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“Even though it was within expectations, this is not that good of a situation.” 

Marito and Lord Ragudo groaned together at the office in the Taizu Castle after reporting the details of what happened in Kuama. 

After I accepted the request, I used the flying ability of Kutou and literally flew back to Taizu. 

Kutou’s flying ability is handy, but it cannot use precise magic, and it is extremely cold at high altitudes. 

I was saved by Ilias’s magic this time around, but there’s the need for a decent degree of cold protection in the case when I fly alone. 

I asked Ekdoik and Mix to gather information in their respective guilds, and had Wolfe and Rakura assist them. 

I am worried about Rakura, but I am sure Mix will hold her reins properly. 

“Let’s explain the threat of the Scarlet Demon Lord to the knights and have them ready themselves for when the time comes.” 

“Yeah, I will leave the details of that to Lord Ragudo. And so, there’s a different reason as to why you came back, right?” (Marito)

“One of them would be to transport the luggage.” 

“Who are you calling luggage?!” 

The one who shouted there was the Blue Demon Lord who I now call Blue. If Blue who tried to brazenly attack Kuama were to be present while Ekdoik is acting there, she would most likely be the source of trouble, so I brought her to Taizu. 

Blue is not a Demon Lord that excels in combat. She can’t use Annihilation unless it is in her own Nether either. 

With her necromancy taking a step back, the only good thing about her would be her immortality. 

Her fighting power is still far higher than a certain someone despite that though. 

And so, we decided to entrust Blue to the villa of Purple.

The person herself is making a very displeased expression. Of course she would be. 

But if Ekdoik said ‘There’s something I need to do. This is the only thing we can do if we think about your safety first’ with a serious face, she wouldn’t be able to object. 

If the information collecting of the Scarlet Demon Lord is outstanding, it wouldn’t be strange for him to already know that Blue has switched to our side. 

Ekdoik would also be worried if she were to be left alone in the Nether. 

“I heard she is a suicidal Demon Lord, but she is pretty noisy.” (Marito)

“Don’t shout, Blue. We are in the middle of an intellectual conversation.” 

“Are you saying I am not intellectual?! Also, don’t call me Blue so familiarly!” (Blue)

“Even if you say so, if I were to call you Blue Demon Lord, even the civilians around would notice.” 

“You can just switch depending on the place!” (Blue)

“As if I can increase my hassle just for your sake. Why would I have to carry such a pain in the butt?”

“You really only speak in ways that piss me off!” (Blue)

Hmm, my ears hurt. 

Mix has a loud voice too, but she was not hysterical, so she was better… How many years has it been since I have been shouted at endlessly?

“And so, what’s the other reason?” (Marito)

Marito casually ignored the anger of Blue with a refreshing smile. I think he is pretty out there himself. 

He threw her a lifeboat here, but Blue glared at me and Marito as if this was her opportunity. 

“Taizu is the country with the least adventurers as far as I know. If the strings of Raheight have reached other countries, I thought it would be easier to catch his tail easier in Taizu.” 

“That’s true. Knights are sensitive to outsiders after all. They keep a good eye on the movements of the people that come from the outside.” (Marito)

“That’s reliable.” 

If that’s true, were they keeping an eye on me when I first came to Taizu too? 

Aah, I was. Moreover, by a really dangerous individual. 

“What’s the matter, staring at the face of someone all of a sudden?” (Ilias)

“I was simply looking at the top of the knights.” 

“I-I see.” (Ilias)

“Marito, I will be confirming the details of Raheight’s handiwork. I leave the wariness towards the adventurers in Taizu and the Scarlet Demon Lord to you.” 

“No need to leave it to me. It is my duty as the king.” (Marito)

“That’s true. I am not of much use if a war between the Scarlet Demon Lord and humans happens after all.” 

I have taken a few bites of the laws, but I have understandably not studied military strategies. 

I am good at dealing with people that have evil intentions, but I am not experienced in war. 

It is good that I can leave the things I am not good at to the outstanding people in this world. 

“I am not experienced in war either though.” (Marito)

“Don’t worry, you have enough prior results.” 

Gold has used the concentrated military force of Gahne to wage war against Taizu countless times in the simulated world. 

