Chapter 361: The royal capital, occupied by Undead, Demons and, bizarre beings

The chamber that had been prepared as a venue for the council had servants… Skeletons that were waiting on those attending the council. They prepared tea and other beverages, and provided paper and pens with which to take notes.

King Corbitt calmed his nerves by breathing in the aroma of the black tea that one of the Skeletons had served him.

Under ordinary circumstances, Prime Minister Tercatanis would be leading the council, but it was Foreign Affairs Minister Jetavo who was carrying out this role now.

“First, the details of this incident… It is as we have already heard,” Jetavo said. “Prime Minister Tercatanis betrayed the nation and sold his soul to Dark Avalon, an evil god from another world. He gathered fragments of the Demon King through illegal means, then offered them to the evil god, resulting in the resurrection of Guduranis. Guduranis was then defeated by Vandalieu Ark Hillwillow Solder Zakkart, the emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal. Does everyone understand so far?”

Incidentally, Prime Minister Tercatanis had been taken into custody immediately after he was discovered unconscious in one of the undamaged rooms of the castle. He was presumably being kept in the castle’s prison right now… Not the prison in the royal castle, which had somehow managed to remain standing but had collapsed in places, but in the prison of this castle of bone.

“Objection!” one of the men attending the council shouted.

“Indeed! We cannot accept this!” agreed another.

“Well then, the next matter to discuss is the reward that shall be paid to Demon Emperor Vandalieu,” Jetavo continued. “We will give him whatever he wishes for. Nobody here objects to that, I presume? Then I can move onto the final matter: Deciding our nation’s foreign policy regarding the Demon Empire of Vidal–”

Jetavo was trying to keep things moving along smoothly, but some of the nobles and people with connections to the Churches refused to stay quiet.

“Foreign Affairs Minister Jetavo!” one of them spluttered in anger. “Is there something stuck in your ears?! Are you somehow sleeping with your eyes open?! We are voicing our objections right now!”

“That’s right!” yelled another. “How very impertinent of you to ignore us entirely!”

King Corbitt wondered if it was some kind of joke that one of them was the head of the Church of Alda.

“Finance Minister Bamon, Earl Monbert, Head Priest Arbel of the Church of Alda, do you really have objections? Are you sure you wish to voice them?” Jetavo asked.

“That’s what we’ve been saying this entire time!” Finance Minister Bamon snarled.

Jetavo grimaced and gestured for those with objections to speak. “Very well, then.”

And with that, the three who had been given permission to speak unleashed their flood of objections.

“Let me ask you this: Why do you believe that Honorary Countess Zakkart and her son are telling the truth?! And why are we submissively obeying every request they make of us?!”

“It’s true that the capital was filled with monsters and the Demon King was resurrected! And fine, we shall believe that Vandalieu Zakkart was the one who defeated the Demon King! He is a hero, so let us give up a mountain of medals and money as a reward! We can even close our eyes to all of the illegal acts he committed in order to resolve this incident! But you’re telling me that we’re just going to accept that he is an emperor of a nation beyond the Boundary Mountain Range?!”

“And what is this nonsense about putting him in charge of the slum district renovation project and the maintenance of the Dungeon?! And this proposal of finding an appropriate time and method to bring down the reputation of the Five-colored Blades, the heroes of our nation… and this talk of creating legislation to guarantee the rights of not only the members of Vida’s races, but of Undead and Demons as well! It is absolute lunacy! He intends to divide the nation!”

Vandalieu had informed King Corbitt and his subjects of the existence of the Demon Empire of Vidal, the fact that he was the emperor of that empire, the details surrounding the recent incident, and some requests that he asked to be granted as a reward for resolving it.

According to his claims, Talosheim was the capital of the Demon Empire of Vidal, which spanned not only the entirety of the region inside the Boundary Mountain Range – which accounted for a third of the Bahn Gaia continent – but even the legendary Demon Continent as well as the Demon King’s Continent, which had not been confirmed to exist by anything other than mythical tales. To be more accurate, he only ruled over a portion of the Demon Continent and only an underground space beneath the Demon King’s Continent, but even so, that didn’t change the fact that he ruled over a vast area of land.

