I am the Prime Minister of Demonland, Lugiv Fokare.

　I'm from the demon tribe.
　I've been serving the Demon Kingdom for fifty years as the Home Secretary.

　Because of the length of time I've been in this service, I've served my master, the Demon King, not just once, but many times over the generations.

　Our current Demon King Zedan is the third master in my lifetime.
　I will never have a fourth master in my life.

　I'm too old to think that my days are numbered before my old age burns out, and I don't want to see the end of Lord Zedan's reign.

　Thanks to him, I was able to be appointed to the position of Prime Minister of the Demon Kingdom despite my lack of talent.
　Personally, I've become a vassal, and I'm not worried about the rest of my life.

　All I have left is to serve the Demon Kingdom for as long as I live, and hope to serve the Demon Kingdom for as long as I can.

　　　　* * * *

　On this day, I was very busy with my duties as the Prime Minister of the Demon Kingdom, but a visit from a certain person seemed to derail my plans.

''Yo,''
I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

　It was Lord Baal, the Great Demon King.
　He's also called the previous Demon King.

　When he was the active Demon King, I wasn't the Prime Minister yet, but I still served him as an official, so I knew him well.
　We were friendly to each other to the extent that we could talk openly.

'You're in my way, please leave.
Aren't you a little too friendly?

　Unlike the retired Anata, I'm still busy.

　As the Prime Minister, I am the cornerstone of the Demon Kingdom's internal affairs, so to speak.
　I have to assist the Demon Lord by handling all of the Demon Kingdom's finances, legal affairs, rituals, and personnel matters.

　Frankly speaking, I'm extremely busy.
　I don't have time to deal with the retired former Demon King.

''Don't be so cold. Didn't you and I served in power together, and fought together for many years? When I was the Demon King, you were still Finance Minister, not Prime Minister, but you still served us well...!

　That's right.
　How hard I, who was the Minister of Finance at the time, had to work to secure financial resources for Baal-sama, who was so focused on the arts that he couldn't stop spending money...!

''The reputation of the time even said, 'If it wasn't for Lukif Fokale, the Demon Kingdom would have been in financial ruin. You're so much more than just a hero for saving the country. Isn't it in recognition of those achievements that Zedan took you as his prime minister in his generation?
Don't you understand why we were on the verge of financial ruin in the first place?

　Because you've been spending a lot of money like a hot potato!

　I'll put an exorbitant price on some obscure painting!
　We'll have expositions and art competitions every day of the week!
　And yet, I will continue the war against the Human Nation!

　How could the treasury survive with that thing?

　........And the reason I was selected as Prime Minister after the regime change was not only because the new King Zedan-sama appreciated the way I handled the situation at that time.

''If we continue to install that idiot from Baal as the Demon King, the Demon Kingdom will end! and with a serious sense of urgency, because I supported Master Zedan's retention with all my might.
　This me.
　By virtue of that time, Master Zedan made me his prime minister.

　Thanks to this, though, the burden has increased.

　When he was Minister of Finance, he only had to look after the finances, but after becoming Prime Minister, he became responsible for the overall internal affairs of the demon kingdom.

　Naturally, the amount of burden would increase.
　To begin with, if the Four Heavenly Kings are in charge of foreign military affairs, then in contrast, the Prime Minister of the Demon Kingdom is the counterpart to the Four Heavenly Kings, who are in charge of domestic affairs.

　As the two wheels of support for the Demon Kingdom, the responsibility is significant, and the workload is no less than extraordinary.

　During Master Zedan's reign, he was able to destroy his nemesis, the Human Kingdom, and remove the war expenses that had been a burden for hundreds of years.

　Does this make things a little easier?　It was not long before the burden was placed on him to rule the human nation that had been acquired as a dominant land.

　They had simply ruled one country until now, but one day, they were asked to rule two countries.
　The burden was also doubled by simple calculation.

