When Elly took a leave of absence, the Demon Realm was different.
On the main street, there was a tall building.
If you sneaked in to avoid surveillance, you would encounter a stern-faced bodyguard. Once your identity was verified, you could enter the secret room, which served as a hideout for either the moderate or the dove faction of demons.
This place was different from the radical group that lived in poverty under the Empire’s hunt. Although its members generally kept hidden, it had luxurious sofas, tables, and the gentle sound of a music box playing in the background.
Elly moved her hand to turn off the music box.
Then she strolled to a table where two demons in suits were engaged in a game of chess.
The one touching the white knight piece turned to her.
“You’ve come, Princess. Did you have any leads?”
“Nothing.”
The old man sitting across from her narrowed his eyes.
“Wasn’t there a potential Demon King among the transfer students this semester? It may be faster to search the Demon Realm.”
“Only if there’s somewhere else to look.”
She had already checked everything.
The birth year of the next Demon King was already predicted. It had been over ten years since they had confirmed the age range among demon births. At this point, it was reasonable to conclude there were none in the Demon Realm.
“Is it finally a demon not from our realm? Those brokers are going to be furious.”
Elly sneered.
“Since when did the Demon King’s position care about origins?”
The knight piece tapped the chessboard.
“Don’t tell me, they aren’t already dead?”
Silence fell. It was hard to deny that possibility rationally.
The Empire was aware of the predicted birth year of the next Demon King too. No, they probably knew it ahead of the Demon Realm since it was a prophecy from the Imperial Palace.
The previous Emperor, a tyrant, had promptly acted upon hearing the prophecy.
The deaths of all the children born that year.
A decisive and efficient action by the tyrant, who was infamous for being a pain, managed to execute this cleanly, showing no mercy even to the aristocrats of the Empire.
So thorough was the execution that no second-year students born that year were present in the academy.
It was becoming suspect that the next Demon King had actually died back then. Even the Empire was launching conciliatory policies toward demons with optimistic prospects.
The tyrant faced the intense wrath of the Empire’s nobility and was deposed, but that didn’t bring the dead Demon King back.
“I’m sure they must have been born either in December or January.”
If they were born in a similar timeline or year, there was a chance they had adjusted their birth month to December or January to manipulate their birth year.
The unnecessarily competent tyrant was indeed aware of this. He had declared to kill off all nobles born in December of the previous year and January of the following year.
While the Craft family, respecting the royal family, maintained neutrality, they had to confront the tyrant who threatened the life of their newborn heir.
In the end, the head of the Crafts family, whose health deteriorated after childbirth, died, and the crown prince, who betrayed the royal family due to a grudge against them, ascended to the throne, leaving only the childish foolish heir of the Craft family in ruins while tightening the imperial power.
Thus, Elly herself, born in January, had secretly enrolled using her sub-identity.
Whether it was luck or not, she had joined the student council and managed to reach the center of power on Sky Island.
“Oh ho.”
The old man moved the bishop on the chessboard. A pawn was captured, and the opposing king was under attack.
“Five moves to checkmate, double attack.”
“Oh, my rook. I was focused on the princess.”
“The young man has quite the excuse.”
Their eyes turned to Elly.
“If there are no leads, then all that searching yielded nothing?”
“There’s no suitable person.”
She said she had completely checked it, but there was no one to expect as the next Demon King.
“Still, there had to be someone noteworthy, right? In a school environment, grades are visible. If it were the next Demon King, they’d have stood out like a sore thumb, among those born in December or January.”
“There was one, to be fair…”
“There was one!”
With a gleam of hope in his eyes, Elly’s expression turned peculiar.
“There’s one born on January 1st. They’re the top of the class and appear relaxed while harboring no resentment towards demons.”
At least worth noting as a potential ally from a pro-demon standpoint.
During the break, other demons who had heard about the student council also wore quizzical expressions.
“Don’t tell me you’re talking about Craft?”
“That Craft? No way.”
“Exactly.”
Elly waved her hand, almost dismissing the notions of demons gathering. Once there was a seat, she sat across from the old man, rearranging the chess pieces.
“Still, I intend to look into Craft once my leave ends. With a half-demon frame established, it’ll be interesting to see how they handle it and decide whether to support them as a pro-demon candidate.”
All things considered, she thought it likely she would do so.
Though grasping the depths beneath their naïve appearance could be tricky, they genuinely seemed to harbor no animosity towards demons.
If it were an act, there wouldn’t be much room for it while living in the same space and repeating tedious tasks.