This was a difficult truth to accept for King Corbitt and his subjects. After all, up until this morning, they had been under the belief that the Orbaume Kingdom and its enemy nation, the Amid Empire, were the two greatest nations of humanity on the continent.

And the project to renovate the slum district was not something that could be handed over to Vandalieu so easily, even if he was the savior of the nation… or rather, the hero who had saved the world.

There were complicated, entangled interests involved in the project to rebuild the city, and it was an important project that came with much responsibility, as failure would have great consequences for Orbaume’s future. Even if Vandalieu was the savior of the world, he had no past record of carrying out such a project… It wasn’t even clear if he had the experience and knowledge necessary. This project could not be left in his hands.

Vandalieu had also requested that the Five-colored Blades’ reputation be brought down.

He had decided that actively criticizing the Five-colored Blades himself would only cause the people to harbor animosity for him, so he had asked that this be done instead by King Corbitt and the nobles of Orbaume… and those with connections to the Churches.

However, those who had received this request were very much unwilling to carry it out. The request had caused a particularly immense shock for Head Priest Arbel and the other Church-affiliated individuals.

It was common knowledge that Heinz, the leader of the Five-colored Blades, had received Alda’s divine protection, and that his party members had also received the divine protections of gods of Alda’s forces. And some adventurers had even witnessed Heinz summoning the heroic god Bellwood upon his own body.

Bringing down the reputation of the Five-colored Blades would mean bringing down the reputation of the Church of Alda… and Alda’s peaceful faction.

And because the members of the Five-colored Blades were also honorary nobles, it would also throw mud on the face of King Corbitt himself, as he was the one who had awarded them with medals and honorary court ranks.

That would be going too far, considering that from the perspective of King Corbitt and his subjects, at this point in time, the Five-colored Blades had not done anything problematic or committed any crimes.

Ordinarily, granting such a request would be equivalent to a national disgrace. Thus, the points brought forward by Finance Minister Bamon and the others were not merely thoughtless arguments based on emotion.

“Even if he is the savior, handing him everything he wants, exactly as he wants it, would set a terrible precedent!” Finance Minister Bamon continued. “The words of the Goddess of Love and Life Vida were heard across Orbaume! I’m sure not a single soul failed to hear her, including myself! But Vida never said, ‘Hand everything over to Vandalieu and blindly obey everything he says!’ Before we leave the project to him, we must first grant him a court rank and awards in the king’s name, then send people with the necessary knowledge and experience with such work to discuss the project with everyone involved!”

Finance Minister Bamon was in fact in favor of using this opportunity to renovate the slum district. The entirety of the capital needed to be restored, so he thought that this was a good opportunity for it. He was only opposed to leaving it to Vandalieu because he didn’t believe that Vandalieu would be able to make the project succeed.

… Of course, he also had a discriminatory mindset towards Vida’s races and a pride that refused to allow him to leave this important project to the son of an honorary noble of another duchy rather than involving the nobles of Orbaume Central, as well as the ulterior motive of securing some ownership of the properties for himself.

“Foreign Affairs Minister Jetavo! Shouldn’t the first thing to do be to confirm whether the Demon Empire of Vidal really exists?!” said Earl Monbert, who had also worked in foreign-affairs-related positions. “I think that would be a waste of time, but we should gather information from the boy. Duke Alcrem has deep ties with him, and he has been making contact repeatedly with Duke Jahan, so we should question them as well. And we should request the cooperation of the Hartner house, as it conducted trade with Talosheim two centuries ago.”

Although Earl Monbert was entirely convinced that the Demon Empire of Vidal didn’t exist, he was calling for more information to be gathered, as it was possible that credible information and proof could be found that way – though he deliberately refrained from specifying whether such information and proof would look to prove Vandalieu to be telling the truth or whether it would look to prove that he was lying.

“Bringing down the reputation of the Five-colored Blades… Outrageous! He is simply making us do the dirty work so that he can keep his own hands clean! And even now, the city is filled with Demons, Undead, and monsters that I can scarcely imagine… How infuriating! I am of the opinion that they should be expelled from Orbaume as soon as possible!” shouted Head Priest Arbel.

