The Weakest Demon King’s Mentor
I had no choice but to follow Kain inside the Demon King Castle. I couldn’t just stand outside forever.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do now?’
If this were still a game, it wouldn’t be hard at all. After all, I had seen every single ending of Evil Queen Maker. But the problem was that this was no longer a game. It had become reality.
In the real world, you couldn’t just click a button and instantly raise someone. That meant I would have to teach her myself.
Me? Teach a Demon King? What did I even know?
“This doesn’t make any sense…”
“Did you say something, Master Nahen?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
Kain politely ignored me and continued guiding the way.
“This will be your room, Master Nahen. I must attend to Her Majesty now, so please feel free to explore it later.”
“…Alright.”
We passed by the room that would become mine, and Kain led me into an enormous chamber. Having played the game multiple times, I immediately recognized where we were.
“The audience hall is quite grand.”
“Indeed. The previous Demon King often said that the audience hall was a direct reflection of a Demon King’s dignity. That is why it was built on such a massive scale.”
I already knew that. It had been the policy of Seir, the former master of this castle and one of the so-called high-ranking Demon Kings. He had built an incredibly powerful faction among the seventy-two Demon Kings, but…
“…Ugh.”
“Master Nahen?”
A sudden headache struck me. Memories that weren’t mine flooded into my mind like a tidal wave. They were complicated, but it wasn’t difficult to figure out what they were.
‘A classic… cliché…’
Having possessed the character Nahen, his memories were merging with mine.
“Kgh…!”
Most of the memories that surfaced were shocking. It felt like peeking at the hidden backstory of a playable character that had never been revealed in the game.
‘So this was the setting?’
Nahen was merely an alias. His true name was something else entirely, and his real identity was that of an Archdemon—the highest order of demonkind, and among them, one of the most powerful.
No wonder the game had portrayed him as an all-capable mentor who could teach anything. This hidden setting explained everything.
Still, it didn’t make sense why an Archdemon would willingly take on the role of mentor to someone like Seere, the weakest of all Demon Kings. I could recall accepting the request, but the emotions behind that decision remained hazy.
‘But why can’t I remember my real name?’
Even if the feelings were unclear, I should have at least remembered my true name. What was going on…?
“Are you feeling unwell? If your body is—”
“No, I’m fine. Really.”
When I relaxed my expression and assured him I was okay, Kain looked relieved.
“Her Majesty is waiting. Please, go inside.”
He very kindly grasped the door handle and opened it for me.
…Could you at least open it a little slower?
“Um, how should I address her?”
“You may call her whatever is comfortable for you, Royal Teacher.”
Contrary to my hopes, Kain’s hand moved without hesitation. The door swung open smoothly, and when I saw the long red carpet stretching across the floor, I let out a deep sigh.
‘I’ve really become the protagonist’s mentor now.’
There was no escaping it anymore. The audience hall I had seen countless times in the prologue lay before me. At the end of the long red carpet was a high staircase, and at the top of those stairs sat a grand dais.
Kain bowed deeply toward the dais and announced,
“Your Majesty Seere, the one who will become your mentor has arrived.”
And there, upon the enormous throne atop the dais, sat a child who looked completely out of place on such a majestic seat.
‘Wow…’
I couldn’t help but be awestruck. I had seen her appearance many times in illustrations and thought I was used to it, but seeing her in person was on an entirely different level.
Snow-white hair that sparkled like a sunlit field of snow, tied into two adorable pigtails. Deep blue eyes like flawless gemstones. She looked like a living doll. I didn’t even have that kind of taste, yet I found myself thinking that if the word “beauty” were shaped into a person, this was exactly what it would look like.
That impression had nothing to do with how awkward it was to see her clutching a teddy bear while sitting on the throne.
‘So that’s why the game illustrations were so beautiful.’
Both the official artwork and the constant descriptions calling her beautiful made perfect sense now. Even though she still had a youthful face, it was easy to imagine what kind of stunning beauty she would grow into.
Those large, round blue eyes turned toward me. They held a pure, innocent gaze that knew nothing of the world. After staring at me for a moment, the child hopped down from the throne.
She trotted down the steps and stopped right in front of me, then bowed politely.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello.”
She was the weakest Demon King among the seventy-two—the one I had to teach and raise. The protagonist and heroine of the game I had guided to the very top dozens of times.
Seere von Devata.
Seere von Devata.
Daughter of Seir von Devata, the former Rank 2 Demon King, and the sole heir who inherited the throne after his sudden death.
However, Seir von Devata had died far too abruptly, and the child who succeeded him was only five years old.
Could such a young Demon King possibly maintain the vast power base her predecessor had built?
Moreover, most of the previous king’s closest aides had perished alongside him, making it nearly impossible to hold the faction together.
In just two years, Seere’s rank had plummeted to the very bottom—Rank 72—and almost all her forces had vanished.
The most critical issue was that no one remained to guide and teach the young Demon King.
Even Kain lacked the ability to teach her everything she needed to know. His greatest flaw was having no talent for instruction.
That was why someone capable of teaching Seere in all fields was desperately needed.
Not just to restore past glory, but so that she could survive as a Demon King.
Yet few talented individuals were willing to invest their time in a fallen, powerless, and inexperienced young Demon King who had already lost everything.
After much searching, only one person was finally found.
After being rejected countless times, the only one who accepted was Nahen.
Seere had been filled with excitement ever since she heard that her new teacher was coming. From the moment she woke up that morning, she had been sitting on the throne, waiting for him.
