Chapter 8 – A Summons by His Majesty the Demon King

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Two weeks after the battle at the border with Alexa ended in a great victory for Elancia, Stephan, the commandant for the Alexa war theater, had finished awarding the noble families, which had participated, for their meritorious deeds, given his report to the demon king, and announced the conferral of honors for the recent battle.

As a result of that, the demon king praised the Erwin family copiously. This time the top ranks in regards to military accomplishments were Malida in first place, Brest in second place, and Lator in third place. Or in other words, the Erwin family dominated the upper bracket.

However, at this rate, our family would get bullied by the other participating noble family, just like it’d have happened during the 『Identification of severed heads』.

Geeze, it looks like I gotta upgrade the tribute added to letters of thanks that will be sent to the neighboring lords.

“Yahoo! I was the one with the highest distinguished services! Time to celebrate! Where’s the festive wine!? We’re going to drink today! Liese, Irena, pour wine for me while letting me rest my head on your laps!”

“Uuuooooh! I was second, you saaaay!?! I don’t remember falling behind Malida! I guess it’s because she’s the family head! Right, Albert!?”

“Why am I only third!? That battle ended with our victory after I chased the enemy down with my cavalry! Isn’t that right, Albert!?”

After hearing the announcement of the honors conferral from Stephan’s messenger, the meatheads took out the wine in the morning and started merrymaking.

But, to be blunt here, what’s the idea behind the family head being the first to make such a fuss!? That’s what I thought, but we’re talking about Malida here, so I guess it’s inevitable either way.

Brest was also causing a huge, hotblooded ruckus which was completely different from his calm demeanor on the battlefield. Of course Lator didn’t fall behind in that regard either.

“Malida-sama, Brest-sama, Lator, it’s still too early in the day for drinking. We also must confirm the details about the rewards written in the letter which the messenger kindly brought to us. Depending on the medals awarded to you, we’ll have to deduct the expenses for the banquet from Malida-sama’s allowance and Brest-dono’s salary, so please keep that in mind.”

“Aaaaargh! No way! Why must I pay out of my own pocket even though we won with me having contributed the most to our victory!? That’s weird!”

“That’s inevitable. We’re poor after all. As governor I cannot allow any unnecessary expenses. Anyway, please move to the big hall since we’re going to confirm the medals and rewards over there.”

While chiding Malida who was about to fetch the wine barrels from our cellar, I made Brest and his partying retainers head to the big hall. Once everyone got there, I read out the letter sent to us by the demon king.

“You did truly outstandingly during the recent battle. As acknowledgment of your performance, I have approved of Malida von Erwin to have contributed the most in the battle against Alexa, Brest von Erwin to have contributed the second-most, and Lator von Erwin to have contributed the third-most. As a display of my gratitude for your accomplishments, you shall be granted the following rewards: First, the permission for the Alkor family to return to Elancia and the ratification of their present peerage. Second, the permission for the Alkor family’s territory to be turned into the Erwin family’s protectorate, and thirdly, 10,000 imperial gold as well as the bestowal of three excellent sword.”

“””UUUUUUOOOOOOOHHHH!!”””

The oni started to cheer loudly all at once. Because being praised for their exploits in battle was the clan’s raison d’etre, the tension soared thanks to the demon king acknowledging their leaders’ achievements. But, I also got excited because we were granted a reward going beyond my expectations.

Considering the achievements by the Erwin family, I had already expected that the Alkor family would be reinstated as imperial nobility, including a permission for them to become our protectorate. But, I didn’t think that we’d receive 10,000 imperial gold (100 million Yen).

As we’re still bogged down by debts, an increase of money on hand is very appreciated for our family. Seriously, the demon king rocks! If it’s now, I wouldn’t even mind kissing him!

Let’s use that cash bonus for the maintenance of the Alkor family’s territory. It’s planned for them to slowly merge with the Erwin family anyway, so I do intend to quickly work on the introduction of our weights and measure units, taking a census, and get a read on their planting.

