After defeating the Red Dragon Knights led by E. Rudre, I reunite with the brigade commanders of the 7th Legion in the city of Aresta.
　They all uniformly express their gratitude to me.

　Kushana, an old man from Manticore

'You literally saved my life. I'll send you some carrion later.

　He said warmly.

　The feeling was pleasing, even though it was baffling as he was human on the inside, despite his appearance.
　The carrion would behave even to his subordinate Immortals.

　On the other hand, Bayo, the werewolf who was a dog and monkey, also thanked him, albeit in a roundabout way.

''Thanks to you attracting the enemy, my troops were able to play an active role. It's nice to have you as a complement, man.

　He then adds, "Well, your performance was pretty good, too.

　He's still not as straightforward as ever.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find the right word to describe him when you trace back to the memories of his past life.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good time.

　However, it doesn't make me very happy to be liked by a vicious dog.

　Now, when I had finished saying hello to my colleagues, the leader of the group arrived.
　She has an expression on her face that is somewhere in between a bad mood and a good mood.
　While she's happy that I'm doing well, she's probably a little annoyed that I've been rescued.

　With her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out, she

You did an excellent job this time.

　I say, turning away slightly.

　Cephiro treats me like a child, but I don't know which one of us is the child.
　As I'm thinking this, Cephiro suddenly gets down on his knees and bows his head to me.
　I thought he was suddenly showing his gratitude to me, but I think he was wrong.

　I hear what sounds like a horse's rise and fall.
　This sound was familiar to me.

　And I knew only one person to whom that haughty Cephiro would bow.
　I immediately turned around and got down on one knee.

　It was still just as I had imagined.
　She looked at us from the top of her horse.


Is--?


　I said.
　After saying this, the demon king got down from his prized beloved horse, Onireed Hair, and said, "Raise your face.
　Hearing those words, Cephiro and I raised our heads.

　And at the same time, the demon king said a word of thanks to us.
　The first thing he did was to turn to Cephiro and say, "You have done a great job with this fight.

"You have done a great job this time.

　Cephiro responds immediately.

''No, if it weren't for my mistress'' mistake, this wouldn't have happened.

''However, if it wasn't for Unu's persistence after that, the reinforcements wouldn't have been able to arrive in time. As it turned out, Ike was able to defeat the Red Dragon Knights thanks to Unu's ability to draw the enemy to him.

''Please praise the brigade commanders under my command, not the concubines. If it weren't for their work, the brigade commanders would have been destroyed.

　As he said that, he raised the names of Bayo of the Werewolf Brigade, Kushana of the Fang Beast Brigade, and all the other brigade leaders and introduced them to the Demon King-sama.

　This area was probably a people-grabbing technique to win the hearts of his subordinates, and it was also his true intentions.
　In fact, they fought well.

　They had been cut off from their supply routes. They must have had little food, few arrowballs, and very little spiritual medicine (elixir) to replenish their magic power.

　In such a situation, they had been holed up in the city of Alesta for nearly a month, fighting against the enemy army.
　I think they should be commended.
　In fact, their hardships should be unspeakable.

　Outside, it was the elite knights of the Pharus Kingdom, inside, the residents who had just occupied the city, and worst of all, they were in danger of being pinned down and wiped out by both sides.

　It was a testament to their strength that they had avoided that and were here now.
　In fact, it was largely due to their wise decision that they did not cause the residents to revolt.
　According to Kushana, when they were trapped by the enemy and contained in Aresta, Cephiro declared.

We do not have much food left," he said. But the inhabitants of this place have also been deprived of food by the enemy's plunder. I will give them half of the food we have left.

　At that moment, the brigade commanders looked astonished, but they did not oppose him.
　They all trusted Cephiro and understood the intent of his words.

　They knew that they were going to starve, but they knew that if they didn't win the trust of the inhabitants here, they would be in big trouble.