He wasn’t doing much more than verbally attacking Vandalieu and his companions; it seemed that his argument was almost entirely based on emotion alone.

However, many Churches worshiping gods such as Alda taught that Undead were unclean and impure beings. And it was true that many of Orbaume’s citizens had an aversion to Undead and Demons. It wasn’t just a matter of the head priest’s emotions.

“… It seems that we have heard all there is to hear about the opinions of the finance minister and the others. What shall we do?” Jetavo asked the king.

“They are not worth discussing. Continue the council,” King Corbitt ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Now then, let us continue the council,” Jetavo said.

“What do you mean?!” shouted the angry, simultaneous voices of Finance Minister Bamon, Earl Monbert, and Head Priest Arbel, as well as those who held the same opinions as them.

But everyone else looked at them with subdued gazes. Some of them had expressions of pity; others were simply staring, their faces completely pale.

Infuriated by this reaction from the others, Earl Monbert slammed a fist down on the round table. “Even if he is the ‘Savior,’ do you not think that this is excessive?! We should praise what he has accomplished, but we should not ignore our laws and customs!” he argued. “I am sure that we must consider the debt of him having saved our lives, and the fact that he was praised by a great god– even though it was Vida. However, given his illegal acts that overstepped far too many boundaries, if we take advantage of his attachment to the Tamers’ Guild, we should be able to do something!”

King Corbitt’s heart stirred. Leaving Earl Monbert and the other dissenters as they were would be a bad idea. If they were not forced to see the reality of the situation and they did something to make some kind of mess as a result, as king, he would be responsible as well.

Why can they not understand that the common sense that worked until this morning will not work any more? No, perhaps they don’t want to understand, or perhaps their ability to think has been paralyzed by the shock of everything that has happened, King Corbitt thought.

“I understand what you are trying to say. But our nation is not in the position that you think it is. The reason we will carry out all of Emperor Vandalieu’s requests and give him any reward he asks for is very simple,” King Corbitt said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It is not because of the debt we owe him for saving our lives and our nation. It is not out of respect because he was praised by a great god. And it is not even because he is a hero who deserves to be praised as the ‘Demon King Slayer’… Of course, those reasons are not entirely irrelevant, but they are small reasons when compared to the main reason.”

Finance Minister Bamon made a puzzled expression. If that was the case, then why was the king so willing to do whatever Vandalieu asked him to?

“So then, you ask, why obey his requests? It is because Emperor Vandalieu and his companions and familiars – even when not counting those outside Orbaume – represent a military force that easily surpasses all of the armies of the Orbaume Kingdom combined,” King Corbitt said.

It was an extremely simple reason. Vandalieu and his companions were stronger than the Orbaume Kingdom, so there was no choice but to obey his requests.

“Th-that is preposterous!” Earl Monbert exclaimed. “Are you being serious, Your Majesty?!”

But neither King Corbitt nor Foreign Affairs Minister Jetavo, who was leading the council, were joking.

“You do not believe me? Then let us hear from an expert. Marshal Fatherick Dolmad, please enlighten those of us who are not as well-informed on the matter,” King Corbitt said.

Marshal Dolmad had not spoken during the entire council; he was pale-faced and trembling. Even as the king called on him to speak, his trembling did not stop.

“Your Majesty, I would like to resign from the position of marshal–” he began.

“I, too, would like to resign from being king and hand over my position as duke to my son, but I am resisting,” King Corbitt said. “I will not allow you to rest easy alone while the rest of us remain. And among Emperor Vandalieu’s requests was that those of us who wish to resign from our positions should wait to do so, at least until after the rebuilding of the city is complete.”

With his resignation rejected, Marshal Dolmad gave a deep sigh as if accepting his fate, and then began his explanation for Earl Monbert and the others. “I would like you to remain calm as you first remember that… Emperor Vandalieu was victorious over the resurrected Demon King Guduranis in single combat. The members of Vida’s races, Undead, and Demons that he insists are his familiars joined the battle, but Guduranis was also using servants. And Randolf ‘the True’ has reported that it was mainly Emperor Vandalieu himself who was exchanging blows with Guduranis.”

