Book 10: Chapter 15: (2)

The national structure of the Zadark Kingdom was similar to an absolute monarchy. 

It was defined with the absolute king known as Demon King Vermudol being placed at the top, and authority being split and 「lent out」 to the Four Cardinal Generals and the Four Cardinal Armies that were under him.

This sort of political shape wasn’t something unusual as even the Canal Kingdom had the 「king」 as the top, placed the civil officials like the cabinet minister under that, and gave them authority for the sake of executing the 「king’s will」.

In other words, this made it so that things would be completed if the king were to make the minimum amount of intention for something to happen.

It was a shape meant to allow the king to grasp the feel of the 「overall flow」 and the finer parts would be left to the subordinates.

Naturally, there were also trivial matters that wouldn’t reach even the king’s eyes, but in the Zadark Kingdom, there were no such classifications and they ended up reaching Vermudol right away. That is why Vermudol was always moving around, and had a need to deal with an enormous amount of matters.

If there were cabinet ministers, the trivial matters could be left to them, but the Zadark Kingdom didn’t have any official cabinet ministers. 

Since Ichika and the Central General Gordy, or the adviser Rokuna would appropriately split up that role whenever Vermudol was absent, things finished up without needing any cabinet ministers up until now.

「You might as well make Rokuna or Ichika into the cabinet minister already.」

「Well, but still…… Ichika is plenty busy as it is……And doesn’t it seem like Rokuna would get mad if I push even more work onto her?」

「Then isn’t Gordy fine? Since she’s just getting covered in moss in the rear garden, make the Central General serve concurrently as the cabinet minister and move that work over to her.」

Being told “She surprisingly does her work by skillfully using her subordinates”, Vermudol started thinking.

Now that she mentions it, Gordy certainly does stand still in the rear garden a lot, but she should have the position as Central General which more or less unifies the Central Army.

Although her scope is small when compared to the other generals, she is in control of the security of Arkverm and within the Demon King castle, and her daily jobs are mixed.

By no means should she have the time to be covered in moss but……could things actually be just as Ykslaas said?

「Skillfully using subordinates is also part of the job. Although I understand your apprehensions, but showing a leisurely appearance is also an important job for a king, you know?」

「……I will think about it.」

When he placed a hand on Ykslaas’s head as she said “You do that”, she immediately pushed it away.

Without being bothered by that at all, Vermudol thought “come to think of it”.

In the political shape of the Canal Kingdom, the existence of 「civil officials」 would be necessary above anything else.

Naturally, in this civil war, the civil officials should have been split into the Princess Celis faction and the Princess Narika faction, but how would that all turn out now?

He remembered that before, when he came to this castle, the civil officials feared the Demon King and shut themselves in their rooms, so he didn’t properly meet them.

By no means did he intend to judge them as being incompetent but……even so, they were people that allowed the previous king to act rashly, and it was unknown as to whether or not they were even useful in the civil war.

「……Civil officials, huh.」

Even if the civil war has finally ended, it would be meaningless if Celis’s rule was thrown into disorder by those civil officials.

He wanted to meet with them if possible, but that being said, wouldn’t it be questionable if he were to interfere too much with the domestic affairs of another country?

The time of when he could flashily move about like he did with the Jiol Forest Kingdom had long since passed.

「……Well, it’s fine. Once I make my greetings to Celis-dono, I guess I’ll go to the headquarters of the reconstruction plan.」

「Ara, you’re not going back?」

「I’ll do that after I show my face over there. Besides……let’s see, things will be busy with diplomacy for a few days anyway. This will also be a chance to ascertain the true abilities of the Central General-cum-king’s assistant.」

Ykslaas tugged on the hem of Vermudol’s clothes in a panic as he started walking through the hallway while making an amused smile.

「Hold it right there. Reconsider that job title.」

「Why?」

In response to Vermudol who asked that curiously, Ykslaas replied with an extremely serious face.