　They shared half of their meager food with the inhabitants, knowing that they would starve. Their wise decision was rightly rewarded.

　During the onslaught of the Red Dragon Knights, the inhabitants did not revolt at all.
　On the contrary, there were some residents who cooperated with Sephiro and his 7th Legion.


　According to the residents.

'I trust the Demon King's army more than the army of the League of Lords that took food from us.

　And there was no end to the number of residents who offered to help.


This was the path that the Demon King and I were aiming for. It was also the path that the Demon King's army would take in the future.
　In fact, this time too, we were able to win through the cooperation of the humans.
　Unusually, the Demon Lord praised Cephiro and the other brigade commanders with a relaxed expression.


''Well done.''


　The words were still short and indifferent, but they were filled with weight and tenderness.
　The demon king-sama spoke to each brigade leader individually and thanked them for their labor.
　The brigade leaders heard his words and expressed their joy to each of them.

　Kushana is filled with emotion, saying that she has no regrets now, and Beyo and others are crying, saying that they wish they could have made their mother listen to them.

　Recently, I've become close to the Demon King, so I'll forget about it, but there are very few opportunities for the Demon King and the brigade commander class executives to meet.

　They would only be seen from afar at review ceremonies or special events.
　That's how high and mighty the position of the Demon King is, and it's an existence that's far removed from the field.
　No demon race would be happy to receive praise from such a supreme being.
　Everyone was moved to tears, but after saying a few words of thanks, the demon king turned to me and said

He turned to me and said, "The performance of the Seventh Legion during this battle was excellent. All the soldiers, not to mention the brigade commander and even the end soldiers, fought well.

　It's just--" the Demon King added.

The most decorated and most decorated of them all must be the Immortal Brigade.

　The other brigade leaders who heard those words are convinced.
　Perhaps it's because after being praised by the Demon King-sama, even that Bayo is nodding his head honestly.
　The Demon King-sama continues.

''I would like to give a few words of praise to the members of the Immortal Brigade as well, but before that, let's give a word of praise to Ike, the head of that brigade.

　The demon king took a breath there.

Well done, Ike.

　He gave me a brief word.

　The words are as short as ever, but I guess the most heartfelt thing I hear is my favoritism.

　This person has an expression like a Noh mask, but when he is really happy, his mouth seems to relax, though only slightly.

　It's just that kind of feeling.
　However, it seems certain that the Demon King-sama seems to be pleased with my activities from the bottom of her heart.
　As proof of that, she added an outrageous statement.

''Your achievements so far, and the credit for this one, Ike. Unu still doesn't seem to be in a good position to remain as a brigade leader.

He's the XO now.

　But she probably doesn't mean to say that.
　I glance sideways at Cephiro.
　She is still in a bad mood.
　It's as if she's foreseeing the words of the Demon King-sama that she's about to utter.

''With your accomplishments to this point, the other legion leaders won't oppose you. Therefore, Ike, the leader of the Immortal Brigade, will be the leader of the Eighth Legion.

　Hearing those words, the brigade leaders present said, "Oh! The word "I" goes up.　
Everyone seems to be congratulating and even agreeing with me.
　On the other hand, is Cephiro the last to resist?

'Does the eighth mean you're going to build a new corps?

　I asked.

　The Demon Lord nodded.

''The Third Legion has been disbanded, but it's an army of traitors. It's a bad omen. We'll seal it up for a while.''

　And "the number eight is a good omen.

　He adds.
　Cephiro is pouting about it.

　The eight is called the end of the spectrum, and since ancient times, it has been considered a good omen in 'Japan'.

　The only people who know about this are me and the Demon King, but when our gazes meet, I can't help but smile a little. Maybe it's a humor that would be understood if we were both Japanese in a previous life.

　However, Cephiro said as if it was his last stand, "I'm not sure about making Ike the leader of the army, but I'm not sure about establishing a new army," he said.

''At the moment, the Demon King's Army is short on personnel. Can we afford to allocate new demons and monsters here?''

