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Chapter 35: The Sage Foresees a New Threat
ăIn the audience room of the royal castle, I looked through the pile of reports that had come in.
Not a bad trend.
ăThe Demon Lordâs army had begun to invade the Empire, attacking from the outer edge of the territory.\năI heard that they were gradually pushing the ravages of war further and further in.
ăI had very little to do with this.\năIâd left it to the three leaders of the Demon Lordâs army â Grom, Luciana, and Henry.\năThey bicker with each other on a daily basis, but somehow they still get along well.\năTheir cooperation was outstanding.\năEach of them knows what they are good at, and they are able to act upon it excellently.
ăRecently, Grom had combined the surplus undead, and turned them into some kind of chimera.\năIn his own way, he seemed to be trying to strengthen the power of the Demon Lordâs army.\năThat truly makes me happy.
ăFurthermore, some of the elves now belonged to the Demon Lordâs army as well.\năThey were expert archers and extraordinarily brilliant spirit magic users.\năThey are still a little distant from the others, but both sides were nevertheless cooperating with each other to fight.
ăIn the Forest of Yggdrasil, the other elves were living their lives as before.\năThe surrounding countries had been officially notified that the area is a territory enslaved by the Demon Lord.\năWe donât interfere with the elves, and we make sure that they can live freely.
ăItâs not that I want to treat the elves like slaves.\năTo be frank, all I want is for them to lend us a hand when we need it.\năOf course, if I displayed that attitude in public, the Demon Lordâs authority would be shaken.\năThatâs why I had some of the elves join the Demon Lordâs army.\năItâs not possible to show favouritism to the entire race just because my old friend is their chief.
ăAs I was flipping through a stack of reports, there was a knock at the door.\năI heard a voice from the other side.
âDemon Lord. The lords of the human territories are here.â
âLet them in.â
ăI put the report aside as I answered, and the door opened.\năA succubus in a civil servantâs uniform led the way for the humans, who were dressed in fine attire.\năIn spite of their attire, their demeanor looked frightened.\năTheir hurriedly shifting gazes became fearful as soon as they caught sight of me.
ăThey were the townsfolk who had shown their obedience.\năThey were the lords of the territories of the former kingdom.\năI had summoned them regarding a certain matter.
ăThe lords knelt down with awkward movements.\năThey began to greet me while trembling.
âD-Demon Lord, thank you for inviting us here todayâŚâ
âEnough with the lip service. Itâs annoying.â
ăI said, interrupting them.\năAs I crossed my legs on the throne, I glanced at the lords.
ăWith just that one action, their faces turned pale.\năSome of them looked as if they would faint at any moment.\năFor them, this must have felt like a near-death situation.\năThey could lose their lives if I was in a bad mood.
ăHowever, they couldnât ignore my call.\năThey didnât know what kind of punishment they would receive.\năThey must have come all this way from afar while resisting the urge to refuse.
âI notified you to provide personnel to the Demon Lordâs army. Have you prepared an answer?â
âT-That, you see, weâre still having trouble recruiting as many applicants as we had hopedâ.â
ăOne of the lords mumbled.\năThe others seemed to be in the same boat.\năCrossing my legs again, I asked in a cold tone.
ââSo I take it youâve rejected my request?â
âW-Weâll dispatch them right away! P-Please, three days! Please wait just for three days!â
ăThe lords who had bowed down hurriedly left the audience hall.\năThe sound of their footsteps rapidly faded away.\năThe succubus who had been leading them bowed deeply before leaving the room.
Geez, what a troublesome lot.
ăThey may have been hoping for concessions, but I would never accept such things.\năSince I had threatened them so politely, they would probably prepare personnel properly this time.\năOtherwise, I would have to go destroy some of their territories.
âDemon Lord, Iâm coming in!â
ăWith a friendly voice, the door opened.\năLuciana languidly appeared at the doorway.\năShe walked up to me and leaned against the throne.
ăIf Grom were to see her he would be furious, but heâs not here right now.\năI myself was not bothered by Lucianaâs unrestrained behavior, so I let her do as she pleased.\năAs long as she did her job, she was good enough.
