The top level of the Demon King's Castle.
　That is where the Demon King resides.

　Bashvaza was awed by the call.

''Bokin, you know, I love festivals, right?

　And the voice of the Demon King.
　Although his tone was juvenile, his voice was heavy and low, like an earth shaking.

''Soon the trees in the garden will be full of flowers, won't they?　We're going to feast and drink while loving it. Invite lots of friends over. And make sure the welcoming girls are all dressed up.

　Bashvaza is on one knee in front of the demon king's face, drooping deeply into the cave.
　There is no permission to raise his face, and he just stares at the marble floor.

'Wear a lot of accessories made of mithril,' he says. You can wear a lot of accessories made of mithril, like rings and earrings and necklaces. I've sent a request to a craftsman to get you a new one, but I don't have any mithril to go with it.
..........
We can't make anything without the right ingredients, can we?

　Bashvaza could not answer.
　He was being reprimanded by the demon king himself.
　That fact weighed heavily on him.

'I've made sure you know about this through the errand boy, haven't I?　So why is this happening?
You can't leave, you can't.

　I can't get my head around it.
　Bashbarza swallowed his spit once........

''You have caused a stir in the Demon King's person, this Four Heavenly Kings 'Ayan Fire' Bashbarza, I am in sweat-faced mischief.''
That's not what I'm asking.

　The demon king says in a tone of disgust.

I'm just wondering why you haven't stopped making silly bombs when I've informed you that I want mithril. I mean, if I wanted mithril, shouldn't you be the one to stop wasting money?
I have never disrespected the Demon King's intentions!

　Magic bombs are created by consuming large amounts of mithril.
　If you follow the Demon King's instructions, you'll have no choice but to stop the production process.
　It's normal........

In order to secure the mithril for the decorative processing, I've placed an additional order with the mine. In spite of that, some lowly knockers didn't pay their dues and mutinied...!
You know, you're a lot dumber than I thought you'd be.
''.........?''

　Bashbarza couldn't believe his ears.
　What did the Demon King say to him now? He wondered if he had called himself an 'idiot'.

''Isn't that why you've quadrupled the Mithril Mine's collection to the usual amount?　There's no way I can do that. Can't you use your common sense to figure things out?
.....
So that's what happens when Knocker and his friends get mad and defect. No wonder they're so angry. They're just asking for too much.
''No, if you don't carry out any orders, it's disloyalty to the Demon King!　The traitors should be punished accordingly!　I want you to take this Bashvaza yourself and lead the suppression army and go to war immediately...!
That's why I'm saying you're an idiot.

　Bashvaza's cheeks twitched at further calls of stupidity.

'Can't you guess the meaning of why Bokchin gave the order?　Mithril would be more pleased with an accessory that would stick to a beautiful girl than a bomb that would blow up lives, right?
Uh.........?
'How can I get that wrong and make a decision that will hurt the knockers in the mine?　Thanks to this, the Mithril Mine has left the control of the demon race. It's a rare big chunk, right?
No, not yet!

　Bashvaza colored.

'We can get the Mithril mine back!　If we attack with the main body of the Demon King's army, we can drop them in a matter of days!　Let's cut off the heads of all traitors and give them to the Demon King as a souvenir!
No, that's not very nice.

　As a demon king, he couldn't overlook Bashbarza's folly of wasting a large amount of his precious mithril to make a bomb.
　Therefore, he tried to force him to abandon the production of the bomb under the pretext of 'making accessories for the women's officers' in a roundabout way.
　Cutting to the front and saying, 'What you're doing is futile, so stop it,' would hurt the pride of the new Four Heavenly Kings who had just taken office and lower their reputation.
　It was a distant way of caring for him in his own way, but it was as if this young man didn't understand.

''As for the Mithril Mine, we'll just have to give up on it. It's our fault," he said, "We'll just have to give up on the Mithril mine. It's our fault. If we try to get it back by force, we'll only give people a bad name.
"But my Demon King's Army has a stock of mithril...!
You're gonna tell him that?　You're the one who wasted it, aren't you?

　Bashvaza was gobsmacked by the demon king's suggestion.

'Yeah, well, I haven't heard the words I wanted to hear from you when I called you out, have I?　How long do you think you're going to keep me waiting for my cock?
What?
You really don't know?　You're such an idiot. Super stupid.

　Once again, the harsh assessment coming out of the Demon King's mouth made Bashbarza feel nauseated.