But even though she challenged them countless times, there wasn’t a single time where she won. I can tell how outstanding Marito is with just that.

If not only Gahne but also Kuama and Mejis were to cooperate to face the enemy, the existence of Marito will serve greatly to the human side. 

“I don’t feel the reality of it, but if my friend says so, I shall answer that expectation.” (Marito)

“Yeah, it has nothing to do with your duty as a king. It is my personal expectation towards you, so don’t betray it, okay?” 

“—Of course.” (Marito)

“But you have to get along a bit better with Gold.” 

“That’s not for me to say, but hers, don’t you think?” (Marito)

◇◇

The space where the Colorless Demon Lord is staying in is an abnormal space where all the colors perceived by the creator of the space are dyed over. 

In this place where a normal person might go crazy in less than a day, the Colorless Demon Lord let out a slovenly yawn as he relaxed his whole body on a massage chair like the ones that exist on Earth. 

“Aah, this is nice~. It has been a long time since I have had to work hard to a point where my muscles would get stiff, but this is addicting~. How can he be receptive to a plain life in the countryside when he knows such a lifestyle~?” (Colorless)

He has a carbonated drink from one of the most popular companies in his right hand, and a famous cylinder shaped snack from Japan in his left hand. 

And what lay ahead of his gaze was a liquid crystal television. What was shown on the screen was the conversation of the Earthling that showed up in this parallel world. 

 “The Earthling is solving the handiwork that Raheight set, huh. It is not something that would trouble me if it were to be solved, but what about the balance? Blue has also switched sides, so isn’t Scarlet Beast-chan a bit too in the disadvantage here? Should I just go and involve Green too? No, if I make one wrong step there, the humans might get wiped out…” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord placed the small model of the Blue Demon Lord he was holding in his right hand on the table he set at the right side. 

There’s a world map drawn on top of the table. 

The piece of the Scarlet Demon Lord is present at the border between the Gahne Nether and the Mejis Nether. And then, the piece of the Green Demon Lord is at the Taizu Nether. The remaining pieces of the Demon Lords are all placed at Taizu. 

“Even if the war were to happen, the ratio of Demon Lords would be 1 to 3. The forces of the Gold Lass are human, so they don’t count; Purple Princess may still have a horde of small fry devils, but only one remaining Unique; Blue Oni obtained a demon, but with her necromancy gone, she is just a normal woman… If we look at our aggregate power, the difference isn’t that much, I guess?” (Colorless)

He gulped down the carbonated drink he was holding in one go and burped loudly. 

“Kuuh! It doesn’t have the depth of alcohol, but it is stimulating! The nutrition is dirt low, but it tastes good. So sly. It would fill my belly if they were to make it in this world too though.” (Colorless)

He munched on snacks as if finding this a pain and got up. 

“The best option here would be to observe silently, but what do I do to kill time? The only thing I did from my original job was to warn a certain sage and murder a rule-breaker devil…” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord closed his eyes and opened them again, and the scenery changed completely. A giant screen showed up in front of him. 

There were a massive amount of letters written down there, and when the Colorless Demon Lord looked at them languidly, the letters scrolled at an abnormal speed. 

“As long as the talk about the Demon Lord aiming to attack is spread, there’s no way there would be anyone who would show up to run towards the forbi—hm?” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord tilted his head and the letters stopped at the same time as he did. 

He looked in interest at the letters shown there and warped his mouth in amusement. 

“Well, what do we have here? Even if the trigger was there, this is pretty impressive. I can use this. Nice, nice! Let’s use this as an excuse to stir things up a bit!” (Colorless)

He collapses backwards as if satisfied. There was a fancy king size bed where he fell. 

The Colorless Demon Lord turns the gears in his brain while enjoying that comfort. 

“Observing as a substitute of Black Sis was lacking after all. Since the opportunity has presented itself, let’s check just how much difference there is between you and Yugura, Earthling. It has been a while since the worth of physical battles has been lost. It is a rare battle of wits!” (Colorless)

◇◇

“Don’t wanna. Why does this one have to get along with that Foolish King?” (Gold)

“You…” 

I thought of consulting about a variety of things as I have come here to leave Blue at the villa of Purple. I remembered the exchange I had with Marito and told her ‘Come on, cooperate with Marito too’ but this is what I get. 