　Before the fall, the royalty of the human nation had been running the state quite licentiously, and their finances were on fire.
　The political officers of the occupation government could not handle it all by themselves, and they asked for assistance from the home country, so I ended up having to rebuild the finances myself.

　I had to reconstruct our finances on my own.

　So, it's safe to say that I'm busier than I've ever been in my fifty years as a government official!

'So I don't have time to keep you company. If you want someone to play with, call your patron, be it a painter or a sculptor. I would appreciate it if you would keep me out of it.
I'm worried about you. You've been working hard since the days of my reign.　If you're getting busier and busier with each passing hour, you're going to burn out someday, okay?
'I'm pretty sure that my busyness when you were on active duty was caused by you!

　But oh well.
　The busyness after the replacement and the reign of Zedan-sama is indeed not his fault, but....

　If you compare the current generation with its predecessors, the current one is definitely busier.
　However, that is because of the massive reformation by the hero Zedan-sama, and at least there is a sense of fulfillment that is commensurate with the dizzying busyness.

　If the reconciliation between the demon kingdom and the old human kingdom is made complete here, and a new system that is not divided is established, world peace will continue for hundreds of years to come.

　As a politician, I can think of no more rewarding work than this.

That is why my days are more fulfilling than they were when I served Master Baal. I want to pour all of this passion into building the foundation of the new demon kingdom that will hold the human kingdom together!
You've always been a serious guy, but you've stood out in this room.

　It's kind of annoying when the Great Demon Lord gives me a dumbfounded look.

''It's fine to be passionate about it, but if you break your body by putting too much effort into it, you might as well abandon your big project in the middle of it.　Then you won't be able to die, will you?　In your regret, will you escape the sickle of the god Thanatos and turn into a dead spirit clinging to this world?
''Is that........?''

　I was annoyed that the Great Demon Lord told me the right thing to do.

It's also important to take care of yourself. It's important to take care of yourself and your body, so why not get some rest and get away from government duties for a while?　And for the long haul.
I'm older than you, aren't I?

　I don't want to work too long anyway, but I have to take care of my health in order to do my job to my satisfaction.

Is it necessary to stop and adjust my body from time to time...?

　It's not like the Great Demon Lord pointed it out to me and put it into action.

''Exactly!　Then I'll show you the best places to go when I do!　They say you can get rid of any fatigue in no time at all there!
''No, why do we have to go to the place the Great Demon Lord introduced us to if we want to rest?''

　I'm not a child either.
　I'd rather spend my day off on my own.

You're right. I would like to go to this new and exciting place, but they won't let me use it unless I'm really tired, so they won't let me go in there alone. So they won't let me go in there by myself.
"Huh?
So I figured if you came with me, I could get in.
You are...!

　So that's the reason for your rare visit!
　You dare to speak to the evil Prime Minister?

"I have permission from Zedan.
The Demon King?
He's also worried about you in his own way. You're the only one supporting the internal affairs of the Demon Kingdom at the moment, and it's because of your support that he was able to become the Demon King. He feels a debt of gratitude to you. He said he considers you more of a father than his own father.
Would you say that?

　Doesn't it make you sad to hear yourself say that, real father?

　........But I didn't know that Zedan-sama cared about me that much.
　I have no doubt now that he is a rare and brilliant monarch.

　My greatest happiness as Privy Seal is that I was able to serve such a philosopher in his final days.
　There is no longer any doubt about it.

"How fortunate was I to be able to serve the man I was when I was in office?
...hmmm...

　If Master Zedan is so kind to me, I would be remiss not to respond to him.
　I'll take Master Zedan's advice and rest my weary bones.

"Hooray!　Now I can go to the hot springs with you!　What you should have is a well-serving subject!

　Why did they decide to take you with them?
　I mean, where are you going?

This is a new facility built by the Holy Father!　It's called a spa inn or something, well, it's definitely a fun place!　Let's enjoy this together!

　Why do I have to spend my very occasional vacation with you?

　But there's a word I'm curious about.

　A saint's spa inn?

　What the hell was that?