Oh, I see. Well, I'll leave that out of the question.

　For some reason, I'm annoyed by the supercilious canon.

　-- roll up your skirt!

What?　What?　You're being unreasonable.

Unreasonable?　Isn't this the kind of relationship the canon wants me to have?
Well, I offered to surrender, but not like this.
Well, never mind. So, what do you think is the current trend, Canon?　
Let's see........is the current trend [creation]?
Tsk ... so do I.
"What?　You were right and you got tongue-tied!

　The current trend - I think the status that the current growth stock Demon King specializes in is [Creation]. The reason is that the Demon King who is growing rapidly these days is a Demon King who is using his family members to go out to work. The subordinates of a Demon King who specializes in 【Creation】 have a high rank. On the contrary, demon kings who specialize in 【Physical】 or 【Magic Power】 will be killed quickly if their subordinates are weak, even if they send their families outside of their dominion area.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the era of the [Creation] specialized Demon King had arrived.

　However, one problem arises here. Even though it's a 【Specialization Type】, its status is currently a B, which is a headache. Honestly, it's not difficult to grow [Creation] to B even if it's not a specialization type.

　I still need more time before I can reach the next rank A. It's not just the Demon King that's growing. Humanity is also growing at a tremendous speed. If we stagnate, we will just wait for them to fall to the losers.

''When all the Demon Kings around you have grown to [Creation] B, what will you need to do to excel?''

''Since the Demon King can't leave the dominion realm until he reaches level 10--?
''Oh?　You noticed.

　Kanon's expression lit up and he seemed to notice something.

'Yes!　A good chief of staff--
No.

　Canon didn't notice anything. Kanon's presence is indeed significant. [Knowledge] B. In other words, BP17...worth the equivalent of 4 on the level. However, he doesn't say it out loud.

''There are three points I'm thinking about.
There it is!　Mr. Zion's signature three fingers--

　--Roll up your skirt!

What?　Why did you...?

　I involved the canon, thinking it would give a better opinion than thinking about it alone, but did I make the wrong choice?

'One is smelting. Even if the subordinates are of the same rank, if they are higher in weapon rank, they can pick up a win.
''But the number of demon kings who make both [Creation] and [Alchemy] B... won't there be more of them in the future?
There will be more.

　From now on, if the Demon King is aiming to aggressively expand his dominion territory, it is inevitable that he will be looking to strengthen his war potential. If he wanted to strengthen his military force - in other words, his family members - to invade the territory he controls, he would only have two items to develop: 【creation】 and 【chemistry】. If 【Creation】 comes to a standstill, they'll grow the 【Alchemy】.

''That's where the second one comes in. Expansion of the area of control. In other words, strengthening the maximum CP. At [Smelting] B, there's an item that consumes 1500 CP at the highest level.
'Gaybolg'?
A spear, that's the one.

　The maximum CP goes up by 100 when the level grows by 1. Even if you simply grow [Creation] to B, you'll be left until level 15. However, even if you expand the area of control, your maximum CP will increase by 100. In other words, the expansion of the area of control will directly lead to an increase in strength.

'There's another big advantage. The more the maximum CP increases, the quicker the CP recovery will be. In other words, it will also give us an advantage in our physical operations.
That's a good thing, isn't it? But being ahead of the other Demon King means that you will expand your territory, right?　Isn't that the end of the world?

　The search tool (canon) noticed this discrepancy?　I hide my surprise as I talk about the third point.

The third point is the strengthening of my family.
For a guy who thinks he's a waste of time.

　--Roll up your skirt!

　Your pack will also grow. For example, if Chloe fights a newly created dark elf, even if they are both dark elves, Chloe will win 100% of the time. Their status will grow, albeit slightly, and some special abilities will grow visibly.

''In summary, we need to make our subordinates have more combat experience than ever before, and let them advance their control of the dominion territory ahead of the surrounding demon kings.
Wow... it's a picture-perfect, black work environment.
Call it what you want. I'll do whatever I have to do to survive.
I agree with you.

　In the end, Kanon expressed his agreement with my opinion.

''By the way, if we create a new military family, do you think we can invade the dominant territory at the same time?''
Hmm, I don't know.　It may be possible, but I think our success rate will be lower, and our survival rate will be significantly lower.
I know...