Then again, if I increase his workload any further, it’s quite possible for Milevis’s soul to leave its body. But, since he should be running the territory administration much more decently than the meathead clan, I’ll have him do his best.

So far as it goes, we got thirty new civil officials through our recruitment, but we still need a lot more.

And just as a broad grin spread across my face as we were given more rewards than I had wished for, my face turned deathly pale in the next instant. There was more written in the letter. While tracing the letters with a trembling finger, I worded them out.

“Moreover, in addition to your previous achievements, the Erwin family’s battle performance this time was magnificent. I would like you to personally hand you your medals, so come to my castle. The one to attend are Malida von Erwin, Brest von Erwin, Lator von Erwin, and Albert von Erwin.”

My name was mentioned in the list of attendants. In other words, I’ve been summoned by His Majesty the Demon King.

At present I’m a retainer of the Erwin family, but since I’m no imperial noble, I’m basically a nobody. It’s not like I made a public appearance and gained military achievements this time or the last time, and yet he’s asking for a nobody like me? Why?

Still, it’s a personal summons by His Majesty. Even a retainer like me has no choice but to answer that call.

Even as I was confused as to why I was being called over, I remembered the rumors I heard about the demon king. All sorts of gossip is afoot about the man holding the rank of emperor as the highest authority in Elancia. He’s a 25-year old ruler. He’s the family head of the Chegemorie family, one of the four imperial families who can nominate the emperor.

He obtained the crown for himself through extensive use of schemes and plots, and once he became the emperor, he recovered some of the land which was lost due to the previous emperor’s misgovernment. He was a ruler skilled at battle. He also employed capable, low-ranking nobles as his immediate vassals, aiming to reform the stale, old systems which made the national power of Elancia decline in the first place. He was apparently pushing for centralized state politics as no one other emperor before him did.

Also, according to Malida herself, he seems to be an extremely doting, reliable big brother figure.

“Albert, at the time of my reinstatement, I introduced you to Brother as my husband. Thereupon he told me, 『I’m very interested in the guy who’s going to marry you, so let me meet him』, you see. It looks like he used this opportunity to summon you as my husband. But I doubt there’s any disadvantage in introducing yourself to Brother on this occasion, right?”

Apparently I was summoned because Malida put in a good word for me. For the demon king, I’m nothing more than the retainer of his own retainer. And usually a vassal like that wouldn’t be able to have an audience with the demon king.

The only exceptions for people without proper rank to receive audiences would be things like a messenger bringing word on behalf of their lord, reward ceremonies for military accomplishments like this time, or personal awarding ceremonies by the demon king. Because of that, my attendance as someone who is no messenger nor has any military accomplishments to show for him, is the exception amongst exceptions.

“I mean, it’s not easy for Christ-dono, who has become His Majesty the Demon King, to meet with you and us. But now that we’re meeting him for the first time in a while, we must prepare some souvenirs. We could take that, Fray’s creation, with us.”

Brest was acquainted with the demon king. The Erwin family belonged to the faction of the Chegemorie family which served as guardian of Elancia’s south. It was also a family head of the Chegemorie family from several generations ago who had placed this bunch of meatheads on this rich land after becoming emperor. I recently learned that the Erwin family had always been pampered by the generations of Chegemorie family heads ever since then.

The Erwin family is the strongest bodyguard unit the Chegemorie family has at its disposal. And the Erwin family, which is feared by its neighboring lords as gathering of combat maniacs, has been submissive towards the Chegemorie’s main family as they felt indebted for the many, many years of favors.

But, because the docile Erwin family members opposed the Chegemorie family head over Malida’s engagement, it developed into a serious matter.

Well, now that Malida has been forgiven and reinstated as a noble of Elancia, the demon king seems to be soft on the Erwin family again.