Seeing Gold flailing around on the sofa as if displaying this to me, it makes me wonder whether it really is okay for this one to rule a country. 

I am not the only one who is looking at that with baffled eyes. Purple, Blue, and Dyuvuleori are, too.

Ilias said it would be safe here, so she went outside to breathe some air… She ran away.

There’s 3 Demon Lords here though… But that’s hard for me to say. That’s how much Ilias trusts in these Demon Lords after all. 

“Ya don’t know how much of a belittling gaze he directs at this one. He looks down at me at every instance he can get as if saying ‘what’s this?’, ya know?!” (Gold)

“Notice that you are getting those exact same gazes present progressively by 4 people.” 

“I can feel love in Ser’s gaze. Also, I don’t care about the riff-raff that don’t understand what entails to be a ruler.” (Gold)

“Is that a provocation towards me? It should be fine to throw hands if it is to a degree where I don’t kill her, right?” (Blue)

“You must not, Blue. That’s where you go ‘I didn’t plan on killing her’ as an excuse and use that opportunity to kill her, got it?” (Purple)

“See that? They are barbarians that know they can’t match me in words, so they immediately run to physical violence.” (Gold)

“Then, guess I will join those barbarians.” 

“Nuh…Nuwaaaah!” (Gold)

I put my fists on both of Gold’s temples and sentenced her to a noogie. 

“Don’t turn Taizu into a battle between Demon Lords just for a stupid provocation.” 

“Serves you right, Gold.” (Blue)

“H-Hmph, even the severe scolding I am getting right now has an exquisite control in strength, ya know?! As I thought, he really does love this one!” (Gold)

I was pretty serious here though… That makes me sad. 

Gold may not have any battle power, so even my weak attacks work, but even with that, I am still an otherworlder. She must be tougher still.

But if I get even harsher here, it would look like I am abusing her from the outside, so this is troubling. 

So it really gotta be the tail, huh. Let’s go for the tail next time. 

“If it is just on that degree, I would like to be on the receiving end too, you know?” (Purple)

“I don’t want to be glared at by Dyuvuleori, so I politely refuse.” 

Dyuvuleori nodded from behind. Jokes don’t work on him. 

Even if he doesn’t put a hand on me, I could face hell with just his killing intent directed at me. 

“What do you two see that’s so great about this man?” (Blue)

“Right back at you, Blue. What’s so good about that noisy chain guy?” (Purple)

“It is not like I made him into a demon because he had good points! I simply made him into a demon because he said he would benefit me!” (Blue)

Noisy chain man, she says… That’s true though. 

“Turning a man that would most likely make a pose at important points into a demon is hilarious.” (Gold)

“I-It is better than being uncool!” (Blue)

It is true that he poses at every instance, but he is cool, you know? 

Considering his age, he is cutting close to the worrying territory though. 

“If we are talking about coolness, he is above him, ya know?! Come on, nail a pose!” (Gold)

“…” 

“Hiih! Stop those eyes!” (Gold)

Not good, I was hit with the kind of unreasonable demand that I hate, so I was about to deal with her kind of seriously there. 

But these guys are pretty high-strunk. Even Purple feels more energetic than usual. 

The saying goes that 3 women gathered makes it noisy, so maybe they are made to have an increase in communication skills or something? I feel like there’s research about this in America or somewhere around those parts.

The ones that are noisy within the group of Ilias are only Mix and Rakura… It would most likely get noisy when Saira joins in. Let’s be careful about that.

“You sometimes make scary eyes. Even a dead fish has more shiny eyes, you know?” (Blue)

“Ooh, even though I am going out of my way here to calm things down, you plan on throwing the fire on me?” 

“Just accept that straight on here!” (Blue)

It was noisy for a while, but we were pushed by the eternal serious face of Dyuvuleori and calmed down. 

I was grateful to my past self for keeping him alive. 

After that, I told them about the developments regarding Kuama, and decided to consult with them about the future. 

“Adventurers, huh. I am aware of the merchants in Kuama to a certain degree, but I didn’t think about going out of my way to Entice the smelly adventurers, you know?” (Purple)

“There’s a decent amount of adventurers staying in Gahne after all. I would like them to deal with that.” (Gold)

“How about just Enticing all the adventurers in Kuama?” (Blue)

“Let’s stop that mindset of trying to murder all worrying points, okay?” 

