After saying goodbye to Lilith and the others who had risen to the rank of troop leader, or rather brigade leader, I returned to my office.

　As soon as I sat down in my chair, without saying a word, the drink I wanted was served to me, as expected of Sati. Her attention to detail is a refreshing reminder to me after running around the battlefield.

　The aroma of the coffee she prepared fills the room.
　This coffee was given to me by Etria, the leader of the Trade Federation, when I was in Zenobia the other day.

　I'm not sure if the beans are good or bad, but I'm a coffee drinker by nature, so the scent of the coffee is comforting to me.

　And I'm thankful for the high caffeine content in the coffee.
　I've been even busier since I rose to the rank of Legionnaire.
　Ivalice, of course, receives a steady stream of important documents from cities under its control.
　It is one of my most important jobs to look through them and make decisions.
　After reading through them, Satie hangs her head reverently.

''Master, congratulations on your rise to prominence.

　When I looked up, she was smiling at me.
　It's a face that says, "I'm happy as I am.
　In fact, I guess it is. This is already the third time today that I've heard this line.

''Are you that happy about my career?''
Yes, sir.

Sati, the maid, nodded.

'You might get so busy that you won't have much time to leave Sati alone, will you?
That's okay.

　Satie assures him, but his expression quickly changes.

'Oh, no, I'm a little sad, but I'm still happy,'

　Sati adds.

'The sooner the master becomes the commander of the army and does his best, the sooner the era of peace will come. Then he will be in the office all the time.

'I suppose so. Once we're free of the war, I might be a lord of one of the provinces and live comfortably.

　The Demon King's Army and the Allied Forces are still in the middle of a battle.
　The battle is almost evenly matched, I suppose.

　There's still no end in sight to the war, but sooner or later, it may be that the days of just drinking coffee or tea made by Satie will come.

　That's a lot of time, but it's comforting to think that I won't have to go to the bloody battlefield anymore.

Only, a peaceful world equals boring days, right?

　Right now, I'm busy as a corps commander, but I can't imagine myself doing nothing but dawdling around.
　I don't want to be too busy with work, but I also don't want to be left with nothing to do. It is important to do everything in moderation.
　When I think about it, maybe I should start making a hobby now.
　That's what I thought.

　However, this is a different world with a medieval feel to it.
　There is only so much you can do.
　Read a book or write a book.
　Or watch a play or invite a juggler.

　In a previous life, Vlad Zepesi, the famous model for Dracula, is said to have devoted himself to knitting in his later years, and Marie Antoinette's husband, Louis XVI, is said to have enjoyed making locks.

　As I was thinking about that, a man who seemed to be good at making locks came into my mansion.

　Satie told him modestly.

'I see that Master Günther is here to see you, sir.
Günther?　Unusual.

　The Dwarf King is quiet and reserved.
　He doesn't come to visit without a reason like Jiron and Lilith.

"Is there a problem, or is he just bored?
'I don't know about that, but he looked a little serious. May I show you to your room?

　The answer is, "Of course I don't mind.
　I respected Günther, King of the Dwarves, and I had no reason to close the door on him.
　There is no reason to close the door to him.

　When I say this, Satie holds the "Unlock" talisman over the door of his office.
　With a clatter, the magic-driven door made by Cephiro opens.

　When the dwarf king enters the room, he bows and comes up to me and asks if I can sit in a chair.
　Of course I didn't mind, but it was indicative of this dwarf's character that he would take permission every single time.
　Günther, the King of the Dwarves, is the King of Exile.
　In terms of formality, he is the same rank as the Demon King, that is.
　And yet, he has no pretense of grandeur, nor does he seek a suitable position for it.
　He's just going to act as my subordinate.

　I've warned him a few times that this king...

I am Ike's vassal now. You must treat me like one of his subordinates.

　That's all he said.

　Although we think of them as 'allies' rather than subordinates, Günther still insisted on the fact that 'an organization can only operate if there is a clear hierarchy'.

　Indeed, dwarves are stubborn creatures.
　No matter how many times we tried to persuade him, we had no choice but to do as he said.

''Please be seated. Lord Günther.

　I say this and he sits down on the sofa facing me.
　He sits down on the sofa in front of me and puts the keg he is holding on the table.

"Congratulations on your promotion to corps commander, this is a celebration.

　He says it's a secret Dwarven drink called "Fire Dragon's Breath," which is nearly 100% alcohol, and is traditionally served on celebratory occasions.
　It is the tradition to serve it at celebrations, he said.
　In return, I have Sati prepare a glass.
　And some water and lemon juice.
　To be honest, I'm not a drinker.
　I was confident that drinking a spirit of such purity would instantly make me uncomfortable, back and forth.

　As I waited for Satie to come over with a glass, I would magically create ice and add water and lemon juice to it. Replacing the water with soda water would make a lemon sour, but there's no magic that's that convenient for the quicksilver.