「Just how many guys do think there are that are self-confident that they themselves are the ones that are assisting the Demon King Vermudol the best. So unless you want to see a deciding match of the strongest where they place their lives on the line, you should think of a more vague job title.」

Mazoku have the self-confidence that they themselves are the best, and would feel glad to prove it. That part of them could already be said to be an instinct of theirs.

Among a bunch like that, what would happen if a job title that makes it clear that they are the 「best」 were to be attached to one of them……Just as Ykslaas said, a brawl for that position would definitely happen.

「……That’s true. I’ll think about it until I return over there.」

Even Vermudol, who was able to vividly imagine that scene, nodded with a serious face.

Prime Minister, Supervisory Cabinet Minister, Government Affairs Cabinet Minister. Or more simply, just Cabinet Minister.

Vermudol and Ykslaas jointly produced various ideas, and before long, they ran out of ideas and breathed a sigh.

「……Isn’t just Central General enough?」

「I’m, starting to feel that way.」

That was the conclusion that came from thinking “isn’t a job title that smooths things over pointless”.

However, it was there that Vermudol remembered a conversation he had before with the Zadark Kingdom diplomat, Nanalus.

If he remembered correctly, he said that at the time he attended the conference with the Cylas Empire, having the civil official layer of their government being thin wasn’t good……didn’t he?

In that case, even if he were to put the actual professional duties aside, it wouldn’t be pointless to establish a 「cabinet minister」.

However, if he was going to do that, it would probably be bad to make an existing general hold that additional post.

In that case, what should he do?

「……」

「Ara, did you come up with some sort of good idea?」

Vermudol stared down at Ykslaas who was right in front of him.

Come to think of it, if he remembered correctly, Ykslaas should have been temporarily incorporated into the maid unit as the manager of the maids.

However, the real top of the maid unit was Ichika.

Wouldn’t this be a good opportunity?

「……Yosh, starting today, you are the prime minister.」

「Ha? I obviously don’t want that.」

Seeing Ykslaas’s figure as she ruthlessly dismissed and tossed aside that idea, Vermudol unconsciously placed a hand to his forehead.

「……I think that way that you can say something like that so clearly to me makes you perfect for the role though.」

「To begin with, the advantage of my current position is the ease of being able to leave the country and move around together with you like this, isn’t it. I have no intention of letting you push a troublesome role like a prime minister onto me.」

「Well, that’s……true.」

「I’ll let you have Shironos. He’s perfect since he’s surprisingly smart, you know?」

「Shironos huh……」

Now that she mentioned it, it was true that Shironos surprisingly kept an eye on even the smaller details, and he was able to be considerate of others.

Even among the three knights that were Ykslaas’s subordinates, his conduct could be said to be refined.

His personality and behavior were close to that of Nanalus, and he had created a small connection with Princess Eltrinde in this Canal Kingdom manner.

Even thinking about how they would be deepening a treaty of friendship with them from now on, he might be perfect for the job.

「……That guy, isn’t he at the Elreim Castle right now?」

「That’s right.」

「Yosh, the prime minister is Shironos. Let’s tell him later.」

The installation of the prime minister was decided in a place that Shironos himself was unaware of, and while thinking “if that’s the case, there’s a need to tailor new clothes for Shironos’s use”, Vermudol once again started to walk through the hallway.

However, a single figure suddenly appeared in his way.

「Thank you for your hard work, Vermudol-sama.」

「……So it’s you Reina.」

Having appeared in his way, Reina expressed a thin smile and stepped forward in front of Vermudol.

「Things will rapidly become busy from now on, won’t they?」

「That’s right.」

「What do you plan, on doing from now on?」

Without changing their expressions, they continued to stare at each other.

「I don’t understand the aim of your question.」

「If you so desired, the world could surely function with the Zadark Kingdom at the center. If you felt like it, the world could be reshuffled into a single country known as the Zadark Kingdom and……」

「That’s impossible.」

Interrupting Reina’s words, Vermudol cut down that idea like that.