“Albert, we’re going to depart to the capital right away since we will introduce you to Brother. Get ready. Everyone, we’ll have a victory party after I come back from the capital! Wait for it!”

Malida had apparently given up on taking out the wine barrels and smoothly inserted her plan of a victory party into the talk about preparing the departure, informing her retainers of it all.

“Oh, okay. I understand. Let us head out then after I passed on a few more instructions.”

A roundtrip to the capital would take two weeks, so I must tell people various things so that the governmental work doesn’t stall during my absence.

“Also, the expenses for the victory party, which you added so nicely, will be limited to 30 imperial gold! Everything beyond that has to come out of your own money!”

“Uuuughh! You’re such a miser! I want to drink wine and go crazy!”

“Since the extra expenses will be deducted from your allowance, go for it!”

“Uncle, for the sake of us having a flashy drinking bout, you’ll provide the necessary funds from your salary.”

“Idiot! If I did something like that, I’d be on the receiving end of Fray’s wrath!”

“Then, Lator, you’ll pay for it, right?”

“Sorry…I’ve been handing over all my salary to Mom…”

“No way! Why must we have a victory party for such a great success with such a tiny budget!?”

Brest and Lator nodded at Malida’s outburst. Still, as might be expected, Fray has a tight hold on the finances while fighting her own fight of protecting her household.

I gave my instructions on how they should continue during my absence to Milevis and Irena, told the oni to strengthen their guard protocol and alertness, and left the command over Castle Ashley as a proxy to Liese while casting a sidelong glance at the three meatheads who were hanging their heads with devastated expressions. After all that, we headed to the emperor’s castle in the capital.

△

“Yay, it looks like we’ve arrived. Uncle, Albert, get off.”

Brest, Lator, and I walked after Malida who had gotten off the carriage in a carefree mood as if we were at home. Ahead of my eyes sprawled the palace where the emperor of Elancia lived. It was also called Castle of the Demon King.

Once we entered the compound, we were met by lots of luxurious and gorgeous decorations, furniture, and so on. It was a huge, marvelous palace that was decked with luxury. Its official name was Castle Dektoris. It was known as the place where the founding emperor of Elancia had declared that he’d become the king for demi-humans who are persecuted by the humans.

Ever since then, demon kings ruled this land for ten generations across 260 years in total.

The lineage of the founding emperor wasn’t clear, but he founded a country from having nothing for the sake of repaying his debts to a demi-human. He annexed the land of the surrounding human lords and allowed Elancia to grow into a mighty powerhouse on the continent within one generation.

According to old documents, he was described as too much of an OP Cheat, so maybe he’s my senpai in reincarnating into this world.

The founding emperor granted territory to each of his four children. Nowadays they’re called the 『Four Imperial Families』, and they possess the right to become the emperor. He also granted land to four of his chief retainers who redeemed themselves on the battlefield during his reign. Nowadays they’re called 『Four Ducal Families』 and they have the right to dismiss an emperor who was chosen during the emperor election. All of it is based on the 『Emperor Election by the Four Emperors and Four Dukes System』, a unique law of Elancia to decide on its next ruler. This law had been set up by the founding king.

The family heads of the four imperial and ducal families, who possess the right to vote, cast their lot for the people who became emperor candidates, and the crown would go to the person receiving the most votes.

During the emperor selection, various plots, disinformation campaigns, threats, assassinations, bribery, and inter-faction disputes would take place. Foreign wars would be concluded with a cease-fire, no matter how disadvantageous the conditions, and the armed conflicts would instead shift to internal strife.

I wondered why the founding emperor introduced such a problematic system as a means to designate his successors, but I eventually reached the conclusion that this might have been the only feasible way for maintaining the alliance between all the different, egoistic demi-humans.

We digressed a bit here, but let us talk about the Tenth Emperor of Elancia, Christ von Chegemorie.