“Looking into Craft? Many will be angry.”
“When did the Demon Realm start caring about bloodlines?”
“Considering there are no surviving retainers from the Craft family, are you starting to scout talents? That would be fascinating.”
“No, we shouldn’t meddle since Grace High Merchant is a pro-demon trader.”
They were someone who had fled the Craft family due to their anti-demon sentiments.
Elly moved a pawn two spaces forward in front of the queen.
“Because Pastel or Craft likes to expand the merchant guild through loans…”
As the opponent took their action, she moved a bishop and held the knight in advance.
“It would be fine to lend them without regard for credit. They’ll manage their business well. Let’s move on from this matter.”
She placed the knight on the chessboard.
“Tell me about the recent news. Start with the bad news.”
“The merchant from Sky Island responsible for laying down the railroad at the docks went bankrupt.”
The demon spoke, their demeanor turning somber.
“The sky whale terror by the brokers ended up being a mere prank, but based on that, the Empire Bank downgraded the credit ratings of the Sky Island merchants and forcibly recalled loans, leading to their bankruptcy.”
“That’s really bad news…”
“Ah! Why?! Demon Lord!”
Pastel bounced around in her pajamas.
She almost reached the portraits of the engagement that the demon had lifted high.
“Show me! Show me!”
『No need to see.』
The portraits were raised even higher.
“Uaaah!”
Now it was out of reach!
“Those portraits are for me to see!”
The heartfelt aspirations of all the candidates trying to impress the great Craft Lord…!
『The portraits sent for engagement are heavily idealized images. When the day comes to exchange love letters, you might end up marrying them and suffering heartaches.』
Wasn’t just viewing the portraits going a bit too far in imagination?
“Demon Lord, are you saying you suffer heartaches?!”
『Hmm.』
The demon didn’t bother denying it.
Ugh!
Pastel trembled before shouting.
“That’s not really an issue, is it?!”
Just let me see the engagement portraits!
『What?!』
The demon was shocked.
Seizing the moment, Pastel jumped.
“Super jump!”
Her light body soared. She snatched the portrait frames and landed, making a clatter as they knocked together.
“Ah!”
In truth, she could have easily snatched them because they were at a reachable height, but she struggled to indulge the Demon Lord’s whims!
Leaving the frozen demon behind, she danced her way to her bed, where she stacked the thin portraits higher than her own height.
“Ah~!”
Such is the fate of a popular person.
All these engagement portraits accumulated simply for being disposed of by the Demon Lord without a word, yet here they were piled up!
Sometimes, my popularity feels burdensome~!
She flopped onto the bed, grabbed a pillow, set it up like a chair beside her, and patted the empty space.
“Demon Lord! Demon Lord! I’m honored to show them to you together!”
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Only for the Demon Lord!
『Haa.』
The demon trudged over, inspecting his dress pants for any dust before sitting beside her on the bed.
『Whatever I see would be a lie. The portraits merely display the wealth and prestige of those who can hire good artists.』
“Yup!”
Pastel adjusted the backrest pillow and leaned against the demon. Her legs stretched comfortably.
“Clap! Clap! It’s portrait time!”
Clap clap! Clap clap!
“Demon Lord! Demon Lord, you clap too!”
『Haa.』
The demon just sighed and started to straighten out his messy pink hair before raising his hand. The clapping felt half-hearted.
Clap clap, clap clap.
“Alright! First portrait!”
Pastel grabbed a portrait.
A magnificent portrait of a person caught her eye.
Huh.
A handsome man!
“Though my appearance evaluations are low, he’s incredibly good-looking!”
This was at least 1.1 times better than the Demon Lord!
An impossible beauty clearly belonging to another realm!
In terms of popularity levels, he might be about 0.8 times of Pastel!
The demon frowned.
『This is way too exaggerated. It’s better to look away from someone like this. There’s no truth in the relationship.』
Is it too much?
I mean, if one wants to date, isn’t it courteous to at least do some skincare? Similarly, if you’re handing out portraits, surely some artistic embellishment wouldn’t hurt, right?
Then again, I don’t know the customs here!
“Alright, I’ll pass on this one!”
She picked up another portrait.
“Wow! This one too is extremely good-looking…!”
He was probably at 0.9 times Pastel’s popularity!
A new record!
『Nothing to see here. Total lack of truth. This one too should be passed.』
“Pass! Pass!”
Pastel waved her arms, laughing.
Looking at portraits with the Demon Lord was wonderful.
Hehe.
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