Book 5: Chapter 12

The top of the Zadark Kingdom’s Eastern Army, Fainell, was facing her adjutant with a serious face in her office in the Eastern Army Headquarters.

What they were sitting in were the chairs meant for reception of visitors.

On the table, there was a board that seemed to have been a model of the Lulugal Forest that spread out in the eastern area of the Zadark Kingdom, and on top of that board, there were several things that looked like elaborate Goblin figures placed down.

Fainell picked up one among them……and with a serious expression, she placed it one square ahead.

「Fumu……In that case, I will advance this piece one spot ahead.」

「Oya, is that alright? Well then, my Fighter will attack Fainell-sama’s Village Chief……」

「Geh! W, wait! You, didn’t you just move forward two squares just now!?」

「I did a Shaman ritual in my last turn, right? The effect range goes on until the next turn.」

While groaning with a “nuu……”, Fainell stared at the board surface.

Seeing that there were no longer any objections, the adjutant advanced her own piece just like that, and removed Fainell’s Goblin piece that was in the direction of it.

「So, with this, I have crushed Fainell-sama’s Village Chief……So, what shall we do? I do not mind if you make your Shaman the Village Chief, but can you win without a Shaman?」

「W, wait. Wait a minute. Am I not allowed to make a Fighter the Village Chief?」

「Fainell-sama, your Fighter and Shaman are too far apart, right? As expected, with that distance, the Shaman’s whispering can’t be done.」

What these two were doing was the board game that spread throughout the entire Dark Continent.

It was a game that was named The Demon King Army War Games, and was something where they would fight by moving pieces on a board.

With the initial set, there was nothing but Goblin pieces, but by buying additional pieces through the piece lottery and additional boards, the fact that it was possible to fight in various situations and with various forces was a selling point.

However, rare pieces were hard to come by in the lottery, and since the pieces of those in higher positions would become the triggers of conflict when used by the common citizens, there were many cases where they weren’t used in the game even though they had finally obtained them. In particular, the Demon King Vermudol piece was the rarest of them all, but between those that enjoyed the board game, it had become an unspoken agreement that that piece would be disabled.

「Mu, muuー. In that case, first, I’ll turn a Soldier into a Fighter……」

「Your other Fighter is still going strong, isn’t it.」

What the two were doing right now was a rule called Goblin war. By having both players use only Goblins, it was a wonderful rule where it wouldn’t turn into a fight whether they won or lost, but recently, in order to make the game more interesting, there were even special rule of Goblin war was created. Since this rule was extremely popular, the other pieces started to become meant for collection use.

「Mu, muuー……」

「How about admitting defeat? You no longer have any hands to play.」

「No, wait. There should be some sort of hand I can play……Muu, am I not allowed reinforcements?」

While saying that, Fainell was peeking over at the display shelf behind her. What was there was the figure of the Fainell piece that she preciously stored there.

According to Fainell, it seemed to be a sturdy shelf that “won’t break even if Sancreed steps on it……”.

The adjutant had absolutely no idea why Sancreed would appear in the example, but she thought that they were just at that age and passed it off.

「You can’t. Please do not add to the rules.」

「Nuu……」

Ignoring Fainell who had entered a lengthy consideration, the adjutant extended a hand to the documents that were placed nearby.

They were documents that she planned to have Fainell look through after this, and was something that was related to the fresh recruits of the Eastern Army that they were planning on accepting soon.

「Muー……」

「Fainell-sama. Today, let us consider it as a draw, and talk about work.」

「Nn? Mu, nnー……Un. Well, if you say that, then it can’t be helped. I was about to play a hand that would completely turn this game around though.」

「Yes, I see. Well then, please take a look at these documents. They are the fresh recruits that we will be accepting.」

The 「fresh recruits we will be accepting」 that the adjutant mentioned just now were more accurately 「fresh recruits we plan on accepting」.

They would first be accepted by obtaining Fainell’s acknowledgement, but if Fainell were to do that, she would think too much about it and the work would accumulate. That is why, in the Eastern Army, Fainell’s work had basically been reduced to the level of her just pressing a stamp. This was something done under the instruction of the Demon King Army’s adviser Rokuna.

With that being the case, even the fresh recruits on the documents were treated as if they were already accepted.

To begin with, thanks to Demon King Vermudol’s reign, there shouldn’t be any personnel that would have problems in the current Dark Continent. Besides, since it was possible to be affiliated anywhere depending on the person’s aspirations and aptitude, this sort of acceptance process pretty much had no meaning to it though.

Fainell flipped through the documents she received, and with a nod, she pressed her stamp.

「Here, is that alright?」

「Yes, it is fine.」

While thinking “she really didn’t think about anything at all……”, the adjutant accepted the documents with a smile.

Fainell’s evaluation within the Eastern Army, such as the useless child general or the disappointing general, came to her mind.