「If the world were that simple, I would have switched over to the path of world domination long ago. But, if it were only one 『head』, the world would invariably split seeking a 『different head』. A single united nation is nothing but the delusions of people who see nothing but dreams.」

「Is that really the case?」

「It is. The ones that are fine to dominate, are the ones from one’s own lot. And most people aren’t fine with that. That is why words like “revolution” or phrases like “overthrowing one’s superior” exist. The world is more or less split up, and satisfying one’s own desire to dominate is healthy.」

Hearing Vermudol’s answer, Reina let out an amused smile.

「Fufufu……In that case, doesn’t that mean that confrontation won’t end for all eternity?」

「And there is no way it would end. Not until all life except for a single person vanishes from this world, that is.」

Ykslaas went 「Hey」 and interjected in Vermudol and Reina’s conversation.

「We have words, right. Then isn’t it common sense for living creatures that possess words to first attempt resolve by talking things out?」

「I see, that is logical. The things that a woman who came attacking without any preamble at all with the Dimensional Castle sure are different.」

Ykslaas glared at Vermudol as he raised the corners of his mouth and answered like that.

「Isn’t it unfair to be saying that?」

「No. For me, if there is a need for it, I will use methods other than words, and I have actually used them. And then, contrary to expectations, there are a lot of problems that can’t be resolved unless you use something other than words.」

「True, that is continuously proven throughout human history. I had synchronized with Aklia earlier, but it seems that things are on the verge of war on the other continent, you know?」

Ykslaas became speechless at the chuckling Reina, while Vermudol breathed out an uninterested “Hmph”.

「I see. So the mutual enemy that sleeps in the Sea of Farthest Ends will allow them to avoid that war as well.」

「That is how it is. It should also be possible to form a friendship with that as a stepping stone.」

Ykslaas listened to Reina and Vermudol’s conversation, and breathed out a sigh.

「Is mankind, nothing but a bunch of idiots……」

「Don’t say that. Being able to speak words is synonymous to making disputes compulsory.」

That’s right, the idea that words will make peace is nothing more than a fantasy of wanting to believe that things will be like that.

In reality, it is because words are spoken that disputes happen, and wars continue to break out.

If the fact that the living creatures that possess words have created every conceivable insult into consideration, it becomes clear that the damage from it all is much larger than any profits that can be obtained from being able to speak words.

「The fact that we Mazoku can’t really come to an agreement with discussion might be because we don’t believe in the power of words, can’t it?」

For example, the Mazoku that were in the west in the past were extraordinarily skilled in being all talk.

However, their words were extraordinarily light, and even if they sounded good, there was no sense of reality to them.

In other words, as far as the Mazoku were concerned, words were nothing more than something to conveniently manipulate others.

「……Seriously, that is really uncultured.」

「If being brimming with words makes one cultured, then the ones who are the most cultured in this world are minstrels and swindlers. I think that the ones who evolved without being fixated on that sort of thing are the cultured ones though.」

「Swindlers aside, I acknowledge the importance of minstrels.」

「Now that you mention it, you did say that sort of thing, didn’t you.」

Ykslaas glared at the disinterested-looking Vermudol.

Reina smiled while watching their exchange, and interrupted their talk with 「Well, putting the culture discussion aside.」

「Things really will become busy. The world is moving in a big way. Most likely, more than you had expected.」

「Hmph, what do you know about me. I have been moving for the sake of myself from the start. Things just happened to turn out like this before I knew it though.」

「In that case, that is your fate……or maybe it could be called your resourcefulness.」

「Oh shut it. Fate, is the word I hate the most.」

「Excuse me for that.」

After Vermudol clicked his tongue at how Reina’s smile didn’t break, he turned around and casted Transfer Magic.

「Ara, are you going back?」

「Yeah. There isn’t a reason for me to need to be here right now. If you see Ichika and Sancreed’s group, it would help if you told them to come on back.」

It surely wouldn’t be a problem if he were to greet Celis or appear at the reconstruction headquarters at another time.

While thinking that, Vermudol invoked Transfer Magic.

「Yes, I will comply.」

Like that, Vermudol and Ykslaas transferred to Vermudol’s office in the Demon King Castle.