Chapter 114 – Yeah, that’s the main idea.
Side: Yuki
Fumu fumu. The truth behind the origin of the Demons… It was so ordinary and expected that it was hardly worth stressing about. Well, at least it made things simple for us as far as what needed to be done goes. And, if the Demon King truly was the one who ruled over the other Demons, then a chance for a lasting peace might actually exist.
(Yuki)「Well, Zergis. Can we move onto the main topic then?」
(Zergis)「Yes, I do not mind. 」
When I brought up moving onto the main subject with Zergis, everyone descended into a wonderfully strange and chaotic display. They were all silent as their hands fell against the table, which splendidly sent doc.u.ments flying out every which way. Really, it was kind of impressive honestly.
(Yuki)「What’s wrong?」
(Seraria)「What’s wrong with you!? The story from Zergis just just now was truly unbelievable, and you expect us to move on just like that!?」
And just like when we first met, Seraria loudly exploded… It really has been a long time since I saw her like this. Nostalgic, and even a little pleasant, in its very own "Seraria like" kind of way… Even so.
(Yuki)「Look. Even if we know all this now, it doesn"t help us with how to move from now on, or change what we have to do—much less know how the Demons will act. If anything, all that background from earlier was little more than a footnote in history at this point,1)Face : HE KNOWSSSS alright?」
(Seraria)「Th-that"s, however…… 」
Lulu didn"t seem to be taking the earlier story too well either and was still in shock herself.
…Was it really that surprising a revelation though? Besides, we don"t know how much, if any, of it is even true right now. Still, when you looked at the whole conflict from a "modern day" perspective, then it really wasn"t all that strange or shocking a story. War and discrimination were often triggered and fueled by false charges, misunderstandings and lies.
….That"s just how common it was.
(Yuki)「Now, since we know the Demons" side of things, then let"s move on and talk about the current Demon King and the organization that supports them.」
(Shera)「Organization?」
Shera tilted her head doubtfully, her rabbit ears curiously quivering a bit like a shaking leaf in the wind. They seemed to be saying "What, what?" and honestly, I thought that it was very cute. Lutz"s somewhat muscular feeling rabbit ears were the same as they shook. It seemed that for Rabbit-kin, their ears expressed a lot of what they were feeling.
(Yuki)「Yes. If we can better understand their politics and organizational thinking, we can more or less predict how they may move」
(Shera)「I see. Since Zergis called himself a member of the Big four, you"re thinking that he may be a member of the Demon King"s top bra.s.s?」
(Yuki)「That"s right. Let"s see…Well, unlike in human societies, Demons base everything on merit and ability. Display that ability well enough and just about anyone can become the Demon King. You can think of it as their alternative to the elections system we have here in Weed I suppose.」
(Shera)「Elections?」
(Yuki)「Yes, well it"s similar anyway. Unlike in Weed, not everyone would be able to vote though. You can think of the Demon King"s Castle functioning a bit like our own Government building too. Its politics as well as elections are centered there, and it"s basically where candidates have to entice and gather votes, or something like that」
(Shera)「I more or less understand now. Differences aside, their system seems very much like what we have here, I think」2)Cre: If you"re at all familiar with the last arc of Yuyu Hakusho, then the way Demon Kings get elected should sound pretty familiar too. If it"s a system of merits and ability, which they have to show off… then Demons prolly regularly vote with their fists (/ Chill blushes: MGQ :3)
(Yuki)「That"s right. Well, elections were originally something that humans came up with anyway, so it"s not really all that surprising that it survived until now, differences or not. After all, we"re presently using it too.」
(Shera)「Then you intend to make various changes to their ruling policy?」
(Yuki)「Yes, I need the approval of their governing body first, but that’s the general idea.」
Yes. If we can learn about the current Demon King"s character and policies, then we should be able to make some predictions about how the Demons will act. If we can do that, then…
(Shera)「Then, may we hear more about the Demon King?」
(Zergis)「Of course! It cannot be helped if you want to hear about it. This generation"s current Demon King is a woman named Liliana3)リリアーナ Reston4)レストン. The owner of a most splendid figure and…—Fubeh!?」
While in the middle of talking, Zergis was once again suddenly blown away.