The nobles all turned to stare at Randolf, who was sitting on a chair near the wall of the chamber where this council was taking place. Randolf had fought alongside Vandalieu and his companions; his report on the events that took place was something that these nobles considered to be trustworthy.

“But I’m sure that Randolf and the Five-colored Blades were a part of the battle as well!” one of them objected.

However–

“The Five-colored Blades and I were mainly fighting against the servants that Guduranis created. And even I was struggling against a single one of those servants. Without the aid of Vandalieu and his companions, my life would have been in danger,” Randolf said, quickly crushing that noble’s objection. “As for the Five-colored Blades, they were unable to coordinate with Vandalieu, and in the end, they defeated five… no, six of Guduranis’s servants. But against Guduranis himself, and Dark Avalon, the one who was there before his resurrection, the Five-colored Blades were nothing more than a hindrance.”

Of course, his description of events was deliberately vague. Vandalieu had tried to kill Heinz and his party along with Rikudou; Randolf had rephrased this to being ‘unable to coordinate’ and ‘a hindrance.’

Vandalieu was publicly known to not have any interactions with the Five-colored Blades. Vandalieu was a Vida fundamentalist, while the Five-colored Blades belonged to Alda’s peaceful faction, so their beliefs were in direct contradiction with one another. The fact that Randolf was the one reporting this helped with its credibility as well; everyone accepted his explanation as a truth that couldn’t be helped, and nobody denied it.

“Fine – I understand that Vandalieu Zakkart possesses an extraordinary military force,” said Finance Minister Bamon. “However, yielding to power and neglecting law and order–

“‘Extraordinary’ is a vast understatement. It is beyond our fathoming; his forces are comparable to the descriptions of Guduranis’s army in mythical tales. Let me make this very clear,” said Marshal Dolmad. “Even if we were somehow able to miraculously form an alliance with the Amid Empire and gather the armies of both nations to fight against him, those armies would be trampled with such ease that we would not even be able to choose the manner in which we are defeated.”

“What?! That’s impossible! Surely you are exaggerating!” Bamon shouted, his eyes open wide in shock.

But Marshal Dolmad was equally shocked by Bamon’s reaction. Even if military matters were outside his area of expertise, why was he so unable to understand this?

“First, If I were to explain the strength of the emperor himself in a way that is very easy to understand… I would say that it would be even more terrifying to make an enemy of him than Randolf ‘the True.’ Surely you can at least understand that,” Marshal Dolmad said. “And his numerous powerful familiars… You may have forgotten, but this very building that we are currently in is one of them. It was that swarm of bones that was flying in the sky.”

Earl Monbert and Head Priest Arbel of the Church of Alda gasped and made strangled noises as Marshal Dolmad reminded them of this fact that they had been trying to not think about.

Knochen made a small groan, curious that he had been mentioned… The chairs that the earl and the others were sitting on, the round table that they were sitting around – everything was a part of Knochen.

Bone Man was present as well. “Jyuuh. I am not Knochen; I am known as Bone Man,” he said.

Finance Minister Bamon made a frustrated noise. “But we have the Six Phalanxes and Randolf, as well as some very capable heroes!”

“Sorry to betray your expectations, but I won’t be helping you there,” said Randolf.

“W-what?!” Bamon sputtered, his eyes open so wide that it looked as if they would fall from their sockets. “What do you mean by that?!”

“I mean exactly what I said,” Randolf said calmly. “At Meorilith’s request, I am currently working as a teacher. Why do I have to be a part of an armed conflict against one of my own students?”

Randolf had accepted requests from Finance Minister Bamon, Marshal Dolmad, and various dukes of the nation because he had been indebted to their predecessors; they hadn’t expected him to reject a request from them now.

“B-but once you are finished with that request–” Bamon stuttered.

“Sorry, but I have my next request already lined up. I’m planning to perform music on stage,” Randolf said.

His schedule had already been booked by Kanako.

“Preposterous! Do you think we will allow such a thing?!” Bamon shouted.

