7th Demon Prince Jilbagias’ Chronicle of Demon Kingdom Toppling - Chapter 80: Fate of The Kingdom

８０． Fate of The Kingdom

Just to be sure, I cast a soundproof barrier before I spoke.

「I want to talk about the hob goblin.」

「… Humph.」

Oops, the Demon King put his guard.

The face of a father looking at his son turned into the face of the Demon King. And then, it seems this was quite an unpleasant topic for him.

That’s why I told him the following.

「First of all, let me tell you that I’ve no intention to be partial to any race. But, I have to think about the future of the demon kingdom.」

「Hou.」

Upon hearing that, the Demon King showed interest again and his shoulders looked more relaxed.

「… The Demon Kingdom is Our, Demon race’s kingdom but, it’s in fact a multiracial kingdom.」

「That’s right.」

「It’s a literal hodgepodge of many races. When that kind of kingdom expels a race, it’ll have a negative impact on us later.」

The Demon King nodded in silence and then urged me to continue.

「In fact, just the other day, I became acquainted with Enma the lich.」

「Become acquainted… With that gloomy fella who never left her underground nest.」

「I just happened to meet her in broad daylight when I enjoyed sunbath in the courtyard.」

I shrugged my shoulders as I spoke with a joking tone.

「According to her, she’s conducting an experiment to gain resistance to sunlight…」

「Fufufufu, what a curious fella, that goes for both you and Enma.」

The Demon King chuckled as he spoke. Reason being no Demon Race enjoyed a sunbath. And no undead would come out in broad daylight to be killed by it.

「Thus… We became acquaintances. And for some reason, she seems to be interested in me.」

「Hoo.」

「We talk about many things, Enma said that she feels insecure about the abuse of undead for weapons, and wondering if she and her people were going to be cast aside like the ogres and goblins once the war is over?」

「…」

Hearing that, the Demon King heaved a sigh and then looked at the ceiling. His attitude had told me that he wanted to be spared such trouble. Seeing him like this, I came to a conclusion that he had yet to think about this matter at this point.

Yes, 『At This Point』.

For me, a hero―― Undead was an existence that could be destroyed with holy attribute. Though there were some exceptions like Enma, it was only a matter of lacking combat potential.

But from the perspective of a darkling, she and her undead were an extremely troublesome opponent. The reason was that undead had a naturally strong resistance against hexing and darkness attributes, meaning that only darklings with fire attributes could deal effective damage against them.

In addition, not every demon race could use fire magic―― Since the Demon King himself was the owner of dual, fire and darkness attributes, he alone was enough as a deterrent.

Still, it was obvious even for the Demon King that the undead would be a troublesome opponent once they raised a revolt.

「Are you trying to say that if we exclude them just because of their race, the other race will eventually be suspicious of us?」

The Demon King asked for my confirmation while massaging his temple.

「Yes. In my opinion―― We can exclude them on the basis of individual aptitude and their ability.」

In short, we could expel the incompetent hobgoblin. And keep the competent hobgoblins. Though some night elves and devils raised a petition to give more posts to their race, there was nothing wrong with letting them wait since they had a long lifespan.

In that way, even if we couldn’t openly expulse their race, once the competent hobgoblin retired, they’ll be replaced with 『Truly Competent Personnel』, thus making it easier to expulse them slowly but steadily――

「This might be a long term countermeasure but we can suppress the other races’ anxiety in this way. The point is to restore the healthy government affair without having to truly repulse an entire race. In this way, the truly competent hobgoblins can still get their post…」

I kept talking while looking into the Demon King’s eyes.

「Maybe I’m still too young to see what kind of future the Demon Kingdom that Dear Father sees but, if we consider the ruling around 100~200 years later, there might be another alternative… Naturally, the commoner might rise a revolt but, the power of the Demon King is enough to suppress them―― Moreover, there might be another correct alternative for the Demon Kingdom alas…」

「… I know what you want to say.」

After heaving a sigh, the Demon King leaned on the backrest of the chair.

「… It’s worth consideration. Even the information about Enma is worth mentioning.」

「Thank you for the praise.」

I nodded.

Well then, that was all I could say. As for what happened later, it was none of my business.

Even if the Demon King was considering my opinion, it would take at least 20~30 years to expel the hobgoblin.

『――But, are you sure about this? If the Demon King is conscious about the harmony with other races, in the long run, your suggestion will only strengthen the unity within the Demon Kingdom you know?』

Nope, properly speaking, it wouldn’t go as far as that. I mean, even at the best of the times, the Demon Race would still look down on the other races.

The dragon race was waiting patiently for the demon race to let their guard down, and the undeads were just as mysterious as ever.

The night elf and beastfolk didn’t even oppose the Demon King to begin with, and the devil was in a cooperating relationship with the demon race.

