What Is This?
Seere’s hair had definitely not possessed those crimson streaks before. If they had been there, Nahen—who never missed a chance to stroke her head—would never have overlooked them.
When Nahen tilted his head in confusion, Kain offered an explanation.
“It is a trait of the Devata clan, Master Nahen.”
“Huh?”
A trait of the Devata clan? Nahen had never encountered such information while playing the game. Wondering whether it was yet another hidden setting, he listened carefully as Kain continued.
“You once taught Lady Seere how to utilize external mana, did you not? She has even put the method into practice.”
“I did. Does this have something to do with that?”
“Precisely. The red in Lady Seere’s hair is the result of storing the absorbed external mana within her strands.”
“...What?”
“This is why the Devata clan displays such exceptional talent in the use of magic.”
Unlike other demons who could only draw on external mana temporarily, the Devata clan could store it in advance and deploy it later. Upon hearing this, Nahen was genuinely astonished. If such a thing were possible, Seere could already wield spells that demanded far more power than her current reserves would allow.
“Does the color return to normal once the mana is used?”
“That is correct. His late Majesty Seir stored a great quantity of external mana, so more than half of his hair remained red at all times.”
As far as Nahen remembered, the game’s CGs had never depicted this detail. He suspected it was supplemental lore created to explain Seere’s explosive growth rate in the original story.
In any case, for Nahen—who intended to elevate Seere to the very pinnacle—this was the best possible news. Raising her had just become considerably easier.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned to the girl.
“Then it looks like we’ll need to practice gathering external mana quite often.”
“Yes!”
Her answer was bright and immediate. Nahen smiled warmly and gently stroked her hair. Seere closed her eyes in pleasure, savoring his touch.
“Kain, inform me the moment you receive word from Rin.”
“As you wish.”
“I’ll go over the financial reports for a while.”
“May I watch from beside you?”
At Seere’s question, Nahen nodded without hesitation. In fact, he welcomed it. These were tasks she would one day have to handle herself; observing them now would be valuable experience.
Once they were inside the office, Nahen took his seat and settled Seere onto his lap. Perched there, she stared with wide, sparkling eyes at the documents he was reviewing.
Nahen deliberately read them aloud for her.
“It says that recent incursions by adventurers have damaged the crops, causing this quarter’s harvest to fail.”
“I see…”
“They’re pleading for support because food supplies are running low. What do you think we should do?”
He was naturally drawing out her opinion. Since she had followed him in, he decided to turn the moment into an economics lesson. Yet instead of saying she didn’t know, Seere offered a surprisingly sound answer.
“We should provide them with food. There is grain and meat stored in the warehouse from last year.”
“Just give it away?”
“We can’t simply give it all away! We should offer part of it as aid and sell the rest at a very low price.”
It was a remarkably well-reasoned response for a seven-year-old. Nahen realized that the previous Demon King had taught Seere a great deal before passing.
“But the farmers don’t have money to buy food right now, do they? Even if we sell it cheaply, they may not be able to afford it… Would they have to borrow money from somewhere just to purchase grain?”
“Umm…”
“Let me show you a solution for times like this.”
Nahen took out a blank sheet of paper and began writing quickly. After a while, he showed the finished document to Seere.
“We’re lending it to them?”
“Yes. It’s a form of loan. We lend them the food and charge only a very small amount of interest so they can repay us after the next harvest.”
The method Nahen proposed was the ever-normal granary system—a social safety net proven effective throughout history. Many nations had implemented similar relief programs. It did have the clear drawback of being difficult to enforce without strong central authority, but the Demon Realm was a perfectly centralized state. The environment was ideal for such a system.
“This way the food shortage is resolved, and the Demon King’s castle won’t suffer any losses from one-sided aid. Right?”
“Yes!”
Nahen continued showing her the financial documents one by one, explaining each in turn. Time passed without them noticing until someone knocked lightly on the office door.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me, Master Nahen.”
The person who entered was Rea, head maid of the Demon King’s castle. A member of the Lamb tribe, her appearance—exactly as her name suggested—bore the distinctive traits of a sheep: small horns on her head, fluffy ears, and a soft tail at her waist. Known for their gentle nature, the Lamb tribe produced excellent caretakers. Rea had managed the castle’s internal affairs in place of the late mistress and had also served as young Seere’s nanny. No one in the castle dared disrespect her; she had protected the household since the previous generation.