The rumors about Fainell, a lot of them were disappointing when compared to the other Four Cardinal Generals.

According to them, she was seen tired out and happily sleeping in a corner of the training area.

According to them, the greatest serving of food called the super large serving that was in the Eastern Army’s mess hall was for General Fainell’s use.

According to them, on payday, the figure of General Fainell could be seen in the shopping district happily walking carrying various colored piece lottery bags.

What should be surprising is the fact that they were all true. Moreover, the point was that all of these were favorable evaluations. She was a so-called beloved character.

According to the Majin that knew Fainell’s gallant figure as a powerful Magic Swordsman, “that gap is somehow nice……” is what they seem to say.

Fainell’s appearance was exactly that of a 「capable Majin」. The adjutant felt that Fainell wasn’t inferior even when compared to the other Four Cardinal Generals. For example, whether it was the Northern General who was called the Light Burying Altejio, the Western General Sancreed who was a Hero, or even the Southern General Raktor who was celebrated as the strongest, the adjutant believed that Fainell possessed ability that was in no way inferior to them.

When push comes to shove, Fainell is strong.

After all, the Volsaber that had become the origin of Fainell’s nickname of 「Thunder Blade」 was Fainell’s Original Magic.

The development of magic was astonishingly difficult, and it couldn’t be constructed unless the flow of magical power and workings of its conversion were understood, and then all of that had to be put into the form that the caster desired. For Mazoku that excelled in handling magical power, the list of those that failed in the creation and spontaneously discharged was endless.

The adjutant knew of the fact that Fainell had pulled that off very easily, and that she also had several hidden tricks in addition to Volsaber.

That’s right, Fainell possessed something that worthy enough to unify the Eastern Army.

Normally, she was slightly, just a bit……no, substantially disappointing though.

「Come to think of it, this was bothering me a bit but.」

「Yes, what is it?」

「After all this time, I didn’t think that there would be anyone applying for our army. Just what is the reason for it?」

Fainell’s question was only natural in a certain meaning.

Excluding the Goblins and Amoeba that would quickly increase or decrease, the number of inhabitants of the Dark Continent almost never fluctuates. Moreover, excluding the beasts and the monsters that continued to live in the wild and the Amoeba that lived according to their instincts, almost all of the inhabitants of the Dark Continent had some sort of occupation.

Those that didn’t agree with having a permanent residence would take on short-term or one-shot jobs through the Guild, and people like that wouldn’t apply to something like the army.

A possibility that could be thought of was that those that evolved into Majin from monsters had hoped to find employment in the army through the mediation of the Guild which was a work referral place.

Incidentally, the various acceptance conditions differed for every army.

For example, in the Northern Army, while they were the army that had the Dark Continent’s number one blacksmith called Margaret, since they were also an important organization that shouldered the economic policies of the Zadark Kingdom, they sought personnel that had a sense of responsibility that was strong enough for that.

And then, in the Southern Army. With that place being called the Dark Continent’s strongest region, it was the residence of savage monsters, and many people that engaged in ore mine development and in blacksmithing……ruffians that prided in their muscular bodies, so to speak, were gathered. Therefore, the Southern Army sought out those that had confidence in their strength.

The Western Army was the army that the Mazoku Hero Sancreed commanded, and since it was the area that the Hero Ryuuya and his group had made landfall at in the past, they especially put strength into military affairs. Since they would fight standing at the head of the Demon King Army when the time called for it, they sought personnel that had especially strong desires to improve themselves and especially strong loyalty to the Demon King.

And then, the Eastern Army.

Since they were in charge of the Zadark Kingdom’s food policies and their agriculture was prosperous, the Eastern Army sought personnel that like shedding sweat as they worked. In addition, it was also the Fainell Fan Club.

The ones who hoped to join the Eastern Army, were personnel that were like that.

「Ahー……Right. It seems that two out of the three people wanted the agricultural lifestyle, while the remaining one person was here out of admiration of you, Fainell-sama, so it would seem.」

「Mu, of me? I see.」

Seeing the somewhat happy-looking Fainell, the adjutant took out one sheet from the stamped documents.

「Look, this is her.」

「Fumu.」

Fainell took that document and thoroughly looked through it.

The name that was written there was Arum. Her race was Majin, and her age was unknown. This in itself wasn’t anything particularly rare.

Having immediately lost interest, Fainell took her eyes off from the document.

「Well, please handle things as usual.」

「Yes. Since I thought you would say that, the two who wished to do agriculture have already been sent to study on-site.」

「Mu, then what about the remaining one?」

「I was thinking of assigning her to headquarters here. Fainell-sama, you do not have a problem with it, I was thinking of having her greet you after this.」

「You sure do work quickly. I don’t have a problem with that.」

The adjutant nodded, and stood from her seat.

「Understood. Well then, since I will be bringing her along, please wait for a moment.」

「Ahh, wait. It’s someone that expressly came in admiration for me. I will go to her.」