Read The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King | 126 -

126 - - the skill of a king of conspiracy

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　It was Eve who was most curious to see what kind of tea a wealthy merchant like Marco Polo would make for her.

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Of course. She was the woman in charge of the kitchen of the Demon King's castle. She was curious about tea made by maids from other families.

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　The tea that Marco served her was a very common kind of tea, but Eve watched the way he poured it.

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　When the beautiful maid made enough tea for the number of guests, she growled, "This one's ready.

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　I didn't understand how it was different from the usual Eve's, but I heard that Marco Polo's maids' tea-pouring technique was top-notch.

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"The selection of tea leaves, the steeping, everything is top-notch," Eve said.

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　I tried the tea, and it was indeed very good. There was almost no astringency, and only the aroma permeated my nostrils.

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"I'm glad you liked it."

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　Marco Polo said as he added a lot of milk and sugar. There is no aroma or anything else in that much sugar, but everyone has his own way of drinking tea, and the best tea is the one he thinks is the best.

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　We each drank the best tea, and I asked him what was going on.

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"I met a half-elf named Ryoma, daughter of Ryoma Sakamoto, and she asked me to help her.

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"I have heard that."

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"I have heard that," she replied. We answered her call and came to this maritime city. But before we can save the city, she is in trouble. We were wondering what to do.

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"It is the same with me. Ryoma is the daughter of my apprentice, a granddaughter of sorts. I want to save her somehow.

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So you will fight with me, then?

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Of course.

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Then let's start with some information. Why is Leoma imprisoned?

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"Well, I must start by telling you how this town came to be."

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　Marco explains.

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The maritime city of Bernese is a city without a king. It is called the city of merchants. The city is governed by a council of merchants.

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Are you a member of this council, Master Marco?

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Yes, I am a member of the council.

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I've heard that the current turmoil is the result of a dispute within the council.

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That's right. The conservative faction centering on me was the largest force in this council, but recently the innovative faction has been expanding its power with aggressive methods.

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The revolutionary faction?

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Innovation--that's a better sounding word--is a bunch of philistines who want to make money by seizing power," he dismisses them.

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　He dismisses them as "snobs who want to grab power and make money.

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"I'm sorry to be harsh, but these are the kind of people who would frame and imprison the innocent Lord Ryoma for embezzlement. They must be a bunch of fools."

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"Yes. Yes, you can say that. But they have resorted to forbidden measures to extend their influence.

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Forbidden moves?

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Yeah. The maritime city of Bernese is a permanent neutral city. It has made friends with all the surrounding cities and does not interfere by force. That is how we have amassed our wealth. But they have colluded with a certain demon king to break that tradition.

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A demon lord?

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Yes. He's the ruler of Dagon, an island city off the coast of the Maritime City.

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Dagon the Mad King?

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　He was on the list of demon kings in this world that Eve showed me before.

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　The demon kings of this world are basically the same name as the 72 demons of Solomon. Moreover, their strength seems to be linked to their fame, and Dagon must have been a very high ranking demon king.

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"You've attracted the attention of a very troublesome person, haven't you?

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"That's right. However, we have the recently launched demon king Ashtaroth on our side. I think it's safe to say that our forces are now evenly matched.

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"I hope so."

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　He should have first thought of a way to save Ryoma, who was being accused of a crime he did not commit.

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"Indeed," Marco agreed.

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　Marco agreed.

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"Next is the extermination of the ghost ship that plagues this city. Only after we have defeated the ghost ship and gained the confidence of the people of this city and the wealthy merchants other than yourself should we turn our attention to Dagon and the revolutionary faction. I don't want to make a mistake in our priorities."

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"That's right, Lord Demon King. You know the right thing to do."

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　Marco shakes his wrinkled head in agreement.

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"If we confront Dagon without his confidence, what we are doing is no different from the revolutionaries. It is not a matter of whether we use the might of Dagon or the might of Ashtaroth. We are merchants with a mercantile spirit, but we are not ruffians. Let us first show them the difference.

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　As I say this, Marco's maid pours tea into an empty teacup.

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　The fragrance of the tea fills the room.

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"Now the question is, how do we save the innocent Ryoma-dono?"

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　He clenches his jaw and gathers his wits.

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　The easy way is to break into the jail and use force to free him, but that would make me a wanted man.

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　It would also put Ryoma and Marco in a bad position. So I reject that idea.

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　The best thing to do would be to find the real embezzler and turn him in. .......

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　But that may be difficult. Even the innovators must have cornered Ryoma with fake evidences.

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　They will not be so easy to turn their tails.

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　When I tell him of my findings, Marco confirms my guess, saying that it's brilliant.

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　But that doesn't change anything. We have to think of something.

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　I sip my tea slowly and decide to combine the ideas I have just thought of.

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"Combined?"

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　Marco frowned. He doesn't understand what I mean.

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　But my men seem to have guessed it. All but Jeanne let out a wry smile, "That's just like the Demon Lord," she says.

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　Marco is puzzled, so I give my answer early.

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"Here's the plan I've come up with. I'll go to the real culprit of the embezzlement and ask him to confess his crime with a show of force.

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"How is such a thing possible?"

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He'll force them to confess themselves.

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"A truly devil-may-care idea. ......"

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　Marco may be a hero from another world, but he doesn't seem to like the human, demon king ways.

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　It was Eve who spoke up to reassure him.

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"Don't worry, Master Marco. Master may be a demon king, but he is a merciful demon king. He will not torture you.

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　Then how do you get him to talk?

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　Marco asked her, but Eve was unperturbed.

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"Then you will see in real time the skill of the king of intrigue. You won't be bored.

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　Eve smiles at us.

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　The others were also full of confidence.

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　I really don't want to make people think I'm some kind of god of intrigue, but for once, I was sure I could live up to their expectations.

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　I was that confident of my plan, but I needed the cooperation of the ninja to make me sure of my confidence.

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　I had Kazama Kotaro do a background check on the council members who had framed Ryoma, and we began our mission to get Ryoma back.

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