Read The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King

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　We have escaped from the Count's castle, which has been taken over by an army of ants.

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　I immediately return to my camp and order them to retreat.

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"Why don't they attack us at once?"

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　Eve asks.

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"It would be ill-advised to attack without knowing their strength or purpose.

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"You are referring to Sun Tzu, as your husband always says, aren't you?"

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"Yes, if you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be in danger in a hundred battles. I want to know the objectives of the ants and their chain of command.

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"For that, you must be Mr. Kotaro Fuuma, right?"

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　Kotaro Fuuma appears.

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　I order him to investigate, and Kotaro silently disappears.

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"And then there's this princess..."

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　Eve looks at Jessica, who is still sleeping.

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"We'll take care of your daughter for a while at the castle. We'll have a servant. She's the heir to the count's estate.

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"Heir to the count? Does that mean the count is gone?"

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Perhaps. Perhaps. With that wound.

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　A short silent prayer was offered. But it was only for a short time. I had many things to do now that I was alive.

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"First, form a personal guard for Miss Jessica and bring her back to the castle. Meanwhile, we will fall back quietly. We must not be pursued by the enemy."

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"Yes, sir."

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　Eve immediately begins making arrangements.

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　The other leaders tell their men to leave.

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　Thus, the Ashtaroth army withdraws from the territory of Count Ismaria.

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　A week later, when the whole army returns safely to the castle of Ashtaroth, the identity of the ants who appeared in the castle of Ismaria is revealed.

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　Kotaro Fuuma explained solemnly.

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"Their race is Legion Ants. They are hive workers. They have lived underground on this continent since ancient times. They do not mix with humans or demons, but have evolved on their own.

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What do you mean by "unique"?

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The world of the ants themselves. They're organized around a queen ant.

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So if we defeat the queen ant, we can get rid of them?

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You can't get rid of them unless you defeat the queen ant.

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I see. Well, that's a problem. Where's the queen bee?

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I don't know. The army ants are constantly moving from one hive to another called the hive.

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"Always moving?　They live underground, don't they?

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"Yes, they are always moving in the ground. Perhaps, though, it has built a hive beneath Castle Ismaria and has been waiting for an opportunity to invade."

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"-- then..."

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　I stare at the floor of the council chamber.

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　Behind it. I imagine a far subterranean realm.

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"You mean, at this very moment, they could have a hive under Ashtaroth's castle, too?"

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Yes.

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Can you get to the bottom of it?

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Yes, we can. I'm working on it.

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　They're sending Hanzo, the Kobold ninja, to do a geological survey.

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"That's Kotaro for you."

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　He concludes, and decides to do his duty as an administrator until the results of the survey come back.

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"Until the location of the ant queen is known, we will focus on domestic affairs. The military officers must not neglect the training of their men.

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　Toshizo and Jeanne nodded.

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　I notice that Robin is the only one who seems to be idle, so I call out his name.

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"Robin Hood will lead the archery squad. At a later date, I want you to draw a man from each of the units who knows how to shoot a bow. And form a team."

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"Yes, sir."

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　Robin smiles wryly.

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　His smile is reassuring. Robin Hood is the greatest archer in the West. I'm sure he'll put together a great archery team.

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　He sends a message to all the military commanders and then begins to work on internal affairs.

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"Archers are more expensive than you think. Bows are expensive to make and arrows are not free.

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"So you want to develop the town and make it financially prosperous?

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"Yes, trade with the maritime city of Bernese has made us rich, but there is still room for growth. Now, those new potatoes we brought in from another continent the other day..."

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"Ah, those delicious potatoes."

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"I distributed the seed potatoes to the farmers, how are they doing?"

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"The farmers seem to be growing them and eating them, but they're not on the market?"

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Why is that?

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There are some bad rumors.

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Bad rumors?

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Yes. There are rumors that potatoes are poisonous.

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"What a load of crap! Yes, there are some sprouts, but other than that, it's a nutritious and tasty food."

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"That's true. We often serve it at the castle and everyone eats it up.

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"Eve's hash browns are excellent."

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　But to the citizens who have never seen new potatoes before, they are an unknown food. I'm stumped," he says.

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"The flowers of the new potatoes are poisonous. And I suppose that the people who ate the sprouts misunderstood them, and that's why the rumors started.

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Yes, sir.

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Then let's use intrigue for the first time in a long time.