　It's a good argument. I was curious about that too.
　The number of the Demon King's army is generally insufficient these days due to being pushed by humans.
　Is there any room to create a new army there?
　The Demon Lord answered that question clearly.


''Yes.''


　And one word.

Can I have the answer to that question?

　Sephiro asks.
　The Demon King replies.

''The new Eighth Legion that we are going to establish is going to be a mixture of not only the demon race, but also other races. The reason for this is because I plan to make the army a mixture of not only the demon race, but also other races.

　Hearing those words, Cephiro and the other brigade leaders seemed to be shocked.
　Of course.
　This is the first time in the history of the Demon King's Army that there has been a mixed army of demons and non-demons.
　Everyone is at a loss for words.
　I think the only people who are calm are me and the Demon King.
　That's not why I asked the Demon King on behalf of Sephiro.

''In other words, the new army we're going to establish is just going to be a corps of the current Immortal Brigade as it is?''

　The Demon King shook his head, "Mm," he said.

　I see, in other words, the Demon King might want to replicate the success story of the Demon King's army, the Immortal Brigade, on a legion scale.

　The Immortal Brigade led by me is currently gaining the cooperation of dwarves and humans.
　That led to the victory of this battle.
　I guess this proposal is because I saw that example up close and felt that firsthand.

　-- then this person is still quite sharp. And he's good at handling people.

　It's just that he once won the kingdom in his previous life.　
　I'm not sure I've ever seen such a person before.
　Although I am thankful for this, I am still concerned about Cephiro.
　As I've said many times, I've been indebted to this witch since I was a child.
　From the first time I met her, she loved me like my own brother.
　After my grandfather's death, he stood behind me and even brought me on as a brigade leader.
　I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret leaving him.
　Even if you're going to be the new Commander of the Legion, I'd like to have him send me off "willingly" if possible.

　Perhaps because I was giving him such a look, Cephiro turned around to look at me and sighed heavily. And after preamble of "it can't be helped," he said to the Demon King.

I'm not opposed to Ike's promotion, if you're so inclined, but I have two requests in return.

　When the Demon King heard those words, he said, ''Let's listen.

''One is to pull out an elite brigade from my legion. For that, deploy an equal or greater force to my legion.

We'll discuss that. The Uno Army suffered a lot in this battle, you know.

　However," the Demon King continued.

''I can handle the numbers, but I can't guarantee the quality.

What do you mean?

　Cephiro asks.

'The strength of a unit is not determined by numbers alone. We can't even provide you with a general here.''

　Cephiro is probably sore loser, "I'll take care of that myself, mistress (Wawa)! He declared emphatically.

　When the Demon King saw him, he said, "I'm counting on your skills, Unu," and then asked.

'So what is your second wish?'

　Hearing those words, Cephiro said with an unusually serious expression on his face.

''Ike is like a concubine's (straw) brother. Please treat him as you would like to be treated.
..........

　Hearing those words, the Demon King-sama looked as if he had been struck with a false impression.

　We were talking about legion level conversations, and then suddenly he talked about something that was a family affair. No wonder they were surprised.
　In fact, it's a little embarrassing for me too.

　I know you're thinking of me, but I don't think those words are appropriate for this place right now.
However, the Demon King-sama quickly regained his expression and said


No pros and cons.


　I guess what that means is, "Let it happen.
　With those words, my promotion was decided.
　This is how I became the leader of the Eighth Legion from the deputy leader of the 7th Legion.
　I don't know if this is a happy occasion or not, but for now, everyone is congratulating me.

　When I return to the city of Ivalice, I'm sure Jiron, the orc chief of staff, will be jumping up and down with joy, as well as Lilith the Succubus and Shigan the dragonborn will congratulate me.

　And above all, Sati, the maid, might be the first to congratulate me.
　Now, I was looking forward to the scent of the tea she would make me in a good mood.