Puh-leeze, I didn't feel alive.

　That was my honest opinion after my audience with the Demon King.

''What is it, Ike? Were you nervous for no reason?

'It's out of character, I'm like this, but I'm small-minded. The Commander would know that.

Unfortunately, you're wearing a mask, so I can't see the look on your face.

You're in a cold sweat.

Then, when you return to your post, take a hot bath. You will sweat it out and you will feel better.

Assignment?　Is it?

　I ask.

''Why, didn't you listen to the Demon Lord earlier?''

No, you said you'd give me a reward, about a thousand gold pieces.

You're an idiot. They wouldn't give me that much money for free. That includes the war chest he was given as a city lord.

'City lords?　This me?

There's no mystery to it. You're the most decorated man to ever take Arsenum down. It's only natural for a lord to rise in rank.

Is that so? But you're a lord all of a sudden. And in a big city like Arsenum. I don't know if I can do it.

　I've gained experience in combat and war, but I'm sorta clueless when it comes to politics and domestic affairs.

　I've been educated by my grandfather, including that part of the world, but there is a big gap between study and practice.

'No, your posting is not in Arsenum.

　Sephiro grins at that and gives a wicked human smile.

''Normally, in the world of the demon race, it's called 'up to the chopping block' and the cities they take are occupied and run by them, but Arsenum is an important base. We presented it to the Demon King and had it under our direct control.

　I think it's a wise decision.
　That city should be the keystone of the Demon King's army in the future.

　Nobunaga......... The Demon King would certainly manage it and bring immense wealth to the Demon King's army.
　Also, as a fortified city in the center of the continent, it should be a pillar of strategy.

　I was relieved that I hadn't been appointed as the lord of a large city for now, but as if to mock her, she told me where I would be posted.

''Ike, your posting is in a city called Ivalice, south of Arsenum.

Evarese?　Is it?　It's a city I haven't heard of much.

Hmm, it's a small town. Your mission is to protect it and double its tax revenue. That will be the goal for now.

Double...?　In the middle of this war, and that in a frontline city?
What is it?　You don't like it?　If you want, you can triple it.

　Disobedience was also disobedience, but for the Demon King's Army, the orders of my superiors were absolute.

　I said, "I'll do it, just do it, right?", with a face like that, I returned to Arsenum where my subordinates were waiting for me.　




　The group traveling to the city of Ivalice, commonly known as the Immortal Brigade.

　Its size is about 300 soldiers, and it is a typical brigade of the Demon King's army, consisting of orcs, goblins, trolls, and skeletons.

　Normally, the Demon King's Army was organized around the same species, vampires if they were vampires, and werewolves if they were werewolves, but the Immortal Brigade was never specifically organized solely by the Immortal race.

　In the first place, from the point of view of me, the leader of the group, I'm a human inside.

　I'm supposed to be the highest-ranked demon race of the Immortals in terms of appearance, but my body hasn't rotted, and my flesh and skin haven't been shaved off.

　It's a good thing that I'm better at attack magic than necromancy, even though I've become like this.

　Furthermore, one of our main units, the Skeleton Squad, was also given to me by the leader, Sephiro.

　However, it's only called the Immortal Brigade because my 'look' is the Immortal King.

　Rather, I even asked Sephiro, the commander of the army, not to have any more immortals, so I asked him to assign me a demon race that is as intelligent and self-controlled as possible.

　When we arrived in Ivalice, we first greeted the former human lord.
　He's a middle-aged, dull nobleman.

　He was a man who survived on the condition of disarmament and total submission to the demon race, and his name was Eduardo.

　He welcomes us, the new rulers, with open arms.

　He used all sorts of rhetoric and sycophancy, but when we ignored them, he immediately issued a command: "First, repair the walls of the city.

'First, I want to repair the city walls.

　Restoring the destroyed gates of Ivalice was the most urgent task.
　The commander of the legion imposed two tasks on me: to protect the city and to double the tax revenue.
　The former, let alone the latter, was a task that he wanted to take care of as soon as possible.

　I inspected the castle gate.

''Yes, it's been destroyed to an impressive degree.

　As I recall, this town was commanded and attacked by Cephiro himself.

''Well he doesn't pull his weight, you know. He doesn't think about the post-war period one iota.

　After the occupation, it's better that it didn't lead to a massacre, but the concept of repairing those gates after the war is missing.

　It seems that she used the greatest magic she could muster, the Meteor Strike, to blow up the entire gate.

　No, it's still good if it's only the castle gate.

　The aftermath of that magic was spreading to the surrounding area, and just looking at the scene, one could almost sigh.

　The orc's chief of staff, Jiron, also agreed with a sigh.

