The Demon King's Castle Dvorberg is unusually large.

　Since it was built to show off its power and strength, you would have to walk through an incessantly long and needlessly complicated corridor to reach the Demon King's room.

　There is a theory that they are preparing for a coup by making the corridor needlessly complicated, but I wanted to put myself in the shoes of the person who is made to walk through such a long corridor.

　I dawdled and followed my boss's back.
　My beloved boss floats down the corridor, using his magic to keep me afloat and moving smoothly.

　It's times like these that I also long for the "Fly" magic. I can use what I can use, but I can't control it as well as she can, and I can only fly high.

''Commander, is the audience room still open?

　As I was about to ask that question, the great door appeared.

　Perhaps, though, that was the audience room, that is, the place where the Demon King was seated.　

　As if to prove that fact, Cephiro

Ike, wait here. First, my mistress will go talk to you.

　As I said this, one of them entered the audience room.

　The two heavily armed trolls that were waiting at the door glared at me.

　Cephiro is the commander of the army and his face will be well known, but I guess I'm a horse's bone, where do you think I am?

　Although he's known as the pocketbook of the Demon King's army, it seems that he's still not as well known as he should be.

　I ignored the two trolls who were glaring at me and imagined the person behind this door.

　The commander-in-chief of the Demon King's army.
　The king of the demon race and the strongest man of the demon race.
　What kind of person is he?
　Rumor has it that he was brutal and ruthless, killing the incompetent without ally or foe.

　On the other hand, it is also said that if there is something to be found in this person, he will make them better, even if they are inferior in terms of magic and skill.

　He is also known as the person who brought about the reformation of the Demon King's army by evaluating him purely on the basis of his abilities, without considering his family background and rank as a demon.

　To begin with, a long time ago, the Demon King's Army, or rather, the demon tribe, was incomparable to the current one.

　They were always outnumbered by the human side.

　The reason why the demon tribe, where the fierce warriors gathered, was inferior to the human side was due to the unique characteristics of the demon tribe.

　The demon tribe is innately uncooperative.
　And the demon tribe will never listen to the orders of those they consider to be lower than them.
　In other words, what I'm trying to say is that the demons were always fighting among themselves.
　They were always fighting among themselves, and each one of them was destroyed by the humans.

　When my grandfather was still active, there were times when the allied human armies approached the Dvorberg, but even so, there was a fierce struggle for power within the castle.

　The current Demon King, Dairokten-sama, changed that situation completely.

　The man who taught the demon tribe, who didn't know how to fight cooperatively, to be cooperative, and ruled the demon tribe with his absolute charisma, was the current Demon King.

''Hmm, Dairokten-sama...''

　What kind of person is he?
　The more I think about it, the more curious I become.
　It's not every day that you get to meet someone of the brigade commander's class.
　I waited anxiously for the moment, but 10 minutes later, Cephiro called me in.

　Through the magic of the 《Notes》.
You may go in.
　When they allowed me to do so, I nervously opened the door.

　The audience room was bigger than I had imagined.
　There were lavish furnishings on display, as well as rare items from other continents.
　As they say, he seems to be a man who loves unusual and new things, just as they say.

　I looked around the lavish room for a while, but I immediately looked at the owner of the room.
　It was the Demon Lord.
　My gaze was focused on the little girl in the throne room.

　.........hmm?

　The girl?

What...?

　I couldn't help but let out a barefaced scream.

　I wonder if this was a prank of my boss, the one sitting on the throne was a 14-5 year old girl.

　Of course, she was not human.
　She had fangs and horns.

　She also had twelve black feathers, and although I instantly recognized her as a demon race from her appearance, she wasn't the dignified figure I had imagined.

　His dainty appearance did not give me any impression of a rare demon king, a charismatic demon race.

　Just--.
　I'm immediately freed from that prejudice.

　It is true that she is a beautiful girl in appearance, but the evil aura that emanates from her, it surpasses the common sense of humans, no, the demon race.

　The wave of magical power that enveloped her entire body was full of awe, as if it was about to be unleashed at any moment, and was about to come crashing down on our throat whistle.

(.........as I thought, this girl is the Demon King. (Don't be fooled by appearances.)

　I realized that immediately and bowed my head grudgingly.

　The girl.
"Give me your face.
　Until I said.

　I raised my face and it was still a dainty girl there.
　She continues.

"Are you Cephiro's man, Ike?
Yes, that's right.