　I put my mouth on it. Judging by the amount of water, the alcohol concentration should have been kept to about 20%, but it was still pretty harsh.

　On the other hand, the King of the Dwarves is pouring liquor directly into his mouth from a small barrel.
　The strength of a dwarf creature's drink was worth mentioning, but this king seemed to be special among them.
　Instead of his face turning vermilion, he shows no change at all.

　Satie watched the scene with dismay, but when I made sure the Dwarf King had finished his drink, I spoke to him.

''Lord Günther, you have something to do here, right?

　As mentioned earlier, this dwarf king is not the type of person to visit this mansion for no reason.
　I can assume that he came for something, something like an errand.

"..........

　-- apparently, the guess was correct.
　The Dwarf King shook his head slowly and pulled a piece of letterhead from his pocket.
　It was a fine piece of paper with a wax seal on it.
　At a glance, you can tell that it was sent by someone of a certain rank.

What's on that letterhead?

It was sent to me by my arch-enemy.

Nemesis, sir?

Well, nemesis is an exaggeration. But we have always disliked each other. This is a letter from someone who has never been at war, but who professes to be unwilling to look at you.

Well, people have their preferences.

"Hmm, according to legend, the dwarves were born of the beard of Gustave the Mineral God. They, on the other hand, are said to have been born of the tears of Charis, the goddess of the forest. The two gods were not on good terms with each other either, it is said. No wonder they hated each other so much.

I see, so that means the letter was sent by the Elf King.

Hmm.

　Günther nodded.

　Dwarves and elves don't get along with each other, as is the case in the stories of every world, but apparently it is the same in this world.

　Dwarves, as you can see, are a bold and stubborn creature.

　Elves, on the other hand, are known to be proud and capricious. I've heard that they don't drink a drop of alcohol, and I'm sure we're in complete disagreement.

　I was genuinely curious to see what kind of letter was sent to me by such a person.

'May I ask what it is about?'

　Günther nodded. 'I came to tell you the contents of the letter in the first place,' he added, speaking briefly of its contents.

'In a nutshell, it seems that the Elf King, or rather, the Elf Queen, is in dire straits at the moment.

A predicament?　Is it?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's right. No, the League of Kings has an ultimatum to meet.

An ultimatum, sir?

Ah, so it seems that we are faced with a choice between being on our side and being destroyed by the League of Kings.

I see.

As much as this is their way of doing things, it's also Master Ike's responsibility.

Is this my fault?

　The unexpected words surprised him.

'Lord Ike has pushed the Lords Alliance too far. They must be getting impatient now. It's a losing proposition.

I see, that's very likely.

　The forces of the Zhouwang Alliance are still in good shape. The situation that had been so dominant until now is slowly picking up steam on the Demon King's side.

　It's no wonder they are in a hurry.

I'm sure they feel threatened by the news that the dwarves are siding with the demon tribe. I think they feel threatened by the fact that although the dwarven kingdom has been destroyed, the dwarves are scattered all over the place, and they feel threatened if they start rebelling all at once, or if they go to the demon king's army.

I suppose the latter in particular is a threat. In some ways, they are better than humans, especially when it comes to technology. These dwarves.

''In fact, the reason why the Demon King's army was defeated by humans in the past was in large part due to their lack of technical skills.

　Günther pointed out the facts.
　Indeed, the cooperation of the dwarves was a great force for the Demon King's army.
　The humans might be even more terrified if even other sub-humans started siding with the Demon King's army.

''Those elves don't have any skills, but they use powerful spirit magic instead. And they're all excellent archers. If they start siding with the Demon King's army, they would be in a state of panic. In fact, the elves are a race that has no interest in the world outside of the forest, something that should be left alone.

I guess that's what happens when you're cornered, people get out of their heads.

　While it seems to be an effective way to threaten an opponent by force of arms, it is also a foolish aspect of the game.
　In fact, they destroyed the dwarven kingdom by force of arms, but did not gain the cooperation of the dwarves.
　They seem intent on making the same mistake again.
　Fools learn from experience, and wise men from history, but they can't remember the last time they were there.

　They don't even remember the recent past.
　Some of them are capable men, like General E. Rudre, who fought the other day.
　But it helps at this point that the enemy's general is incompetent.
　Attacking the elven country, for example, is a poor plan.
　When I had made up my mind, I thanked Günter.

Thank you, Günter. Thank you for the valuable information.

Well, I'm just telling you what the letter says.

　After saying that, Günther got up from his seat.

　In the end, Günther didn't say a word about wanting to help the elven race, but his inner thoughts were transparent.

　His back seemed to be saying, "Will you help them somehow?".
　It was stiff and stubborn, typical of the dwarves, but perhaps this was also a type of tsundere.
　I decided to devise a plan to meet Günther's expectations.