“If you don’t allow it, then what will you do?” Randolf asked. “Will you strip me of my membership at the Adventurers’ Guild? Will you have me pay a fine? Will you post a commission to kill me, and have some other adventurers, or the Six Phalanxes of Orbaume and the Five-colored Blades that you’re so proud of, carry out the task?”

Randolf had always wanted to retire from being an adventurer, and it was these nobles who had stopped him from doing so. Stripping him of his membership at the Adventurers’ Guild wouldn’t be a punishment at all. Even if they ordered him to pay a fine, his skills as an S-class adventurer hadn’t dulled, so he would be able to earn that money back in no time. And even if they wanted to hire other elite individuals and equally capable adventurers as assassins to send after Randolf, the Five-colored Blades had left Orbaume for some reason and their whereabouts were currently unknown.

Bamon turned to look at the Six Phalanxes of Orbaume, but they silently shook their heads.

“No way… Then there really is nothing that can be done…” Bamon murmured.

Superhumans with vast power were kept in check through law and order, but that would not work on Randolf now. And Finance Minister Bamon now understood that this was also true for Vandalieu, and his face fell, like a candle that had burned through the last of its wick.

“Finance Minister Bamon, there must be another way!” Earl Monbert insisted.

“That’s right! There is no way the people would support a fiend who controls filthy Undead and Demons!” said Head Priest Arbel.

But they did not understand.

“Whether the people support him or not is a matter of little relevance to us. I am sure he would still carry out the project even if many of the people do not support the emperor and his esteemed familiars. In that case, it is possible that the former slum district will be enclosed in sturdy walls of bone, physically dividing Orbaume in two,” Marshal Dolmad said. “Not that I believe that the people would not support Emperor Vandalieu, however,” he added.

“B-but the Undead and Demons…” Head Priest Arbel stuttered.

“What of them?” Marshal Dolmad said. “His Majesty the Emperor has been bringing Undead and members of races created by Vida into the city as his familiars since long ago. He has lived with them and even ran a food cart with them. And in this incident, they saved many of our citizens from chaos – royals, nobles, the poor, and even those affiliated with the Church of Alda – without discrimination. The same is true for the king, and all of us present here, is it not? Although I was surprised that one of them disguised herself as Prime Minister Tercatanis.”

“It is as Marshal Dolmad says,” agreed King Corbitt. “And Emperor Vandalieu has Darcia-dono with him. She is an exceptional hero who is able to summon not a mere familiar spirit of Vida, but Vida herself, upon her body. Few worshipers of Vida would refuse to support her son, even if one includes those with ties to Alda’s peaceful faction – although it seems that there is one such person here.”

The head priest of the Church of Vida was trembling silently as he stared at the floor.

“And on the other hand, what of us? The perpetrator of this incident was a mysterious evil god that came from another world, Dark Avalon. The one who sold his nation and became a tool for that evil god to use was Prime Minister Tercatanis, one of our own. And we had our hands full trying to protect ourselves, never mind protecting the people. And even that was only possible because of the shelters that the emperor prepared for us. We have lost the trust of the people. One does not even need to ask which side the people will consider to be more dependable in the future,” King Corbitt said.

Prime Minister Tercatanis’s involvement was still unknown to many of the people who had evacuated during the crisis. But even if they wanted to cover it up, Prime Minister Tercatanis was currently being held inside Knochen. Given the choice of confessing Prime Minister Tercatanis’s involvement themselves or having Vandalieu and his companions expose the truth against their will, the former would be wiser.

It seemed that it was only the prime minister who was involved in the incident, but the thought of this historical scandal occurring during his tenure as king made King Corbitt’s stomach ache.

“And as for the Demon Empire that apparently exists beyond the Boundary Mountain Range, on the Demon Continent, and the Demon King’s Continent… There is nothing we can do about Emperor Vandalieu at this stage, whether it is a lie or not,” King Corbitt continued. “Randolf ‘the True’ has refused to aid us. Edgar of the Five-colored Blades was slain by Guduranis, and the whereabouts of the rest of them are unknown. The young heroes such as the ‘Holy Spear’ Hendricksen… I have heard that they have grown close to the Heart Warrior Brigade, who are close friends and apprentices of Emperor Vandalieu. Defying him with only the strength of our knights and the Six Phalanxes is not an option.”

