What is impossible for a mistress to do?

　That was the first word from the mad alchemist (mad scientist) known as the Witch of the Black Excess.
　The unexpected response puzzled me.

''No, Commander. You always say that with great confidence. Nothing is impossible for a mistress.

　When Cephiro heard that line, he said, "Hata?　Did I say that?

A mistress is not a god. She can't make anything. Who is this teppo?　I've never heard of it or seen it before. Can we just make a mere iron tube?

No, sir. No, it's an iron cylinder, but it's filled with gunpowder and iron bullets, which are then set on fire and the bullets are fired.

　Even after hearing that explanation, Cephiro said, "...? You look at me and say, "I'm sorry.
　That's right, there's no way you can get people to understand just by explaining it with your mouth.

　I wish I had at least one real one, but--

　As I was thinking like that, the face of a certain person came to mind.

''........Maybe that person would have a gun?

　Or he may know how to make it.

　In any case, he was the first person to focus on the gun and utilize it, ending the Warring States period.

　I asked Cephiro's permission to go to see him.

　Cephiro still doesn't seem to understand the situation, but he gave me permission to go to Dvorberg, the Demon King's residence, despite his confusion.




　On the way to Dvorberg, we turned back to Ivaris.

　The person I'm going to meet now is the general of the Demon King's army.
　I want to take a bath and cleanse myself before I meet him.
　I can't meet him with a sweaty body.

　I'd like to add that it's not because the Demon King is a pretty, pretty girl.

　And I'm Japanese in my previous life, I have to take a bath at least once a day to feel better.

　And so I take a bath while thinking about it.
　In this other world, it is not customary to take a bath.
　It's a world where firewood and water are precious.
　I can't afford to take a bath so early and often.

　In the previous world, Queen Elizabeth I of England took a bath only once a month and was said to be "morbidly fastidious".

　It is similar here, and the common people do nothing but bathe or wipe themselves with a cloth.

　By the way, my maid, Sati, comes in every day.

　At first, she refused to take a bath in the leftover hot water of her master's bath, saying she was afraid to do so, but once she tried to persuade her to do so, she found that baths are good for her.

　It seems that he hums and hums every day as he soaks in the hot water.

''--I'm not peeking in, by the way,''

　Without excusing myself to anyone, I blurted it out and called out the name of this Satie.

'It's Satie. Get me a towel.

　Because the towels that should have been provided were not placed there.

　Satie is a perfect maid, but she makes mistakes every once in a while.
　Well, this level of mistake can't be called a mistake, but anyway, I don't want the towel to be missing.
　I called Sati's name again and urged her for a towel.　

　The bathroom door is opened without a sound.

　Normally, Satie would be.

'I'm sorry, master,'

　And he would come in with an apologetic apology, but today Sati was silent.

　It's a rare thing, I thought, but I didn't care.
　My mansion is not easily accessible to others.
　The reason for this is because I don't want others to break in.

　It's the brigade commander of the demon king's army, and there's also the risk of assassination, but more importantly, it's not good if my identity is revealed.

　Lately, I've been getting caught up in all the mess that seems to be caused by the demon race, and I almost forget that I'm a human being. It's not a good idea for me to be found out.

　In particular, if the other demons found out, my life would be lost.
　As a traitor, I'm sure I'll be punished for my actions.

　Either I'll be dragged before the Demon King and be decapitated as is, or I'll be extinguished with tremendous magic.

That would be fine, but torture to death after torture is also a possibility.

　I hoped that was the only thing I could get out of it.
　With that in mind, I took the towel from Sati.
　Unusually for Sati, she threw the towel over to me.
　I wiped my face with it.
　It smelled musty.
　I stare at the object that appears to be a towel.
　--It's not a towel, but a rag.

"....the Commander did this.

　I immediately guess.
　A loyal maid, Satie would never do something like this.

　What's more, as I said before, this mansion is warded.