He lost his father at the tender age of fifteen and thus became the family head of the Chegemorie family. Later on he ran as a candidate during the Emperor Selection, where he discovered his talent for plotting. He used that ability to defeat his rivals in the election and secured the crown for himself, becoming a young ruler who was burning with the ambition to expand the realm.

Following Malida, I soon arrived at the palace’s audience hall in order to meet that man.

As I bowed my head while kneeling on the floor, I felt the presence of someone sitting on the throne that had been installed on a slightly raised ground floor.

“All of you, lift your heads.”

I heard a voice from above me that was young and bouncy, yet dignified.

“”Yes, Your Majesty!””

We had lowered our heads so as to not look at the emperor, but since he told us to raise our heads, I could finally see the owner of that voice. He was looking our way as he sat on his throne. A healthy dose of skepticism sporadically showed itself in his discerning, sharp look that made you feel his majesty.

He was fair-skinned and slender, but I’ve already heard from Malida that he’s an outstanding martial arts master, so his body should be trained.

Coiling horns were growing out of his blond hair and his ice-blue eyes were charming. All in all you could call him a looker for women.

The Chegemorie family has blood of a demi-human species called dream demons, resulting in the family having many handsome men and pretty women in their ranks.

Because he’s the lord of my lord, I decided to have a look at his abilities.

Name: Christ von Chegemorie
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Race: Dream Demon

Valor: 74
Leadership: 91
Intelligence: 96
Domestic Affairs: 79
Charm: 88

Status: Tenth Emperor of Elancia Empire

That guy is way too capable. Seriously. He’s an all-round talent with no weaknesses. I can fully understand why Alexa has kept losing to Elancia ever since he took over as emperor.

“About the recent battle… Malida, you did splendidly! You have my praise! Accept my reward without any hesitation. It’s a congratulatory gift from me who wasn’t able to participate in your wedding ceremony.”

Although the Erwin family had performed extremely well on the battlefield, I already felt the rewards to be awfully generous for a defensive battle, but it seems he also meant it as a congratulatory gift for the marriage between Malida and me.

“Our relationship doesn’t really need that. Even without doing something reserved like sending us congratulatory gifts…just a 『Congratulations』 will do fine. Besides, the recent battle didn’t yield any heads of big generals or important people. It was all just small-fry.”

Malida, whom I assessed as having been quite obedient, dropped the courtesy, heavily sat down cross-legged in the audience hall, and rested her chin in one hand. I couldn’t believe that to be the proper type of etiquette towards the emperor who was her lord, and thus I started to feel cold sweat run down my spine.

Even if she might be a milk sibling of Christ, the highest authority of this country, I deemed that ill-mannered behavior to be extremely unacceptable.

“As always, you’re too lenient with Malida, Christ-dono. I know that you had to disown and exile her two years ago, when she beat her fiancé half-dead, in order to calm the waves, but I’d like you to guess how much trouble I experienced when you told me to assemble a group of guarding retainers and send them after her.”

Brest imitated Malida, also sitting down cross-legged on the floor, and then addressed the emperor as if he was talking to a relative’s child.

“Christ-sama has always been way too soft on Malida-nee-san. Dad, you’ve received a knight peerage as thanks, didn’t you? Rather than that, I cannot agree with me being ranked lower than Dad! It was my first campaign! You ought to include this in your evaluation!”

Seeing Lator complain about the demon king’s ruling, the amount of cold sweat on my back increased by thirty times.

This time we were here on an official occasion and the other party was our lord. No matter how audacious the meatheads of the Erwin family might be, there exists a minimum of etiquette they ought to observe.

“Malida, Brest, Lator, are you forgetting about this being an official occasion?”

The ice-blue eyes of the demon king were coldly piercing the three idiots.

S-So this is the deadly serious mode of the angry demon king, huh? I-I’d like them to seriously give me a break here.