Whether the Demon Empire of Vidal really existed or not, the fact that the Orbaume Kingdom would not be able to put up any military resistance against Vandalieu did not change. And if the Demon Empire of Vidal really did exist, then the Orbaume Kingdom would be finished unless it formed friendly diplomatic ties.

Of course, this decision would likely divide the Orbaume Kingdom. It was all but certain that Duke Farzon, who had supported the Five-colored Blades, and those in the duchies where the people were heavily devoted to Alda, would be opposed to it.

But even so, King Corbitt needed to support Vandalieu and obey whatever he said. After all, the difference in power between Vandalieu and the Orbaume Kingdom was simply overwhelming.

“Now then, let us continue the council,” King Corbitt said, and this time, nobody raised any objections.

The actions of Vandalieu and his companions during the crisis had kept casualties to a minimum. However, because Rikudou had created Dungeon entrances all over the city, they had not been able to deal with all of them immediately, and some lives had been lost.

Three silhouettes stared blankly at the mountain of rubble before them.

“All of us are dead,” one of them said.

“Yeah. To think that all of us died,” said the second.

“I thought that at least one of us would survive,” lamented the third.

These three had been hoodlums living in the slum district, and to them, there had been no difference between committing petty crimes and doing forced labor after being caught.

“Hey, you said you were going to start a food cart, didn’t you? Weren’t you supposed to be turning a new page and living an honest life?!”

“You were talking like a kid, saying you were gonna become an adventurer.”

“And you were supposed to confess to the girl you like and start a family… but…”

“To think that we’d die and be reincarnated as Demons!” the three of them cried tragically in unison, clutching their heads that had twisted horns growing from them.

They had died and become reincarnated as Demons by Vandalieu, who had become a ‘Demon Ruler.’

“Seriously, what should I do? I wonder if she’ll let me pay to free her from her prostituting job now that I’ve got horns, wings, and eyeballs that are completely red?” said the Demon who had wanted to start a family.

“Well, at least you don’t have a goat’s face like me, right? My dreams of running a food cart are over,” grumbled the Demon who had wanted to run a food cart. “It’s a service industry job, after all.”

“If it’s too difficult to do business in Orbaume, how about doing business in a city in the Alcrem Duchy?” suggested Vandalieu, who happened to be passing by. “People over there will be fine with Demons.”

“Really?! That’s great!” said the other Demon. “… So, can you do anything about my plan to become an adventurer?”

“It might be difficult to become an adventurer given the Guild’s current system, but how about being an explorer in my nation? Or you could ask someone to act as your tamer and work as their familiar,” said Vandalieu.

“A familiar, huh? Being the familiar of a pretty lady might not be so bad…” the Demon murmured.

“By the way, I’ve confirmed that the lady who seems to be the one you’re interested in managed to escape safely. How about meeting her sometime soon?” said Vandalieu.

“Ah, yes, thank you, Vandalieu-aniki,” said the lovestruck Demon.

“You’re welcome,” Vandalieu said. “But please focus on your work for now. The repairs of the city’s outer walls are finished, so I’m counting on you to clear away the rubble in the city and retrieve the household belongings that are still intact.”

“You got it, Vandalieu-aniki!” the three Demons said simultaneously.

During the battle against Guduranis, the Demons had seemed more robotic, but now that some time had passed after their reincarnation, they had regained their personality and memories from their previous lives, and their behavior had changed.

“By the way, if you’re redeveloping this place, that means it’s going to get a new name, right? Then how about ‘Vandalieu Town?’ With a big bronze statue of you right in the middle, Aniki!” one of the Demons suggested.

“Man, you lack sense,” said one of the others. “For things like this, you should use his surname, not his first name. How about ‘Zakkart Street?’ With tall buildings on either side. Let’s make it a fancy district, with the first floor of the buildings being rentable stores, and the second floor up can be housing complexes.”

“What are you saying? First, we need to build a church to worship Aniki, don’t we!” said the third.