　Lina is the factor that has allowed her to continue her current rapid progress. The demon's consort was obedient, for better or worse. If ordered to invade, they would continue their invasion, forgetting to sleep and eat. Naturally, their performance would decline and they would eventually run out of power. If you order them not to die, they will avoid fighting if they feel the slightest danger. Then they will never move forward. To top it all off, it's easy to fall into a trap. Even if it was an obvious trap, there were many occasions when Lina would have been thought to have stepped through the trap if she wasn't careful.

　Assuming a certain degree of victory, it was inevitable that a high-ranking subordinate would have to be assigned to the household and given a high-ranking item. In other words, high cost. Moreover, if they were to be killed, the high-ranking items would go straight into the hands of the enemy.

　In the end, the presence of Lina, who is flexible and has the experience of a former hero, is essential.

''It's rare to be able to turn a human being into a subordinate, right?
That's true. If you look it up on the Internet, it's not exactly zero.
How are we going to invade the dominion territory without our own people?

　I was suddenly curious about how the other demon kings were invading the dominion realm.

''What I saw was, 'Demons are invading the dominion realm in Mie Prefecture! It's like a quantity control operation.　Demons are invading our territory, sir! It said something like that.
I see. Disposable....
I'm against it, though. If you're always disposable, it's not a punching bag of cash, but I think you'll stumble somewhere.
That's a rare example of a mastermind's opinion.

　My mouth slipped. The canon spun around happily.

'What?　Are you sure?
You're lying.
''Nah!''

　The canon that had been turning in a good mood froze in mid-air.


　◇


(Rina)

　It was the fifth day since the invasion of the territory controlled by District A began.

　The number of goblins attacking us decreased with each passing day; by the fifth day, the number of item-equipped goblins had dropped to zero, showing the urgency of the Demon King of District A. We could see that the Demon King of District A was in dire straits.

　Finally, the Demon King of District A's dominant territory appeared in front of him.

　The Demon King of District A was a woman in her mid-thirties who seemed somewhat hysterical.

''What is it?''　Who are you people?　Why are we being attacked by a demon?　My men can't get out and that's not fair!　It's not fair!　I mean, why are they even human!　Huh?　Seriously, I don't even know what that means!　Whoa, whoa, whoa!　What's the matter with you!

　The Demon King of District A talks fast and whines.

　He wears a disproportionate amount of iron armor and an iron helmet. The sight of him wearing it over a woman's suit was somewhat comical, and the sight of him clutching an iron staff with both hands was grotesque.

　Holding a staff means........a [magic power] specialized demon king?　And the way he was shouting hysterically with a limp and hysterical look on his face showed that he was inexperienced in combat.

　I had defeated four Demon Kings so far. This Demon King was the same type as the third Demon King.

''Each of you, beware of magical attacks!

　When I give the order to my companions, they don't respond, but they all disperse, wary of a magical attack.

　--Do you need instructions?

　Suddenly, Zion's voice echoes in my head.

　I shake my head widely to tell him that instructions are unnecessary.

'Daquel, Flora!　Attack!
Copy that.
Yes?

　The Demon King in District A is still screaming hysterically. I tell my companions the order to attack first.

　Countless flaming arrows and sharp iron arrows rain down on the Demon King of District A.

''What!　What!　--a, a, a, the Ice Shield!

　The Demon King of District A deploys a wall of ice and catches the falling flaming and iron arrows.

　Not even one of them could pass through.......a rotten demon king. That's an extraordinary magical power.

"Just die!

　The Demon King of District A swings his iron staff down, and a huge block of ice flies at us.

''Iron!''
(Yes.)

　Iron moves forward quickly, his shield at the ready, catching a chunk of ice. In the meantime, Guy sprinted to the Demon King in District A and swiftly swung a sharp claw strike.

''Cah!　Ouch ... ouch ... ouch ... that hurts!''

　The Demon King of District A swings his iron staff at Guy with a hysterical scream - but he is shifted off course by the ice bullets released by Leila.

　--Slash!

　I take advantage of the gap in my stance and slash the Demon King of District A with a sharp swing by Darn Slave.

''Kyah!　What, what.........eh.......--
Sh!

　While the Demon King of District A is looking down at his slashed flank, the approaching Red swings his gold rod with all his might and blows the Demon King of District A backwards.

...terrible.... things...

　The Demon King in District A lets out a breathless, abrasive voice.

　He looks around at his companions around him and stops moving, sending his gaze towards me as if to tell me to topple over.

　Zion's orders?

　I slowly approached the Demon King in District A.

''I'm sorry.''

　Then, with a single swing, he jumped off the head of the Demon King of District A, whose expression was covered with despair.