''Ike-sama, this is going to take half a year to repair.......''
It'll take six months for the humans to get to us, and we won't be invaded by any of them.

'Yes. So, do you want to think backwards and leave it at that?　If they attack us while we're repairing, we lose everything.

　It's true that there is a way of thinking about it.

　However, the Demon King's Army has been making great strides for some time now, and its momentum will only end there.

　There are two reasons for this.

　Firstly, they are far from their home country, and the supply lines are fully extended.
　Secondly, the human resistance has become more resilient.

　Currently, our Demon King's Army is invading the kingdom of Rosalia.
　We've already conquered half of the country, but for the above reasons, the speed of our advance has slowed down.

　As they get closer to the enemy's royal capital, the resistance may be fierce, but it seems that the Kingdom of Rosalia has formed an alliance with its neighbors and forced them to conclude the League of Lords.

　Reinforcements are being sent one after another from Rosalia's neighboring countries.

　The demon race does not understand this emotion, but when the human race is in danger, they will fight together.

　It's a creature that joins forces and attacks us.
　The surrounding countries can abandon Rosalia.
　They can ignore it as someone else's problem.

　But then what?
　After Rosalia is defeated, they are next.
　And, of course, they imagined that, and offered a helping hand.

　That was the difference between them and the demon tribe that has been at odds with each other all year round.
　--In my opinion, the advance of the demon king's army will stop here for a time.
　That is to say, this is the front line of the battle against the humans.

　With that in mind, there was no way I could not repair the gate.
　I give the order to Jiron, my orc chief of staff.

We will begin repairing the gates. I will gather all the men and engineers I can find.

　Jiron obeyed the order, "I understand.

"Then I will get some men and engineers from the city.

　Giron said as if it were obvious, but he denied it.

'No, you can't do that. It's too inefficient.'
'What?　So you want us to work for our sweat?

A powerful troll can only help you carry rocks. But, well, we're not servants, we're rulers. We have to draw the line at that.

　But that doesn't mean we can't force people to work.
　Again, there is no domination system as inefficient as fear.

　Unless they are forced to work voluntarily, neither humans nor demons will be able to demonstrate their abilities.
　Knowing this well, I ordered Jiron to do so.

The first thing you need to do is to recruit some citizens to cooperate voluntarily. I'm not going to be able to get any more volunteers. You can write on a sign that you swear to do this in my name, or in the name of the Demon King.

Huh?

　Giron asked with a scowl.

'That should provide us with half of our engineers and manpower. The shortfall is to be recruited from the inhabitants of the cities you control at the rear. I'm sure there will be some out-of-work people here.

　'I've said it a thousand times, but you've got to make sure you tell them about the reward,' he piles on.

'Also, as I said before, it's one of the most powerful things in the brigade. We'll let the trolls and others work to their fullest potential.

　Trolls are large war demons.

　They're only about eight years old, but their strength is the modern equivalent of a dump truck or excavator.

"Once we've gathered the men, legs and engineers, I want them working around the clock.
Around the clock?

　Giron looked at his large knuckles.

'But you said, Master Ike, that humans are a valuable workforce. No man would work under such conditions.

You can only work eight hours, fool. After eight hours, you can't work any longer.

What?　It's only eight hours?　Now, I thought you said you wanted us to work around the clock.

We'll be on a shift system.
Shifts?

　Giron doesn't seem to understand.
　Well, it's no wonder.

　Not to mention the demon race, the humans of this world would not understand the concept.
　Normally, people in this world wake up with the morning sun and return home when the sun goes down.

　Demons can have the opposite pattern, but anyway, this is an age when lighting is not developed. It's natural for them to live in such a cycle.

　However, repairing the walls of the city requires urgency.
　Then, there was no choice but to work around the clock to repair them.

　They would gather more manpower and technicians than usual, and divide them into 20 groups, which would work in turn and in shifts.

　However, they will work eight hours a day.

　I'm a demon king's army, but I don't want to be just a black company. We won't allow them to do any overtime and we will give them days off. I will also give them compensation if they are injured while working.

　With this method, we should be able to repair the gates of the city three times faster than usual.
　It would require a lot more manpower than usual, and a lot of bonfires at night, but I couldn't afford to be stingy.

　We also have the gold coins that the Demon King gave us.
　I have the gold coins from the Demon King, so it's no problem for me to treat them well.　

　I have to tell this to Jiron, who still has a scowling look on his face.
　This man is an idiot, but he wasn't a dumb one.
　He doesn't seem to understand my intentions down to my intentions, but he follows my instructions to the letter.

'I'll get it right,'

　He bowed his head grudgingly and began to prepare.