(Raia)「You idiot! Don"t forget that you"re in debt to Liliana! Don"t go off impudently running your mouth!!」
(Zergis)「Gah, it stinks! What the h.e.l.l is with this rotten stench!?」
(Raia)「Oh. this is to help wash cattle.」
(Zergis)「Don"t go throwing such things at me like that! Just how will you make up for it if you ruin my genius intellect with such violence!?」
(Raia)「Oh shut up! Just rot away and disappear for all I care!」
Zergis and Raia began arguing.
(Yuki)「Yes yes…Anyway Raia, how did the cattle"s birth go? No problems I hope.」
(Raia)「Ah, it ended safely. It’s a healthy calf.」
(Yuki)「Good. And I’m sorry but we"ll need you to pick up explaining about the Demon King now since Zergis has…stopped talking.」
(Raia)「…Zergis is so d.a.m.n useless. Right, leave it to me! After all, I know Liliana very well!」
Raia proudly puffed out her magnificent mountain peaks!
Well, I did hear that she had the biggest bust in all of Weed though… 5)Chill: I can sense a certain degenerative ent.i.ty at work here…
SFX:Gurih!
(Yuki)「Iteh!!6)It hurts」
(Lulu)「Danna-sama! Is my chest not enough for you?」
(Seraria)「My Dear..! If you want bigger b.r.e.a.s.t.s, you know you can just ma.s.sage mine whenever you want!」
Seraria and Lulu stood on either side of me, looking thoroughly displeased.
(Raia)「Hey hey! Do you want me explain about the Demon King or not?」
(Yuki)「…Sorry. Yes, please continue.」
For the time being, I just had to endure the pinching induced pain and move on….
That was totally unreasonable, but with a genuine "Harem and h.e.l.l" kind of situation, such things were probably—I mean absolutely—inevitable. I should really just resign myself to that fact…
(Raia)「Foremost is that Liliana is an ardent supporter for peace with the humans, but now she is on the frontlines protecting our homeland. She possesses sufficient power and leadership ability as the Demon King, and I"ve certainly never beaten her. Even so. She just can"t seem to get anywhere with the humans…」
(Yuki)「Fumu. So, she"s of the pro-peace faction then, hmm. And what do you think she would do if she were to learn that you were captured?」
(Raia)「She"d definitely come and try to rescue us of course.」
(Yuki)「Then, a.s.suming she did kow. Do you think she would use some scheme or sneak attack, or would she cut ties with the other Demons in order to join forces with Weed if given the chance.」
(Raia)「Neither. As serious as she is for peace, Liliana wouldn"t do anything like that for her goals. Besides, even if we are in Weed, she wouldn"t go out of her way to divide her forces recklessly, nor would she even pay much attention to Weed to begin with. Most likely is that she would start with investigating who captured us and how we are being held.」
When I gave Raia the gist of our earlier discussion, she promptly replied.
(Yuki)「I understand. What do you think, Zergis?」
(Zergis)「You want my thoughts then? Well, since we acted on our own and without permission to begin with, I am more or less of the same opinion as Raia. I doubt that she could afford sending anyone just to rescue us right now.」
(Yuki)「And the pro-peace faction itself?」
(Zergis)「It"s exactly because it’s the pro-peace faction that they won"t do anything. Since we decided to act on our own like we did, that only served to worsen relations with the humans…」
(Yuki)「So that"s how it is…」
(Zergis)「Well, even if it concerns the pro-war faction, I doubt that they would act either. This is a Dungeon after all. And while I could not guess how much Demons actually know about Dungeons or not, I highly doubt that they could even imagine a city where people live being inside one. Rather, it would be more prudent to simply ignore it and concentrate on conquering other, more conventional targets. No one would willingly, or recklessly, deal with the unknown if they could just as easily avoid it instead.」
True enough. And it"s not like I knew much about other dungeons eiter, but I understood that none would likely be anything like this one.
(Yuki)「What about sending spies or envoys? Is it possible that someone would be sent in order to monitor our actions then? Should we increase our security and surveillance measures at our entrances?」
(Raia)「Right, that should work.」
(Zergis)「I think that should be enough. And if we do happen to catch a spy, then I will do my best to convince them not to bring any trouble to Weed, I promise.」
(Yuki)「I want information too, so if you can cooperate, I’d appreciate it. 」
Fumu. The situation with the Demon King was more complex than I thought…
Well, when you have the weight of a nation on your back, then I suppose that such burdens were inevitable…
…Now then, what would we talk about next?
Afterword of the author
Because the Demon King also have to manage a country, it seems she won’t be able to make a move.
Then, what are we going to talk about next?
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