　Thinking to myself that I'm a bit of a jerk, I give a standard response.

"I heard you took down that impregnable city of Arsenum in just one week.

　A normal demon race would be proud of their own merit, that's right, but unfortunately, I'm a human, I couldn't imitate someone else's merit to take away from them.

''It's all thanks to Cephiro-sama. Besides, the other brigade commanders attracted the main force of the enemy and forcefully attacked when they were short-handed. I don't take credit for this alone.''

"Oh, you're pretty humble. That's quite a feat for a demon race. Are you really a demon?

..........

　Gee, man. My humility has backfired.
　Should I still act like a demon tribe and act arrogantly here?
　When I was lost like that, Cephiro sent out a ship to help me.

''This is the grandson of Ronberg, the guardian of the abyss,'' he said.

　When the Demon King heard those words.

I see. So you're Romberg's grandson. No wonder you're so humble.

　Her mouth twisted up at that.

"He was a moderate in the Demon King's army. He was also the sharpest man in the Demon King's army. His grandson. No wonder he's so thoughtful.

　'Well,' he continued, laughing, 'looks can be deceiving.

'Well, it was the grandson of Romberg. And therefore you dropped Arsenum almost bloodlessly, without killing the inhabitants and without punishing those responsible?

..........

　I am lost for an answer.

　It's because I was given a hard-hitting question.

　It is said that the current king of demons only cares about the results, but was that treatment still not good enough?

　If it's the Demon King's Army, they should have at least executed the person in charge as the Demon King's Army would have done, to make an example of him or her.

　But after all, I'm a human being, so I can't do that.
　No, even if I were a demon, it would be the same.
　Rule by fear does not last forever.
　It will always fail.
　I decided to give my opinion.

"My dear Demon King, may I speak my mind?

　The Demon King agreed with a slight tilt of his chin.

''The old Demon King's army way. Rule by fear. That may seem efficient at first glance, but I believe that method is inefficient.''

How's that for inefficiency?

"Man fears fear, but he does not follow fear. This is evident in past history. When you compare the productivity of a city that killed its human leaders and left its demon rulers in place with the productivity of a city that left its human rulers in place, the difference in the amount of wealth it will ultimately bring to our army is obvious.

Is that theory from Romberg?
...Yes.

　I showed it in affirmation, but this is also related to my memories of my previous life.

　Communism based on fear, capitalism based on freedom, and in the end it was the latter that was the ultimate victor.

　And I was well aware of the low productivity of the dictatorships that still exist, and how unproductive the guy called the politics of fear is when you look at it.

　Maybe it's the same with this man --
　I was sure of that.

　We hadn't been talking for very long, but I was feeling a sort of conviction.

　And that certainty was...

"Maybe he's a reincarnation, just like me.

　This was what it was all about.

　The reforms that this man brought to the Demon King's Army, his brilliance, his overwhelming charisma.
　And his tone of voice and way of thinking.
　It reminds me of someone I, or rather, every Japanese person, knows.

　She is.

"He calls himself the Demon King of Dylokten.

　To the people here, the word may not make any sense, but if you translate it into Japanese, it looks like this.

"The Sixth Heavenly Demon King.

　Anyone who knew a little history would immediately think of the person's name.

　Besides, she'd be able to identify herself as a

It's an oof.

　They also called it "Ufu".

　That, too, when translated into Chinese characters, becomes "Right FU".
　The name of a certain person's final official position, the right minister, is called "Ukpu".
　He was a man who left a tremendous impact on Japanese history and ended the Warring States period.

　Some people have a reputation for being brutal and ruthless, but I disagree.
　She is a harsh person, but a reasonable person, and one who would not go to wasteful slaughter.

　If she is the person I think she is, then she will endorse my ideas.

　With that in mind, I developed a theory, but did I succeed in my bet?
　I've been staring at the Demon King's eyes from behind his mask as he stared at me.

　If I was misguided, I might be executed as is.
　I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat at the thought, but my bet was successful.

　She remained impassive.

Is--?

　I blurted out, and then continued.

'Looks like you're a guy to watch. You're a bit different from the other demons.

　I liked it.
　I said, "I'll take my reward.
　I was taken aback by the unexpected words.

　I said that Cephelo was

I don't think I can say thank you enough.

　I stood there until I got on my elbows, and then I stood there.

'Thankfully and happily,'

　When I gave another artless reply, the Demon King nodded lightly and

Be diligent.

　And then I left the audience room.

　I often stood there, watching her back.