Chapter 197

Chapter 197

< Evade the Hero and Flee! 197 #23. Policy Meant for My Dream! (4) >

Bombardments.

What a wonderful way to attack one-sidedly in a war that was. Especially when my side holds the absolute advantage in the firing range; I could one-sidedly annihilate the enemy without hurting my allies once.

The best example of this would be Koreas Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin. Admiral Yis only crime in life was serving under an idiot king. During his battles against the invading Japs, he fully exploited the difference in the level of ships and firepower to never lose a single encounter.

And the most important aspect regarding bombardments was Its safe.

While fighting in close quarters, there was a good chance of getting hit by a stray arrow and dying! When almost all kingdoms in the continent join the war, youd inevitably encounter all sorts of unexpected variables.

Among those variables was the death of the famed undefeated general during his one and only defeat. Just how hard did I have to work to deal with the aftermath!

The valuable lesson I learned back then was: If I ever become a commander, I shall immediately slink off to the rear of the battlefield.

However, that lesson had a fatal flaw None other than the morale of my fellow soldiers! Which soldier in their right mind would be happy to see their commander hiding in a far-off safe place to hurl orders at them?

Since ancient times, soldiers trusted and followed a commander that stayed by their side and took the lead in the battles. Thats why I took everyone else and stayed in the rear. Our role would be to diligently fire the bombardments from there.

Fire, then fire some more, then fire even more!

Just like how a SiXtanX in SiXmode was firing mercilessly at the X army charging in to attack! [1]

Thanks to all the practice, my ability to calculate the distance with my naked eyes has become a bit No, it has become one of the best in the entire world.

I rekindled that memory and resorted to long-distance bombardments against Aggreahrt. The result? Overwhelming success.

There was not a single casualty on my side while we slaughtered countless many enemies. Even Aggreahrt was successfully killed in the end.

But now, Ive realised the truth. That wasnt the overwhelming success, but an overwhelming failure. I shouldve been a bit more cautious back then.

However, that ship had set sail already.

What a chaotic mess.

I stopped by at the demon kings castle to get a better understanding of the situation, only to be greeted by scenes of utter pandemonium.

Documents! Hurry up!

Dammit! Where did the manager for this matter run off to?!

He died!

Dammit?! Then whos the next in line?

Also dead!

Daaaaaaaammmit!!!

P-please, save me

Dont die! If you die, youll only increase our workload!

Which bastard is trying to die without permission?! Are you dying after finishing your work first?!

This was Hell.

Not a single demon walking around with documents clutched to their bosoms were free from dark circles below their eyes. I even witnessed a fair few demons crawling on the floor, too.

Some crawled, some walked, some ran, some even flew.

I watched these folks hurriedly moving around while utilising every inch of the corridor, then quickly left them alone. Theres no need to disturb hard-working people, now is there?

When I reached my destination and opened the office door

Are you busy?

I was greeted by the sight of a corpse.

Cant you tell by looking?

The corpses lips barely managed to squeeze out some intermittent words. That voice shouldve been quite pleasing to listen to, but right now, it reminded me of withered, cracking farmland after a lengthy drought.

Youre dying, then.

Indeed, its deadly.

What a one-sided bombardment this was.

Never mind casualties, not a single person on my side was wounded during the battle. On the other hand, the enemy camps leader, Aggreahrt, was killed, while the enemy suffered hundreds of casualties and even more injured overall.

But, during the commencement of the bombardment, a shell landed on a not-so-nice area, and

To think that all the office workers doing the government work got massacred like this

And their demise is pushing the rest of us to the brink of death as well, sir! Belegrea raised her gaunt face and shoved the pile of documents aside.

Unfortunately for her, though, a worker abruptly rushed inside the office as soon as she did that and dropped a new pile of documents on the cleared space.

Lets just die.

Oii?

The situation was so severe that Belegrea, resolved to sacrifice her everything for the peace of the demon continent once upon a time, had to give up!

Sirrrr! Please help us with the work!

She stared at me with such desperation in her eyes that I was forced to reply to her right away.

Dont want to.

Euh-euk

Of course I didnt want to. I didnt want to work, and thats why I dumped the position of the demon king on her, so why should I roll my sleeves up again?

Dont you have any new spare recruits lying around?

