Chapter 34 — I Can Hear Your Voice (2)
Chapter 34 — I Can Hear Your Voice (2)
For daily necessities used by demonkind, durability was the top priority. After all, demonkind's bodies and strength far exceeded those of humans.
Consequently, the design of daily necessities was crude.
An everyday item like a bowl had an even harder time withstanding a demon's strength.
Because it was an object that might shatter at any moment, no great effort was invested in decoration.
Therefore, ornate bowls were all the more precious, and the artisans who made them were equally precious.
And Karnion's bowls were among the most popular luxury goods in the noble houses of Basel.
When ranking demon races by strength, goblins were not a strong race.
Even in combat, they relied on their superb dexterity, making excellent use of bows and traps.
And Karnion had sublimated that manual skill into beautiful ornamental bowls.
No matter how despised a craft might be, someone who had built a business with it could still earn recognition.
"But kids don't know how great a skill can be."
Karnion shook his head in dismay and lamented to the newly hired worker. The worker nodded sympathetically.
"I started with nothing too. With just my two hands, I managed to open a fine shop in the heart of Basel. But there are still so many kids who are stuck in the prejudice that this kind of work is lowly. What's the world coming to."
Now a middle-aged goblin, he found the new generation hard to understand.
Many of the young people who had come in to learn the trade had suddenly quit last month all at once. It was a bolt from the blue.
When he heard it was because they had applied to become imperial servants, Karnion was dumbfounded. Apparently, if they were going to do lowly work because they lacked strength anyway, they figured they might as well enjoy the honor of serving His Majesty and get paid better for it.
They said even ten necks weren't enough when standing before His Majesty, and yet they applied for such dangerous work!
Last week, Karnion had grabbed his son and vented about the situation. His eldest son had been working in the workshop for years since coming of age to inherit the family business.
But as he painted, his son scoffed at Karnion's words.
"Father, the world changed ages ago—why say things like that? Working at the Imperial Palace is the jackpot nowadays."
"What do you mean?"
"Seems His Majesty's temperament has changed a lot. It's been quite a while since anyone died at the palace."
"What?"
"If I didn't have this work now, I would've applied to be a civil servant myself."
Karnion simply could not understand.
For Karnion's generation, the reasons to apply to the Imperial Palace were either an intense longing for His Majesty or a lack of strength to find a proper job.
But his son's next words were even more shocking.
"Father, then how about renting a human instead?"
Karnion became bewildered.
"...Human? Why would you rent meat?"
"No, I mean a living human."
The middle-aged goblin recoiled.
"What insane talk...! You mean living humans are walking around?"
He had heard rumors that humans were working within the palace.
They said that human slaves taken captive were learning the work the servants did. So within the palace, humans were working alongside the servants.
It was an unbelievable story. Humans! Perhaps warriors heading to war might, but someone like him would never encounter a living human in his entire life.
"They say they work better than you'd think. And you can even put them to work as soon as you bring them in."
"What?"
"I heard it at the city hall."
"City hall? What were you doing there?"
"They said they brought some humans, so I went to take a look."
His son answered as though it were nothing.
"I saw some bowls made by humans too."
Among the officials who had escorted humans to the city hall, there was one human official as well.
That human woman, tidy in appearance, saw Karnion's son and spoke to him as if it were routine, explaining about labor leasing.
"...And how was she?"
Karnion loved beautiful vessels more than anyone, and that passion had taken him to the top of the trade.
Naturally, the finished wares interested him.
"Damn good."
"What?"
"Humans have small hands and slender fingers. Longer than ours. They might finish intricate end-piece carvings in no time."
"Hm...."
It was hard to believe everything the boy said, but small hands were a definite advantage.
"For one, they say it's labor guaranteed by His Majesty himself.
Even if you pay them, folks don't want to do manual work, right? But they say humans don't mind it at all. As for wages,
you can discuss it with the administrator and decide on a rate."
"Then what about a place to sleep and food? Humans can't eat human meat. And sharing a roof with a human feels uncomfortable."
He was tempted after hearing his son's words.
But how was he supposed to live with a human he had never seen before?
Moreover, food was so tight that they could barely afford what they themselves ate.
For demonkind, human meat was a cheap way to fill one's stomach instead of expensive grain, but you couldn't give it to a human.
After all, he himself couldn't eat his own kind's flesh.
But his son's next words were surprising once more.
"They say humans return to the palace after work."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"They clock out."
"Like the officials?"
"Yeah. So you don't have to give them a place to sleep. You just have to put part of that money into wages. And they say the state provides some food support too."
Karnion's eyes widened.
He had heard rumors that His Majesty might release grain instead of human meat for the Harvest Festival. In Karnion's shop, the upper class's errand runners gathered and exchanged all sorts of talk.
But most of it was just idle gossip.
So he hadn't believed it.
"Food?"
"Yeah. If you hire a human, they give you vouchers for employers that let you buy grain or meat at a cheap price, on top of what the human eats."
"Then how much...?"
Karnion was already hooked.
"About the same as the price of human meat, or a little more?"
Calculations began spinning in his head.
Of course, it depended on how well the human worked, but being able to buy grain cheaply was an enormous benefit.
On top of that, the wages were said to be lower than for demons.
Above all, finding another demon worker would take ages. But you could get a human right away.
In the end, a week ago Karnion had visited the city hall and decided to lease a human. He chose the minimum period of one week for starters.
To put it briefly, he was extremely satisfied.
At first, he had been so unfamiliar that he didn't know what to do.
Because he'd never seen a human before.
But the human himself smiled and said it was fine.