If I was in the demon king’s shoes, I’d have chosen to kill them right here and now for the sake of upholding my own dignity, if someone had given me that sort of attitude during an official event, given that others are watching us.

“Malida, Brest, Lator, have you heard me?”

The demon king’s eyes quickly narrowed down. This was definitely a flag for him ordering us all to be put to the swords any moment now. Seeing that attitude of the demon king, floods of sweat ran down my back.

I knew that it was rude, but I stepped in front of those three meatheads, and did a kowtow to apologize for their rudeness.

“F-Forgive them! Malida-sama, Brest-dono, and Lator-dono are very clumsy when it comes to etiquette, but that absolutely does not mean they are looking down on you, Your Majesty!”

I believed I might be overstepping my boundaries as a lowly retainer, but at this rate, it was quite likely that my wife, her uncle and his son would lose their heads due to lese majeste. If that happened, it was possible that I might also end up on the executioner’s block for having been involved in the crime.

“Albert, why are you lowering your head like that? My brother isn’t a man of such a small caliber.

“It’s just as Malida says. Christ-dono is a very tolerant sovereign.”

“Since he has spent a long period of time with us oni, Crist-sama won’t mind something so insignificant.”

“Hahahaha! Malida, you got your hands on a truly interesting man. He apparently had the resolve to be cut down by me for your sake. He’s definitely shown me great chivalry, just as you told me before.”

When I timidly lifted my head, Chris was laughing in my direction after having descended from the throne and sitting down on the floor cross-legged like Malida.

“Huh?”

“However, I wanted to see with my own eyes what sort of reaction Albert, your husband, would show me. Besides, if I had to watch Malida greet me according to etiquette, I’d be plagued by nightmares thereafter.”

“Brother, that is terrible of you to say! If I feel like doing it, I can easily act like any ordinary, noble lady!”

“Sure, you seem capable of at least acting like a noble lady. One that beats the fiancé I recommended to her half-dead.”

“Wait! That was a pig in human shape! You will know if you consult Albert, but I’m attracted to good looks!”

The demon king softened his earlier sharp glare and seemed to enjoy his conversation with Malida with a light-heartedness as if he was talking with his real sister.

“Thanks to that, I couldn’t join any battles for two years, putting me at disadvantage after having been made the head of the family.”

“Brest, you did fine work. I made things hard for you when I exiled Malida. Even now I feel sorry for having forbidden you to participate in battles as a form of apology towards the other party. I’m sorry, but please use your power for Malida’s sake once again.”

“Got it. I plan to invest all my power to help Malida, who is the Erwin family’s pride and war goddess.”

“Also, Lator, my rulings are absolute. I won’t permit any complaints. But, your achievements during your first campaign were marvelous. I will bestow you a great sword which is capable of easily cutting through rock, so make do with that reward this time. I’m expecting you to obtain the most distinguished services during the next war.”

“Aye! Now that you’ve said all of this, I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll definitely show you how I surpass Malida-nee-san and Dad during the next war!”

Oh, isn’t he a guy saying completely normal things? I feel like I’ve wasted my effort by worrying over getting cut down. The demon king is so close with the oni that I feel a mysterious pang of envy well up in me.

“Still, it’s quite unexpected for a man capable of controlling Malida, the strongest warrior of Elancia, so skillfully.”

“Even Big Bro didn’t know what to do with that restive horse. But, she’s found an extremely skilled rider at the destination of her exile,” Brest roared in laughter while looking at me.

Extremely skilled rider refers to me. And sure, at night I ride her and get ridden by he…err, anyway…

Gazing at me as well, the demon king grinned broadly. He’s totally like a good-natured, ordinary big bro. I’ve heard that he’s the highest authority in the Empire, and because lots of rumors are going around about him, I got scared.

“Now then, let’s leave the talks about rewards and private matters at this, and get to the reason why I called you here.”

The demon king completely changed his expression, from the gentle one he showed Malida and the others until now to a grim and stabbing one.