Even at her sudden visit, Nahen greeted her with a smile.
“Rea, what brings you here?”
“I apologize for interrupting your work, but quite a bit of time has passed.”
“Pardon?”
“It is time for snacks.”
Nahen glanced at the clock and let out a soft “Ah.” Beyond the window, the deep indigo twilight of the Demon Realm was already spilling in. Only then did he realize they had been so absorbed in their tasks that they hadn’t noticed the hours slipping by. Teaching Seere while handling official business had made the time pass even faster.
“Seere, let’s have our snack. Go with Rea.”
“Pudding!”
“Today it is strawberry cake, Your Majesty.”
“Cake!!”
At the word “cake,” Seere’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. She hopped down from his lap, then turned back to look at him.
“Teacher, you eat too.”
“Hm?”
“Let’s eat together!”
“What?”
So startled that he could only blink, Nahen failed to answer right away. He had heard that Seere never—under any circumstances—shared her pudding or cake with others. The game had portrayed it the same way. And the look of pure shock on Rea’s face confirmed just how extraordinary the girl’s behavior was.
“Your Majesty… you wish to share your snack?”
“Y-yes!”
Seere had begun with formal speech out of old habit, then hurriedly switched to casual. She covered her mouth with one small hand and peeked at Nahen.
“I didn’t use honorifics.”
“Ah… yes, that’s right.”
Regaining his composure, Nahen stroked her hair.
“Then shall I have a taste of the cake that Seere loves so much?”
“It’s incredibly delicious! Hurry, let’s go!”
Seere waved for him to follow and dashed out of the office. Rea followed after the girl, who was running with quick, excited steps. As Nahen walked behind them toward the dining hall, he thought to himself with relief:
Seems I’ve adapted rather well.
This world was no longer a game—it had become reality. No matter how much game knowledge and borrowed memories he possessed, he had worried whether he could truly adjust to life here. But Seere’s reaction had given him the answer. She was behaving in ways she would never have done if she did not trust him completely. Feeling that he had adapted quite successfully, Nahen smiled in quiet contentment.
“…Captain.”
“Shh.”
This was the 70th Floor of the Demon Realm—the layer known as the “Floor of Justice.” The name had come from Andromalius’s self-proclaimed title, the Demon King of Justice.
“From here on, do not call me Captain. Use my name instead.”
“…Understood.”
Rin El Laza and a handful of others were infiltrating the area. Among the small team of fewer than five, one of them asked her a question.
“Who are we meeting?”
It was Epsilon, whom Rin had brought along on Nahen’s advice. Contrary to everyone’s concerns, Epsilon had caused no trouble with the other infiltration members and his skills were flawless.
Did he already analyze our combat strength?
Rin inwardly praised Nahen’s insight once again as she revealed their contact to Epsilon and the rest of the team.
“Aaron Radius.”
“Aaron Radius? Why would we…”
“I will now tell you the purpose of this infiltration, so listen closely.”
She had deliberately kept the mission’s objective hidden from the team until now. This had been Nahen’s decision, not hers, to prevent any information from leaking in advance.
Rin spoke in a low voice.
“We are going to meet Aaron Radius and win him over to our side.”
“You intend to bring Aaron Radius into our camp? Is that even possible?”
“We will make it possible. And not only him—we will also absorb the entire faction that follows him.”
Epsilon, listening intently, asked another question.
“What do you hope to gain through him?”
“Our goal is to swallow the entire 70th Floor.”
“…Is that feasible?”
“Since he says it is possible, we soldiers simply obey.”
Rin adjusted the mask that covered her face.
“Let’s move to the rendezvous point.”
The infiltration team led by Rin passed through the slums of the 70th Floor and entered a secluded hut. Inside waited a man of imposing build and a slender woman. When the woman tensed at the sudden appearance of the infiltrators, the man restrained her and spoke.
“So you are the envoys of Her Majesty Seere von Devata.”
“Are you Count Aaron Radius?”
“Indeed. Which among you is the representative?”
Rin scanned the surroundings briefly, then deliberately pulled back her hood to reveal herself. At the sight of her perked cat ears and wavy blue-silver hair, Aaron’s eyes widened.
“One of Seir’s Four Swords?”
“I discarded that title long ago. Now…”
Rin lowered her mask and declared,
“I am the sword of Her Majesty Seere.”