It is the fastest solution, but if we were to solve it like that, the threat of the Demon Lords would shoot up. In the first place, the nations would interfere before the stage of implementation.

There’s the option of narrowing it down to the list of adventurers that might have made contact with Raheight which Girista investigated, but in the case of the adventurers that are simply being utilized like the time with Archbishop Ukka, using the Enticement would be harsh. 

It is not that different from necromancy in that it ignores the dignity of the person and controls them. It is better not to use it in public as much as possible. 

“Then how about making lesser devils keep an eye on them? There’s not that many adventurers in total, right?” (Purple)

“Compared to the millions of devils, yeah, but a skilled adventurer would be able to notice the surveillance of a devil. If devils were to be witnessed in every country in a state where information about the Scarlet Demon Lord attacking is being spread, it might cause panic.” 

“Humans are such a pain, right?” (Purple)

“It is because of such pains that worth in individuals is born.” 

“I can’t talk bad about it if you put it like that. That’s sly, you know?” (Purple)

“I am fine with being sly. That said, at the times when I want hands for simple jobs, the numbers of your devils will be reliable, Purple. I will rely on you there.” 

“Yeah, that’s an easy request, you know?” (Purple)

“I am also here!” (Gold)

“Right. It might be a good idea to meet Ludfein-san again and have a thorough talk with her.” 

“I am also here?!” (Gold)

“Speaking of which, the devil I entrusted to you…Kutou, was it? Has it been useful to you?” (Purple)

“Yeah, it can’t do anything big, but it is very handy for me. Ain’t that right, Kutou?” 

When I brushed Kutou, the body of that devil surfaced from the wooden sword and moved with a bounce. 

“Yes, Kutou, best partner of master!” (Kutou)

“…Hasn’t it changed a bit?” (Purple)

“Aah, about that…” 

I noticed this anomaly the next day after I provided mana to Kutou which serves as its food. Its way of speaking had changed.

The first one to give it food was Ekdoik. When he did, he became strangely nihilistic.

When I gave him the mana of Mix next, he began to speak often. When Rakura gave it mana, it became sluggish. 

When Ilias gave it mana, it began to get straightlaced. When Wolfe gave it mana, the amount of words it could say dropped sharply and became way too loyal. 

It seems like it has the tendency to absorb the personality of the owner’s mana. 

I noticed that it had a tendency to show strongly depending on how much mana is given, so I tested out giving food from everyone at the same time, and it ended up like this. 

At the times when constructing its parts, it is kind of strangely…pop, I guess? 

It is most likely because Rakura gave mana while drinking booze, yup.

“The shape of the monsters is affected by the mana of the Demon Lord in the creation, but does the mana of humans affect their mind? That’s a bit interesting, you know?” (Purple)

“Hey, former master, no human kidnapping!” (Kutou)

“It kind of annoys me though? I will give you a different devil, so is it okay to dissect it?” (Purple)

“Hieh! Master likes calm reserved! Dangerous not good!” (Kutou)

But this personality reminds me of a certain someone when they are high-strung. 

They do say pets resemble their masters, but is this an influence of that? 

Its appearance is comparatively lovely, so there’s no issues. Most of all, this guy has an extremely outstanding ability. 

It can read the atmosphere. 

It will talk nicely in this fashion when spoken, but it will never speak arbitrarily or show itself. 

“Well, please spare it since it has learned some fine tricks.” 

“Master, there no end to problems.” (Kutou)

Moreover, it would guess my mental state in this fashion and speak words of comfort. 

The issue would be that it brings discomfort to people who can’t understand its flow. 

That said, it is on the verge of becoming fatal here though. 

“Is that okay with you?” (Purple)

“Yeah, this wooden sword was my partner to begin with after all. Don’t you think it is pretty sweet to be able to communicate with your own weapon?” 

“Don’t know?” (Purple)

“Don’t get it.” (Gold)

“Like a child.” (Blue)

“…” 

“Master…don’t mind!” (Kudou)

Well, I do get irritated by my partner every now and then though.

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