　The only people who can come and go freely are those who have more powerful magic than me or those who have my permission.

　When I think about it, the answer is inevitable.
　I said as I looked back at him in dismay.

''........Commander, can you please stop this kind of prank for good?''

　Or rather, a little angry.

　Even though she's my boss, or rather, my older sister, who has been taking care of me since I was a child (only in appearance), I'm getting fed up as expected.

"I've had enough of this, I will cancel the Commander's permission to pass--

　My words stopped in mid-sentence because the person who was there was not the Commander.

　What's more, it wasn't even Sati who was there.
　The unexpected person was there.
　She stared at me without moving a single eyebrow.


Is--?


　I said.
　I didn't need to hear that habit, but the one there was the Demon King-sama.
　The commander-in-chief of the Demon King's army with twelve wings and a neat face.
　The king of the demon race was there.　

　I quickly put on the robe of the Immortal King that was hanging next to the bathtub and turn my back to her.

　-- probably just barely.
　The steam should have been in the way.
With that in mind, I tried my best to say in a calm tone of voice.

''Demon Lord-sama, it's been a long time.''

　The Demon King returns with his usual words.

'Is it?'

　Then he continues.

'- Even the immortal ones bathe in hot water, don't they?

　Legitimate question.
　But apparently my secret wasn't revealed.

　Sighing a sigh of relief, I asked the Demon King to head to the parlor.

　The Demon King will obey me obediently.

　Or maybe I've been very rude to him, but it's better than letting his true identity be exposed.

　With that in mind, I fixed the mess of the Immortal King's robes and headed to the parlor myself.


　†


　Clatter--

　And the teacup that Sati is holding is shaking because the one in front of her is the Demon King-sama, I guess.

　Perhaps because of her extreme excitement, she is not only shaking her teacup, but also her legs.
　It's a pity, but it's not like she won't offer the Demon King a cup of tea as well.

　Satie whispers in my ear.

''Say, how many cups of sugar should I add?''

　I ask the Demon King.

''Demon King, how many cups of sugar should I put in?''

　She stuck out five fingers.
　Apparently, she has a sweet tooth.

　She is a dignified person, but as befits her appearance, she has a girlish side to her.

　Satie asks further.

'Ki, should I put some gold leaf in there as well?'

　Maybe you're right.
　I thought so, but apparently the Demon King-sama had heard me.

''There's no need for that.''

　And then cut it off with a single word.
　As expected of the demon tribe, it looks like hell ears.
　From now on, I have to try to avoid talking to myself as much as possible.
　You can't get away from it.

''--It is delicious.''

　She's still the same person who only speaks short lines.

　However, when I look at her like this, she's really no different from a normal girl, except for the wings on her back and the horns.

　While I was sipping my tea with such an impression, Demon Lord-sama abruptly cut me off.

By the way, Ike. Is it true that Unu is going to represent you in the upcoming duel?

　Apparently, not only is she hell-eared, but she has a quick ear.
　I've been keeping it to myself, but it seems I've caught that information before I knew it.
　I'll be honest here.
　And she probably came here to talk about it in the first place.

''Yes, I'll be fighting on behalf of the Commander.

　When he heard those words, the demon king said, "So?" and put his hand on his thin chin.

　She seems to be pondering something.
　I wait for her thoughts to come together.
　It's a good idea to have a few minutes to think about it, but her thoughts seem to have come together.

Ike, I'm going to ask you for this.

　As the Demon King said this, he chanted a single word of magic and summoned a 'wooden box' in front of me.

''What is this?''
..........

　The Demon King didn't answer.
　Does this mean that you should try to open it?
　In the meantime, I asked her if I could open it.
　Her answer was the usual.

''Is--?''
..........

　I decide that it's probably a good thing to open.
　Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to put this stuff out.
　I open the box fearfully.　
　What was packed inside it was unexpected.