Once again, he directed his attention at me.

“The feat of magnificently stealing the border castles and the tactical insight of using Malida’s forces cleverly during the recent battle; Stephan was full of praise for you, Albert. That’s why I summoned you here since I was curious what sort of man you are.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I am deeply grateful for receiving such exorbitant praise for you.”

“However, according to the stories I heard, you seem to have women other than Malida, right? I’ve also heard that the head of the Alcor family, which I granted to you as reward this time, might actually be a woman as well.”

Because of the demon king’s words, the air in the audience hall quickly dropped below freezing point. It felt like his frosty glare was rapidly cooling down the surrounding atmosphere.

Shit, that’s bad. Really bad. Does this mean I’m headed straight for the death end?

Looking at his earlier behavior, it’s clear that this Christ guy is dotting, or rather, pampering Malida. Therefore, he’ll fly into rage and lop off my head, when it comes to me having other women as Malida’s husband.

If I don’t overcome this crisis, the love-love-time with my wife and her lovers will disappear forever. And I don’t want that. Absolutely! Think! Activate all your brain cells!

“Brother, Liese-tan, Irena, and Lichere are all my lovers! I’m just lending them to Albert for a bit! You have to get it right!”

Malida called Liese and Irena her lovers, but without losing any of its severity, Christ was stabbing me with his murderous glare as if saying, 『You lil’ fucker lay your hands on other women after having married my darling sister!?』.

No way, impossible. It’s totally impossible! No, no, no!

I tried to frantically come up with a plan to weather through this devastating battlefield, but being exposed to the demon king’s death stare, I can’t collect my thoughts while feeling like my brain is withering away.

“I am…devoted…to Malida-sama as her husband.”

“Hoh, you say you’re devoted to her while having other women? You seem to be double-tongued, Albert.”

Blue veins popped on the demon king’s forehead and temples while he pierced me with his eyes as if asking, 『What’re you saying, you piece of shit!?!?!』.

The demon king beckoned over an attendant who had been standing at the side, received his beloved sword from him, and drew it.

I can’t escape the death flag. At this rate, I’ll lose my head any moment.

“Brother! Stop it with the jokes! Albert’s wisdom is an asset for the Erwin family,” Malida remarked while unable to read the atmosphere.

The pressure released from the demon king’s eyes intensified even further.

“Malida. Albert is having women he likes other than you attend him. Are you saying you permit that?”

Christ tapped my neck with the blade of his sword. Each time I felt a cold sensation crawl across my neck.

Think! I need to come up with a plan to overcome this predicament! There must be way to get out of this alive!

While enduring the fear of losing my head, I frantically brooded over a plan to dodge this deadly bullet.

“Brother! Albert, is a sleazy, perverted guy, but he’s my cherished husband. If you’re going to cut down Albert, you have to go through me first!”

Malida, you said something nice there! As expected of my wife! I’m happy to have such a capable wife. I’m about to fall in love with her. No wait, we’re already all lovey-dovey.

“Malida, do you plan to give me trouble again by forcing me to deprive you of your position as family head?”

GAAAAAH, a power attack!!! The worst type of power harassment!

“Ugh, that’s…”

Even a wild, uninhibited woman like Malida didn’t appear to be willing to return to a life as a stray dog and seemed to regard protecting me beyond that as impossible.

At this rate my life would come to an end with my head being disconnected from my neck. And that’s something I’d like to evade at any cost.

I made up my mind and addressed the demon king who had the blade of his sword placed on my neck.

“With all due respect, but please allow me to speak! If you kill me now and here, the hegemony of the Elancia Empire will likely get delayed by 50 years! If I take the lead of the Erwin family, Elancia’s strongest combat force, we should be able to present many territories to you! Besides, I will not allow Your Majesty to comment on my marriage with Malida-sama!”

