting picture books related to plants.”

“I see, I see. I know where the botanical picture book is located. Please follow me.”

Grom spoke with a gentle tone and turned around towards where I stood.

And the moment he saw me, he jumped in an exaggerated manner.

Grom was so astonished that he hit the bookshelf behind him.

“Wha, wha, wha! Demon Lord-sama?!”

“Thank you for educating her. I’m glad you seem to be enjoying it yourself as well.”

It was a sight that brought a smile to one's face.

The offshoot was attached to him.

I had ordered Grom to take the role of her educator since he was capable of restraining her in case she went berserk, but it seems my decision had been correct in more than one aspect.

“Th, this is not what it seems… I was only taking care of this girl as you ordered. I definitely didn’t mean anything else…”

Grom rapidly uttered a few excuses for some reason.

The offshoot tugged at his sleeve.

“Detected an error in referring to individual names — Commencing correction. It isn’t this girl, it is Yuura.”

“Yo, you’re right. I’m sorry…”

Grom dropped his shoulders and apologized when the offshoot pointed this out.

I wasn't just imagining it that he seemed a little down.

Now that I think about it, I did give her a name.

I looked back to what happened a few days ago.

Grom, who had come to me without anyone else knowing in the middle of the night, had suggested bestowing a name upon the offshoot.

Apparently, he was a little worried she would remain nameless forever.

Regarding that matter, the fault was mine.

I was so distracted with other things that I had completely forgotten about it.

It was to the point the Great Spirit could have come to lodge a complaint.

Upon receiving his proposal, I left the naming process to Grom.

It definitely wasn’t because it was a hassle to think of one.

I wasn’t familiar with such things, so I couldn’t think of a good name.

The news reached me later, but apparently, Grom had gone to the library after that to search for and determine a good name for her.

He was sincerely trying to name her in his own way.

I was only made aware of it days later due to Luciana’s report.

After several days of pondering, it was decided that the name of the offshoot would be Yuura.

If I wasn’t mistaken, Yuura was supposedly the name of a character that had appeared in a heroic epic.

I didn’t question why he had picked the name from there.

I could ask about it next time, once I had some more free time.

“By, by the way, Demon Lord-sama, why have you come here?”

Grom, whose behavior was somewhat suspicious, changed the topic in an obvious manner. 

Recalling my original purpose, I answered him.

“I just came to get some documents. Sorry for disturbing you.”

“Not at all! The fact that I could see the Demon Lord’s precious face is part of my daily happiness.”

Grom replied with excessive courtesy.

He was acting as usual.

He didn’t say it just for the sake of flattery; rather, he really meant it when he said that.

Then Grom glanced at Yuura, who was standing beside him.

“Yuura, come and greet Demon Lord-sama.”

“Accepted request of the Bone Minister — Commencing greeting. Good morning, master.”

“…Ah, good morning.”

I responded after a short pause.

There was something that had caught my attention within Yuura’s words.

I was wondering if I should inquire about it.

“…”

Sure enough, Grom was trembling.

His miasma oozed out, giving him a terrifying presence.

The flame orbit in one of his eyes was roaring and gaining momentum.

Grom, who was suppressing his fury, asked Yuura with an earth-shaking voice.

“— Yuura. Did you just call me Bone Minister right now?”

“Yes. I got an information update regarding individual names from Luciana. Currently, you are registered with that name.”

“Damn that succubus! To do such petty actions!”

The moment Grom heard her answer, he was furious.

He sprinted while exuding an tremendous killing intent, and quickly disappeared from the library.

Some of the books fell from the bookshelves due to the tremendous impact; I restored them using my magic.

As I re-established the situation, Yuura moved in front of me.

She looked at me and asked a question.

“Detecting the anger of the Bone Minister — Commencing investigation to search for the cause. Requesting for master’s aid.”

“…Return the registered individual name to Grom instead of Bone Minister. That will be enough.”

“The change of instruction was accepted. Update completed. Henceforth, the Bone Minister shall be referred to as Grom.”

Yuura spoke in a flat tone.

I had nothing to say in reply to that, so I just nodded.