âThe humans are terrified of you, did you do something again?â
âI was just reminding them to provide me personnel.â
ăWhen I answered, Luciana placed her finger to her lips.\năShe scrunched her eyebrows and gave me a strange look.
âAhh, that thing. Why do you want to add humans to the Demon Lordâs army? Isnât the current force enough?â
âIf we leave them alone too long, they might plan a rebellion. If I can draw out their strength in moderation, they wonât try and do anything rash.â
ăIn fact, there was already a lord who had tried to establish connections with other countries behind the scenes.\năI set up an opportunity to discuss that alone with him.\năOn the verge of being choked to death, he had fearfully pledged his allegiance to me, so it was fine now.
ăHowever, it was inevitable that there would be more people who would make threatening moves, like that lord.\năNormally, we did not intervene in the territories that had submitted to us.\năI guess they are aware that the Demon Lord is lenient.\năThere was also the fact that my punishments were too light.
ăThatâs why Iâve decided to intervene, albeit irregularly, hereafter.\năIn some cases, it may be necessary to make an example of them.\năI was planning to use them to reinforce the terror of the Demon Lord.
ăWhen Luciana heard my idea, she smiled wickedly.
âYou donât say that because you want pawns that you can make use of?â
âHumans are useful. They are useful not only in warfare, but also in manufacturing. If we use the people with specialized skills, we can raise the standard of living in the capital.â
ăWe donât need to recruit humans just as a countermeasure against rebellions.\năThere are many inconveniences that inevitably arise when making use of only demons and undead.\năThe humans also served to compensate for those various inconveniences.\năI want to make the royal capital a prosperous and solid base.
âBut thatâs not important. What about the war situation?â
âAbout the Imperial Army? Itâs going great so far. The Bone Minister is so enthusiastic Iâm dying of boredom.â
ăThe Bone Minister must be referring to Grom.\năIf heâs struggling, thereâs no doubt that the opponent is terrifying.\năThere are few individuals who can match Grom.
ăIf it was only an army of the standard undead and demons, we would have had a very difficult time.\năThe Imperial Army would have prepared countermeasures against the undead using holy magic.\năIt would have been difficult to break through that.\năIt was a good decision not to conserve my forces, and to send out the top brass.
âAs instructed by the Demon Lord, weâre only guarding the towns and villages that have accepted the command to surrender. Weâll continue to head towards the imperial capital, right?â\nâYes, thatâs right. But donât destroy it completely. We have to encourage cooperation with other countries. The Demon Lordâs army should slow down their invasion at an appropriate point, and uproot the territories along the way.â
ăLuciana balked at my order.\năShe gave a small sigh.
âThatâs a tough order⌠Well, thatâs fine. Iâll convey it properly.â
âPlease.â
âYes, yes, leave it to me.â
ăLuciana walked out of the audience room with a wave of her hand.\năI sat on my throne and lost myself in thought.
ăThe Demon Lordâs army had taken over the kingdom, obtained the Forest of Yggdrasil, and now began to invade the empire.\năAt this rate, it will be able to bring about the downfall of the Empire.\năAlthough we wonât be able to bring it to ruin, they should be able to greatly reduce its power.\năHowever, there was one doubt in my mind.
âWould the will of the world really allow this to happen?
ăEvil will be ousted by the power of justice.\năThat should be the correct ending.\năItâs always the same cycle, generation after generation.\năThatâs how the world weaves its history.
ăHowever, I overcame the fate of destruction by defeating the hero of this generation.\năIn other words, I am defying logic.\năI am the very definition of an absurd development.
ăThe world will surely present a new threat.\năMy downfall is the right course of events, so it will tamper with the progression to make it so.\năIt will prepare an existence that will be enough to destroy an undead Demon Lord.
ăAs of now, the Demon Lordâs army was steadily advancing.\năThat in and of itself is a welcome development, but we can never be complacent.\năEventually, a factor that could lead to our collapse will appear.\năThis was also the case when the hero awoke.
ăIf the world wants to destroy the Demon Lord, I will resist at all costs.\năI will eliminate justice again and again, and continue to aim for my ideal.\năI am willing to make sacrifices for that.\n<hr class="wp-block-separator">
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