No, there is no one

I christened it as Bat-style Cram Education. My many disciples were good examples of how effective this education regime was.

Sir, it seems everything is going according to plan.

Indeed, everything is proceeding smoothly.

As long as things stay this way, of course.

Indeed. As long as they stay that way.

If things continued to progress in this fashion, then the demon race would eventually get to enjoy a more prosperous future.

The problem with that was

I guess its time to die, sir.

Oiii?!

Belegrea, seemingly understanding everything, opened the window and got ready to jump outside.

Im supposed to oversee all these things, arent I, sir?!

Obviously! Youre the demon king, after all!

But sir! Lord Marx, arent you also the demon king? Not just any, but one chosen by the Demon God herself?!

And Im planning to hand that title over to you, too!

I refuse! I will refuse, so please, please! Lend me your assistance!

She cried out and threatened to jump out of the window, but uh Its too bad for her, but we were on the first floor.

Besides all that, someone on the level of a swordmaster wouldnt die after jumping off from the top of a castle wall as long as they didnt want to. And there were soldiers on the ground outside, so they should easily catch her even if she did jump.

Worse still

Lady Belegrea?! Are you taking a break?!

Were wasting away with work like this, yet youre actually taking a break, maam?!

Get back to work, maam!

If Belegrea dies today, the amount of work the bureaucrats have to deal with would go up accordingly. Thats why they would never allow her to kill herself.

Belegrea was also aware of that, of course. She wordlessly closed the window to block out the loud jeers and boos coming from outside, then settled down demurely on her chair.

If I do this, Ill really die, sir. She pressed her face on the desks surface then began talking to me with a sobbing voice. After I became the demon king, the amount of work I deal with has grown, sir. I still had enough time to sleep before all this, but now? I cant even do that!

Sniffle

She continued to sniffle while leaning her face against the desk.

Watching her made me groan deeply. This New Tribe Movement also includes the education of the demon race. While spreading the will of the Demon God, we shall change the peoples perception of desk jobs. And once more people have learned basic knowledge, we should see the appearance of useful workers.

How long do you think itll take us to change the perception, sir! 100 years? No, maybe ten? How about we assume a minimum of five years? Will that be fine?!

I will die of overwork well before that happens, sir!

Belegrea didnt directly say that out loud, but the way she glared at me told me that loudly enough.

She was too powerless. With her current state, exploiting her might not be feasible. There were three ways to resolve this. However, the first method was the metal bat, and she was currently being used in the education of the chieftains so shes out.

The second method was for me to help her out. But I didnt want to work, so thats also out. Which meant I had no choice but to go with the third option.

And that was the so-called shock therapy!

Im not sure, but, uh Shouldnt it be better for you to work instead of wasting your time burying your face on the desk?

She was exercising her right to silence.

Very well. Lets see if you can keep that up after I drop this bombshell.

The thing is, Ria will soon stop working here, you know?

Say what?!

Bang!

Belegrea powerfully jumped up, her eyes trembling urgently. W-w-what are you t-talking about, sir?!

Ria will be retiring soon.

H-hold on?! I turned around and was about to leave her office, but Belegrea physically threw herself forward and tried to block my path. What are you even talking about, sir?!

Ria says shes going home.

B-but, what about her work?

Belegrea was now on the floor, crawling, her hands clinging onto me.

However, I easily shook off her desperate hands and grinned insidiously at her. Of course, youll have to do her share.

No! Noooooooo!!!

The legend of the nightless castle recorded in the annals of the demon continents history all began with Belegreas tragic scream.

[1]: I have no idea what the author is referring to here. Tried to google, but didnt get any concrete results.

[2]: This is a riff on the New Community Movement of South Korea kicked off by President Park Chung-hee in 1970.

[3]: Chollima Movement was North Koreas state-sponsored Stakhanovite movement launched in 1956. As for the online Chollima store, its actually 1000lima dot kr, an online phone store. 1000 is pronounced, cheon/, which is the same as Chollima in Korean .

[4]: There really is a song (more like a jingle) for the New Community Movement, apparently written by President Park himself. And yes, it starts off with the line, The new dawns bells are ringing.

[5]: Gungseochae is an old-school Korean (or Hangul) font invented in the middle of the Joseon dynasty for the ease of learning the language for the palaces maids-in-waiting.