――In short, whether my idea was adopted or not, it would have an insignificant influence on the Demon Kingdom as a whole. The hobgoblin might be profited a little bit from this though.

「… That’s a nice suggestion.」

Said the Demon King with a slightly grim look on his face.

「Don’t tell anyone about that.」

「Eh? Ah, I understand.」

As expected, was he giving this kind of reaction because deep down, he didn’t care about reading the complexion of other races?

「Though you also realize it, that thought might make others look down on you.」

Said the Demon King with a slightly annoyed voice. I see, so it is just as I thought.

「They won’t do that if it’s me since I can shut them up with my power. But, you have yet to reach my level. Unfortunately, most people of Our race can’t differentiate between cautious and cowardice.」

「I’ll keep that in my mind.」

「Alas, it reassures me that one of my children has that kind of opinion… Since it’s still early, how about lending a helping hand to father’s job?」

「No… I’m, still a kid…」

「Kuhahaha, a kid is actually giving such a proposal!」

The Demon King was laughing loudly as he tapped on the armrest of his chair, apparently he just remembered that I was a kid.

「Good grief, no matter how long you spend your time in Hell, your opinion isn’t that of a 5 years old child. I wonder what kind of education was given to you by Platy?」

「Well… Just the usual education… If I have to say what makes it different, it might be the educator put in charge of me is the devil of knowledge.」

「Uhm… Maybe I should appoint that devil as the minister of education of our kingdom…」

The Demon King folded his arms while muttering those words with a serious look on his face.

NOOO!! If the Demon race learns about culture and civilization, the already tiny chance of victory for the alliance might really vanish!!!

「… Since I still have a lot to learn, I want her to prioritize my education for now.」

「Hahahahaha, just kidding. Don’t take it too seriously.」

Though the Demon King was laughing happily in seeing the discouraged me, that cheery expression soon turned into a weary one.

「No matter how excellent the teacher is, it won’t work unless the student is willing to learn…」

… Even if you say so, I was among those lazy students though.

Sofia was right, maybe because of my flexible, young brain and the fact that I memorize things as if I’m enjoying it, I came to learn so many things before I knew it…

「Let me tell you that open minded adults who can have opinions like yours are among the extreme minority. Especially those who often weigh between theory and reality.」

Said the Demon King with a calm voice.

「Seriously?」

「The warrior whose age is above 100 years old isn’t as open minded as you. Even I, this Demon King already forgot how many times those old fogeys said 『Cut the cra*p with such sophism!』.」

Said the Demon King as he pouted. Those so-called old fogeys might’ve already been in the grave right now…

「That’s why Jilbagias, I’ll remind you now that you’ll face such hardship from now on. Don’t forget that the people around you are not as wise as you.」

「Thank you for the advice.」

Even Platy had told me to beat the cra*p of those guys had I met one.

「――Your Majesty, I’ve prepared the tea.」

The goat-headed devil slash butler returned.

「… Oh my, are you in the middle of some serious discussion?」

The butler stopped at once when he noticed the soundproof barrier.

「Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. You come back right when we just got done.」

The Demon King was about to break the barrier before he stopped at the last moment.

「Jilbagias, this is enough.」

「Understood.」

I released the soundproof barrier―― The reason why Demon King stopped at the last moment was because breaking the soundproof barrier against the intention of its caster was a breach of manners. In short, the Demon King gave me some face.

It showed that I gained his respect. The Demon King who shook the world showed such a gesture to his five years old son.

「Which reminds me that you’ve been promoted to viscount… Congratulation.」

Said the Demon King as if he just remembered this matter as he threw heaps of sugarcubes into his teacup.

By the way, the one who conferred peerage in the demon kingdom was the Demon King. That was one of the authorities of the Demon King. And the one who signed the document of my peerage was none other than this guy.

「Thank you very much… I can hardly say it’s a good thing though…」

「Sure thing.」

The Demon King agreed with a wry smile on his face, it seems he already knew about the mistake in my dispatch document.

「How’s your latest situation? I heard that you met Orphen due to this matter but, I had no idea that you even managed to get along with Enma.」

Asked the Demon King while sipping his extremely sweet milk tea.

「Uhm, well…」

I nodded vaguely before I raised my face since I recalled something. I suddenly wanted to see the Demon King’s reaction once he heard about me learning necromancy.

… It wasn’t really a secret since I’ve told Platy about this, not to mention that Enma was the top brass of the demon kingdom, it was only a matter of time before the Demon King knew about this.

Now let’s tell him.

「Lately, I’m taking necromancy lessons from Enma.」

「BUHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO」

The Demon King spurted the milk tea in his mouth the moment he heard my remark.

===TN: Those Who Can’t-Wait For more Jil-kun’s, I’ve Uploaded Advance chapter in Fox18 <–HERE and in PATREON(cheaper) with paywall of course===

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