After greeting him politely, Seere hugged her teddy bear tightly and said,
“Um… I heard from Kain.”
“Hm?”
“That you’re going to be my teacher.”
Nahen paused for a moment, observing her expression. She looked visibly nervous. Thanks to his background knowledge, he didn’t need to ask why.
She was afraid he would reject her, just like all the previous teachers had. It wasn’t an expression a child her age should have to wear.
After watching her for a moment, Nahen thought to himself,
‘Maybe I can actually do this.’
He had mastered the game. He had already raised Seere von Devata to the position of the strongest Demon King dozens of times. He knew every major event and every minor detail by heart.
That alone might not have been enough, but now he also possessed Nahen’s memories. If he accepted those memories as his own and combined them with everything he already knew, it seemed entirely possible.
Since he had been transported here, he clearly had to live in this world. And to return to reality, he needed to reach an ending. That meant he had no choice but to teach and raise this young Demon King.
Besides, he had always enjoyed teaching others. He had even chosen that path in college and prepared for the teacher certification exam.
So…
‘Let’s just think of it as skipping the employment exam.’
Nahen gently placed his hand on top of Seere’s head.
“That’s right.”
“…R-really?”
“Yes.”
He softly stroked her hair, which felt as smooth and fine as silk.
“From now on, you can call me Teacher.”
#
The moment Nahen became Seere von Devata’s mentor, he asked Kain for one thing.
“Kain.”
“Please call me just Kain. And feel free to speak casually.”
“Then, Kain, there’s something I’d like to request.”
“What is it?”
Nahen asked for a specific item. What he wanted was a Training Journal, a magical tool that had always appeared in the game as a convenience feature for players.
It was an artifact that recorded whether the assigned daily quota had been completed, using mana to track the target’s progress.
When he asked if such a thing existed here, Kain nodded.
“I will prepare it by tomorrow’s lesson.”
“Thanks.”
Nahen felt much more at ease. With the Training Journal, he could write down the daily training and homework, then simply check whether Seere had completed it.
“Seere.”
The girl holding her teddy bear looked up at him. She opened her small, adorable mouth and answered.
“Yes, Teacher.”
“We’ll start proper lessons tomorrow. But before that, I want to learn a bit about you today.”
Seere hugged her bear even tighter and asked,
“About… me?”
“Yes. I need to know about you before I can decide what to teach you.”
Even though Nahen already knew the character Seere von Devata very well, he still asked these questions on purpose. Because this wasn’t a game anymore. It was reality. He needed to build a connection through conversation.
When she heard his request, Seere twisted her body shyly. It was hard to believe this timid child was a Demon King, even if she was the lowest ranked. It was proof of how poor her education had been.
If the previous Demon King had lived even a little longer, she would have properly learned imperial studies and the proper demeanor expected of a ruler. She would have carried herself with far more dignity than her age suggested.
“You don’t have to be so embarrassed. Just think of it as introducing yourself.”
“Okay…”
“First… um, would you like to introduce yourself?”
“I am Seere von Devata, Demon King of Rank 72.”
“How old are you?”
Seere answered,
“S-seven years old.”
“And what do you like?”
“Dolls…”
Her voice trailed off as she hugged her teddy bear even tighter. Nahen smiled gently at her.
“Does it have a name?”
“Huh?”
“I mean the bear.”
“…His name is Whitemi.”
Whitemi. It sounded like she had taken “white bear” and added the affectionate suffix “-mi,” the same way people added “-i” to names. Nahen chuckled at the cute naming sense.
“Do you have many others besides Whitemi?”
She shook her head. That was unexpected. Nahen asked curiously,
“Why don’t you have many?”
Still hugging her doll tightly, Seere answered in a small voice,
“They said there wasn’t enough money to buy dolls…”
In Evil Queen Maker, while raising the protagonist Seere was the most important element, managing the Demon King Castle and its territory to grow her faction was equally crucial. That territory management system was what set the game apart from simple raising simulations.
Nahen thought for a moment. He wondered whether the strategies he had repeated dozens of times would work in this real world.
If the choices that had worked in the game produced the same results here, then he could easily turn this bankrupt castle—which couldn’t even afford dolls—into a wealthy domain.
After pondering for a while, he finally spoke.
“Then how about this.”
“Yes?”
“If you follow my lessons well from now on, I’ll buy you a doll as a reward.”
“You’ll… buy me a doll?”
“Yes. But if you’re lazy or fail to complete the daily training I assign, I won’t buy any.”
Kain’s expression turned slightly troubled at the suggestion. Seere noticed and quickly shook her head.
“It’s okay…”
“You don’t have to refuse. I won’t recklessly spend the castle’s budget.”
“Pardon?”
The question didn’t come from Seere. It came from Kain, who had been listening quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“Kain, who currently holds financial authority over the castle?”
“I am temporarily in charge. There was no one else to take the role…”
“Originally it should belong to Seere, right?”
“That is correct. I only took it because Her Majesty is still very young.”
Nahen nodded at Kain’s answer and looked at Seere.
“Seere?”
“Yes.”
“Would it be alright if I managed the castle’s budget?”
“You, Teacher?”
Seere blinked her large, innocent eyes. Kain answered in her place.
“Are you saying you wish to take over financial authority, Royal Teacher?”
“I’m asking to borrow it.”
“Then… what exactly do you intend to do with the financial authority?”
“What else?”
Nahen answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world. As if he could easily solve all the hardships Kain had endured for the past two years—cutting staff and scraping by on a razor-thin budget.
“We have to make money, of course.”