I Quit Being the Lord
Working with you was disgusting. Let's never see each other again, vampire Leona.
A female demon with black hair and golden eyes, possessing the vibrant yet captivating beauty of a woman in her late teens. But despite that outward appearance, she was one of the high-ranking demons serving the black witch Sena as her lord. In truth, she was the oldest among them and held the position of their leader. At this moment, she sat in a conference room chair with a distinctly displeased expression.
The ten high-ranking demons filled the seats. Yet the one spot that should have belonged to the most important person here—Sena's seat—remained completely empty.
“Is our lord absent again today?”
“It appears so. After yesterday, she’s still shut up in her room and hasn’t come out.”
“Good grief… With a mountain of work piled up, what is this…”
Leona and the high-ranking demons spoke with clear frustration. There were more than a few unfinished agenda items from the previous meeting. Sena's sudden two-day streak of unauthorized absences left the gathered high-ranking demons simmering with thick irritation.
“When she returns, we’ll have to give her a proper talking-to.”
“I agree. Honestly… No matter how much of a lord she is, how dare that child make adults wait like this?”
“She’s still just a brat, isn’t she? Well, that’s exactly why we can use her so easily. We’ll just have to put up with it.”
“Hmm… You’re right about that, Lady Leona, but…”
“Still, this is going too far. Doing something like this without any notice to us. We talked about it yesterday, but it seems setting a schedule wasn’t enough.”
“Indeed… It looks that way.”
Even after they’d cracked the whip once before, Sena was still showing signs of rebellion. Leaving it alone could lead to troublesome problems later, so Leona resolved to handle this matter decisively.
I need to push her until she cries—just short of actually making her sob. By showing her that we could withdraw our support for her as lord…
Leona quietly drummed her fingers on the table, recalling a method she had used several times before. Just then—
“The lord is entering.”
“!”
“Ugh…”
The servant’s voice reached their ears. The moment they saw Sena enter through the conference room door, Leona and the other high-ranking demons exchanged glances and gave small nods. Just like last time, they had firmly decided to train the beast once more.
“My lord. Before the meeting begins, allow me to say a few—”
“Before that, I have something to say first.”
Sena cut Leona off with a firm tone. The unexpected action left Leona and the high-ranking demons slightly flustered, but Leona soon scoffed inwardly.
What? Is she trying to apologize now?
Sorry, but we can’t just let this slide with a simple apology.
They say fish and women need to be beaten regularly. Sena was the same—she only listened properly after getting scolded on a regular basis. Of course, actually laying a hand on her would get them torn apart, so it was all done with words.
Thinking they would listen to this foolish lord’s pathetic apology, Leona and the high-ranking demons watched Sena with mocking smiles hidden in their hearts.
But then.
The words that came out of Sena’s mouth next.
“As of this moment, I quit being the lord.”
“…Pardon?”
“Wh… What!?”
An unexpected resignation announcement. The moment they heard it, Leona and the high-ranking demons felt as if their minds had been blown away.
“M-My lord… C-Could you please say that again? Wh-What did you just…”
“Are your ears rotten? I said I’m done playing lord. It’s dirty and fucking awful, so I can’t do it anymore. From now on, you lot who are so damn smart can take care of the lord stuff or whatever yourselves.”
“Th-That’s…”
“W-Wait… Please wait a moment! No matter what, this isn’t—”
“Working with you was disgusting. Let’s never see each other again.”
With those final words, Sena disappeared through the door—which hadn’t even fully closed yet—at an even faster speed than when she had arrived. Left with the bomb their lord had dropped, Leona and the high-ranking demons stared in stunned silence, unable to process the sudden change.
And a moment later…
Once they finally grasped the situation, their faces began to turn deathly pale.
“Wh-What the hell is this?”
“The lord has declared she’s running away… What is this…”
“No… This… This can’t be real, right? It must be some kind of bluff to scare us…”
“Do you really think she has the brains to pull something like that?”
“…No.”
“Th-Then that means it’s actually…”
“But why on earth would she do this?”
“This is all because we pressured the lord too hard last time. I knew something like this would happen eventually!”
“Weren’t you badmouthing the lord right along with the rest of us? It’s a bit late to be saying that now…”
“Everyone, calm down. That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Tsk…”
If it had been anyone else, maybe not. But when those words came from Sena’s mouth, they were about ninety percent likely to be true. She had heavenly talent for magic and combat, but in every other aspect she was hopelessly simple-minded.