“… It will need something to attract visitors, but a church dedicated to me is absurd,” said Vandalieu.

Despite all the changes they had gone through, the Demons were still fanatical supporters of Vandalieu. They were not just loyal; they took every opportunity they got to try to worship Vandalieu, which was a little problematic.

“For now, I’m planning to place the entrance of the Dungeon that Rikudou created in the slum district, set up a Guild branch and monster corpse dismantling facilities around it, as well as weapon stores, restaurants, accommodation facilities, and an entertainment district,” Vandalieu said.

“I see. A district that gets money from the adventurers who come for the Dungeon and the merchants to come to do business with the adventurers, huh? As expected of the ‘True Ruler of the Entertainment District,’” one of the Demons said.

“You’re going to make a plaza near the Dungeon where people can set up food carts, right? You’re the ‘Food Cart King,’ after all, Aniki! I’m sure you’ll want to be the ‘Food Cart King’ of Orbaume, too!” said one of the other Demons.

“But Aniki, if you’re going to gather adventurers, you’ll need a Church for the superstitious ones, won’t you?” said the third Demon.

The Demons were problematic because they really did try to worship Vandalieu whenever they could.

“Pardon me,” said Sam as he suddenly appeared out of thin air. “Bocchan, with Cuatro’s aid, I have completed the Job changes for everyone who wished to change Jobs! How about you?”

Sam and Cuatro, whose interior spaces included Job-changing rooms, had opened their doors to the adventurers and knights that had been a part of the fierce battle. Because the Guild’s building had been almost completely destroyed, there were many who were left unable to change Jobs despite reaching Level 100, so they were very pleased by this.

“Thank you, Sam,” said Vandalieu, clambering into Sam’s carriage, using this opportunity to get away from this talk of statues, churches, and the new name for the district.

“Ah, Aniki,” one of the Demons said sadly.

“Going back to the original topic, are you sure we do not need to build a stage for performances?” asked Sam.

“We already have three indoor stages – the ones that were used as emergency shelters, and I think that’s enough,” said Vandalieu. “But, well… if you insist, Sam, I’ll try talking to Kanako and this country’s finance minister.”

According to the information he was being provided with through the Demon King Familiar inside Knochen, the finance minister’s mind had been thoroughly broken, so it was likely that he would grant any request from Vandalieu.

And so, Vandalieu entered the Job-changing room and placed his hand on the crystal ball.

A moment later, he made a surprised noise and opened his eyes wide, so shocked that he let go of the crystal ball and took a step back.

“What was that… Was it just my imagination? Maybe I fell asleep and was dreaming for a moment because I’ve overworked myself so much… Or perhaps it’s a side-effect of having absorbed Guduranis’s soul…” Vandalieu murmured.

But even as he said that, he understood what had happened. He understood it, but he wanted to deny it so badly that he couldn’t help but refuse to believe it for a moment.

“… Either way, it’s best to make sure,” he sighed.

Escaping from reality wouldn’t achieve anything. Putting off his Job change might be fine for a while, but he couldn’t refuse to change Jobs again forever, so he needed to confirm what had happened and know the truth.

With a small battle cry to steel his resolve, Vandalieu placed his hand on the crystal ball once more. The Jobs available for him to select appeared in his head.

《Jobs that can be selected: Fallen Warrior, Insect Ninja, Eclipse Cursecaster, Creator, Tartarus, Wild Spirit, Dark Battery Cannoneer, Dark Beast User, Hollow Shadow Caster, Balor, Apollyon, Demogorgon, Soul Devourer, God Devourer, Nergal, Ravana, Shaitan, Chi You, Ouroboros, Rudra, Blood Ruler, Demon Electricity User, Yin Guider, Juggernaut, Berserk Muscle User, Apophis, Azathoth, Taotie, Guiding Lord, Changing Guider, Spirit Guider, Hollow World God Mage, God Spirit Alterer, True Demon King (NEW!), Vandalieu (NEW!)》

‘Vandalieu’ was among the Jobs that he could select.

“Why have I become a Job?” Vandalieu wondered out loud.

But because of the soundproofing in the Job-changing room’s walls, his question went unheard.