I felt that I’d be exploited if I showed weakness towards the demon king who had used his authority to attack me, so I responded with a strong statement. Silence dominated the audience hall.

“Ahahaha! You’re an interesting guy! Declaring that I should stay out of your marriage matters sure is bold and aggressive. So much so that it’s actually refreshing! Albert, well said!”

Suddenly the demon king started to laugh, threw his sword away, and hit my shoulder.

“I didn’t have any intention to kill a guy capable enough to tame a wild horse like Malida in the first place. Rather, I’d prefer to have you join me by becoming my advisor. Malida, won’t you yield Albert to me for 50,000 imperial gold?”

Without giving me time to feel relieved, I was getting scouted by His Majesty.

GAAAAAAAAHH!! Now it’s a big money attack!

“Brother! Teasing Albert and luring him over with money to give me trouble is unfair!”

Any normal person would likely welcome the demon king’s invitation to become his advisor, but if I combine my impressions of him with the various rumors I heard about him, I think it’s best to turn this offer down. I can palpably feel that serving this guy as a retainer would be manifold more taxing than working for Malida.

With my predicament gone, my brain cells were working normally again and so I started to spin an excuse to refuse the scouting.

“I feel extremely thankful for you offering me to become your advisor, but your other advisors would surely feel dissatisfied if someone like me, who is no more than the retainer of your retainer, suddenly became your advisor. In such a case, it would very likely result in weakening your authority, Your Majesty. Therefore I would like to ask you to take it as us never having talked about this.”

Because of the Empire’s system of choosing new emperors, the four imperial families, who possess the right to nominate candidates, were constantly involved in factional infighting. The Empire was a troublesome state where a single dissatisfaction with a reward could lead to a civil war. If your allies thought they had received too little rewards compared to others, many would switch to an opposing faction or enemy side.

In short, if I were to become His Majesty’s advisor while not having any significant military accomplishments to my name, many would become envious of it and turn on His Majesty.

“You do have a point in what you say, Albert. If I suddenly appointed the retainer of my retainer as advisor, the older, traditional retainers would likely give me a hard time.”

His Majesty had apparently calculated the backlash from enforcing my appointment as advisor. If he had reached the same conclusion as I, he should have been able to judge that such an appointment would only bring him disadvantages.

“I believe your rule is still unstable after you introduced various policies, Your Majesty. As such, it would be more prudent to not make any unnecessary enemies during such an important period of time.”

“Ugh, nothing less of the guy who won over Malida, who always acts first before thinking, with eloquence. You’ve stabbed where it hurts.”

Even His Majesty understands that his own standing isn’t as firm as a rock.

“Considering the situation, I shall refuse your offer. In exchange, please assign my lord Malida-sama to a post of responsibility. The Erwin family to which I belong shall act as your guard, Your Majesty, while also doing the same for the Chegemorie family.”

“Brother! I will gladly offer my sword to you! Albert’s smart will definitely make my presence more than worthwhile!”

The demon king paced around for a bit, brooding, but then he sat down on his throne and looked at me.

“No helping it. Albert, be a power that supports me as Malida’s rider. Got it?”

“As you will, Your Majesty! I shall control Malida-sama with my resourcefulness and I pledge to use the power of the Erwin family for your sake.”

For the time being, I was able to avoid the recruitment.

“Mmh, please do. Also, me pressing a blade against your neck was just my attempt to scold Malida a bit for being too uninhibited. Forgive me. Moreover, it’s no problem, even if you’re surrounded by many women. I dare say Malida, the woman’s lover, has picked them up on her own accord anyway. But, make sure to take proper care of the women.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I shall keep it at heart!”

By holding my ground without running away here, I not only evaded a recruitment, but also got the demon king’s approval to surround myself with lovers. With this, no one in the Empire should be able to complain about it anymore.

Afterwards, we moved on to a private banquet hosted by the demon king, and as Malida’s husband I was given the special permission to shirk the etiquette just like the oni.

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