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You're going to solve this problem with intrigue?

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Yes, I'm the king of intrigue. Now, Eve, order the large farmers on the outskirts of the city, the ones who grow potatoes, to fence their potato fields. No, send out goblins and orcs to help build the fence."

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"That's easy, but why such a thing?　We don't have to worry about the potatoes being stolen without a fence.

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"Of course. But what if we spread rumors like this among the citizens?　The new potatoes on the big farms are supposed to be very tasty. The rumor that they are poisonous is spread by the nobility in order to monopolize the potatoes. And there are fences in the potato fields to prove it..."

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"I see!　If you can't pull it, you can push it.

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"Yes, if I can't explain it to you with my mouth, I'll just talk to your greed. If you can't explain it with your mouth, I'll talk to human greed.

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"So the tramp who stole the potatoes will advertise that they're delicious?"

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"Correct. We can spread rumors from the grass roots."

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　I smiled at her and she bowed deeply.

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"You are indeed a scheming god. Your wisdom is the best of all the Demon Lords.

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"I hope so. Well, then, will you do it right away?

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　I bow my head again, and Eve implements my plan.

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　In a week, I will bring results.

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　Eve knocked on my office door with a look of unconcealed joy on her face.

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"Master, the potatoes were immediately placed on the market. A huge crowd has gathered.

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"It seems the word has spread quickly."

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Yes. They say that they are the food of paradise and that if you eat them you will go to heaven.

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"From the demon king's point of view, he doesn't want to go to heaven, but the humans don't, do they?"

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Yes.

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"Then let's make a final push."

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A "no-brainer"?

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Yes, in fact I asked the Dwarf Lord Godreve to build me a mobile food stall.

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Very clever.

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"Yes, I'll be serving up some potatoes and fries there. The new potatoes are great with butter!"

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"That sounds wonderful."

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"Mmm. We'll have saltines, chili powder and honey mustard sauce as well as butter.

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How about some onion fries to go with it?

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"Great. You're the maid of honor at the Ashtaroth Castle.

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　Eve beams with admiration.

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"Well, I'd like to go and inspect, but there's just one problem..."

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"A problem?　You mean the paperwork?

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　I look at my desk, where there is a huge pile of unsettled papers. The decisions that were delayed while I was at the castle of Isreal.

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That's part of it, but the paperwork can be finished in one night.

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"That's the master. Then what is the problem?

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　Eve asks again, to which I reply.

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"It's that if you don't take the saint to these events, you'll be whining about it for the rest of your life. I'm sorry, but can't you just wake the saint up from drooling in bed and bring her to me?"

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　Eve giggles at the answer.

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"But you're probably right. I understand. Let's go and wake up Jeanne.

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　After 30 minutes, Jeanne appears. Her hair was different from usual, though she did not have any burns on her eyes. It was unkempt and untied. Her appetite must be stronger than the need to tie her hair.

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　Jeanne, as is typical of her, said without pointing it out.

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"Well then, let's go to the market with the maid and the saint. We'll have French fries there. Breakfast!

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　Jeanne jumps around and says "Oh my God! but her face immediately changes color.

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"What?　I'm sorry. I've already eaten breakfast."

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　So that's why it took half an hour. He is mildly amused, but then he tells her, "Then I guess this is your lunch.

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"Then this is your lunch. You can eat so much that you won't have to eat lunch.

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　Jeanne looks at me like, "What are you talking about?　Jeanne makes a face like "What are you talking about?

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"Lunch is different. Potatoes are a snack.

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　Jeanne says flatly and pulls my hand away.

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　Disgusted by Jeanne's bottomless appetite, Eve and I went to the market together.

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　There the three of us eat fried potatoes together. I put butter and salt on mine, Eve put mayonnaise, and Jeanne put lots of chili powder on hers.

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　The potatoes were very tasty with the right girl, but not very romantic, I thought. One day I wanted to take them to a fancy restaurant in a big city.

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　When I mentioned this to Jeanne, she countered.

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"Eating with the Demon King is the most luxurious food in the world. With the Mad King, even in the coldest weather, it's the best restaurant. It's a three-star restaurant.

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　The way she said it without hesitation made me feel embarrassed, so I ordered a second order of fried potatoes and handed it to Jeanne.

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　She smiled a holy smile and poured a lot of honey mustard sauce on the fried potatoes.

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