As Sena’s “retirement declaration” began to be accepted as fact, the high-ranking demons finally realized the severity of the situation. Although they held the actual power in this territory, that didn’t mean they could completely ignore Sena, their lord.
Sena was one of the five lords of the demon nation of Highground. As the official ruler of the Northern Territory, she was a powerful demon with strength far beyond theirs, and outwardly, she was the master they were forced to bow their heads to.
If she truly stepped down here…
Then… in the worst case, the entire Northern Territory could be taken over…
The reason the neighboring elf kingdom didn’t dare start a war was precisely because of Sena’s existence. No—if news that Sena had really quit spread, the lords of the central and western regions wouldn’t stay quiet either. They were constantly watching for any chance to swallow up even one more piece of land. They would immediately find a suitable excuse and launch an invasion.
Just thinking about it sent chills down their spines. Leona and the high-ranking demons quickly reached a conclusion.
“We have to stop her… no matter what it takes…”
“Come on, we can’t just sit here. Let’s go persuade the lord right away.”
Whether through threats or coaxing, it didn’t matter. In this situation where they could all be ruined and lose their heads, they had to prevent catastrophe at all costs. Besides, Sena had always yielded whenever they came on strong before, so they still had some confidence.
Having decided to at least talk face-to-face, the high-ranking demons all rushed together to Sena’s mansion.
But…
“…What… What is this?”
“A barrier?”
A solid barrier spell had been cast over the entire mansion. It made it crystal clear from the entrance that she had no intention of meeting them. Leona and the high-ranking demons were momentarily speechless.
“Damn it! It won’t budge at all?”
“Th-This girl… She’s really…”
Some of the high-ranking demons tried to dispel the barrier with their own magic, just in case. But they soon realized it was impossible. No matter what they did, they couldn’t break Sena’s spell with their power.
Once again, they were vividly reminded of her absurd magical strength. And then—
“What the hell is going on?”
“Haven’t you heard? Lady Sena said she’s quitting as lord.”
“What? Lady Sena?”
“I heard it’s because she got tired of the high-ranking demons’ tyranny.”
“Just how badly did they treat her that she’d quit being lord…”
“Oh dear… Are we all going to be ruined at this rate?”
Voices rose from the crowd that had gathered before they knew it. The fact that the story of Sena’s retirement had already spread far and wide was clear from those words. Leona’s expression hardened even further.
No way… How did the rumor spread so fast… D-Don’t tell me…?
She had only made the retirement declaration inside the conference room a few hours ago, yet the information had leaked at an unbelievable speed. It was obvious someone had intervened. As Leona and the high-ranking demons witnessed this, one emotion that had been taking root in their hearts since earlier began to bloom more vividly.
Fear.
They didn’t even want to imagine the disaster that would begin the moment this situation leaked outside. No—since the story had already spread among the common people, it was likely already being passed to spies scattered throughout the Northern Territory. If things continued like this, an invasion by the elves and the other demon lords would begin before long. And the first ones to lose their heads would be them.
We’re… We’re in big trouble…!
Th-Then there’s only one way, isn’t there?
The moment they were consumed by that realistic terror, Leona and the high-ranking demons dropped to their knees on the ground. There was only one thing they could do in this situation.
They had to change Sena’s mind somehow. No matter what it took, they needed to hear her say she would continue serving as lord.
But right now, Sena herself was openly refusing to speak with them. In the end, there was only one method of communication left for them to use.
“My lord! Please withdraw your command!”
“You are the pillar of the North! How can you speak of retirement!”
“It is our inadequacy that we have failed to serve you properly! Please forgive us for this sin!”
The high-ranking demons bowed their heads and shouted until their throats were raw. The sight of these lofty figures kneeling in broad daylight in front of their lord’s mansion, begging desperately, was an incredibly rare spectacle for the citizens.
The dignity of those who had once been like stars in the sky was now slammed into the dirt. Even Leona, a vampire, was leaking mana all over the place from the sunlight pouring down on her head. But in this situation where their lives were realistically and vividly on the line, neither Leona nor the others had any energy left to care about such trivial things.
Face and dignity could only be worried about after they survived. In the grip of extreme fear and desperation, the violent apologies and desperate pleas from the high-ranking demons—who had been strutting around just hours earlier boasting that they could control the lord—continued until the sun went down.