Saying he had worked with demons at the palace.
He was a male human named Shou. His age was late thirties, slightly younger than Karnion.
And now he was nodding along to Karnion's words while keeping his hands moving without pause.
He alone handled a workload that would take two or three novice demon kids who weren't yet skilled, hanging onto the task.
His fingers, filling delicate decorations with glaze and brushing them on, were thinner and swifter than those of the goblin himself.
Even cleaning the store shelves was quick and meticulous.
"So Shou, do you truly think this work is okay?"
Shou smiled as he answered Karnion's cautious question.
"Yes, Karnion. I like working here. Staying only inside the palace was tough. Someday, if I save money like this and the war ends, I might be able to go back to my wife. So I have to prepare."
For a moment, pity crept into Karnion's eyes.
And then Shou brought up what Karnion had wanted to ask. For the first time, his diligent hands stilled.
"In that regard, Karnion, would you be interested in extending the contract? The administrator told me to ask today. If possible, I'd like to keep working here...."
Though goblins found it hard to distinguish human expressions, Karnion could tell that Shou's eyes were earnest.
He truly wished to work with Karnion.
The goblin's face brightened.
"I'd be reassured too if you kept working for me!"
The human smiled back.
A goblin's toothy grin looked frightening to a human, but Shou was now used to his smile.
"Thank you, Karnion."
*
"The trainees ask me often if I've really seen His Majesty. It seems they feel His Majesty is a figure who only appears in stories."
Diobe answered, bowing her head to Roan and Grünent.
Diobe no longer worked as a low-ranking maid. She was now a proper junior official.
She worked together with demon officials and bustled between Basel's city hall and the palace. So the only chance to see Diobe was a few evenings a week when she came for regular reports.
At Grünent's request, wanting to know how the humans were working, he had asked Diobe to spare some time.
Diobe's face, now fully into her work, had grown much softer than before.
The mark of Affection -5 rose beside her and disappeared.
"Wouldn't that make them uncomfortable, hearing such questions?"
Because the previous Demon King had used humans as meat and sex slaves. Things had changed after I possessed him, but the time spent suffering under the Demon King would have been longer.
But Diobe calmly replied.
"Hardly anyone remains who remembers His Majesty's fearsome appearance.
Most were used up... And those being trained now were people who had entered the palace only recently."
Ugh....
"Tsk."
So that was it.
Most of the humans who remembered the previous Demon King were dead.
Grünent's expression twisted with pity.
Rauka, who stood beside her, folded her arms and began openly glaring at me.
I also found it regrettable, but I had no means to bring back those already dead.
I could only do my best to care for the living humans, my subjects.
The mood turned somber.
But Diobe's expression remained unchanged.
"...So everyone apparently talks about His Majesty's benevolence."
Affection -5 was about the same as when you passed a stranger on the street.
Soon, she'd shed her prejudice against me and start judging me based on what I did from then on.
So her words no longer carried any deep hatred or malice.
They held only pity.
Then it happened. Roan suddenly raised his head and rose from the table.
Grünent, Diobe, and Rauka stared blankly at the emperor, startled by his sudden movement.
And then.
"Your Majesty."
"Correction Officer."
"Forgive my sudden intrusion at this late hour. Please pardon my rudeness."
Before the office secretary could even announce her, Shwikviena threw open the office door and knelt on one knee.
"I have an urgent report."
"Speak."
The correction officer spoke with a voice that seemed to grind her teeth.
"A human who had gone to work was brought back injured."
In an instant, killing intent flashed in Roan's eyes.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
In a grim voice, Roan asked.
"Is he dead?"
"He survived."
"Where is he?"
"At the city hall..."
"Lead the way. Explain as we go."
The correction officer, unable to finish her sentence, widened her eyes.
Roan, who had been about to leave the office, stopped short.
He looked back at the people who remained.
"Grünent, Diobe too."
It was a demon world where the Demon King had been akin to religion.
And humans had been proclaimed the Demon King's property.
Harming such humans was impossible without something that surpassed fear or religion.
Ever since he first planned to release humans into demon society, he had prepared for this danger. Because there were more humans wanting to earn money outside than expected, it was all the more something that could happen at any time.
Roan wanted to find out exactly what the cause was.
Seeing the situation through the eyes of various humans with diverse knowledge and experience, like Grünent and Diobe, and hearing their opinions would make it much easier to find an answer.
"Come with me."
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
Taking humans to the place where a human had been hurt?
"What about me, Your Majesty?"
Rauka's voice was low with anger at the demons. But she was now aware that she had to protect the princess.
"You too, follow."
The back door of the city hall building was connected to the Imperial Palace. Roan and Shwikviena took the lead with swift steps, while Diobe, who knew the way, guided Grünent, who walked slowly, along with Rauka from behind.
The front courtyard of the city hall was chaotic. Soldiers had just caught the culprit and were dragging them to the front yard.
The system had already been drawing public attention. At news of the unexpected incident, citizens of Basel flocked to the city hall to find out what was happening.
"No, how... His Majesty..."
Aranya, having heard that the emperor himself had rushed to the city hall, hurried out and bowed her head upon seeing Roan.
In that moment,
everyone realized who he was.
A chilling silence fell instantly.
Everyone bowed their heads toward Roan.
Even the soldiers dragging the culprit.
Only the one burning with hostility toward humans snarled with hatred.
Because the surroundings were silent, the rage that seemed to spit blood was conveyed fully to Roan.
"How dare humans set foot on Evirgio's soil!
My son, my husband are all dead!
How dare you who killed my family show your faces!"
Roan clenched his jaw tightly.