Chapter 230 (2/2)

「By Sarigan, you mean King Sarigan, right? That’s the pitiful king who, after having his Imperial Guard unit erased by you, had his Life Seed tampered with, right?」

「That’s wrong. I told you didn’t I, that I merely erased his prejudices.」

「That’s just your opinion. Probably, if we were in mankind’s territory, I think it would be called brainwashing, you know?」

Vermudol made a bitter face at Ykslaas who was chuckling.

Since the danger of that was there, he could only talk about that matter to a limited number of people.

Even if he were to say that that wasn’t the case, as long as there were a large number of people that believed that it was brainwashing, it would be made out to be brainwashing.

「I don’t know what kinds of books you plan on putting in there, but it would be best if you didn’t go with those argumentative books that you like. Those would surely have people accuse you of planning on making his way of thinking closer to the Mazoku, a form of brainwashing, you know?」

「I wouldn’t do something like that. I was planning on going with more lighthearted books.」

「Your lighthearted isn’t lighthearted, you know. Try saying the title of the book that you sent me last time.」

Being told that, Vermudol recalled the title of book that he had lent to Ykslaas recently.

If he recalled correctly, it was The Secret Story of Sauce Development……wasn’t it?

The grilled skewer sauce that had completely become the standard of the Zadark Kingdom nowadays. It should have been an ambitious work that depicted the anguish and hard work of the grilled skewer shopkeepers in the days up until its development was reached.

「That was lighthearted and interesting, wasn’t it.」

「And just how is a book that casually lines up expressions that only cooks would be able to understand lighthearted? A lighthearted book is a book that can be read even without special knowledge, you know?」

Vermudol looked up at the ceiling as if reflecting on Ykslaas’s words……then slowly returned his gaze to Ykslaas.

「……But, wouldn’t the fun of understanding it decrease like that?」

「I was saying that the need to work hard to understand is what’s heavy though. It’s fine, I’ll be the one to choose the books. It’s fine if you just carry them there.」

「……I see.」

If that is what Ykslaas, who had infiltrated mankind’s territory for a long time, says, then it was probably best to follow it.

After concluding that, Vermudol nodded and accepted it.

「Come to think of it, what about the ones other than Prince Eric’s group? Although we’ve treated them like ordinary people, they’re nobles, right?」

「Nn……let’s see, they’re probably going to head to the inn after a bit more time right now. There shouldn’t be any problems with them.」

「Is that so, well, that’s fine though. So, what should we do about our pieces? Is the testing done with this?」

Being told that, Vermudol once again dropped his gaze onto the game board. And then, after doing a bit of thinking, he slowly rearranged the pieces on the board.

「……Let’s have one more match. Some sort of point that needs improvement might come up.」

「That’s true. But, I need to choose the books that will be placed in Prince Eric’s room. How about doing it with those girls?」

「Nn?」

When Vermudol turned his gaze to the direction that Ykslaas was pointing to, he saw that the door to the room was opened up a bit.

The ones peeking through the gap were Krim and Nino. ……No, after looking closely, Lemon, who was crouching on the floor, was also peeking at him.

[]「……You all, have you finished your work?」

「Since Nino is excellent, it’s all done perfectly. Since Marin has completely taken control of the kitchen, there is no longer anything else to do.」

「That’s right. It’s already nice and sparkly no matter where you go, do having no other choice, everyone went to the underground Great Library to put it in order, but.」

「……Rokuna-sama said “you’re so annoying, get out”……and we were chased out. It was, Krim’s fault.」

Being able to easily imagine the scene that Lemon described, Vermudol pressed down on the area between his eyebrows.

「Ahー……I’ve got it. Who’s doing the checking?」

「Gordy and Nino did it. That’s why it’s perfect.」

「I see.」

Although they were normally called things like being a slacker or clumsy, both Nino and Gordy were excellent.

Nino would be able to do Ichika-level work if she felt like it, and Gordy had a perfectionist part to her when it came to work. With those two tag-teaming, and moreover since Nino said that it was 「perfect」, there wasn’t a problem. Nino would absolutely never lie after all.

「……Got it. In that case, Krim, you will prepare the dining room under Marin’s instructions, and Lemon, you will support her.」

「’Kaーy!」

「Understood, Demon King-sama.」

After seeing the two off as they ran off, Vermudol turned his gaze to the remaining Nino.

「So, Nino, you’ll……let’s see.」

「Un.」

Relaxing his expression a bit, Vermudol tapped the table with a *kon*.

「You will do a final check of the new game pieces with me. The plan is to move them to production tomorrow, so I’ll be counting on you.」

「Un, leave it to Nino.」

Ykslaas quickly gave up her seat to Nino who tried to sit opposite of Vermudol while looking delighted.

「Well then, I’m going to choose the books. Make sure that you properly clean up once you’re done, okay?」

「Yeah, I know. Nino, check on the movements of the new pieces.」

Nino read the instructions for the new pieces, then raised her head and nodded.

「Un, it’s fine. If it’s with the decisive battle of brief duration rules and the new pieces, it’s possible for Nino to gain total control on the seventh turn.」

「……Hou, you sure do know how to talk. If you really can do that, let’s see. Shall I pat your head or something?」

「Got it. Nino, will get super serious.」

──After this.

It goes without saying that the test play of the Demon King Army War Game between Nino and Vermudol had ended with Nino gaining a victory on precisely the seventh turn.