'The loss of the mithril mine, the disappearance of the mithril stored by the Demon King's army. It's all your fault, isn't it?
I'm...?
I'm sorry, huh?

　Bashbarza gulped.

The Transportation Department's staff is to blame for underestimating the amount of mithril stored in the first place, and most of all, the people responsible for the rebellion...?
"I'm sorry, sir, what?
''............?''

　Four Heavenly King Bashbarza.
　I have never apologized to others in my life.

　That's why it's difficult to bow and apologize for your own faults now, even if you are dealing with the Demon King.
　It was an unbearable humiliation.

"................ No.....................
Hmm, the stupid one just got a little smarter.

　The demon king says casually.
　Bashvaza felt an illusion of heat erupting from every pore in his body.

''Let's refrain from dealing with the Mithril mine, as I just said. Let's give it a period of time, and then we'll figure out what to do about it when Knocker-kun and the others wake up from their rage.''
..........
I'd like to tell the person responsible for stockpiling the Demon King's Castle to take responsibility for it, but if I leave it to you, I'll take care of it myself since I don't know what you'll do again. So I'll take care of it myself. Don't do anything unnecessary.
Well, we can't let the Demon Lord get away with this.
You shouldn't be getting any better at this point, Mr. Dumbass.

　Each time the demon king's words were unleashed, they cut into Bashvaza's pride.

And it's fun to be able to interfere in politics for the first time in a while. You see, your father never interfered in politics when he was in office.
!

　Bashbarza's father was the previous Four Heavenly Kings and Granbarza, who held the title of 'karma fire'.
　He was deeply injured in the battle of the previous brave men and retired to recuperate from it.

"Your father is a serious and capable man. After all, he didn't make me work for him until he retired. He was a pain in the ass, but I'll miss him. Is this selfishness?
....?
Once I got there, I got busy. You've surpassed your father in that regard.

　It crushed Bashbursa's pride.

　The previous Fourth Heavenly King Granbaza had made many achievements and was determined to go down in history.
　As his son, the new Fourth Heavenly King Bashbarza could only present himself in the seventh light for now.

　But he was more than his predecessor only in his pride.

　He never doubted that he too would achieve the same fame as his father, and that he would be even more famous than his father, and that he would be handed down to future generations.
　It was for this reason that he had been appointed the Four Heavenly Kings.

　Nevertheless, he had already made a blunder and was branded as less than his father by the most important Demon King.

　In reality, it was only hubris, but it was impossible for him to have a future where he couldn't surpass his father.

''Speaking of your dad, speaking of your dad...''
What...?
His assistant. That was a good one. Dariel, if you will.　That's what I call competent.

　Bashbursa's heart stopped for a moment.
　By humiliation.
　He should have been humiliated to-day already, a humiliation of the highest order, but there was an even higher one.

''You're smart, you're kind. I'm sure the reason your papa-kun was able to play the role of the Four Heavenly Kings was because he had a clever man like Dariel-kun by his side.
Ha, ha....!
You retired the old man and he stayed on as your assistant?　Then get him to help you. Because if you listen to him carefully, you won't make any more mistakes.
Yes....!
Do you understand?　If you understand, you can get lost now. Go home and do plenty of self-reflection.

　Wordlessly, Bashbarza stood up and left the Demon King's room.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

"Well, I know you got rid of Dariel," he said, "and I know you got rid of him.

You're not going to be able to do that.

　It was the worst day of his life for Bashbarza.

　The plans he had made had confirmed that he was going to surpass his great father and become the greatest four heavenly kings of all time.
　Killing a brave man and many other achievements.
　He would receive the highest praise from the Demon King, the ruler of the demon race.
　That was supposed to be the natural course of events.

　And yet, what did the Demon King say to me today?

"He called me an idiot...!　Five times.........?

　To Bashbarza, the words the Demon King should have sent to him should have been more glorious.
'My most capable subordinate', 'master general', 'my treasure'.
　It should have been "my most talented subordinate" or "masterful general" or "my treasure".

　And yet they called me a fool.
　It was unbearable for the prideful Bashvaza.

'This isn't good enough...!　I'm going to be the greatest four heavenly king of all time...!

　It takes an achievement to do that.
　Accomplishments big enough to make up for this fiasco.

　There was only one thing that came to Bashbarza's mind.

''After all, that's the only great achievement that the Four Heavenly Kings should list...!

　Killing a brave man.
　There is no other way to clear your name.