Vol 2 Chapter 30 – Charisma Break

“This is strange.”

There is no contact from Alice.

Aroma Sugesta voiced her dissatisfaction at the rare negligence of her protégé.

For that girl to disobey my orders was something that had never happened before.

It’s displeasing, but more than that, I’m worried. Having looked after her since she was young, and though I don’t have a family of my own yet, there is a part of me that has watched over her with the feelings of a parent.

Alice is at an age where she still has some lingering dependence, but for me as well, she is one of the few subordinates I can interact with without faking my feelings.

If I had to admit it, perhaps there’s a part of me that has come to rely on that girl, too.

That was why I entrusted this matter to her.

However, reflecting on the current situation, even if her skills are certain, was it my mistake to give her a job with such unclear information?

No, I can’t imagine that girl messing up on a mere surveillance mission.

Either way, it’s too late for regrets now.

Right now, it’s fine as long as she just comes back in one piece.

When she returns, I’ll probably throw a scolding or two her way at most, but there’s no doubt that my relief will far outweigh my anger.

I just want her to be safe. That’s all I’m praying for.

“Aroma, pardon the intrusion.”

Amidst my thoughts, Chris entered the office.

Regarding that bet, we attached the condition of ‘no interference’, so sending Alice to spy is a rather gray-zone action.

Therefore, I absolutely cannot let Chris find out.

In other words, the fact that I can’t openly help her in the unlikely event she doesn’t return is only spurring on my worries.

Honestly, I really don’t want to see this girl’s face right now, but without letting even a hint of that show, I face Chris.

If I couldn’t manage this level of political acting, I wouldn’t be able to serve as Prime Minister.

“Welcome, Chris. What do you need?”

“Ah, it’s about the wheat we’re buying from Indira this time.”

“Ah, regarding that.”

Even if it was about work, a conversation with Chris—which should have been comfortable in a place with no outside eyes—was only serving to depress my current mood even further.

Or rather, this girl is really something else.

Being so obsessed with such a filthy human, it just makes no sense.

If you weren’t so fixated on that guy, I wouldn’t have to be racking my brains over something like this right now.

Always, always causing me trouble since we were kids.

Has she forgotten who took care of her when she was such an unexpectedly lonely and troublesome kid, despite her bossy attitude?

Has she forgotten how, when she came to stay over at my family’s house, she was so embarrassed about wetting the bed that she couldn’t come out of her futon, and I acted as her scapegoat and took the humiliation for her?

And yet, this ingrate had the nerve to call me “Bed-wetting Aroma” while I was being scolded by my mother!

I absolutely cannot forgive that.

Has this girl forgotten whose thanks it is that she gets to sit back haughtily as the de facto monarch of Agusta, while I take on all the troublesome political sparring with other factions?!

Bed-wetting Chris!

What the heck, getting so full of yourself before I knew it.

No, I wanted you to become great, and I’m the one who backed you up, but still!

Couldn’t you understand my mental exhaustion just a little bit more?

You used to refer to yourself as a cute little ‘me’.

You had some charm back then!

When did that ‘me’ turn into the Royal ‘We’? The Royal ‘We’, seriously!

You were always the type to care too much about appearances!

Why don’t you just go all the way and use ‘This Great Lord’ instead!

You snot-nosed Demon Lord who still can’t sleep without hugging a stuffed animal!

“What is it, Aroma? You look like you have something you want to say.”

“No, it is nothing.”

I let out a single, polite laugh. Ohoho.

No, no, despite everything, even if she is young, this girl is already the top authority of Agusta, and I too am in a position of status.

It’s not like the old days. Throwing words like that at her is absolutely out of the question.

Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Be cool.

“Right, I almost forgot. About that mountain monkey.”

“What is it, Chris-chan?”

“Nn? Is my hearing going bad? Aroma, did you just say something?”

“No, what is it, Your Majesty?”

That was dangerous, so dangerous.

I accidentally called her by her dark-history-era nickname.

Because she just had to bring up the topic I want to talk about the absolute least right now.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Returning to the topic, it’s about that guy.”

“Did something happen with that?”

“Investigate his origins and his past history as much as possible. If feasible, contact the slave trader who was keeping him.”

“You’re quite deeply interested, aren’t you. Is that guy really worth going that far?”

“You’ve probably noticed it too by now. That guy isn’t just a normal human. At least, that is what We believe.”

“Oh, really. To me, he looks like nothing more than a mediocre, filthy human.”

“You never change when it comes to hating to lose, Aroma. Well, that’s fine for you.”

I don’t want to hear that from you, Chris.

You’re quite something yourself, aren’t you.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone out of your way to raise the stakes of the bet yourself.

“I heard a little from Eva. It seems that guy is somehow involved with Spirit worship. I can’t expect too much, but if things go well, we might be able to fill in the blanks in the historical records.”

“Well, I have heard that he was born in Ista.”

“That is not all. That guy is a survivor of Nile Village.”

“!”

“The subjugation there was a failure. It was necessary to make Ista fall, but I never expected there to be absolutely no documents related to the Spirits. It might have been passed down through oral tradition or something of the sort.”

“Even so, I can’t imagine such a shabby guy knows anything.”

“As it stands, he is the sole survivor of that place. There is no mistaking that. If so, it’s worth betting on a slim possibility. We need to know the truth.”

“Even if we can manage to eradicate the humans in the future? Is there still a need to obsess over the past?”

“Naturally. Where did we demons come from? Why were humans able to drive us—who are superior as individuals—to the brink of extinction in the past? If our footing is unsteady, the hearts of the people will waver someday. To show that the same thing will not happen again, for the eternal prosperity of the demon race, we must bring the past to light.”

“And the key to that is the Spirits. It’s true, our grandfathers’ generation was terribly wary of those entities. We were also strictly taught never to enter the Forbidden Forest, which is said to be the holy land of the Spirits.”

“Because of that, the elderly advisors voiced quite a lot of opposition when we developed that forest. That was annoying.”

Your struggles were nothing compared to mine!

I was the one who handled all the coordination!

Honestly, what an ingrate!

Idiot!

Stupid Chris!

No good, I’m too keyed up today.

There’s no point in taking out my anger on Chris any further.

Wait.

“Chris, did you say that guy is a survivor of Nile Village?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“Why do you know about that? His pedigree papers only stated he was produced in Ista, didn’t they?”

“I just remembered some urgent business. Like I said earlier, I leave the rest to you.”

“I won’t let you escape. What are you hiding?”

“Mmph.”

“Don’t give me ‘mmph’. The reason you’re so concerned about him is because of that, isn’t it?”

“M-mmph.”

“Don’t give me ‘m-mmph’ either. Don’t revert to a toddler, speak clearly.”

“Will you keep it a secret?”

A secret conversation, is it.

At your age, there should be things you can keep secret and things you can’t.

Well, since it’s only about a human of that level, I don’t think it’s anything major, so I’ll just nod for now.

“Yes, rest assured. I won’t tell a soul.”

When I said that, Chris unusually averted her eyes and muttered quietly.

“It’s from a long time ago. Once, in Ista, We met that mountain monkey.”