''--this,''

　I couldn't help but blurt that out.
　Because that's what I've been wanting, and that's what was there.
　Packed in a wooden box were ten guns.

　They were so-called flamethrowers.

　I had seen them in a museum a long time ago.
　Can I hold them in my hand, Mr. Demon King?
　Before you can ask, you can't help but pick up the gun.
　It's surprisingly heavy.

　It looks light because it's made of wood, but it weighs about four or five kilos. It's a bit of a baby's weight.

　It is also surprisingly long. I wonder if it is as tall as a child.

　That's amazing.

　It takes my breath away.
　Guns tickle the cockles of men to begin with.
　There isn't a man who doesn't like guns and swords.

　I was reincarnated in a world where I could enjoy the latter to my heart's content, but I never dreamed that I would ever be able to touch a gun.

　I was gazing at it for a while, but then I remembered something.
　The reason is that I didn't know what the Demon King's intention was for bringing this gun to me.

　I ask without thinking.

''Demon King, what is this?''

　Her answer was not, "Is?

It's called a flamethrower.

...a firearm?

　Let's just pretend to be surprised.
　It's not a good idea to be found out that I have memories of my past life.
　But it seems that the effort was in vain.
　The Demon King replied.

"There's no need to cut off the head. I know you have memories of your previous life.

I'm not sure...

　I can't help but break out in a cold sweat.
　Sati, who was beside me, her face is pale and her knees are shaking.

　Sati, stop it, not only the memories of my past life, but also the fact that I'm a 'human' might be exposed.

　I look at Sati, but she seems even more nervous.

　I don't think she couldn't see that, but when the Demon Lord said, "There's no need to hide it,

I know you're human.

　I concluded.

'...........

　I cringe.

　I look at Sati.
　Should I take her out like this and escape from this pavilion?

　The current me is no match for the Demon King, but I might be able to at least escape.

　For a moment, I seriously thought that, but I quickly changed my mind.
　If I think about it calmly, there's no need for that.

　If she wanted to deal with me, she wouldn't be drinking tea here so carefree, and there's no need for her to show me the flintlocklock.

　There is no need to show me the flintlock gun.

　In the first place, there is such a thing as a flamethrower, so why hasn't the Demon King's Army used it until now?

　If you think about it, the answer is obvious.

　Even though they had the flintlock gun itself, they didn't have the gunpowder to put in it.

　She may be expecting me to make the gunpowder.

　I wonder if she sensed that I noticed that.
　For the first time, the Demon King's mouth relaxes.

''Human, before you were a demon race, I had my eye on you for a long time.
...because I'm the grandson of my grandfather, the guardian of the abyss, Ronberg?

　She shook her head.

'No, it doesn't matter, it's just a hunch.'
...or are you just guessing?

But my intuition is good. All the men I have set my eyes on have achieved great success. Hideyoshi Hashiba, Toshiie Maeda, Mitsuhide Akechi, and Kazuyoshi Takigawa. All of them have done unsurpassed work, and they have all been of great help to me.

..........

　I never thought I would hear the names of such great generals in another world.

　They are all great generals who were essential to Oda Nobunaga's rise to power.
　I'm not sure if I'm the kind of person who can be compared to such great generals.
　I know it's a bit of a purchase, but at the end of the day, the Demon King said this.

''Unu, will you be Hideyoshi in another world, or Mitsuhide (the treacherous one)?''

..........

　I reply by silence.

　This man does not seem to know the history after he was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide.

　The man named Hashiba Hideyoshi took over the Oda family after the death of Oda Nobunaga and became a tentmaker.

　Now, how should I answer this question?
　I wasn't sure how to answer this question, but I decided to cooperate with the Demon King.
　That's what I propose.

''I can help you, albeit in a small way.

　When she heard those words, she smiled for the first time as she said her usual habit.

''--or is it?''

　It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about it.
　--The actual age of the person is unknown due to the demon race.