Chapter 18

A white walled castle without any cloudiness.

Those who saw this place would probably appraise it as such.

Those that lived in the town that spread out in the land around the castle, they would look up at the castle every day, and would refresh their loyalty to the owner of that castle.

It was because they understood that if it weren’t for the owner of that castle, the development of this country would have been unlikely.

The name of the country was, the Zadark Kingdom.

That was the name that Vermudol, who was the Demon King as well as the country’s king, had given it.

Vermudol.

The Demon King that brought about a prosperity that the era of the previous Demon King Gramfia couldn’t even compare to.

Within the development and prosperity, they tried to naturally bury the pain and resentment of the former era’s wars.

「It’s not like it’s been forgotten but……It’s because there are a lot of the guys of the new generation.」

As Vermudol looked down on the castle town, Orel called out to him from behind.

The Zadark Kingdom, which continued to develop, although it was a country, it’s not like it was interacting with other countries……with the Human continent. At present, they didn’t even try.

However, that could be said for the Human side as well.

Looking at it from their point of view, since the Dark Continent was nothing but the Demon King’s ruined, cursed land, there was no reason to approach it. To begin with, since it was an isolated region that could geographically be called the end of the world, there weren’t any whimsical sailors that would go out of their way to approach it.

「Yeah. It’s because if we can cover everything in this country, there is no need to go out of our way to invade the other continent.」

「Well, that’s true but. Normally, you would be aiming for much higher.」

Much higher. In other words, that meant world domination which would aim for even more prosperity.

The former Demon King Gramfia planned for world domination, made various races slaves in that process, and brought various things into the Dark Continent.

As a result, although the Dark Continent experienced a bit of development, at the same time, it plunged into a long era of wars that would last more than a century.

After that, Gramfia was defeated by the Hero Ryuuya and his companions.

It’s probably possible to explain it as “Gramfia’s ambition had invited his demise”.

But the biggest cause of defeat was the fact that negligent in the development of his own country, that is what Vermudol thought.

Leadership by means of systematization.

The power of a group.

That was originally the wisdom of Humans, and was something that Mazoku who had a heavy tendency for individualism didn’t have.

However, if it was now where a similar structure was introduced, at the very least, it would end without stepping on the same rut as last time.

That’s right.

Learning from reflection, they would advance to the next step.

What Vermudol was doing that nothing more than that.

Be that as it may, just by doing that, the Dark Continent……The Zadark Kingdom would continue to develop.

In that case, they would need to move on to the next stage.

「……Orel.」

「What is it, Demon King-sama?」

Turning around to Orel who was standing at his back, Vermudol informed him.

「For a short while, I will be leaving this country.」

「Demon King-sama……!?」

The one that responded to those words was Ichika who was in wait in a slightly distant spot.

Defensive measures had been arranged, and the imprudent fellows that would aim for the seat of Demon King had been purged.

Why would there be a need to go out of his way to leave the country? Both Ichika and Orel were unable to understand.

「May I ask for the reason?」

「Even if there aren’t any seeds of danger here, there are seeds of danger outside. I will do something about those.」

Outside, in other words, it was about the Human’s continent.

Before, the Hero and the others invaded from there.

Even if there was no reason for him to invade them from this side, there might be a reason for them to invade here from their side. After having developed this much, that would be all the more of a reason..

If that was the case, war would be unavoidable.

In order to prevent that, he would anticipate that possibility and crush it……The measures for that were important.

「In, in that case, I will……」

Vermudol got the better of the volunteering Ichika.

「You can’t. Ichika, I need you to stay here and act as my substitute.」

「H, however……」

「I will take Nino along.」

Ichika tightly grasped her fist looking vexed by those words but……She immediately returned to being expressionless and nodded.

「……I understand.」

「Ichika. I am leaving you behind because I trust you.」

Vermudol said that with a wry smile mixed in.

That’s right. It wasn’t something like him bringing Nino because he liked her better or anything.

It was simply an argument of Nino being a muscle-brain while Ichika could make calm decisions.

To tell the truth, after those two, there were some candidates that he thought of but……since they weren’t suited for the role this time, he excluded them at an early stage.

「Take care of the country while I’m not around.」

「I understand……Please leave it to me.」

Vermudol nodded at Ichika who was pinching the hems of her skirt and bowing.

For the sake of Zadark Kingdom’s peace, he would step into Human territory.

Plunging in without any sort of information was nothing but dangerous, but there was no choice but to do so.

That is because that was Vermudol’s duty as a king.